Experiencing the countryside (wild) life in Ranthambore

In the winter of 2022, during my India break, we went for a short 5-day stay at Ranthambore. It was a very convenient trip to plan for, as we were driving there. So, I booked a nice hotel, and we were ready to go. By the way, it was interesting to see the number of luxury hotels that have sprung up in Ranthambore. And of course, their crazy prices! I went for a reasonable option, and thankfully the experiment worked fine.

Inside the park

Booking the safaris was a much longer process though. With some initial research, I found multiple websites offering safaris in the park. After some more research I realised these were all third-party websites and not the direct government safari website. And there was a simple reason for it - the government website was too complicated to use to make the bookings. Somehow, I was able to create a login, register and actually book the safaris directly. But it was confusing and time consuming. (After going through the process, I do realise why the third parties are flourishing).


Getting there

The drive from Gurgaon to Ranthambore is supposed to go down to 4-4.5 hours once the Delhi-Mumbai highway is inaugurated, but for us it was still the longer route we had to take. It took us about 6-7 hours to get there. We drove on the Delhi Jaipur highway for a bit, taking smaller roads for the rest of the drive. Overall, it was a pleasure to drive there and is testament to the fact how much infrastructure in India has improved over the last few years.

The highway till Manoharpur is a road we have travelled on many times. The surprising experience though was a short patch on the highway when the speed limit dropped to 80 kmph and we got an overspeeding ticket there! Anyways from Manoharpur, we turned towards Dausa and Laklot, and drove on smaller roads which were also 4-laned and good quality! In fact, we were still able to drive quite fast through the second non highway part of the route too.

The drive was quite a pleasure – it was through green pastureland, with small hills and some small forts on top of mountains. There were so many guava orchards on the way there. We also saw a lot of colour all around, as Rajasthani women wear much brighter clothes. The yellows and reds and oranges are quite enlivening. We stopped at a random bus stop on the way to have chai, it felt so idyllic. This part of the drive was so much better than the main highway till here.

The last drive stretch

The last stretch was not a good road though. It was greener, and surrounded by fields all around including sarson khet which were yellow at that time of the year. And soon wheat would have been planted. There was a river also running along us through part of the way. But the quality of the road was sub-par.

Very close to our hotel, our GPS showed a shortcut where we took a turn away from the main road and had to drive through villages to go to our hotel. The road was so small, it was definitely not the right way to go. It actually felt tough to drive through. We also had a flat tyre, just before we were to reach our hotel. 4-5 village boys on bikes came and helped us change the tyres. Just like that. It felt amazing, and something I haven’t experienced for a while – strangers helping out like this.


The Ranthambore Heritage Haveli

The haveli

We were staying at the Ranthambore Heritage Haveli and I must say – what an absolute delight it was. It’s a huge hotel built in the style of an old Rajasthani haveli, with courtyards, flowers in the courtyards, painted walls and roofs and the typical chatri architecture of the area, all in a bright yellow. It was open air, with lot of covered spaces to walk around. 

The haveli khats

It had an outdoor pool, and green gardens where they had khat (village beds). Those were our favourites, we sat there every day all afternoon when the sun was out, playing cards or just sleeping. Half our days were spent like that, in the winter sun, enjoying its warmth (the winter sun is sometimes missing from Delhi winters). And there were many sitting spaces on the first floor too, to just sit and chat, from where we could enjoy the sunsets, as the sun cast its last deep yellow shadows on the haveli. It was my favourite place in the hotel, we enjoyed many sunsets from the first floor. It was just so idyllic and blissful over the next three days to be there.

Sunsets at the haveli

The best part of the stay though was the food. We had breakfast and lunch at the haveli, and the spread was just outstanding. Plus the taste of the food was something to die for. The cooks made typical homecooked food every day, with local sabzis, hot naans, ghee, and what not. And the personalised and warm service was just the icing on the cake. We relished each and every meal we had at the hotel, it was just such a pleasure to be there.

The haveli was near Khilchipur village, in a stunning rural setting, with khet all around it. Apparently, most of the hotels and resorts in the area are located nearby, near this Khilchipur village. From the roof we could see 4 other similar havelis nearby, all with the same chatri architecture. And they all had the same broken road to get to. We later did find a shorter route to get to the main road though, which was actually worse, but as it was shorter, it made the whole ordeal of driving out a lot easier.


How the safaris work

Booking the safaris directly is one complicated procedure. There are 10 zones in Ranthambore park for which you can get safari permits for either jeeps or canters. The jeeps can take 10 people at a time, and the canter about 30. There are limited number of jeeps and canters allowed in any zone in any day. And you need to book a jeep or a canter for a specific time and zone beforehand. (These are just the official rules though!)

These safaris can be booked on the Government of Rajasthan’s website. But it is such a mess to book – with registrations first required on two separate websites, logging in is allowed only through gmail (you cannot just create a new login), setting up a profile using buttons you can’t find (!!), and many other hoops you need to jump before you can actually get to booking through the site! I did actually manage to do it after a few days of trying, but it did feel sometimes that it may actually be better to book through all the agents who resell these tours for double the price. The agents book the safaris for you beforehand as well as get the tickets for you on the day, saving a lot of time and hassle.

We booked directly though, and found out the whole procedure only after turning up at the haveli. If you book directly, then on the day of the safari, you need to go to the forest office (which is located near a shilpgram) with your booking and wait for your driver and guide to be assigned. Once assigned, you need to wait for them to arrive and find you. And of course, they all come when they want to, over a 1 hour window. When they do find you, you need to give them your papers. Then you have to go back to your hotel and wait, as the guide and the driver come with the canter or jeep and pick you up from your hotel, about 30 mins later.

