Blogs from Periyar National Park, Kerala, India, Asia - page 3

Last night I took a nature walk through the forest from 7pm-10pm. It was a good way to pass time and exercise since I really haven't done much. I was hoping I'd lose some weight, but so far, I dont think I have. Or maybe I dont notice it. The food has been treating me right, so no diarrhea, vomiting, etc.. *knock on wood*. The walk was quite dark, a bit boring.. but we did spot a group of deers, Sambas? A flying squirrel.. heard monkeys.. spiders, saw 4 birds in a tree bundled up sleeping.. In the background was chanting from the Hindu Temple.. and fireworks or some explosion.. a bit scary. Got back to the room around 10:30.. the feel of shower and cleansiness is more delightful than ever.. unfortunately it wasn't as pleasant ... read more

Periyar Hi from Periyar, a hill station in the western ghats. We stopped at a spice plantation for a guide tour. Very interesting as India produces most of the worlds spices and Kerala can grow almost all of them. Then a visit to the Periyar Tiger Reserve where I saw almost everything except a tiger (which is not unusual as they are largely nocturnal). Then, after a night at the Elephant Court hotel, more roadside scenes on the way to Cochin. Rice and tea cultivation is a big industry in this part of Kerala. So far Kim is not enjoying the bumpy van ride (hard on her back) and the heat and humidity but we are both enjoying the scenery and culture. It will be cooler in the north next week. No tummy problems! ... read more

Left Munnar early in the morning and had another hair raising drive to the town of Kumily, just outside the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Managed to find a cool little hut to stay in for the princely sum of $5, situated in a little complex of cabins and other huts. It also had a little viewing tower that overlooked what I'm sure was only a paddock on the edge of the sanctaury, but offered views of some animals. After checking in, I went and checked out the park, just managing to scrape onto the wildlife watching cruise around the lake. The park itself is about 777 sq kms with a 26 sq km artificial lake created by the British in 1895. It's home to bison, antelope, sambar, wild boar, langur, about 750 elephants and about 35 ... read more

I set the alarm for 6am as our driver was picking me up at 6:30 to enable time to pick up Sachi and get to Periyar by 7. Only problem with this was that the monkeys like to wake at around 5:30 with dawn. What a noise but what an amazing way to start a day. I moved out on to my balcony and simply sat there whilst my ears were assaulted by first the monkeys and then various insect choruses. Dawn chorus in the UK really is very tame. Sachi and I had decided to take full advantage of today’s limited time. Aravind are never keen on their guests travelling on the roads in the dark so we are planning to depart around 3:30 at the latest. Our schedule for the day is: - 7am ... read more

After spending a wonderfully relaxing period in Munnar, we chose to put off going back to the hot and clammy lowlands with a second stop in the refreshingly cool air of the Western Ghats. On a recommendation from an Irish couple staying in the Munnar homestay, we headed to Thekaddy, home of the Periyar Tiger Reserve - a large wildlife sanctuary of highland deciduous forest and grasslands. Following their advice further we made our base in the aptly named "Jungle Palace" - a beautifully kept homestay with bedroom views over the reserve. We barely needed to move to enjoy the peace and observe wildlife from the balcony - we hardly did! Just once we ventured into the park reserve itself and we got a look at some wildlife by doing so but we also met the ... read more