On the first day of our outing from Varkala we drove to a spot in the backwaters south of Allepey. The driver was heading to Kottayam (don't exactly know why - language problems maybe?) but we rerouted in time to hit the Allepey junction. The hotel was a 150 years old family home in Kerala style with tiled roof and teak fittings. A boatman picked us up from the road bank and paddled us across. In the late afternoon we took a motor boat ride around the canals, sitting on the roof while the sun was setting, and watching the village life on the banks. When the sun was below the horizon enormous fruit bats started to flap across the sky. We discovered that the popular house boat racket (luxury fitted rice barges) has become silly with a never ending boat train chugging back and forth between Kollam, Allepey and Kottayam. So that's off our list.
The next day we drove up in the Western Ghats and reached Periyar before 1 pm. To get there one has to drive through tea, coffee, and spice plantations. Compared to what it looked like eleven years ago when Anna and I was there, there has been a lot of development. The actual wildlife sanctuary is also more busy with tourists. Eleven years ago there was one boat taking visitors around the reservoir to spot animals on the bank. Now they have seven boats. But the guide was the same guy, Ravi, trying to hush the Indians. The hotel is an old colonial house inside the sanctuary. It had not been maintained so well but we got the best room. Big and with a windowed verandah. Luckily the pool was fine.
At seven in the morning we took off on a four hour trek through the jungle with a local guide. It was a much better option. Although we didn't see any big animals except a wild boar rooting nearby we saw a lot of birds including the rare nattskarra. It was a long walk but the kids did fine. For lunch we went into the nearest town, Kumily, and after that to a place called elephant junction. We went on the longest elephant ride I've ever been on. After that there was a demonstration about elephant logging and after that we got to wash an elephant. The guide asked Anna to climb the back of the animal. Little did she realize that she would soon be sprayed with as much water an elephant trunk can hold! After that the kids got the same treatment. All and all it was fun, although I think the riding elephants should get some rest between parties.
The following morning we were back on the boat - Jala Raja. After a very foggy start we actually got to see quite some animals including bisons, sambars, wild boar and a whole lot of otters. Then we drove back down to the backwaters to stay one night in another old Keralan house just outside Allepey. It is a well known place for ayurvedic medicine and Anna could consult the doctor. We didn't really do much except to watch the house boats and various other more or less sea worthy vessels go by. More fruit batting in the evening. They are such big bats, the size of a small dog.
On the final day we drove back to Odayam again. It was hot and the driver stopped everywhere looking for a spare part that just couldn't be found. Returning to Kattil almost felt like coming home with the big waves rolling in from the sea.
Tomorrow our friend Thubten is visiting us for a few days.
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