[turboNath]

My eternal love for wildlife (tigers in particular) was beckoning me towards the Tiger hinterland of India - Madhya Pradesh, for quite a long time. Multiple suggestions were pouring in from all quarters regarding the shortest and the best itineraries including a flight to and from Jabalpur with a two-day full safari (morning & evening) sandwiched between a normal weekend extended by a pinch of casual/sick leave. Being a car/bike nut sure comes with its own share of positives and just a tiny amount of not so positives. And this time, I (badly) wanted to drive up to the forest gate of Bandhavgarh National Park and jump onto a forest green Gypsy in search of the big cat, since it was well past 6 months before our XUV500 (also inspired by a related feline, the Cheetah) nicknamed the ‘SilverSurfer’ did a long road trip (the last one was a drive to Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim, undertaken within 4.5 days due to the paucity of leaves during early June 2019).


But after having completed a huge Nepal circuit to Lower Mustang and parts of the Manang route in October over 16 long days and nights on my ‘Pokkhiraj’ (2013 Classic 350), leaves in office seemed even more distant than the Andromeda Galaxy. Thankfully Father Christmas arrived with a goodie bag full of 9 days winter break and boy was I blushing like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer! As soon as the mail landed, Google Maps was promptly opened in another tab of an equally excited Chrome Browser. The route from my Home to Bandhavgarh National Park was approximately 1000 odd kms and the planning began immediately. Whenever I am designing an itinerary, I always like to include as many places as I can since there will be a chance that I might not get to drive to that location ever again. This time it proved to be a quite a challenge since both Bhimbetka Caves and the marble rocks of Jabalpur were jostling for a place in the itinerary. Cutting the story short, Jabalpur was preferred due to its relative proximity to the National Park and we were ready to book the hotels from the MPTDC website.

Sounds like a great plan, right?

Well, how about no!

One of our contacts in Bandhavgarh informed us that all the safaris in the core zone were sold out due to the Christmas holidays, barring a few in the buffer zones. It was exactly the same tale for Kanha as well. We were crestfallen to hear the news and almost on the verge of cancelling the trip when ‘it’ suddenly cropped up as a recommendation from our hardcore wildlife enthusiast friends. This ‘it’ was a completely new destination with no proper documentation / elaborate blogs on tiger sightings, stays, reviews etc. But ‘it’ had its own bragging rights since ‘it’ was unexplored and could possibly throw up some surprises (which eventually turned out to be miracles for us). ‘It’ was Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve, situated 95 kms away from Bandhavgarh. Very few people had heard of this place and on hearing the name for the first time, confused it with the Sanjay National Park in Maharashtra!


Luckily for us, there was one MPTDC resort situated just 12 kms away from the forest gate.
Bookings were made without any second thoughts and we got hold of core zone (Dubri Tiger Reserve) safaris as well (2 evening and 3 morning rides). Now that the middle three days were confirmed, we had around two days to spare keeping aside two days for the mile munching return journey. While researching on the most favorable routes on team-bhp, Varanasi came up quite frequently and we zeroed in on it since it gave us a chance to set our foot on one of the oldest cities in the world.


The final itinerary looked something like this:

Day 1
Start at 8:30pm and reach Varanasi by 9:30am (~700kms )
Day 2 & 3
Explore Varanasi with dollops of creamy, foamy ‘Lassi’, delectable ‘Malaiyoon’ punctuated with the quintessential Varanasi Paan
Day 4
Start early at 5:30am, drive to Sanjay Dubri National Park and hop on to the evening safari (~250 kms)
Day 5
Morning and Evening Safari
Day 6
Morning Safari and drive back to Kolkata (~950 kms)


The drive begins!


