Chembra Peak, the highest in Wayanad, Kerala,at 2100 meters ASL is one of the best one day trekking spots. Chembra is around 300 km from Bangalore near Meppady.
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| Chembra Peak |
Five of us started at 6 PM from bangalore in i10 car for an adventurous weekend. Our first halt was at Nanjangud for the night.
*Forest gates will be closed from 6pm to 6am in the forest reserve.
We stayed at a lodge in Nanjangud, who charged Rs 700/- for a night for 5 of us.It was an ok kind of room with 4 beds.We started the next day early morning towards wayanad.
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| Sunrise near Nanjangud |
The ideal time for starting the Chembra trek would be an early morning but Since we reached Meppadi close to noon, we decided to have fun at the Soochipara waterfalls and do the trek the next morning.
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Soochipara falls
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For reaching the Chembra base, we need to take the lane adjacent to Meppadi mosque and travel a distance of about 10kms to reach the forest office.The ticket would cost Rs 500 for upto 10 people which includes the guide charges.We had more adventurous plans and hence decided to stay at Chembra watch
tower.It would cost Rs 3500/- per day(for all of us),which includes the trekking fee and the guide charges.The watch tower has 2 rooms,one on each floor.The room has one double bed with a single bulb hanging on one side of the wall and the light generated is very less.(Sourced from solar energy).
Make sure to take enough water and food items as you won't get anything around chembra base.For reaching the Watch tower you'll walk through the beautiful tea gardens.You'll get the feel of the forest once you reach the watch tower with the sound of cricket insects. As per the guard at the watch tower, there is a presence of wild animals around that place.
The view of the watch tower where we stayed.
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| *This picture is not taken by me. |
It was amazing to see the sunset and the sky changing the colors from top of the watch tower.
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| View of Chembra Hills from the watch tower. |
The view of the Chembra atop of the Watch tower would be just amazing.We also had a fantastic time playing bluff(Card game) that night.
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| Enjoying the view of the hills. |
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| View of Chembra Hills from the watch tower. |
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| View of Chembra Hills from the watch tower. |
The next morning the entire surrounding of the watch tower was covered with fog.
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| View of Chembra Hills from the watch tower early morning. |
We started around 6 in the morning for the trek. Ideally it would take 4 hours to trek and reach the top.
After sometime of the trek You'll find a small pond on the trial which has lots of small fishes.We had a good fish spa free of cost.
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| Heart Shaped Lake on the way to the chembra peak. |
It is still a long way to go.We'll always feel that the it would be the last peak but the fact is the heart shaped lake is just the half way done.
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| Walking through the huge grass. |
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| The final Peak. |
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| Some where while climbing down the peak. |
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| Robber Fly |
Coming down would be slippery.I fell down once :)
There is a water flow in the middle of the trek and drinkable(As per the guide).We drank the same but it would be very cold and was just amazing.
The trek to chembra peak is awesome, but not an easy one.
The forest office for taking permission for trek is open on all the days of the year.
But make sure to carry enough water and something to eat. We took biscuits, few apples and chocolates.
*Its always important to make sure not to throw any of the waste on the hills.
We came back to the watch tower took shower( the watch tower has one decent bath room inside the compound at one corner, and yes you'll get only chilled water)
We started back to Bangalore and made sure to cross the forest check post before 6'o clock and reached around 11'o clock to bangalore.
The road we took from bangalore.
http://goo.gl/maps/AEFel
