Munnar/Thekkady Travelogue -- My summer trip to Kerala

Hi All,

                               I visited two very beautiful places in Kerala this summer along with my family. Our first stop was at Munnar and from there we went to Thekkady. While Munnar is a hillstation, Thekkady is famous for spices and famous Periyar Tiger Reserve. I am sure you have read about it in your geography text books or heard about it somewhere. I had a wonderful time in both the places. In this post, I am describing my experiences. This is something I would do after coming back to our hotel in the evening. This is not merely a travel itinerary catalogue, but I have tried to capture almost all the emotions I felt. The remaining ... well, it was hard to express them in words. And some things are only meant to be felt, don't you agree? This is the first part of my travelogue. Read and comment please.

Love,

Prapti

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                                                        I have fallen in love ..

                                      Yes .. here .. I admit it.

I was not the least prepared. If somebody had told me earlier that I would fall in love while traveling across the country, I would laugh at their face for their naive ignorance. But here I am brazenly admitting my love. What else can I do? I had no time to ponder, no time to reflect.

He has allured me completely. He introduced himself as a tall, dark, brooding gentleman. No sooner I began to register his outward handsome appearance than he charmed me with his inner beauty. It felt like getting hit by waves. I was hit not once but many times and I never managed to resurface. He is pure. He is silent. He is temperamental. He is dangerous. He is a mystery, one that I have tried to solve but not have the time and opportunity to do so. He is everything a girl cherishes and more. I knew in my heart that I was already committed. I was tied to another and he was waiting for me back home. I knew it was a sin to fall again, to give in to my temptations. But here I was falling headfirst again. He has made himself bare in front of me. He has taken me in his strong embrace and I have not protested. He has seduced me and beckoned me to stay with him.

 I have hushed the practical side of me, the side who screamed about how potentially dangerous it was. But I was caught up in a joyous swing ride and I have willingly chosen to remain oblivious about the rest of the things. I have chosen to enjoy every single moment with him. I have given my heart to him. Now that time has caught up with me and cruelly pointing out that it was time to end the ride, to go back, my heart feels broken. My eyes water up. He tries to console me and gently caresses me. I look at him and say in my heart "I love you but I have to go back to my husband". He is silent but I understand his silence. I know he too is mourning that our time together is over. These few days have been heavenly .. right out of the pages of a fairy tale. But each story has its end. This fairy tale is also over. Cinderella can't stay with the prince as she is already married to another prince. It is time to go back and face the reality.

Part 1

                                                            I hurriedly bid farewell to my colleagues as I come out of my office. I am leaving Bangalore tonight for a much awaited holiday trip to Kerala along with my family. The last two weeks have been extremely hectic and I badly need this break to unwind myself. I find myself tapping my fingers impatiently on the window of the bus as I wait for the bus to proceed in the typical bad traffic of outer ring road.

                                                            At around 6.15 pm we manage to leave our flat with all our luggage which I must say is quite a few. Previous half an hour have been crazy as every single one of us have been running in the house getting ready and making sure that we have not forgotten anything. We hire an auto and start our journey towards Bangalore city junction. As we are four persons, someone needs to sit on other’s lap. Pisi, being the smallest of us have been unanimously selected for the cause. Both ma and me alternately carry her. Although the feat in itself is not ordinary and although we attract quite a bit of attention for our variety of luggage and funny sight of elderly persons sitting on lap, we finally reach our destination. When we reach the platform, it is only after that we discover that our train departure time is in fact 9.40 pm and not 9.10 pm that we had initially assumed. Ma admonishes me and baba for not being careful earlier. But what can be done now? We have an hour and a half to kill. Sitting on a bench and sipping hot tea we start to chat. We also start to observe other passengers as part of spending time. People are quite interesting. Every person behaves uniquely and observing them tells a lot about their behaviour. Pisi is quite adept about inferring about a person’s nature from his behaviour, a quality which I unfortunately lack. I like to observe my surrounding but I often get so lost in my thoughts and imaginations that I lose the initial thread of thought.