Part 1 : Time travel to the oldest city in the world

24th December arrived after an eternity (been counting days from early November, though) and we were ready to hit the road.
Our family-friends and fellow wildlife enthusiasts Debashree Aunty and Salil Uncle joined us for the drive and within an hour of starting from Behala, we found ourselves at Dankuni toll plaza. This was my first ‘experience’ of paying with ‘Fast Tag’ and a reassuring ‘ting’ notification from the Paytm app meant that our journey has indeed begun and that too on a ‘faster’ note!
Our first customary pitstop was at Shaktigarh and the homemade Chicken Bharta and Rumali Rooti , prepared by my mother instantly found their rightful places deep inside our tummies. A few gulps of coke later, we were again back on track. There wasn’t any demarcated stop on this leg since we had planned to stop for a quick tea break whenever the desire for that hot cup of ‘chai’ got stronger than the call of the open road.
And so, we soldiered on. Our ‘Silver Surfer’ happily glided over the butter smooth NH2 at triple digit speeds constantly since traffic was extremely sparse. Trucks and private cars were few and far between which meant almost zero congestion at toll plazas. ‘Fast tag’ was becoming faster and faster with every passing toll.

We finally stopped at a small chai place right beside a BPCL COCO pump somewhere in Jharkhand. We had already covered around 370+ kms and while everyone waited for the simmering hot liquid, I tanked up since I have a habit of refueling whenever I see the fuel gauge dipping beneath the 50% mark, while on long tours (especially when a COCO is nearby).

Post Barhi, the road condition had slightly deteriorated and there were some construction patches on our stretch as well. But after crossing Bihar border, the potholes became problematic. The roads were in good shape but whenever a bridge or an extended culvert appeared, there were huge potholes 101% of the time. Thanks to the decent ground clearance, we managed to cover the stretch without much trouble. It was extremely disturbing for me since I was cruising at 100-120kmph on the highway and then at the beginning of every bridge, I had to brake, and it was back to crawling at 10-20kmph. This went on for quite some time and I desperately wanted the ordeal to end real soon.

We drove on continuously and crossed the famous ‘Dehri on Sone’ bridge at the break of dawn. It was also in a deplorable state with medium sized craters dotting the entire length.
After crossing, Dehri on Sone, we were on the lookout for a decent dhaba and soon stopped for a tea break at a brightly lit, yet desolate dhaba. Apparently, the dhaba ‘crew’ were in deep sleep and we had to coax them to wake up and prepare chai for us. It was almost 6am and we needed to check the route and ETA since we felt that we were going a bit too ahead of schedule, courtesy my slightly heavy right foot on the gas pedal!

The decent & deserted dhaba!

Varanasi was around 140 kms away and Google Maps gave an even more optimistic ETA (9:30am) than the good old MapMyIndia Navigator.
We had booked our stay at Hotel Ganges Grand in Varanasi near Dashashwamedh Ghat and were due to check in at 12 noon. Apprehensive about a 3 hour early check in, we decided to kill time at a nearby breakfast joint. This however proved to be a really bad decision for a Varanasi first timer (who had zero idea about the kind of traffic jams inside the city).

The remaining part of the journey to the Varanasi City fringes was uneventful but then all hell broke loose when we entered it. Our hotel was located at the very heart of the city and reaching it was a Herculean task since it was almost 10:30am and everyone was out on the streets. There was hardly any space to move and then there was me trying to maneuver our XUV past a particularly well built black bull who was again trying to overtake an e-rickshaw, taking his own sweet time to chew on a banana !
By the time we could overtake them, our road got blocked by a huge group of pilgrims who were chanting and seemed to be walking in a trance (we later found out that our arrival had coincided with the an eclipse ,which was an auspicious time for a holy dip in the Ganges and hence the huge crowd).
Then came an incessant traffic jam caused due to the clean up of an open manhole. Even though we were getting impatient inside the car after a long night drive, people outside seemed to pause without even a hint of annoyance. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the traffic started to move slowly and then finally we somehow managed to reach our hotel entrance. We quickly proceeded towards the basement parking(this was the only hotel close to the Ghats equipped with a dedicated parking zone) because Godowlia Chowk was ‘chowk’-a-block with pilgrims and we were causing a traffic jam, every time we stopped to ask for directions(we faced a couple of no entry zones due to the surging crowd and GMaps went berserk).

