 The travel bug bites us once every year and when that happens we usually take off to some South Indian hill station, since they offer a budget holiday. They are not a strain on the purse and are easily accessible to people like us who are hard pressed for time
Our memorable trip was to Vandanmedu, a quaint little town just 20 km away from Thekkady. We decided that in keeping with the computer age we will plan our holiday with the help of the Internet. This way our itinerary will be ready well in advance, so that there is no hitch in our well-scheduled holiday plan. We searched quite a few Internet sites and found Carmelia Haven,
http://www.carmeliakerala.com/, a beautiful resort that houses cottages and rooms in a sprawling estate right in the midst of beautiful tea and pepper gardens. Carmelia Haven boasts of a lovely restaurant called Kolumban. The resort has quaint cottages, tree houses and even a cave house for the adventurous. The pictures on the Net were enticing and we decided to take the plunge. We got in touch with the right people and confirmed our booking. What followed was a
magical week of delightful experiences that will remain etched in our minds for a long time to come.
 We took the Trivandrum Express from Chennai on a crisp Friday night and planned to get off at Eranakulam and drive down to Vandanmedu. The rhythmic movement of the train journey was an enjoyable experience. We reached Erankulam in the wee hours of Saturday. The driver, a pleasant guy from the resort, was waiting for us at the station. The drive that ensued was nothing different from a normal journey on a highway, but as we neared Thekkady we were in for a big surprise.
The city gave way to a beautiful town hidden amidst an awe-inspiring foliage. Since we were tired we decided to spend our time exploring the estate.
We left early the next morning for a visit to a tea processing and pepper factory. The tea shrubs looked like giant broccoli on the hilltop nestling in a cheery and carefree manner. The tea, that
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we relish so much, goes through an onerous process of drying, curling, heating,
fermenting and sorting before it is packed and marketed. It was informative no doubt, and we moved on to the pepper factory.
The green peppers clung on the climbers in hordes and it was a thrilling site to see these climbers. Our next stop was The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. We had great expectations of it, but were disappointed. The boat ride was good, but there were not many animals that we could spot. We saw a few water birds nestling on bald tree trunks in the midst of the lake; we saw a few herds of deer and managed a fleeting glimpse of some elephants. Although this sanctuary features on all Internet sites on
Kerala, no attempt has been made to improve the infrastructure to attract prospective tourists.
 The next day we left early to visit Munnar on the way to Guruvayoor. It was to be a long drive and we geared up for it. Munnar is a tourist's delight! It is awe-inspiring to see so much of greenery everywhere! We loved the twisty-turny roads that took us first to the Mattu Petti Dam and a cattle farm near it. There is a facility for a speedboat ride just near the farm. Our next stop was at the Echo point; we heard our voices reverberating and were thrilled. From there it was time to explore the town center and have lunch. We left Munnar and drove all the way to Guruvayoor. We stopped briefly at Chalakudi, to pray at a church. One of our friends had told us that it was a church where people had witnessed miracle cures.
When we reached Guruvayoor we were tired and famished. Early next day we visited the famous Krishna temple. The darshan was worth winding our way along the serpentine queue. The temple is beautiful and the authorities take every care to see that it is maintained well and everyone has good darshan. We stayed at the Elite hotel, a decent place near the temple. The shops in and around the temple sell numerous goods. Eats worth taking home from there are the banana chips and
halwa.
The trip was exhausting but worth every second. It refreshed and rejuvenated us and we returned to Chennai enthused with new dynamism and verve beguiling our age.
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