19 - 29 April
We managed to set off for the Corbett National park for 08:30, and despite the size of New and Old Dehli’s we managed to make our way across the cities before it got too hot and there was too much traffic, however an odd misfire and occasional cut out that had started with my bike just as we arrived in Dehli re-appeared and was gradually getting worse and worse which made any sort of idling at traffic lights almost impossible. The whole ride for the day was only to be 150 miles and so we were all optimistic for an early finish…but the mis-fire got worse and worse until the only speed the bike was running normally at was around 60-70 mph, which, if you’ve read our previous reports on Indian driving, will know that this is suicidal. Finally we were close to Moradabad, the last major town on the road before turning towards Corbetts, the tiger sanctuary, and my bike was behaving very badly so we decided to stop for some lunch and for me to check my bike over…….meanwhile over lunch we decide that we might as well stay at the Hotel which we were eating in as this would take any pressure off me and us to ride later in the day.
After a few initial inspections under the seat and around I was confident I’d found one of three problems. Two of them the results of rats chewing our wiring in Mumbai, one being to the air sensor, the other to the fuel tank, and the third being the centre-stand switch re-route coming away from the junction box I’d used when I short-cut the failed switch in Alaska. I repaired all three and hoped for normality to return-it didn’t but whilst I was considering what might be wrong, Sylvia and an interested member of the Hotel staff standing in the opposite side of the bike informed me that there were flames shooting out from under the faux petrol tank.
The faux tank panels off and a closer inspection revealed that the rubber inlet manifold on which the fuel injector rests had given way and torn…badly. Approximatley half the inlet had torn and was vibrating very badly, letting loads more air in than usual and hence the fire ball flashes. (Sorry but forgot to take any photos !!)
Fortunatley John and I included one of these in our spares kit after discussing possible failures with a Canadian chap we met at a Horizons Unlinited meeting in Canada, 2005. Rene had advised us that his girlfriends bike inlet had failed and it took them ages and quite a lot of money to get one shipped to South America. So we thank Rene for his advice and I rejoiced at the simplicity of the problem and easily resolution.
The new one was fitted and my bike returned to normal running again.!!! Hooray !! We had dinner at the Hotel which was also being attended by a General in the Indian army-the General had apparently bought some new shoes today and one of his soldiers had to carry them in for him from the car !!! There was a fair bit of banging about in the area above ours and so I complained twice. The response wasn’t immediate but it had quietened down by the time we wanted to go to sleep. We think it might have been rifles being banged on the floor in some sort of ceremonial way.
Up a bit later the following day as we only had about 60 miles to do. We got off and surprisingly enough found many signs for the Corbett National park. In fact, probably more signs than for any other site we’ve wanted to see.
The park itself is named after an English Hunter, Edward James Corbett, who realised that the ever-dwindling number of Tigers were not infinite and so became a conservationist, hence the protected park. This protection though does not stop hunters still trying to kill the remaining tigers and the wardens apparently are in shooting wars and have hit one repetitive hunter with a barrel -load of shot in his buttocks !!
Arriving in the general Corbett area is confusing initially as there are so many different park areas, and within them resorts, and then there are different types of tours and so on. Although in what seemed a good location to decide where to stay and visit, we spent about an hour looking at maps and asking peoples advice. As usual the advice was everywhere is lovely !!! Sylvia was keen to stay in the park itself but as no motorcycles were allowed ( strange that !!????!!) we considered a resort close to the inner part of the park. We got there to find two very exclusive looking Hotels in the middle of a sun-trap where it was scorching hot…….and in India that is really hot !!!…so we abandoned that and returned to a Hotel I’d seen on the way in, Hotel Aroma.
This turned out to be a good choice as the rooms we were given had only just finished being built (no 70’s Spanish holiday jokes please !!) and the owner was amicable to price reductions and generally helping us out in what ever way he could. We were all tired again from the heat and so took it fairly easy for the rest of the day. We spoke to the owner about the best way to find/see any Tigers in the reserve and he advise a Cantar, which is basically a bus-type vehicle with ascending seat heights as the benches go back from front to rear, like in a Cinema. The sides are open and you get a good view as all the seats are much higher than a standard four-seater road vehicle. His reasoning was that the Kantar tour is 6 hours, whereas your average Gypsy (jeep-type vehicle) was only for 3.5 hours and therefore you could see more of the park. We took his advice and with the help of a Naturist managed to book a Kantar for the following morning. Sylvia and I also did some shopping for food and drinks for the following day whilst in town. John had to return our helpful Naturist to where he’d left his motorcycle- where we’d initially met him, 2 km from our Hotel, about 6 km from the booking building. We took dinner at our Hotel and retired fairly early to prepare for the 05:15 get-up.
