Blogs from Periyar National Park, Kerala, India, Asia - page 2

Lake Periyar - Monday 9 to Wednesday 11 November Monday’s journey from Munnar took us first to the internet café in the town to upload my latest blog and to check e-mail, then onto a winding road through the tea plantations. The weather was fine at first - we even saw some blue sky for the first time in days - but, as tea gave way to cardamom plantations, the cloud returned and down came the rain. For the next three hours, the rain continued on and off (actually more on than off) and our movement along the road was hampered by landslides and fallen trees as a result of the recent heavy rain and high winds. By the time we arrived at Kumily, it was pouring. Despite what The Hindu newspaper says, everyone seems to ... read more

Our varied modes of transport in India, from the sublime to the ridiculous... I've just been looking back on all the ways we have travelled in this amazing country since we arrived on January 4. We arrived in Chennai via India Air, thankfully an uneventful experience. Then things began to get interesting, starting with the bus driven by a Tamil who awed all aboard with both his driving skill, and his countless close calls with oncoming buses, trucks, rickshaws, cows, motorcycles, and cars, all of which can be found in any lane at any time. How he managed to avoid a collision was a constant source of incredulity. Yet, nobody on the tour was able to relax because of the seemingly insane driving by all. It seems that the size of the vehicle determines how ... read more

About 2 months ago, I read about the Periyar Tiger Trail, a 3-day hiking & camping excursion in Periyar Tiger Reserve, a sustainable eco-tourism venture run by the state forest department. They have employed former poachers to guide treks, which provides income for the park, decent employment for the poachers and a few other locals, a way for tourists to get deep out into the Indian wilderness (a real challenge to do here, even more so for a western woman traveling alone), and a way to monitor the park for other poachers. As soon as I read about the trip, I tried to email and make a reservation, but the email bounced back and I didn’t follow up, thinking I’d just figure it out when I got here. So as soon as I arrived, backpack still ... read more

Very early start up at 5.30am this morning - but definitely worth it. Went up to Periyar National Park just 5m away by auto rickshaw and set off around 6.45/7am on our jungle walk after first putting on our leech socks. The 3 hour walk began by crossing the man made lake on a raft that is pulled by rope from one side to the other and then setting off on foot into the jungle with our guide at the front and Chandra at the back. We stayed up front the majority of the time which turned out to be very beneficial as often shortly after our guide had spotted something it would dash off so only those at the front would have seen. This happened with a mouse deer that was hiding in a hollow ... read more

We left the cool hills Kerela and went down into the steamy flatlands of Tamil Nadu. The weather went from 20C to about 35C in less than an hour. The state of Tamil Nadu has an incredible number of temples. Big ones small ones, some in huge complexes and some just a few feet high on the side of the road. We had a major culture shock in Madurai. It was big, overpopulated and grim. If it didn't have 2 fabulous temples, we would have avoided it completely. Our first disapointment in India. Luckily the next day we traveled north to Trichy. A lovely city that gave us back our enthusiasm. Tomorrow it's on to Pondicherry, the old French territory on the Bay of Bengal. ... read more