The chaos

The process is a mess, and it feels like a macchi market there at that time, total chaos. With the drivers and guides arriving at different times and shouting out for their passengers as there is no way of finding them other than shouting for them! Getting to the forest office wasn’t easy either as the roads are not even pucca and there is no marking. And you end up waiting there for a long time. Thankfully all around were sarson and wheat fields, which was a good time pass in such a rural setting.

But really, in this day and age, this way of arranging safaris is just ridiculous. As I said, if you book through agents, you can get away from all this mess, and you will directly be picked up from your hotel. For double the price, of course. (On the official website, costs for safari are Rs. 1305 (jeep) and Rs. 791 (canter) while agents offer for Rs 2375 and Rs. 1860 respectively. And finding the actual cost of the safari online was tough too).

Also I figured out that even though online there is a limit on the number of vehicles allowed in a zone, once at the forest office, there is no limit on the number of vehicles going into any zone. When a zone has had a sighting (and the probability of another sighting is higher), a lot more vehicles are allowed into that zone! It was quite sad to hear this is how things work on the ground. Also there is apparently a mafia between the guides and the drivers, the more influential guides get the more coveted zones (to get higher tips from customers for having seen the tiger!). It was all so messed up, somehow the whole experience did not feel fun.


Safaris at the Ranthambore National Park

Lakes in the park

Over the next three days, we went on two safaris in the park. One was in a canter in zone 3, the second in a jeep in zone 5. Apparently, there are 80+ tigers in the park. But we had only one tiger sighting, on our second safari only.

Zone 3 is supposed to be the most beautiful zone as it has the Ranthambore fort within the zone as well as a few small lakes. We passed by the fort with its majestic presence, chatri architecture and canons to protect it. It was so interesting to see that a fort has just been abandoned and now resides inside the National Park.

Dried vegetation

We drove in the forest for a few hours, enjoying the wild ambience. The vegetation was mostly dry forests, though the trees looked very old. The forest was not too dense, and the terrain was a bit uneven, with a lot of driving up and down. And the soil had a reddish tinge to it.

Sambhars

There were a few lakes inside and all had some birds and crocodiles next to it. There were also some old structures around the lakes where the kings used to come and rest. During our safari, we saw lots of chital, some sambhar deer, some nilgai, crocodiles and turtles near the lake, a wild boar, some langur and lot of birds. But the tiger eluded us even though we heard a few calls.

Sunset in the park

We did enjoy a nice sunset in the forest though, with the trees suddenly turning orange with the sunset light. Even though it was December, the day had been warm and sunny, but as evening came, temperatures dropped suddenly. And we got cold while coming back from the park. The driver also drove extremely fast while coming back, making us jump on all the potholes of the village roads! It was quite a bumpy ride back. Though the surroundings were nice, the khet and slow village life around.

Fort, inside the park

The second safari was in zone 5. It was a cloudy day that day. We passed by the fort and a stepwell during the safari. There were loads of mango trees around. And the forest was also lovely here, greener, with some waterbodies too. But we didn’t get to enjoy these beautiful forest views. The guide got a call about the tiger being spotted, and we just rushed our jeep to the spot. There were already 15-20 canters and jeeps there, all waiting for the tiger. It was a long crowded queue, of loads of people waiting and making a ruckus. The noise was too much and obviously did not add to the ambience of a wildlife sighting.

Old structures in the park

Apparently, 3 cubs of the famous tigress Noorie were sitting in the shrubs by the river. We could sometimes spot them moving, but not too well as they were quite far off. So everyone just sat there, waiting for some movement. We were there for 2 hours, just waiting for the cubs to move and come into view. Sometimes they did yawn, and walk around. And we tried to catch a glimpse through the binoculars, somehow.

Noorie's cub

After some time, we started hearing some animal calls, and Noorie came to pick up her cubs. Then they all started walking and went into the bushes up the hill. One of the cubs stayed behind though and walked along the river for a bit. He then sat at a spot for 5-10 mins. And then finally we were able to spot it well. We observed it, sitting and getting bored for a while before it went up the hill too.

To be honest, I did not really enjoy the experience, as it felt too staged. As sad as not spotting an animal feels, what feels worse is finding one in a fake manner 😂. The real joy of safaris is spotting an animal just like that. There is no joy going somewhere where there are 100s of people already. There were very few wildlife lovers there, most were there just to photograph the tiger and leave. It was so loud and crowded there, it did not even feel like we were in the jungle. And the whole time, the guide also kept telling us about how things actually worked in the park – how you can give money and get any number of viewings you want. And how more than the allowed number of vehicles can easily get in.

The whole park felt such a commercial enterprise, it was not fun for me. It felt like such a beautiful experience had been spoilt by commercialism. Anyways, in the end we did see a tiger, so that was that.


Ranthambore town

There are many other experiences also nearby, like Ranthambore fort, Surwal lake, Kachida valley safari and going up in a hot air balloon. We did spend one day around town though tried neither of these experiences. We just drove around a bit doing random things. We first stopped at the RTDC centre to buy some Rajasthani handicrafts. Then we went to a few more craft shops to shop for local stuff. We bought lot of things there – suits, rajais and dresses with Rajasthani prints

After that, we drove into town, to the main market near the railway station. The station was quite pretty. We tried exploring the market also but there wasn’t anything interesting there to do. Coming back, we stopped at a local multi-cuisine food court called Chopati, and had food from some of the local stalls – oh my god, the food there was so yum. We ate and over-ate that day. While coming back, we visited the Ranthambore museum on nature. It was quite simple but lovely to see it. And at the end of the day, we again enjoyed another stunning sunset from the top of the haveli. Even though we didn’t have a plan, the day around town had turned out to be interesting.


Overall, we loved our short trip to Ranthambore – the drive there, the haveli, the food, the excursions to the jungle, the village ambience and the slow easy life. I can see us travelling there often, especially with the new highway opening up now. And just like that, the weekend was over. The drive back was gorgeous again. We stopped at a sarson ke khet for a break, the rest was a comfortable drive as there wasn’t much traffic either. Looking forward to the next trip there.

