February 13 - 14, 2006 - Thekkady/Periyar
February 13, 2006 - Thekkady
Tea plantation on the way to Thekkady.
Our boat brought us out of the beautiful Kerala backwaters and dropped us off in the town of Kottayam, a major center for the production of rubber. From there, we transferred to our own private minibus for the 70-mile, 4-hour journey to Thekkady. The drive was over rough roads, but nonetheless a great ride as we traveled through plantations of rubber, tea and coffee, and drove among rolling hills carpeted in green. From time to time, we would pass by beautiful, large manor homes that would rival the grandest estate in America.
The slopes of Thekkady were covered with sprawling tea plantations, but cardamom, rubber, vanilla and coffee plantations were also abundant. Perhaps that explains the never-ending cups of cardamom-flavored tea available in India any time of the day. It is believed that the spice trade dates back three thousand years in Kerala. As for the many spices that find their home there, pepper is the king. Nevertheless, the slanting slopes also embrace a variety of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric and curry leaves.
The slopes of Thekkady were covered with sprawling tea plantations, but cardamom, rubber, vanilla and coffee plantations were also abundant. Perhaps that explains the never-ending cups of cardamom-flavored tea available in India any time of the day. It is believed that the spice trade dates back three thousand years in Kerala. As for the many spices that find their home there, pepper is the king. Nevertheless, the slanting slopes also embrace a variety of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric and curry leaves.
Spice Tour
Do you see the hair growing from this guy's ear?!?
We stopped in Kumily, about 5 kilometers outside of Thekkady, to tour a spice plantation. We were met by our Indian guide (I can’t remember his name) who not only knew a ton of information about spice growing in India, but had an incredible bush of long, black hair sprouting from each of his ears! As our guide gave us a tour of the spice plantation, we walked up and down slopes where many different types of spices, as well as a few types of fruit, including pineapples, were being grown. He explained all about the various spices – the history of each spice, how they are grown, what they are used for, how they are processed. After a couple hours, we ended our tour under a custard apple tree. All of the custard apples had already been harvested, but our guide managed to find a few ripe ones left on the tree and picked them. When fully ripe the fruit is soft to the touch and the stem and attached core can be easily pulled out. Our guide scooped the flesh of the custard apples from their skin and gave a piece to each of us to taste. The fruit flesh was sweet and tasted like, well, custard!
(Click on the images below to view.)
(Click on the images below to view.)
My traveling companions and I were then invited to the spice plantation guide’s home for lunch. (I believe our guide must also have been the owner of the plantation.) We were seated in his dining room, and it was evident that this man was a Christian as the walls were covered with artwork depicting Jesus. We were served about a dozen different types of mouth-watering Indian dishes by the man’s wife and daughters. Instead of plates, we each used a large banana leaf. And, instead of forks and spoons, our hands acted as our eating utensils. After lunch was over, we were each served dessert – a whole banana, custard, raisins and cinnamon. Then the fun began: using my hands, I smooshed all of the ingredients together until I had a gooey pile of yummy stuff. Then, once again using my fingers, I just scooped it into my mouth. Ahhhhhh…
February 14, 2006 - Thekaddy
We stayed at the Hotel Ambadi, a 46-room resort in the small town of Thekkady, near where the Perriyar Tiger Reserve is located. It was an absolutely beautiful hotel designed by the renowned British-born-but-settled-in-Kerala architect Mr. Lauwrie Baker. Conceptualized on the traditional architectural splendor of a typical Kerala village, it even had a thulasithara (a sacred platform/pot for holy basil [yes, the plant]) and a nalukettu (a traditional type of architecture found in the Kerala region of India consisting of a rectangular structure where four halls are joined together with a central courtyard open to the sky). The life of Lord Krishna, the history and the myth, is the theme of this resort.
I was awakened at 4:55 a.m. by the Muslim call to prayer, which lasted until 5:35 a.m. I was going to get up at 5 a.m., so I listened for 5 minutes before I arose. I was also going to wash my hair this morning, but there was no hot water in my bathroom. I did not know if I just didn’t turn the hot water heater on (I looked for a switch, but couldn’t find on) or if this place just didn’t have hot water period! So, I took another cold shower, and being that we were in the mountains, it was very cold indeed! My bathroom had four windows – very high on the wall so no one could see in, but no glass or screens. Fellow traveling companion Kevin’s bathroom must have been only a few feet from mine because I could hear him in there – showering and shaving. I’m sure that, likewise, Kevin could hear me in mine!!