Yes, we had finally made it. First leg completed, yay !

After handing over our car keys to the hotel valet counter, we proceeded to our rooms. The hotel staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and the rooms were great as well.
The lunch at the hotel was really delicious (and yes, they served Non-Veg dishes) and very soon we found ourselves opting for a catnap before exploring the city in all its resplendent glory of the evening Ganga Aarti.

Exploring Varanasi

The oldest living & breathing city

When you’re standing right at heartland of one of the oldest civilizations in the world, it can become quite daunting to figure out a place or a point in history to start your exploration. We decided to take a step back and start from the very source of it all – the holiest river, Ganges.

The oldest living & breathing city!

They say that name Varanasi originated from the two ghats that mark the beginning and end of the riverfront city borders, Varuna & Assi Ghat.

Ghat

And in order to travel back in time along those Ghats, we needed a ride in the form of a wooden boat that was ready to float along the hymns of the Ganges. Fortunately, our boatman turned out to be a friendly chap ‘Sonu’ who knew the legends & stories about all the Ghats. We could feel his sense of belonging to that ancient place from the way he told them incessantly.
As the boat went on with the flow, we found ourselves way back in the 5th Century, when the very first bricks were being laid along the riverfront.

Arguably Manikarnika Ghat or the burning ghat is the oldest one since it finds special mention in ancient Gupta inscriptions. According to Hindu mythology, a person who gets cremated at Manikarnika Ghat attains freedom from the eternal cycle of life and death. They say that the funeral pyres never stop burning at this particular ghat. This was probably the only time that I stared at death from such close quarters.

The burning ghat, Manikarnika


The new crematorium constructed by the Government adjacent to the Manikarnika Ghat

A few ghats away from Manikarnika, stands the holiest of all the ghats – the Dashashwamedh Ghat. Revered in folklore as a sacred site for an elaborate welcoming ritual in honour of Lord Shiva, it serves as the cradle of the magnificent evening Ganga Aarti.

Buzzing with activity, Dashashwamedh & surroundings

Some of the other notable Ghats include the Chet Ghat (built by Maharaja Chet Singh), Assi Ghat(located at the confluence of river Assi and Ganges), Darbhanga Ghat (looks more like a palace than a ghat) which doubles up as a luxury hotel, Man Mandir Ghat(built by a Rajput king, hosts an observatory) and Scindia Ghat (which houses a partially submerged Shiva temple).

With the sun preparing to bid adieu for the day, our boatman started to reverse the boat so that we will be able to get a good ‘parking’ spot, close to the Dashashwamedh Ghat. He paused for a brief moment to let us release two paper plates bearing candles on the river. One drifted slowly away without any fuss, while the other refused to budge, bobbing up and down by the boat.

If you have released it, let it go

Taking note of our hesitant eyes, he shared an insight that must have originated from the very soul of Varanasi – ‘if you have released it, let it go. Don’t hold back’. His words reverberated through the cool evening river breeze and convinced us to turn back, just in time to catch the epic ritual that was unfurling at Dashashwamedh Ghat. We watched in awe as the priests offered their heartfelt gratitude to a river that they lovingly call ‘Mother’.

Well that’s Varanasi for you. You will never realize when you have fallen in love with it.

Overwhelmed by the proceedings of the evening, we returned back to the hotel in a trance.

Post dinner, we retired for the night earlier than usual, anticipating an early morning boat ride the very next day.

[turboNath]

Part 1 : Time travel to the oldest city in the world (Continued..)

When the sun rises in Varanasi, it paints the riverfront with a beautiful golden glow that seems to radiate from the limestone ghat walls.

The weather was quite chilling to be honest and I was quite glad that I could finally make proper use of a jacket that I had bought from Pokhara during my Mustang ride!
Sonu was there with his boat, ready to set sail on our arrival. As we climbed onto the boat we could see hundreds of pilgrims standing waist deep in that icy cold water and taking dips. It sent a shiver down my spine even though it was safely guarded with multiple layer of woolens.