                                                            We board the train at around 9.20 pm. We are relaxing after locating our seats and keeping our luggage. How the hell are we supposed to know what terrible news awaits us? When the train starts it’s journey, we begin to eat our dinner. Everyone is excited and we are discussing about our oncoming trip. Soon a phone call changes the entire ambience. It is a call from Mr. Jolly Job, owner of Spring Dale resort where we have planned to stay in Munnar. He has called to let us know that a strike of 12 hours have been announced in Kerala in protest of hike in price of petrol. The strike will begin from 6o’ clock in the morning. We are completely unprepared for the situation. I confirm the news from my friend in Bangalore and Kutty bhai, the driver who is supposed to pick us up from the station. I start making alternate plans with baba. We decide to book a hotel near Ernakulum station for a couple of hours till Kutty bhai comes to pick us up at 6 pm.

                                                            The night was spent in restlessness. I always have trouble sleeping at night while travelling in train. Although sleep evaded me at first, stress of the week was enough to lull me to sleep, although a bit disturbed.

Part 2 :

                                                            Morning came and with it all the anxieties of previous night came back with full force. Would we get an affordable room near the station for a couple of hours? What if the strike continued even after 6 pm? Would it be extremely dangerous to climb up the hilly roads of Munnar at night specially when three of us were elderly? Countless such questions troubled me. In the true sense I was the heart and brain behind this trip. Naturally I felt responsible for their discomfort and woes. But thanks to my lucky star, the day turned out to be much less troublesome than it had initially appeared to be. We got a decent room in a lodge near railway station. We freshened up and had a meagre lunch in the canteen. Kutty Bhai called up with the good news. He informed us that the strike has been somewhat called off. So he had arranged for an alternate driver. His friend who stays near Kochin could pick us up in no time and could drop us at our resort in Munnar. We were elated by the news. Not only could we start early but we also had the opportunity to enjoy the scenic view of the road from Kochin to Munnar. Had we started from Kochin in the evening, we would not be blessed with this pleasure. I thanked God for the mercy he had bestowed on us. But of course pisi took all the credit by saying that this good fortune was because of the blessings of Loknath baba.

                                                            So began our journey. As I relaxed in the front seat while listening to songs on my mobile, our car sped through the deserted roads of Kochin. As I exclaimed my surprise at the lack of any traffic, our driver reminded us that it was because of the strike. I was amused at how events had played out. Initially what had seemed like a hopeless tragedy had shaped into a profitable situation. We could now travel the distance in a less time because of the reduced traffic. The hot and humid climate of Kochin was enough to request the driver to put on ac. The trip was uneventful till a distance of more than 70 km. We crossed a bridge hanging on top of Periyar river, Neriyamangalam bridge read the banner.The driver then turned off the ac and opened the windows. “The mountain area starts here” he announced to us.

I felt a familiar jolt of excitement. I had experienced it earlier while traveling to Darjeeling. To be honest, mountains have always attracted me more than sea. If sea is noisy, mountain is silent. If sea is wide, mountain is broad. If sea is mischief mountain is a mystery. I have had very seldom opportunity to travel in mountains whereas we have travelled quite a few times to the sea beaches of Puri and Digha.


(Pic source : wikipedia.org)

 I can't quite explain in words the reason why this typical landscape attracts me so much. I opened my eyes widely and waited. The driver steadily maneuvered the car along the smooth but curvy road of NH 49. As we progressed further we sensed a change in altitude and a change in scenery. Kothamangalam fell on the way. It was a decent town and we could see lots of restaurants and shops. We bought water from one such shop and resumed our journey.

                                                            As the town passed by, I was brought face to face with the actual beauty of Munnar. The road was twisty and curvy. Although they were not exactly hairpin bends, still the other end of the road was not visible. The driver who was quite experienced in driving in such roads would blow the horn some time before crossing the bend. He could even hear the faint sound of horns blown by other vehicles travelling in opposite direction. At some points he even stopped and waited. Sure enough a vehicle would appear around the bend and would cross us. Only after that he would start the car. The vegetation started as we crossed one such curve. The temperature decreased gradually as we climbed up the mountain roads. The drive through the cool natural forest was an experience in itself. Dense foliage covered the roads. Through few gaps, final rays of sun was seeping through and making the road visible. Various types of plants were seen. I ignored the envious talks of pisi and ma. I ignored everything earthly and concentrated on the unearthly beauty that was being served to me. Mother Nature has given her blessings wholeheartedly to this place. The driver stopped at various places and pointed out various plants. Nutmeg .. Cardamom .. coco .. Jackfruit, he pointed out and we ooh ed and aahed at the variety and quantity of vegetation. I was ecstatic at the view that I was enjoying. It was a feast to not only my eyes but all five of my sensory organs.

