VAITHIRI A TRAVELOGUE

VAITHIRI

A Travelogue

Rita Elizabeth Thomas, D/o Thomas John & Meena Thomas

2011 – Dubai 2013 – Europe 2016 – China 2019 – London, Switzerland .

. 2020 – Kadayiruppu? 2021 - Kadayiruppu? Going for vacations was our thing. Packing bags, hotel check ins and checkouts, airport run, window seat fights, trying different food, night street strolls, documenting it all etc. etc.. etc. was our thing. It’s safe to say Corona ruined our thing. As Rufus says, “after kochechy’s (Rhema) 10th boards we went to Europe. After Kunjechy’s (Me) 10th boards we went to China. After mine… well we didn’t even go past Pattimattom bus stop”. This travelogue is different from my previous ones which was all about our international trips. This one is short and simple but holds a special place because of a reason which you’ll get to know along the way. After more than 10 months of rotting at home we got our much needed break. 1 week before my finals, 1 week before Rufus leaves to hostel and 2 months before Chechy gets a promotion from our home… off to Vaithiri! We left home on 2nd April 2021, 6:00 a.m. It was a long drive and a beautiful one. Vaithiri is a forest area which made the drive even more refreshing and sightfull. We reached the hotel at noon. We had a full 2 storeyed house for ourselves. We did a lil house tour. It had 2 rooms, one in each floor connected with a spiral staircase. And here’s the most amazing part. There was a swimming pool with a sitting area and a fireplace inside the house!!! We’ve never before stayed in a hotel having a private pool for ourselves. Well that was the good news. The bad news was that we didn’t bring our swimsuits with us. Since it was COVID we decided it’s safe not to swim in a public hotel pool which was also used by the others guests in there… little did we know we’d end up having a private pool. We ended up borrowing Rufus’s clothes for a swim. Soon after that we went for the lunch. went back to our house. Mamma and Me went for a quick stroll outdoors while the rest took a nap. Now let me give a small picture of this hotel. First of all it’s more a forest and less a hotel. The entire hotel was sitting in the middle of a forest. It was filled with wild trees and plants. The whole compound was closed with electric wires due to the danger of wild animals. We had to walk through a long rope bridge to reach the restaurant . Below the rope bridge was a pretty big natural stream with huge rocks and crystal clear and cold water running along. Oh and there were monkeys, a lot of them. It was basically their home. They walk with us, sit with us. The restaurant was covered in grills to stop the monkeys from getting inside. They would hang on the grills and watch us eating. The guests was restricted from feeding the monkeys because it was harmful for them. So we just let them gather around us

watching us have our meal. That’s pretty much about the hotel. The walk was really peaceful. Mamma and me, we both discovered things. We went to the forest stream and played in the crystal cold water. Once getting back to the hotel I went for a swim while others napped. By evening we woke up and went for the evening tea after which all of us together went for a walk. The whole hotel was filled with numerous small routes and paths one connecting to the other. So whichever path we took we’ll end up back at the starting point. When it became dark we went for dinner. There was a singing concert of a daddy-daughter duo. After having dinner and vibing with the concert we headed back to our house.

The next day soon after breakfast all of us together went to the stream. Spent hours over there. We decided to return from there once we saw that our phone gallery was getting overloaded. It was super fun. For people who has never been to a stream or any kind of a natural water body should relate with us. Halfway drenched we went back to our house, changed and went for lunch. After lunch we again took a long walk throughout the hotel compound, went back to our house and just lazed around. Daddy, Mamma and me scrolled through our phones, Rufus went for a swim, and chechy… well she was engaged so you should guess by now that she remains busy for the majority part of the day. Mamma , Chechy and I was upstairs and Daddy and Rufus was downstairs. After a while a guest barged into our house - a huge monkey!! Poor Daddy had to deal with the monkey all by himself since we were upstairs and didn’t have a clue about the intruder for awhile. It climbed over the table and chair and finally Daddy managed to shoo it off. We heard a few screams and noise and by the time we came running downstairs the monkey was gone. We just sat and laughed about it for the next 10 minutes. At evening after having coffee and snacks we went to the game centre where we just ran around and played all sorts of games, also discussed the planning of chechy’s bridal shower with mamma… the bridal shower which never happened! At 7 there was a classical dance concert after which we had our dinner and went to bed. The next day soon after our breakfast we packed out bags, clicked pics, purchased a few stuff and checked out. We had plans to visit my mom’s cousins and family at Wayanad. We reached there in about 45 minutes. It was a few fun hours filled with chilling around and catching up on family stuff and wedding talks. And later we stepped out from there it was with a tummy about to burst, literally! Then it was a straight long drive home without any stops. We just enjoyed the rare chances of getting to be in road these days. We reached back home by 8 just in time for dinner which we never had because of the overloaded yummy lunch. We went straight to bed soon after our prayer… and that’s pretty much about our short special trip.

Now, those who have keenly read this must’ve remembered, in the beginning of this travelogue I mentioned that this trip was different from the usual long adventurous ones. It was short and simple but holds a special place. Why is this trip special!? This was our last trip as a family of Five. My sister was getting married in a few days and Vaithiri trip was a trip marking our last moments of being together as a family of Five. Chechy is now happily married to her Georgekutty. So, See you for our next trip. This time as a family of Six. With the blessed addition to our family – Kochettan.