As soon as the boat ride started, another boat pulled up beside us. The guy wanted to sell packets of fries which were apparently much in demand amongst the flocks of gulls flying around the boats. We were skeptical at first since it didn’t seem like a proper bird ‘food’ by any stretch of imagination but the next few moments convinced us otherwise.
With a blatant disregard for their health, scores of large river gulls swooped onto our boat, cawing loudly for the fries and gulped them down in lightning fast speed!

It didn’t take them too long to finish off one packet and as soon as the last traces of fries vanished, we could see a familiar boat getting closer. The ‘fries’ guy was back again. This time with double the quantity and rates sensing our ‘gull’ible nature!
We missed the sunrise due to a particularly gloomy cloud cover for the major part of the boat ride but the gulls had more than made up for it.

Post the boat ride, we came back to the main land in search of breakfast and satiated our hunger over hot kachoris and dal, washed down with large earthen cups filled up to the brim with Elaichi tea.
After breakfast, it was now time to soak in the alleys and bylanes of Varanasi. Walking through the veins and arteries of the ancient city, I felt like retracing the steps of my favourite Bengali Sleuth ( ‘Feluda’, immortalized by Satyajit Ray) on the sets of ‘Joy Baba Felunath’ movie.

The alleys have a rhythm of their own. Especially the ones around Manikarnika Ghat. If you happen to take a stroll in that area, you would come across groups of people supporting the weight of dead bodies and rushing through the narrow alleys towards the burning ghat. Their chants linger on in that damp air forever, even after they’re gone, getting echoed by a new approaching group, entrusted with the immense responsibility of navigating the final journey of a human being along those very ‘gully’s.

I had read about a very famous Lassi shop named ‘Blue Lassi’ and wanted to try it out before heading back for lunch. The shop is located near the Manikarnika Ghat, tucked away deep inside history. The dimly lit shop serves up a delectable list of mouthwatering lassis with a unique twist. The walls of the tiny shop are plastered with passport sized images of thousands of ‘patrons’, customers from around the world who had pasted their images and took it up as their personal quest to come back to the same shop again and search for their familiar faces in an ocean of humanity.

All these little tales make up a big part of the ancient city which is nothing but the story of man settling down beside a river and passing on experiences & stories through generations, in a desperate attempt to be remembered, if not by everyone but at least by someone.
And Varanasi, bears it all.

As we went around exploring the ‘gully’s we frequently ran into temples located inside the residential properties. On enquiring about it from a few locals, we got to know that newer (read ‘older’) temples keep getting unearthed from unimaginable places which pushes back the date of this city constantly. It had lived though multiple destructions in history and when some plunderers wanted to destroy all the temples in Varanasi, some people decided to ‘adopt’ the temples and built their homes around it. These hidden temples were popping out during building renovations.

This was such a profound tale and it talked a great deal about the kind of relationship a human can have with something as abstract and intangible as religion.
Yes, Varanasi never fails to amaze you.

There's a deluge of memories, thoughts and emotions surrounding Varansi, which I will continue to cherish for a lifetime. If faith wanted to stay back on Earth for a little while longer, it would sit there quietly beside one of those ghats, calmly observing millions of pilgrims going around in circles insearch of something that lives within all of us.

And it's precisely at this moment that I will stop and go back to the Hotel with a last gaze over the riverfront.

For it's now time to zoom into the second part of this journey.

[turboNath]

Part 2 : Accidental Discovery of a Tiger’s Den

Learning from past experience is a good thing and we had learnt our lesson regarding the chaotic traffic situation of Varanasi by heart just like diligent students!
Sanjay Dubri National Park was 250kms away from Varanasi and we also had to be there well within 2pm since we were due for our first evening safari on the same day.
We started at 5:45 am sharp and all the streets were completely deserted. It took us around 20 minutes to hit the highway and resume our main mission of the trip!
Our route looked something like this –

Since I was driving along this route for the first time, I drove sedately, mindful of sudden craters and bad stretches. The road was under construction for the first part upto Lalganj and started improving thereafter. We crossed the state borders at a small town called ‘Hanumana’ and stopped for a breakfast break.
Soon after breakfast we found ourselves travelling through smooth tarmac zipping past rural belts with very few traffic and lush green surroundings all around. We did not have any intention of stopping for a another break but this guy made us change our minds instantly.

