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A honey trail from Kozhikode to Wayanad
A day’s drive from our shop up the ghat to the coffee country, with stops for honey, food and views.
Many visitors to our shop ask where the honey actually comes from. If you have a free day, you can drive the route our hives take each year, from the Kozhikode plains up into the hills of Wayanad, in about two and a half hours each way.
Start at our shop on Mavoor Road at 8 am, taste the season’s honeys and pick up a small jar for the road. Head out through Kunnamangalam, where the rubber estates begin; from January to March, you will see bee boxes set on stands between the trees. Stop for a breakfast of puttu and kadala at one of the small hotels near Thamarassery before the climb.
The Thamarassery churam has nine hairpin bends, and the view of the valley from the top, near Lakkidi, is worth a stop. Drive slowly in the monsoon, when mist can come down quickly. From Lakkidi to Vythiri and Kalpetta, you pass through coffee and pepper estates. In March and early April, if you time it right, the coffee is in white flower and the whole hillside smells of jasmine; that is when our coffee blossom honey is made.
Come back down before dark, and if you still have time, end at Kozhikode beach for the sunset and a walk through SM Street for halwa. Avoid weekends in the holiday season, when the churam can be slow for hours. Message us before you go, and we can suggest a coffee estate that welcomes visitors.
