Lakkidi, 5 km from Vythiri and often referred to as the gateway to Wayanad, is 2,297 ft atop Thamarassery Ghat Pass, beyond which lie the Kozhikode Plains. After Meghalaya's Cherrapunji-Mawsynram region, Lakkidi registers the second highest degree of rainfall in the world. If you travel along the 12-km ghat road from Adivaram to Lakkidi, amidst thick forests, you'll have to negotiate nine hairpin bends, making for a thrilling ride. Drive out from Lakkidi towards the ghat pass. Just before the ghat begins, you'll come across a curious sight the famous Chain Tree of Lakkidi, a banyan tree with chains wrapped around its trunk. The legend goes that a British engineer who did not know the road from Calicut (now Kozhikode) to Wayanad, was shown the way by an adivasi. Later, the Brit claimed to have discovered it on his own and killed the adivasi to preserve his claim. Soon, roads were built over Thamarassery Ghat Pass and Wayanad was thrown open to the coast. But the new roads witnessed a spate of accidents soon after completion. A priest was called who attributed the accidents to the restless soul of the adivasi. So he chained his soul.