Chembra Peak
So we started the next day around eight after a breakFast of Appam and stew washed down with a cup of hot tea. We hit the base an hour after few stops on the road side. We then paid 500 to the forest departMent for a permit. A guide accompanied us on the trek. This guide was a tribal named Marthandan, to fit agile young fellow.
Chembra Peak
Chembra Peak
Chembra Peak
Chembra Peak
You can drive up quite a bit, so effectively the trek is only up the last 2000 ft or so.The road is a kucha road passing through acres of lush tea gardens which is a treat to the eyes. On either side you will find tall teak and pine trees. As you climb higher from certain vanTAGe points you can have a view of the enTire valley below. The valley below is filled with many plantations and the valley combined gives you the perfect opportunity forlandscape photography. If you go early in the morning around 8-9, the sprinklers are on, so you can see a fine spray of water in the Air over the tea bushes. There are some spots on the road where the spray from theIf sprinklers fall on, so you can get out of your car and enjoy the fine mist of water on you. It is an ethereal feeling. This is actually a tea estate called the Chembra summer and you will see many workers returning from the tea plucking work (Tea plucking is done early in the mornings and the work is done by the time we get to work urbanized people). At the end of the road is a gate which leads us to the trekking path. It is here that the estate manager's bungalow is located. It is a old colonial styled building with red Mangalore tiles and makes a good picture.At this point we parked our vehicle and started the climb.
The going was easy initially, but with distance the gradient became steeper and it was quite an effort to climb. But we slowly prod on and after an hour long trek reaches to crystal clear lake welcomed us. This view is simply marvelous and all our exhaustion was lost in this beauty. We stopped for some snacks and played for some time in the cool waters of the lake.
Thereafter we took another 2 hours to reach the summit. The summit offers a superb view of the lower valley Wayanad. The sky is crystal clear and blue, and it was exhilarating to be on the top of the world. From the summit one can have a bird's eye view of the enTire wayanad district and is a treat to the photographer in each one of us. After spending half anhour we made our way down. It takes about 2-3 hours for you to come down.
So by the time we returned to base, it was almost evening and we were very tired. So we decided to head back to the hotel in Kalpeta and rest our tired feet. We reached our hotel by six in the evening and it was kind of cold. So we thought to drown our fatigue in a few shots of Vodka accompanied by roasted prawns and panner tikka. Then after a sumptuous dinner we plonked ourselves on the soft bed and slept soundly.
Chembra Peak