This was the first time I was seeing an Indian Grey Hornbill and there was a tree hosting tens of them! Quite wary of our presence, they took flight and settled on a distant tree as soon as we stepped out of our car.

We resumed our journey and enjoyed the remaining drive to the fullest. The entire journey took a little over 5 hours from Varanasi and very soon 'SilverSurfer' was parked in front of the reception of MPTDC's Parsili Report.

The property was right beside the Banas river and had a bunch of beautiful wooden cottages for accommodation.

Our safari began a couple of hours later when Rajbhans, our designated driver came to pick us up. The drive from the resort to the forest gate took about 20 minutes. We met our guide Dineshji (allotted based on a lottery system) and completed all the entry formalities. The gate opened sharp at 2:30 and three Gypsies went inside. Our guide informed us that there has been a sighting that very morning of a mother tigress alongwith her cubs and a kill. This news instantly raised our hopes and we proceeded towards the core zone of the jungle.

As the first river crossing came up, we buckled up and got ready for some action shots!

The kill site was nestled somewhere deep inside the forest and it took us well above an hour to reach. Enroute, we could only spot some birds.

Spotted Deer, which is an omnipresent species in every jungle, seemed invisible. And with every passing moment it felt that the prey base was next to insignificant in comparison with forests like Bandhavgarh or Kanha. This meant that the tigers had a hard time finding their meals in such a sparsely 'populated' jungle. The morning kill had been a stray buffalo that had somehow found its way into the core zone. On enquiring further, we got to know that the local villagers seldom let their domestic cattle loose inside the core zone to graze on good quality grass.

Human animal conflict seems unavoidable under such circumstances. And once these domestic animals land up on a tiger's dinner plate, the same villagers will then go to any lengths to poison and kill the big cat. And if that happens to be a mother tigress, her dependent cubs will fail to survive as well. So that poisoned meat kills a single tiger and also has the potential to wipe out an entire generation of a critically endangered species.

This is not just for Sanjay Dubri, mind you. This happens at every national park wherever there are human settlements adjacent to the jungle perimeter.

Anyways, after having circled the kill zone twice, we were patiently waiting at a strategic location, suggested by our guide for them to make an appearance. Seconds turned into minutes and it felt as if we will go back empty handed.

And then, this happened.

The first sub adult made a grand entry. It took a long curious look at us and then decided to sit and watch us for quite some time! Our shutters went mad with joy!

After having posed for us, he crossed the jungle path and went into a bush where lo and behold - his mom was sitting in plain sight!

The doting mom had probably admonished her kid for getting too close to us and he, being an extremely well behaved child went back immediately!

But he was not alone. His sibling joined the scene and the entire family came together for a brief meet.
We were overjoyed and overwhelmed with the turn of events!
The whole sighting lasted for about 10 minutes and we couldn't have asked for more!

We had hit home run on our very first safari at Sanjay Dubri National Park ! It felt incredible.

We were ready to come back for more the very next day!

[turboNath]

Part 2 : Accidental Discovery of a Tiger’s Den (Continued..)

The morning safari started at 6am from the resort when the mercury was hovering around an astoundingly low mark of 3 degrees centigrade by my watch. Add to that an open top gypsy going around at 60kmph though an empty tarmac, and you can very well imagine our frigid plight. Once we went past the forest gate, the pace was considerably lowered, and we heaved a sigh of relief.

The forest enshrouded by a thick layer of mist and fog seemed something straight out of a fairytale.

It was towards the middle of our safari when we met our 'wildlife'. A patrolling elephant belonging to the forest department suddenly emerged infront of us. They said that there hasn't been much of activity based on their radio reception (the mother tiger was wearing a collar and the forest department was constantly tracking her though radio).

