THE TRIP.
E lephants crossing area, beware!”
The signboard in green read the above
words, and the scent of fresh elephant
dung filled our nostrils. I heard my
cousins gasp. It wasn’t the first one
which we’d come across during the trip.
From the time we had started from
athirapally, there were similar signs at
the narrow hilly road which lead to
Valparai, Coimbatore. It had been just
half an hour; we had crossed the
checkpoint of the Vazhachal forest
division, and this was one among the
numerous signboards and fresh elephant
dung. We had been warned that we had
to cross the vazhachal forest division
within 2 hours by the forest officer at
the checkpoint.
The lush green canopy of the trees on
both sides, the weird sounds of birds
and insects, the gushing sounds of the
chalakudy river flowing beside the road
made my heart leap up in joy. Oh yes, I
love elephants. I have been ridiculed
several times because of my love for
elephants, but never mind.
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Well, I did have a bit of a fear of being
attacked by a wild elephant, but I
badly wanted to catch a glimpse of an
elephant. The scent of fresh elephant
dung made me feel like I was one step
closer to encountering an elephant.
“Pack your bags. We are going out for a
week!”- This would be the best words I
would love to hear anytime. Travelling
is something most people would love. I
am no exception. I am not the kind of
person for vacationing in luxury resorts,
buffets in a fancy restaurant and yes,
sick company. My kind of traveling
would be a long, exhausting road trip,
with some delectable street delicacies in
between, exploring the nook and corner
of that place, creating an envisage to be
cherished forever. Sounds clichéd, right?
And this, is the way most of the films
portray about traveling. I can’t help that
folks. The only sad part is that I don’t
get to travel often. Two weeks back, I
had been to Kerala with my cousins,
and
that was exactly the way I
mentioned above.