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Old 16th May 2010, 12:19   #1
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Gurgaon - Jim Corbett - Ranikhet - Gurgaon: The Unsatiated Quest

The unfulfilled desire & the unsatiated quest; a basic feature of Homo Sapiens. It is different for different people. But one desire or quest is common to all. I am no exception either.

My unfulfilled desire & quest prior to this trip was to see God and the Big Cat. The first common to all Homo Sapiens including atheists, got fulfilled while the second remains not inspite of having visited different wildlife sanctuaries 7 times.

Sariska - twice, once in '82 when tigers used to roam before Sansar Chand found them.

Chilla/Rajaji - thrice, last known to have 9 tigers.

Dudhwa - once, known to have 90 tigers.

Corbett - once, known to have 164 tigers.

God, The Almighty I did find. All along He was right next to me, and I couldn't see. It took me all of 24 years of being called a husband that I suddenly achieved enlightenment. All husbands/men in relationship with woman, have seen God. Surprised and confused?

Let me explain. In my quest to see the stripes, I planned a trip to Corbett in April after my daughter's Xth Boards finished on 31st March. Corbett I had not visited and almost all of my acquaintances, who went there had a sighting. Also, as the tiger density in Corbett is quite high, a visual was ensured. After having visited jungle quite a few times, I had gathered a bit of experience and chose this month assuming that we would be able to see Stripes near water holes very often as the temperatures were soaring.

The trip to Corbett also drew inspiration from my very dear friend Suman's visit to this place almost a year back. I had nearly finalised my plans, when the old saying - "Man proposes, God disposes" rung true.

I had proposed a visit to Corbett from the 5th to 8th April, 2010, but God intervened and said that Nainitaal, Ranikhet & Almora also need to be incorporated in the itinerary. I pleaded with God, that I couldn't possibly be away from work for long and also finances were a problem. God turned a blind eye and said - you've proposed and this is what I have disposed.

All along I thought God to be a He, but it actually turned out that the woman in the Ardhanareeshwar form of God becomes dominant after a man weds and the God becomes a Goddess. In this case it was a woman who happened to be my wife of 24 years and she disposed that Nainitaal, Ranikhet & Almora also had to be in the itinerary.

I was back to the drawing board, cajoling my partners to let me go, frantically arrranging finances and doing bookings. Voila..! As God...oops Goddess had disposed, everything fell into place without a hitch and my wife, daughter & I were all set to embark on our mini-vacation on the 5th April.

The Arrangements

Suman, on his visit to Corbett had stayed at a place called Tiger Camp, that he liked a lot and highly reccommended. Using Suman's reference I got in touch with his contact person and finalised a package for 3 nights & 4 days.

Gurgaon - Jim Corbett - Ranikhet - Gurgaon: The Unsatiated Quest-tcamp.jpg

Called a friend of mine and made bookings at Ranikhet from 8th to 10th April.

Charged the batteries of D300 & Coolpix S220, checked the camera bag for any missing items, got the Scorpio checked at FNG, packed the suitcase and was all set to go.

With excitement building up, waited for D day...

To be continued......!

Last edited by gd1418 : 16th May 2010 at 12:23.
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Old 16th May 2010, 12:55   #2
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GD-sahab: Your thread title "The Unsatiated Quest" is already hinting at the fact that this is going to be another "no-tiger" Corbett trip like so many others. So did you see the Goddess' vahan, or not?
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Old 16th May 2010, 13:38   #3
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Something tells me that he did spot the vaahan. And now the thirst has increased many a times and he wants to return for more.
Just a wild guess!
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Old 16th May 2010, 14:20   #4
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Bring it on sir. I have stayed at the sister resort of Tiger Camp - Tarangi and it was great.

Pls give us the break of this cost head - Room with Food - Rs. 13560 - How many rooms and was it all meals etc.?
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Old 16th May 2010, 16:23   #5
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glued on the travelogue, was safari also part of the journey ?

Cant a person take his own 4x4 vehicle, if he wants to?
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Old 16th May 2010, 17:59   #6
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GD sir, All,

Has any body looked at Chevron hotel chain? Is it good? While I was planning my trip some time back to Naini/Ranikhet and Jim Corbett, (which finally did not materialize) I had booked this hotel chain. Any feedback on this place?

Folks sorry for the OT.
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Old 17th May 2010, 11:11   #7
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Ahhh, so finally it has started! Bring it on mate, looking forward to a deluge of pics now
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Old 17th May 2010, 12:34   #8
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Sirji, you may please post some teaser pictures atleast! Eager to know how was the trip, especially on the wildlife spotting
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Old 17th May 2010, 14:31   #9
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You need a partner like me, we could have reciprocal arrangement for such trips! bring on the deluge
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Old 17th May 2010, 15:34   #10
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I am waiting for your experience at the Chevron Rosemount. Almost finalised it for my April trip which got postponed. Would like to visit next month, work permitting. Carry on GD sir!
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Old 17th May 2010, 18:36   #11
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I had to travel hence the delay in continuing. Will resume tomorrow.

Wander, the invoice clearly mentions Room with meals - 13560. It means it was a single room with all meals...

Quote:
Originally Posted by WanderNomad View Post
Bring it on sir. I have stayed at the sister resort of Tiger Camp - Tarangi and it was great.

Pls give us the break of this cost head - Room with Food - Rs. 13560 - How many rooms and was it all meals etc.?
By safari you mean the vehicle or the jungle safari? If former then no, but if latter yes.

