MouthShut.com Would Like to Send You Push Notifications. Notification may includes alerts, activities & updates.

OTP Verification

Enter 4-digit code
For Business
MouthShut Logo
Upload Photo
Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary Image

MouthShut Score

86%
4.17 

Accessibility:

Local Sightseeing:

Hotels / Accommodation:

Safety:

×

Upload your product photo

Supported file formats : jpg, png, and jpeg

Address



Contact Number

Cancel

I feel this review is:

Fake
Genuine

To justify genuineness of your review kindly attach purchase proof
No File Selected

The Spice Country
Aug 09, 2004 09:22 AM 10821 Views
(Updated Nov 07, 2004 03:06 PM)

Accessibility:

Local Sightseeing:

Hotels / Accommodation:

Safety:

Thekkady is synonymous with spices and scenic boat rides to sight wild animals. At 1000 metres altitude, the climate is very moderate and pleasant ranging from 15 to 30 deg Cen. right thru the year. Thekkady (thekku'' in tamil means Teak wood or teak tree



The Periyar wildlife sanctuary (now a tiger reserve)is centered around the man made Periyar lake and Mullaiperiyar dam. You could see four big pipelines bringing water down to Tamil Nadu, as you climb up to Thekkady from Madurai..


We took a taxi to drive up to Thekkady from Kottayam (120 Kms). The 4 hours drive to Thekkady from Kottayam is very scenic and offers a very enchanting view of the God's own country with quite a few stops in between to enjoy the beauty of various waterfalls and plantations..


The easiest way to reach Thekkady is from Madurai (130 Kms),. Once you cross Theni, the road becomes very green, first with paddy fields and then with grape plantations as you near the mountain range. The climb- uphill is very short (~ 10 Kms).



MUST DO




  1. Boat Rides : This is the only place in India where you can sight wildlife from a boat. You could get tickets at 40 to 90 Rs. per head. The boat ride takes about 2 hours. It is a wonderful experience. The best time to get a good sighting of the animals would be either the first (7.00 am) or the last (4.00 pm) boat trips.




We sighted lots of sambar deer, wild boars, otters, few bisons all from reasonable distances and few elephants from a big distance. In my previous visit, we had seen elephants close, but that could happen only during the months of feb - may, when it is quite warm and they come to the lake to take a swim.


If you want a rustic experience, then get permission from the Wild life warden to stay overnight in one of the many watch towers or in one of the forest guest houses.Either one of them should give you a guaranteed sighting of elephants and if lucky, tigers.


Thekkady is also a bird watchers delight.





  1. Trekking :You could also take a early morning trek (at 7.00 am) for about 3 hours into the jungle. Trained guides would have to necessarily accompany you. It is supposed to be a very scintillating experience. We could not make the 10 km trek as we had a 3 year old baby with us.... Remember to have your shoes ready as the terrain is full of leaches.




Instead of trekking, we took a casual stroll around the hotel at dusk and saw a wild boar, a bunch of lion tailed monkeys, lots of sambar deer and some wild squirrel.





  1. Plantation visit :Almost all small scale plantation owners are very friendly. They allow tourists to view their garden and also explain about the various spices in detail. We visited one such plantation. The owner gave us a breathtaking tour of his 2 acre property.




Cardamom, clove, cinnamon, menthol, coffee, pepper, cocoa, turmeric, lemon grass, ginger, orange, special varieties of brinjal, Kerala banana (known as nenderam), the list of goes on. An eye opener for me was the spice plant Vanilla used in ice-cream.





  1. Chellarkovil : A sleepy little village 15 km from Kumili. We had a spectacular view of the plains and cascading waterfallsfrom the top of a cliff. This is a real feast for your eyes. We could clearly see the town of Kumbam in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.





OTHER PLACES



Mangala Devi Temple :A Kannagi temple on Madurai road (15 kms). This ancient temple is hidden in the dense woods. It is built in the traditional Kerala style architecture. Visitors are allowed only on the ''Chitra Pournami festival'' day (in april). Permission needed from Wildlife warden in Thekkady.



Peermede :A famous plantation town known for its meadows, misty mountain tops, coffee and tea plantations and old palaces belonging to the Travancore Maharaja. Cooler than Thekkady as it is higher in altitude. One notable resort here is ''Thrisangu Haven''.



Munnar :This pristine hill station is slightly more than a 3 hour drive (100 kms) by road. So ideally you could combine a trip to both Thekkady and Munnar.



ACCOMMODATION


We stayed for one night at Hotel Ambadi. just outside the sanctuary. The hotel buildings are old Kerala style. You have an option to choose from basic cottages at around 500 Rs per night or deluxe rooms at around 700 Rs a night.NO televisions were available inside the complex. They have a very impressive reception center and a decent multi-cuisine restaurant. The hotel arranged a local sight seeing for us at 650 Rs (for taxi and guide on a 3 hour trip). The trip included the plantation visit, tea factory visit and visit to Chellarkovil


We wanted to stay for at least one night inside the sanctuary. So we stayed at Aranya Nivas run by KTDC. We paid 3500 Rs per night including dinner and breakfast. The room was big, furnished and had a good view. The hotel also has a little swimming pool. They have a pleasant looking multicuisine restaurant. Their fish preparations were really tasty, but pulav and fried rice was not good.


One main advantage of staying in Aranya Nivas is you being given complimentary top deck seats on the best boat that KTDC has. The seats are available both on the early morning ride and the late evening ride. You also can take a trek with the guide provided by the hotel early in the morning. These are major plus points, as getting a ticket is a major hassle in Thekkady during weekends / holidays. You will also have the freedom to walk around the hotel inside the sanctuary (of course when daylight is available) and to enjoy the singing of birds from the comfort of your room.


You could alternatively stay in the Lake Palace, which also belongs to the KTDC and is in a small island within the lake. It can be accessed only by boat and is a pretty costly place. Charges are around 7000 Rs per night for food and accommodation. But you will have the comfort of staying in the old Maharaja bungalow and enjoy the misty mountains and wildlife that come at close quarters to the resort. You can also avail complimentary boat tickets.


The best place with tribal style ethnic cottages was Spice Village The place has a real charm that is unique to it. They have a pretty good swimming pool. The cottages are tribal type huts with good amenities. The whole resort in inside a spice plantation. It is costly at around 6500 Rs per night for food and accommodation.


Even if you are not staying at this place, I will surely recommend you to have food at their restaurant. We went there for dinner and we simply fell in love with the food they served. It was one of the best food that I have ever tasted.. Even simple dishes like bhindi fry were so deliciously cooked.. It was a mouth watering experience. The vanilla ice-cream they served was simply superb and the food is really worth at 350 per head...


Periyar house (run by KTDC), with room rates ranging from 500 Rs to 1000 Rs per night is a popular hotel at the lower price end.



To sum up, a really good place to spend a couple of two days and take the tension out of your city life.... Let me know if you need any more details.


Upload Photo

Upload Photos


Upload photo files with .jpg, .png and .gif extensions. Image size per photo cannot exceed 10 MB


Comment on this review

Read All Reviews

YOUR RATING ON

Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
1
2
3
4
5
X