India: Kumily

Wanting to escape the busy city, I search the lonely planet for some nature. The Periyar National Park catches my eye and the next day I leave early to the bus stand. In Sri Lanka some buses had English destinations, here in India everything is in Sanskrit. After asking around I finnaly find the bus to Kumily. After 6 hours with the craziest driver ever (even worse than Sri Lanka), I arrive in the middle of the misty mountains. I get settled in the nice Green View Homestay and leave for some typical tourist activities. First, elephant riding! It's only when you stand next to one you realize how big they really are! The ride is enjoyable, but I feel a bit sorry for the animals, they have to do the same thing all day. And when the handler raises it's stick you feel the fear and know it has been trained by punishment.

I go back to the city for a traditional Kathakali dance. This isn't really a dance, but more like a theatrical performance, using mostly facial expressions and hand gestures. The show is one hour and contains an introduction and a small extract. The full play would take 5 hours, an impressive physical feat! I find myself so far back from western civilsation they don't give cutlery in the restaurant. Having observed the locals, I try to eat their way: with my hands. The result is very messy and feels sooo akward! I suggest you try it next time you eat rice at home.

The next day it's time for the real deal: the Periyar Tiger Reserve. There are many formula's. This time of the year, most visitors are from India and they just take the easy boat cruise. For me, the coolest option seemed a full day safari by jeep to reach different parts of the park, but I have to catch the bus in the afternoon. So I settle for a guided nature walk. The landscape is very diverse and some of the animals we see are squirrels, boars, frogs, dragonfly, parrots, herons, monkeys. The most exciting moment is when the guide spots very fresh elephant tracks. We follow it for while, but because it's a single one, it moves too quick to reach it. There are also tiger tracks, scratch marks and poo. According to the taste, it's two days old. In the park live about 25 tigers, but the chance to see them is almost zero, even during the special two day tiger tour. Before we departed, I got special socks and some tobacco powder. This proves very useful now, because after the last overgrown forest my shoes are filled with leeches. One of them managed to pass the powder and attach itself on my hip. I only notice the wound when I get home, it keeps bleeding until the next day and then becomes very nasty :(

Link to the complete gallery.