The Green Paradise

Part 4

Hows it going? Y’all! So this part of the blog has highlights of the next couple of days I spent in and around the “green paradise”-Wayanad( native place of the devil).

The following day, we were all set to visit the Edakkal Caves.

My stomach is usually calm in the morning but Devil forced me to have a meal before we left. He apprised that our bodies might burn up to 150000000 calories in the next few hours.(He cannot ever stop scaring me, but I am grateful it weren’t his ideas this time! )
On the way to the Caves , Devil briefed us about the place. “Edakkal caves are known for the rocks from the Neolithic Age that have geometrical patterns and pictorial paintings on them, even now.It is located 1200 mts. above sea level …”and he went on. and I wished I could tell him that all I could think about was, 5.5 trillion degrees Celsius above our heads!
Devil’s cousin had decided to guide us all the way up to the caves (he would regret it, but let him take his time!)
We hiked and hiked for quite a long time.Soon I located a major stop where I could see enough people to conclude the hike. I almost thought we reached the caves! but the Devil was kind enough to inform that it was a ticket counter and that was where the journey was supposed to begin from .(I would weep buckets but I had deadlines knocking my door)
More to that, I caught a sight of a few monkeys and it left me thinking ,If Apes evolved from monkeys, then why are these creatures still existing?! I could barely do anything about it, you know.

For the rest of the hike , I stopped for breaks on every level ,gasped for breath and fought off . But there came a time when I was convinced I would never move again. The only thought that kept me going after that was the thin air, up the hill that Sai had reminded me of.Sai had long gone , when I was still on my way up. As I climbed my mind could think only of the next few steps!

The name ‘Edakkal’ literally means ‘a stone in between’. This is a sight of a cave formed by a heavy boulder straddling a fissure in the rock.They trace pictorial paintings from almost 6000 BC.One of the stories is that, these caves are said to be formed with the arrows fired by Lava and Kusha, the sons of Lord Sri Rama.Edakkal is said to have some links with Indus Valley Civilization too.

***Devil clicked a few pictures of my tired face.***

Then we visited Banasura sagar dam ,across the Karamanathodu River,a tributary of River Kabini, in Kalpetta. Devil fills with pride when he speaks about this dam which is earth’s largest dam in India and the second largest in Asia. The dam is ideally placed in the foothills of Banasura hills. Later, we visited Karalad lake which expands in seven acres and is known for adventure sports. We had Karalad and Pookode Lake in our itinerary. We also had a stop at a viewpoint at Thamarassery Ghats,on our way back.