God’s Own Country Part 1: Memoirs of Thekaddy

Lush green trees stretching across acres and acres of the mountainous terrain of the western ghats. The brightly shining sun and the well-paved roads, spotlessly clean, invites you to grab your backpack and hit the roads. This is God’s own country: Kerala. This time around, our plan was to explore the spice heaven: Thekaddy.

A quick background regarding Thekaddy. Thekaddy is a small town on the hilltop of the western ghats and it is situated in the Idukki district, which is 570 km from Chennai. The most important place to visit in Thekaddy is the Periyar National Park. The National Park is famous for its elephants, tigers and the numerous flora and fauna species that make it a treasure cove for nature lovers.

Thekaddy

One can reach Thekaddy, on road, either by car or bus. You have just one bus going from Chennai directly to Thekaddy in redbus.in. However, you can probably take a detour, like catching an SETC bus from Chennai to Kambam and then catch any SETC bus that goes to Thekaddy. This option is much cheaper than booking buses from redbus.in. The other way is to catch a train to Kottayam. From Kottayam, you can catch a KSRT (Kerala State Road Transport) to Thekaddy. Either way, the total travel time will be approximately 15 hours, and you will need to take a break in a lodging, so have that planned accordingly. If anyone of you readers or your friends tend to get road sick, make sure to carry sickness medicine, if not still carry them. The winding roads of Kerala can have a weird effect on you when travelling by bus.

We were three people, who had started their journey from Bangalore and had reached Kottayam by train. The journey took 12 hours, and we reached approximately 5 AM in the morning. Outside the small station, the roads were well-lit and a pink hue donned the sky, marking the break of dawn. After quickly getting directions from a local Auto driver in broken Tamil, we made our way up the hilly road through the silent town. We had to walk a good 30-40 minutes till we could find ourselves a share auto, but the walk wasn’t unwelcome at all. Since it was my first time in Kerala, I couldn’t but help soak in the beautiful serene vista the state had to offer in front of my eyes. In my personal opinion, even a solo traveller could enjoy a trip through this state if they wanted to.

After reaching the KSRT bus stand, we caught a bus to Thekaddy or Kumuli (boards will read Kumuli). The journey was a roller coaster ride, and frankly, for the first one hour, my companions and I were having a hard time keeping ourselves from falling off the seats. The arduous journey was, nevertheless, forgotten an hour later when the bus drove up the western ghats. All of us cranked our necks out of the window to see a view we had never seen before. It wasn’t the green small hills of the eastern ghats, nor was it the like the plateaued dry hills in Maharashtra. Yes, the ghats in Maharashtra can be beautiful and lush green too, especially during the monsoons. But, there was an indescribable beauty to the hills in Kerala that was just captivating me in ways I just cannot explain. Maybe the pictures could give you an idea, but nothing can beat living it yourself.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We passed through the winding roads of Mundakayam into the tea and the spice plantations, and after three hours, we touched down at Kumuli. We had booked our lodging in SN Internationals, through Oyorooms, for approximately 800 per room. SN Internationals is just 3 km walk away from the main KSRT bus stop and has very good quality rooms. The staff at the reception was quite helpful and he helped us with things like getting an auto early morning for our trek and rafting expedition. We had reserved our spots for the half day rafting and trekking through official website of Periyar Tiger Reserve (http://www.periyartigerreserve.org/onbook.php).

The first day we had arrived Kumuly at around 12:30 PM. We quickly had our breakfast in the South Indian Restaurant right next to the Thekaddy Bus stop (Thekaddy Junction). We had ordered the good old South Indian breakfast and my personal favourite: Ghee Roast Dosa. What caught my eyes was the water they served in all of the Kerala Restaurants. It initially looked like some strange brown concoction of some herbal ingredients, which later on we found out is a simple recipe of Jeera water (Cumin Water). It is a tradition in Kerala to serve all their guests in a hotel with Jeera water as it not only hydrates the tired traveller but also boosts their immune system and regulates their blood pressure. This comes to show how strong the roots of Ayurveda and Yoga has gripped and moulded this state of ancient Indian tradition.

