The Landscapes of Pakshipathalam: My Travelogue

Photo by: Indus Holidays

It suddenly starts raining cats and dogs out of nowhere, things are getting darker in the jungle with eye sight being seriously impaired. Of course, it’s even more dramatic when you know are surrounded by tall bushes in which wild elephants, snakes and god knows what else could be hiding. Four of us from the group of ten had lost track of the route and were wandering aimlessly lost in the middle of the jungle for over an hour.

It is hard to put in words the kind of excitement of the moment but let me tell you I am never forgetting this Pakshipathalam trek ever.

It is November 2011 and we were on exploring the villages of Wayanad in Kerala. A casual acquaintance in a village I was camping at gave me a riveting account of his trek which caught my fancy. Soon enough a team of ten of us were off to the place.
 

What is this place about?

Pakshipathalam is loosely translated as abode of birds is a place about 1740m above sea level and requires you to venture for a 7 km adventurous day trek from Thirunelly through thick forests. What is really fascinating is the sheer range of sights starting from virgin forests with wildlife spotting, crystal clear rivulets, rolling hills in the back set of the cloudy sky, endless grasslands and the challenging caving through boulders and narrow crevices.

My Experience:

We were late and grossly under-equipped but we didn’t know about it till we experienced it. After completing the formalities and getting our permissions for trek (Rs.900 for a group of 5) from the District Forest Office at the starting of the trek we were introduced to our forest guard, Rajan who would accompany us through the forest. It was around 9:30 am and Rajan did not mince words when he said if we didn’t hurry we were not going to make it back. Period. We quickly put some oil on our legs (to fight leaches) from the small bag he brought along with him and set off into the jungle.

The trek path starts with a not-so-thick circuitous path through the forest. A green canopy covering us from the sun makes for a pleasant journey initially. The sound of bird chirping gives some nice BGM. Then it starts getting up hill and narrow as you starting climbing Karimala hill. An hour or so later the canopy clears to give way to a majestic view of the landscape and the bhramagiri hills from a distance. The wind blowing is smoothing and pleasantly chilling. From here you can see the forest watchtower and the view from this vantage point is simply amazing. You could easily spend half an hour here and use your binoculars to spot some wildlife and anyway your guide will do it without all the fancy equipment.
 

From this point on it was a leisurely walk through grassland for some time. Our guide had loosened up and started sharing stories of the wild and his encounters. Then suddenly he cut conversation mid-way and pointed in a direction. We could see a wild bison and some rare variety of hanging monkeys at a distance. 

All the while I was thinking how the hell did he spot it? The visual treat kept getting better and better with clouds on the hills we felt we were floating around away from the madding crowds.

Now the path gets exciting as we descend in to the shola forests with an amazing range of clear water streams and waterfalls. It gets kind off slippery and complicated here, I fell into the stream a couple of times. Even that was awesome. There were small waterfalls enroute as we walked our way through the shola and reached a valley with endless grasslands. Here you can cross the Kerala- Karnataka border multiple times! The path had a lot of gooseberry trees from which we tasted wild gooseberries as we marched ahead to Garudapara, a huge rock where we spend some time soaking in the sights.

A few snaps later we were near the caves and well on our way to Pakshipathalam. The path through the caves in between the crevices of the boulders looked impossible. Our guide took us through the path with ease and must admit was really thrilling. It was pitch dark and only one person could craw and slide through the slippery surfaces at a time. The dark cave formation became the ideal place for avian settlement and hence the place got its name. As it turned out crawling in and out of the caves was the most tiring probably because of the lack of oxygen.

 

 

The lands at Pakshipathalam were immensely beautiful and I leave it at this point for my reader to discover the rest for himself. We set out on our journey back. As I mentioned we were late by all means and our guide was literally hitting us with a small twig like wild buffoloes to run back down the trail. He mentioned it was really dangerous to be in the forests after 6pm as the wild start coming closer to the waters. It was on our way back 4 of us got totally lost and ended up stranded in the forest walking in wilderness for an hour or so as the rain poured in wildly.

It really lucky that we survived to tell the tale with thanks to our guide who knew the forest like the back of his hand to our rescue. 

 

 

Now we could hear the music from Thirunelly temple telling us we getting close to the end of the trek. The forest was beginning to get alive by the sounds we could here. By around 7pm we were back at the base. Now as we pulled out socks we had leaches sucking in a lot of our blood and then the salt massacre began! We rented some jeeps back to Mananthavady to chill out for the night.
 

Some Travel tips:

If you found the place interesting and want a plan a trip here, I don’t want you to make the same mistakes we did. So I am compiling some of my input for you in this section.

Things to carry:

• Carry some snacks and energy boosters
• Water bottle (You will get numerous opportunities to refill with fresh stream water Enroute)
• Salt or oil and thick socks (needed to fight leaches)
• Binoculars (will be useful for spotting in long range)
• Cap and sunscreen
• Hiking boots that work well in wet/slippery conditions (our trek guide counter intuitively recommended normal slippers)
• Outfit must be suitable for avoiding grass-cut and be ready to get wet

How to plan a trip here:

For a weekend getaway, I suggest coming to Mananthavady and taking up some place to stay at Tholpetty. So you plan a trip to Iruppu Waterfalls in Karnataka spend some time there and come back in time for the afternoon jeep safari at Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary. You could laze around the evening at your resort enjoy dinner and go for a night safari from there. Next day morning set of to Thirunelly see the temple and morning start a trek to Pakshipathalam. You head back to Manathavady by night and then on for your further journey.

Trek fees & Permissions: Rs1000 for a group of 5 (international travellers) and Rs.800 for a group of 5 (Indians). Rs.100 per extra person. Permissions for the trek are obtained from DFO, North Wayanad -  04935- 240233. Thirunelly forest station -  04935- 210377.

Location: North Wayanad near Thirunelly temple. It is 32 Km from Mananthavady and there is good bus connectivity between Thirunelly and Mananthavady. Mananthavady can be reached from Kozhikode which is the nearest airport and railway station.

Pakshipathalam is around 7 km from thirunelly temple and trekking is the only way to reach this place. Trekking starts from the north Wayanad forest division office. 
 

Go to know:

• With our experience, I would say you will be in good stead if you start your trek by 7:30 or at least by 8 am.
• It is not advised or allowed to do the trek without a forest guide and I would venture to suggest that you get some nice stuff to know and talk about if you can strike a good rapport with your guide.
• Best time to do the Pakshipathalam trek would between January –May and October-December. The Rainy season is better avoided.

Summary

Pakshipathalam trek is an assault on all sense for people who are slightly adventurous and enjoy treks. The sheer range and setting will not disappoint with something for everybody in this place.