The last evening..

Ok...now this is my last evening and it is around 8 P.M as i sit here to summarize todays bit of travel. We started at around 7 in the morning , we were on our way to the Top Slip which is must watch if u ever stop at Pollachi, or for that matter even in Coimbatore. It is a good 33 kms away from Pollachi , and is mainly a wildlife reserve with equable climate on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. It is part of the Indra Gandhi National park and you have to endure a number of check points before you even reach the foot of the hill on which the Top slip is situated.

We reached the Top slip at around 8 : 30 and had our breakfast there in the Forest canteen there, which is possibly the only eatery there. The food was a shade above decent and the place was a shade above excellent. If one were to write about it, he would use all the synonyms there is to the words "Clean", "Picturesque", and "Peaceful". The top slip is characterized by the presence of varied species of animals and birds. The forest office over there has a museum sort of thing , where specimens of some of the animals present are on display. They also have a notice board which has the names of some of the hard-to-see species of animals and birds and where they were last seen. There are a lot of facilities provided by the Forest department over here including Accommodation, Trekking, Camping in the forests and all that. The only thing you need to do is book them things before a month or two . So planning is essential. You will get a feel of the wild life over there only when you stay over there for a day or two so our trip was basically fruitless.

From the top slip we made our way to the Paravikulam national park which is in Kerala and is about 30 kms from the Top slip. On the way again you encounter a number of check posts making you feel , will they ever reduce their number. Before you enter the park , you have an option of hiring a guide. This wont cost you much. 100 bucks for how many ever hours you want to spend in the forest. The guide guy we had was a local tribe and knew every nook and corner of the forest and to our surprise spoke good english also.

June is clearly not the season to go for a forest visit. Most of the animals wont be out and it turned out to be true. Although we got a glimpse of peacocks, peahens, spotted deers, black monkeys and some birds i was never satisfied and i made my usual promise. If u want to visit the forests u have to be among the firsts to do so, as only thirty vehicles are allowed per day and there are numerous guidelines you will have to follow. Like the top slip, or any other wild life sanctuary they offer you various facilities from accommodation to adventure things. All of them, only when you book in advance. But the most salient feature, i am told, is that you will get the tree-top house in the midst of the forests for 500 bucks a day. Usual promise again here.

Tomorrow i ll be on the first bus home from Coimbatore, and my dad has further plans of some more forest visits. This trip has been a very eventful one and an excellent one not the least because it doubled my respect for the state of tamil nadu as a tourist centre. If all these places are maintained and marketed properly, i see no reason as to why T.N wont become one very important tourist hub. I hope i ll come back to these places again with my friends before it will be time for me to go with a family of my own.
ADIOS.