Chitwan part 2 – Going deeper

Our morning hunting for crocodiles was incredible. We weren’t sure how safe we felt on the water in our tiny boat with large shadows lurking beneath us, but we’re still here to tell the story and we’re thankful for that!

In the afternoon of what was already turing out to be an exciting day, we joined a small group of people and got back into a boat. After crossing the water and back into the Chitwan national park, we walked for a few minutes before an opening in the jungle revealed a fleet of tiny Suzuki 4×4’s. After reaching ours, all 6 of us climbed into the back, with another in the front and our guide who clung onto the back. tThe plan this time, would be to go deeper into the jungle where hopefully there was a better chance to spot more wildlife.

It must have been around 3 and a half minutes later that the truck came to a quiet stop. With everyone being as silent as possible, we all peered into dense forest. Sure enough, lying down in the bush there was a huge one horned rhino. He appeared to be waking from a sleep. It all happened in a bit of a dream. So close to where we started and also in the exact same area as we had been walking just hours before! As I steadied my hands, I took photos before we moved on – our guide pronouncing that we were a very lucky group…and we felt it!

For an hour or so since that first sighting, we didn’t see any more ‘big’ animals, however, plenty of monkeys, large birds and hundreds of crocodiles…at the crocodile farm! After the farm visit and in what felt like tropical forest heat, we again hit the track. After a few minutes, we spotted another truck full of people waving their hands. We edged closer. They all appeared to be giving us different signals, some to come closer, some to stop, some seemed to say go away! We got closer, until we were parked directly behind them. What they had seen, and we were now looking at, was a huge bison. Unfortunately, we could only see the top of its back and it’s wagging tail, but apparently it was coming out of the bush. After 5 minutes of looking, it didn’t seem to want to play and stuck to the covering of the trees…when all of a sudden Malene points behind us and shouts, “look, rhinos!” Everyone turned on their heels and saw the baby rhino and its mother crossing the track. By pure chance (and Malene’s observational skills!) we had seen 2 more beautiful rhinos, this time walking along the track. The sighting was brief but incredible all the same.

A few more minutes of driving and we reached a watch tower that over looked a watering hole and open grass land. We would spend a few minutes here and hopefully might catch a glimpse of some animals. It really was, our lucky day. Off out in the distance, walking through the grass (again) Malene spotted something medium sized and black in colour. As we both peered out, we thought at first that it must have been a wild dog, maybe one of the guides had a dog? We continued to watch it as it slowly came a little closer. It wasn’t a dog. In fact it was a very rare sloth bear with a baby cub on its back. These are apparently as rare to spot as the tigers and we were loving every second of it!

For the remainder of the trip, we came across 2 more rhinos in the forest, crocs on the waters edge (not in a farm!), peacocks, deer and a host of other beautiful animals. It had certainly been a productive day! Up close and personal with vicious, meat eating crocodiles in the morning and huge rhinos and savage sloth bears in the afternoon. WOW!

It wasn’t just the national park that we loved here, but the small village and of course the amazing lodge where we stayed. In fact, this was Malene’s favorite place so far, and its easy to see why. Quiet, peaceful and incredible nature surrounds you here and for those reasons, we both fell in love with Chitwan.

Next up, Lumbini: the birth place of Buddha. Time to get back in touch with our spiritual side.

Pilgrimage and ginger donkeys

12th – 14th January

It would be nice to think that after 5 or 6 train journeys, we would have the system down to a fine art. Truth is, every time we step into a train station, we feel lost and bewildered. Trains in India appear to run on their own timetable, which rarely corresponds to that of the stations. Getting the right platform is almost purely guess work, but, as we’re rapidly learning, that’s ‘just the way it is’ – a common phrase we use out here! However, with all these struggles, comes a great sense of achievement and relief when you realise you’ve made the right choice. We have been traveling everywhere using the sleeper class – the cheapest option above general admission. In these carriages, there are different compartments, split into 3 tiers (each one acts as a single bed at night) with a further 2 ‘beds’ on the opposite side of the corridor (see photo for a clearer picture). With no A/C, these carriages can get a little warm, but its the people we meet and the changing countryside that keep us occupied on these long journeys. For example, leaving the Punjab (north) and its green fields of rice and wheat and a bitter 6 degrees, Malene and I slept and woke up in Rajasthan with it’s rocky, harsh landscape full of cacti, camels and 20 degrees. We would never experience these fascinating changes or meet India’s fine people or drink fresh chai on a 2 hour flight, so for those reasons, we choose the train, the world’s 3rd largest rail system with 20 million people using it every day, plus 2 confused yet excited travelers.

Entering Vadodara (known as Baroda to the locals), we knew or journey was far from over. It was 5am and a little dazed and confused from a bumpy night, we stumbled out of the station and searched for the bus stop. We knew there were 2 stations – local and district, we just had to find the right one for our bus to Halol, 2 hours away. Of course the first bus stop we found was wrong – too easy we thought. Luckily the rickshaws, were already buzzing around and not unlike vultures, they smelt our fresh, inexperienced, tourist blood and honed in on us. Finally at the right bus stop we found someone who pointed us in the right direction for our bus and by 7am we were on our way, not entirely sure if it was the right direction, but going somewhere, not an uncommon feeling in India.