                                                              The next one hour was spent in discovering more and more beauty of the place. I opened my eyes wider and soaked in as much as I could. I constantly video recorded as much as I could, but was it enough? Could I really capture the hide and seek game that the Sun rays were playing with the green forest? Or the smell of the wet soil that enveloped us? Or the various trees that stood forming such unique patterns (Sometimes a fort, sometimes a huge monster)? Or the small waterfalls that would flow along the mountain sides? Or the silence that prevailed and the occasional sound of a bird or insect that shattered the silence to million pieces? No I could never capture everything with my gadget. Instead I kept my eyes wide open. Just like a thirsty traveller would search for source of water to quench his thirst, I tried to quench my thirst by taking in the beauty of the place. If only my eyes were lenses and I could capture and make a permanent copy of whatever I see in my brain, the romantic in me wondered !! But alas ! Our human memory is so fallible that these images will soon begin to grow faint and finally will vanish to oblivion. All that will be left would be the snapshots and video capture of these places, a poor replacement of the experience that I currently enjoy.

     (Picture Source : munnarphotos.com)

                                                           

                                                             Soon the vegetation grew scarce and we reached yet another town, Adimali. A mile post informed me that Munnar was 30 km away. As we travelled through the town searching for a place to stop for tea and refreshments, we were stopped by some locals. “Why are they stopping us?” I asked the driver. He said “Not to worry madam. They are still continuing the strike. But they will stop us for only 5-10 minutes.” Sure enough we were allowed to move after ten minutes. I was impressed again at how peacefully these situations were being handled here. We continued further till our driver stopped us at a roadside restaurant. It was quite a fancy restaurant. I decided to try buttermilk and the others ordered tea. I hated buttermilk. While the others praised how nice the tea tasted, I kept mum. After stretching our legs and freshening up, we continued our journey.

                                                            I had thought that I had seen all the varieties of natural beauty that Munnar can offer. How mistaken I was! After another 8 km drive, the car took another bend and entered the “tea zone” as I call it. The first time I encountered a tea garden, the golden rays of Sun were falling on the tea leaves. The sudden appearance of such beauty astounded me. I hurriedly opened my handy cam and started capturing. Soon the car progressed and the view of the tea garden was lost. As I was mentally cursing my luck and pondering on whether I should ask the driver to stop so that I could get down and capture the view of the tea gardens, I saw numerous such tea gardens before me. I could see tea plantation everywhere I shifted my eyes. It was an overdrive on my senses. Soon I realized the meaninglessness of capturing such continuously beautiful view with my handy cam. I closed it and enjoyed the scenery with my eye instead.

(Picture Source : keralacarclub.com)

                                                            We finally reached old Munnar road. As our car passed by the town towards Devikulum where our resort was located, ma and pisi started showing scepticism about my decision to book hotels that are so far out of town. I kept quiet and waited for the resort to come. After traveling another 7 km, we finally reached Spring Dale Resort, Devikulum. Although I had seen pictures before, I was still impressed with the location and the beauty of it. There was a steep road leading to the hotel. The car slowly climbed up the road and parked in front of the resort. I had selected this resort for several reasons, the most important of which was that it was located at a place away from the noise of the town of Munnar. My idea of travelling in a mountain region is to also stay at a place where I can actually enjoy the silence and mystery of nature, where I can communicate with mother nature at peace. Ma and pisi had another concept altogether. They wanted to stay near the town so that they could have better chance to shop. It took them awhile to get used to the silence and isolated coup that was the hotel.

