Wayanad Trip - Part III - Chembra Peak

Chembra Peak is one of the most beautiful locations for those who love trekking. Chembra Peak is situated near the place Meppadi, 10 kms away from Kalpetta; the district head quarters. From Meppadi, the road winding through the Chembra estate leads us to the bottom of this peak. This is the highest peak in Wayanad.

While traveling towards Meppadi from Kalpetta, one can see the astonishing beauty of the peak. Chembra peak is visible from almost all the parts of Wayanad. This peak comes under the control of department of forest and travelers need to get permission from the office of the department of forest situated at Meppadi in order to climb the peak. There are elephants and leopards in the peak and the nearby mountains, and while we climbed the peak, we saw the left behind pieces of a deer eaten by a leopard or some kind of predator. We also came across foot prints of wild boars, near the heart shaped lake.

The near by peaks that surrounds Chembra Peak are amazing, but it is not possible to climb them since, it is dense forest. But the views of the nearby peaks are really wonderful.

After climbing half the peak, we came across a big lake, a true wonder. We never thought that there will be such a big lake at the top of a mountain. The water level in the lake remains constant throughout the year, as it is supplied from the underground water by mother Earth. Trekkers choose this place ideal for camping in the night, but camping is very risky unless we are supplied with enough clothes to be protected from the cold climate and we should have weapons for safety from wild animals. Climbing further up, the lake revealed to be perfectly in the shape of a heart, not sure whether somebody shaped it so.

Looking down the valley from the top of the peak is simply great. From the top of the peak, almost all parts of Wayanad can be seen. We identified few places like Kalpetta, Panamaram, Calicut ghat section etc. Since the sky was a little foggy, we couldn’t identify the places far away, but we saw blue patches, which were water reservoirs and we believe they are the part of the Padincharathara Dam site.

When we reached towards the top most part the slope as well as the wind speed increased drastically, making it difficult to climb further. We where a little bit short of water supply also.

Some More Pictures

The Other Side of the Moon

I got this picture from APOD - posted in APOD as a picture taken by Apollo 16, link given below

Click here to see the original picture taken by Apolo 16 - posted in APOD

There was a time when we believed that Earth is flat and the sky is a dome shaped hemisphere with lot of tiny fixed white spots which are visible only in dark. Of course there are two disks that start traveling from the East to the West daily – The Sun and Moon. But nobody knew how these discs and white spots appeared again in the East horizon which disappeared in the West horizon the previous day. After some time we realized that Earth is the centre of the universe and the other celestial objects revolved around the mother Earth. Now Earth is no more the center of the universe.

The Moon never turned her face and showed us the other side of it, since the revolution of moon around Earth perfectly synchronized with its rotation on its own axis. This further delayed scientists to find out that Moon is a sphere, not a disk. Of course Sun rotated and showed us all sides, but it is too bright and scientists did not notice the black spot, so it remained a disc shaped object.

We have never seen the other side of the moon, and I believe that generally nobody cares about the other side of it. The fact ‘It did not showed us the other side’ made a lot in the scientific history. I need to rethink about the principle of scientific theorem “If all the existing behavior of anything can be explained by a statement, then it is accepted as a scientific theorem”. When new behaviors are discovered we invent new theorems. But nobody knows the absolute truth, which can only be revealed by the creator.

“The moon never turned the other side on us” made a lot of difference. When we say something, or when we invent something, or when we forward a mail received, or when we judge some one, think again, whether we have seen the other side which never appeared or does it have the other side. When we speak about countries and people far away be sure that you are not generalizing the relative truth that holds well only with the face that is turned towards you, or truth that holds well only in your view.

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Wayanad Trip - Part II - Kuruvadweep

Kabani River Flowing near Kruvadweep

Kuruvadweep or Kuruva Isaland is just 3 kilometers away from my home. I have already posted some photos from the nearby places but not rom Kuruvadweep. ==>Previous Post on Kuruvadweep Kabani river get divided into two first, then five rivers, and at last these separate rivers meets together, the Island formed by the pieces of land beneath these rivers is Kuruvadweep - A land covered with dense greenaries, rivers and lakes in between.

Rivers Inside Kuruvadweep

Kuruvadweep is ideal for a one day picnic. Walking through the dense trees between rivers and by corssing the rivers is different experience. Inside the river, if we carefully watch, we can spot lot of orchids of hundreds of types. Kuruvadweep is preserved by the department of forest and special permission is required to go inside the land.

Trees of different shapes in Kuruva

Kuruvadweep is situated near the border of Payyampally and Pulpally Panchayath. Two river - "Manathavady Puzha" and "Panamaram Puzha" joins together at "Koodalkadavu" to form Kabani river. From there the river flows towards Karnataka. A good resort is coming up near kuruvadweep and recently tree houses are also built near the bank of the river.

Some more view of the rivers

Kuruwadweep s about 15 kms from Manathavady, Pulpally or Panamaram. Some parts of these rivers are very deep, may be more than 2 or 3 times the heigt of an average human. So travellers should be careful while getting into the rivers inside. Very rarely we can see corcodiles in the nearby places, but they have never attacked humans and vice versa, they always make sure they stay away from humans. Elephants pass through this place very rarely from the nearby forests. The land is very safe for picnic except for the deep rivers.

Some more snaps from Kuruvadweep

WikiMapia link of Kuruvadweep

Update on 2nd Feb 2007
In the above picture you can see the Kabani River splitting into two and joining together after a while to create the wonderful 950 acres island – Kuruvadweep. There after you can see the joined river flowing towards the North East corner towards Karnataka.

WikiMapia link of Koodalkadavu

Update on 2nd Feb 2007
In the above picture you can see the two rivers – Manathavady River and Panamaram River joining together to form the Koodalkadavu. The two bridges which is clearly visible connects Payyampally and Cherukattoor, then Cherukattoor and Pulpally. The distance to Pulpally is reduced to 15 kilometers from 35 kilometers after these two bridges were established.