After my very COLD shower, I got dressed and then went to Betty’s and Rick’s room for breakfast: bananas and cookies. We had an early start this morning – 6:20 – so no places to eat breakfast were open yet.
By the way, even though the “call to prayer” had ended, the town was playing music loud enough that I could hear it in my hotel room.
At 6:20 a.m. on the dot, we caught tuk-tuks to Perriyar Tiger Reserve. The ride was freezing, and I had nothing with long sleeves to cover my goose-bumply arms.
(Click on the images below to view.)
I was awakened at 4:55 a.m. by the Muslim call to prayer, which lasted until 5:35 a.m. I was going to get up at 5 a.m., so I listened for 5 minutes before I arose. I was also going to wash my hair this morning, but there was no hot water in my bathroom. I did not know if I just didn’t turn the hot water heater on (I looked for a switch, but couldn’t find on) or if this place just didn’t have hot water period! So, I took another cold shower, and being that we were in the mountains, it was very cold indeed! My bathroom had four windows – very high on the wall so no one could see in, but no glass or screens. Fellow traveling companion Kevin’s bathroom must have been only a few feet from mine because I could hear him in there – showering and shaving. I’m sure that, likewise, Kevin could hear me in mine!!
After my very COLD shower, I got dressed and then went to Betty’s and Rick’s room for breakfast: bananas and cookies. We had an early start this morning – 6:20 – so no places to eat breakfast were open yet.
By the way, even though the “call to prayer” had ended, the town was playing music loud enough that I could hear it in my hotel room.
At 6:20 a.m. on the dot, we caught tuk-tuks to Perriyar Tiger Reserve. The ride was freezing, and I had nothing with long sleeves to cover my goose-bumply arms.
(Click on the images below to view.)
Periyar Tiger Reserve
In 1978, 777 kilometer Periyar was declared a Tiger Reserve, one of 27 in India under Project Tiger. The main objective of Project Tiger is to “ensure a viable population of tiger in India for scientific, economic, aesthetic , cultural and ecological values and to preserve for all time, areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the people.”
Tigers are endangered in Periyar because of both poaching and loss of habitat. An army of park rangers and volunteers patrol the Reserve every day to help try to protect the tigers. One of their aims is to stop the destruction of the tigers' habitat – the forest itself. Sandalwood trees are prized by illegal loggers for their oil, which is used in medicines and cosmetics, and one kilogram of the wood can fetch 5,000 rupees.
[In 2010, the number of tigers in Periyar was estimated to be anwhere from 34 to 53.]
We arrived at the Periyar check-in building at 6:30 a.m. The ticket office was on top of a hill overlooking Periyar Lake. The sun was just coming up and the lake was shrouded in mist. It looked magical!
We entered the Periyar ticket office right at the time the ticket counter was getting ready to open. Already, there was a mob of about 50 Indian men (no women!) swarming the counter all trying to get tickets at the same time. Since tickets cannot be purchased in advance, I knew that Priya had to join this melee to buy our tickets, and I was wondering how in the world she was going to accomplish this – especially being a female! It was amazing to watch her push and maneuver her way to the front ticket counter and return 15 minutes later with tickets in hand. What a woman!!
We had to cross the lake to actually enter the Reserve, and the only way across was on a small, wooden, very unstable raft. The lake water came up onto the raft where the logs were lashed together. It was a very thrilling crossing!
Tigers are endangered in Periyar because of both poaching and loss of habitat. An army of park rangers and volunteers patrol the Reserve every day to help try to protect the tigers. One of their aims is to stop the destruction of the tigers' habitat – the forest itself. Sandalwood trees are prized by illegal loggers for their oil, which is used in medicines and cosmetics, and one kilogram of the wood can fetch 5,000 rupees.
[In 2010, the number of tigers in Periyar was estimated to be anwhere from 34 to 53.]
We arrived at the Periyar check-in building at 6:30 a.m. The ticket office was on top of a hill overlooking Periyar Lake. The sun was just coming up and the lake was shrouded in mist. It looked magical!