The thick fog continued to linger on till the end of the morning safari. Visibility was extremely low and even if the tiger was at close proximity, there was a very high probability of us missing out on actually spotting the big cat.

We returned back to the buffer zone and enjoyed a fair amount of birding as soon as the fog cleared and the sun rays shone through the canopy.

My clan with me behind the lens


An Indian Roller ('Neelkanth')


Indian Robin


Crested Honey Buzzard


White browed Fantail


Ultramarine Flycatcher


Redstart


Grey headed Canary Flycatcher


Shikra


White tailed Kite


Buzzard

Returning back to our hotel, we had a late breakfast and almost skipped through lunch. All of us were eagerly waiting for the clock to strike 2 since Rajbhans had informed us that the mother tigress has made another kill that morning and the other gypsy had a confirmed sighting on the kill & the protective mother tigress.

By a stroke of luck, Dineshji was once again allotted to us (no big deal since a permutation-combination between 4 guides and 3 safari vehicles in a completely new and obscure jungle wasn't that complicated!).

Rajbhans had struck up a nice chemistry with Dineshji and he was quite adept in maneuvering the Gypsy through the less explored trails and taking sharp turns at the very last moment following Dineshji's gut feelings.

As we neared the kill site, we passed by a rocky area which Dineshji informed, was the favourite haunt of two sloth bears. Sensing some movement at a nearby bush, Dineshji asked us to stop and wait. And during this precise moment, a huge black bear appeared out of the blue and bang on the Gypsy track. Seeing three gypsies it started casually walking towards us. Since the majestic fellow was still at a great distance away from us, Rajbhans started the gypsy in a bid to get closer. That seemed to be a grave mistake since it immediately raised its front legs and jumped back into a thick bush nearby.
By the time we reached that place, there was absolutely no sign of him except for a few bent shrubs that had the misfortune of bearing his mammoth weight.

Dispirited, we decided to wait for a little while longer lest he made another surprise appearance. Our wait was short lived because a familiar face suddenly stared back at us from a nearby bush.

The first sub adult was back once again!

His curiosity made him stare at us with wide eyed wonder. He was standing very close to us (all these three images were shot on a 55-200mm lens)
and seemed reluctant to move. Our gypsy started at the behest of the other guide from the second vehicle who wanted us to maintain a safe distance since we were very close to the tiger.

With the engine sound breaking through the silence of the jungle, he retreated back into the bush and swiftly ran away.

This was the last time we got to see him but his eyes were unforgettable.

In that short span of time, his gaze was glued onto our hearts and in a terribly innocent gesture of wonder and surprise, he made us realize how vulnerable he is, infront of all the devilish poaching acts orchestrated by humans. It was as if he was calling out for help, almost pleading with us to stop the mindless and cruel killing of wildlife for their skin and body parts.

As we bid him goodbye, we pledged to do our bit for conserving wildlife in any and every way possible.
Sanjay Dubri has been extremely rewarding for us and we hope to go back there once again soon!

And it was now time for homecoming.
Home was 950 kms away and it would take us near about 18 hours to reach, considering the present road condition.

We took the Parsili - Singrauli - Renukoot - Chattarpur route to meet the NH2 at Aurangabad. The state highways were mostly in a good shape and we could manage an average of 70-80 kmph easily through most stretches.

The last stretch from Aurangabad to Kolkata went past in a breeze with a 'chai' stop at Bihar and a dinner stop at Jharkhand.

We reached Kolkata at 5am in the morning when the city was about to wake up from its usual stupor in a bid to welcome us back.

[Sheel]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[turboNath]

Thanks a ton, Sheel for moving this thread to the Travelogues section!

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by turboNath

[i]
The first sub adult was back once again!

His curiosity made him stare at us with wide eyed wonder. He was standing very close to us (all these three images were shot on a 55-200mm lens)
and seemed reluctant to move. Our gypsy started at the behest of the other guide from the second vehicle who wanted us to maintain a safe distance since we were very close to the tiger.