City of Lakes and Palaces, Udaipur

Last year in December, I spent about two days with some friends in the city of lakes and palaces, Udaipur. The trip was planned last minute, so it was quite simple. And it turned out to be quite enjoyable, because of the lack of complexity. We just booked flight tickets and a high-end hotel. That was all that was needed. The rest was easy to arrange given how touristy the city is in terms of things to do and how to do those.

Windows...

I've visited Udaipur before, so this trip was not as much about exploring the place, as it was about rediscovering it, and looking at it from a different viewpoint. Of just being there and seeing all that is usually unseen. And I loved it, as I got to enjoy the slower pace of life of a tier 2 Indian city, plus the varied culture, deep history and warm weather it had to offer amid the very cold 2019 North India winter!


Udaipur is quite a popular destination among foreign tourists visiting India, and you get a glimpse of it on the plane itself. I was flying from Delhi and it was full of either non-Indians, or NRIs. And a lot of them were visiting Udaipur to attend a wedding 😊. When I landed there mid-day, it was warm and already felt nice given I was coming from the Delhi winter.

The airport at Udaipur is almost am hour away from the city, so I took an Uber to my hotel. As it was a long drive, I started chatting with the Uber driver and he told me a lot about the area of Udaipur, its people and so on. And as usual, I was excited about learning more about a new place.

Udaipur is part of the Mewar region of Rajasthan and is not a desert unlike the other parts of Rajasthan. It has mountains, a few lakes and hence a lot of greenery - something you never associate with Rajasthan. And it is the Marwar region which has most of the desert parts of Rajasthan, including Jodhpur, Bikaner, Barmer and Jaisalmer. There are apparently 9 different regions within Rajasthan, and they all have their own parallel histories.

Apparently Mewar was the only major region to fight the Mughals, Rana Pratap being their greatest warrior. And they did not bow their heads to the Mughals (at least initially, though some of his descendents chose to be friends with both the Mughals and the British).

Most of the people in the region are either Rajputs, Jains, Brahmins or adivasis. And there are not a lot of Gujjar or Jats in this region. The driver also gave me a quick lowdown on who are the ones who take most benefit of the reservation quotas but that discussion is for another day 😜.

Today, there are not a lot of income sources here as there are limited industries other than tourism. There is some zinc and silver works, some marble business and of course the local Rajasthani handicrafts. But mostly Udaipur has come to be synonymous with tourism, and of course, destination weddings. Recently, the Ambanis and Priyanka Chopra had their weddings in the city, which brought a lot of activity and attention to the city for a couple of months.

My visit was at the time of the CAA protests in India, and so I asked the driver his view on what was happening. He was quite a level headed person and talked about maintaining peace. He also mentioned that even though there are Muslims in Udaipur, it has mostly been a quiet place. Though recently Section 144 had been imposed here after a man ran away with a woman of a different religion, and then he was later killed. Apparently, the army had to be called in and the internet was taken down for a few days then. So whats happening right now in India, has been happening in smaller pockets for some time, without being in the news...

He also spoke about his experience of being a cab driver in the city, of the celebrities he had driven around and seen during the weddings, and of course the new market entrants. He drives for both Ola and Uber, but was a bigger fan of Uber as it has a perception of being more honest with their drivers. Apparently they track photos of their drivers regularly to make it safer, and Ola doesn't.

He also told me a funny incident which made me laugh. I had to wait a long time for him to come into the airport to pick me up, and later mentioned that he should have asked me to walk out to avoid the queue. And we could have avoided my 20 mins waiting time. He said he had stopped doing it as he has had people cancel his ride when he asked someone to walk a few meters from where they are. And then I realised, I am in India, where we don't walk as much as we do in London 😁.

During the drive to the hotel, we drove through some older and charming parts of town. There were loads of pretty buildings all around, many of them being mandirs. We crossed some boundary walls painted with tales of Rajasthan history. And drove past a part of the old town on Swarup Sagar lake, which looked quite picturesque against the waters. I wish I had got a photo of the place. The city is very small, and everything is within a 3.5 kms radius. Apparently, there are only 2 malls in town, one of which we crossed. Though I think we can do without them 😜. There are 2 main lakes in the city, Pichola and Fatehsagar. And most of the tourist areas are around them.

We were staying at the Trident hotel which is on the Pichola lake. It is part of the Oberoi hotel chain, and located in the same complex as the Udai Vilas palace. Both the hotels are located in a huge green area, lining the banks of the lake. Right outside, there is a row of high end art shops for tourists. And as I drove in, I was greeted with bright pink bougainvilleas lining the entrance of the hotel, welcomed by a person dressed in the traditional Rajasthani dress and entered the reception, all decorated with Rajasthani paintings and furniture.

All around the hotel, I saw the same. Lavish manicured gardens, lot of place to sit outside, a swimming pool with sunbeds, lot of local art inside and so on. All the luxuries that people associate with a holiday in Rajasthan. And as much as I was impressed with the hotel and its luxuriousness, a part of me did not like being there. Somehow, it felt so posh, so not me.

When I travel in India, I want to (for as long as I can) not feel like an outsider. I want to feel like a local, who does not need to stay at such a fancy place to enjoy her own country. Everyone was being extremely deferent, bowing when they didn't need to and answering in English even when I was speaking to them in Hindi 😳. It has nothing to do with the hotel, which was quite nice actually. It is a weird feeling which I cannot explain, but I really felt out of place there. Its the kind of feeling I have when I stay at too luxurious places, especially in India. And I had this feeling in the hotel the entire weekend. Except of course when I went to Shilpgram (more on that later).