We got up and staggered to the bikes. Sylvia and I not being the most natural of early risers ! We got to the booking office and got into our Cantar. To speak plainly the Cantar ride was little more than a glorified bus ride around the park. The driver and guide were reluctant to stop for anything which angered an Indian father with his children as naturally everything was fascinating and new to them. We didn’t see an Tigers or catch a sighting of even a paw mark. We returned exhausted from all the bouncing around in the heat and just relaxed until dinner in the evening. We again went to bed early as we’d booked a two hour Elephant Safari for the following morning at 6am and a Gypsy Safari in the park for the afternoon.
The Cantar...
One of many peacocks sighted...
Pretty effect deterent.. as long as you can read english...
They didn't see much either...
We were collected by a Gypsy to get to the hotel where our Elephant lived and soon mounted on our Elephant and off. The cost of this ride was 2000 Rs, about £24. Quite expensive but as £12 of this is the park entrance fee the actual cost is only £3 per person if 4 ride at the same time. As we were 3 this obviously made it £4.
The Safari was very relaxing as we walked through the forest and enjoyed the peace of the elephants steady walking pace and the beauty of the natural surroundings.
Lunch on the move...
We were all pretty chilled out until we were exiting the forest to return to the rode leading back to the Elephants residing hotel. A forest ranger wanted to see our elephant drivers permit. It transpired that he didn’t have one and so we had to wait (on the elephant) until the owner himself turned up….about 15 mins later. After some discussion and showing of many well-worn documents in the owners folder he handed over the 1000 Rs and a 5000 Rs fine. Once that was done we were off again and dropped back at our Hotel.
The elephant owner and his impressive folder of irrelevant papers...
Sadly at the end of the ride...
We told our Hotel owner who was concerned that we’d paid the fine-once he’d established that we hadn’t. he laughed and said it was the owners problem !!!!
We then had breakfast, shortly after which Sylvia and I tried to arrange for a Gypsy permit for the afternoon ride and buy some more food. John needed to get some e-mails off so we agreed to meet for lunch later on. We’d been advised by the Hotel owner that the Gypsy driver’s name and vehicle registration number were not necessary for the permit. After driving all the way to the booking building, 8km away we were told that his name and vehicle number were obligatory. After some verbal wrestling they offered to reserve us a permit for the afternoon and we accepted an returned to our Hotel to have lunch with John and re-arrange the meeting time for our Gypsy driver and guide to allow for the now added permit arranging time. The Gypsy arrived on time and we soon had our permit and guide and were also soon waiting at the gate of the park entrance. The park entrance for this afternoon is different from the Cantar one and is known for providing the best possible chance of seeing a Tiger. We were the first to get our paper-work cleared in the park and I was excited that we would be the first vehicle to go down the park tracks and hence not drive where the wild-life had been disturbed by any previous vehicles….however we’d, more explicitly our guide, had been asked to catch an Indian rock Python from a village within the reserve (where the locals wanted to batter it to death) and transfer it deeper within the park. Our guide had agreed and what could we do or say ? However this turned out to be a great experience as the Python was between 3 & 4 m long, a big and strong chap to say the least. I asked if dangerous and was quickly advised it was-has a nasty habit of asphyxiating its prey !! It took three young men to drag it from under the hedge where it had happily been resting out of the sun.
The snake...
Finally the snake decided to wriggle in to the sack the Guide had wanted to transport it in and we all got to feel the snakes tail before the bag was tied up. For those of you interested it was quite warm and glossy as is perhaps obvious, for those not interested, sorry to have wasted your time !!!
We dropped the snake off later in the park and it took off into the nearest green it could find.
The rest of the Safari was interesting but couldn’t have matched the snake experience short of seeing a Tiger which didn’t happen. None-the-less we all thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Very soon after returning to our Hotel we took dinner and retired to bed to relax and re-charge for the following days planned Safari in the afternoon.
