Discount Travel with Rotary Tours

If you work with Wipro, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Accenture you get Half Ticket and an additional 10% off

On packages organized by Rotary Club of Kuttanad

Snapshot of a Rotary Trip: 9 days 8 night tour

2 days at Munnar; 2 days at Kovalam

1 day each at Kochi, Thekkady, Allepey and Kanyakumari

Itinerary:

1^st day – Arrive at Kochi, transfer to hotel, noon tour of Kochi, visit Fort Kochi, Jewish Synagogue, Jew Town, Dutch Synagogue, Chinese fishing nets, St. Francis Church. Overnight stay at hotel

2^nd day – Drive to Munnar. Transfer to hotel, day at leisure. Overnight stay at hotel

3^rd day – After breakfast, sightseeing in Munnar. Visit Eravikulam National Park, Mattupetty dam, old Munnar town and local market. Rest of the day at leisure. Overnight stay at hotel

4^th day – After breakfast, drive to Thekkady. Reach hotel at noon and take rest of day off or opt for a boat cruise down the Periyar river in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary (This is not included in the package cost). Overnight stay at hotel

5^th day – Transfer from Thekkady to Kumarakom/Allepey houseboat. All meals on houseboat. Full day and overnight stay on the houseboat

6^th day – Drive to Kovalam. Transfer to hotel. Overnight stay at hotel

7^th day – Day at leisure. On payment basis avail of the resort facilities like Ayurvedic massage

8^th day – Drive to Kanyakumari after breakfast. Check into hotel by noon. Rest of day at leisure. Overnight stay at hotel

9^th day – Transfer to Thiruvanthapuram to catch connecting train/flight back home

Package Cost:

Budget    - Rs.40,290 for two. Rs.4000 for extra person

Standard – Rs.44,660 for two. Rs.4500 for extra person

Deluxe    - Rs.65,240 for two. Rs.5000 for extra person

Luxury    -  Rs.86,235 for two. Rs.8000 for extra person

Mode of Travel: Indica. A/c Indica for Deluxe and Luxury packages

Bus tickets can be arranged on request

Other Offers

Rotary also offers discounts on houseboat packages such as 15% off on deluxe 5 days 4 nights tours and if you like them on Facebook there's a 5% discount!

Contact

Call 09349178898 or 09447776841

Shopping in Thekkady

White Pepper

               
Shop for Spices in Thekkady       
Kumily Spice Village:    
They charge you just to enter setting you back almost by Rs.300, as it iss charged per head. The shop here also does not sell in quantity of your choice and you will have to buy packaged.

A better option is the market in Thekkady which is right at the junction. There is a Spice Castle which is at the beginning of the lane and Lord's Spices at the end of the lane. The latter offers really great prices like coffee for Rs.50 for 1/4 kg and they also sell soaps in singles. There are also gift packs of spices which offer a variety of spices in a simple plastic or boxed. Spice Castle offers very good quality spices that lasts 3 years.

Elaichi

Besides the spices,  there are Kashmiri shops selling traditional handicrafts. There is a Kerala Government Handloom shop selling exquisite fabric. In addition, there is just one government-recognised Handicraft emporium worth a visit which sells wall hangings with Raja Ravi Varma paintings and wooden curios.

Kishmish

Elaichi

Cinnamon

Accomodation in Thekkady - Rangerwood Nature Castle

Rangerwood Nature Castle is located bang outside the Periyar Tiger Reserve entrance gate. Besides the hotel. they’ve also got on lease an adjacent multi-storeyed building which acts as an annexe to the main hotel and offers the same service.

You will get a really stunning view from the Wild View Nature room on the first floor as the hotel directly overlooks the back of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. 

The hotel does not provide separate beds, but a single bed is very wide so just fine.

Rangerwood Nature Castle Wild View Nature Room

Rangerwood Nature Castle Wild View Nature Room

Despite the Periyar reserve and construction down the road as they plan to build an extension, there no mosquitoes to trouble you as netting covers entire ground floor side.

The Restaurant is beautifully laid out with a warm setting and clean and comfy. They have taken the trouble to have different flowers in every vase on the table. The service is a tad slow as the breakfast buffet counter took a while to open and some of the items on the menu are unavailable.

Rangerwood Nature Castle Restaurant

Rangerwood Nature Castle Restaurant

The menu is disappointing as Kerala cuisine is hardly catered to.  

Rangerwood Nature Castle Restaurant Menu

Rangerwood Nature Castle Restaurant Menu

Rangerwood Nature Castle Restaurant Menu

Rangerwood Nature Castle Restaurant Menu

Room service is very good and the food comes covered on a tray.The curd rice is the best and the phulkas nice and soft. The traditional Kerala veggie Thoran was finally served for dinner on request.

Rangerwood Nature Castle Room Service Food

 But housekeeping is indifferent. 