                                                         (Picture Source : indexkerala.com)

                                                           It took us a few minutes to check in. I was looking forward to meet Mr. Jolly Job with whom I was communicating since last few days. I was informed that he was busy working in his room. We were shown our rooms. The suite was spacious and clean and was adjacent to the reception. Both rooms had attached bathroom and one of them had a flat screen television and dth service. It had every regional channel including bengali. This cheered up both ma and pisi. I had initially noted that the hotel had a small well maintained garden and I was looking forward to visit it. So I hurriedly changed my dress, freshened up and went outside to take a stroll in the garden. Baba went with me.

We were amazed at the variety of plants that were grown. From decorative plants like busy lizzy to large hibiscus, the garden had it all. There were so many flowers which we had never seen before. Each plant had a neatly written banner in front of it which displayed the scientific name of the plant. There was a red coloured guava tree .. strawberry guava, the hotel staff informed me. There was a sign which read butterfly park and a solar tank. There were stairs leading up towards those places. As it was growing dark, my father advised me not to explore those places then. I mentally noted to come back next morning with my handy cam and capture the whole garden and also to explore those places.

                                                            The most important difficulty that we faced was lack of network in the place. My airtel mobile as well as vodafone mobiles of my parents proved to be useless as every single one of them showed no network. Only bsnl was still giving some network and I called up my friend to recharge the sim with some balance. We ordered for dinner and decided to call it a day. 

Part 3 :-

                                                            The next morning came with whole new expectations and promises. I wonder how much difference does 24 hours make in a person’s life. 24 hours back, I was unsure of what the outcome would be, how the day would turn out. But now not only I felt confident but also chipper. I got ready in record time. Then I went outside to explore the place alone. The morning was misty and beautiful. I wrapped up my jacket close to me and climbed up the stairs. These were manmade uneven stairs carved out of the mountain. My breathing got a bit laboured due to this strain of climbing such great height. But when I climbed up, it was worth it.

                                                            The first thing I noticed was the remnants of burnt wood and many chairs surrounding it. The hotel had probably arranged a bonfire the previous night. The not so clear view of a distant mountain surrounded by mist and the adjacent greenery was making me fall in love with this place. There were quite a few big trees, guava , jackfruit and fern tree. The jackfruit tree held such huge jackfruits that I stood looking at them with my mouth held open. There was a solar tank with solar panels. I searched for the butterfly park that I saw advertised below but I could not find it. There was a tree house but unfortunately it was broken. This made me a bit disappointed as this could have been my one time opportunity to climb in a tree house. 

                                                               (Picture Source : holidayiq.com)

 Finally when I found out that I had spent quite some time, I came down and entered our hotel room. Pisi was ready and I took her to explore the gardens once again. 

                                                            Kutty bhai came at around 9o’clock. He was quite a jovial and humble person and we instantly liked him. I sat in front again. My experience told me that I would be encountered with the exact unabridged version of Munnar’s beauty if I sit in front. Kutty bhai was quite conversant. He would often start describing various aspects of the place. He told us that there were 26 tea estates in Munnar, 24 of which belonged to Tata company. The other important tea estates of Kerala are Harrison Malayalam, Michael's Tea, Brooke Bond, AVT tea. I did not disbelieve him. Miles and miles of unending tea gardens greeted me everywhere I turned my eyes. I understood how much Kerala contributed to the country’s total tea production. The slope, the light and shade, the slightly windy slightly chill climate was ideal for the tea plants to thrive. He parked our car beside one such tea garden and began to explain various aspects of tea plantation. “Tea bushes are planted 1 meter to 1.5 meters apart to follow the natural contours of the landscape. Sometimes they are grown on specially prepared terraces to help irrigation and to prevent erosion. Young plants are raised from the cuttings obtained from a strong and rich bush. They are carefully tendered in special nursery beds until 12-15 months old and then planted in the tea gardens. Trees are often planted in between the tea plants to protect them against intense heat and light. Common shade trees are Erythrina, Gliricidia, and Silver Oak. Can you see the large trees in between?” 