City Palace during the day

Anyways, after checking in we decided to explore the hotel grounds. The whole complex is located on the banks of Lake Pichola, and they have a private boat house near the hotel. So we walked there and enjoyed stunning views of the City Palace and Lake Palace across the lake. There also seemed to be many mandirs and palaces all around the lake. We also noticed lot of people boating that time in the lake, enjoying the dusk views of the city. We however just sat there for an hour or so, seeing the sun set. And the whole city slowly came alive, with its lights slowly lighting up. It was quite uplifting just sitting there under the sky, with the sounds of the lake around and a light wind blowing...

City Palace at night

We then came back and had dinner at the hotel. They had a song and dance program going on at that time, with local singers and dancers. And we sat outside, enjoying the food and the performances. The singers sang a couple of local songs. And the two women danced to the ghoomar and the typical matka dance. I was amazed at the quality of the dancers, especially when they almost seemed to be gliding on the floor. And one of the dancers danced with up to 5 matkas on her head, which never ceases to be amazing. The dinner was tasty too, but very expensive!

The next day was our one Udaipur sightseeing day, and we spent it exploring the City Palace in the morning and the Shilpgram in the evening. We started with a breakfast in the hotel. It was so sunny and warm, that all I wanted to do was be outside. The whole time! So we had our breakfast sitting outside in the sun, with a view of Nahargarh fort up on a mountain nearby.

Lake Palace from City Palace

We booked a taxi for the day, and the driver took us to all the spots. We started with a visit to the City Palace. The Palace was quite crowded that day, but we still got to see the whole place over the next couple of hours. The City Palace was built in four different stages, by different rulers. With each king adding a section later, based on the prevalent architectural designs of his time. And it is quite huge and grand, with architecture ranging from the old to the British times.

King's throne

The complex has two hotels inside plus one section where the king currently lives. The part that is open to the public is divided into the Palace, the Museum, and the Crystal Gallery. And most of the things to see are in the 'Museum'. These are mainly the residential quarters, the many open courtyards and lots of art displays to walk through. With lots of paintings and sculptures everywhere. All of which is what you would expect from a Palace.

For me though, there were three highlights of the visit. One was the ode to Maharana Pratap, who is one of the most famous son of Mewar. He lived and died fighting for Mewar's independence. It always gets me thinking - what is the right approach to life? To fight for what is right, even if tough? Or to take the easier way out, if it improves your life? And I never get a quick answer to this.

Maharana Pratap led a tough life and never enjoyed the life of a king as he was always at war with Akbar. And in the end, he lost his life to the war too. Was he right? To fight for his freedom? Or were his descendants the smarter ones? Who made peace with Akbar (and later the British) and ruled their kingdoms all the way till Independence. Some people would always respect Maharana Pratap for his stance, while some may disagree with him for fighting. I am always in the first category, but I sometimes do wonder, if it is better to not take that stand?

Peacock courtyard

The second highlight of the palace for me was the artwork - all the stone mosaics, inlaid stone and mirror works, and the paintings found everywhere in the palace, covering the walls, the roofs and the floors, and especially in the peacock courtyard. The quality of the inlaid work was brilliant. Each piece of stone cut and embedded in to the walls to create the beautiful designs. I cannot even imagine the time and skill it would have taken to create all these masterpieces.

Art work

Inlaid stone work

Paintings on the walls

There was a small room which was painted roof to floor and I could have spent hours just admiring the paintings all around. The peacock courtyard also was exquisite and my favourite. And there was one section which had all the silver articles of the king, including a wedding mandap and a chariot. All were quite impressive to see.

Views of the city

The last highlight of the Palace for me were the many exquisitely designed windows through which one could enjoy the views of the city. I enjoyed all the views from the palace windows, of the city on one side, and the Lake Pichola and Lake Palace on the other. All of them would have made for some nice evening views for many a century. In one of such rooms, we also realised that the marbles used in the construction everywhere were quite cold. My friends put their cheeks to the stone and it provided a nice cooling feeling given how hot it was otherwise. No wonder marble is so popular in houses in Rajasthan.

After the long time spent walking in the Palace, we went looking for authentic Indian food for lunch. Our driver took us to 'Gordhan Thal', a restaurant serving the traditional Rajasthani Thali. The place was not very high end, but the food there was amazing, the highlight for me was the chaas they served! The restaurant was next to the railway line and I for the first time saw the Palace on Wheels train going past. I didn't realise it was still going strong, after so many years.

After lunch, we first went to the local market called Hathi Pol and bought some silver jewellery, local jootis, bandhini and the famous Jaipuri rajais. It was nice to walk in the bazaar looking at the creative work of the local artisans. Next we went to the Shilpgram, a handicraft festival starting that day, just outside town, behind the Fatehsagar lake. And that was the highlight of the whole trip for me.

Shilpgram had a very casual feel to it, it was full of locals rather than tourists. And it had 100s of sellers from across India, selling all handcrafted stuff. From shawls from Kashmir, to Rajasthani paintings, to sarees from the South. It was a treat to the eyes and a shoppers paradise. I wanted to buy so much as everything felt so unique and stunning, but had to restrain myself.

Grand finale

Then we walked into the cultural program of the day, which was dances from East India. There was Bihu, Manipuri, Naga and Odissi dance performances among many others. And I loved them, especially the bamboo dance from Nagaland and the folk dances from the East. The finale was a grand entrance of all the dancers on stage, to one combined song. And it felt like a grand finale. I felt quite lucky that we had walked in to watch the oerformance at the right time.

After the dance finale, we ate at the local food stalls. For barely Rs. 100 per person, we had amazing chole kulcha and lot of golgappe. It was a treat which the Trident could not match 😁. And that was the end of the day of exploring Udaipur. We had had a very long day and were ready to call it a day soon.

