I’ve been to Kerala thrice in the last 1 year, once for my honeymoon, once for my birthday and the last time as a mental therapy for my parents after a stressful medical tour. According to the best online therapy sites, one of the best ways to relax and rewind after a stressful series of event and thus we headed to Kerala after a lengthy treatment session at Chennai. My husband and I skipped Thekkady on our second Kerala trip as we stayed there for 4 days during our first trip. But what we missed during our first trip to Thekkady was the amazing Mountain Safari. We’ve had abundant of time to explore every corner of Thekkady throughout those 4 days but we decided to relax and keep re-visiting Periyar Tiger Reserve. While entering the Tiger Reserve there were jeeps lined up for jeep safaries. When we asked about them at the ticket counter  we were said that the safari is a different program, not under the government program and they aren’t allowed inside the reserve, so they’ll just show the outside of the reserve. We dismissed the idea of going on a safari as we thought the reserve was the only beauty of Thekkady. What the safari people forgot to mention was that the safari was actually a mountain safari and they would take us to the peak of the mountains.

Fast forward to my recent trip with my family, my adventurous dad was extremely excited about the night walk through the reserve (which I was too since my first trip but my husband was thinking otherwise). This time we didn’t have as much time and we had just 1 day to explore the Reserve. We went to the reserve, went on a boat ride like last time which my dad wasn’t very happy with but my mum and I really enjoyed. Then we went to book our night walk but learnt that my mom’s cloth didn’t match the dress code. The only salwars she packed were too bright to be allowed, sarees aren’t allowed and she needed covered shoes. We decided to go shopping but didn’t find anything and since my dad wasn’t excited about any other activities inside the reserve we started talking to the safari people. We weren’t very convinced at first knowing we won’t ride inside the reserve, won’t see any wild animal and when asked where they’ll take us, they kept saying to the villages.  But once they showed us some pictures I told dad that we’ve done other activities inside last year and if he didn’t like the boat ride he won’t like anything else except for the night walk and since we don’t have anything to do the rest of the afternoon, let’s just hop on the jeep. He finally agreed and then started what still remains one of the most amazing experiences of our lives.

We rode through the outside of the reserve which was surrounded by a lake. We stopped at a view point maintained by a family. They had a small tree house type something where we had our afternoon tea looking at one of the most breathtaking view we’ve ever seen.

We left the village pretty soon, and headed towards the mountains. We’ve been to mountains multiple times, but in a jeep? That was some experience. We kept spotting bisons at nearby mountains and it was surreal. The sun was beginning to set and it sometimes rained a little so we kept the hood on. The jeep rode through dusty road giving us an experience of a lifetime.

Once we reached the top of the mountain we saw that there were very less tourists unlike the reserve. And if you know anything about me, you’ll know that I love places with less tourists. There were a couple of fruit stands and we had some mangoes while enjoying the evening mountain breeze and looking at the breathtaking view.

We kept leaving one mountain top for another and at one mountain top we saw some tents that can be rented. Dad said we’ll stay there when we visit next time and to be honest, it’s in my bucket list to stay in a tent at locations that serene and secluded.

This part of Thekkady didn’t have much difference with Munnar: tea gardens, mountains and a little chilly weather. My mom and dad were a little upset that we couldn’t visit Munnar and I kept telling them that you are indeed witnessing the beauty of Munnar.

The weather got a little chilly around the evening and thankfully I was carrying my scarf and a light coat. We enjoyed the journey so much that we didn’t realize when 3 hrs went by. It was around 7 but I was sad that this ride was about to end. The whole time I kept regretting not coming here the first time. Even though I’ve been to Kerala thrice in a short amount of time I kept thinking I have to come here again with my husband. How can we make two trips to Kerala and miss this amazing adventure?! I also told our driver to tell potential customers that it’s a mountain safari and not just a jeep safari. Because trust me, we had no idea what we were about to experience until we hit the road. And also if they said it’s a mountain safari the first time, I’m pretty sure that my husband and I would have had this experience together.

Anyway, I’m yet to write about my Periyar experience but until then, if you are visiting Thekkady, do not miss the Safari, it’s even better than the activities inside.

Till then.

Bye…

XOXO

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