Periyar

DAY 6

As per the information gathered, we got to know the primary way to explore “Periyar Reserve” is by  ferries which ply at 2 hour intervals mainly in the morning and evening time. Since we were to leave the place before evening set in, we had only one option. Moreover, its first journey commences at 0630 hrs followed by second at 0900 hours and if you have been reading the posts all along you would definitely know which one we opted for. Yes! The second one… (Although, we realized afterwards that first one could have been better, since animals come to the lake early morning for a drink and hence there is a higher probability to come face to face with them at that time) Thus, if you ever plan on visiting this place kindly compromise on one day’s sleep, it might just prove to be worth the effort.

Here It Begins!

So, we checked out of our room, kept our luggage in a storeroom at the hotel and had our breakfast (need not mention which one) and boarded an auto which dropped us in the reserve. There is a parking area beyond which vehicles are not allowed and hence we had to walk in order to reach the (ferry) boarding point. The stroll was accompanied by a variety of bird voices in a moderately dense forest. We bought the ferry tickets after reaching the destined place and headed into a gallery which showcased various animals that abode Periyar (an informative as well as visually appealing place...I guess the forest dept. has done its homework on how to attract crowd) while we waited for the boarding to begin. The way seats are pre-allocated when you go for a movie so was the case with this ferry (a well-organized system).

There should definitely be some tigers around

Various tour packages available

More or Less! What we saw...

It was a pretty slow beginning and we hoped it would soon pick up some speed but sadly it never did, making it a very peaceful 90 minute journey. It was so serene that I eventually slept off latter half of the ride, partly due to the fact that we were able to see, leave a tiger not even an elephant. A few birds must admit though (pretty colorful ones) and a wild bison were the major sightings for us (quite disappointing) mainly because of our timing. The flora and panoramic landscape view however was quite exquisite which we thoroughly enjoyed for some time, after which I decided there were better things to do and hence dozed away (didn’t miss on any action…LOL). 

Other ways of exploring the reserve are “Tiger Trail” being the first, wherein a trained professional takes you on a track most likely (as they claim...but, who knows) taken by a tiger, and “Bamboo Rafting” wherein you get to roam around in a bamboo boat instead of a ferry (however, kindly note it isn’t in any way similar to an adrenaline rushed river rafting and hence quite dull).

Sighting of An Animal... And we went to Periyar for this guy

Major Attraction Of Periyar

Once we were through with this we came back to Thekkady, had a heavy lunch at a restaurant with enjoyable ambience and boarded a bus to reach our final destination-“Alleppy- Venice of India...or so, it's called”.  It took nearly four hours to reach this place i.e. just before sunset (not that it’s famous for sunsets or anything…for that one must consider Kanyakumari, tip of Indian mainland). One man saw us getting out of a bus and potential customers as we were, he asked us whether we were looking for accommodation. In usual circumstances one must not entertain such people but since we were three guys and he was just one we thought there isn’t any harm in having a look. He led us into a pretty narrow lane and after about ten minutes of walking we arrived at the hotel. It was more of a house turned into a guest house kind of place, but very beautiful. With a lush green garden, a hammock hanging between two coconut trees (as it must be) and white circular pebbles lying in a pattern along the perimeter of the house, it was love at first sight. We booked ourselves into one of their rooms and relaxed for a while.

As I said...more or less, what we saw

After a while as hunger was ticking in we got ready and headed for the market beside a backwater lagoon. We inquired about various ways of touring the place and got to know that there are two predominant options, one being a shikara while other a house-boat. A house-boat is definitely worth it if one is with family or in a group of more than six. Since we were just three we decided to go with the first option. A shikara charges by the hour whereas a house boat is rented for a day offering meals on deck, all included in the rent. 

Note: Thus when in a large group house-boat is definitely a great option as you need not check into a hotel at all, just book a house boat (mostly ply at noon, hence reach accordingly…would require a little bit of foresight and planning )

After we were sure about our next day’s plan we went to have our dinner (not many options available, but we did find a place serving north Indian…must mention it had an interesting variety of juices to offer) and headed for our guest-house once through with our meal.     

Another tiring day ends!!! And by tomorrow night we shall be back in college, to enjoy another oblivious period of waiting, waiting and waiting, chanting seat matrix day and night.