Grounds of the Trident

The next day, we had a few hours before leaving for the airport. So we spent time in the hotel itself, eating breakfast in the open, and then just walking around in the grounds. The grounds were huge and green, with lot of place to walk around. It was also surrounded by an old fort wall all along the lake. I sat outside for a bit, with a view of the greenery, lot of birds, and the lake. And then it was time to head back to Delhi.

I had an interesting experience with the Uber going back to the airport though. Each and every Uber I ordered cancelled on me when I told them where I was going. In fact one of them came to the hotel and left after I told him I had to go to the airport! It was quick a surprise, that this is how Uber works in India. Anyways I got a hotel taxi and had another long one hour drive to the airport. And then soon was off.

Though short, Udaipur turned out to be a nice break, and what I enjoyed the most was the small town and relaxed feel of the city. It felt so different from Delhi where everyone is in a hurry. And even though we had a short trip, and didn't do a lot, there is a lot more to do in the city, and here is a longer list (in case you need it)

1) City palace (Including the museum and crystal gallery)
2) Kumbhalgarh fort - It is a bit of a drive from Udaipur, located in a jungle. And apparently, it has a wall surrounding the fort, like the Great Wall of China. The wall is so huge that even a jeep can drive over it.
3) Temples - Ranakpur Jain Mandir, Jagat Mandir, Jagdish Mandir in old city, Sinaji Mandir to Lord Krishna, Ropeway to Karni Mata Mandir (it has views of the lake and the city, and you also have the option to walk up to the top)
4) Gardens - Saheliyon Ki Baadi, Maniklal Verma garden, Gulabag garden
5) Boating in Lake Pichola and Fatehgarh lake
6) Classic car collection
7) Shopping at Hathi Pol, Bapu Bazaar, Maldas street (walking)
8) Hotels - Other than the famous Udai Vilas, Taj Lake Palace and Leela Palace, the Chunda Palace is a stunning hotel built like a palace which could be a good option

Weekend in Sariska National Park

This winter, we made a plan to visit the Sariska tiger reserve, which is located very close to Delhi. I hadn't been aware that there was a tiger sanctuary so close, so it was a surprisingly good option which came up while I was searching. Of course, that is a different point that in 2004, the park authorities realised that there were no more tigers left in the reserve anymore because of poaching! But later on, tigers were reintroduced in the park and now there are about 14 tigers in total there. Given the low numbers, they are quite difficult to spot. But at least there is still hope...

The website states that the park is home to other carnivores also including leopard, wild dog, jungle cat, civets, hyena, jackal and caracal. And the herbivores include the sambhar, chital, nilgai, chausingha, wild boar, langur and monkeys. So the trip looked overall quite promising.

Jungles of Sariska

We spent two days in the reserve, and went on two gypsy safaris, one in the morning and one in the evening. We did not see any tigers but spotted some of the other wildlife which was interesting. And being in the wild jungle so close to Delhi was exciting enough by itself. So it turned out to be a nice break all in all, even without the mandatory tiger spotting.


We left early on 1st January and it turned out to be the first day of the Delhi fog! Thankfully it cleared out soon while we were on our way, so the drive was not as painful or as unsafe as we initially thought. Of course the traffic as usual on Indian roads, was terrible. People drove on whichever side of the road they wanted to, at whatever speed they wanted to and so on.

Sarson ke khet

The drive was about 170 kms till Sariska and we drove through the rural hinterland of Rajasthan. There were villages on the way which are decades away from what we had left behind in Gurgaon. With kuchcha huts, cows, buffaloes, goats and camels as their livelihood and yellow sarson ke khet wherever you look. An interesting thing I noticed on the drive was that the villagers were using the highway divider for drying cow dung cakes! I wish I had a photo of that, it was quite an interesting view.

There were people going on about their daily agricultural tasks, wearing colourful clothes. It was a peek into the rural and real India that we are so disconnected from now. The one where roads are barely there and if they exist, are badly maintained. Where there are no computers or internet. Which still lives the way foreigners imagine India to be, slow and behind the times. And sometimes next to that India, I saw as a comparison, small towns like Bhiwandi with thousands of flats built next to each other, extending for kilometers. This is the side of India I don't understand - where both extremities peacefully co-exist next to each other, without affecting each other.

There were loads of mandirs on the way - clearly Rajasthan is quite a religious state. We also stopped at a few villages on the way, which were selling marble statues sculpted locally. They were quite impressive and intricately carved. They were very very pretty and totally worth owning. And we ended up buying a few of those exquisite pieces too.

Then we started crossing the Aravalis, the centuries old mountain ranges which were all very very dry given it was December. They were foggy at places, with their peaks peeping through the fog. There were also many monkeys on the road around here. The last 35 kms stretch of road till the reserve was very very bad and had a lot of speed breakers. Now I wasn't surprised why I hadn't heard much about Sariska as a tourist haunt. Why would tourists come here if it was so tough to reach here?

Langurs at the booking office

We were planning to first check-in into our resort and then come back and get the tickets to the safari from the ticket office as it was supposed to be a walk-in. Of course when we reached the ticket office which was on the way, we saw the chaos there. Hundreds of people were waiting in line with no clear organised process for getting the tickets. And there were more people than spots open! So we decided to stay there and figure out how to get a safari the same evening. There was one ticket office, and a small cafe and canteen there for people waiting hours in the line. And lot of langurs and monkeys sitting all around providing entertainment to the waiting tourists.

Apparently there was a way to book the tickets online, but the website opened only a couple of days before. I had tried booking online too but the website was quite inefficient. So we had no option but to stand in the queue. Even there, no one knew what was going on. Some people had taken tokens and were standing in line, some had online bookings and were waiting, some were breaking the line and some were just fighting for a place in the line.

Chaos at the booking office

It looked like given our position in the line, we may not be able to go in. So my dad spoke to the forest officer, who first sent the forest guys to sort out the lines and remove the touts and black marketers from there. His guys came in, and directly identified and took out guys from the queues who they knew were the black marketers! It was so funny that they knew who those guys were without any investigation 😜. After that, things got better and the line started moving naturally. We still did not get the tickets but the forest officer added us to one of the gypsies already going in. And then we were on our way on a jungle safari.

