[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by manolin

Hi
Is the last snap that of Trishul peak?

Yup it sure is. Next to it is the Chaukumbha peak.

Sorry for OT but couldn't resist posting this; Trishul, Chaukumbha & the tallest of them all Nanda Devi.

[issigonis]

>>>

lordofgondor,

A remarkable pic!

Apologies for the delay in posting the rest- am drowned with work.

Will restart soon. Have to select pics which are relevant to the thread, pertaining to our Corbett visit- we were there for just half a day and managed to see and trail a young male tiger during the mating season ( when they become aggressive and possibly reckless?) for about ten odd minutes.

Interesting isn't it?

Regards, drive safe

[lordofgondor]

^^^

Thanks mate! And real cool about the tiger spotting. That's so lucky and your update on the encounter is eagerly awaited.

Tell you what, even we (spouse & myself) plan to enroll our future kid in a convent in UK. Will give us another excuse to plan trips to them mountains.

[BolBolero]

Dada,
Hearty congratulations on completing this drive. Hats off to you for accomplishing most of this journey solo.
Nice captures of the Red Baron and the snowcapped peaks.
Loved the detailed trip log.
Am regretting, not accompanying you on this trip.
Next time I will not make that mistake.
Eagerly awaiting more snaps and rest of the travelogue.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by lordofgondor

^^^

Thanks mate! And real cool about the tiger spotting. That's so lucky and your update on the encounter is eagerly awaited.

Tell you what, even we (spouse & myself) plan to enroll our future kid in a convent in UK. Will give us another excuse to plan trips to them mountains.

>>>

lord of gondor,

Real long term planning, I must say. There are quite a few public schools in Uttarakhand, but far fewer convent schools, though.

Originally Posted by BolBolero

Dada,
Hearty congratulations on completing this drive. Hats off to you for accomplishing most of this journey solo.
Nice captures of the Red Baron and the snowcapped peaks.
Loved the detailed trip log.
Am regretting, not accompanying you on this trip.
Next time I will not make that mistake.
Eagerly awaiting more snaps and rest of the travelogue.

>>>

BolBolero,

Thank you for the compliments.
I did only half the journey solo, for the drive from Majkhali (Ranikhet) to New Delhi I had two children for company and for the journey from New Delhi to Bombay my daughter was there, but mostly asleep!
I was wondering if a detailed log was worth posting, but thought that some of us might just be interested in the details of petrol pumps and eateries on the way.
I am thinking of the Bombay to Sikkim drive that you are contemplating; let me see how it pans out for me, as we have time till about November to finalise.

Will post soon.

Regards, drive safe

[issigonis]

>>>

Day five, 28th December 2010, Xanadu Resort Majkhali to Tiger Camp Dhikuli.

Woke up, had a nice cup of early morning tea, packed and was ready for the day. Woke the children up and that was some task as they slept like logs for the first time after school was over. Anyway, we were packed and ready for breakfast with an interesting drive ahead of us.

I had done this Ranikhet to Tiger Camp (Dhikuli) section earlier, while being driven in an Innova in December 2007 around Christmas. In fact we were being driven from New Delhi to Majkhali on this route and I remembered that we went past Ramnagar at dusk and were driving in the dark all through till Ranikhet, and had even taken a wrong turning at Bhatronjkhan toward Chaukhutiya before we managed to find someone to direct us back to Bhatronjkhan. We had arrived in Ranikhet at almost midnight almost frozen!
I learnt later that driving at night was not permitted on this route as it is narrow and twisty.

I had a spare breakfast and asked the children to have hearty ones as it would take the time between breakfast and lunch to reach our destination.

Plan : Majkhali to Tiger Camp (Dhikuli), approximate distance 105 kms [partially NH121].


Halts :

None planned as this would be a short drive post breakfast and we expect to reach Tiger Camp in 3 1/2 - 4 hours, in time for lunch.

Socialising : None


Best section : For quick driving, after we descended the mountains, after Kumaria. There was not much traffic in the wintry morning sun, although there were a few lorries wearily making their way,impatient Mahindra and Tavera taxis and the local bikes and scooters.

Worst section : At the sections where there were virtually no road due to the monsoon, with landslips, and with barely enough space for a lorry/bus to go through.

The children promptly dozed off once I crossed Ranikhet bazaar and so there were few opportunities for taking snaps. I did take a few, when I stopped at a small roadside shrine to admire the view and for a nature break a discreet distance away.

I woke the children up to do navigation duty once past Kumaria as I wanted to zero in on Tiger Camp and not overshoot it.

Pic 22 :

My nephew - ready for the drive from Xanadu to Tiger Camp to see Corbett



Pic 23 :

The blue and the green


Pic 24 :

The icy blue merges with the heavenly blue



Pic 25 :

At home in the Himalayas - note the white dust at the rear, from the landslips


The Jetta performed true to its name and was a breeze to drive.

Finally the excel here.

Would appreciate comments from hvk and deky please, as this is their favourite route between new Delhi to Ranikhet!
28 Dec 2010 Majkhali to Corbett.xls

The Corbett experience on the 29th is coming up next.

