Kerala trip--Day 1

I'm starting on a series about our Kerala Road Trip.....one post per day of our travels, hopefully encompassing the gist of the day.

Day 1

Bangalore to Wayanad

*Ah the anticipation of a trip! Magical :-)

*Waking up at 4:30am has never been so easy.

*Breakfast at Kamat on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. We sit outside and watch the monkey's in the bamboo grove as we eat.

*Stop over for Cafe Coffee Day before entering Bandipur Sanctuary for lunch/snacks and drinks.

*Driving through the hills of Wayanad is simply beautiful.

*Arrive at Mountain Dew Homestay in the afternoon. It is a delightful little place on the northern slope of a hill, overlooking misty valleys.

*Quick round of tea and then we're off for a plantation walk, through coffee bushes and pepper vines. The path is quite wide, jeep-able, but also quite steep. We're promised a fantastic view up above, so we continue on. I start my leaf collection for the trip.

*The hill has wonderful mineral water. I'd loved to have seen the spring....but must keep something for next time!

*Climbing, climbing, slowly climbing.....don't want to strain my knee on the very first day but then, I definitely don't want to miss the sights either.

*We're rewarded with a wonderful view, not at the top, but quite close to it!

*We have a nice tapioca dish (with rye and curry leaf tarka) as a snack....sent to us by the owners family.

*Dinner is a relaxed affair on the terrace upstairs, with lots of local flavours. The vegetable stew is delicious. A superb start!