07/08/2015
Letter from Ramachandra/chennai
The four of us had an awesome time with you. We are now back in chennai. I have sent a small review in trip advisor. Not sure when it will get reflected.
There are several things that make a trip from a nice one to, an extremely memorable one. The main being your hosts. At cheeral homestay you can't go wrong on that count. The owner Mr Soman belongs to the fast disappearing breed of perfect hosts and an absolute gentleman. His wife is equally a wonderful person. He had asked us to call him up when the four of us, very close friends, left Chennai. Again he asked us to call him up on reaching Sultan Bathery (important town in Wayanad) . Our check in was supposed to be at 12 and we were to reach much before that, not one word was mentioned by him about that. Keeping continuous contact with us Soman Sir was waiting in the bus stand for us with his smiling demeanour. He picked us up in his Santro and drove us about 10km to his house.
It had been specifically mentioned that pick up and drop from the bus stand was not included, but he never mentioned any payment at all.
It was a beautiful house, very clean, surrounded on all sides by gardens. The rooms are spacious and again absolutely s**c and span. Soman sir set up our itinerary at very reasonable terms using local car drivers. He guided us at every step.
Day 1. Being a little tired from travel sir took us to a nearby forest for a short walk (again in his car, no charge) . He is repository of knowledge and explained a lot about the flora and fauna. By night we were back in his house. Just a FYI the is no TV in the rooms but believe me you'd never miss it. There is a bsnl wifi though for net addicts.
Day 2 He had arranged a full day trip by a local cab covering Edukkal Caves and a lake. We had a nice trip at the end on our request he also arranged an ayurvedic massage session for us at an ayurvedic clinic. From my perspective the massage was not up to the mark. By night back to house
Day 3 The best part of our trip. He drove us, rather gave the car to one of us to drive into Karnataka, about 40km where there are several acres of Marigold. It was a surreal experience and reminded me of the various flower farms we see in TV in Amsterdam. All of us went photo crazy and might have taken more than 500 pics at that place. Soman sir was also busy clicking away along with the four of us. After lunch at the nearby town he took us to a Wayanad forest safari. It was a bit costly and not all that fun. Then back home by night. Those fields of Marigold with Soman sir guiding us to get the best shots will live for a very long time in our memory.
Day 4. He had planned a trip for us to the Banasur sagar dam and some islands. He booked the cab after taking confirmation from us. But at the last minute all of us decided to just stay there and not to roam about. We went and sheepishly informed him. Without the slightest hesitation he went ahead and cancelled with the cab driver. Just imagine if we had done this to a Chennai cab. So whole day was spent lazing in the house and playing several hands of rummy.
Day 5. All good things have to end. So with a very heart we left back for chennai. Sir took us in his car and dropped is at the Sultan Bathery bus stand, helped us get a bus, explained which would be the best seats and waved us a fond farewell. His wife had also come with us as she was leaving town for a few days and it was difficult to part with two such nice people.
I would be completely remiss if I didn't mention the most wonderful part of the stay. It was without question the breakfast made by Soman sir's wife. Puttu kadalai, Appam with vegetable stew, upma, Alu paratha. All the vegetables and s**ces were from their garden and the taste was awesome. That will remain with us for ever.
In conclusion of you are planning for a Waynad trip and are not hankering for luxury, please visit this place. You'll have one heck of a time.