With the engine sound breaking through the silence of the jungle, he retreated back into the bush and swiftly ran away.

This was the last time we got to see him but his eyes were unforgettable.

In that short span of time, his gaze was glued onto our hearts and in a terribly innocent gesture of wonder and surprise, he made us realize how vulnerable he is, infront of all the devilish poaching acts orchestrated by humans. It was as if he was calling out for help, almost pleading with us to stop the mindless and cruel killing of wildlife for their skin and body parts.

As we bid him goodbye, we pledged to do our bit for conserving wildlife in any and every way possible.

Loved your narration turboNath. And Tiger spotting is always an impressive affair however many times you do it. I still recollect seeing the mighty beast in Chandrapur ages ago when I was a small kid.

Thanks for sharing and I'm marking this for future reference. Who knows when an opportunity comes for a trip there!

[Sheel]

While I have been to Benaras twice, I have never managed to discover it the way you could. Hope to do it someday.

Originally Posted by turboNath

This meant that the tigers had a hard time finding their meals in such a sparsely 'populated' jungle. The morning kill had been a stray buffalo that had somehow found its way into the core zone.

Human animal conflict seems unavoidable under such circumstances. And once these domestic animals land up on a tiger's dinner plate, the same villagers will then go to any lengths to poison and kill the big cat. And if that happens to be a mother tigress, her dependent cubs will fail to survive as well. So that poisoned meat kills a single tiger and also has the potential to wipe out an entire generation of a critically endangered species.

This is not just for Sanjay Dubri, mind you. This happens at every national park wherever there are human settlements adjacent to the jungle perimeter.

This paragraph saddened me. I honestly believe GOI / forest department and other authorities involved should look into it and try to minimize this as much as they can, I am sure they are trying, but, more effort is needed.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by turboNath

Part 2 : Accidental Discovery of a Tiger’s Den

'SilverSurfer' was parked in front of the reception of MPTDC's Parsili Report.

Attachment 1988741

The property was right beside the Banas river and had a bunch of beautiful wooden cottages for accommodation.

This used to be government rest house developed on insistence of Arjun Singh. I have stayed there couple of time before area declared as national park and this property was developed by MPTDC.
Were you able to locate Elephants which come from CG/Bihar side? Two decades back, we spent more than a week in this area to see migratory elephants, trekked for days and spotted various different animals.
Good to see this place is getting its due attention.

Regards,
Shubhendra

[karan0009]

Thanks for sharing turboNath! I am from Jabalpur & have never heard of Sanjay Dubri National park. Jabalpur is surrounded by Kanha, Bandavgarh & Pench National parks. I can definitely add Sanjay Dubri in the list now (google maps shows 240 odd kms from there).

This one is next in my bucket list when I visit home next

[turboNath]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Loved your narration turboNath. And Tiger spotting is always an impressive affair however many times you do it. I still recollect seeing the mighty beast in Chandrapur ages ago when I was a small kid.

Thanks for sharing and I'm marking this for future reference. Who knows when an opportunity comes for a trip there!

Thank you blackwasp ! Chandrapur, I believe is a stone's throw away from Tadoba Forest. You must have seen the big cat so many times! Lucky you !

Originally Posted by Sheel

While I have been to Benaras twice, I have never managed to discover it the way you could. Hope to do it someday.



This paragraph saddened me. I honestly believe GOI / forest department and other authorities involved should look into it and try to minimize this as much as they can, I am sure they are trying, but, more effort is needed.

Thanks Sheel ! I fell in love with Benaras right after my first visit and I hope to drive there again, whenever I get a chance. That city has so many flavours to offer and countless alleys to explore (all capable of hiding miracles behind everyday faces and objects). I missed a visit to the 'MuktiBhaban' this time. Will definitely cover it during our next drive.

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

This used to be government rest house developed on insistence of Arjun Singh. I have stayed there couple of time before area declared as national park and this property was developed by MPTDC.
Were you able to locate Elephants which come from CG/Bihar side? Two decades back, we spent more than a week in this area to see migratory elephants, trekked for days and spotted various different animals.
Good to see this place is getting its due attention.

