Periyar Uncovered - Part II

Once our leafs were licked clean is we headed down out of the scrub and into a area full of giant bamboo trees and streams. After cursing my way up the mountain I was now cursing all the way down. A few near slips had shaken me up and I was in no hurry to fall over in his part of the world. The path was little more than a trail of broken branches and trodden ground and gave very little in terms of grip.
At the bottom the landscape changed again, the fog had cleared and the bamboo was now a dense jungle. Overhead at the top of the canopy the guide pointed out a hornbill, a very large colourful bird with a great big beak and a bright yellow strip across its wings. He also pointed out a tiger foot print and a tree that had been clawed by a tiger as a means of claiming territory.
After hiking up and subsequently down another few hills I decided that this was probably the toughest hike I had ever done, not only physically strenuous with steep climbs and accents, but the constant lookout for giant spiders and bugs, sharp grass and other obstacles.
Although we did manage to spot some other animals, a monkey high up in an enormous tree, a wild squirrel who ran at the very sight of us and a few others the big game alluded us. By 12.30pm we were beat, but our guide wasn't finished. He continued on his route up another mountain to a clearing which had great views over the lake and then onto another cliff that overlooked the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. Before too much longer in the hot and humid midday sun we stumbled out of the forest, across the cricket field, now bright and green in the heat of the day and headed home.
CONC.:This trek was technically illegal and not run through official park tourist personnel. Part of our charge included a bribe to a shady park officer. Besides from that the tour was run as professionally a can be expected, with breakfast, lunch, transport and 2 guides provided.