9th October 2008, 09:52
| #46 | |
| Distinguished - BHPian   | Quote:
 Lumina, your writing is beautiful and engaging and your pictures are beautiful. Bravo! Thank you for this wonderful travelogue. And don't worry about cars and all that, I am a Team-BHP senior member and I don't even like cars, leave alone understand them. Team-BHP is not a car forum. It is a human forum. | |
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9th October 2008, 16:22
| #47 | ||||
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kolkata
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The elephant was in the grassland adjacent to the forest. I wasn't able to imagine how those giants moved around inside the dense forest, so asked the guide and he showed me the areas where they are normally seen. I still can't visualise them getting into those parts. I need a second trip. You were lucky to see the barking deer. All we saw were bon-murgi (wild-hen? a literal translation) trying to outrun the Sumo. That was a nice shot. Winter I guess from the mist in the distance? Quote:
Going by the support I am tempted to write a few more, only if I survive this one. Even though I am enjoying reliving the moments, it is taking up a lot of my days..and nights. Only possible as I am bunking office for a week. Stay tuned. | ||||
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9th October 2008, 20:14
| #48 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
Circa 2004. A new-born Ikon was taken to Simlipal National Forest. After unsuccessfully attempting to get there through Lulung (courtesy a Broken culvert), we made it the next light of dawn from the Jashipur end. Watching the morning unfold itself from the calmness of the Barahipani waterfall viewpoint, we were both shaken and stirred by the sound of a couple of beasts. Those beasts were diesel driven. One Mahindra Marshall and a Sumo Spacio. All the occupants of those vehicles appeared very sophisticated and well to do. None made any unwanted sounds. Which they couldn't anyway, as the accompanying Forest department guide had put a invisible gag on them. But what they cared less about, was the mechanical Jazz being performed by those DI engines. Everywhere we went that day, those two followed us, even if they didn't, you could hear them coming from distance of 3 Kms (the usual serenity of the forest aiding the travel of sound). We may be speaking of lack of awareness amongst forest visitors. But these "aware" people did not know that they too were somewhat ignorant. Our Forest guide and me approached the occupants of the vehicles (which had windows rolled up to prevent dirt from the forest being taken away outside with them, thus helping forest conservation) so that an adequate time gap could be maintained. They looked at us, as if, we had committed sacrilege by approaching them with the proposal. Explaining did no help. We instantly became the evils of consumerism and affordability of new cars. Ofcourse not all have the luxury of knowing that silent refined vehicles are almost a must in the forest (where would they have known that from, isn't written on the internet). Result, we saw a couple of Murgi's (coming to complain that we ate their brother last night) only. Now before someone starts to say Spacio Gold represents a substantial improvement, let me just interrupt that too. Year 2006 saw us heading towards Kaziranga. Mode of transport: - Public. Indian Airlines to Guwahati and Tata Safari Dicor from then on. At Kaziranga, our Safari driver decided to give us a wake up call by starting his engine. But as a contrast, Kaziranga was different. You could only do the jungle safari on Forest department permitted Gypsys (Safari on Gypsy!!). Reason: silence of a petrol engine. We were relieved. We were lucky to see a family of Elephants bringing their infant for a morning walk on the Jungle road. Approaching the core area, you could only do on something even more refined and silent, the Non-"BOEING 747" Jumbo (In other words elephant). However while returning we saw a couple of DI's making it through the Jungle roads. But we were not bothered, because those subscribers took the luxury of waking up late, by which time, we had seen what we came to see. Asking our Gypsy driver/forest guide, they said its also possible to sneak in an outside vehicle. Lets not discuss how. @lumina sorry for hijacking your thread. But people who wish to enjoy a forest must maintain silence in every possible way. Last edited by 1100D : 9th October 2008 at 20:20. | |
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9th October 2008, 20:36
| #49 |
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9th October 2008, 20:45
| #50 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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10th October 2008, 09:35
| #51 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 602
Thanked: 10 Times
| Wonderful narration and nice photography made me glue to this thread. Thanks Lumina. |
