Explore The Charms Of Wayanad, 'Land Of Paddy'

A cold and wet coming we had of it. By the time we landed in Calicut after a flight delayed by several hours, and set off on the two-hour drive to Vythiri, the rainforests and mist-covered hills of Wayanad were cloaked in impenetrable darkness and driving rain. So it was only the next morning that we had our first sight of this little hill station in north Kerala, at an altitude of some 2,000 metres. We awoke to the seductive song of the whistling thrush, the raucous screech of the grey Malabar hornbill, the sound of rushing water from dozens of little streams and the enchanting sight of the giant Malabar squirrel leaping among the branches of the jackfruit tree in front of our cottage at the Vythiri Village spa resort, its bushy red tail jauntily weaving through the foliage. This is not the Kerala of rice boats, backwater cruises and sandy beaches of chic boutiques and bakeries and colonial churches of thatch-roofed fishing villages and traditional, wooden tharavad houses. Wayanad's charms are more discreet they have to be sought out, explored and taken in slowly.