Kerala-Kumarakom

Author: Aarabhi
Photographer: Vasistha

“Did you see that?” Vasistha asked, pointing out of the window of the TT. Wondering what he saw, I poked my head out, only to see a woman standing placidly in knee deep water on the threshold of her home. Not just her house, the entire street was flooded from the overflowing canal beside the road.

Flooded road at Kumarakom

Meanwhile our driver Sajan was maneuvering the tricky road (invisible under all that brown water) with great finesse and he mumbled out the excuse “It’s the rainy season sir!” With that said, he started driving through a veritable maze of narrow pathways, each one muddier than the next. They all ran parallel to narrow canals filled with the same murky water. Huts and small houses lined one side of the canals. We could see all the daily chores, from washing to bathing being done using the same water. Shuddering at the thought, I mumbled to Vashu “I hope at least the food here is good, if not the water!” This was Kumarakom in Kerala, which is well known for its backwaters.

View from our room at the Homestay

In the snake Boat

We finally stopped in front of a small two room cottage which was, not surprisingly, beside a tiny canal of its own. It was the home-stay our travel agent had booked for us.  Despite my fears, the place was extremely clean and well-maintained, the food fabulous and views gorgeous. There were two cottages in all; one on either side of the canal. We also had an enchanting view of the Vembanad Lake which is one of the longest lakes in Kerala.

We all trooped into the home-stay for freshening up while Vasistha schemed and plotted (wink, wink!) with Sajan. Wondering what he was up to, I snuck back out and eavesdropped on their plans. They were planning an unscheduled ride on a snake boat, the famed racing boats of Kerala. So, off we went, walking gingerly on the slushy path beside the canals till we came upon a relatively small boat. We clambered onto the boat and our boatman rowed us towards a low footbridge across a wider canal.

       

Ducking under the bridge

Ducking under the bridge, we heard a low rumble, like a peal of thunder in the distance. Curious, we all turned to stare towards the noise. It slowly morphed into robust singing by many voices interspersed with rhythmic booms. “This just gets curiouser and curiouser,” I muttered. The sound slowly grew in volume, until we could make out a long boat in the distance. It was jam packed with two rows of rowers, rowing furiously to the beat of the victory song, as though their lives depended on it.

The racing boat and it's dramatic occupants

There were more than a hundred people on the boat- the actual rowers making up about 90 of them. The rest of their entourage was made up of the orchestrating conductor at the middle, 2 other people who rhythmically thumped large wooden beams into the boat and 4 other men cheering the champions on. Their vibrant, infectious energy saturated the air around us, until all we could feel was the furious beat of the conductor calling out “Victory! Victory!”  in his booming voice. Their long paddles were slicing through the water, moving in perfect synchronization reminiscent of marching infantrymen when in one split second they all changed their rowing arms- from right to left and vice versa.

Pathway at Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary

The next morning, Vashu, Sindhu and I were up at dawn to visit the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary. It lies adjacent to the Vembanad Lake and did not quite meet our expectations. There were hardly any birds to be seen. To be fair, we were warned beforehand by our agent that it was the off-season, it being August and all. The pathway through the sanctuary was enchanting, though. It made up, at least in part, for the missing birds.

Our trip across Kerala had seen us enjoying two boat rides till then. Thus, the next morning I was not much excited by the itinerary which earmarked a ride on a houseboat at 10 am. Our Kettuvallam, as the houseboat is known in Kerala, was surprisingly spacious, luxurious and well staffed. Our family had a living cum dining area with a huge LCD TV and DVD player in the bow and a kitchen in the stern, with two rooms (bathrooms attached) in between.

One of the bedrooms

We cruised along the vast lake each person lost in their own thoughts. I discovered that a boat ride can do that to you. I mused and scribbled in my notebook: “How do you describe the mystery and romance of a boat ride? The feeling that you are all alone in the world in the middle of nowhere? Being afloat for months, how did those travelers of eons past, spend their long hours with only the bobbing waves and unchanging scenery for company? The sight of land so far away that it is almost blur, gives isolation an all new meaning.”

Our boat

Ignoring my internal rant, my companions proceeded to disembark. We had docked at Pathiramanal Island-a unique Island which has a rich biodiversity. Mangroves, migratory birds and nurseries of fishes, clams and prawns are found on the island. So are some really enchanting dragonflies and butterflies. We had fun watching the antics of these insects.

 Boarding the boat after the little trip to the island, we found a feast laid out for us by the crew. Good food, prepared using sunflower oil instead of coconut turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

We whiled away the rest of the trip watching Kamal Hassan’s  “Apoorva Ragangal” on the entertainment system and in snapping dramatic photos of the lake and other houseboats.

Thus, with it's myriad experiences, Kumarakom turned out to be the highlight of our Kerala trip.

Click here for more photos on Kumarakom.

Watch the Boat race in action, the oar switch at 47 seconds is especially beautiful:

Kerala- Munnar and Thekkady

Author: Aarabhi 

Photographer: Vasistha

The day I realized why Kerala was called “God’s Own Country”, I was travelling from Munnar to Thekaddy amidst gorgeous valleys.

I craned my neck up, up and up out of the Tempo’s window till my poor neck cramped on me. Centuries old trees with girths bigger than anything I’d seen before were interspersed with lush carpets of emerald green which form the heart of this tea growing area. We encountered countless waterfalls big and small, flashy and subdued around every corner.