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10th October 2008, 10:15
| #52 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 40
Thanked: 0 Times
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11th October 2008, 01:43
| #53 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kolkata
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| Day 6 Woke up at 4:30am in anticipation of the elephant ride. We were to be ready at the mounting station by 5:30 am. Freshened up, I decided to take a look at the forest and the salt mound to see if I could catch up with some wild life. There were none to be seen. The grassland was deserted. As we waited for the scheduled time, the sky began to darken. It didn't look positive. Soon it started to drizzle, and was raining quite hard as we mounted the elephants. So no pictures here as the camera was safely packed up. We didn’t have waterproofs with us (inexperience) and unlike the other four elephants the one we were on didn’t have a tarpaulin sheet. Umbrellas were useless in the forest, and we sat there getting drenched. No complaints here, I was relishing being exposed to the elements. Good that I had spent some good bucks on the camera bag. The waterproofing was getting well tested. All set, the mighty animal started to move. It took me three or four steps to get adjusted to its rhythm, and then it was fun. The to and fro motion was very addictive, and my niece, who till then had been bubbling with energy was soon quietly snoring on her granddad’s lap. Once off the paved roads, the ride became far more comfortable. I realized that the elephants had not yet got used to walking on tarmac. The suspension would need some tuning. The water canal surrounding Hollong was crossed in no time. The dense shrubs and bushes were swept aside by the oscillating trunk. That’s the best part of being big, barriers don’t matter. However, temptation is the folly. The urge to feed on succulent leaves made the beast stop in its tracks at regular intervals inviting some strict steering from the mahout. We were gradually moving into thick undergrowths. And then at a water hole, we encountered this.  Fortunately the rains had receded for a few minutes giving the opportunity to shoot. Surely the rhino didn’t like being disturbed in its private bath and decided to move on. It vanished into the dense undergrowth. That was all the wildlife we saw. The elephant safari trampled through the forest for an hour. The Dooars’ rain was generous and we sat there ‘relishing’ it. As the safari continued under the trees, thoughts of God-knows-what dropping from above sent shivers, but nothing of that sort happened fortunately. The rains kept on lashing while we dismounted. The next group of tourists was already waiting for the elephant ride. But the rains continued uninterrupted for another two hours and all elephant safaris were cancelled. Heard that the Jeep safaris would start later, but didn’t see any sign of them starting either. Our next destination was Lataguri from where we would be visiting the Gorumara forests. The latest news was the strike on the hills had been relaxed for a few hours so that people could store up their provisions (and then go on strike again). Not losing the opportunity, a Siliguri strike had been called by Amra Bangali in retaliation. With the strike in the main centre, provisions for the hills were difficult to come by and the GJMM supporters didn’t like this at all. Violence had erupted at a number of places in Siliguri. This wasn’t making things any easier for the millions of people stranded throughout the region. With the problems in Chalsa and Malbazar a couple of days back, it was unwise to take the NH31C anymore. A few queries about the situation of the various areas, some phone calls, and it was decided we should take the NH31 instead via Falakata, Dhupguri and enter Lataguri through Moinaguri. We started at around 10am. continued. |
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11th October 2008, 02:20
| #54 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 40
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| Day 6 continued This time the journey felt like a long one, made longer by the thought of impending trouble. As we drove on the state highways, a number of vehicles with flags fluttering on them passed by. No idea whom they were supporting. The buses which normally ply till Siliguri had their signboards overwritten with changed destinations. The situation was extremely tensed. Entered NH31 at Falakata. While passing through Dhupguri, we were suddenly stalled in traffic. The first message to cross the mind was that the road was blocked by the agitators. As a few minutes passed by, we realized it was just a chartered bus disembarking its passengers on the nrrow road through the market place. Breathed a sigh of relief. Unlike the NH31C which passed through forests, this route passed more through human habitats. The traffic was significantly more and the road surface really bad at places, especially