                                                     ( Picture Source : traveldealsfinder.com)

 When we nodded our heads he continued “They are silver oak trees madam. They provide sufficient shade to the tea plants. They store water in their roots and also helps the tea plants to grow. When the tea plant is plucked two leaves and a bud are cut. An experienced plucker can pluck up to 30 kg tealeaves per day. To make one kg black tea, approx. 4 kg tea leaves are needed. One tea plant produces about 70 kg black tea a year.” We took several snapshots sitting on the road side with tea gardens as backgrounds. Kutty bhai was an expert photographer and captured very good pictures of us.

 

After that we reached a floriculture garden. Kutty Bhai parked the car by the road side and asked us to explore the garden and come back.

                                                            The garden was absolutely beautiful with rare species of flowers and plants. It satisfied our eyes. I could hear ma and pisi gushing about the size of various flowers. I proceeded slowly capturing every flower that caught my eye. I realized that Kerala is truly a paradise for photographers and nature loving romantics. How strongly you bind me to yourself? How can I be go back and be satisfied living amidst the concrete jungle of Bangalore now? You are spoiling me with your abundance of beauty and openness.

 There were plants for sale also. Although pisi expressed her wish to buy some plants and take them home, we did not pay heed to her requests. We knew very well that these plants would not survive hot humid climate of Kolkata. They would simply die. We had tried taking some plants from Darjeeling earlier, some beautiful varieties of orchid. But every single one of them had died within six months of reaching our house. A popular bengali saying goes “Bonnyera bon e sundor, sishura matrikrore – wild beings look beautiful in wild as do babies in their mother's lap“. Likewise these flowers belong here, this is their mother's lap. If we try to take them away to another place, how can they survive? Rather it would be appropriate to take only memories of these places. On our way to Mattupetty dam, Kutty bhai stopped the car and started showing us a tree. Though initially I was completely lost at what he was trying to show us, I understood when I got down from the car. There was a huge tree on the side of the road and sheltering the tree were gigantic honey bee nests. “Bees nest only on this tree madam. What nest you can see is smaller compared to the nests we see sometimes.”

                                                            The air was filled with buzzing sound of swarms of honey bees. The sight was terrific. I had never seen so many hives. Our next stop was Mattupetty Dam. Situated at the height of 1700 Mtr above sea level, Mattupetty is located at 13 Km away from Munnar on the way to Top Station. Mattupetty Dam has been constructed in connection with Pullivasal Hydro-Electric Project. An independent hydroelectric system is functioning near the dam, with the capacity of 2MW. The grass mounts of the Indo-Swiss Project, the vast stretch of water, a great variety of trees and plants are eye catching sights. The Mattupetty Lake spreads over 8 Kms. The District Tourism Promotion Council, Idukki District, has made arrangement for boating in this lake. Many varieties of boats are available for boating like speed boat, rover boat, big slow boat etc. We sat near the dam and took pictures. “Kacha aam, khatta mitha kacha aam ..” cried out some vendors. We bought one kacha aam. The vendor put so much chilly powder in the mango that I stopped eating only after a single piece. We strolled across the bridge on top of the dam. Mischievous wind was playing with my hair, blowing it away such that it resembled a bird's nest in a matter of few minutes. I could see many people had climbed down to be near the stretch of water and take photos. But as ma and pisi was not much keen to climb down, I abandoned the idea and we called Kutty bhai to come pick us up.

                                                            We travelled another  3 km and stopped at a place where Kutty bhai stopped the car. He mentioned that it is a famous photo point. We could see breathtaking view of Munnar from this place and capture beautiful photographs. Why only a few places are defined as Photo points ? I wondered, when almost entire region of Munnar is breathtaking in it's pure unaltered beauty. Kerala is to be thanked for that. The people of Kerala have taken every possible precaution so that local persons or tourists do not ruin the nature by throwing plastics or other unwanted objects. I have noticed huge banners on roadsides displaying various meaningful messages : “Health of Hill is wealth of plain” , “Keep Munnar green, keep it breathing.” , “This is not only for you, keep it for your children” or even one banner displaying a picture of an animal with caption written below “Shoot as much as you want but only with lenses” . These people are so much aware of their heritage. They are proud and they are willing to take all measures to keep their niche as beautiful as before. If this is not heaven then what is? I remember my home and feel sorry. Poor Bengal ! How beautiful you were once! How much we have neglected you! I felt my head bowed with shame.

