After the adventurous TADA journey in 2009, my heart was craving for a unique and scenic trip. Some one bustled in my ears to try Parali as ‘A Jungle ideal for trekking ‘, rest few sang the merry of ‘Coracle ride’ while websites boasted Parali for its ‘Tribal Dance’. With various Jingles on Parali, I had a staunch feeling that something is waiting on my way to get lost in this dazzling bizarre. The day came, where my close friend despite of ill health succumbed to take the pride of being pillion rider in my 110 Cc darling – ‘Activa’.
We kicked off the amazing trip by filling Petrol for 3 Liters in Indian Oil Corporation by Morning 09:30. The obvious fact is we didn’t know the route neither we googled the maps to have a clear travel strategy .All we were informed is that it was near to karamadai .We took the sathy highway instead of Conventional M.P road which traversed through single lanes, haunting factories to finally merge with karamadai @ 10:30 .It’s here where our woes started .One of the localities’ asked us to drive towards Ooty .I nodded my head without any dissent and managed reaching Kallar falls. There we were informed that Kallar falls has yet another name as Parali Aaru .A quick flash back - We had asked for Parali Kaadu but were routed to Parali Aaru due to noise in the air .The summary is this wrong direction costed us 45 minutes ,0.75 liters of petrol and 30 Kms of travel.
Hence we went back to kaaramadai and called the forest Officer, Aandavar.From his conversation, we understood that we need to fill in our petrol tanks yet again (to travel the whooping distance). This time we filled petrol in Reliance bunk and reached Velliyankadu .The road was filled badly interspersed with coarse stones that will not let you travel > 30 Kms /Hr. Surrounded by trees on both the sides, with paddy fields on the right, the place resembled me of murder spot of Vettayadu vilayadu. Even by 12:00 Noon, I was feeling cold, bit shivering due to loneliness. I even thought of returning back to my home, but the fantasy towards parali ceased the thought. There was a bungalow near by, where an old gentleman was watering his gardens. With fear pricking like thorns, I asked him if it was safer to drive in Parali jungle further. The guy assured that there is 98% chance of being eaten away by animals swaying in the jungle, 2% chances of being stamped by elephants. Even then I couldn’t take back my step and advanced forward to reach the Jungle check post .The information board hung there irked my eyes stating Parali was still 24 Kms.
As I climbed the hill with my friend, my heart pumped bit faster looking at the mirages of fox in the Silent jungle. I was totally uncomfortable with silence atmosphere, with the intention of breaking the ice asked my friend how much distance would we have travelled from check post .The reply was 2 Kms..? Nope…This can’t be…Even if it was just 2 Km we had travelled, I asked my friend to respond as 4 Km, as this would enhance my courage to fly. My friend understood the situation and nodded faster than I expected - The same cold blood in my friend? We were travelling through semi steep hair pin bends .This road curves remembered me of trips to Sun set point ‘Agumbe’ .At one point , dunk of elephants were very apparent and frequent but self realized that it was too late to even fear. After 30 minutes I could see some tribal people .My joy knew no bounds .Seeking their guidance I reached the next check post who directed us to take a further right .Now, this phase of road trip frequented lots of people and this made us feel comfortable. Finally we took another right to reach food distribution Point who diligently directed us to Coracle ride spot. Statistically speaking, it took 85 Kms to reach this spot from Gandhipuram with 1.6 liters of Petrol and 3 hours of Travel.
Parali is surmounted by bluish hills, dam, dense trees filled by Pillur water. We were asked to wear a life jacket and a coracle was ready to welcome us. The water depth was something troubling me and understood that it was 45 feet deeper .We could see a cobra mating with Viper in the ridges, king fisher resting under the shadows of Dam reservoir. The ride was at its best when the coracle started nearing the hills. With a gentle breeze singing in your ears, Hue Mountains standing in front of you, do you think heaven is so far from you .Might be but for sure, it was heavenly feeling .The driver stopped at a mini island for 10 minutes. I kept watching the majestic Hills holding the sun that was about to disappear. This site would be further adorned when it drizzles or looks cloudy. The Climax of the ride was ultimate when the driver rotates the coracle .You might get either vomiting sensation or you might fall deeply in love with the swing which depends on how you take the ride .
We were almost starving for a lunch and reached the Food distribution Point to have raagi balls with tomato Chutneys, Vegetable briyani with raithas along with chapattis .The fear of returning back quickly refrained us from eating slowly. The food taste is almost in par with Murugan Idli Shop .Rather than to say that we started the return journey ,I should say we had to start our return journey owing to to risk of getting stuck in Jungle darkness. To refrain from fear of Jungle loneliness ,I started speaking about my Cutki trips ,Madurai trips with my friend till I reached velliyangadu ,but deep in my heart it was ringing that none of them were as Scenic and thrilling as parali was…… !
