We started at 6.58 am on the 25th of January from our school, Deepanam
from Auroville on a bus ride that we did not know would last for 12 whole
hours or even more! In the beginning, the journey was fun, we sang songs on
the top of our voices, talked with each other. But after about 3 hours of the
ride, we did not know what to do. Some of us slept but throughout the ride,
most of the time, we talked to each other. Though we listened to music as the
speakers were horrible and would randomly go all squeaky, it was useless to
listen to music. I don’t really know how to explain. It took 463/458/485 km
from Auroville to reach our hotel in Marayoor, Kerala. We first had to stop at
the Tamilnadu State boundary check post to sign that we were leaving
Tamilnadu and going to another state. Later we had to stop at the Tamilnadu
Forest check post and then at the Kerala Forest check post and sign in both
offices. It is called the Anamalai Tiger Reserve and in Kerala, it is called Chinnar Wildlife
Sanctuary. This office is around 500 Msl (meters above sea level). Marayoor is
around 2000 Msl. The check post was 16 km away from where we stayed in
Marayoor. It took us about 45 minutes up the winding roads, from the check post to
our accommodation in Marayoor. I still remember how scary it was to look down
the mountain slope from my window or even up ahead while sitting on the front
seat of the bus. There were many monkeys too! Which were cute. But also scary at
the same time. The Muthuvan village that we went to visit was 7 km to the Chinnar
check post.
-Sana, Leah, and Arav
FaithClass @ Deepanam 