Thekkady - Periyar National Park

Road to Thekkady from Munnar was amazing. Apparently lot of movie shootings have happened in this area e.g. Chennai Express, Life Of Pi. The view was very scenic and we (read - Meghana) were tempted to stop every now and then. 

Thanks to our driver, he took us to a tea garden area, where we could get in and do some photo shooting. Shedding all the inhibitions to express the love in the tea gardens, we managed to capture some of the poses too.



Not wanting to be left behind, Mrunmay also mimicked us showing the love signs that he knew and then posing like a movie star!!



While we were lost in each other, nature's beauty was still calling us and Meghana managed to capture this snap, way better than Windows XP wallpaper for ages!
In the initial parts we could see the green carpet on both sides of the roads, which slowly changed as we went away from Munnar. The Tea gardens were replaced with tall trees interspersed with various spice trees. 

 We started early - relatively - considering it was a vacation - intending to reach Thekkady around 1 PM. There's a boat safari in the Periyar River which starts at 3:30 and lasts for about 90 mins. We were hoping to catch the safari well in time. However, even after good attempt, we couldn't make it in time. By the time we reached there, the ride was full. Our fellow driver had told us about online booking, which costs thrice as much, but we had opted to avoid this additional cost, considering it unnecessary. After realizing that afternoon safari is already full, we had no choice but to book online and pay extra. We requested the South Tourism contact person to do the needful as the internet connection was flaky on mobile.
Heart Shaped Flowers
Instead of the boat safri, we decided to cover the spice garden. The garden owner was pretty enthusiastic person and walked us through the garden thoroughly, showing various spices, trees, flowers and fruits. Mrunmay got bored after a while, but managed to last until end. Finally he got some excitement when we introduced him to the plant - Mimosa - लाजाळू. He shut off every leaf of every mimosa plant that he could see!!

We were staying at Abad Green Forest, which was hosting lot of monkeys along with Human Beings. The bellboy and the receptionist had strictly warned us to keep the windows closed all the time so as not to let the monkeys in and destroy the food items. We could see lot of monkeys when we checked in and were walking towards our room, but after that point, we hardly saw any monkey until we checked out next day!!

We had our booking done for Periyar boat ride for the next day morning - safari was to start at 7:30 AM and driver had requested us to be ready by 6:45 AM. We had to reach the entry gate of the forest reserve, take the entry tickets and then walk down about couple of kilometers. The walk was pretty simple, but full of large trees - some very large - which you can't hug fully. 

As we were settling down in the boat, suddenly we saw a pack of wild dogs on the other bank of the river. All of them were looking as if they had finished their breakfast and were on the lookout for water. The pack was keeping sufficient distance from the boat and didn't allow us to take some good snaps. These dogs reminded me of our experience in Tadoba, where they had hunted down a sambar deer!!

Rest of the safari was rather bland. Except for some egrets, bisons and some other birds, we didn't see anything. It looked like this vacation wasn't meant for any real wild animals (which I am happy about, but Meghana is not!!)

After the boat ride, it was time to pack bags and drive to Alleppey and the backwaters!
Location: Wonder Futura Phase 1, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra 411029, India

Comments

Shreya at Jumbodium said…
It is actually a very nice place. I have been to Munnar once 2 years back and really loved the place a lot. Thank u for sharing the snaps...
January 23, 2015 11:57 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Subscription Services

Image
As the internet penetration increased over the last 2 decades, it also gave rise to digital subscriptions. The internet users slowly started developing trust in internet-based payments and that too on recurring payments. It probably started with the tech community using the recurring payment systems and slowly spreading that faith to non-tech-savvy users. There was also a phase when I started using the credit card for online transactions but wasn't comfortable storing the card details with the merchant. I used to enter the details every single time. (That is how I still remember the CC number that was in use at that time) In the late 2000's I was introduced to Ecom website development and since then it has been part of my professional as well as personal life. Over the years, I learned about the  PCI-DSS standard , and the extent to which the Ecom companies make an effort to protect consumer data. There have been instances of a data breach across the globe, but alon...
Read more

Movie Review: Chhota Bheem and The Throne of Bali

Image
Set in the beautiful islands of Bali, this movie is meant to entertain the kids. But unfortunately adults may not find it that interesting.  As usual, when Bheem along with his gang and King of Dholakpur reaches Bali, they find that Bali is in danger. Apparently, Bali's Queen is King of Dholakpur's sister and were invited for crowning ceremony of the prince Arjun. Upon arrival, Bheem and the team found that everything is devastated in Bali and there's no trace of Royal family including Arjun. After much of a search, Bheem finds the Rajguru (Royal Priest) who had helped the prince escape the wrath of the invader - Rangda.  The story line is pretty much predictable and there are no surprises till the end. Bheem needs to be the ONLY savior and it turns out to be that way. (This actually is a problem for children mentality, but I'll save the thoughts for some other time.) Overall animation is similar to the serial and there didn't seem to be any attempt...
Read more

Telemarketing

Last week Mobile rings .... Me: Hello --: Hello, this is XXX calling from XXX bank. Sir, you hold XXX bank credit card, right? Me: Yes. --: Sir, XXX bank is offerring you a ready cash of Rs.4,65,000/- Me: Actually this amount is too small for me. --: How much amount you are looking for, Sir? Me: Something like 4 crores.... --: (silence) --: 4 Crores ???? --: Is any bank offering you that much amount? Me: No! --: Then? Me: If you can offer me 4 lakhs just like that some other bank will give me 4 crores as well :) --: Ok Sir. (disconnect) :) Today Mobile rings ... Me: Hello --: Hello, this is XXX calling from XXX bank. Sir, you hold XXX bank credit card, right? Me: Yes. --: Sir, XXX bank is offerring you a ready cash of Rs.4,65,000/- Me: Last week only I told you folks that this is very small amount. I am looking for amount like 4 Crores... --: ccccrore ?????? (hung up) Nice entertainment right?
Read more