| Right Before the Dussehra Long weekend, Three of my Close Friends took off on an enviable road trip through Bhutan; a three-Week, Spur of the moment (well),almost) trip the kind on which my slave position at work would never allow me to be. So When the change to Spend those three days in Kerala camp up, a Kerala different than backwaters and beaches.
I confirmed It immediately.
Even though it is pretty tourist,I’d never heard of Athirapally,famous for its waterfall.Somewhere in the middle of the Sholayar mountain range, in the middle of a forest about an hour from Kochi,the Chalakudy river gushes down in the form of aStunning waterfall.And right in front of it is boutique hotel Rainforest a nine-room quaint place whose luxury lies in its location.
I walk into my room, the room in which Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai had stayed for three month, informs John,the enthusiastic guy who manages media for the resort.Iwant to ask why and what,but as someone draws back the curtain,I can hardly hear him anymore.One of the walls is a window that frams the waterfall entirely.It’s dark green,like the green of your mind, the green I thought you can only imagine; it’s blue as the foamy waterfall cascades and then rises up in a mist…. My eyes dart from one natural colors to the other, not sure which I like best.
If hadn’t eaten all day I’d have probably never moved from where I had fallen on the bed. But by 7 in the evening I was dying of hunger and Kerala parota,veg mappa,Travancore chicken fry and suchlike were waiting for me. The food at Rainforest is very good, marked by the fact that they even make north Indian dishes like rogen josh well. The staff is cheerful and friendly; always coming up for a chat if they see you alone I confessed my love for appam and stew and the chef promised to make that for me the next day.
With that heavenly thought I step and work up in heaven the next day.. It had rained in the night and the scenery form my night and the scenery from my window had changed to a dreamlike beauty. Must hung low over the mountains. the waterfall was in a range, stomping about on the stones and rocks, lightning roared now and then and the could all huddled together tightly. I Could hear the fall from inside my room, woken up by lightning. Can you come up with a more wonder wake up call.? I took to the sitting area outside but could hardly keep my eyes on ht pages.
As I sat lunching at the open-air restaurant, a great rustling started as if some sort of invasion of snakes though th forest. I looked around in alarm and realized that droop of rain were moving the leaves of the trees that surround the restaurant. Even as this was just sinking in, in started to pour with gusto. I watched the waterfall being drenched by the rain does it wonder where this other, bigger waterfall is all about? Which mighty river is this that generates a waterfall so huge and so all- encompassing?
Baiju broke my silly thought, my guide for the night safari and forest tour, by leading me to the awaiting jeep for our forest outing. If there was a naturalist avatar of Quick Gun Murugan,It has to be this entertaining man you will find the inmitable Baiju leaping about from the jeep to pick a rere flower for you; you will find him showing you leech that’s sucking his blood with pride (it will go away in a bit, he says nonchalantly); you wont’s be able to help becoming immensely fond of baiju.So much of the Rainforest experience is about him relly. |