We entered the Periyar ticket office right at the time the ticket counter was getting ready to open. Already, there was a mob of about 50 Indian men (no women!) swarming the counter all trying to get tickets at the same time. Since tickets cannot be purchased in advance, I knew that Priya had to join this melee to buy our tickets, and I was wondering how in the world she was going to accomplish this – especially being a female! It was amazing to watch her push and maneuver her way to the front ticket counter and return 15 minutes later with tickets in hand. What a woman!!
We had to cross the lake to actually enter the Reserve, and the only way across was on a small, wooden, very unstable raft. The lake water came up onto the raft where the logs were lashed together. It was a very thrilling crossing!
We walked along the lake for an hour or so while the mist cleared. It was a beautiful sight. We then turned inland and walked for another 2½ hours. By 8 a.m., it had warmed up quite nicely. No tigers to be seen, though we saw trees with scratch marks where tigers had been clawing, as well a lots of tiger scat (that's tiger poop!). Also, lots of elephant dung, but no elephants. We did, however, see dozens of playful monkeys and a herd of wild boar. We also saw two dots on the mountain ridge that were bison. Lots of pretty birds. Saw two gorgeous green birds with orange beaks. I thought they were parrots, but someone in my group told me they were Indian Ringneck parakeets.
Our guide was very good at telling us all about the flora – some wild looking trees, including the Indian coral tree with its funny red flowers sparsly spaced on gray branches covered with "spikes." Unfortunately I was at the tail end of our group (lagging behind to take photos as usual) and didn’t get to hear a lot of what the guide was saying.
(Click on the images below to view.)
Our guide was very good at telling us all about the flora – some wild looking trees, including the Indian coral tree with its funny red flowers sparsly spaced on gray branches covered with "spikes." Unfortunately I was at the tail end of our group (lagging behind to take photos as usual) and didn’t get to hear a lot of what the guide was saying.
(Click on the images below to view.)
At the end of our hike, we took the rafts back across the lake. Susan almost fell in the water getting off the raft on the other side; it was hilarious! We took tuk-tuks back to the hotel.
After arriving back at the Hotel Ambadi, I took a shower with HOT water (yay!) and washed my hair. Feeling nice and clean, I stopped into the hotel gift shop and bought a pashmina so that I wouldn’t be so cold up in there in the mountains. Meanwhile, Betty, Debbie and Susan went for an ayurvedic massage. Ayurveda is an ancient holistic system of medicine from India. According to the experts, an ayurvedic massage "promotes healing and restoration by eliminating toxins from the body so that rejuvenating energies of the body may flow more freely."
I, on the other hand, went to lunch with Priya, Bill and Anne. We went to the Coffee Inn, which had a lovely outdoor café as well as a few guest rooms. The most interesting thing about the place was the tree house, which was located right in the middle of the outdoor café. Guests staying in the tree house had to climb a bamboo ladder to access it. Anyways, at the Coffee Inn, I ordered a pizza, cardamom tea and pineapple juice since I needed a break from spicy Indian food. The pizza dough was baking and wouldn’t be ready for 2 hours (!), so I instead had spaghetti with sauce. It was actually very good. Then, no pineapples, so I had papaya juice. It was very thick, more the consistency of a milkshake.
About halfway through lunch, Betty, Debbie and Susan showed up at the Coffee Inn with extremely oily hair from their massages. They did, however, seem to have really enjoyed it (their massages that is; not their oily hair!).
Watching me finishing up my lunch was a cute squirrel, which looked more like a very large chipmunk than a squirrel.
After arriving back at the Hotel Ambadi, I took a shower with HOT water (yay!) and washed my hair. Feeling nice and clean, I stopped into the hotel gift shop and bought a pashmina so that I wouldn’t be so cold up in there in the mountains. Meanwhile, Betty, Debbie and Susan went for an ayurvedic massage. Ayurveda is an ancient holistic system of medicine from India. According to the experts, an ayurvedic massage "promotes healing and restoration by eliminating toxins from the body so that rejuvenating energies of the body may flow more freely."
I, on the other hand, went to lunch with Priya, Bill and Anne. We went to the Coffee Inn, which had a lovely outdoor café as well as a few guest rooms. The most interesting thing about the place was the tree house, which was located right in the middle of the outdoor café. Guests staying in the tree house had to climb a bamboo ladder to access it. Anyways, at the Coffee Inn, I ordered a pizza, cardamom tea and pineapple juice since I needed a break from spicy Indian food. The pizza dough was baking and wouldn’t be ready for 2 hours (!), so I instead had spaghetti with sauce. It was actually very good. Then, no pineapples, so I had papaya juice. It was very thick, more the consistency of a milkshake.
