Trip to eastern Kerala (Thenmala, Ambanad..)
I decided to go on a trip to escape from the scorching summer at Chennai. The options were very limited as I did not want to go to Ooty, Kodaikanal or any typical hill stations because of the crowd. After consulting with friends and surfing the net, I decided to try eastern Kerala, Thenmala and Ambanad. I was impressed by Thenmala ecotourism (http://www.thenmalaecotourism.com) and I was planning to stay at the tree top. In fact, the following posts on the internet prompted me to visit this place.
I started from Viriudhunagar with 2 of my friends and all 3 of us are of the same taste - we do not want crowded places and we would like to stay in a quiet place like forest rest houses.
We tried our accommodation at Thenmala, however we could not get it because of the summer vacation. We had booked at Apichayan Hill resort (http://www.kerala-hub.com/kerala-hotels/apichayans-cliff-resort.html) and we were also told by the resort that the place is a jungle and we can relally enjoy.
Our first disappointment was the location of the hotel as it is only 10 kms from Shenkotttai and the altitude is not very much, in fact it is less than 2 kms from the downhill. The resort was in a abandoned condition, however the room was good. We were very much relieved when we saw the air-conditioner at the room as the temperature was hot. There resort had a water falls inside and it seems people stay only when the water flows in the falls which is from July to September. The resort did not have any restaurant facilities, but had a good person who bought food from the near by restaurant. He was kind enough to give his mobile number so that we can reach him any time. We decided to visit Kumbhavurutty water falls (http://traveltokerala.blogspot.in/2009/11/kumbhavurutty-waterfalls.html) on the way to Achankoil. The trip was good as we were the only people to be there at the falls. We had a nice time till 6 pm and went to Achan koil. End of Day 1.
We planned to visit Thenmala and Amabnad on the second day. It was a straight road from the resort to Thenmala after crossing Aryankavu. We had nice Kappa and fish curry at a road side hotel and reached Thenmala by 11 AM. Climate was very hot, we just passed through the different zones at Thenmala ecotourism. We checked with the information counter about the jungle stay and it was available at Rs. 2000/- for 3 persons on the roof top. We were not interested as the "jungle" they say is a controlled environment and not the typical one. I would say Thenmala is good when you visit with family and kids as they would enjoy and it is safe.
We decided to go to Ambanad estate from there as I have heard that they offer bungalows to stay. You have to take a cut at Aryankavu, pass through Isfield estate before reaching Ambanad estate. You have to pay an entry fee of Rs. 100/- to visit the estate. Stay is offered in some of the bungalows there and it would cost Rs. 2500/- for a family. Temparature was also hot there. We just went around the estate and came back.
Overall, it was a good trip except for the climate. Good place to visit from July to September.
