"Keralah!" (Part II: Thekkady)

Thekkady and its famous Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary formed the second phase of the Kerala vacation. At a considerably lower altitude that Munnar, Thekkady is warm during the day but very pleasant during the evening. It's literally bursting with spacious resorts of all kinds [but I would particualrly recommend Tree Top ( first picture in the column below) and Spice Garden]. There is also no end to the number of shops selling little curios and other knick-knacks for momento-hungry tourists. Apart from visiting the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary and spice plantations (Thekkady is very famous for the superb quality of spices that are cultivated there). Visitors can also indulge in an extensive Ayurvedic Massage session at one of the numerous massage centres that mushroom all over the small town. Finally there is one small establishment hosting daily performances of Kerala's famous dance form, Kathakali (see the picture above).

Driving down to Thekkady from Munnar was also quite a treat. This time, Shaju zoomed downhill, oblivious to the glares he received from my father or to the plight of the backseat passengers who were tossed unceremoniously from this side to that, each time he sped around a bend in the road...which was a far more prominent feature of the route than desirable!. The air grew steadily warmer until we were forced to turn on the air conditioner. The scenery changed from tea gardens on rolling hills, to dense tropical vegetation and cardamom plantations. Wild flowers burst all along the roadsides...pinks, yellows, furious vermillions. Enormous jackfruits grew along the trunks of innumerable trees (I adore curries made of unripened jackfruit so you can imagine what the sight of those beauties did to my palate!).


Thekkady itself is not a town that immediately impresses you with its appearance. It's mostly a few streets lined from end to end with the entrances of shops and other places like I mentioned earlier. Once you enter the resorts, you get to see some lovely landscaping and as you go closer to the wildlife sanctuary it you get to see the treetops of the dense forest and the air grows thick with the excitement of being so close to un-caged beasts.

Our stay in the Tree Top resort (left), was very pleasant. Clean lodgings, good food (this was the first place where I sampled the famous Kerala Porothas and Theeyal, which is a preparation of shallots in a thick brown gravy laced with coconut milk), beautifully terraced grounds and a comfortable proximity to the sanctuary make it a highly desirable place to set your luggage down for a couple of nights (there is nothing you can do in Thekkady that cannot be accomplished in two days, flat!).

The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary (left and below, as photographed from our launch) is the best thing about Thekkady. Home to the tiger, leopard, elephant, several species of birds, deer and crocodiles (I think), it is a vast jungle, spread around an enormous water-body that goes right through it. Tourists sit on launches and boats that take them right through the jungle, on the gentle blue waters. If you're on the 4:30pm cruise, then you're assured of a deliciously cool breeze throughout the trip and are most likely to spot animals as they come to drink from the lake. We spotted two species of deer, a family of three elephants, a heron, several types of water birds and what an over-excited co-passenger insisted was a crocodile sunbathing, but which looked more like a dead log to me. The elephants were the highlight of the cruise...it was almost like they decided to display themselves for a while. The materialised literally from nowhere and paraded sombrely down the shores of the lake for a long stretch, completely ignoring the squeals and gasps that erupted on board our launch. There were two cows and a young male walking between them, the three of them walking in an unhurried single file...huge feet moving in clockwork harmony.

Unfortunately, sighting tigers is very rare and spotting leopards is almost unheard of, but just knowing that they're there somewhere and might be watching you from some spot in the vegetation which your human eyes cannot pierce sends a tingle down your spine. As your boat navigates its way between the trunks of trees that are mostly inundated by the lake, you can see all kinds of birds perched on their tips, scanning the water intently for fish.

Overall, the experience of Periyar is an incomparable feast for the senses. If you're the kind of person who can spend hours watching Animal Planet, this place is your dream come true. Don't miss it if you're ever in its neighbourhood! Cheers!