Mike
After all the attempts and very early mornings we took the decision to book some accommodation in park. This would allow us to be in the tiger areas first thing in the morning and late in the evening. The drive into the park was about 1 hour out of the trip so we were missing that crucial coolest hour of day light every time. Mike & Sylvia tried to book in the morning but now inevitable Indian bureaucracy wouldn’t let it happen as the guy on the desk was only dealing with booking of people staying that day. So both of them returned to the hotel hot and frustrated and needing to change our plans for an afternoon Safari to get an earlier pick-up to enable us to book the rooms and the required permits.
We arrived as soon as the desk was due to open, which was also the time the park official said to return, but the official was no where to be seen. It turns out he was still at lunch and we had to wait. Slowly more people arrived for the official attention and our expectation to start the afternoon safari as soon as the gates opened was slowly drifting away. Eventually the guy turned up and the others waiting headed for him. Mike, Sylvia and I spread out and covered most of the desk area and Mike made sure he got our papers first. There were no private rooms left so the only option we had was for dorms. We took these, filled in all the paperwork and booked our bunks for two nights. As soon as we were clear we headed off for the jeep and into the park, once again searching and hoping to see tigers. Once again luck was not with us and we ended the day hot and a little despondent.
The next day the Jeep arrived on time with our guide and loaded our clothes and sleeping gear into the back. We were looking forward to getting into the park early as we had been delayed almost every time by one thing or another. Well the great Indian Admin cloud hit us again. Mike had completed all sections of the paperwork the previous day but the guy behind the desk at the time said we did not need the guide details so this was removed. The guy at the gate would not let us in as the guide did not have a permit or a place to stay within the park and to make things worse the guys on the gate were not allowed to make corrections. So they were insisting that we return to the main office and we should be able to be back in the park by 10am!!! Mike went over and after a lot of insisting we were allowed in without the guide. We gave him some money for the permit and accommodation and he said he would meet us at lunchtime at the camp!
The driver did his best as a guide as well and although we saw a few animals the tigers yet again eluded us. We arrived fairly early at the camp and we booked in and dropped our gear off in the dorm. After living in hotels for a while it was quite a come down. And a quick visit to the toilet block re affirmed the drop.
As soon as we could we were out in the jeep again, with a guide from the camp, looking for signs of a tiger. The guide took us to all the recent places of tiger sighting but no luck so we headed back to camp for lunch followed by a couple of hours rest (the park closes for a couple of hours in the middle of the day to let the animals move, feed and water in peace). There was still no sign of our guide from outside the camp so we set off again on another Safari with a guide from the camp. The quest continued and paw marks were spotted but we still couldn’t see what made them. On the last leg of the afternoon safari we passed a large herd of elephants including a large male ‘on musk’. A very impressive sight with the sun slowly setting.
The bull elephant 'on musk'...
The elephants...
Once back at camp there was still no sign of our guide so we were rather annoyed and frustrated.
After dinner we headed back to our dorms. The room that looked almost empty when we arrived was now full including a group of Indians. As we and most of the other travellers in the room had been up early we were all ready for sleep around 10 pm. The Indian guys came in a little later and all seemed well. The one of the Indian guys, fortunately on a bottom bunk, projective vomited all over the floor then passed out. June, an Australian women in the room was livid and made all his friends sort the guy out so he slept outside and cleared up the mess. The guys seemed to respond well and get things going but the one who came in to clean the floor tried to make conversation with us. Jane was giving him clear instructions on where to clean and when to rinse the cloth. And when we thought the situation couldn’t get worse it did. All the guy wanted to do was to tell us that he and his friends worked in a call centre and how they were there to help and give the customer what they want. We all tried to chip in with Jane to ensure the floor was cleaned of the puke but so soon after the guy started he was telling us that some of the puke on the floor wasn’t his friends and he wasn’t going to clean the whole floor.!!!!
We persisted until it was as clean as we thought we could get it and the guy went on to ask if we were all happy and what a good job he had done (how brain washed are these guys!!!). So in the end we got a standard call centre job. Eighty percent of what the problem was, was resolved after grinding them down for ages and they still lived in the deluded bubble that they had performed so well and resolved all of your ills!!!!