near Dhupguri. More so ever we were traveling in the bright late morning sun compared to the cloudy evening drive to Madarihat and the constant suspense was eating in. The 90odd kilometres in two hours felt like eternity. Mr Agarwal had asked us to contact his friends in Moinaguri as soon as we reached there. My father called them up more as a courtesy but they insisted on accompanying us to Lataguri. We reached Lataguri at just about noon. I had heard there should not be a problem with boarding here, even without booking and I realized why. The road was fringed with resorts each having a more spectacular name than the other. Our booking was at Nakshatra. On reaching our designated resort, we found the place quite crowded with people from the southern part of our country. Came to know that they were supposed to leave for Darjeeling but were held up because of the strike. The resort was full. Not sure what to do, the friends of Mr Agarwal came to our help. They had a good rapport with the tourist lodges there and arranged for us to stay at the newly opened Green Lagoon quite near to Nakshatra itself. As we came to know, the resort had opened only a couple of days before and was now doing brisk business due to the strike. At least someone was gaining out of the trouble. More resorts as seen from Green Lagoon  The trip to Gorumara was planned in the afternoon. Initially we had wanted to do this in the early morning next day, but with the problems brewing in Siliguri, we had to leave early leaving us no time for the trip. We had decided to take the flight from Bagdogra. If things went wrong, we would proceed to NJP for the train. We would lose substantial amount of money, but that was the compromise. We got our permits, the official guide and started on a very late afternoon safari. Started with a few sightings of our national bird.  Bisons on the banks of the Murti from the Morning View point  Track through Gorumara forest  Jacob's ladder at the Evening View point.  Just like Holong we encountered a family of very loud children and equally loud parents, and aunts and uncles. No wonder all we could shoot was the sun, even which had almost hid itself among the clouds. Forest patterns.  With slightly better luck than what we had in the other forest ranges, we returned from the safari. Attended a complimentary tribal dance performance (accompanied by complimentary packets of Lays/Kurkure and a cup of tea). Tried to shoot some artistic shots, hand held, low light, but nice ghostly pictures I ended up with. Believe me, I like these ones.   Completely exhausted, we returned to the Green Lagoon. For the rest of the evening we remained glued to the television for the news. It didn't sound good. Curfew had been imposed at a few places in Siliguri. The sight of people brandishing naked Kukris in the open was not at all comfortable. The Amra Bangali had been requested to withdraw the strike and the political parties were planning to put their heads together to solve the crisis. The news didn't help our nerves as we went to sleep that night. We had planned to start by 9am for Bagdogra. The flight was at 1:55pm and we were keeping ample time to reach the airport. We would take the route via Moinaguri, Jalpaiguri through the new Teesta Bridge. |
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11th October 2008, 07:28
| #55 |
| BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: India
Posts: 4,347
Thanked: 27 Times
| Several packets of ActII waiting to be popped. Where is the rest of the story?  Last edited by speedzak : 11th October 2008 at 07:29. |
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11th October 2008, 16:44
| #56 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Some have ecstasized and appreciated, while some lambasted albeit in jest.. Till now read in silence and enjoyed immensely feeling as if part of the safari. A great travelogue and good pictures. Especially of the Rhino in the middle of the pond totally drenched.. Wish you had a waterproof contraption for your camera. BTW, what gear is it? Quote:
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11th October 2008, 17:07
| #57 | |
| Team-BHP Support   | Quote:
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11th October 2008, 18:08
| #58 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 40