About halfway through lunch, Betty, Debbie and Susan showed up at the Coffee Inn with extremely oily hair from their massages. They did, however, seem to have really enjoyed it (their massages that is; not their oily hair!).
Watching me finishing up my lunch was a cute squirrel, which looked more like a very large chipmunk than a squirrel.
There were also a couple of playful monkeys nearby. One was especially funny as it was doing all kinds of acrobats to get at a hanging jackfruit. It was quite comical to watch!
(Click on the images below to view.)
(Click on the images below to view.)
Shopping in Thekaddy
Thekkady street
After I finished up lunch, I walked around town by myself. I visited a spice shop and bought cardamom and black pepper, as well as a small bottle of saffron for Tom, my neighbor back home in Maryland. I then went to a shop across the street from the hotel that was owned by a man from Kashmir. I wanted to buy some more pashminas, so he took me into a “back” room that was stacked floor-to-ceiling with colorful shawls, wall hangings, bedspreads and fabrics. He invited me to sit, which I did on a very colorful sofa. The man then started pulling pashminas down off the shelves and spreading them out on the floor while he told me about the quality of each one. When he was finished, there were literally dozens of colorful pashminas laying all around. I ended up buying 4 of them, which I planned to give as gifts to my daughters Kathleen and Christy; my mom; and my sister, Jackie. I also bought a beautiful red and green wall hanging set with small, round "mirrors." For some reason I didn’t bargain with the shopkeeper, so he gave me a beautiful carved marble elephant. (Unfortunately, the elephant didn’t make it home in one piece.)
Emmanuel Orphanage
After shopping, Betty, Rick, Debbie, Susan, Priya, Anne and I visited Emmanuel Orphanage for several hours. It was both heartwarming and heart wrenching at the same time. The orphanage was home to 22 children: 20 girls and 2 boys. They ranged in age from 4 months to 14 years. When we arrived, about half of the children were in the hospital with chicken pox. The 11 or so that I met were very sweet children – smiling and obviously very happy – and were each so friendly toward me. Their lives are very simple. All of the girls sleep in one room on 4 large beds. The 2 boys have their own room. The baby sleeps in a cloth sling hung from the ceiling. The older children all go to school.
The children loved to get their pictures taken. I took lots of photos. The orphanage is privately-run, so it gets no assistance from the government; it relies solely on donations. The owners are a Christian Indian couple, and the children are being raised as Christian.
The children sang 3 songs for us: 2 Christian and 1 in Hindi, their language (though they call it something different). Then, my little group of adults sang couple songs for the children, taught them “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and did a couple action songs: “Hokey Pokey” and “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” The children then did an action song for us – it was a Christian song. After singing was over, one of the men working at the orphanage scrambled up a coconut tree in his bare feet, picked a bunch of coconuts and then scrambled back down the tree. The tops of the coconuts were chopped off and the fresh coconut water was poured into glasses and shared with us. I must say that it was pretty cool to watch this monkey of a man run up the tree, but the taste of the coconut water left much to be desired!
(Click on the images below to view.)
The children loved to get their pictures taken. I took lots of photos. The orphanage is privately-run, so it gets no assistance from the government; it relies solely on donations. The owners are a Christian Indian couple, and the children are being raised as Christian.
The children sang 3 songs for us: 2 Christian and 1 in Hindi, their language (though they call it something different). Then, my little group of adults sang couple songs for the children, taught them “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and did a couple action songs: “Hokey Pokey” and “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” The children then did an action song for us – it was a Christian song. After singing was over, one of the men working at the orphanage scrambled up a coconut tree in his bare feet, picked a bunch of coconuts and then scrambled back down the tree. The tops of the coconuts were chopped off and the fresh coconut water was poured into glasses and shared with us. I must say that it was pretty cool to watch this monkey of a man run up the tree, but the taste of the coconut water left much to be desired!
(Click on the images below to view.)
The orphanage was in need of a new refrigerator, so I made a small donation of R500 to the orphanage. We then caught auto rickshaws back to the hotel in time for dinner at 7:30. Such a busy day that I went to bed right after I finished eating.
NEXT: MADURAI