                                                            It was late afternoon and we were feeling quite hungry. I asked Kutty bhai to stop the car near any restaurant serving decent South Indian thali. He took us to a place called the Saravana Hotel in Munnar town. It was an extremely busy place. Baba took the coupon and we waited patiently in queue for our turn to get seats. The food was simple but tasty and we enjoyed our lunch. As our hotel was situated quite far away from Munnar, it was imperative to have dinner in our hotel itself. The only thing that our hotel lacked was in the culinary department. All of us had a bad experience eating the food that we had ordered for dinner yesterday. That alone made this lunch more enjoyable.

                                                            Our next stop was at Shooting Point. It was a beautiful stretch of grass land that was hired by cinema production units for shooting purposes. Many Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi movies have been shot in this place. It was an extremely picturesque place indeed. But the place was covered by fence. “We do not have permission to enter madam. You can enter only with prior approval” informed Kutty bhai.  

(Pic Source : team-bhp.com)

                                                            We travelled few more kilometres towards Top Station and reached a place called Echo point. It was extremely noisy because of many small shops which have grown surrounding the place. Kutty bhai told us to climb down some steps and reach the place which is famous for it’s natural echo phenomenon. There were shops selling various items like tea, chocolates, massage oil, handmade jewellery, etc. It took quite time for us to actually reach the echo point as we would stop at each and every shop and would ask the cost of any item that caught our eye. After our impromptu shopping craze we finally managed to reach Echo point. Watching father’s bored expression I realized how difficult it must be for him to be the only male member in the family.

                                                             It was an extremely noisy place. There was a lake surrounded by lush green hills. Baba tried to test the echo phenomenon by shouting out my name. But it did not happen. We were a bit disappointed. While me and baba were experimenting by shouting and taking pictures of the place, ma and pisi were busy looking at various items on display in the shops. The panoramic view of the place would have been more pleasant and enjoyable had it not been disturbed by the shops, the noise of the tourists and the sound of the speed boats that plied in the lake. 

                                                              (Pic Source : munnartourpackages.com)

The shops, the sound seemed uncharacteristic, out of place. They were destroying the tranquillity of the place.  I can’t hear you, I can’t feel you, not clearly, not completely. There is too much noise, too many people. I hate this as much as I love our silent communication.

                                                            We had fresh coconut water and headed back to our car. “This place was not so crowded before madam. It was isolated and you could hear your sound coming back to you clearly. Now all these shops have grown” explained Kutty Bhai. “They should not allow such noise to destroy the beauty of this place” I added mentally.        Our final stop was at another view point called Pothamedu view point. I had read earlier that this place is famous for it’s spectacular view during sunset. But it was only 4.30 pm and Sun was still shining brightly as if telling that he is still playing for a few more overs. 

We ordered tea from a tea stall and sat on the rock wall built around the deep abyss. As I do not like tea I was searching for cold drinks. But I soon found out that most of the shops here do not have refrigerators probably because of the pleasant temperature. So having “cold” drinks was not an option. It would always be “normal” drinks.

After having tea we decided to come back to our resort. “Tomorrow I will come pick you up by 7 a.m madam. Our first stop will be Eravikulum National Park and if we go early there will be less crowd” said Kutty bhai while dropping us off at our resort. We nodded our head and said it won’t be a problem. I had seen a small church near our resort. I decided to visit the church. The church was situated at a considerable height and baba decided to wait for me at the bottom of the stairs. As I climbed those uneven stairs my breath became laboured but still I continued. You have to work hard to be blessed by the presence of GodThe church was quite simple. It had a huge idol of Mother Mary with baby Jesus sitting on her lap. The priest was reading some verses from bible. I did not listen. I focused on the beautiful figurine of mother and child, the purest of all relations and let my mind go blank. I closed my eyes and contemplated. That is what is important right? “Reflect on your own actions, repent for your bad actions and encourage yourself for your good deeds. Pray to be a better person” I had heard it somewhere, probably in some morning prayer that I attended during my school days. It had somehow struck me even at that young age.

