Periyar Tiger Reserve

In Periyar Tiger Reserve

The other day I got up at stupid o’clock in order to queue for tickets for the 07.30 boat trip on the lake of The Periyar Tiger Reserve. The 07.30 is the first trip of the day and is by far, the most popular as there is more chance of seeing the wild animals come down to the water’s edge for a morning drink. However, unlike all the other activities in The Reserve, the boat trip cannot be booked and it’s a first come, first serve scenario which irrupts into total chaos. To get to the boat landing, you have to first pay to get into The Reserve: 300 Rupees if you’re a foreigner and 25 Rupees if you’re Indian. I’m not into political correctness but that is just blatant discrimination. I remember a similar policy in place at The Taj Mahal and I thought then, this is all wrong. It just wouldn’t be allowed in other countries and rightly so. 12 times more expensive for crying out loud!Anyway, the tuk tuk I had booked the previous day didn’t turn up at my hotel at the allotted time of 06.00 and I couldn’t find another one until 06.45. When I arrived at the gate, I was told I wouldn’t get the 07.30 boat so went back to the hotel. This is when you despair at Indian organisation. You see, apart from the road from the gate to the

Cool tree

 Anyway, the tuk tuk I had booked the previous day didn’t turn up at my hotel at the allotted time of 06.00 and I couldn’t find another one until 06.45. When I arrived at the gate, I was told I wouldn’t get the 07.30 boat so went back to the hotel. This is when you despair at Indian organisation. You see, apart from the road from the gate to the boat landing, you cannot go anywhere within The Reserve once you’ve paid to get in, if you want to do another activity, you cannot book in The Reserve or at the gate, it has to be done the previous day. This means that every day, people pay their money to get into The Reserve then can’t get on the boat and all hell breaks out as there’s bugger all to do and you have to wait 3 hours for next boat trip by which time, all the animals will be hiding in the trees. 

This is the reason I tried to leave so early but that tuk tuk driver not turning up was a blessing in disguise as later that morning I did some more research and read reviews on this boat trip and it really is a total nightmare. Not only is it a literal fight to get a ticket which I can well believe having experienced the lack of queuing in India, once on board, it is very noisy (which funnily enough, animals aren’t attracted to) and you are forced to wear a life-jacket for the entire time. [This sounded very strange to me as India is not a health and safety conscious nation but a week later, I found out that in September 2009, one of the boats capsized and 45 people died] I don’t do crowds, queue barging, life jackets or stress so I was glad I missed out.

Instead, I went to the tourist office and booked a day’s excursion, bamboo rafting and trekking. Everywhere you go in Kerala, the published prices seem to be out of date but they don’t go up by a few percent each time, more like 50%. The trip I booked had gone from 1,000 Rupees to 1,500 Rupees and the entrance into The Reserve this time last year was 150 Rupees, now 300 Rupees, slightly more than India’s 11.7% rate of inflation. Still cheap but that’s not the point.

It was explained to me that this day trip was 3 hours rafting (the guides do all the work) and 3 hours trekking. I must have been feeling a bit confident with my back when I booked as I haven’t walked that far for a very long time. The timing of the trip is 08.00 – 17.00 so it would be another early start. I had 2 days to psyche myself up for it and wonder what we spend the other 3 hours doing......

That evening, I met an lovely couple from Angelssey, Brian and Sue who had coincidently taken the same trip that day and they told me about it emphasising it was an easy walk and to take something to protect yourself from the sun as there is no shade on the raft and it’s hot hot hot. As they were definitely into their 60s, I felt a bit better about the trek. The 3 of us went out for dinner the next 2 nights and it was good to have some company and a good laugh. It’s probably what I miss most when I travel around on my own – talking to people who understand my sense of humour, or at least 80% of it. Indians aren’t really known for enjoying the craic.

