First time I went to
Thekaddy was in 1987, with four other families, when I was a 10 year quiet boy. The planning was at spur of the moment- during a get together the discussion on
Periyar and
Kerala took centre stage. My father and his friends concluded that they would go to Kerala and during the journey, we would take a break at Mark’s house in
Kottayam, explore backwaters and proceed onwards for
Periyar. This trip was very exciting and we had load of good memories and snaps as souvenir.
When I along with
Priya went to
Thekaddy again, it
wasn’t too different. We stayed at
Elephant court, which is right next to
Taj’s famous Garden Retreat. The hotel is very is made with very discerning taste; the splendor of old
Kerala architecture is embedded in every inch. The rooms were big, and great prompt service, though we had some problems with the warm water. Our room was changed immediately.
It was lunch time by the time we freshened up. We headed straight for
Ambadi Hotel, which is one of the cherished memories. There was no construction then, and it was huge, with brown rice and
Kerala curry. We made no hesitation to order our lunch in addition to beer. Food was fantastic;
Priya also ordered Caramel custard, as the presence of foreigners could guarantee the quality. The hotel design had a good Lawry Baker “touch” which was not very evident from outside. The hotel was not as big, as my memory has drawn it to be, nonetheless it was a great being back here and having the hearty meal.
Our walk extended to the other end of
Kumily (the city bordering
Thekaddy) which showcased some great hotels-
Cardamom County &
Spice Village. By the way, you might some great deals on these hotel at
MakeMyTrip.com. There were a number of showrooms mostly managed by
Kashmiries and north Indians with high rates. Massage parlours are also ubiquitous (we went to
Mayura, supposedly recommended by Lonely Planet).
The place is made for foreigners, as they come in plenty. There are a number of places that would cite the recommendation by lonely planet and rough guide. We went to one such place in sheer anticipation to try the flavour of recommendation.
Priya ordered pancakes and I chose staple omelet bread. We
didn’t enjoy it as much and seriously doubted the recommendation.
We also went for massage to
Mayura’s (boldly advertsing its Lonely Planet Recommendation), which was about 12 minute walk from our hotel. The oils had a fancy name “
KairiTailam” which would stand for “heal all oil”. The masseuse had recently come to
Periyar, but had been practicing it for a long time. He had taken a place to stay right across the place and like a true
Keralite, he loved football. He said that after 10.30 when he is back home, football was the only thing that would relax him. The massage set the tempo for the evening and our Chef, back in elephant court had prepared a wonderful dinner with an elaborate spread. We
didn’t have too much and went back straight to bed, as we had to catch the early morning and the customary boat ride.
The sanctuary is worth staying if you could get a place in the middle of the lake, which is not available easily (and is very costly also). Otherwise you won’t be able to see much in the boat ride. We could manage to see a bison, a herd of wild boars and some birds. There is a huge population of tigers, though from a distance it
didn’t seem like it.
Periyar is India’s largest wild life sanctuary, and one need to devote at least a week to complete the exploration in all respects. We were however tourists and were contended with a boat ride. Fortunately for us the weather that day was really good and we were not completely exhausted when we came back.
That very day we were to leave
Thekaddy. We tried for one last time to go to the tribal village, which we had patiently waited for on the day of arrival. We thought at least we could have made it in the first half. But to our dismay, we had to head back.