NO! That will never happen .

Two States

DAY 5

Continuation of previous post...In case you haven't read that, here is the link  

http://enigmatic-kush.blogspot.in/2013/03/munnarsouth-indias-highest-peak.html

Done with this we headed for our next destination, a “Tea Museum”. How can you not expect to have one of these in a tea estate and then how can you miss one of these when you have an opportunity to? Thus there we were… standing at the entry of the museum buying tickets for the museum (mentioning this because it was an expensive entry…but an experience worthwhile). Once inside we got to see a video about the history of this tea estate Munnar-how the idea originated, the growth of plantations, settling of many farmers from nearby states, British involvement, development of various facilities in and around Munnar like electrification and establishment of rail structure… etc, etc. In short it was a knowledgeable flick. 

Scaled Plant...Thorough inspection going on at the other end! 

One of the cutting stages

Next, we saw a scaled manufacturing plant in operation and got to learn a little about tea. The process involves four stages of cutting (of leaves) followed by fermentation, drying and filtering into different sizes. The finest particles are termed as “tea dust” and impart strong colour (a favourite choice of the common man) while the bigger particles add flavor and fragrance with almost no colour (quite popular amongst connoisseurs of tea). 

Filtering In Process

Another piece of information…Green tea which has become quite popular these days is manufactured differently with no fermentation happening in the process and hence the time to get the final product is roughly thrice as compared to the usual product, justifying the high cost to customer. There was also a presentation on the right way to have tea. In a nutshell it suggested that tea is best taken without milk, but I know habits die hard (still mentioning as even if one of the readers brings about a change in his/her style of drinking it will be a blog worth writing). We came back to Munnar, had our lunch at the same place (fifth meal here…Really amazing food! Must try for anyone…goes by the name of “ANNAPOORNA”) and headed for our next destination “Periyar”. 

We had enquired as to how to reach Periyar from our hotel manager and verified the information from our reliable Dhaba waiter (Yes! It was usually the same guy who served us…of the five meals we had there) and it appeared he provided us with some valuable inputs. And we went along with the knowledge imparted to us. There isn’t any direct bus to periyar from this place and hence we first had to board a bus to “Theni” wherefrom we could catch a bus to “Thekkady” (A town 5 kms from Periyar Reserve…and the place where most of the hotels are located). 

Note: One can however find accommodation at periyar reserve as well, if he/she is willing to shell out the amount of money usually demanded by 5 star hotels... (We obviously went against this decision…coz we were neither going on a honeymoon nor on a business trip…LOL)  

It's Still Kerala

Coming back to buses…two buses ply each day and we caught the 1330 hrs one (Oops…forgot when the other one departs) and it took nearly four hours to reach the intermediate stop “Theni” which is located in Tamil Nadu. As we crossed the state border once again the distinction was quite clearly visible, this time though, it wasn’t the roads but the dry and dismal state of the state which gave away its identity. It is the topography and the weather which can be blamed apart from the administration (for a change) for this particular condition of the state. The Western Ghats lie almost at the Kerala and Tamil Nadu border and the monsoon comes from the south-west direction, hence wetting the lands of Kerala but leaving the state behind the mountains crying for water. And hence I would once again like to say “KERALA IS TRULY BLESSED”. 

Here comes Tamil Nadu

Anyways, from Theni we caught the second bus which took a mighty two hours to drop us at our destined location -Thekkady. We booked ourselves into a decent hotel (after checking the room…obviously) at a fair price. After relaxing for a while we headed for dinner. To our surprise we found in Thekkady, branch of the restaurant where we had one of our meals in Munnar (the only meal which we didn’t have at our usual Munnar place). Since we knew the taste would suit the needs of a North-Indian tongue (as we had already tried it out the day before) we had our dinner at this place (It was a Marwari Restaurant). 

 

Feeling sad for the dry and arid region!

It served delicious food (Maybe we were too hungry to notice any flaw in the food or we were just too happy to find north Indian food in Periyar…Can’t say!). We roamed around for some time after the dinner in the gentle breeze, made some enquires, went to our hotel and slept peacefully.

Another exhausting yet beautiful day ends…with just two more days left.

