Day 3 - Thekkady & Massage

I got up at 6 on 25-Nov (Wednesday) and I was shocked to see nothing but moist windows and green cover. Oh yeah, I am in Forrest Haven. I wrote "Srini" on the window and had it pictured. I got lovely reviews for that pic, yes, its one of the most beautiful pic in my album. Then had a quick breakfast and then we headed off for the drive to Thekkady. Every turn that you take on the way, would make you to bring your camera into action. The picturesque Tea Gardens, which are very famous in Munnar, would be wrapped as if a green blanket is wrapped on the Earth. My eyes got the treat they longed for!!!

Thekkady is on the way from Munnar to Alapuzha. You can assume its a point where you get to see why Britishers came to India. Yes. It is the Spice Capital of Kerala. This is the place where you get to see all the different varieties of Cardamom and lots more spices.

Also, as it is very famous for the presence of the rarest of the rare Ayurvedic plants. These plants are used to cure various diseases, that mankind had caught because of his own greed. And if there is a place that you can get a full stretched Ayurvedic traditional massage, this is the place. And to top it to the list, the Periyar National Park is situated around Thekkadi and the boating in thekkady around the Periyar Lake allowing you to glimpse at wild animals, is best recommended.

One thing that I got to learn is that you would need to well advanced and planned, to get tickets for boating on the periyar lake, particularly it was a tourist season. I didnt get one, and was told I would get it on the 7 AM trip, the next day. I didnt want to miss, and thought it is worth to complete that and then leave out of Thekkady. So my plan for the day went bit awry but still no complaints. The plan to visit a Spice Garden, and the Ayurvedic Massage was still on the cards.

Most of the residents have come up with Spice Gardens, where they grow plants which we would have never seen, and for a nominal fee, they explain the importance of each of these plants and show us around their "pride" garden. I visited one such garden, called, Eden Garden, and it was again worth the 100 bucks I had to pay. They showed me the plants that give you pineapple, cardamom, asoefetida(hing), coffee beans and lots more. They asked me to chew certain leaves that made your tongue Numb (that was the medicinal plant used while performing operations by our forefathers), then a flower which tasted as 300 times that of sugar, which also cures diabetes...and so on and on.

Then I laid down myself for an Ayurvedic massage. All rejuvenating Oils and the traditional Kairali method of healing was applied, and I presume, my back got rejuvenated by more than 300%. I was told to get this once in a quarter, which is very remote, but the one that I got brought to halt all the tiredness that I had in frequent travelling. I thanked the guy and was off to my hotel. Next day, the only agenda is to finish off the boat trip and pray to catch a glimpse of wild animals.