Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Rosemary's Ramblings
Well have i got some things to tell you...
here i am in the foothills of the himalayers (however you spell it) for the those of you in the know i am in ramnagar, near nainital an kalhadungi in the area of kumaon.... any guesses yet? Yes its Jim Corbett country - for those of you who arnt in the know. Jim corbet was a fantastic guy bornin 1837 to british ex pats living in nainital. he was well loved locally and ccame to internatinal fame through his writing. he wrote about his days as a man eating tiger hunter - facinating if you ever get chance to read noe do!) his life was extrodinary and i read most of his books as recomended by my dad. They were fantasic and so being so close i had to come and visit. Also corbett was a great lover of al things wild including birds and tigers. he was a pioneer in that this was the first national park established and he took to shooting with his camera rather than his gun and spent a lot of time trying to educate people to respect there environment a lot more.
as you can tell i think he's great but anyway on to what i have been up too. before i even arrived - back in delhi i checked out of my nice hotel and into a much cheaper one (i now had to start paying for myself again :( ) there was a travel agent attached to the hotel so i asked about getting to ramnagar but was told that it wasnt possible to which i said "this is india - anything is possible" at whcih point this wrinkly old guy chirps up in hindi and said something to the guy i was talking too - after much discussion the travel agent turned to me and said.." there is one option, this guy is my driver and he is going home for a few days to near ramnagar and he is willing ot take you with him if you want to go by bus tonight" i agreed having already checked trains. so later that night we set off, first a buss to the bus station. the first bus we had to jump aboard while it was still moving - no mean feat with a full back pack! - which was of course full of locals all of who stared at me and thought i was highly amusing. ( but they als seemed quite proud to have me aboard) a few of them tried talking to me about foot ball and fortunately i had been made to watch the game as england was playing so i had a bit of an idea what they were talking about. and so an hour passed on a very crampped bus.
the following bus was a little more spacious but only becasue we took up 3 seats instead of two. i dozed a lot of the way - as much to avaiod conversation as anything but also i could hardly keep my eyes open. at one point in the night we stopped and nobody moved to get off so i opened my eyes to ask what was going on... we had to wait for a police escort as the next bit of road was dangerous - i didnt ask how or why i just pulled my shirt over my head and went back to sleep - i didnt want to give anybody any reason to stop this bus so not a bit of skin was showing.
we arrived safely at about 4:30 am - where we arrived i do not know... as we practially jumped of the bus in transit. it turned out to be near the drivers home - it was far too early for me to go to ramnagar now. so we set of walking to his house as there were no rickshaws in sight. abotu half way there a bike comes down the road who the diver stopped and insists on the bike taking me to his house. so on i get with 2 rucksacs and a box of mangoes. fortunaly it wast far. wheni got to his house his wife took me into the house - hopefully he had forwarned her. and waited for him to walk the rest of the way. on his arrival he fed me very sweet tea and told me to go to sleep for an hour, when i woke up his various brothers and neighbours came by to say hello. its not a tourist area so i am guessing i am one of the few foreingers they have seen. so i smiled and took photos and said hello to children. i know i am very different looking so mostly the children dotn like me and look at me side ways for a while unfortunaly most of the parents use ther children to do what they dare not - come and touch me. the kids of course dont like this and the parents ppush them all the more. i try to win them over and with a bit of time i usually do but they were filing through far too quickly for that - i wonder if he had been selling tickets?
anyway i was fed an omlet for breakfast and some more tea then i was packe donto another bike and sent on my way. the bike ran out of fuel before we even got to the garage so more delays by the side of the raod. soon enough we were on our way though the towns and villages to ramnagar. it seemed to take forever my shoulders and thighs were throughly aching by the time we finally arrived at the reservation centre. and its only 9:15am.
from the reservation centre i tried to sort out what i was going to do how long i was going to stay and where i was going to stay. after some confusing conversations with a r.s.rawat a french lady came in and after a few word between them it was agreed that i would join them on a safari that afternoon at 3. they would pick me up from my hotel and would i like alift there now. for which i am truely greatful as i dont hink i would have gotten away from the reservation centre otherwise and i was still very tired. i had to return later to get the permit for entry into the park - they are issued at 11 on a first come first served basis withonly 30 vehicles allowed in at any one time.
i checked in to the corbett inn and had a shower and returned to get the permit, this is no easy feat - one form must be filled in with all passengers details including pasport and the works - just in case you get eated a waiver also has to be signed. the frennch couple sent a representative to sort hteres out and he helped me with it. pewrmit in hand i head back to the hotel and slept.
- comments