The next morning we were all groggy as we had not had a lot of sleep but we got to out jeep by 6 am and were off on another jeep safari. Once again foot prints but no tiger.
A deer getting a quick drink...
Elephants in the morning...
A male peacock dancing to an unseen mate...
The tiger paw print...
More elephants...
Fish Eagle...
So we headed back, had a quick breakfast and were then taken out to the watch tower. Were we could spend all afternoon including the closed period to look for the tigers. Jane and her niece Mary were with us in the tower and we spent ages talking to them whilst their driver and a few others looked for tigers. After an hour and a half the driver spotted one. We were all out and after some searching we were able to see it but at quite a distance. Through the binoculars we were able to see it was a large male and tracked it for quite a while until it tried to attack a herd of deer. It was impressive to see it bound after the deer but that was our last sighting of it and we returned to the camp with our spirits much higher as we really felt we were jinxed.
Finally a tiger.. sorry about the photo it was a long way off and the photo has been zoomed and cropped. But we thought you'd like to see the proof...
Elephant and rider by the river...
After a quick lunch we were off again on a jeep safari and the guide took us o where we had sighted the tiger but to no avail.
Sunset in the park...
When we returned to camp al he Indian guys in our down had gone and they were replaced by tourists. We at last had a peaceful night and were able to get some sleep although the mozzies had quite a feast of me even though I covered myself in mozzie repellent!
For our last day in the camp we had booked an Elephant safari. So we were again ready to roll by 6 am and we climbed aboard our elephant and the driver led us away from the camp.
The elephants for the safari...
The ride was much smoother than the last two rides we had and the driver soon found some fresh tiger tracks. He followed then for a while and we congregated with a couple of jeeps near a thick wher the driver was sure the tiger was waiting. We didn’t wait long before we saw the tiger cross the road behind us. The elephant driver turned the evelpant around and we followed it into the bush leaving the jeeps behind on the road. The driver searched for a while but the tiger couldn’t be seen and we were joined by other elephants from the camp and together a big sweep was commenced but the tiger was gone.
Wild cannibis which was growing all over the park...
Sylvia & Mike, post safari...
We returned to camp happy as we had seen another tiger and had great fun on the elephant search for it.
We had a quick breakfast and another jeep safari where our guide took us to another area where a female had been sighted that morning. We were lucky on this occasion, so we headed back to camp collected our gear and headed back to our hotel for a bit of ‘luxury’ before packing the bikes ready for hitting the road early the next day to head back to Delhi.
The journey to the outskirts of Delhi was pleasant and un eventful about from Mikes clutch cable braking. On the bikes we have a spare clutch and throttle cable routed tied to the active cables, so we were rolling again after 15 minutes.
Once closer to the centre of Delhi the driving deteriorated and Mike unfortunately had his first collision with another bike. At the time we were on a three lane road, Mike in the middle lane and parked by the central reservation was a moped, with two up. The bike just started without looking and after an initial wobble started driving down the outside lane. Mike had sounded his horn at the wobble but all seemed normal. The next thing we both see is the rider, with no head move, body move or signal makes a a sharp left turn heading for the left hand curb. Mike swings hard left to avoid the bike but clips the pannier on the bike. He and Sylvia stay on and he halts the bike and has a big go at the Indian driver. The guy looks almost confused and just smiles at him. In the end Mike seems to get through, when the guy tells him his headlight is on and drives off!!
Fortunately the rest of the journey to the hotel was trouble free. We have a quick lunch and head off to the Chinese embassy. We have been in contact with a friend in the UK who has been dealing with the Chinese embassy and our visa’s. We have been told that once we fill in the forms again, UK will approve it straight away. We arrive to find it closed. On the Chinese Embassy website it has it down as open in the afternoons, but the piece of paper stuck to the consulate door says it is closed in the afternoon. So annoyed and frustrated we return to the hotel and wait out until Monday before we can return.
Saturday like most Saturdays was spent doing all the admin and getting the washing done.
Sunday was my birthday so Sylvia found a very nice 5 star hotel where we had a big long breakfast which was a great way to start the day and after a short break back at our hotel we returned for European cakes in the afternoon and stayed there until the evening where I was able to have my first steak since Mumbai. The steak was plain but tasted sooooooooooooo good .