I think a person can take his 4x4 after getting the permission & vehicle permit from CTR, Ramnagar. But driving & photographing doesn't go together.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tanwaramit View Post
glued on the travelogue, was safari also part of the journey ?

Cant a person take his own 4x4 vehicle, if he wants to?
Chevron Rosemount, Ranikhet is a very lovely property. 134 years old heritage building. Nestled deep in the forests of Ranikhet much away from the army settlement.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ampere View Post
GD sir, All,

Has any body looked at Chevron hotel chain? Is it good? While I was planning my trip some time back to Naini/Ranikhet and Jim Corbett, (which finally did not materialize) I had booked this hotel chain. Any feedback on this place?

Folks sorry for the OT.
Ritwik, if at all I need a partner in such salubrious surroundings, I would rather opt for a PYT.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ushuaia View Post
You need a partner like me, we could have reciprocal arrangement for such trips! bring on the deluge
Quote:
Originally Posted by nkapoor777 View Post
I am waiting for your experience at the Chevron Rosemount. Almost finalised it for my April trip which got postponed. Would like to visit next month, work permitting. Carry on GD sir!
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Old 20th May 2010, 10:53   #12
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Aha waiting anxiously for this one. Update quickly Guruji.
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Old 20th May 2010, 11:05   #13
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Busy in preparing for Birthday Party
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Old 21st May 2010, 13:49   #14
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5th April, 2010

As usual my son backed out and we three regulars were left to undertake this journey. The night before I had announced that the departure would be around 4 am and that all would've to be ready with out creating a fuss.

Inspite of all efforts, we were ready to roll by 5 am. I wanted to clear the commercial tax toll at Vijainagar, Ghaziabad and the Brijghat section asap.

Bidding good-bye to my sleeping son we left for the jungle. I had planned my first pit-stop at Gajraula. Even at that early hour the Mehrauli - Gurgaon Road (NH236) had a lot of traffic. Taking the Ashram Chowk route and turning left near the DND I was on the Hapur by-pass road and cleared the commercial toll. No long lines of goods trucks fortunately. Similar was the case at Brijghat. Less said about the roads in that area, better it is.

Paid our obeisance to Ganga Maiyaa and reached Gajraula and stopped at that Sardarji's dhabha (forgetting the name) for freshening up. The name of the Dhaba is Gianis. Had a light breakfast of Butter Toast, Omelette, Tea/Coffee and we were back on the highway. Cool breeze in the morning and the Scorpio was flying. Soon we were on the Moradabad by-pass flyover and reached the point where a huge signboard said - Jim Corbett National Park - 95 Kms - U-turn to left.

Turned and immediately hit traffic. Single lane road throughout to Ramnagar. Reached Ramnagar at 10 am and slowly drove through the place. The place was crowded and saw a lot of cars parked at the CTR Ramnagar. After crossing Ramnagar we reached a place where on the left was a big iron gate that was closed and a traffic signage that said Aamdanda Gate. Now Corbett Park has 5 gates from which one can enter the forest and the Park remains open from 15th November to June 15th every year:

Jhirna--------------------Khara,Kalagarh (Open throughout the year)
Dhikala------------------ Dhangari
Domunda---------------- Durgadevi
Bijrani------------------Aamdanda
Sonanadi---------------- Vatanvasa

My bookings & permits were for entry from the Aamdanda Gate to the Bijrani Zone.

The Signboard

Gurgaon - Jim Corbett - Ranikhet - Gurgaon: The Unsatiated Quest-2381.jpg

The Entrance Gate to Mr. Stripes's Home

Gurgaon - Jim Corbett - Ranikhet - Gurgaon: The Unsatiated Quest-2375.jpg

Gate opened to allow the visitor to leave

Gurgaon - Jim Corbett - Ranikhet - Gurgaon: The Unsatiated Quest-2379.jpg

Gurgaon - Jim Corbett - Ranikhet - Gurgaon: The Unsatiated Quest-2380.jpg

A brief digression - it is not necessary that your life partner or siblings share the same passion & interests as you do; if they do, then you are very very lucky. Hence like drinking & driving don't mix, similarly driving and photographing don't go together. Since I'm the driver as well as the photographer, many a times a good picture is missed since I can't do both and my co-passengers don't see what I see.

Hit a single lane road flanked by forest on both the sides, where signboards proclaimed - wild animal crossing corridor, drive slow and don't honk. Well, well, the other vehicles behind me and coming from the other sides were honking away to glory.

The mobile signals vanished in this patch of road and as soon this ended, we started seeing hotels/motels & resorts on the right side and the forest on the left side and cell phone signals too returned. Drove along many resorts and elephant sheds and saw a yellow board ahead that said - Tiger Camp.

We had reached our hotel & destination and watch showed 10:45 am. A distance of approx 300 kms covered in 5:50 hrs.

Average speed - 90kmph
FE - 10.55 kmpl with AC

To be continued.....!

Last edited by gd1418 : 21st May 2010 at 13:57.
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Old 21st May 2010, 13:57   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gd1418 View Post
reached Gajraula and stopped at that Sardarji's dhabha (forgetting the name) for freshening up. Had a light breakfast of Butter Toast, Omelette, Tea/Coffee and we were back on the highway.
Giani's?

Light breakfast? How many eggs & how many slices of buttered toast??
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