Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 7, To Periyar National Park

The drive from Madurai to Thekkady took a while, so the journey was broken with short stops at a brick-making factory (shown above), and then a vineyard (shown below) where several people wanted their photos taken with our ladies.

Santhosh was good enough to give us cricket updates on his mobile phone

Everyone very much enjoyed the visit to Abraham’s Spice Garden, a short drive down the road from where we were staying.  We were given an informed guided tour of the garden, where all sorts of spices, herbs and flowers grew, and then given the opportunity to stock up on spices in the shop.

Jackfruit

Cardamom

In the evening, there was a Kalaripayattu display.

The next day involved a walk in the Periyar National Park.  We were ferried over the river on a raft made from bamboo, and then followed our guide for the morning along various tracks.

The highlight was finding a tiger pugmark.

The next event was a boat trip on the lake, during which we spotted a surprisingly (given the time of day and the noise that everyone was making) large number of animals, including two groups of elephants.

The day wasn’t over, though.  In the evening we had a hoot at Bar-B-Que Thekkady, where the group prepared its own dinner.

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Food in Saalbach

We stayed in the Berger’s Sporthotel in Saalbach, for a week on half-board, mid-January.  I must say that the food was very good, and very substantial and tasty, though there was a bit of a preponderance of pork.  One evening it was a choice of pork or lamb, and although I chose the pork, when I saw the lamb on someone else’s plate, I wished I’d made that choice instead – it looked delicious, not that I didn’t enjoy my schnitzel.  The service was absolutely fantastic, and the waitresses and waiters were very attentive.  Here are photos of my main courses throughout the week.

The sweets were definitely enough to fill you up after hours on the piste.  Below is an example.

In addition, there was a large choice of dishes for breakfast.

The Austrians definitely like their pork!

On the Thursday evening, Elvis Presley played in the bar!  I’ll post about that experience soon.

Food in the Anti-Atlas

I wrote a couple of years ago about food in Morocco, which on a previous trip we had found tasty, and exotic, though I have to say that after a week we’d become ever so slightly ‘tagined-out’.

On our more recent trip, we were in the country for a month, so how did we find the food this time?

On the Exodus walking trip, the food was very healthy yet tasty and attractively presented.  Not bad when the support team didn’t even have a kitchen in which to prepare ingredients.  There were lots of interesting salads for lunch, tinned fish, rice or pasta, fresh bread, sometimes eggs, fruit and mint tea.

It was nearly all fresh, and locally sourced.  The snacks, a mixture of nuts and dates, were nutritious as well as really good to eat.

During the two weeks between Exodus trips, we sometimes bought bread and bananas for lunch. I love Moroccan bread!

Meals at Dar Tourkia were superb, the highlight being Fatima’s lemon tart.

The food at Les Terrasses De L’atlas was also fantastic, and served in a gorgeous setting.

My favourite was Kefta Mkaouara.

The food in Agadir was more varied, and sometimes we simply reverted to pizza.

On the cycling trip the food was also very good, with a lot of attention paid to hygiene.