Another Shitty Day in God’s Own Country

 

Periyar Tiger Reserve

The rafting day was immense fun. There were 7 English and 3 French people in the party. Of the 3 English couples, one was on honeymoon, one was doing a world trip and the other couple were in their 50s, looked younger than me and were barking mad. Superb. We did gel very well together and had lots of laughs but shut up when we were supposed to.

Our rafts

Mummy and baby

It began with the issuance of leech socks (I passed) and signing your life away and then around an hour’s easy walk (but a bit fast for me) on the shore of the lake to the bamboo rafts. I was drugged up nicely on Tramadol but my knees gave me some minor problems. After the walk, it was breakfast time: stale bread, pineapple jam, biscuits, coffee and pukey bananas. I ate a biscuit and a bit of Jeanie’s chaphati and jam for energy purposes. We sat around doing nothing for quite a while before getting onto the rafts where we were handed life jackets, put them on, took them off and sat on them as they made good seat cushions. Off we went in the peaceful and beautiful surroundings of this man-made lake. I tried out my French but at times like this, I find I am suddenly fluent in Dutch et j’oublie ma française. I did however, manage to break the news,  to these Frenchmen, with great glee that Italy had beaten them in “le rugby” a few days earlier. We did see a Mummy elephant and her baby by the water and watched them for a quite a while. The way they use their trunk is fascinating. Who needs thumbs when you have a trunk (and 4 knees)? One of the honeymooners was about as active as me and he certainly enjoyed being paddled around the lovely lake, lying on his back, snoozing away.

Honeymooners

The lake was created when The Mullapperiyar Dam was built in 1895, the old trees in the basin still pop above the water’s surface which gives the place a slightly eerie feel. Apparently the dam needs more than a bit of maintenance but seeing as it’s located in Kerala but also serves the people of Tami Nadu, there’s a bit of an argument about who will pay for it. I can see them fighting about it for some while. The Reserve is 777 km² and the guides say there are 46 tigers but seeing as none of them are tagged, I don’t know how they know this. Our park ranger has seen 2 tigers in 6 years. I think I’ll be safe.

After floating around for about 90 minutes, it was time for another break which involved lunch of rice, raitha and pickle (lemon, not Branston); a siesta and lots of chatting. It was very hot so we sat underneath the trees and some people slept. The peace was lovely with the distant noises of monkeys in the trees, no litter, no horns, just nature and going to the toilet behind trees.

Yours truly

Back on the rafts but we saw no other wildlife apart from the odd bird (or was that me) or 2 and then the difficult bit – the walk. We all started well under the shade of the trees but just as things were getting a bit tough and very hot, we got the signal to stop and shut up. We hit the jackpot, a group of 12 elephants which included the Big Daddy of the territory with his beautiful tusks. We stood and watched for a long time, totally mesmerised. The ranger and guides were very cautious and looked slightly anxious because the big male was there. We were probably 100 – 150 metres away and felt totally out of any danger but you never know.....it really was wonderful seeing these fabulous creatures in the wild, watching their mannerisms and eating, eating and eating. I think that’s all they do all day.

Real, wild elephants

Ironically, my back seemed to be coping OK with the trek but my knees were starting to ache quite badly and everyone was hoping we would be back soon, what an unfit bunch we were except one of the Frenchmen who had a t-shirt on indicating he was a hill runner. He had run from Kumily to the boat landing (4km) and indeed ran back again – idiot. When we arrived back at the starting point, it was a relief alright. I had had a great day but now was ready for a shower and some rest. In fact, when I got back to the hotel, a headache appeared out of the blue and I didn’t feel too good at all. Self diagnosis – sunstroke. I prescribed myself lots of water and bed.

View at the end of the trek

In the morning, I felt absolutely fine, hardly any aches and pains at all. I said goodbye to Periyar Meadows and went to buy my drinking water from the woman down the road whom I liked because she laughed at my jokes.....or maybe she was just laughing at me. I really had a lovely week there.