John
We managed to set off for the Corbett National park for 08:30, and despite the size of New and Old Dehli’s we managed to make our way across the cities before it got too hot and there was too much traffic, however an odd misfire and occasional cut out that had started with my bike just as we arrived in Dehli re-appeared and was gradually getting worse and worse which made any sort of idling at traffic lights almost impossible. The whole ride for the day was only to be 150 miles and so we were all optimistic for an early finish…but the mis-fire got worse and worse until the only speed the bike was running normally at was around 60-70 mph, which, if you’ve read our previous reports on Indian driving, will know that this is suicidal. Finally we were close to Moradabad, the last major town on the road before turning towards Corbetts, the tiger sanctuary, and my bike was behaving very badly so we decided to stop for some lunch and for me to check my bike over…….meanwhile over lunch we decide that we might as well stay at the Hotel which we were eating in as this would take any pressure off me and us to ride later in the day.
After a few initial inspections under the seat and around I was confident I’d found one of three problems. Two of them the results of rats chewing our wiring in Mumbai, one being to the air sensor, the other to the fuel tank, and the third being the centre-stand switch re-route coming away from the junction box I’d used when I short-cut the failed switch in Alaska. I repaired all three and hoped for normality to return-it didn’t but whilst I was considering what might be wrong, Sylvia and an interested member of the Hotel staff standing in the opposite side of the bike informed me that there were flames shooting out from under the faux petrol tank.
The faux tank panels off and a closer inspection revealed that the rubber inlet manifold on which the fuel injector rests had given way and torn…badly. Approximatley half the inlet had torn and was vibrating very badly, letting loads more air in than usual and hence the fire ball flashes. (Sorry but forgot to take any photos !!)
Fortunatley John and I included one of these in our spares kit after discussing possible failures with a Canadian chap we met at a Horizons Unlinited meeting in Canada, 2005. Rene had advised us that his girlfriends bike inlet had failed and it took them ages and quite a lot of money to get one shipped to South America. So we thank Rene for his advice and I rejoiced at the simplicity of the problem and easily resolution.
The new one was fitted and my bike returned to normal running again.!!! Hooray !! We had dinner at the Hotel which was also being attended by a General in the Indian army-the General had apparently bought some new shoes today and one of his soldiers had to carry them in for him from the car !!! There was a fair bit of banging about in the area above ours and so I complained twice. The response wasn’t immediate but it had quietened down by the time we wanted to go to sleep. We think it might have been rifles being banged on the floor in some sort of ceremonial way.
Up a bit later the following day as we only had about 60 miles to do. We got off and surprisingly enough found many signs for the Corbett National park. In fact, probably more signs than for any other site we’ve wanted to see.
The park itself is named after an English Hunter, Edward James Corbett, who realised that the ever-dwindling number of Tigers were not infinite and so became a conservationist, hence the protected park. This protection though does not stop hunters still trying to kill the remaining tigers and the wardens apparently are in shooting wars and have hit one repetitive hunter with a barrel -load of shot in his buttocks !!
Arriving in the general Corbett area is confusing initially as there are so many different park areas, and within them resorts, and then there are different types of tours and so on. Although in what seemed a good location to decide where to stay and visit, we spent about an hour looking at maps and asking peoples advice. As usual the advice was everywhere is lovely !!! Sylvia was keen to stay in the park itself but as no motorcycles were allowed ( strange that !!????!!) we considered a resort close to the inner part of the park. We got there to find two very exclusive looking Hotels in the middle of a sun-trap where it was scorching hot…….and in India that is really hot !!!…so we abandoned that and returned to a Hotel I’d seen on the way in, Hotel Aroma.
This turned out to be a good choice as the rooms we were given had only just finished being built (no 70’s Spanish holiday jokes please !!) and the owner was amicable to price reductions and generally helping us out in what ever way he could. We were all tired again from the heat and so took it fairly easy for the rest of the day. We spoke to the owner about the best way to find/see any Tigers in the reserve and he advise a Cantar, which is basically a bus-type vehicle with ascending seat heights as the benches go back from front to rear, like in a Cinema. The sides are open and you get a good view as all the seats are much higher than a standard four-seater road vehicle. His reasoning was that the Kantar tour is 6 hours, whereas your average Gypsy (jeep-type vehicle) was only for 3.5 hours and therefore you could see more of the park. We took his advice and with the help of a Naturist managed to book a Kantar for the following morning. Sylvia and I also did some shopping for food and drinks for the following day whilst in town. John had to return our helpful Naturist to where he’d left his motorcycle- where we’d initially met him, 2 km from our Hotel, about 6 km from the booking building. We took dinner at our Hotel and retired fairly early to prepare for the 05:15 get-up.
