Kannur and around – A perfect place to laze and relax

Bangalore to Srirangapatna to Hunsur to Kannur to Calicut to Wayanad to Mysore to Bangalore 1000kms

THE PLAN

Republic Day long weekend was close and we were contemplating on the location and companions for our trip. Pinky (Anjana’s sister) gave a yes along with one or two of her friend. Place decided was Gokarna and transportation was our Fiat Linea.

Due to some urgent office work, Pinky dropped out and so did her friends. So now just two of us were there and we decided on a closer beach location, Kannur in Kerala.

PLANS ARE MEANT TO BE SCRAPED

Anjana at Thottada Beach. Notice the occasional rocks

Kannur is located in the Malabar region of Kerala. It is about 70kms North of the famous town of Kozhiokode alongside the Arabian Sea. Kannur witnessed several changes of power controlling the city. Dutch, Portugese, British, Arakkals to name a few.  Kannur was also called as Cannanore during the British rule.

Malabari food is famous and you can try the same in one of the restaurants. Theyyam happens to be the most religious art of this region. Kannur is 6^th largest town of Kerala so we thought we are going to a small place (6^th largest town of one of the smallest states of India). However we were awed by the richness of the town and the level of development they have managed and I really understood what happens when you have a literate population. We saw most luxurious car brands showroom in this town. So by no means you dare to think that you are going to a small place.

ON THE GO

The Grand Plunge

We started our journey on Friday, 24^th Jan morning around 8.00AM after pushing us a lot. This day I realized we are getting old. In college, if we had to go for a trip, I was infamous for goading lazy bums like Jasjiv Paji from 5 in the morning itself. The day before, I had my car’s brake pads changed and so I maintained low speed till we got out of the city. By the time we hit Mysore Road on clean patch, it was already 9.15AM. Anjana had got some Aloo Parantha packed for breakfast. So we stopped by at a chai wallah and sipped tea with Paranthas. This was around 11.00 AM.

We bypassed Mysore around noon. Just after Srirangapatna, you have to take a right towards the famous Mysore Bird Sanctuary on KRS Road. You have to follow this road towards Hunsur. Road is going to be a little rough after this however, the beautiful countryside will definitely make up for the pain. In case you have got packed food, you can enjoy a quick picnic anywhere on this road as there were many isolated corners with green all around. Journey till Hunsur was really easy and good.

WRITE AN ESSAY ON INDIAN ROADS- THERE YOU GO SIR

Satin Sand Beach resort - Good for nothing

Post Hunsur, you have to take road towards Madikeri uptil Periyapatna and then take a left from there. Road uptil Periyapatna was really amazing (I belive coz the road goes to Madikeri). Post Periyaptna, Welcome to Hell. The State Highway 21 from Periyapatna till it hits Virajapet Mysore Road was in the most terrible condition I have ever seen a road. You should be really careful if you are planning to take this road as there were big potholes where even an SUV will bruise its belly, forget a Linea which is infamous for its low ground clearance.  We had terrible time driving and even after taking extra care, I scraped my car’s bottom atleast 5 or 6 times against the road. In some section, road work was going on at Snail’s pace. My estimate says that atleast for next 2-3 years, this road is going to be the same.

Finally we came out of the worst part of our journey. The next worry was lunch and it was already 2.45 PM. Anjana heard an oracle that a few good restaurants were coming up ahead and so we were banned from eating just anywhere. One thing I must say, the road till Gonikoppal after this was very scenic as if we were in Madikeri. Coffee plantations covered the both side of the road and the misty sky made a perfect ambience for a romantic drive. However, hunger was overcoming romance and so I finally stopped at a very small and dingy looking restaurant neglecting Anjana’s oracle. Fish fry, parotha, rice and rasam finally changed the way I was looking at that place. I ate a lot and got 4 pcs of Rs 8 per fish parceled for me for my enroute refueling. Anjana dint touch anything and we moved ahead when we saw a diversion to Virarajendrapet(too long name, I could not pronounce) as the straight road was getting constructed. At this small town, we found a big superstore, where Anjana got cold drink, biscuit, bread, butter, curd, etc.

