Travel Tales with M ~ Periyar Lake in Thekkady
An Early Morning Boat Ride on a Picturesque Lake
In focus under this story is the Periyar River (also called lake) in Thekkady, Kerala, India.
We were on a 10-day family trip around God’s own country and one place on our itinerary was this lake. Being a Bollywood (and general movie) loving family, this place came to our attention because of a 90s popular song being shot here. Ever since then, we were mesmerized by this eerie yet beautiful water-body, with floating wood logs and broken tree trunks on its top, and had been wanting and waiting to visit it.
So, when the opportunity to visit Kerala showed up, this one of our priority places to be seen. Being warned (wrongly probably) about the long queue and how we would have to run (literally!!) to catch the first early morning boat ride or we would miss out on the chance, we drove before sun break from our local resort to the Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. The booking center for the boat ride is far from the parking spot and being paranoid about missing out on it, I ran from the parking spot to the booking center (in high heels!!!) and was one of the first ones to get our tickets. Yes, as warned, the queue was long, but since I had been one of the first ones, our waiting period wasn’t long and we hopped on to the boat!
The early wake-up, driving out in eerie wee hours and then running in heels, was all worth it when the boat took off and we got to see the river in all its glory!
A peripheral boat ride around the river takes around half an hour to forty-five minutes and all the while you’ll be soaked in the beauty of water and greenery all around.
You can even see the animals strolling around (especially elephants) in their natural habitat, some even at the edge of the lake, drinking the sweet waters of the lake.
After the boat ride (or even before in case you need to wait because of the long waiting period) you can take a stroll around the Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary too, as even that is well maintained and quite a sight to behold.
Pro-tip: The warnings about the long waiting and having to run to get the tickets seemed like a hoax. So don’t fret and fall prey to it as per the locals there. The rides were aplenty even after ours was done.
Note: I visited this place in June 2016. I originally published the post on my blog.
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