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Spice Village, Periyar

Spice Village is in Kumily, a small settlement three kilometres fromThekkady, the main entrance to the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The design of each cottage was inspired by the native tribesmen of Periyar, theOorali and Mannan, who lived in similar dwellings. Infact, one of the cottages currently being used as anoffice, is an original tribal hut which has been modified. A number of creature comforts have been added, however, to make your stay a luxurious one.

Location
140 kms. from Airport, 108 from RailwayStation

Facilities
Room Service, H/C Running Water, Telephone, TV, Channel Music, Safe Deposit, Swimming pool, badminton, tennis, Ayurveda Centre & indoor games, Regular doctors on call.

Accomodation
The rooms are spacious and furnished with simples ophistication: terracotta tiled floors, wooden beds and chairs, and whitewashed walls. ( To preserve the environment, the furniture has been crafted using pine from Cochin's historic docks. ) There is also a telephone, a fan, an en suite bathroom with hot running water, and an efficient laundry service. A verandah runs round the entire cottage, and each dwelling is set in its own land. At the centre of the village isa swimming pool, surrounded by tropical trees and lawns.
Overlooking it is a buffetrestaurant, which serves a wide range of traditional Indian and international cooking. As you would expect, spices play their part in a menu which changes daily. Spice Village has an exclusive Ayurvedic clinic, well-equipped for treatments like Pizhichil, Njavarakizhy, Dhara and other natural therapies.

The Village offers many otherfacilities, including a conference hall and games room, complete with table tennis, caroom and chess boards, and a floodlit outdoor badminton court. The highlight, though, is the garden itself, bursting with a rich array of spice trees. Each plant is carefully marked, and there is a botanist at hand to answer any question.

Leisure Activities
Water Safari : There are severalways to explore the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The most popular is by boat, which allows visitors to watch animals drinking at the lakeside. Two hour trips are booked at the Spice Village, and the best chance of sighting animals is in the early morning or at dusk. It's an eerie sensationpassing by the forest branches which poke out from the water, stretching through the mist like dead men's fingers. Many animals come to the water's edge and it is one of the few places in the world where elephants can be observed at close quarters from the safety of a boat.

Spice Village Ayurvedic Center
Ayurveda, the Science of Life, is almost as old as the Indian civilisation. It's holistic approach, the efficacy of its therapies and the absence of distressing side affects are some of its more salient features. Throughout the world there is a rising awareness of the benefits of natual health systems. Health in the ayurvedic viewrepresents the Harmony of body, mind and soul. It's pharmacopia is nature herself and its diagnostic and curative tools have beenderived from the invaluable legacy of insights, experience and knowledge bequeathed to posterity by its great masters. It is based on natural principles that inform and animate human life. The Spice Village offers the following therapies at it's Ayurvedic Centre under the guidance of an expert " vaidyan " ( physician ) whom you may consult for a fuller understanding of symptoms and appropriate treatment. It is well equipped with a dispensary and qualified resident staff.