Unforgettable silent valley tour

Unforgettable Silent valley tour Travel is something that quenches the thirst of the soul. Our short trip to Silent Valley in Attapadi, Kerala was one such thing. When we imagined a trip through the forest without human intervention, we all assumed that it would be a hypocritical one with electric lines over our heads and made-up pathways to ‘walk through the wildernesses’. But the whole trip to this heaven on Earth, defied our notions. 

Photo captured on Nikon D3400

Growing up in the city of Chennai, we were accustomed to the blaring horns, garbage, and the dust-filled air (in fact it was the normal for us). The mere thought of visiting a place with no WIFI or phone signal was a bit terrifying.

My family departed from Chennai on April 25th, 2018 by the Alleppey express. Reached Ottapalam railway station (it is the station that comes after the Palakkad junction) on April 26th at 6.15 a.m. We stayed at my grandparents’ house and were joined by my cousins’ family. 

APRIL 28th, 2018:

It was the big day! We all woke up early, packed our goodies, loaded it all to the back of the tempo-van and began our life-changing trip to Silent Valley National park. If Kerala is the ‘God’s own country’ then Silent Valley is the capital of that country.

We reached the Forest office where my aunt had to sign some papers (this place is classified as ‘protected’ by the government so we had to get prior permission to visit this place). Our family of 10 was assigned two forest rangers as guides. We boarded our tempo-van and were taken to our place of residence. We had booked two cottages which were located on top of a cliff-like slope surrounded by trees and trees only. Electricity was generated from solar panels setup on top of the cottages (there were no air-conditioners as they were trying their best to be eco-friendly, but now-a-days we wouldn’t be able to survive without a light and fan...so those were powered through this renewable, non-polluting source).

By reading all this eco-friendly-arrangement-stuff you all must be thinking that we weren’t happy or comfortable there....but it was just the opposite! The cottage was a DREAM. All the furniture was made of bamboo...the bed, light stand, the tables, chairs, doors and everything! The roof was earthen-tiled and the walls were made of mud and clay. Due to this, the whole cottage was naturally cool! (Bye bye air-conditioners ☺)

The cottage in which I stayed had three rooms and a front porch having a pretty view. The second cottage had two rooms. There was a separate dining hall outside both the cottages where we had our meals (a cook is stationed there whenever the cottages are occupied; we could even suggest a menu according to our needs).

After lunch, we rested for an hour before officially starting the tour. Around 3 in the afternoon, we boarded our vehicle with our guide to head to River Bhavani. The river was down the valley, so we had to park our van at the top of the mini-cliff and trek some distance down to reach the crystal-clear river. The water was sparkling in the sun and we were blinded by its beauty for a minute!

The river was shallow, so we decided to wade in! My cousins and I spent almost an hour in the water until a herd of buffalos decided to cross the river! The water was so clear that we could see each and every pebble on the river bed!

We all left half-heartedly and trekked back up to our van to travel to the next destination, the View Point! It was basically the one of the highest point on there...so we could see valleys spreading out for miles and miles with its colour changing from green to blue. 

By the time we reached here, it was almost half-past four, so the time was perfect with the Sun in the right position and the mist already setting in. Standing on the tip of the cliff created an illusion of standing on the tip of the world. The speed of the wind was enough to do a heroine-styled-dupatta photo shoot! One of the major advantage of Silent valley is, as it is a protected zone and a not so famous tourist spot, there wouldn’t be any people to photo-bomb your awesome clicks!

When the sun began to set, our guide advised us to return as the spot we were standing was a favourite for elephants! As this was a national park and not a zoo, the animals were free to roam anywhere (this was their home, so they do have all the right to do so). The reserve has tigers, black panthers, elephants, langurs, lion-tailed macaques, giant Malabar squirrel, many different kinds of birds, more than a 100 species of butterflies and many, many more! 

Photo captured on Nikon D3400

Got back to our cottage at half-past six and had refreshments. Sitting on an easy-chair on the front porch and making jokes with your family, under a starlit sky, surrounded by the active chirping of grasshoppers and all kind of exotic insects, with a cool breeze coming from the north, brushing past the leaves making them dance....these are moments worth living for.