LAKE PLACID WITH TINY MONSTERS

The Lake just before Kerala Border

We moved further and as we were getting closer to Kerala border, we found one beautiful lake tucked away in green surrounded by mountains from all sides and only one side open to us. We stopped here and enjoyed the food both of us were carrying. We spotted many strange black marks floating in the lake so we got closer to surprise us with shoals (there were many) of small black fish. We threw some bread in the water but we were surprised again by sudden attack of brown fish (don’t know came out of where, maybe from lake bed) on bread while no movement from the black shoals. I smelt racial discrimination.

OH YES, WE ARE THERE
Finally by 6.00PM, we reached Kannur. Level 1 complete.

Our ordeal began with search for stay. We never go with a plan and so we never book anything in advance.

We knew there were beautiful beach resorts near Thottada Beach(about 10 kms from Kannur Town towards South). So we straight away headed for the place. However by the time we reached, it was already dark and so we could not dare to drive in the single lane road leading to beach to explore resorts. We decided to move further down south on the main highway and reached Thalassery (also known as Tellicherry about 25 kms from Kannur Town). Here we got a beautiful place (Hotel Paris Presidency) to stay at a very reasonable price. After dinner, we hit the bed for a tight sleep.

SOMETHING'S FISHY IN THALASSERY

Fish market, see those big prawns - just Rs 240/kg

Day 2 – Next morning we got up a little early and walked to Thlassery Fort and the beach. Thalassery Beach is not a great place to be unless you love fish. We saw tons of fish getting unloaded from the innumerous fishing boats. The place had a strong smell which not everyone could stand (Anjana managed though). I checked the price of Big Prawns in the connecting fish market and it was dirt cheap (Rs 240/kg). So in case you are carrying your own stove with you, this is the place to be as atleast I can live on Prawns for 5 days straight.

Thalassery Fort was not as mighty a fort as we have in India. It was built to provide British cover for their safe trade.

The veg restaurant

While walking back to hotel, we stopped by at a vegetarian restaurant which Anjana dint like (we had only coffee there, so don’t go by her like). I must mention something here that Kerala is not a very friendly place for vegetarians as all restaurant serve non-veg here and most of them also serve beef and other red meat products. So jump on any veg restaurant you find if you are fussy about this.

MUZHAPPILANGAD BEACH - THE BEST AND THE LONGEST DRIVE-IN BEACH IN ASIA & INDIA

Next plan was to hit Muzhappilangad Beach(about 14 kms from Kannur Town towards South), the longest and the best drive-in beach in India and Asia. I must confess here that I had never been to drive-in beach and so I was too excited to be here. And I must also admit that the actual experience surpassed the expectation by many points. I was amused to see the long stretch of beach and a wide space alongside the water to drive. There is a small entry fee at Muzhappilangad Beach of Rs 20 valid for a whole day collected by some very nicely behaved smiling security person. This beach does not have any eatery or stalls where you can buy food, so carry as much food, water, beverages, etc with you. We drove through almost 4 km long beach thinking we will come back again here.

THOTTADA BEACH - A PUBLIC BEACH WITH PRIVATE EXPERIENCE

At Sunset

Next, we proceeded to Thottada Beach which was tucked away in curvy single lane road narrowed down further from both side by dense bushes, where hardly my Linea could pass through. We drove through some road but could not find any beach. There were, however, many resorts on our right side which felt like calling us inside. But we still could not understand where the Beach is. Suddenly we saw two foreigners jumping a wall on our left and then we realized the beach was on the other side of the wall. We immediately parked the car and followed them. And WAAAAHHH, this was The Beach. It felt like a private beach with hardly anyone around. We saw 2 foreigner couples lazing under the sun. So we also decided to camp here today. But we had no food so we decided to go to the market, buy lot of food and then come back here. But on the way, we found an attractive homestay (Satin Sand Beach Resort) alongside the beach which looked welcoming. After discussing a lot among us, we booked the place for next day.

