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Published: December 7th 2006
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From Varanasi we caught yet another overnight train to the city of Umaria and then a bus to the small town of Tala, the gateway into Bandhavgarh Park. The train was two hours late arriving in Varanasi and six and a half hours late getting into Umaria. We were suppose to arrive at 10pm in Umaria but instead got there at 4:30am. With no hostel in sight and the bus to Tala not leaving until 7am we had a few hours to kill. We convinced the station master to unlock the First Class waiting room and bunkered down with our sleeping bags on a reasonably clean wooden table. The table was a bit short for Jarrod and his feet hung over the edge but it was better than lying on the platforms dirty cement floor with 30 other sleeping Indians. We take the little luxuries when we can! At 6:30am we were woken by the bus driver to gather up our things and get on the bus. We were a bit miffed that we could still be sleeping for half an hour but when we got to the bus our pissyness turned to gratefulness as they had saved us two seats
Waiting for the Tigers
These two were New Yorkers who worked for Travel and Leisure Magazine at the front and other passengers were standing in the aisle. After incense were lighted and swirled around the mini shrine in the bus we were off.
Bandhavgarh National Park was the former hunting reserve of the Maharaja (king) of Rewa and at present is famous for having the highest density of tigers in the world at about 50 tigers in 440 sq km. It’s also stock piled full of birds, spotted deer, sanbhar, wild boar and some elusive leopards.
We wandered down the main road in Tala looking for a cheap place to stay, but no such luck. Since the park is quite expensive to enter it’s mostly older, rich tourists that visit and budget accommodation just wasn’t available. We settled on a quaint villa with a manicured lawn where we were the only guests. Our extra money went a long way and we felt like we were staying in style. I was given a special scented bar of soap “for the lady,” we had 24 hour hot running water, and we basically had a servant boy to attend to our needs. At dinner time our servant declared that it was his duty to keep our plates
full. I’d finish my curry and another scoop was on its way. The food was fabulous, some of the best meals so far, so I didn’t really mind having second and third and forth helpings. They even gave us a free cooking lesson for us to learn our favorite breakfast curry, Puri Badji. Yes, we eat curry for breakfast!
Our second day we woke early to a crisp, cold morning sky. We hired a jeep, driver and guide and made it to the park by sunrise. Each jeep is supposed to go on a different dirt road into the park and we started along our assigned route. But there was no tiger evidence on our assigned road, so we turned around and chose another road through the grasslands. Three spotted deer bounded across the road in front the jeep. We stopped the jeep - maybe a tiger would come chasing after them! Then through the long grass about 100m away was a tiger trampling along parallel to the road. He disappeared in the grass and we got another quick glimpse of him as he jumped up and over a little stream. We backed up the jeep and positioned ourselves
on a perpendicular road that the tiger was likely to cross. We waited in suspense for about five minutes and a few other tourists joined us making a fleet of jeeps along the road. The tiger appeared on the road, no more than 20m from our jeep, stopped, looked at us and then disappeared back into the long grass.
After all that excitement it was time for a chai break and we took a rest stop in the middle of the park where they’ve set up a bunch of makeshift shops for snacks, souvenirs and, of course, chai. We chatted to some lovely Americans. We met a naive girl from Hawaii that had been in India for only a few days and already been royally ripped off, and two New York photographers working on contract with Travel and Leisure magazine. The photographers invited us to share their luxurious filter coffee and shortbread biscuits with them as they travelled in corporate style.
After tea we headed out to take an elephant ride to see tigers up close and personal. The day before a tiger had killed a deer and so it would be likely hanging around for a few
days of feasting. We piled on an elephant using a bridge as a loading dock. There was Jarrod and I and two older French tourists all squeezed into a small platform on the elephants back. We followed the path of a shallow stream into the jungle and soon we saw a tiger pacing through the bamboo up the bank of the stream. There was another elephant with more tourists up top the bank so the tiger kept moving trying to escape the loud elephant as he trampled over bamboo and small trees. The tiger laid claim to a small opening in the bamboo and started cleaning his paws and face. We watched from the stream bed, but the French tourists slipped the elephant driver a bit more money, and the elephant started to climb the bank even closer to the tiger. We stopped close to eye level with the tiger a mere 4-5 meters away. I was a bit nervous being so close to a wild tiger, but he was distracted grooming himself and I think he’s seen more than one elephant and tourist before. I hadn’t heard of any tiger attacks on tourists anyways… After a few minutes the
Tiger taking a Rest
And then he attacked! just kidding extra money wasn’t enough anymore and the elephant driver turned us around and headed back to the jeeps.
Our time was up in the park and we headed home feeling quite lucky and exhilarated after not one, but two tiger sightings!
I've tried something new for this blog; added a video of our tiger sighting. But I'm not so sure it works. The link is up by our picture of Reggie (our cat). Please let me know if its a dud or if it works. Thanks!
Next stop Agra and the Taj Mahal (no need for directions to this place)
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Michelle
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Sweet Video!
Hi Guys, That was freaking awesome. I can't believe I just watched a video of a wild tiger that you taped from the back of an elephant in India. Very Cool, sounds like such an amazing experience. Thanks for all the updates - looking forward to more. Take care you guys