Categories

Recent Entries
Archives

December 27, 2004

Tiger hunting

The first couple of days that we spent in Delhi were basically spent making other travel arrangements. We then took the train further north to go to Corbett National Park in the Himalaya foothills. We stayed there for two nights and had a lot of fun. Corbett is one of the best places in India to see tigers. You aren't allowed to walk around in the park for safety reasons, so you have to get around by elephant or jeep safari. The first day we were there we went on a jeep safari, but had no luck. We did, though see a herd of wild elephants.

The next morning we went on a dawn elephant safari. If you've never ridden an elephant before, it's quite frightening at first. You're rocking back and forth so much that you feel like you're going to get seasick. And when the elephant steps up or down onto higher or lower ground, you have to hang on for your life. After a while though, you get used to the elephant movement, and are able to relax and enjoy the ride. While going through a grassy area, the elephant driver spotted tiger tracks, so he figured a tiger was in the area. We went a little further, and saw a deer bone, with fresh-looking meat and fur on it . . . then more and more deer chunks. Since the kill looked, fresh, the tiger had to be nearby. After a few minutes of looking, another guy on the elephant spotted the tiger, laying in the grass. He'd just finished his breakfast, and being a lazy cat, was just taking a nap right next to his food scraps. When we got a little closer, he heard us and took off running. We tried chasing him on the elephant, but since tigers move a little faster than elephants, we lost him quickly. It was pretty exciting getting so close to the tiger. I wasn't able to get a picture, because he ran off so quickly.

We thought we were so cool because we saw one tiger, but later groups that went out saw multiple tigers. So we went on a jeep safari that afternoon, hoping we'd see even more. Unfortunately, we didn't see any more tigers! Apart from the excitement of tiger-hunting, it was really nice to just relax someplace quiet for a couple of days.

Christmas Eve, we returned to Delhi, back to the Lord's Hotel. For Christmas, we splurged and went to a nice buffet lunch at some five-star hotel. The food wasn't bad, but they were missing the mashed potatoes, cranberries, and pies!

Yesterday and today we did a bit more sightseeing in Delhi. Yesterday we went to the National Museum, and today we went to Humayun's tomb. Humayun was the second Mughal emperor, and his tomb was the first of the great Islamic funerary monuments in India. After seeing the Taj Mahal, it was a little underwhelming, but it was still a nice place to spend the morning -- Mughal buildings are really beautiful.

Tomorrow, we leave for two days on a stay at a farm in Haryana state. This should be interesting . . .

After that, we will probably go South. Because of the earthquake/tsunami , we may not be able to go some places in Tamil Nadu though. And we may need to alter our future SE Asia travel plans -- I guess we'll just have to keep an eye on the news.

Posted by Jason on December 27, 2004 07:33 AM
Category: India
Comments

Sounds like you guys had a great time tiger hunting, How long did it take to get your "land-legs" back after riding on the elephants? We've been enjoying reading about your travels, and hope you continue to have more exciting adventures!

Posted by: Mom & Dad on December 27, 2004 08:14 AM

Great. We guessed that you would be Ok (far from the tsunami) but were not sure. So it is good to know that you were far from the coast. By the way, one news show this morning said that aftershocks from the earthquake off Sumatra could be expected for up to a year.

Posted by: Mom & White on December 27, 2004 08:21 AM

Wow, sure sounded like lots of fun tiger hunting. Hope you took some pictures for all of us to view. Have fun and be safe.

Posted by: Kraston & Alice on December 27, 2004 03:12 PM

Glad to hear that you were not affected by the earthquake/tsunami. Sounds like quite an adventure with the elephant ride and the tigers!

Posted by: Kraston III & Suzanne Scott on December 28, 2004 10:01 AM

I'm enjoying your travelblog immensely. And I'm glad to hear that you're well out of harm's way at the moment.

Posted by: Happy on December 29, 2004 12:52 AM

We were on a farm in Haryana for the past couple of days, so no internet. The latest tsunami news sounds pretty horrifying. We'll be following the news closely since Jason and I will be in Thailand in February. We _were_ going to go to Phuket.

Posted by: Cathy on December 30, 2004 06:25 AM

Glad to hear you two are safe. Happy New Year!

Posted by: James Hu on December 30, 2004 11:43 AM

Happy New Years!
Love, mom and dad

Posted by: Mom & Dad on December 31, 2004 09:01 AM

Hey, glad to hear you two are safe and enjoying your stay in my home country. You are visiting places that I have never been to.

I hope you can continue the rest of the trip pretty much unchanged. Say hi to Jason.

Posted by: satyen on January 3, 2005 07:15 PM
Email this page
Email this entry to:


Your email address:


Message (optional):




Designed & Hosted by the BootsnAll Travel Network