The official time for the evening safari is 2-6 pm and you spend about 2-3 hours inside the park. We were in a gypsy, with about 6-7 people. The driver drives you all around over the next few hours through the kuchcha roads, and you hope to spot the animals. And when you spot something, you stay there for a bit. Also, even though it was winter, it was quite warm for the first half of the safari and felt very comfortable. Though slowly it got cooler by the evening.

There are six villages still located inside the park. They are all very small, with 20-30 kuchcha huts as there are regulations around what they can and cannot build. Because of that, we saw local people living their usual life inside the park, going home walking or on bikes. And some of the villagers were taking their cows and buffaloes for grazing, as if it was a normal thing to do. It must be a bit scary to live like that with the tigers prowling around. Apparently the villagers see tigers and leopards all the time and live with them as if they are part of their usual everyday life.

There is also a famous Hanuman temple - the Pandupol temple - which is highly revered by the locals, located inside the Park. Lot of people come inside on Tuesdays, only to visit the temple. And this creates a steady traffic of lots of cars inside the park, though only on specific days. It can't be great for the pollution levels, but such is what happens in India.

Sariska forests

The Sariska forests are all very dry, filled with typical desert trees found in the Aravalis of Rajasthan. It had rained less that year and hence the trees were drier than usual. The trees were all light brownish. And the mud was a bit reddish, providing a very dreamy look to the jungle. There were some small hills within the park but it was mostly quite flat. Given there were very few trees, the jungles weren't dense and you could see till far. Maybe it is different in the rains when the trees are more green. But for now, it didn't feel like what you would expect from a typical jungle.

Sambhar

Overall, the safari was fun. We drove around for long, and took in the feel of the jungle. We spotted a few langurs, a mongoose, lot of sambhar deer, a couple of nilgai, the usual spotted deer, a few crocodiles sunning themselves near one of the water-bodies, a few wild boars, lots of peacocks and some other birds. It was quite fun spotting these animals in the wild, but of course the tiger eluded us.

We did however spot old pug marks of the tigers along the routes. In the park, 2 forest rangers track 7 of the tigers (of the total 14 in the park) throughout the day. We ran into two of the rangers, who had an antenna with them and could sense a tiger nearby. But the tiger eluded us even though we waited for it for long. It was sitting hidden behind the trees and wasn't visible. Then it got up and walked a bit but still did not come out in the open. We kept waiting till very late in the evening till it was time for us to leave. By this time we were also all covered in the red desert soil due to the dry weather and fast driving in the gypsy, and felt like going home to clean up.

So we got out in the gypsy and then transferred into our closed and warmer car to drive to the resort - the Sterling Sariska. The resort was about 5 kms from the ticket office on the same road, located right outside the buffer zone of the park. Once outside, you take a turn inside on a small road which is honestly not even a road. You drive past a few village farmhouses and come to the resort which feels like paradise in the middle of the jungle!

Rooms at Sterling Sariska resort

I loved the resort - it was simple, convenient and totally fit for purpose. It had a huge area and was very very green, in contrast to all the dryness around. There were many types of accommodations - some tents, some huts and some multi-floor rooms, all widely spread out in the open space. Plus there were loads of activities to keep people busy. There was an activity center with games for people to play inside - carom board, chess etc. - and badminton and horses for horse riding in the outside during the day.

Every evening at 7 pm, they organise tombola in the activity center, with a bonfire in the open at 8 pm with snacks being cooked freshly on the barbecue. And dinner was served in the dining area right next to the bonfire but inside. The food was buffet style and one of the tastiest I have eaten in a long time. With the typical Rajasthani food and hot naan with butter. The service there was great and it felt like quite a lively atmosphere on the cold winter evening, with all the guests hanging outside given there wasn't much more else to do in the rooms. I also noticed that most of the visitors were from Rajasthan itself as I don't think a lot of people visit Sariska from too far. We had a nice evening and given how tiring the safari was, after the sumptuous dinner, we called it an early night at 9 pm itself while the bonfire and music outside was still going on.

Empty ticket office in the morning

The next morning, we again went for a gypsy safari at 630 am (the morning safaris in winter are quite early, from 630-1030 am) and the ticket office was empty, with barely 5-6 people there at that time in the morning. Clearly Indians don't like waking up early 😜. We easily got a gypsy safari this time and were soon inside the park.

The whole experience was very different now, given it was so early in the morning, very cold and foggy, and the jungle had a whole different feel about it too! There was a serene yellow light everywhere during the sunrise, which lent it a very refreshing feeling. Of course there was the same sand everywhere though it was more settled given the dew and cold of the night. We were all packed in warm clothes and for the first hour, our hands were freezing. But soon with the sun, it became warmer and more tolerable. And we could get our heads out of the jackets better, to be able to look around.

We had a more fun guide on this safari as he was a lot more knowledgeable about the flora and fauna in the reserve. He apparently knew many languages, and liked to show off his English as well as his knowledge of scientific names for all animals and plants. He was an entertainer and shared a lot more trivia with us than the previous one.

The jungle also looked prettier this time of the day. We saw some greener parts of the jungle, like the bamboo parts which would have been green if they had got the typical 200 cms of rain this year and not the 10 cm actually received. We also noticed the Acacia trees, Kairi which has the fruit used in Rajasthani cooking, red-leaved bushes and huge banyan trees with bees.

Nilgai

We also spotted many more animals in this safari as both the nocturnal and day animals are awake in the morning. We spotted some hares, the usual nilgai, sambhar deer and some spotted deer, even a few with velvet on their horns. Apparently sambhars fight a lot with each other and we also saw two sambhars getting ready for a fight. But one walked away as it was not in the mood.