We got up and staggered to the bikes. Sylvia and I not being the most natural of early risers ! We got to the booking office and got into our Cantar. To speak plainly the Cantar ride was little more than a glorified bus ride around the park. The driver and guide were reluctant to stop for anything which angered an Indian father with his children as naturally everything was fascinating and new to them. We didn’t see an Tigers or catch a sighting of even a paw mark. We returned exhausted from all the bouncing around in the heat and just relaxed until dinner in the evening. We again went to bed early as we’d booked a two hour Elephant Safari for the following morning at 6am and a Gypsy Safari in the park for the afternoon.
The Cantar...
One of many peacocks sighted...
Pretty effect deterent.. as long as you can read english...
They didn't see much either...
We were collected by a Gypsy to get to the hotel where our Elephant lived and soon mounted on our Elephant and off. The cost of this ride was 2000 Rs, about £24. Quite expensive but as £12 of this is the park entrance fee the actual cost is only £3 per person if 4 ride at the same time. As we were 3 this obviously made it £4.
The Safari was very relaxing as we walked through the forest and enjoyed the peace of the elephants steady walking pace and the beauty of the natural surroundings.
Lunch on the move...
We were all pretty chilled out until we were exiting the forest to return to the rode leading back to the Elephants residing hotel. A forest ranger wanted to see our elephant drivers permit. It transpired that he didn’t have one and so we had to wait (on the elephant) until the owner himself turned up….about 15 mins later. After some discussion and showing of many well-worn documents in the owners folder he handed over the 1000 Rs and a 5000 Rs fine. Once that was done we were off again and dropped back at our Hotel.
The elephant owner and his impressive folder of irrelevant papers...
Sadly at the end of the ride...
We told our Hotel owner who was concerned that we’d paid the fine-once he’d established that we hadn’t. he laughed and said it was the owners problem !!!!
We then had breakfast, shortly after which Sylvia and I tried to arrange for a Gypsy permit for the afternoon ride and buy some more food. John needed to get some e-mails off so we agreed to meet for lunch later on. We’d been advised by the Hotel owner that the Gypsy driver’s name and vehicle registration number were not necessary for the permit. After driving all the way to the booking building, 8km away we were told that his name and vehicle number were obligatory. After some verbal wrestling they offered to reserve us a permit for the afternoon and we accepted an returned to our Hotel to have lunch with John and re-arrange the meeting time for our Gypsy driver and guide to allow for the now added permit arranging time. The Gypsy arrived on time and we soon had our permit and guide and were also soon waiting at the gate of the park entrance. The park entrance for this afternoon is different from the Cantar one and is known for providing the best possible chance of seeing a Tiger. We were the first to get our paper-work cleared in the park and I was excited that we would be the first vehicle to go down the park tracks and hence not drive where the wild-life had been disturbed by any previous vehicles….however we’d, more explicitly our guide, had been asked to catch an Indian rock Python from a village within the reserve (where the locals wanted to batter it to death) and transfer it deeper within the park. Our guide had agreed and what could we do or say ? However this turned out to be a great experience as the Python was between 3 & 4 m long, a big and strong chap to say the least. I asked if dangerous and was quickly advised it was-has a nasty habit of asphyxiating its prey !! It took three young men to drag it from under the hedge where it had happily been resting out of the sun.
The snake...
Finally the snake decided to wriggle in to the sack the Guide had wanted to transport it in and we all got to feel the snakes tail before the bag was tied up. For those of you interested it was quite warm and glossy as is perhaps obvious, for those not interested, sorry to have wasted your time !!!
We dropped the snake off later in the park and it took off into the nearest green it could find.
The rest of the Safari was interesting but couldn’t have matched the snake experience short of seeing a Tiger which didn’t happen. None-the-less we all thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Very soon after returning to our Hotel we took dinner and retired to bed to relax and re-charge for the following days planned Safari in the afternoon.
