Thekkady Travel review - Part 1 | Food and Travel

Helooo!, I am back after a fantastic getaway at Thekkady and Kumarakom :-). When I decided that I should blog about this travel, a lot of pieces from the trip formed in my head very incoherently and for me that doesn't happen very often. I have always been known as the woman of few words ;). I realized then there were so many aspects of this trip that struck a beautiful chord in me and thought it would be better to do 3-4 blog posts about this trip - yes I have so much to say :). I like reading my old posts even if they are just food recipes ;), so I am sure I would love myself later for documenting this trip!

We had a brilliant vacation in Switzerland earlier this year and for me that is right on top of the chart for the best-est trip ever. I thought hard and long and then decided that thekkady and kumarkom had to be pushed up the order. I really dint want Swiss to lose its place, but this trip deserved the first rank. You know there are so many trips that you plan, but there are only a few out of them that you can relate so well with. With most international locations, you are in cloud 9 about the experience you get there, but not very comfortable with the food, people, culture or the weather, you just have to go along with what you get there. What was so special about thekkady and kumarakom was that we loved all the facets of this travel - food, weather, place of stay, people, culture and the experience :).

I dint think of thekkady as being a very scenic or a must-visit kind of place, but I was so wrong. It is a very beautiful place situated in the town of Kumily-Kerala and it is the location of  Periyar National park. Like all forest/jungle based tourist places, this one is very picturesque and is worthy of the attention it has been getting as a getaway location.

We stayed at the Green-Woods Resort Kumily and I would have to say that the service in this place is the best I have ever received. They took care of us like how close relatives are taken care of in an Indian wedding ;). The staffs were very courteous and ever-smiling and ready to go out of their way to make our stay very comfortable. I loved the traditional welcome at the resort- a lady clad in the typical pattu Kerala saree greeted us with a cardamom garland, deepam and chandanam. The room we stayed in was very beautiful and was done up quite well and there was no reason for me to complain. 

Green-woods resort Thekkady

Now comes the best part - food! I absolutely loved the food at Kerala. I had a fish curry for every meal expect breakfast. S was quite surprised to see me order so much to devour at every meal. I was a true foodie in this trip. Milagu [pepper] fish curry, Meen Pozhichathu, Masala Fish fry, Spicy fish curry,  Masala Fish Fry and so on. Its a really long "fishy" list  ;).

I clicked a few food pictures and here they are. Below is a pineapple starter, it was sliced pineapple sprinkled with some chat masla, diced onion and tomato and some lime juice. I am not a pineapple person and hence just tasted one piece from it and it was okay!

Watermelon juice - pure and fresh as it should be.

Chicken Biriyani for S, he loved it - very spicy and flavorful and yum :)

Chicken chettinadu curry - I wouldnt say its "chettinadu" but was definitely good. Spicy and tangy with just a hint of coconut milk. I had it with roti and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Masala Meen Curry - This was the best of the lot. Very tender fish grilled to perfection with mild spices and then topped generously with a spicy masala made of shallots, tomato, tamarind, ginger,garlic and green chillies. Loved the masala and fish - On my list to try :)

Carrot Halwa and Banana split for dessert. The carrot halwa was too sweet for me to take more than a few spoons, but S likes it that way, so good for him. Banana Split was cardamom grilled banana with 3 flavours of ice-cream , the banana could have been grilled well with more cardamom, there was just a trace of it.  But over-all we were two very happy people after this meal :-).

To be continued .....  Elephant Safari, Boating at Periyar Lake and Tree house stay