Birds at a checkpoint

We spotted many different birds, including loads of sparrows, parrots and small orange birds, mostly near one of the checkpoints. We also spotted some pea fowl there which had a beautiful blue colour contrasting against the brown of the jungle. It was however eating from the trash nearby when it usually eats snakes and reptiles. That was not a nice scene to view 😔.

Sambhar deer

We learnt a lot more about the tiger behaviour too through the guide. Apparently the tiger sits and waits in the tiger grass for its prey. And after the hunt, its blood pressure goes up so much that it doesn't walk around much for some time. Its favourite food is the sambhar deer and it drinks water only once a day. It sleeps most of the day and hunts only in the morning or the evening, during which time it walks for more than 30 kms a day. It has soft paws, and so mostly prefers to walk on the soft tracks or roads, hence is easily spotted on safaris. Also, apparently the tiger is not a native of India and was brought here from outside. There were 1 lakh of them in the 19th century, and now less than 500 are left in total.

We also saw the metal enclosure which was used for the first tiger when it was re-introduced back in Sariska after they had become extinct. The first tiger was kept in the enclosure for some time before being released, as the habitat was a bit different from where it was brought from.

That day the tourist zone at Sariska had only 4 tigers in them, the rest had gone up in the mountains, reducing our probability of spotting one anyways. And so, we did not see a tiger in this safari too. Soon it was time to call it a day and head out. And surprise of surprises, it turned out that a tiger had been spotted right outside the park gate that morning. So we did not even have to get into the park! He had just walked out and sat near the gate for some time before going back into the bushes.

And then we got another surprise. One our drive back to the resort, we again saw almost all the animals on the side of the road in the buffer zone as we had seen inside! Almost all of them - we saw monkeys, sambhar deer, wild boar, spotted deer and peafowl. So going in hadn't been as successful 😕. That is how wildlife works unfortunately, total luck and completely unpredictable. But that's the fun of wildlife watching too, why I enjoy it so much..

Anyways, we came back to our resort and then left soon for Delhi, which was about 3-4 hours drive again. We did think of going in to the park again to visit the Pandupol Hanumanji temple but the drive did not seem appetising, so we decided against it.

Sariska Palace

There are a couple of other places to explore nearby too if one has the time, like the Sariska Palace right next to the ticket office, Neelkanth temple, Kankwadi Fort inside the park and the haunted ruins of Bhangarh nearby - all of which would have taken extra time. So we ditched it this time but maybe for the next trip. I am sure there will be more. We had a fun time at Sariska even though we didn't spot tigers, but I can see it being a popular place and me visiting again for a nice short trip near and outside Delhi.

1000 miles : Mumbai to Delhi

Well its not exactly 1000 miles, it's more like 1500 kilometers between the two cities, but then it sounds more fun this way!!

Driving across the country has always been a dream for me, though more of the backpacking variety where you have a month off and

travel from one place to another with no real aim in mind, just generally experiencing the country all around. Well I did get to achieve one part of that dream, of driving from Mumbai to Delhi over three days in my Maruti Ritz:). Took me a year to learn driving enough to go driving cross-country, but then did it finally:). And what an experience it was!

Anyways, it was a three day driving trip from one corner of the country to another, driving about 25-30 hours over the three days and hitting peak speeds of 155 kmph (yes, on Indian roads, with a small car and a not so experienced driver)! Maximum average speed was 120 kmph, covering 93 kms in 45 mins, but details to come later:). The drive materialised when I was shifting my luggage from Mumbai to Delhi, where I packed all my luggage somehow into my car and off we went on the long dreamt of long drive.

Needless to say, it was an awesome time, across roads on and on, with the landscape outside changing constantly. The people, the attitudes, the colours, the roads and (even) the road sense keeps changing all the way...

The first day of the drive was from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, about 550 kms. The start from Mumbai was quite bad actually, halfway upto Baroda. The roads were being constructed at many places, work going on flyovers to avoid bottlenecks and there were many trucks blocking the road due to accidents.

There were jams every 5 mins, because of accidents on the way and the only way of getting out of those jams was to cross onto the other side of the road and drive opposite the traffic till you cross the jam and then get back to the right side of the road. People who regularly drive on this route would do this shift automatically, and you just need to follow them. For the first time though, its a bit scary initially but you learn as you drive!! And it does save you a lot of time! In fact, the first three hours of the drive, we barely covered 100 kms!

But then onwards, the traffic eased out and reaching Ahmedabad wasn't tough. The best part of the drive was Baroda to Ahmedabad on the expressway; straight road till wherever you can see with no diversions and very limited traffic! Its a drivers paradise, a dream come true. I finished the 93 kms on this stretch in 45 mins flat. And I did not even drive too fast! This part of the drive actually improves the average speed, and we had covered the 550 kms in about 7-8 hours types.

Landscape was non-descript in Maharashtra, gradually changing

while you drive into Gujarat; you get a sense of prosperity as you drive in Gujarat. People on the whole seemed richer, and the infrastructure also much better. The landscape though becomes a bit more dry while in Gujarat.

One thing you always look forward to while on such cross country drives are the meals at some dhaba on the way, tasty food for unbeleivable prices. The same was true on this drive too, lunch for a person at 100 Rupees per person!! And a full tasty meal, with dal and sabzi and lassi and what-not. It feels so unreal that such rates still do exist in India, feels more weird after staying in towns and cities of the country.

The next day we drove from Ahmedabad to Nasirabad (in Rajasthan). The distance was again some 550 kms or so, but felt a lot less this day. This was in fact the best day of the drive, awesome 4-6 laned roads most of the way, disciplined traffic, you get to drive fast and straight, with not many cars on the roads. Just perfect! Bliss! A dream come true for any driver, especially someone who more often got to drive only in Mumbai. This part of the drive, average speeds of 70 kmph were so easy to achieve on this stretch...