Mike
After all the attempts and very early mornings we took the decision to book some accommodation in park. This would allow us to be in the tiger areas first thing in the morning and late in the evening. The drive into the park was about 1 hour out of the trip so we were missing that crucial coolest hour of day light every time. Mike & Sylvia tried to book in the morning but now inevitable Indian bureaucracy wouldn’t let it happen as the guy on the desk was only dealing with booking of people staying that day. So both of them returned to the hotel hot and frustrated and needing to change our plans for an afternoon Safari to get an earlier pick-up to enable us to book the rooms and the required permits.
We arrived as soon as the desk was due to open, which was also the time the park official said to return, but the official was no where to be seen. It turns out he was still at lunch and we had to wait. Slowly more people arrived for the official attention and our expectation to start the afternoon safari as soon as the gates opened was slowly drifting away. Eventually the guy turned up and the others waiting headed for him. Mike, Sylvia and I spread out and covered most of the desk area and Mike made sure he got our papers first. There were no private rooms left so the only option we had was for dorms. We took these, filled in all the paperwork and booked our bunks for two nights. As soon as we were clear we headed off for the jeep and into the park, once again searching and hoping to see tigers. Once again luck was not with us and we ended the day hot and a little despondent.
The next day the Jeep arrived on time with our guide and loaded our clothes and sleeping gear into the back. We were looking forward to getting into the park early as we had been delayed almost every time by one thing or another. Well the great Indian Admin cloud hit us again. Mike had completed all sections of the paperwork the previous day but the guy behind the desk at the time said we did not need the guide details so this was removed. The guy at the gate would not let us in as the guide did not have a permit or a place to stay within the park and to make things worse the guys on the gate were not allowed to make corrections. So they were insisting that we return to the main office and we should be able to be back in the park by 10am!!! Mike went over and after a lot of insisting we were allowed in without the guide. We gave him some money for the permit and accommodation and he said he would meet us at lunchtime at the camp!
The driver did his best as a guide as well and although we saw a few animals the tigers yet again eluded us. We arrived fairly early at the camp and we booked in and dropped our gear off in the dorm. After living in hotels for a while it was quite a come down. And a quick visit to the toilet block re affirmed the drop.
As soon as we could we were out in the jeep again, with a guide from the camp, looking for signs of a tiger. The guide took us to all the recent places of tiger sighting but no luck so we headed back to camp for lunch followed by a couple of hours rest (the park closes for a couple of hours in the middle of the day to let the animals move, feed and water in peace). There was still no sign of our guide from outside the camp so we set off again on another Safari with a guide from the camp. The quest continued and paw marks were spotted but we still couldn’t see what made them. On the last leg of the afternoon safari we passed a large herd of elephants including a large male ‘on musk’. A very impressive sight with the sun slowly setting.
The bull elephant 'on musk'...
The elephants...
Once back at camp there was still no sign of our guide so we were rather annoyed and frustrated.
After dinner we headed back to our dorms. The room that looked almost empty when we arrived was now full including a group of Indians. As we and most of the other travellers in the room had been up early we were all ready for sleep around 10 pm. The Indian guys came in a little later and all seemed well. The one of the Indian guys, fortunately on a bottom bunk, projective vomited all over the floor then passed out. June, an Australian women in the room was livid and made all his friends sort the guy out so he slept outside and cleared up the mess. The guys seemed to respond well and get things going but the one who came in to clean the floor tried to make conversation with us. Jane was giving him clear instructions on where to clean and when to rinse the cloth. And when we thought the situation couldn’t get worse it did. All the guy wanted to do was to tell us that he and his friends worked in a call centre and how they were there to help and give the customer what they want. We all tried to chip in with Jane to ensure the floor was cleaned of the puke but so soon after the guy started he was telling us that some of the puke on the floor wasn’t his friends and he wasn’t going to clean the whole floor.!!!!
We persisted until it was as clean as we thought we could get it and the guy went on to ask if we were all happy and what a good job he had done (how brain washed are these guys!!!). So in the end we got a standard call centre job. Eighty percent of what the problem was, was resolved after grinding them down for ages and they still lived in the deluded bubble that they had performed so well and resolved all of your ills!!!!
