When I suggested Wayanad as the next destination, all were equally interested. I got all the information about the places we can visit in a day from our friend Nekash who's from Kalpetta in Wayanad district. We decided to visit Edakkal Caves and Sentinel Rock falls (a.k.a Soochippara Waeterfalls). Now, the only problem existed was to get everyone out of the office. The day being a Saturday helped a lot but still Vikram had to swap his shift with Rohan. Anyway, we ten guys (Me, Ajit, Amit, Ankur, Madhu, Mayank, Sujit, Vikram, Vishal and Zubair) and our five machines were absolutely ready to kick start.
The plan was to start early so that we can enjoy the early morning ride and the natural beauty to the fullest. So, we decided to start from Gokulam, Mysore at 6:00 AM on 6th April '08. As usual since everyone tried to be on time ;-), we all met at Amruth Cafe, Gokulam at 6:45 Am and had a cup of tea.
At 7:00 Am we started the one-day ride from Mysore to Wayanad on our motorcycles. After crossing the city limits we stopped at a fuel station to feed our machines. Then it was a non-stop ride until Gundalpet, where the road divides one towards Ooty and the other toward Kerala. The view of the green paddy fields and streams on the way was absolutely refreshing. The morning mist was still clinging on to the surface of the lakes. Madhu and Vishal were in a kind of race with their 220cc and 200cc Pulsars. It induced a kind of passion in everyone and all started accelerating. Ankur, as he said was still calm riding in 60-70Kmph, enjoying the ride to the very essence.
After reaching Gundalpet, it was time to feed our stomachs, so we stopped at a hotel and had breakfast. After filling our bellies with Idlys, Dosas and Pooris we again hit the high-way. Now it is a long ride until
we reach 
Kerala border. We saw elephant herds while 'trespassing' their territory, the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary. The ride through the Sanctuary was simply mind-blowing, since there was less traffic and lush green trees on both sides of the road. We took few snaps when we reached the border check post. There is no particular checking at the check post, atleast not for two wheelers and we passed Sulthan Bathery at around 10:00 AM. Sulthan Bathery (formerly called Ganapativatom) is a bordering town in Wayanad District. It derives its present name from Tipu Sultan of Mysore who built his battery (a battery is a unit of artillery guns, mortars, or rockets, so grouped in order to facilitate battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion) here in the 18th century, hence the name Sultan's Battery. Later, became Sulthan Bathery the Malayalam version of the name.
We confirmed the route to Edakkal Caves from the local people and started riding towards it. It is a 12 Kms ride from S.Bathery to Edakkal Caves. Edakkal Caves are two natural caves located 1000 meters high on Ambukuthy Mala in Wayanad district of Kerala in the Western Ghats. The name “Edakkal” literally means “a stone in between”, and this describes how the cave is formed by a heavy boulder straddling a crack in the rock.
As far as the history of the caves is concerned, Fred- Fawcett, the then superintendent of
police of the Malabar District, happened to see a Neolithic Celt (stone axe or chisel) recovered from the coffee estate of Colin Mackenzie, on a hunting trip to Wayanad in 1890. An enthusiast in prehistory, Fawcett made local enquiries and went round exploring the Wayanad high ranges. In the course of his rambles he was shown the Edakkal rock-shelter situated on the western side of Edakkalmala. He identified the site as a habitat of Neolithic (i.e. late Stone Age, 4000BC to 1700BC) people on the basis of the nature of representations on the cave walls, which appeared to him as engravings made of Neolithic Celts. It was an exciting discovery, as these were the first specimens of abraded drawings found in India.We reached there in half an hour and parked our motorcycles. Even though there is jeep service available for another 1/2 Km, we preferred to trek the entire 1 KM up to t
he apex. Most of us were gasping heavily, as we reached halfway near the ticket counter. After getting the tickets we started climbing again. There were a lot visitors on that day, most of them were techies from Bangalore. Since it is a narrow path up, the tourists getting stuck here and there was creating problem. Any how we got up till the caves and took some snaps. Earlier, I remember when I visited the caves as part of our school excursion; we were not allowed to take snaps inside the cave. Even now taking snaps with mobile phones are not allowed.Now we had the most tiring and adventurous part of the entire trek. The trek path up to the summit after the Caves is so steep; that as we climbed up we were almost breathless. The number of people blocking our way gradually reduced, though we met people getting some rest here and there. And fin
ally I reached there. Ankur and Vikram had already made it and Sujit arrived after sometime; then came Amit. After that no one turned up. The view from the top was awesome. The feeling of being on top of such a high hill and the aerial view of the surrounding places can't be described in words. We spent some time there clicking snaps in all possible angles. Ankur, as usual was just sitting there like a philosopher enjoying the wind and beauty of that place. Climbing down was kind of easy, but some of us still found it difficult. The trek was so tiring that when we reached the foot of the hill we were desperately searching for a place to just lie down and relax.To recharge ourselves, we had some juices and soft drinks. Then again we hit the saddle by 2:00 PM. We had some confusion in the route to Sentinel Rock Waterfalls, but cleared the same from the auto drivers. This part of the ride is what I personally and I believe almost all of us enjoyed the most. The ride through the twists and turns of lush green tea plantations of Meppady is just fantastic. Took some snaps here as well. We took a wrong route just
a few kilometers before the falls. Then, the local people showed us the correct route and we realized that we actually had to take a left. Though Ankur is slow and steady he knew the route and reached there first. We were waiting for him without realizing the fact that he is already there. Tried to call him but there was no signal. Anyway, we decided to move on and when we reached there we found him and Mayank sitting out there watching the ‘birds’ in water.Locally known as Soochippara Waeterfalls, the Sentinel Rock falls is a very popular leisure destination 43 Kms away from S. Bathery. This is a three step water fall more than 200 mts in height. Framed by enchanting scenery, Soochippara falls can be reached by a scenic 2 Kms nature walk.
We took our motorcycles as near as possible to the falls because no
one was in a condition to walk after such a long ride. Had a nice natural bathe in the falls and enjoyed the chilling water flowing through our tired body. After spending almost an hour in the falls, we left the falls and the beautiful places surrounding it and started off to Mysore. Reached back in Mysore at around 10:30 PM. All what we had in mind was to fill our stomachs and go to bed ASAP, thinking of going to office the next day… :- (
