The Fort of Clouds - My visit to Kurumbalakkotta

                It was in the wee (early) hours of a beautiful morning that we decided to climb Kurumbalakkotta. The place is a recent tourist attraction in Wayanad among various other places. Who doesn’t like to snuggle (move or arrange oneself in a comfortable and cozy (comfortable) position) up in bed in the early morning! To tell you the truth, I was not in a mood to climb Kurumbalakkotta or any other hill for that matter. However, like my family members, I also  thought of giving it a try. After all, it is a well-known haunt (a place where people visit more often) of tourists to Wayanad.

When we reached the place, the day break was not in sight. Yet, silver rays of the Sun had begun to peep through the lush greenery of the place. We considered it as the best time to begin our climb. Initially, it was fun to climb. But gradually, everyone started complaining. Many of us got tired after some time. Because it was a steep climb. You need to use a stick to climb if you don’t want to hurt your legs so much. There were rocks of various sizes along the path. We sifted (move by avoiding something) through the rocks to reach the top. Finally, when we reached the top we realized that it was worth it. The scenery that welcomed us, was a treat to our eyes. You wouldn’t believe what we saw there: the clouds were moving peacefully below us. They softly touched the surrounding hills of Kurumbalakkotta and floated as if they were on water.

The local people of the place made money by selling tea and coffee to the tourisst who reach the top of Kurumbalakkotta. It was a special feeling to sip the coffee and enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature. I felt calm and peaceful upon reaching the summit. One of the locals who sold coffee to us said that Tipu Sultan had hid in a cave nearby.

 He even led us to the cave. But we knew that he was lying because these local people hugely benefitted out of the recent attraction that Kurumbalakkotta received. Mouth publicity about Kurumbalakkotta spread like wildfire and it often spoilt the beauty of the place. We saw that many tourists litter the place with plastic bottles and cans of soft drinks. This is an early warning that the place and its beauty will be lost if we humans continue to consider nature only as our property but not as that of the coming generation. Anyway, we left the place with great satisfaction and energy for not just the rest of the days but for many days that were coming.

-Anjoe-