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| The last day and the return Day 7 The last day in the Dooars for us today, so wanted to put as much of it to good use. The thought of us leaving in a few hours and along with that of the uncertainty at Siliguri shook me up at five in the morning. My father was asking if I would like to go for a walk, and I agreed. The sun was not yet out when we started. The gate of the resort was locked. Father was trying to get hold of the gate keeper (we were contemplating going over the rails, which I gathered was not that difficult, but my dad wanted to try the decent way out first). As I waited took some early morning shots of the resort.  The keys were found and we walked out on to the track. The grass on the path was shining silver with the dew drops. We took off our slippers and walked bare foot on the grass. I hadn't done this in a long time now and the long-forgotten feelings came back. The dews were everywhere, on the grass, flowers, leaves.   We were walking towards the watch tower we could see in the distance.  As we reached there found the trees around the place somewhat ransacked. A few village boys were passing by and they told us that the watch tower had been attacked by a herd of elephants the night before we arrived. The herd couldn't find anything in the village and hence they vented their anger here. Spent some peaceful time on the watch tower before returning back to the resort. We were to prepare for leaving. Villager plucking leaves at the tea garden  The news in the morning was that the Siliguri strike will be withdrawn at 2pm during the day, still too late for us to take the flight. The situation was reported to be much calmer now. This gave us some relief as we were all set to start. Alam was ready with the Spacio. He had taken off the GJMM logo from the windscreen, cut it into strips and used that to glue in a paper with 'TOURIST' written on it. Hit the road at about 9:30am. Enough time to make the 85kms to Bagdogra by noon we thought. As we passed the last of the forests on our way to Moinaguri, we hoped to have a glimpse of wild life. But nothing more substantial than a few peacocks. From Moinaguri turned right towards Jalpaiguri. Because of the strike, we didn't encounter much traffic and the state highway was beautiful. Alam made a few calls to his friends in Siliguri for updates. We came to know that some of the areas we shall be driving through were still having problems. In Siliguri, the roads were almost empty and the remains of burnt tyres were scattered all over the place. The areas had taken a severe battering it was obvious. The more we entered the city the effect of the bandh became more apparent. As we were approaching one of these trouble torn areas, Alam called up a friend and requested him to be present there. We saw a group of people approaching our Spacio at the crossing. The vehicle was going to be stopped. But even before anyone could speak, Alam called out to his friend, who was waiting there. The 'friend' turned out to be an elderly person whom the crowd did respect. He came up to our Spacio, had a chat with Alam. The crowd moved away. From there on, Alam decided to take the by-lanes instead of going through the main city roads. This helped. We didn't encounter any further problems and were soon out of Siliguri again and on the road to Bagdogra. The traffic comprised of a lot of ambulances, police and military vans. Speculating about the severity of the situation, we reached the airport. Here we found the reason behind the abundance of such vehicles. People, desparate to move out of the trouble were using these as getaway vehicles to the airport. It obviously worked. It was half past noon, took about three hours to make the journey. The flights appeared to be running on time in spite of the strike. Time to bid farewell to Alam. In the last seven days we had grown really close together. He was going to wait out the strike at the airport and then start for his home after 2pm. We thanked him for all the trouble he had taken for us. As father handed him a handsome tip, he was almost on the verge of tears. Cajoled my niece before he left, they had grown a liking towards each other. As he left my little niece called out 'Kaku kothaye jachhe?' (Where is uncle going?). She was inquiring about him even after we reached Kolkata. We waited in the lobby for our flight to be announced and watched with fascination as the Air Force fighter planes took off and landed. The Jet Airways flight took off on time. As the plane soared in the sky, I glanced out of the window hoping for a last view of the forests. Couldn't make out much from where I was sitting though. Visions of the whole trip inevitably jumped in to my memory. This was a trip which I was going to remember for a long, long time. It had all the highs and lows, like a roller coaster ride, which had left me exhilarated. In spite of all the trouble we had faced, everyone of us was looking forward for another visit to the forests. From the Netaji Subhash Airport in Kolkata, we called up Alam. He had just reached his home and was spending some quality time with his son. He won't be going on any trips for the next one week. He was going to spend it with his son instead. |
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11th October 2008, 18:35
| #59 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 40
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11th October 2008, 18:46
| #60 | |||
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kolkata
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Thanks for being an ardent follower! | |||
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