Wanderlust in a wonderland 'Kerala'

The same day, we roamed around Fort Kochi, ate our lunch at a road side shop (Pizza Italia), Currymean fish fry (sea fish popular in Kerala), prawn curry with Kerala porotta and a super tasty iced tea with honey to drink. We ferried down the river from Fort Kochi to Ernakulum with our car and it cost us only Rs. 35/-- a different experience for us. The roads around Ernakulum, after we crossed the boat jetty point, were peaceful. The air was so fresh!

Next day, we left for Munnar (Idukki district) at around 7.30 a.m., charged up to witness the hill station which every person who has visited has said it to be beautiful. We first crossed the Cheeyappara waterfall. The beautiful weather enthralled me.

We left for Suryanalli in search of Munnar Pramic, almost 34 kms from the national park. We stayed in tent there surrounded by an absolute tranquility. The view from there covered hills with forests, tea plantations and valleys.

We boarded an off-roader dot at 4.30 am the next day (day 3) to Kolukkumalai. We reached the point and saw the sun rising. But the season being rainy one, who could dare win over the clouds?

That morning, I saw the clouds at the war. The battalion on my right were clustering in fast to increase on its size. The battalion on my left seemed weak in the beginning. I turned my neck further on my left to see a huge cluster of clouds roaring and while coming to the battlefield, it swallowed in the mountains. They seemed fast and ruthless. Everyone took their positions. But to my surprise, they didn’t thunder, they didn’t lighten. They broke. They broke right before my face and not on my face. I could see the drizzles fly across the empty spaces between the mountains. Nothing touched me.

Afterwards, we left for Thekkady and on the way we ate our breakfast. We decided to take a jeep safari in Thekkady across the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, surrounded by agricultural land and vineyards. It was a package safari tour.

Post our return, Madhumita relaxed herself at Mayura ayurvedic massage centre and I retired to stop-gap sleep at Thekkady Homestay. The owners shared the dinner cooked for them when we told them that we were too tired to go out for dinner. It was indeed a very sweet gesture. We got to eat home cooked food for the first time in this trip. They were very friendly and aunty felt bad that she could offer us only rice, sambar and puttu with some fish fry. Little did she know that it was heavenly for us and the food tasted awesome.

On day 5 we trekked 4 kms to reach Periyar Lake. We had collected our tickets from Periyar Information Centre (government centre) the previous day for bamboo rafting. It was a delightful trek that started at 7.30 am. We had 3 guides for a group of 6 people and a man with a gun who walked at the end of the human trail. After 1.5 hours of trek the view of the lake was heavenly. It was purely serene. After eating our breakfast in the jungle near the lake, we climbed on the raft. It sailed through the waters. It was undisturbed, away from human cacophony.

While returning to Kochi, we took the Neryamangalam Idukki road which runs through the jungle. The rains had created strata of mists in the mountains and I was mesmerized at the beauty of the mountains. The mountains were on my right. My neck held tight to the right, I wasn’t ready to miss a single frame. And then came a twisty turn and the humongous misty mountain emerged before me for few seconds before we drove to the end of the bend. I realized I was sitting at the edge of my seat. The periyar river gushed with us on parallel track.

The next day, we went to Alappuzha and took a shikara to sail across the backwaters for 5 hours.

On 7th day, i.e. the last day of the trip, we went to Athirapally waterfall in Thissur district. It was time to get drenched in the 80-ft tall waterfall-largest waterfall in Kerala.