Highland Journeys

Highland Journeys

For the average humans who are born, live, and die on the plains, the thought of seeing a mountain or hills is truly exciting. If this excitement is translated into an actual journey to the highlands, a romance of some sort is inevitable. If however, one has allowed oneself to experience such romances occasionally or intermittently, a whole new phenomenon can occur- a love story. 

As an average mainland-er, I have always wondered how it would be to go to the hills and have harbored a secret vision to build a shack in the higher altitudes, live there alone surrounded by books, a dog or two, maybe a horse, although they are alien to me, yet I have always held them in high esteem and think of them as a symbol of freedom. I have even dreamt of such a life. Therefore, it would be easy to understand the thrill I felt when I first saw the Kanchenjunga and her companions, from a resort boasting of a complete view. It was disappointingly far away, I thought. I did, however, love the verdant green mountains of Bhutan, and was even more impressed that it contained hardly any population! The lack of populace, I felt, was an added attraction. 

Later on in life, I became very attached to Sikkim, having explored almost all of its content especially the far reaches of those impossibly tall mountains, and spent a few years reveling in those few days of romance. What a marvelous piece of work I thought. What a beautiful land, and how lucky its people are. The bitter winds of winter and the scarcity of warmth could not dampen my desire, which by now was slowly turning into a passion - for the mountains. 

Someone of course sniggered that I haven't experienced the Himalayas, and alluded that my so-called passion was superfluous, since I know nothing about Her. Quickly deciding to rectify the situation, a visit to the Himachal Himalayas was planned and executed. The Andaman visit was stalled, and instead, I was off to the 'real' mountains. The fact that on the very day that I landed at Naldehra instead of Port Blair, where a catastrophic Tsunami almost wiped Andamans off the world maps, convinced me that I should stick to my one love, the mountains. It was again a grievous winter, yet the layers of thermals helped warm my heart to these highlands. Stories of the Himachals, I shall reveal another day. Time to move on. 

All mountain lovers have this itch to go higher and higher. It seems the passions are fuelled further by altitude. I would think the altitude makes them breathlessly in love! The pains, thrills, and passions of a human love story are identical to the mountain experience, yet not as fickle. The usual story of an attraction leading to ecstasy with all its drama in between, is a common theme in both cases. It is quite baffling how an altitudinal change can bring about such attitudinal change! I suppose the beauty and majesty of the Himalayas have the power to transform the most sluggish minds into thrill-seeking behavior.  Or maybe, it brings on changes at cellular and psychic levels. 

   

Spices and Pachyderms

After two days of tea- gardens at Munnar, I were excited about our next destination- Thekkady. About 80 kms south of Munnar, lies Thekkady which is really where the Periyar Reserve Forest is. The Reserve was first established in 1972 as the Periyar Tiger Project, though not much is spoken of those reclusive creatures. Instead , the Pachyderms rule the jungle here! Whatever be the purpose of your visit to this land, Thekkady is not be missed. One can stay at Thekkady within the Sanctuary or at Kumily, a small spice town once- now a thriving tourist destination- if not for anything, just the spice plantations! The Forest gates closes down at 6 pm upto 6 am and the forest department is rather protective of their wards. One is not allowed to venture unattended into the jungle. For the hardy ones with a penchant for adventure, the forest department allows overnight stay in rudimentary bamboo huts so you can soak in the jungle. There are jungle walks, and guided treks and for the willing yet lazy, there are jeep safaris organised. I must say that all the hotels and lodgings advertising on the web and magazines promising a great wildlife experience are really situated OUTSIDE the sanctuary at Kumily. But first the spices...

Kumily on its part, is a bigger town than Munnar, threateningly close to the Periyar Sanctuary. This is largely a spice trading centre, and doing very good business from the looks of it. Being near the Tamil Nadu border also allows good amount of Cashew to be brought in. Walk into any shop and you will be told that the spices sold here are straight from their own plantation. They will even arrange for a Plantation visit- which by the way, is quite informative. I found plenty of coffee beans being sold here. The aroma of the roasted coffee beans is heavenly and even though I normally am not a coffee person, I couldn't resist buying the beans. There is a plantation called Deepa World owned by an ayurvedic practitioner, who I suspect has become an entrepreneur by simply opening his plantation up for organised tours. He charges per head a neat sum of Rs. 100/- for a by -the- rote tour given by a "guide" who turned out be his student! The tour was very mechanical. However, I learnt new things about very commonly found creepers and shrubs, and felt humbled by my complete ignorance of the existence many wondrous herbs.

Kerala is known for its plantations- pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, ginger, bay leaves... and has been trading in spices since more than 2 millenniums . Buying spices for my kitchen was very exciting. The sweet fragrance of green cardamom and cinnamon is enough to cloud ones sense of proportion! My mother simply went crazy....Lets just say that I had to buy a bag to transport back all that I bought!