A lazy river meandering beside the road was a scene right out of a Hallmark card.

Bright oranges grew bountifully on the slender trees scattered in between the seemingly trimmed tea bushes.

Flaky clouds and smoky mists curled around the hilltops giving tantalizing peeks of the green valley below.  

Passing through cardamom valley filled with cardamom plants and pepper creepers we reached the beautiful jungle lodge of KTDC, Periyar House. It’s a charming stone building shaped like an ‘I’ with the dining and recreational rooms at the back. It sits inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve and is close enough to the actual forest to be considered as a wildlife thrill.

We checked-in to our room and Vashu closed the door. He started chuckling and pointed out the sign on the door’s back. It read: “Caution! Monkey’s crossing!” Apparently, the jungle’s monkeys were quite a menace. They climbed-in through the doors and windows if you were foolish enough to leave the unbarred ones open and cause havoc in the rooms.

After freshening up and making sure the windows were all securely latched, we all decided to go on a small stroll around the lodge. As we stepped out, the guard called out a warning:” Not too far sir! It’s almost dark and it’s not safe out there. What with the elephants wandering around and all! Just keep to the road and don’t wander-off!” Heeding his words, we kept our walk short and hurried back inside to avoid the giant mosquitoes hell bent on sucking us dry.

Having some time on hand and not interested in being cooped up in front of the TV, we decided to check out the recreation room. Much to my disgust I discovered how poor a carom player I was. All in my family were pros, compared to me. My husband won a rousting game of chess against my dad mainly because; everyone (including my five year old niece) was helping my dad.

A restful night later we were up and about early, on our way to the boat ride on Periyar lake right in the middle of the Periyar reserve’s thick forest. We walked to the water’s edge and climbed up to the upper deck and settled into our seats with the bulky life jackets tightly secured.

We began the ride over the calm lake, our eerily silent boat causing barely any ripple on its mirror like surface. The fresh and nippy air blended with my sense of immense peace and awe about the untouched forest around me.

 

We saw a variety of wild birds sunning themselves; perched precariously at the very tips of the skeletal remains of old trees rising like specters from the black water. The guides kept pointing out various animals like otters, tortoises and wild bisons. A few were quite far off and it was hard to spot them. A herd of Sambar deer were grazing on a small island, a floppy eared elephant was lumbering up the tall, grassy slope of a hill and wild boars were chasing after each other on the bank of the lake. It was kerala at its wildest and it was enchanting.

 Supremely satisfied with the experience I decided it was well worth the R.110/- per head cost. All in all, a must do for all nature lovers.











Click here for more pictures on Munnar.

Click here for more pictures on Thekkady.











  

Kerala: Muthanga

Lovely Muthanga

Author: Aarabhi 

Photographer: Vasistha

“Kee… kee... kee...!”

The shrill shriek of a night bird jolted me awake from a restless snooze. Disoriented, I blearily forced my peepers open only to see nothing but darkness. Unable to decide whether my eyes were open or still closed, I fumbled for my cell phone and squinted at the time. It was 4.30 am and the bloody bus I was aboard was standing still. Annoyed, I poked my dad in the neighboring lumpy torture contraption mistakenly called a seat and asked him what was up. He replied: “It’s night time for the critters, dear. We aren’t allowed to enter the forest from 2.30 to 6 am. We’ll be stuck here at Gundlupet, the edge of Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary till then.”

Disgruntled, I drifted back asleep and woke up some time later to the bumpy ride of the bus and the  sight of my husband Vasistha fumbling with the dials and knobs of his favorite toy- his Nikon P500 camera. Disappointingly, he couldn’t sight any wild animal in the jungle beside our road. No wonder the awful racket all the traffic on this road were scaring them all off. Not a very auspicious beginning to the trip our family was embarking on for the next 11 days. My husband, in-laws, parents, sister-in-law, her family and I were on a road trip, crisscrossing across 8 districts of Kerala and Rameswaram, Kanyakumari and Madurai in TN.

This trip was planned by Vasistha’s acquaintance Mr. Anil Raj of Cochin. Minutely extremely well planned & covering plenty of places he had allocated us a very good Tempo Traveller & an equally good driver, Sajan.

After a quick bath and coffee at Sulthan Bathery we entered the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary for our one hour wild safari. Our tribal guide Suresh dressed in a camouflage green Pro-Wilderness uniform met us at the jeep and off we went merrily into the woods that were as Wordsworth said “lovely, dark and deep”.

Herds of spotted deer in frequent intervals peppered sightings of Sambar deer, wild boars, Gaurs (Indian Bison), and a variety of birds. 

Spotting a group of peahens we all started exclaiming loudly. Shushing us, Suresh explained that two of these birds were in fact male. Our misunderstanding about their sex was, due to the fact that these guys had shed their tail feathers for the rainy season and thus, were indistinguishable from their female counterparts.

Bemoaning the fact that we hadn’t spotted any tigers or such rare animals we had just about given up hope when Vashu called out: “STOP!” 

We screeched to a halt on the muddy road and backed up the jeep. A lone elephant was munching leaves. Overcome with excitement, Vashu reached for the door handle, only to be chastised by Suresh: “It’s a trouble maker Sir! He’ll chase us if you get down. His minimum running speed is 40 kmph; so don’t take any chances.”

We had to be satisfied with a distant look at the majestic animal. This was truly an enriching experience……