Munnar...South India's Highest Peak

DAY 5

 

There were just a couple of popular locations left to visit in and around Munnar and hence we had decided the previous day to finish off exploring Munnar by noon on day 5, and much went according to the plan owing to our far-sightedness in booking an auto in advance for today’s travel ( and getting up early, finally). We were in fact done with our breakfast by 0830 hours and in our ride in another five minutes as he was on time and so were we. This was our fourth visit to the same restaurant for our breakfast and even the waiter had started recognizing us by now. We had south-Indian in the morning today only to save as much time as possible since its preparation time is quite less as compared to other cuisines (apart from the tradition thing which is also true). 

Yes! We are headed in the right direction

We were to visit a mountain peak- south India’s highest; located in the confines of a national park which operates on a timely basis. The visiting hours of the park are from 0830 hours to 1500 hours and entry is closed after that, but I must admit mornings are the best time to visit and the earlier you reach the better as you won’t have to stand in a queue (luckily we were the first to reach the ticketing counter and hence not welcomed by a long queue, which was eventually formed ten minutes after we took our tickets). 

The park goes by the name of “Eravikulam” and is famous for the “Anamudi peak” and a species- “Nilgiri Tahr” predominantly found in the vicinity of this region. Forgot to mention one important thing, only park buses ply within the defined limits of the national park and one has to take their ticket apart from an entry ticket and a camera/recorder permit. Buses ply when they are approximately full and take the passengers to an intermediate spot in the forest, after which you have the liberty (or compulsion…as you may perceive!) to stroll along a well-built road for a couple of kilometers enjoying the weather and the flora and fauna. 

A tributary...In formation

What lies on the other side

Visiting in monsoon time we were very lucky as we got the opportunity to walk amidst clouds owing to the altitude. We didn’t realize that we were actually within the circumference of a cloud until one of us went far ahead (and crossed it unknowingly) in order to take a picture, and we got to know about it (It is only from a distance that you can see a cloud formation and not while you are standing in one…cool isn’t it). Enough of the cloud experience…coming back to the park, the landscape and peak view was in no way unmatched to the kind of scenery one gets to see in a typical Bollywood movie (by typical I mean, one without much of a story and hence relies heavily on star profile and picturesque locations for making money). 

What lies on the other side...Now in view

Ishan and the peak...Glistening

Mesmerized by the view we kept strolling upwards without any idea of where we were supposed to go (I guess it was one of those moments when you just leave all your worries behind, forget the fact that you live in a ruthless world and just enjoy the endowment of LIFE). While on the walk we got to see an exotic species “Nilgiri Tahr” somewhat similar to a goat but with a fabulous pair of eyes and horns, which too are specific to this region but luckily not endangered. While we were observing one of these, another one (don’t know where it came from) stood behind me peacefully without making a sound. It was when one of my friends told me that I was in someone’s way that I moved and got a close-up view of this beautiful creature. Frankly I was quite amazed how a wild species could be so calm and serene and wait, while we- so called more civilized species honk all the way impatiently when we drive. 

TAHR:- "Not Interested...A couple please!"

Adding another dimension to their skill, we then observed one of these Tahrs’ posing such that a couple could take a nice click with it. However to add a little to our dismay it didn’t pose with us when we tried to get a pic with it (maybe he preferred couples to bachelors or was tired after one pose…one can only wonder). Going on with our trek up the mountain road we took many a shots of the valley (amidst clouds), the Anamudi Peak glowing in reflection of the Sun and whatever we could lay our eyes upon. 

A ferocious creature once...

We finally reached a point after which tourists aren’t allowed further into the park and hence had to return to the intermediate spot wherefrom the mini-buses picked us up and dropped us outside the park. There is a small gallery at the spot where buses ply from on the return journey which has exhibits of skulls and antlers of some of the species found in the area. There is however one very important piece of information which I feel I must share with anyone who might plan on visiting this area and here it is… This peak and its vicinity is abode of an interesting flower species which blossoms once every twelve years and when it does, the whole valley is blanketed in an enrapturing violet hue, and the sight (need not mention) is an experience one can never forget. We weren’t lucky enough to see that live but there was picture hanging in the gallery which enlightened us with this knowledge. 

Just flowing above us!

Done with this we headed for our next destination, a “Tea Museum”. How can you not expect to have one of these in a tea estate and then how can you miss one of these when you have an opportunity to?

But more on that in the next post...