                                                            After a few minutes of peaceful reflection, I crossed my heart in a traditional gesture and climbed down. Baba was waiting for me at the bottom and together we came back to the hotel.   

  

Part 4 :

                                                                                This morning started early. I was so deep in slumber that I was refusing to wake up. " Tui jodi ebar na uthis tahole toke chere i amra berate chole jabo" baba blackmailed me after many futile attempts of waking me up. Somehow this message that they are going to leave me alone registered in my brain and I finally left the warmth of the comfy bed. I looked wistfully at my bed one last time, if only I did not have one prior commitment with my beloved I would never leave you. I threw a furious glance at baba, nasty blackmailer, and went to freshen up. It was funny how much peacefully I was sleeping for the last few days, ever since ma baba had come to visit me in bangalore. I have always had trouble sleeping. But ever since I came to bangalore, every night has been restless and sleep has been disturbed. But for these past few days I have been sleeping like a baby. Is it some subconscious realization of safety, my inner consciousness telling me that my world is intact? I do not know. But what I do know is that this getaway to this beautiful place along with my family was exactly what I needed after weeks of stress.

                                                                                Today I did not have much time to explore the gardens. I hurriedly got ready and went outside. Mist clad mountain tops and cold breeze was making me shiver, not only with cold but also with excitement. What was in store for us today? Kutty bhai came exactly at 7o'clock to pick us up. We had enough food with us and we decided not to stop at any place for having breakfast. "Where will you have breakfast?" I asked Kutty bhai. He said with his familiar embarrased smile "Not to worry madam. There are plenty of shops nearby Eravikulum National park. I will have something there."

                                                                                There was a large queue in front of the gate and we stood in line. The line was progressing at an extremely painful pace. I could see Anamudi peak at a distance. During my brief research about Kerala before coming here, I had read that Anamudi is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and South India, at an elevation of 2,695 metres (8,842 ft), and a topographic prominence of 2,479 metres (8,133 ft). It stands as the highest point of the Periyar river basin. The name Anamudi literally translates to "elephant's forehead," a reference to the resemblance of the mountain to an elephant's head. Standing tall at the junction of the Cardamom Hills, the Anamala Hills and the Palani Hills and covered with fog and mist, it was creating a mysterious backdrop to the silent ambience. Wearing a green jacket of lush flora and fauna and home to vibrant and rare species of avian life, I knew in my heart that I was truly standing in paradise. Cloud was moving away from its surface driven by wind. as if it's breath was getting condensed due to cold weather. Like so many times before, I again felt awe about the beauty and the perfection of the enormous portrait that God has drawn with such care. It was overwhelming. I got so lost in absorbing every single minute details that I forgot that the queue had proceeded further. I was brought to earth by the cry of people behind me. 

 

                                                                                After almost 40 minutes of slow progress, we finally reached the ticket counter. Baba bought tickets for all four of us @ Rs. 60 each. We waited again for the bus to come and drop us to the actual entrance of the Eravikulum sanctuary. We boarded the bus, baba sitting beside me and ma with pisi. I had imagined this bus journey to be similar to the forest safari that we went to in Bannerghata National Park, Bangalore. So I craned my head trying to locate any animal, keeping my mobile camera ready. But to my utter disappointment, I couldn’t see a single one. But the scenic view was enough to keep me from feeling complete disappointment. The road was a bit narrow and in some places, our bus had to stop and move back to let another bus coming from opposite direction pass. Finally we climbed to the top of Rajamalai hills and reached the actual gate. We got down and looked around.  