Regards,
Shubhendra

Wow Subhendra ! This place must have been a dense forest back then! I am pretty sure you have real fond memories associated with Banas River and its surrounding regions.
We weren't that lucky to come face to face a wild herd of migrating elephants. Sigh !
However, our receptionist informed us that during monsoons, you can spot crocodiles near the banks of the Banas river! Did you spot one ?

Originally Posted by karan0009

Thanks for sharing turboNath! I am from Jabalpur & have never heard of Sanjay Dubri National park. Jabalpur is surrounded by Kanha, Bandavgarh & Pench National parks. I can definitely add Sanjay Dubri in the list now (google maps shows 240 odd kms from there).

This one is next in my bucket list when I visit home next

Thanks karan0009 ! Yes, you shouldn't miss this at all !

[Miyata]

Thanks for sharing. Had seen the title few days back and wanted to read at leisure. Great shots of the big cat. Recently I was in Varanasi for about 2-weeks but did not get a chance to explore much - I drove 150/200 odd kms around and out of Varanasi at an average speed of ~25kmph even along highways!

Taking cues from your logue, will plan better on the next visit.

[turboNath]

Originally Posted by Miyata

Thanks for sharing. Had seen the title few days back and wanted to read at leisure. Great shots of the big cat. Recently I was in Varanasi for about 2-weeks but did not get a chance to explore much - I drove 150/200 odd kms around and out of Varanasi at an average speed of ~25kmph even along highways!

Taking cues from your logue, will plan better on the next visit.

Thanks Miyata ! I could barely touch upon 1% of Varanasi's delights Will head back once time permits and explore more !

[haisaikat]

Great narration @turbonath and the pictures. I almost roamed around the narrow alleys of Benaras along with you. The eye-to-eye with the tiger for the second time visit was also described in an excellent way.

I have a few inquiries to make. Where did you guys stay? Also does the hotel arrange for a dedicated seat the Ganga Arati? Otherwise how much is the crowd and possibility to find a place to seat especially if I have aged parents along with us?

Also what was your actual start time from Kolkata and the time you arrived at Varanasi? Based on the traffic you encountered what would be your recommendation for ideal time to enter Varanasi.

During the return journey what was the start and end time? Did you drive the 18 hour route at one stretch?

[turboNath]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Great narration @turbonath and the pictures. I almost roamed around the narrow alleys of Benaras along with you. The eye-to-eye with the tiger for the second time visit was also described in an excellent way.

I have a few inquiries to make. Where did you guys stay? Also does the hotel arrange for a dedicated seat the Ganga Arati? Otherwise how much is the crowd and possibility to find a place to seat especially if I have aged parents along with us?

Also what was your actual start time from Kolkata and the time you arrived at Varanasi? Based on the traffic you encountered what would be your recommendation for ideal time to enter Varanasi.

During the return journey what was the start and end time? Did you drive the 18 hour route at one stretch?

Thanks @haisaikat !
We stayed at Hotel Ganges Grand near Godowlia chowk. I would completely recommend it due to its location, safe parking availability, good food and great rooms ! .

Their receptionist introduced us to a very friendly and helpful guide ('Laddu') who organised the boat ride on both the days. It is usually crowded near the ghats but once you're on the boat, peace prevails ! The Ganga Aarti is best viewed from the boats docked near the Dashashwamedh Ghat and you can easily extend your evening boat ride to enjoy the marvellous sight!

We started at 8:30pm from Kolkata and checked in to our hotel at around 10:30-11am (due to the tremendous traffic congestion,it took us 1.5 hours to cover 15kms ). This hotel is situated at the very heart of the city.
Based on my experience, the best time to enter the city is definitely within 7am in the morning and post 11pm at night.

During the return stretch, we left the Parsili Resort at 9:30am and reached Kolkata at 5 am, next day. Yes, I drove continuously with breakfast, lunch, dinner and two 'chai' breaks. We lost 1 hour due to a terrible jam near Aurangabad.