ദൈവത്തിന്റെ വികൃതികള്, മയ്യഴിപ്പുഴയിടെ തീരങ്ങളില്... ഈ കൃതികള് വായിച്ചവര്ക്ക് മയ്യഴി എന്ന സഥലം പെട്ടെന്ന് മറക്കാന് കഴിയില്ല... അങ്ങനെയിരിക്കെ ചേട്ടന്റെ കൂട്ടുകാരായ രവീന്ദ്രന് മാഷും, ഉണ്ണിയും പിന്നെ ഷിബുച്ചായനും ഒരു മയ്യഴി യാത്രയെപ്പറ്റി പറഞ്ഞു... പിന്നെ കൂടുതല് ഒന്നും ആലോചിച്ചില്ല... ഞാനും ശ്യാമും ആഷിക്കും കണ്ണൂരിന് ടിക്കറ്റ് ബുക്ക് ചെയ്തു...
But ironic as it may seem, Raveendran mash and Unni never made the trip. And though we did, all we saw of Mayyzhi was the railway station and a bridge across the Mayyazhi river...
We reached Kannur on Saturday morning and went directly to our Sudeep's place. After a quick shower and a delicious breakfast of appam and kadala curry, we started out for Bekal in Sudeep's car. On the way, we stopped at a clinic to get Shibuchayan urgent medical attention (He had injured his finger in an encounter with a bull... A dead one, that is... Yeah you guessed right... He cut his arm while cutting meat!). After half an hour, three local anaesthetic injections and a washroom full of puke later, he was ready to go.
The drive to Bekal was pleasant, except for the bad roads here and there. We saw the entrance to the "Vismaya Infotainment Park", set up by the pro-CPM Malabar Tourism Development Co-operative. We decided to spend time and money on better things. Shibuchayan had a strange idea of having kappa and beef from from "ഷര്ട്ടിടാത്ത അപ്പച്ചന്റെ കട", and we we were on the look out for a place matching the requirement. Sadly, we couldn't find any and so we had lunch from a small hotel at Bekal. We were lucky to get anything at all, because it was almost 3 and I can say without much exaggeration that we finished everything they had to serve!
The fort is maginificent and is maintained reasonably. It is was built in 1565 and history buffs, read more about the fort
here.
We couldn't help but imagine brave soldiers standing guard day and night at the watch towers. A large area of the fort is covered by lush green grass which makes it more beautiful than most other forts. If you happen to be near Kasargod, Bekal is a must see.
On the way back from Bekal, we also visited Parassinikkadavu temple. It was too crowded and so we couldn't even go near the "muthappan". We were a bit disappointed but later, when Sudeep told us that he'll speak out all our darkest secrets if we touched him, I was convinced that everything happens for good!
By the time we reached Sudeep's place, his dad had arranged fresh കള്ള് for us. It is one of the most refreshing and tasty drinks I've ever tried. Wish I could find a way to keep കള്ള് sweet for a longer time... It's got great potential as an energy drink! There was also a brief singing session, which was kind of a tradition for Sudeep's family.
It was a long day and we all slept like logs (Which we do even otherwise.. he he) in preparation for next day's trek. A trek to Paithalmala was planned on Sunday. Nobody knew much about the place but we took a chance and decided to go. We hired a jeep to get there, around 30 km from Kannur.
The trek was pretty easy, for just around 1.5 km. The route was infested with leech, as we expected, and it took me so long to publish this because I couldn't scratch and type at the same time!!
Paithalmala is surrounded by meadows and looks absolutely lovely. There is a watch tower with a great view. We had our lunch there enjoying the cool breeze.
Our next stop was the suicide point. We took a wrong turn and ended up taking the trail less travelled. It was a bit steep, but we reached the cliff very soon.
Before starting the trek, we were told by the locals that there was water available on the top, but we didn't know that they meant a small, stagnant pool of water half filled with grass. We had to decide against drinking from it and trekked back thirsty till the next stream, which was aroung a kilometer downhill.
We reached Kannur by 6 and didn't have time for anything else since our train was at 8. Me, Syam and Ashik left that day, but my brother and Shibuchayan stayed. They went to a nearby island on Monday and on to Mayyazhi on Tuesday.
Like many of our contacts in Kannur warned there was not much to see in Mayyazhi.
They went around asking for places where the French used to stay and all they got were cold stares and an occasional laugh. Finally, someone was kind enough to direct them to Mukundan himself.
Apparently, all the roads were renamed and most of the old buildings demolished and reconstructed. No attempt was ever made to preserve anything from the old days. Even the bunglows under government control were out of luck.
Photos: Sudeep, Ashik, Syam
To watch all the photos, visit
