Our last stop in Rajasthan was the rather inconspicuous village of Sawai Madhopur. We spent one night here on a single quest: a glimpse of the famous and nearly extinct Bengal tigers. Sawai Madhopur is the nearest village to Ranthambore national park and tiger reserve, which at the last counting was home to 28 tigers. Although we knew the chances of spotting a tiger were slim, we were both looking forward to a jeep safari, to see the beautiful scenery and wide range of other wildlife in the park.
On our first afternoon in Sawai Madhopur I went for a long run, choosing a deserted side road towards a mountain resort or something. The minute I turned off the main road, a true adventure began. Across the trail in front of me dawdled wild peacocks, on my right a couple deer with long, straight, black horns, on my left a dozen or so strange horse/cow/antelope-like creatures peacefully grazing. If I looked too long to one side I'd miss something on the other side. Overhead colorful parrots were squawking, and quail-sized flightless bird were trodding alongside me. I had no idea what all these animals were, but was completely overwhelmed by how much wildlife there was to see! My hopes for the next day were high as I ran back towards the firey sunset. Pardon the language, but it really was a run I'll remember a long time! I couldn't wait to find out more about these animals - but first, a digression.
That evening, as Alex was using an ATM in the village, I was enthusiastically ushered into the neighboring shop, by a very friendly jewellery artist. Looking bewildered at me as I had been sat on a chair by the counter, Alex was also dragged in, and before we knew, we were sharing a cup of chai with our new friend Manoj. We talked for a long time, and Manoj offered to cook us dinner. It had grown late though, and we agreed to take him up on it the next day. So instead he sent us with one of his, um, henchmen, to a recommended local place for dinner. (Although the calmest and friendliest personality in the world, he had kind of a head honcho-style in the way he got people to wait on us - fetch us chai, wait for us at the restaurant then drive us back to the hotel, etc.) An unexpected but delightful twist to the day! The night ended around a bonfire on the porch of the hotel, learning some hindi from the hotel staff. They were our age, and we were the only guests, so we had a fun evening with them.
Before our afternoon tiger safari the next day, we went to the Ranthambore fort, on a mountain overlooking the national park. By Lonely Planet's recommendation, we drove out there by 20 rupee shared jeeps (while looking for them the rickshaw drivers were offering the ride for 1000 rupees), and had to stand on the back of the jeep for the bumpy 40 minute drive. Quite the roller coaster! On the way we saw lots more of the animals I had seen while running, most of them were pretty common.
When we got there we were overwhelmed by how many Indian tourists there were, from all over the country. But while we were there to see the enormous 10th century fort, the Indians were there for the sole purpose of visiting its Hindu temples. They hurried in packs straight up the hill to the tacky, neon light-covered, vendor-crowded temples, threw garbage everywhere, gave chips to the overweight monkeys, and giggled and pointed and occasionally harassed the white tourists (us). There are certain aspects by the culture here we don't appreciate as much. So yeah, the fort was cool, though not quite what we expected.
Alright, safari time! We were picked up at the hotel in a 6-seated Gypsy safari vehicle, and driven directly to Ranthambore. The leaves had fallen off the trees all over the deciduous forest, making wildlife spotting easy, and the canyony, hilly landscape was spectacular. We saw lots of grazing animals - our naturalist guide (who spoke hindi 99 % of the time), informed us that some of the animals we had been seeing were Sambar deer, nilgai and chital. We also made stops as we came across a wild boar, spotted owl and more peacocks. But although we were deep in tiger territory, the closest we came to actually seeing one was territorial claw markings on trees along the road. Returning we felt the safari was slightly anticlimactic, but all in all as expected. The excitement that comes with the knowledge alone that there are tigers to see out there, is certainly to be cherished - despite the heroic efforts of India's nationwide Project Tiger, there's no denying that the future of these iconic creatures looks rather bleak.
Back in Sawai Madhopur, we went over to Manoj's shop again. Thrilled to see us, he took us to his small apartment and made us a lovely vegetable dish with chapati. As we sat on a newspaper on his floor and ate with our fingers the food that he had cooked us over his one-burner gas stove, we really marveled over what a little friendliness and openness can do! With his wife and family back in a village in Rajasthan, he had shops in different parts of the country and traveled between them, depending on where it was tourist season, and told us that he would make new friends and cook for his foreign guests almost every evening. All we can say is that he with his little gestures makes very many people very happy! Anyone going to Ranthambore - look up Manoj Sharma's shop, next to the ATM ;-)
With leftover chapati from Manoj in our pack, we went to the railway station to catch our sleeper train to Agra. Although it was nearly three hours delayed in the cold, foggy night, Agra is where we are now, and Taj Mahal awaits tomorrow morning. Future posts will contain original photos, what a shame with this memory card issue! We hope to salvage the (admittedly rather awesome) pictures from Bundi and Ranthambore when we get back.
