Chembra Peak and Edakkal Caves: Wayanad District

The view from Chembra Peak

Hiking, Chembra Peak

At 5am the dog started. At 5:15am some repetitive music started and the dogs continued. At 5:30am the orchestra of surrounding mosques played the call to prayer again, still slightly out of synch with each other, and the music and dogs continued. Sleep was over. We put off getting up until we couldn't bear it anymore and were still out the door by 6:45am. When Big Red finally woke up we headed in search of Kanthanpara Waterfall. Instead we found Sentinel Rock Waterfall. Unfortunately though, it was closed. Yes...the waterfall was closed. Chris thinks they must turn the water off at night. An old man approached us from one of the stalls setting up to entertain the Indian tourists for the day. His approach meant we weren't able to slip down the road to the waterfall without anybody noticing. Bugger. The man informed us of what we already had noticed...the waterfall was closed. He was also kind enough to let us know that it cost money to see it. What!?!?

As by this stage it was going on 8am we headed to the Meppadi Forest Office to get our permits for Chembra Peak. We rode down a windy, goat track of a road into a tea estate and were directed to the office. I was unimpressed to find the list of prices on the wall showing that foreigners were being charged twenty times what the locals were being charged. 50 vs 1000 rupees. We figured we were there so we may as well pay the $17.50 AUD and get amongst it but that didn't stop us stewing on the fact. We questioned why we were being charged so much but all we could get out of them was that the prices were set by the government.

Chris off on another photo mission

After snapping some photos of ladies picking tea we were directed onto the hiking track by a friendly guy in a funny house. It was steep. There was no circling around the mountain to make the incline more gradual but rather we walked pretty much straight up. We stopped for a breakfast snack in the shade before we lost the shade and were exposed to the full pelt of the sun. We continued on passing a dried up lake that we were disappointingly thought was the 'heart lake' that Chembra was famous for. So, after trekking up a rocky, dusty goat track of a path and through some very tall grass, we were pleased to come across the actual heart lake...with water and everything. Chris went off, trudging through the long grass to take some photos and I suddenly felt like a lion, hiding in the grass taking photos of him from a distance.

Heart Lake, Chembra Peak

The 'track' to the peak

With the heart lake came views of the peak itself and for the first time we were aware of just what we had got ourselves into. It was high. And we could see the track, if you could even call it that, following the ridge line, straight up. We puffed and panted our way up, scrambling over rocks as we went. Still stewing on being overcharged, and then stewing on every other thing that annoyed me about India, it was probably not the best time of the month for me to be sweating my way up a mountain. But...it was totally worth it.

When we finally reached the peak we had eagles soaring at eye level and clouds floating past us. During two and a half hours of walking we had gained 800m in elevation. Thanks to our rising early, we were the first to reach the top and so far ahead of everyone else, that we had it all to ourselves for the entire time. We stood on the highest rock on the highest peak in Wayanad District and got some photos before enjoying some more snacks. The views of the surrounding mountains and towns beneath us were lovely.

Summit, Chembra Peak

As we started our descent we began to pass other trekkers making their way to the summit. Lots of them. As we reached the heart lake it was stinking hot there were crowds of people heading past us. We suddenly felt very organised as we, in our hiking boots and with our camel packs, passed people in sandals who had no water and were asking us whether they could drink from the lake. Because we obviously look like the kind of people who would be reliable sources for this kind of information.

We love camel packs

After 13km of walking we made it back to Big Red safely. We went to drive away but were stopped by a man asking for 10 rupees as a parking fee. "Tell him he's dreamin'" we thought. There had been no mention of such a fee beforehand and, after paying 1000 rupees already, we weren't about to fork out any more.

Edakkal Caves

We rode back down the hill and as we passed the ticket office I was pleased not to see anybody waiting to take us away in cuffs for having avoided the 10 rupee fee. Next stop, Edakkal Caves.

Happy to find some free parking we started the walk up to the caves. Having covered 13km already (half of which was going straight up a mountain) we were sore and tired. So, when the hill to the caves just kept going and going, past all types of stores selling all types of things in true Indian fashion, we were over it. Thankfully, we reached the ticket office and were charged 15 INR each...the same as Indians are charged. Good thing too, because I would not have wanted to be the guy opposite Chris, trying to over charge us.

We had a quick look at the caves which, for the walk up, were a bit disappointing. Even more disappointing was the number of stairs we had to climb to explore them. We did however get chatting to a lovely girl and her family. She was quite taken with Chris' beard and grey hairs and my pale skin. As usual, we talked cricket and then touched on jewellery, music, food, careers and the traffic of Kerela being 'the mistake of the local jurisdiction' as our new friend so eloquently put it.

Exhausted and starving we made it back to our guesthouse for a snack and a shower before heading back to last night's dinner spot for more paneer butter masala. Again we grabbed snacks on the way home and again speakers blared speeches from the town. It died down after a while though, thank goodness.