Tiger tracking

The drive to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, was a long one and again we headed for a 'Nessies' recommended camping spot at a hotel. It proved to be an excellent find, only 10 minutes from the Taj, and the manager was really a helpful and interesting man. We knew there had to be a catch and it came in the form of two weddings. On the same night. 100 meters from our tent. We decided to risk it and in the end it wasn't the weddings that interrupted our sleep, but instead the fact it was like a tandoor oven again in the tent.

Grand plans to be at the Taj early in the morning were slightly delayed as we couldn't find it... but once in (with our free bottle of water no less) there were not so many tourists because of the early hour and it was cooler.

Finally I can see why people have always joked that buildings elsewhere are 'not the Taj Mahal'. What a magnificent white square it is. Built over 21 years by a heartbroken emperor, thousands of semiprecious stones inlaid perfectly in the marble as flowers. It is immaculate, perfect and so bright you need your sunnies.

En route to the Taj we spied a Mcdonalds and made a bee line back to it (marked of course on the GPS). We had not counted on this restaurant also running on 'Indian Time'. It didn't open until 11am! Making the decision to bypass Delhi and instead head to the Corbett Tiger Reserve further north for a spot of tiger tracking.

We left later in the day meaning we arrived at our destination for the night as the sun was setting, breaking own own rule of never trying to find accommodation in the dark. Electricity is unreliable, as are cows and Indians on the roads.
After a tense hour of trying to negotiate tiny inner city lanes after following barely understood advice, a young boy heckled from his bike, "Why you drive so slow?". I shot back "Why are you so rude?". Before we knew it he was our excellent English speaking guide. With continued complaints that Andrew was driving too slowly, he and a few other guys helped us to find the perfect place to stay. There was again a wedding on. The young lad turned up again in the morning to say goodbye in his school uniform.

We enjoyed a lovely drive to Corbett N.P from the state of Uttar Pradesh to our 10th Indian state, Uttarakhand. The landscape changed from desert fringe to forests and green fields. There was also a noticeable change in the humidity.

After the usual stuffing around trying to get the correct information, we paid the appropriate fees to enter the tiger reserve, and for our very expensive accommodation. There are numerous gates leading into the reserve, and a few different locations with huts set up for tourists. We were allowed to drive ourselves the 30 kms from the guarded gate to our accommodation, but from there a guide had to accompany us at all times if we went for a walk or drive.

Even just on this drive deep into the reserve we saw numerous spotted deer, monkeys, wild boar and peacocks. Jim Corbett certainly had the right idea and set some terrific rules in place to ensure his tiger reserve was cared for properly. It is the best national park in India we have visited, even if it did cost us about 5 times as much as our fellow Indian tourists. Andrew signed us up for an elephant trek at 6am the next morning, and we enjoyed a buffet of curries before heading to bed early.




Elephants are excellent off road! We went out with three elephants, us and an Indian couple from Mumbai on one, two guys from Belgium on another, and some other Indian guys on the last one. Surprisingly comfortable, we sat with our legs dangling off to one side, the Indian couple with their backs to us. With the only sound being the elephants footsteps and the occasional overpowering elephant fart, we made our way into the jungle.
The guides had to make a decision which way to head, which tracks to follow, and our guy confidently headed the opposite direction to the other lead guide. The deer were only a little wary as the elephants approached, seeing us as extensions rather than a separate thing to fear. Tiger tracks are easy to spot in the sand, but the actual animal eluded us. We did see a huge 10ft python though. With a few quite words in Hindi, our guide managed to get the elephant to break off a branch and pass it up to him so that he could poke the python and see if it would come out from its leafy hide.

Typically, the Indian's with the other guide had a tiger in the grass between them and some wild elephants. Not wanting to leave without giving the tigers our best shot we shared a Jeep safari and headed out once again. The tigers must have been sleeping. It WAS pretty hot...

Back at the car we were packing and noticed the right rear tyre was losing air. We decided to find somewhere close to the park to spend the night, and change the wheel there. As we discussed our options, beedies (Indian cigarettes made from tobacco wrapped in leaves) began to fall from the trees above us. At first it was one or two, but then actual packets fell. A mischievous monkey had stolen them and was rifling through the bag, looking for more promising goods. We left, stopping briefly at 'Crocodile cliff' where we could see crocs sunning themselves in the shallows of the river. We also spotted a huge turtle and shoals of really big fish. We changed the wheel, checked the headlights and readied ourselves to leave the forest and fresh air and head to Delhi.