[Joy]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I was lucky to be tracking MileCruncher on Google Latitude as he wend his way through the myriad rivulets and waterways of the Sunderbans - on Sep 15th - and also talk to him during the cruise! Isn't it wonderful that he had excellent mobile and GPRS connectivity throughout his cruise in the wilderness. I took some screen shots when he was on the boat and I am uploading them here to show you the region where he spent 3 days:

Great tracking, hvk. Can you shed some light how it is tracked?

Thanks.

[hvkumar]

Joy, using Google Latitude. MileCruncher and I am connected as Friends there, so we share our location details live. So, I can see him wherever he goes, and vice versa, since our respective mobiles keep updating our coordinates to Google Latitude and plot them on the Google Map.

[Joy]

Thanks hvk, will try with some friends. If I have any more queries, I will get it solved from you. Can this be expected?

Thanks once again.

[mallumowgli]

Vow, Milecruncher!! Looking forward to your tale of the journey
Going to Sunderbans is an experience in itself, unlike other forest visits. Lost deep inside the mangroves the boat maneuvring through the narrow channels, feeling rather than watching the tide rising or falling as the hours pass, knowing that there is a tiger somewhere who has probably seen you - all these are a different feeling. Didnt see the tiger when we visited a few years back, and you are not allowed into the core area of the reserve. But i think it should remain that way

[arcotsrinivas]

Nice pictures MileCruncher waiting for a detailed travelogue to come soon along with some more pictures by the way the using Google latitude in the trip is awesome just had to look of the pics which exactly pin pointed your location.

[gd1418]

Milecruncher, your last post was on 17th and after that nothing. Waiting for more pictures of the Sunderbans, the delta and some more...

[MileCruncher]

Thanks guys for the appreciation. Have been neck deep in work since my return from a 10 day holiday.

Will try to put up a bit more pictures over the weekend.

Cheers

[traveloholic]

Eagerly awaiting for your detailed travelogue Ani. Keep the pics coming.

Google Latitude is a boon in itself. I am sure, it would be very very useful on trips. This is how I forsee it to be useful as "Take for instance I am struck at a place & need either an alternate route or some idea as to what to do next?" I simply call my Google Latitude Contacts like HVK or You or someone and ask them the ideas, they already have my location before them and someone like HVK can easily guide me to the best alternate option. Google Latitude is truly a boon.

[abheekg]

Originally Posted by joe1980

But remember it is dangerous as there are real man eating Tigers on the prowl in Sunderbans.

sunderban tigers have adapted to the high salinity of the marine ecosystem.

salinity of sea water is nearly same as that of of the human body.

a large number of human attacks by tigers are a result of the tigers getting confused with the salinity of the human body.

it has got nothing to do with tigers there being man eaters.

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by abheekg

sunderban tigers have adapted to the high salinity of the marine ecosystem.

salinity of sea water is nearly same as that of of the human body.

a large number of human attacks by tigers are a result of the tigers getting confused with the salinity of the human body.

it has got nothing to do with tigers there being man eaters.

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh

Another reason is that the salinity of the water while rubbing with their wounds creates a lot of pain for the animals, due to which they are highly aggressive and always on a short fuse. So when a human transgresses in their territory, they get attacked.

[Saurabh M]

MC - Waiting for the travelogue to take off.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by abheekg

sunderban tigers have adapted to the high salinity of the marine ecosystem.

salinity of sea water is nearly same as that of of the human body.

a large number of human attacks by tigers are a result of the tigers getting confused with the salinity of the human body.

it has got nothing to do with tigers there being man eaters.

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh

Doctor, that is as yet an unconfirmed theory. From whatever I've read more researchers subscribe to the man-eater theory than tiger-eating-men-due-to-salinity theory

@joe1980 :It is not at all dangerous to visit Sunderbans because you are never allowed to set foot on the island except when visiting a watch tower, and that too is inside a secure area. Also the whole boat ride will be only through the buffer zone.
Of course IF you happen to walk through one of the adjoining villages in the dark and at the SAME time the tiger also thinks this is the right time to pay a visit to the village...then God help you!! Just kidding...rarely happens

[sarmarishi]

As far as my knowledge goes and as oer my cousin who is a naturalist and now serves at Kaziranga (earlier was in Bandipur). He says the tigers at the Suderbans have turned man-eater because of quite a few reasons. But the most apparent reasons are that it is a very difficult environment to hunt in and humans are their easiest prey. Secondly they have gotten used to eating dead bodies floating in the waters as a lot of dead bodies are released into the river as per certain customs in the East of the country. Hence they have developed a taste for it.

Ofcourse there are numerous other throries like that of salinity, etc mentioned by Dr. Ghosh. Also none of them have been proven. So most people tend to subscribe to the man-eating school of thought.

[MileCruncher]

As stated in the beginning of the thread, September is our annual holiday time and this year it was supposed to be at Andamans. But due to a last moment development, Andamans had to put on back burner. Multiple holiday options later we settled on Sundarbans mainly due to our prior commitment to visit relatives.

Our first destination on the trip was Kharagpur and we were booked by Falaknuma Express on the 10th September. Even though the day was declared as a holiday due to Id, last minute issues on the work front got wifey fuming as I hadn’t packed till 2 PM while the train was at 4. But as it generally happens with me, everything fell in place and to Bidisha’s relief we were in Station with quite some time to spare. We had booked our tickets almost 1.5 months in advance hoping that we will get a double berth cabin but lady luck had failed to smile and we were put together in 4 berth cabin with 2 elderly gentlemen. But as it turned out they were part of the contingent of Primary Education Minister of AP and wanted to be with the Minister who was put in the double cabin. So it was all settled and we moved to the double cabin while Minister with his cronies and Body Guards took the cabin for 4.

But all the excitement of travelling in 1AC were quickly subdued seeing the state of the beds and other fitments especially considering what one shells out for the ticket.






Furthermore, the moment I plugged on the lappie to finish an office task, my touchpad started behaving wonky which had me worried. This later on turned out was due to the train connection and nothing wrong with the lappie.

The route passes through some beautiful terrain and some views clicked enroute.






































After many Jhalmuris, Cutlets and Chops we reached Kharagpur amidst drizzle 1 hour delayed at 5 PM.

[BolBolero]

Keep it coming sir. You are taking way too much time!

Lovely photos taken from the train, especially the ones taken at night time.