The next morning we were all groggy as we had not had a lot of sleep but we got to out jeep by 6 am and were off on another jeep safari. Once again foot prints but no tiger.
A deer getting a quick drink...
Elephants in the morning...
A male peacock dancing to an unseen mate...
The tiger paw print...
More elephants...
Fish Eagle...
So we headed back, had a quick breakfast and were then taken out to the watch tower. Were we could spend all afternoon including the closed period to look for the tigers. Jane and her niece Mary were with us in the tower and we spent ages talking to them whilst their driver and a few others looked for tigers. After an hour and a half the driver spotted one. We were all out and after some searching we were able to see it but at quite a distance. Through the binoculars we were able to see it was a large male and tracked it for quite a while until it tried to attack a herd of deer. It was impressive to see it bound after the deer but that was our last sighting of it and we returned to the camp with our spirits much higher as we really felt we were jinxed.
Finally a tiger.. sorry about the photo it was a long way off and the photo has been zoomed and cropped. But we thought you'd like to see the proof...
Elephant and rider by the river...
After a quick lunch we were off again on a jeep safari and the guide took us o where we had sighted the tiger but to no avail.
Sunset in the park...
When we returned to camp al he Indian guys in our down had gone and they were replaced by tourists. We at last had a peaceful night and were able to get some sleep although the mozzies had quite a feast of me even though I covered myself in mozzie repellent!
For our last day in the camp we had booked an Elephant safari. So we were again ready to roll by 6 am and we climbed aboard our elephant and the driver led us away from the camp.
The elephants for the safari...
The ride was much smoother than the last two rides we had and the driver soon found some fresh tiger tracks. He followed then for a while and we congregated with a couple of jeeps near a thick wher the driver was sure the tiger was waiting. We didn’t wait long before we saw the tiger cross the road behind us. The elephant driver turned the evelpant around and we followed it into the bush leaving the jeeps behind on the road. The driver searched for a while but the tiger couldn’t be seen and we were joined by other elephants from the camp and together a big sweep was commenced but the tiger was gone.
Wild cannibis which was growing all over the park...
Sylvia & Mike, post safari...
We returned to camp happy as we had seen another tiger and had great fun on the elephant search for it.
We had a quick breakfast and another jeep safari where our guide took us to another area where a female had been sighted that morning. We were lucky on this occasion, so we headed back to camp collected our gear and headed back to our hotel for a bit of ‘luxury’ before packing the bikes ready for hitting the road early the next day to head back to Delhi.
The journey to the outskirts of Delhi was pleasant and un eventful about from Mikes clutch cable braking. On the bikes we have a spare clutch and throttle cable routed tied to the active cables, so we were rolling again after 15 minutes.
Once closer to the centre of Delhi the driving deteriorated and Mike unfortunately had his first collision with another bike. At the time we were on a three lane road, Mike in the middle lane and parked by the central reservation was a moped, with two up. The bike just started without looking and after an initial wobble started driving down the outside lane. Mike had sounded his horn at the wobble but all seemed normal. The next thing we both see is the rider, with no head move, body move or signal makes a a sharp left turn heading for the left hand curb. Mike swings hard left to avoid the bike but clips the pannier on the bike. He and Sylvia stay on and he halts the bike and has a big go at the Indian driver. The guy looks almost confused and just smiles at him. In the end Mike seems to get through, when the guy tells him his headlight is on and drives off!!
Fortunately the rest of the journey to the hotel was trouble free. We have a quick lunch and head off to the Chinese embassy. We have been in contact with a friend in the UK who has been dealing with the Chinese embassy and our visa’s. We have been told that once we fill in the forms again, UK will approve it straight away. We arrive to find it closed. On the Chinese Embassy website it has it down as open in the afternoons, but the piece of paper stuck to the consulate door says it is closed in the afternoon. So annoyed and frustrated we return to the hotel and wait out until Monday before we can return.
Saturday like most Saturdays was spent doing all the admin and getting the washing done.
Sunday was my birthday so Sylvia found a very nice 5 star hotel where we had a big long breakfast which was a great way to start the day and after a short break back at our hotel we returned for European cakes in the afternoon and stayed there until the evening where I was able to have my first steak since Mumbai. The steak was plain but tasted sooooooooooooo good .
John