                                                                                We found out from the information centre that we had to climb up another 1 km or so to watch the various inhabitants of the park. It is the sanctuary to one of the endangered species of Western Ghats – Nilgiri Tahr. Apart from tahr, other little known animals such as Nilgiri marten, small clawed otter, ruddy mongoose, and dusky striped squirrel are also found. It is also home to 120 species of birds and butterflies. We started walking up slowly munching our breakfast which ma had concealed very cleverly even after a thorough check of our bags near the ticket counter. This was another attempt on the part of the government to keep these places plastic free. I respected their policy and forbid my parents to drop any garbage on the road. After walking for a couple of hundred metres, ma and pisi got fatigued. We stopped for a photo session. Till now we had not seen any animals, let alone the famous “Nilgiri Tahr”. Even a group of young men climbing down the mountain said that they had not seen anything but deer s. This only discouraged us and we decided to go back after taking some pictures. The view alone was breathtaking.. The air was clean and fresh and fog surrounded the tea plantations of adjacent mountains. Mist literally kissed the mountains and proceeded further. It chased us and touched my body. 

  

                                                                                Suddenly some tourists began to point fingers at some place high up. I told baba to focus on the place with the handycam. “ It’s a wild goat” baba exclaimed. We took turns watching it through the lenses. I decided to climb up further to see it with my own eyes. Pisi also wanted to come with me. The sight of the goat reinstated our confidence. Maybe we get lucky ! Maybe we see the endangered Nilgiri Tahr ! We started climbing up again. We had renewed enthusiasm and the walk to the top of the trail seemed less difficult. When we reached the point,  the goat was still standing on the rock. It was not elusive at all and was rather enjoying the attention it was receiving from the countless tourists. As we climbed up further, we saw numerous deer s and goats. One of the goats was even standing on the road giving ample opportunity to the tourists to take pictures with it.

                                                                                We climbed up further. We could see the signboard that the trail ended there. This was the highest point of Western Ghats that an ordinary tourist can reach. Beyond that point started dense forest. We were a bit disappointed not to have the luck to see Nilgiri Tahr. We had the idea that it was a peculiar blue coloured goat. At least that was what we had been told by one of baba’s patient who had been to this place before. So we did not feel any excitement when we saw a short stocky goat with greyish coarse fur, curved horn and whitish patch on its back walk slowly towards us from the forest. He was almost majestic in his approach and did not even bother to spare one glance to the numerous tourist who were now busily clicking away pictures. How could we know that it was actually the very famous Nilgiri Tahr, Nilgiritragus hylocrius, the state animal of Tamil Nadu. We simply felt that this aadu (வருடை, Tamil for goat) was a bit peculiar in it’s appearance.

 

                                                                                After taking sufficient pictures, we climbed down to the point where baba and ma were sitting. All of us climbed down to the gate. I had an ice cream and baba had a cup of hot tea from the amenities shop. We even visited the shop where various memorabilia like park t shirts and caps and other merchandise were being sold. They were extremely overpriced and we returned to the gate to wait for the mini bus that would drop us to the first entrance. We faced a minor hazard on our way back. All of us were sitting together in the rear seat. On one instance where our bus had to bypass another bus coming from opposite, our driver miscalculated the distance. One moment everything was fine and we were simply crossing the other bus. There were lots of children who were excitedly sharing their experience. We were in a hurry to reach our car. Suddenly there was a loud sound and our bus vibrated. It was like one of those moments where you are aware of everything that’s happening, but your body doesn’t react. Brain is perfect enough to deduce there has been a collision between the bus ,the adjacent mountain rock projection and the other bus. But your body freezes for a particular timeframe, unable to react. When that moment passed I found pisi sitting on the floor. We picked her up and checked our arms and legs. Thankfully all the passengers were unhurt except for minor bruises and thank Amighty that our driver had not lost total control over the bus or the impact of collision was not strong enough to drive our vehicle to the deep adjacent abyss. It all seems faded and negligible now but at that particular moment fuelled by the cry of the children, I had felt what we call ‘panic’. It may be for a few moments but that was how I felt it. There is no shame in expressing it. This only shows how much uncertain our life is. One moment we are enjoying and the very next moment we are hanging on for our dear life.

                                                                                Both buses moved backwards till there was enough space. We continued our journey till the main gate. When we got down we could see the extent of damage the bus had suffered. The side glasses had shattered and lot of earth and stones had entered the bus through the windows as well as the door. Many people were taking pictures of the broken down bus. But I did not bother. This is not how I wish to remember you. This is something that I will gladly forget, a small price to pay for your wonderful company.     

                                                                                                                                (to be continued)