We also stopped at Chittorgarh on the way, we had so much time during the day! And also visited the Mayur factory in the middle of nowhere selling products at factory rates! This day of the drive was a dream, I actually don't remember much of it.. Just press the accelerator and off you fly off.. Such roads are present in India is something our parents would not have been able to imagine in their times! I finally did understand on this day what the Golden Quadrilateral project was all about..

Vegetation changes on the way too. While is was green in Maharashtra, turns slightly dry in Gujarat and completely yellow in Rajasthan with stone hills on both sides of the road.

Another thing you will notice is that, there are a lot more temples visible while in Gujarat, a lot of them being Jain temples. In Rajasthan, the colours increase with the women wearing very very bright clothes and being visible from far. Also you will see gradually, the prosperity of Gujarat vanish as you enter Rajasthan, people seem a lot poorer and undeveloped in Rajasthan than the states just crossed.

The last day of the drive was to be the shortest, about 400 or so kms from Nasirabad to Delhi. Part of the drive from Nasirabad to Jaipur we covered fast. About the same average speeds of 70 kmph, the same bare and dry desert landscape with empty roads, some mountains breaking the monotony of the landscape and the colourful dresses of the Rajasthani women. Was a pleasure again to drive through this part, and to prepare for what we were to experience thereafter!

Thereafter, Jaipur to Delhi was a nightmare! We took 7.5 hours to complete the 250 kms between the two cities. There were two major jams on the way, taking an hour each, where you barely cover 2-3 kms in one hour!! The only way out was to get onto the service roads where you try to beat the traffic. And if you are a first time driver on this road, you would not know what you need to do! Was a completely chaotic and terrible day to drive!

Also by this time as you are approaching Delhi, there are more and more truck drivers from Haryana on the road, so the discipline of the drivers also goes kaput. There are just no more rules being followed:))).

The problem in this stretch is partially the construction taking place everywhere. The other problem are the trucks parked on the road leading to multiple traffic jams. Can't they be controlled a bit? Also, the trucks dont really follow rules of driving on the left side lanes and not the fastest one. That also slows down the traffic a lot.

On the whole, the road quality is mostly good in this stretch, though hajaar constructions going on on the way.

Also, there are countless tolls on the way, you encounter some 8-10 a day! Also while driving on the highway I realised, you can learn driving but it is the experience which gives you the edge. At places with no traffic on the road, I drove fast and overtook lots of vehicles. It was more at the crowded places that I wasn't able to do that. At that point having driven for many years makes the difference, of being able to overtake maximum vehicles. Anyways I had started my learning:)

One thing I regret though is not taking photos along the way, of what I saw, maybe thats for the next time:)

Fort of Chittorgarh

It was a short flying visit we had at the fort of Chittor, 'Chittorgarh' while on our way from Mumbai to Delhi. And what a magnificient fort it was, rightly called the greatest of all forts in Rajasthan as well as of India. Wish we had more time to explore it, but guess thats for another time...

Anyways the first look that you get of the fort if from the town

below.. And what a grand majestic view it is...Seated on top of a hill in the middle of the plains, its a sight of splendour. Its a huge fort, with an entire township settled inside, and the fort walls run all around the hill..

Chittorgarh is an epitome of the valour which the Rajputs are so famous for. The fort has been seiged and won over thrice, and each time the women of the fort committed jauhar, while the men went out to their deaths.

The road to the fort is winding and goes through multiple gates, or 'pol' as they were called. Apparently it was quite an impregnable fort, very difficult to conquer.

Once inside the fort, you can get a view of the town below, and the view extends till far away...

There are a couple of good places to visit inside the fort.

The Vijay stambh and the Kirti Stambh built to the valour of Rajputs. The Jain temples and the Meera temple (where Meera was supposed to have vanished and become one with Krishna)

and the Padmavati Mahal.

We just had a fleeting view of all these places, and read up on the fort later on. The fort has quite a long and interesting history. Wish I had more time to spend at the fort and hear of all these stories...Anyways till next time!

Spot the Tiger : Ranthambore

The first article on a national park... Quite a break after all the similar sounding European cities? Yes it was quite a break:) This trip was more than just a short vacation, was a kind of unofficial offsite too! Went there with collegues from my office, with family and kids. And what a weekend it turned out to be!

Ranthambore is located near Jaipur, near a town called Sawai Madhopur. Its a national park, famous for its tigers (which we did not get to spot though!). Took two safaris in the jungle, all we got to see were sambhars and owls and some nice looking birds. Think our guide was useless, plus we made too much noise! I also learnt that when going for a safari, should never wear bright colour clothes (I did not know this before!!).

The jungle at Ranthambore is bit sparse, and dry, unlike the dense jungles of Kanha and Bandhavgarh, which is supposed to be one of the best parks for spotting tigers. The best times to go to these parks are in the summers, when more and more of the animals comes out to avoid the heat. There are 4 different regions in the jungle, and C (if I remember correctly) has a big lake, where the chance of spotting are very high.

The Ranthambore fort is interesting too, quite a lot of history and unbeleivable stories linked to it. Its quite huge, with a good view of the jungle too.

The property that we stayed in, The Sawai Madhopur Lodge is a Taj property, which was earlier the Raja's hunting Lodge now converted to a hotel. Its well maintained, with some sports to keep you busy while on the property. The food spread is out of this world though, the chaas made in front of you, and the paranthas. The management team is professional too, with a personalised service. We had a great evening, both the days we were there, with the local singers providing local entertainment. You ask them to sing a hindi song, they will modify it to the Rajasthani tune. We danced like anything to those, better than many clubs that we go to in Mumbai!
There are enough options in Ranthambore to stay, in all price ranges. And Rajasthani hospitality at its best everywhere I guess!