After being rejuvenated by the yummy meal, we checked into our hotel around 1 PM. From there we ventured out to scout the main gate of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The main gate of the Periyar Tiger Reserve is 3 km from the main bus stop. You can easily walk the distance as the weather won’t be too hot or humid. We chose to walk our way to the main gate as we wished to explore the streets of Thekaddy (Kumuli) and figure out all the places we could try Kerala’s authentic cuisines. The route we took was a little roundabout and there were spells of light and heavy rain greeting us throughout the walk. Post getting our tickets from the Kerala Tourism Office at Ambadi Junction, we headed back to have a quick grab of a late lunch. The restaurant we had our lunch was a little off the main road, however, the chicken and the fish curry was simply delicious. Be warned, not all shops are having good food. So, if you wish to save money and not have food inside the hotel, I would advise you to have your dinner packed from the restaurant you plan to get your lunch from. We had made the capital mistake of deciding to have our dinner later on in the late evening, however, the restaurants near our hotel were closed off as early as 7:30 PM. Only the small shops were serving dinner, however, they were not very edible. Anyway, moving on.

The next day we had out trek planned for 7:30 AM. We had to report at Wildlife checkpoint near Ambadi Junction. We caught a share auto to our destination, and post reaching the reserve we were warmly greeting by the forest officers who were going to guide us through  the trek. The trek was very simple: a 5 km walks through the forest to the Periyar Lake, have lunch and then go rafting for a kilometer or two on the calm clear water of the lake, row back and then come back to the check point. The overall time taken would be half an day (6 hour actually).

Right before the inception of the trek, we were each handed our bags with food and a leg cover to prevent the leeches from crawling into our shoes or trousers and sucking our blood. We were already instructed to wear good pair of trekking shoes, a dull coloured shirt and long hiking trousers. It is best to avoid wearing any short as it could potentially have the bloodsucking miniature parasites attacking you. It is also best to wear a cap with a long cover that hides your neck. This will prevent any leech falling off the trees from sticking on to your neck.

Post a brief introduction we set out to walk towards the entrance to the Periyar Forest. The terrain was relatively plain with brooks flowing through our trail every now and then. In short, an easy trek. However, the view inside the forest was simply breathtaking. Everywhere you looked the land was covered with miles and miles of lush green trees, grass, and creepers. Some places were dark enough to make you feel that the night is upon us, and then again there were patches where the sun rays managed to clear through the thick broad leaves. Every now and then there used to be a clear patch where sun used to shine a create an amazing golden and emerald display.

After a 2 hours walk, we finally reached the lake. The view was simply breathtaking. Like all the views in Kerala, words can do no justice, and pictures can give only a vague idea. You have to go there and experience it for yourself to understand the surge of feelings that engulf your mind, body and soul while you trudge down to the bank of the lake. We stopped in a wooden shack near the lake to take a quick bite and then started with our rafting adventure. Well, I wouldn’t say that it was a rushing adrenaline induced experience. It was more like a slow, calm and peaceful experience as the oars of the rafts dove into and out of the water, creating a musical rhythm spreading across the silent forest. The forest officers handed us two pairs of oars to row as well. While most of the work was actually done by the forest officers, we too tried our sincere hands in rowing, and boy it was a tough job.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After 3 hours of peaceful and soul-calming rafting experience, we returned back to the bank of the lake and started tracing our steps back to the main gate of the Periyar Forest Reserve. The journey through the forest through the aromatic spice trees and gently flowing brooks over the stones was one to remember. Truth to be told, we felt the whole experience was over way too soon. Nevertheless, it is one of those many memories I will always treasure.

Thekaddy is one of those many places I would highly recommend to everyone. Not only is that place beautiful, but also suitable for any age group. As long as you have the desire to explore and the willingness to lose yourself to nature, Thekaddy is definitely a place to go to.