No noise save for the rooster at 4 am. Around 6 am becomes distinctly warmer, maybe some machine gets switched off but since it’s a cool area and wonderful comfortable room, doesn’t irritate.

They offer Ayurveda packages at Ayurthejus:

·         Kalari rejuvenation massage

·         Shirodhara where oil drips on the forehead to refresh the head and brain

·         Podikkizhi to reduce pain and inflammation where medicinal bags or balis heated in medicinal oil are used on the body after a massage

They also offer training in massage therapies:

Contact:ayurthejus@gmail.com

Tip

Try and get the first floor rooms. First floor means on the same level as reception where the Wild View Nature rooms are located. 

Rangerwood Nature Castle Wild View Nature Room View Balcony

The ground floor is below the reception. The ground floor is where the Wild View rooms are situated. The suites or Wild View Pavilion as they’re called are on the second floor, so that’s the elevated view. 

Rangerwood Nature Castle Storeys

Contact Information:

Santosh Kumar – Mobile -  91 9495-748914 
Landline Ph: 91-4869224044

Email: manager@rangerwoodperiyar.com

News Flash - Kumily Checkpost Opens to Buses after Mullaperiyar Row

Thekkady 

The tussle between Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar dam adversely affected tourism in both states. This time of the year, foreign tourist inflow declined to a trickle in Thekkady as well as the temple town of Madurai. Hotels and tourist operators reported cancellation of booking at a whopping 80%. It translates into 20 foreign tourists where 200 were to arrive. The reason is due to the road blockade carried out by the protests over the issue of the dam. State buses and private vehicles could not cross into Tamil Nadu and vice versa as Kumily which is at the border of the two states saw violent agitations over the dam. Even check posts at the Kumily border refused to issue passes. 

Tourists were forced to opt for trucks that trundled across or take a circuitous route. Those traveling from Tamil Nadu traveled from Coimbatore, Palakkad to Kochi and thence to Thekkady. Some walked across the border. So a holiday trip of 4 hours became a lengthy 14 hour detour which was bad news for the tourism industry. Even now buses are being stopped and tourists had to walk across the border. Tourist buses cost Rs.27 lakhs and no one is willing to have their Rs,40,000 windshield shattered by protesters.

There is some respite now mainly due to the onset of the Sabarimala pilgrimage.  With police protection being offered to pilgrims to cross the border from Tamil Nadu to Kerala, there have been demands for similar protection for the tourists within Kerala. Finally on Monday, buses managed to operate on the Kumily border route passing from Tamil Nadu to Kerala. Buses in Kerala to the Kumily border town are set to operate by 10:30 am today. Private buses and taxis are playing it safe and dropping tourists till the border. Tourists are moving freely across without incident as peace prevails after a long period of violent clashes. With the holiday season winding to a close, tourism operators pinned hopes on domestic tourists and they haven’t disappointed continuing to arrive to holiday into what was once a tourist haven.

Visiting Gavi in Kerala

Gavi is a smorgasbord of rolling hills, vales, spice plantations of cardamom, waterfall, grass meadows, shoal and tropical forests with deep ravines. It’s an eco-project of the Kerala Forest Department that’s part of the larger Periyar Reserve to promote tourism that conserves the environ with the help of the locals who at as guides, cooks etc.

To Do List

·         Animal Spotting by Day – Nilgiri Tahr and Lion tailed Macaque, Tiger pug marks

·         Animal Spotting Safaris at Night to Kullur, Kochu Pampa and Pachakanam

·         Bird Spotting by Day – Woodpecker, Hornbill and Kingfisher 

·         Bird Spotting by Night – Tree House in the forest and try to spot the other 257 species

·         Boating on the Gavi lake

·         Cardamom Processing Factory run by locals 

   Accomodation: You get a rare opportunity to tent it in the heart of the forest – but be prepared to establish blood ties with the leeches! 

   Room Tariffs: 

   ·         Jungle camp for 20 persons – Rs. 10,000

   ·         Cottage Tents for two- Monsoon-Peak Seasons – Rs.4000-Rs.5000 

        Room it at the Eco-lodge:

   · Green Mansion for 1/2/3/4 persons –

        Monsoon season rates: Rs. 2200-3520-5280-7040

        Peak season: Rs.1740-4400-6600-8800       

   

   How to Reach:

Thekkady Junction Road

·         Best way is to hop onto a bicycle and cycle down from Thekkady 18 km away.

·         Thekkady can be reached in 3-5 hours drive from Kottayam or Kochi cities.

·         Short Trek from Sabarimala temple town

·         Enroute to Gavi are tea plantations and picturesque spots like Peermade, Vandiperiyar, Mundakayyam and Kuttikanam.

Contact Information:                                  

 ·         Tourist Information Office, Thekkady – 04869-222620

·         Kerala Forest Development Corporation Ltd.

Call –

·         Landline - 91-4869-223270, 91-481-2582640

·         Mobile -91-944720138
Email-gavi@kfdcecotourism.com