Moving back to Thekkady, what makes this place special is its wild life, which one can witness up close. The better way to enjoy nature and all that it has to offer is to stay within the Sanctuary. KTDC has three resorts- Luxury, Mid- Range and Budget. Aranya Vilas, Aranya Nivas and Periyar House. It is advisable to book ahead if one is travelling in the high season. I took a risk and was lucky to get the last room in the Periyar House resort. The Manager an extremely courteous man, coaxed us into trying the evening boat ride . Tickets for boat rides are available at the Jetty and the KTDC resorts' counter. Carrying a camera will cost you extra, and a videocam will set you back a good Rs.200/-, but the money spent here is worth it. There are about 4 smaller boats and one grand Boat called Jalaraja. These are run by the KTDC and prone to running on schedule.

The stars of Periyar are the Aanas, or the Elephants. The idea of meeting the giants itself is so thrilling. No matter how matured, sane, respectable, well behaved, it is very easy to turn into shrieking kid the very moment you see those rolly-poly characters! It is said that the best time to see animals is to take the early morning or the last ride in the evening. There are rides throughout the day, and I decided to try as many as I possibly could. The evening ride over the Periyar lake takes you all the way to the elephant herds who ususally visit the waterfront to tank up for the night. Sometimes one can witness them taking dust bath, or simply wade in the lake. A few other animals also give appearances. Birds, mostly Herons, cranes, Cormorants, ducks, finches, kingfishers are commonly seen preening on the dead submerged tree trunks.

The Tuskers are, however, rarely sighted. They prefer keeping aloof- possibly make a dash for the water during dusk or dawn. In any case, as intelligent as they are, they must surely have learnt the motor boat timings and keep off at the designate hours... The boats make so much noise they can be heard all over the country anyways! I did try the afternoon trip and we were rewarded handsomely by two ladies with knee length baby lolling around in the water- enjoying an afternoon dip! What a glorious sight- such oversized beasts gently splashing about like water babies.... We also sighted a rather large herd of white socked Bisons, some deer, Indian Sambar, antelopes, wild boar and a couple of otters rolling in the water !
There are many things aside from elephant watching that can be attempted- like elephant rides, bathing an elephant or getting an 'elephant' shower... yes, they all seem to revolve around those pachyderms ! For those wanting a taste of local beverage- toddy can be tried along with fried fish that is served. And since we are talking of food, Karimeen fry and Meen Moilee are THE things to gorge on. Karimeen or Pearlspot , a fresh water fish is to a keralite what Hilsa would be to a Bengali, or Ladyfish to a Mangalorian. You miss out on Karimeen fry and one can safely say that you haven't experienced Kerala. Hmmm.. what about the vegetarians? How about Idiappam, with Potato stew, Appam with Peas curry, or Puttu with ishtew... Inviting, isn't it !

Glimpses of Eden

Having heard so much about this little piece of land, popularly sold as God's own country, I thought I would one day check this corner for myself. Kerala , I heard from friends belonging to the state, is very popular among tourists and travellers alike, both Indians and 'foreigners', and deciding a suitable time to visit proved difficult. On the one hand, Kerala is known for its heavy rains in Monsoon, and extremely hot and humid weather for nearly 7 months in a year- leaving only 2 or 3 months of climate that I could appreciate. On the other hand, it is during those 2 or 3 "winter" months that everyone seems to flock to Kerala, and the Christmas season being the most crowded! Not being particularly fond of visiting a place in high season, and then again not quite wanting to brave the heat of the "off-season", I decided to try January- after the New Years revellers had left for their own homes.

Planning this trip was quite easy. Just the to and return tickets in pocket, and with a Road Map and a vehicle booked , I decided to go and check out everything possible in 13 days with another odd bird- my Mom! The first brush with Kerala was at Cochin. Its a city like all other cities- dusty, chaotic with a little bit of history tucked in here and there. The traffic was troublesome, and I was glad to leave the place the next morning. I live in a city and when I want to get away, I dont like to visit other cities, normally. So the next day we drove towards Munnar.

Munnar must have been really beautiful back in its wild days. The whole area must have been forested and full of wild beasts. Eden? Probably. Then some British guy thought it better to clear the woods and plant their precious tea- and so Munnar is now simply miles after miles, hills after hills of tea gardens and privately owned estates. They are still at it- clearing forests and planting tea trees- permanantly changing the face of Munnar. Sure the place looks green and to many- very romantic enough to celebrate their honeymoon there, but Munnar also appears very cultivated or should I say manicured ,and tame - like a paradise lost to tea companies! The town is a typically tourist town with small and large hotels and Inn. The local administration still has'nt learnt how to deal with garbage disposal, and plastic bottles and trash can be seen wherever you lay your eyes.

To enjoy Munnar, it is advisable to find lodging away from the town- and we stayed at Chinnakanal, about 30 kms away from town on the other side of the hill. The sunrise was spectacular, the weather pretty cool in the mornings. One can simply walk through tea gardens, or try one's luck at Chinna Sanctuary- and good 40 kms away from Munnar. There is a Madupetty Dam and Lake where speedboating is offered. Munnar is a quiet little place, thats all . Its a place where you can go unwind, and laze around... simply breathe the dewy mountain air, and sip away pots of fresh tea, or just wander about on bicycles, or stare away into yonder- perhaps read a book and relax.