Yesterday we got to Kumily, just outside Periyar Tiger Reserve, after 6.5hours on 3 different buses - everyone kept telling us to get on different buses and we went through a few towns that weren't actually on my map so I'm not quite sure where we were, but we got here fine!

We have our own little tree house to stay in which overlooks the park, and at only 250 rupees a night (3pounds) for the two of us, its a bargain!

Today we spent from 8am - 4.30pm inside the park doing 'Bamboo Rafting'. We walked for about 1.5hours to our raft, then paddled across the lake for most of the afternoon, before walking back. We both got very sunburnt! (We we left in the morning it was raining, and had been raining from 4pm the day before, so we just assumed it would never stop!)

We didnt see loads of animals, but we were lucky enough to see two elephants bathing by the lake (some other people we spoke to didnt even see them!). We also saw monkeys, wild boar, deer, leeches, dung beetle, frogs..... and a fresh tiger footprint (I think I'm actually quite glad that we didnt meet the tiger, as we were on foot. Mark however thinks that meeting a tiger would be quite fun).

Tomorrow we will head back to Fort Cochin, hopefully on a more direct bus this time. Hopefully we'll post our own elephant photos soon.