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Ah, this is more like it. Quiet town, friendly locals that see us as an exhibit in a gallery for some reason (maybe I had something on my face). This is Sawai Madhopur, the home of Rathambhore national park.
As I mentioned in the last article, the trip down here was estimated to be 4 hours. Well somehow 4 turned into 7. Not to worry, we made it here with num rear ends but here none the less! After a quick run around finding hotels that will take us in (as we like to wing it) we found ourselves being offered a room at the Tiger Safari Resort which was perfect seeing as tigers are the subject of our visit, works out quite well! Room was very nice and had a little balcony. But it has to be said, the best aspect of this hotel was the manager. Best character we have met so far who could crack a smile on the Mona Lisa given the chance. Our favorite comment made by him was on the first evening as we overheard a conversation between him and a women staying in the hotel:
Lady: Excuse me
Manager: Yes Madam
Lady: I was just wondering, how much should an international call cost from a pay phone in the shop down the road?
Manager: Well it depends, what did it say when the receipt printed out?
Lady: 19 rupees, but the man in the shop said I had to pay double, something to do with the long distance of the call....
Manager: Ah, I see what the problem is
Lady: What is it?
Manager: It's your skin....
Lady: My skin? (as she looked at her arms)
Manager: Yes, it's white.
*Manager walks away laughing as the woman stands there looking amazed and lost for words*
Times like these you just wish you could capture the expressions on camera. Anywho, we settle for the night after a great dinner in our luxurious room. This time we had a bath, which to no end pleased Charlie as she took what seemed to be a dozen bath sessions in the space on 5 days spent here. (Possibly an over exageration)
The first morning, five freaking a.m and we awake to go on our first safari. After an ice cold shower and a hearty breakfast we are picked up by our jeep at 6 to venture into the wilderness in hope of seeing a tiger!
After four hours of cruising the preserved paradise known as Rathambhore National Park we had no such luck, sadly the tigers were hiding this morning. But we did get to see monkeys, deer, crocodile and wild boar. So not a wasted journey, we can just try again tomorrow!
5:00am, again......
This time we decided to take a Canter (open top school bus style truck) which is a cheaper option. We did the usual, set out and drove to the park after picking up enough people to fill most of the seats. So, after another amazing tour round the park, this time in another zone. We saw lots of Deer, monkeys, pigs etc but no tigers.....
After returning to the hotel and overhearing wonderful tales of how people has seen tigers up close everytime, we had pretty much given up hope. So tomorrow will be a chill out day, visit the markets etc and generally enjoy the area.
Now, to try and lighten our spirits we decided to visit another park called Ballas National Park, this one apparently home to leopards. Big cat? Different to usual cat like patterns and colours? can't go wrong!
This was a cheaper jeep ride thankfully so we set out in search of leopards! After a 20 min drive we arrive at the entrance of what seems a much less popular park. We stop for a moment and the driver gets out to fill out the forms needed for entry. As we wait we spot him round the corner waving us over. Straight away, uh oh what's wrong went through my mind. But as we approached the mood was rather light, we were edged towards this building which was a temporary home to the cutest little leopard cub who I would like to name Barry (although I later found out he was a she). The park ranger opened up the door and there she sat, growling/purring away, he let her out for a walk and gave Charlie the chance to hold the cub. Delight filled Charlies eyes at this point. (see photo's on the gallery)
So at this point it was clearly not a wasted trip as we ventured though the park, sadly not to see any leopards but to enjoy some great views and other animals such as deer and jungle cats.
Right, time to try this tiger thing again. We decided to take the afternoon canter as it's not so cold and set out the next day to give this tiger sighting one last chance....
Usual trip, good driver this time so we are told and apparently got the best zone too! How could we not see a tiger?! 3 hours and 45 mins later, no tiger.......this was such a let down, but low and behold on our way back to the entrance there was a queue of cars stopped waiting, it seems a female tiger was out for a walk and crossed the road we were on, completely careless of our presence and at a slow pace walked off into the distance! Now i'm sorry for the poor pictures as there was roughly 10 people pushing through myself and others to get a good view of the tiger. But! it's proof and a memory that we did manage to see one, it was just as imagined, it felt great to put our search to an end and be able to move on and stop spending money!
So after a smile filled journey back to the hotel we had dinner and broke out the glow poi for a while to entertain ourselves as TV is getting tiresome. It seemed that this movment encouraged something in my stomache to gurgle, that's right. Roll on Delhi Belly, although not as bad as a fellow traveller has enjoyed *cough*Charlie*cough* I still managed get Charlie to say upon entering the bathroom "oh mother of god" so an entertaining night for some. As I layed flat on the bed it about time for beddy byes. The next day is another travel one!
Now the last few entries have all gone in at once, so of course I am writing this one after we have moved on and found a way for me to get my laptop on the net for some pic uploads. So I write this entry in Jaipur, this is another stop off point as we make the vital decision of whether we stick around in india and go north to Shimla (snowboarding area) or move on the singapore/Thailand and Cambodia. We eagerly await an email from singapore airlines as I write this to let us know if we can leave before new year or not.
Our journey here, to continue from the above was belive it or not.....by train! That's right! We did it, train-tastic. Although this was an easier journey than the others, it only required a general ticket for 50 Rs each and a 2 hour trip on a train from Sawai to Jaipur but still had some interesting aspects. One that springs to mind is that we felt like sore thumbs in the station as all the locals gathered in crowds around us as we played cards waiting for the train. Just to add, i was going to win. But the train arrived and interupted the end of our gripping game. We found ourselves some seats after a struggle I felt my arm being whipped through the window as a young boy begging for money was trying to get my attention with his T-Shirt. I know it seems mean, but the funny part was I managed to close the window in time to trap his shirt briefly which in turn he found funny so im not going to hell for that!
So this brings us to our nest in Jaipur, Hotel Tara Niwas which has a christmas tree! This morning we had real cornflakes! I know that doesn't sound all that special but, it just is.....
Food is great here, room is perfect. Having a lazy day today, catching up on my homework (blog) and are going through what we need to do depending on how the response to the email goes!
So far, everything has been good. But this might be the last india blog! Maybe not, perhaps we get stuck and head north! (That'll keep you checking the blog ha!)
That's all for now, keep checking up on us and I will try to get pics up sooner next time
Turrah!
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