Nilambur - A teak paradise

Nilambur which is approximately 80 kms distant from the nearest towns - Calicut, Thrissur and Palghat is known for its teak plantations. It is situated in the Perinthalmanna - Gudalloor route. Even though many times we have passed through the beautiful roads of this section either on a trip to Bangalore or on a trip to Ooty, we had never explored this place.

After hearing much appreciation about this place, decided to visit this place exclusively and scheduled a one day trip. We started from Calicut, drove through Ramanattukara and Manjeri to Nilambur. The roads even though filled with twisties was neatly maintained. The rashly driven private buses pose a major threat while driving through these roads. The SUV which we were travelling was swaying like a boat, hence the drive was pretty slow so that the passengers will not feel any discomfort.

Even after driving at slow speeds, we reached Nilambur approximately 2.5 hours after we started. Had a breakfast from Nilambur town and headed straight to Aadiyan Para. Once we turned away from the main road towards this place, suddenly we felt a change in landscape and could not resist stopping for a photo shoot. But alas! my camera's battery has been drained out. So that means I have to be content with the photographs taken using Nokia N70.

This is a typical road side view in this part of the country.

Felt like being at a picnic spot, with lush greenery, tall trees, sound of birds, untarred roads and absolutely free of any tourists. The joy of being here was being converted in the form of energy as can be evident from this pic

We spent about 1 hour at this place, enjoying the beauty of the nature. An unplanned stopover but no regrets as we don't have any target of covering the entire picnic spots of Nilambur in this trip. Went straight to Aadiyan para. As the target approached, there were some steep climbs and the drive through these roads was fun.

We parked our vehicle at a point where some 2 other vehicles were parked.

From this point we were wondering on what is this aadiyan para all about since we could not see anything special here.

A small climb up and my goodness it was a fantastic place. The rock was very vast. There was a gradual slope down and at the end we could see a stream of water gushing through. The dark colored rocks, with a milky white stream and greenery behind was giving us a unique ambience.
The vastness of the place is something which cannot be explained nor be captured on a camera.

A shot taken from way up the rock.

Wherever water has to cross a rock, a mini water fall ensued and the bubbles formed were creating a milky white ambiance along with that natural sound of water flow.

There was a relatively big water fall towards one side.

We could even venture into the forest through these rocks, but extreme caution has to be adopted since the rock will be very slippery, wherever it is in contact with the water. During rainy season it will be difficult to even climb down to the place where we reached. Spend some quality time in this ambiance and only when we heard the call of our stomach did we decide to leave this place and that too at 2pm. By this time we were sure that we had to come once again to visit other picnic spots because we will be able cover only one more spot before sun sets.

Had lunch and then proceeded straight to teak museum, which is on the highway to Gudualloor. Purchased entry tickets, parked our vehicle at the parking lot and stepped in.
There is a small approach road towards the museum. But this road is so beautiful with the big bamboo trees welcoming us.

The building housing the teak museum was in sight.



This big root of a teak was on display at the entrance of the museum

Once we started to walk around seeing the displays and the notes associated with it, we were lead into another world, a world where we traveled back in time. The important landmarks in history which occurred in and around the area where the teak tree was standing, were inscribed in the teak tree itself.

Works of art created using teak wood was another attraction.

The method of planting teak trees was on display with all the facts like distance between them, natural fertilizers needed etc


Then there is a rich collection of alternate wood which can be used instead of teak.



It was almost 5.30pm, when we bid goodbye to the world of teak and its history.

We went straight to a place where Asia's largest Teak is present. We had to pass a river to reach this spot. On reaching the banks of this river, found out that the boat service has ended for the day. So that means we have to end our trip here. Just spend sometime on this river bed.

Enjoyed the beautiful scenery around. Soon we could see that the color of water as well as the flora and fauna were fading, indicating that sun is bidding goodbye for the day.



Soon we hit the road,driving back, with a rejuvenated body and mind.