As the sun rose, it lit the sole mountain in the region in a glorious bath of golden light. We knew we were getting closer to our destination – Champaner and Pavagadh. With the addition of the beautiful sun, we could also see that with this new state: Gujarat, the countryside had changed. It was green once again, similar to the northern state of Punjab where we started this adventure. We reached the final stop of Halol where we took a rickshaw to the base of the mountain. It was the first proper mountain we had seen since being here and were excited as it grew taller and taller the closer we got. After a 15 minute ride, we reached the bottom of the mountain and knew we needed to go up to find our hotel – Hotel Champaner, the only hotel in the area. But the rickshaw driver wouldn’t go any further, instead we had to clamber inside the back of a truck, and with no less than 18 of us inside (plus our 2 giant packs) we begun the ascent. Winding our way up the mountain, we were engulfed by forest and strange sounds. All the way up, signs depicting various neighboring animals gave us more information as to what we we listening to – donkeys, eagles, monkeys, strange coloured birds and cobra snakes, although we probably wouldn’t hear them until it was too late!

Half way up, the truck stopped and luckily the hotel was now well within walking distance. As we stumbled into the reception, a rather none charismatic guy, with a big collared shirt and matching gold jewelry, explained that our room wasn’t ready, but have some breakfast instead. Enjoying our morning coffee and desperate for some sleep we admired the spectacular view of the mountain.

Camel Jockies.

7th – 11th January

A mere 6 hours by train from Jodhpur and we arrived at the sandy, red stone town of Jaisalmer, a large city in the far west of Rajasthan. We arrived at 11am and the sun was already searing hot. As soon as we stepped off the train, we were immediately greeted by a rickshaw driver, not unusual. He also claimed to know where our guest house was: equally unusual. After asking him how much to take us there (standard Indian practice) he replied “20 rupees” (20p) which rang a few alarm bells. Although I wasn’t sure how far it was to our guest house, this seemed a little too cheap, or a little too good to be true. But things were about to get better. Upon exiting the beautiful little station, there were 9 or 10 guys waving banners on the opposite curb, each with a different hotel name. The whole situation was a cross between an international airport with private taxi drivers signaling their clients and a protest on a busy street. Sure enough, our hotel representative was there and after collecting my bag back from the rather deflated rickshaw driver, Malene and I headed to his truck; a stripped out, doorless jeep, the best way of getting around the desert!

We arrived at hotel Ganesh, quickly deposited our bags in our room and sprang to roof to enjoy the afternoon sun. After a couple of weeks of the Punjab winter, we didn’t want to miss a second of this sun, which was by now well into the 20’s. After meeting the cook and owner, we were then introduced to the itinerary of our camel safari – our 3 days / 2 nights camel safari. This had always been a life-long dream of mine, ever since reading Tintin books as a child and wondering what it must be like to loose myself in the desert. The next morning, this dream would come true.

Starting early the next morning, Malene and I were joined by another girl (who was traveling alone!) and then headed into the centre of the city to pick up a further 6 girls. We then headed straight out into the open desert. With mini sand dunes, cacti and eagles above, we raced down the only strip of tarmac for miles around. After a half hour dash, we reached an opening and behind the cacti lay 9 majestic, yet rather cumbersome camels. Excitement levels rose as everyone’s cameras came out. We had one problem, our camera battery had to last the whole 3 days, as we were pretty sure there wouldn’t be a plug out here! Still, after a couple of photos, we hopped on our eager beasts, seconds before they started their awkward ascent, first back legs then front legs, as we tried desperately to hold on. With bags and passengers all loaded up, we headed out into the unknown. The first day and night, we would all be together, the 9 of us, then the remaining 2 days, Malene and I would be alone…with a guide of course.

After visiting local villages, and stopping to give water to our camels, we eventually found a large sand dune area which would be our base for the evening and night. After collecting wood and making a fire, we all sat around trying to stretch out our aching legs. One days riding had taking its toll on muscles I didn’t know even existed, I wasn’t sure if my legs would feel good again, the only thing that was certain, was we had a further 2 days of this! Our first night was magical. We watched the sun set over dunes and then ate around the camp fire. With our beds made on the sand, we gazed at the stars. There were plenty of shooting stars, but I felt this dream had already come true.

Early the next morning, we had breakfast; toast, jam, and hard boiled eggs, and then repacked all the bedding and our bags ready for the second day. With the 7 girls returning home this morning, it left Malene, myself and our guide to head back into the unknown. Before long, the sun was out and keeping us comfortably warm. Of course, sun cream and silly hats were keeping us safe from too much sun and at midday, we stopped for lunch and a siesta. The combination of the heat and the strange motion of camel riding made us really tired and the midday sleep was always a welcome one. Plus by this time, the scorching sun was too much, regardless of our silly hats.

Riding a camel is a slow, uncomfortable, belly shaking experience. But it also makes you feel like a nomad, searching for food and water, evaluating the land and dangers around you. You also sit far higher up than on a horse which is good if you don’t want to step on snakes, but we needed to remain aware of the cactus bushes which the camels loved to rub against.

Our second night was equally as peaceful as the first. In fact, we believed we would never find this peace, this quietness again in India. In a country that is so loud and busy at all hours of the day, this solitude was a welcome find on our travels. It was really wonderful sleeping under the stars again, with the cool air trickling over our faces and pillows made from sand under our heads, we quickly fell asleep in each others arms.

The third day would have been a good time to stop. Our legs were like useless lumps of jelly, barely able stretch over our camels and our stomachs were being shaken so much that internal organs were beginning to be dislodged. Still, stubborn as we are, we decided to opt for another long day in the saddle, this time stopping for lunch in an opening with some grazing sheep and goats. Of course, this meant fresh milk for our chai, much better than the powdered stuff!

We will never forget our camel safari, as I’m sure our legs won’t either. We’ve both been horse riding before, but the combination of no stirrups and a bone shaking ride, really leaves its toll. As you can imagine, the hot shower and soft bed back at the hotel were a very welcome sight. We just hope that we’re not walking like John Wayne for too long.

Our next destination: south, to the state of Gujarat and Champaner, the ancient walled city at the base of Pavagadh, our first real Indian trekking experience.