APRIL 29th, 2018:

It was TREK day! We were to join the safari at 7.10 a.m. Checked out of our cottage with a heavy heart and headed to the forest office where we were allotted two jeeps. The start point of the 3 km trek was in the core zone of the forest. The ride to that point was a very bumpy one and an awesome off-road experience! Our guide explained to us the history, geography and civics of the zone. The forest was divided into five zones. The way up to the core zone is the first zone, that is, the buffer zone (23kms deep into the massive forest). The core zone is about 39 sq.kms and humans were allowed only 2 and a ½kms deep into it.

We stopped a couple of times at different spots to examine exotic trees like teak, cedar, sandalwood and trees with tiger claw-marks! We spotted langurs, Malabar giant squirrel and many differently hued butterflies. En-route to the trek, we noticed many fallen trees deep within the forest and some on the path too...when we enquired about it the guide informed us that those were the result of the rain-storms there, and the forest rangers made it a point to not move the trees as they wanted the forest to do its own natural healing process; any kind of human intervention would result in an unnatural process, disrupting the nature’s way.

The trek was for 1 ½kms to and fro (so 3kms in total). Before the trek we were warned about the leeches on the path (this is a rain forest, so it is bound to have leeches) and were advised to walk quickly with light steps. The path was slightly sloped downward so it was easy to walk quickly. The whole distance of the way was flanked by tall trees and covered with a blanket of fallen leaves. There were many different varieties of wild mushrooms and flowers on the pathway.

After 20 minutes of walking, we reached the half point- River Kunthi. This is probably the only river that is untouched by humans to this day! There was a hanging bridge over the river which connected the path we were on and the dead-end of a cliff. The purpose of the bridge was to witness the serene, clear, holy river. 

Before heading back, we all simply decided to check our feet for leeches...and guess what? We all had it! I am not a particular fan of creepy-crawlies so it was a bit terrifying. But our guide helped us remove it using dettol and salt. The walk up back to the start point was tiring as now the way was uphill. But we did not dare to stop, as we wanted to prevent more leech attacks. We huffed and puffed and at last reached the end point where there was refreshment zone providing clear, clean water from the natural spring flowing adjacent to it. Now, that was the best tasting water we all had ever had in our lives! It was so sweet and it had that unpolluted feel! We also ate the Kerala special ‘ada’ to perk up our energy.

Photo captured on smart phone: Lyf F1s

Our final spot of visit was the tall watch tower. According to the rule of the place, we weren’t allowed to make any noise on top of the tower; if we shouted or made any equivalent loud noise on top of the tower, we were to pay a fine. (The place was named ‘silent valley’ for a reason). The steps were a bit steep, but we finally reached the top. If there wasn’t a rule that prohibited shouting, I would have literally screamed “WOW!”. The view was truly mesmerizing. The most fascinating thing was, the whole place felt hauntingly silent...but this was a beautiful kind of haunting. The photos taken here were worthy for a desktop background.

Our guide showed us the places where only forest rangers were allowed to visit occasionally to make sure that there are no Maoist infiltration (Maoist attacks are one of the major dangers to this place). We could even see the rivers trickling through the gaps of the massive valleys. Before we knew, it was time to head back

Hopped onto our jeeps and took the same bumpy road back to the forest office. We stopped a couple of times on the way to pluck a few grass-strands of lemongrass plant and to drink water from a spring. 

There was a shop near the forest office which sold natural products like lemongrass oil, eucalyptus oil, herbs, magazines about the place, and a lot more stuff. We bought a dozen things as a memento to remember this place.

 We thanked our guide for the amazing experience and bid farewell to the place that we grew to love very much even though our stay was short.

When we returned back to Chennai to the same old routine of going to school through the crowded, dusty roads, we reminisced fondly of the peaceful times we had in god’s own country that brought warmth in our hearts and put a smile on our face. This mind-numbing, soul-satisfying trip was the best ever we have ever had...all we now are photos and memories...until next time!