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| Let's pay these guys a visit. You know, since we're in the area. |
On our first afternoon in Sawai Madhopur I went for a long run, choosing a deserted side road towards a mountain resort or something. The minute I turned off the main road, a true adventure began. Across the trail in front of me dawdled wild peacocks, on my right a couple deer with long, straight, black horns, on my left a dozen or so strange horse/cow/antelope-like creatures peacefully grazing. If I looked too long to one side I'd miss something on the other side. Overhead colorful parrots were squawking, and quail-sized flightless bird were trodding alongside me. I had no idea what all these animals were, but was completely overwhelmed by how much wildlife there was to see! My hopes for the next day were high as I ran back towards the firey sunset. Pardon the language, but it really was a run I'll remember a long time! I couldn't wait to find out more about these animals - but first, a digression.
 |
| Common though they may be, they're awesome when you unknowingly jog by a herd of ten of them! |
That evening, as Alex was using an ATM in the village, I was enthusiastically ushered into the neighboring shop, by a very friendly jewellery artist. Looking bewildered at me as I had been sat on a chair by the counter, Alex was also dragged in, and before we knew, we were sharing a cup of chai with our new friend Manoj. We talked for a long time, and Manoj offered to cook us dinner. It had grown late though, and we agreed to take him up on it the next day. So instead he sent us with one of his, um, henchmen, to a recommended local place for dinner. (Although the calmest and friendliest personality in the world, he had kind of a head honcho-style in the way he got people to wait on us - fetch us chai, wait for us at the restaurant then drive us back to the hotel, etc.) An unexpected but delightful twist to the day! The night ended around a bonfire on the porch of the hotel, learning some hindi from the hotel staff. They were our age, and we were the only guests, so we had a fun evening with them.
Before our afternoon tiger safari the next day, we went to the Ranthambore fort, on a mountain overlooking the national park. By Lonely Planet's recommendation, we drove out there by 20 rupee shared jeeps (while looking for them the rickshaw drivers were offering the ride for 1000 rupees), and had to stand on the back of the jeep for the bumpy 40 minute drive. Quite the roller coaster! On the way we saw lots more of the animals I had seen while running, most of them were pretty common.
 |
| A helpful sign read "Caution: Depth of the pond is deep". |
When we got there we were overwhelmed by how many Indian tourists there were, from all over the country. But while we were there to see the enormous 10th century fort, the Indians were there for the sole purpose of visiting its Hindu temples. They hurried in packs straight up the hill to the tacky, neon light-covered, vendor-crowded temples, threw garbage everywhere, gave chips to the overweight monkeys, and giggled and pointed and occasionally harassed the white tourists (us). There are certain aspects by the culture here we don't appreciate as much. So yeah, the fort was cool, though not quite what we expected.
Alright, safari time! We were picked up at the hotel in a 6-seated Gypsy safari vehicle, and driven directly to Ranthambore. The leaves had fallen off the trees all over the deciduous forest, making wildlife spotting easy, and the canyony, hilly landscape was spectacular. We saw lots of grazing animals - our naturalist guide (who spoke hindi 99 % of the time), informed us that some of the animals we had been seeing were Sambar deer, nilgai and chital. We also made stops as we came across a wild boar, spotted owl and more peacocks. But although we were deep in tiger territory, the closest we came to actually seeing one was territorial claw markings on trees along the road. Returning we felt the safari was slightly anticlimactic, but all in all as expected. The excitement that comes with the knowledge alone that there are tigers to see out there, is certainly to be cherished - despite the heroic efforts of India's nationwide Project Tiger, there's no denying that the future of these iconic creatures looks rather bleak.
 |
| Alas, this was not our fortune. |
With leftover chapati from Manoj in our pack, we went to the railway station to catch our sleeper train to Agra. Although it was nearly three hours delayed in the cold, foggy night, Agra is where we are now, and Taj Mahal awaits tomorrow morning. Future posts will contain original photos, what a shame with this memory card issue! We hope to salvage the (admittedly rather awesome) pictures from Bundi and Ranthambore when we get back.
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