Muzhappilangad Beach - The Longest Drive-in Beach in Asia

Now since we had more than half a day left, we thought of exploring the city beach in Kannur which was also very famous. We had some food with us in the car with which we reached Payyambalam Beach. It was too hot as we reached there around 12.30PM. We took mattress and food and went to Beach. Hardly after 30 mins we came back running to car to save ourselves from the scorching sun. Next we headed back to Muzhappilangad Beach, but this time, we bought a lot of food & beverages. I parked the car in a way that it created shade for us on one side. It was around 2.00PM or so. We ate a lot and then I took a brief nap while Anjana honed her deteriorating photography skills.

We spotted lot of small crabs on the beach and many out of them were mating. They used to quickly dig up small holes in the sand and disappear within seconds only to allow waves to bring them up again to surface. It was a beautiful thing to watch. I could not stop myself appreciating their continuous and determined fight to hide under the sand to keep them protected from humans. It was inspiring.

We left the beach when it got dark and exactly when a police jeep came to ensure the beach is emptied as there was no light. It is really scary to be on this beach in night so my advice would be to leave the place before it gets dark. We came back to hotel and retired for a good night sleep.

A PERFECT DAY FOR LEISURE & RELAXATION

Our makeshift arrangement at Thottada Beach - Notice the privacy???

Day 3 – Next day morning, we got up late and after breakfast, went directly to the Satin Sand Beach Resort. After having lunch there, we went to beach and created a makeshift arrangement for us right there on the beach (take a look at the pic). We spent rest of the day and evening just lazing there. On this beach we spotted big crabs (really big & many of them) who did not allow me to get closer to them. The moment you even move a bit, they will dig up a big hole and go inside or run away into the water. Locals said, they never hurt humans but still neither of us could take the risk of diving in the water. Once I went in the water till knee level but after some alien touch to my feet, I rushed out immediately.

It was a truly rejuvenating day as we did nothing but relaxed. Our host seemed like ill equipped with food as well as manpower and so we were served very limited amount of food (it was included in the charges) and my vegetarian wife had almost nothing to eat. We somehow managed and went to sleep.

WHERE IS THE PHOTOGRPAHER

Crab - these were the smaller ones

SNAIL

Day 4 – the moment, I got up, I hit the beach (the reason why we stayed in this place). Anjana joined in a while and we were taking some pic shots. I also clicked a snail and a small crab. After spending about 2 hours here, we came back to resort. We left after having again a very limited breakfast served by the only old man in the entire homestay. Our recommendation would be a NO for Satin Sand Beach Resort.

I love flying

Since we had a terrible experience on Day 1 of the road we came from, we took the road via Kozhikode, Wayanad, Mysore to Bangalore. It was little longer but it was better. On the way, we stopped at Kappad Beach (about 20 kms from Kozhikode) which is again a nice place to be. We bypassed Kozhikode and kept driving straight towards Wayanad. You have to take left from Kozhikode towards North East to reach Wayanad. We reached Wayanad by 2.00PM. We stopped at a Udupi which served a third class lunch and first class price. Never go to this Udupi in Wayanad town which is on main highway only. Since we were very hungry we stopped at this first option. Later, many more good restaurants came but we were already full.

We had our dinner just before Mysore at Kamat Upachar which is really worth. We always stop here as they serve real tasty food.

Finally , we reached Bangalore at about 10.00PM and thus retired to bed.

Quick Facts

Shortest distance to Kannur from Bangalore – 325 kms approx

Total run of our car – 970kms

Best time to go – Nov till March

Best thing to do – Lazing on the beach

What is famous – Theyyam Dance, Malabari food, lungi

Go with lots and lots of food, water, beverages and not to forget sunscreen.