Tiger Safari, Taj Mahal, and Our First India Train
Well, we managed to wake up in time for our 6am jungle safari, in search of the beautiful Tigers of India. The drive to the National park was surprisingly chilly… well, nothing like the -20 back at home but it had to be about 5 degrees celcius or something like that. It felt colder than that when we were driving since it was an open top truck. The locals were bundled up like it was -20 degrees…balaclavas, scarves, blankets, gloves… it was kind of funny. We entered the park just as it started to get brighter out… the “jungle” wasn’t really a jungle at all… just some trees… there were some nice lakes, and some grasslands too. Interestingly, there were some ancient ruins amongst the trees and up in the mountains too… it made for a cool setting. There was actually a fort that was 10km long and 6km wide on top of one of the mountains that flanked the park… very cool.
In terms of wildlife, there were tons of deer (mostly spotted deer), wild boars, all sorts of birds, monkeys… those were the ones we saw. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of the col animals like crocodiles, leopards, and yes, Tigers. Sigh… at first, I was a little upset that we didn’t see any tigers but then it dawned on me… we’ve seen some pretty incredible things on this trip, and we can’t win them all…. oh well.
Since we woke up so early, we spent a couple hours napping in the afternoon. There isn’t much to do in Ranthampore other than go on tiger safari so we pretty much spent the afternoon doing nothing… We had the option to go on another safari but we just didn’t have the money… (ahem, mom)…
The next day, we drove to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. On the way, we stopped at some tiny town where there was a temple that warded off bad spirits. Prakash dropped us off like a block away so we walked… now, I’m sorry if this next part offends anyone but I’m not going to sensor my blogs… The one-block walk that we took just really set something off in me… I’ve been trying to find this “Incredible India” that I’ve heard of… and yes, there are definietly some beautiful things/people/places here… but its getting damn near impossible to see past the public urination/pooing, loud hoarking, pushy beggars/salespeople, piles of garbage (which double as food for livestock), never-ending staring, car horns, and overwhelming smells. I mean, we’ve experienced these in some other countries but not as much… Like, a man will whip out his willy and take a leak a couple feet away… and the constant throat-clearing “HHAAAUUUGGGHHHHKKK” sound followed by a juicy spit sound…. makes me want to gag everytime. It just seems like everything and everyone is so “in-your-face”. It’s times like this that make me realize how much I appreciate the space and peace at home. I’m doing my best to keep an open mind but I won’t like, it won’t be easy.
On the up-side, the Taj Mahal was absolutely beautiful. The marble work, the architecture, the gardens, the surrounding buildings… everything was so amazingly done. The amount of detail in both the carving and marble inlay was incredible… and they don’t allow hockers in there so we took in the beauty and the peace for a while before exiting back into the barrage of peole and noise. Actually, the art, textiles, carvings, gems, sarees… they are all very beautiful and I wish I bought more but it’s almost like a stressful task to look because once you look, you are going to have to either buy it or deal with a pushy salesperson. For example, John really likes his stone and stoneword here but everytime he asks a question, they think he wants to buy something big and that he has the money to do it. Then they try to sell him something ridiculous. AHHHH!! It’s so frustrating because I want India to take my breath away! We drove around Agra for a bit more before Prakash dropped us off… for the last time!
Yeah, this was the end of our trip together with him… he is a very nice man and I felt bad that we seemed like such boring people but it’s just really trying here.
Sigh, now we are at the train station in Tundla. I must tell you, I wrote this blog post (on paper) at this station… with pissing men, begging children, hoarking people, and nasty smells all around so it hasn’t been the most inspiring time and place. Our train is in 4 hours so we have a while to wait and our spirits are low… as are our expectations of what this ride will be like.
Again, sorry if this post offended anyone… I’m just keepin’ it real. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully another story as well…
Tags: India
cheng.ev
February 12th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Once again, I’ve heard this from friends who travelled India. One friend is a Zen buddist, who almost got into a fist fight with someone in line, similar experience as you in India. However, it was good as it put a little pepper back into my friend who was getting too mellow.