Periyar Uncovered

Wwell after the successes of our budget wildlife hunt the kevutsa (Nadav, Udi, Ravid and his friend Erran and I) hit the town (all one resturant still open after 8pm). Coffee Inn, a potentially nice place except for the lazy morons that run the joint. We sat there for 20 minutes until we realised that we just weren't going to be served. Udi knew another place just down the road and soon we were huddled around a small table on the side of the road pouring over menus. I ordered a dalh fry, veg noodles and rice, i guess the bike ride had really made me hungry, that and the fact that is was close to 10pm.

After a little wait in the cool mountain air we eventually received our food one dish at a time. It was probably during this meal that I first heard Israelis talk politics, almost the goldern rule here is to leave those issues at the airport, but for 5 minutes I heard young Israelis talk about their country. Udi however had more important things to discuss.

That afternoon he was speaking with a guy at his dorm and was told about the illegal treks that go through the park. Immediately we were all interested, not only would this be a cheaper way to see the animals, it had a very appealing element of risk, not just the tigers were out there, we had to look out for the rangers too.

It was settled then and there, at 5:30 the next morning we would all meet near our hotel and be picked up and taken on the trek.

After a restless sleep we all converged to the small tour office cloaked in darkness. Before too long we were huddled into rickshaws and taken to the unoffical entrance to the park. No guarded gateway or signin office. We matched accross a cricket pitch and stumbled into the forest lead only by the weak glow of the 2 guides torches as they tried to illuminate the scrub path.

Walking single file in silence in the pitch black forest your mind plays tricks. With nothing so see images appear totally randomly, a phone booth, a brick veneer house, an umbrella. Soon the darkness was replaced by the first light which, although silent itself, must seem like a shot gun to the hundreds of birds who begin their morning calls in unison. At once the forest comes alive in song and squak in all 360 degrees.

As the light increase we began our asent to the top of the first mountain, totally engulfed in a thick fog the talls trees made way for grass and shrubs. There was some noise in the bushes nearby and everyone came to an abrupt halt, cameras at the ready. Through the fog two bison were grazing but quickly fled after noticing our presence. We continued our hike upward.

At the top there was a rocky outcrop were we sat surrounded by fog. By this stage we were all puffed and tired. It was only 45minutes in and I was already ready for bed. After a bannana we step off again, down another valley and across to another hill top where we settled for breakfast. Chapati served on freshly cut bananna leaf.