Regards, drive safe

[deky]

OT: But I cant open the files. I am using windows XP on an old Laptop. Any ideas how to open it

Thanks

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by deky

OT: But I cant open the files. I am using windows XP on an old Laptop. Any ideas how to open it

Thanks

>>>

deky,

Windows XP is fine.
Right click on the link, open it in a new tab, scroll through the list of Windows apps to open it in Microsoft Excel (.xls).

Regards, drive safe

[deky]

Originally Posted by issigonis

>>>

deky,

Windows XP is fine.
Right click on the link, open it in a new tab, scroll through the list of Windows apps to open it in Microsoft Excel (.xls).

Regards, drive safe

Ok Thanks, managed to open it finally.

1. The roads definitely are not as good as what they used to be. From Ranikhet to Dhikuli it took you around 3 hrs 30 mnts, where as when we travelled from Ranikhet to Ramnagar it took us just about 2 hrs 15 mnts

2. Did you see any road works going on, on the way?

You have maintained a very neat and to the point trip log, I am sure it will help loads of people going there during this summer break

Waiting for the rest

regards

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by deky

Ok Thanks, managed to open it finally.

1. The roads definitely are not as good as what they used to be. From Ranikhet to Dhikuli it took you around 3 hrs 30 mnts, where as when we travelled from Ranikhet to Ramnagar it took us just about 2 hrs 15 mnts

2. Did you see any road works going on, on the way?

You have maintained a very neat and to the point trip log, I am sure it will help loads of people going there during this summer break

Waiting for the rest

regards

>>>

deky,

The roads were not too good due to the very heavy late monsoon burst and that's a fact. But honestly, I drove carefully and slowly too because I was thinking about the ground clearance, what with heaps of rubble from the landslips on the road. later I took to driving with one wheel on top of the rubble with the other wheel toward the edge/verge to avoid brushing the undercarriage. If I had driven my normal way, I might have shaved about 30 minutes easily.

No road works was going on then. But the sun was shining, the wintry air was nipping at your face, there wasn't too much of traffic : in short just the weather for some nice hot and fresh gajar ka halwa with the three distinctive flavours of gajar, desi ghee and khova ( mawa).

Am re-sizing the pics in Corbett now. Will post them soon, do bear with me.

Regards, drive safe

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by issigonis

in short just the weather for some nice hot and fresh gajar ka halwa with the three distinctive flavours of gajar, desi ghee and khova ( mawa).

Now I need to eat some Gajar ka halwa...
BTW this is the first time, I am seeing your car (can I say) dirty in that snap. Always used to see it spic-n-span

[issigonis]

>>>

Day five (continued), 28th Dec 2010, Tiger Camp, Dhikuli

We arrived in Tiger Camp at 14.47 pm, just in time for a late buffet lunch. After checking in and putting our luggage in our room we came down for lunch in a central area which is a large circular covered area.

After a substantial lunch, we repaired to our room for a well earned rest.

In the evening after tea, we were invited to a bonfire under the darkening, chilly sky to see a movie on tiger conservation which was very informative, especially for the children. I could sense some of the adults in the audience watching the movie with growing interest as they saw the evolution of young cubs into young, inexperienced but rapidly learning hunters.

Afterwards we had dinner during which we were introduced to Mr. Sumanta Ghosh, an avid conservationist who has spent years in the area educating villagers about human - animal conflict in the context of their lives and welfare tied inextricably with the sustainability of wildlife sanctuaries.

He explained the gaps in official policy and implementation which inadvertently perhaps has led to the precipitous decline of tiger population in our country, despite official, bureaucratic support.

Extremely worrying.

During dinner, a manager in the resort enquired about our activity for the morrow ( a full day safari in Corbett Tiger Reserve with a Gypsy plus driver plus a Government guide) and finalised our breakfast and lunch to be consumed between the morning and the evening safaris.

We went back to our room, and I charged the video camera and the camera, for these two would be our most important tools the next day.

The Jetta will have a rest day tomorrow.

Tiger Camp is a good, albeit expensive resort ( especially during the peak season when we visited) but well managed and maintained. I got the details of the resort from our fellow team-bhp member DKG's relative's jaunt from New Delhi to Corbett, which I happened to read most avidly early last year.

The feedback gleaned from that travelogue was as the British say, spot on.

More about our big day - a visit to Corbett Tiger Reserve, the erstwhile Ramganga National Park, erstwhile Hailey National Park soon.

Regards, drive safe, shoot (big) game but electronically

[issigonis]

Day six, 29th December 2010, Corbett Tiger Reserve

The day dawned clear and with a sharp, biting wind. Business as usual. Woke up at 5 am, got ready for going out at 6 am.

But was informed by the resort staff that during winter the gates would open a little later, at 7 am. By the time we clambered aboard our Gypsy we were already late and actually arrived at the gates to the reserve at about 7.30!

Luckily as everything had been done on paper, we were allowed in, once we were introduced to our guide Mr. Girish Chandra Tewari.

I was stationed at the back of the Gypsy with my video camera, whereas my daughter had the digicam and my nephew was armed with the binoculars, to catch all of the flora and fauna that the reserve had to offer. I wasn't particular about sighting the biggest cat of all, and considered a sighting as the proverbial icing on my sugar less cake, given whatever I had read about the adventures of Messrs Corbett and Anderson and the various enchanting travelogues by hardened veterans here on team-bhp.

I had briefed the two kids that they should simply observe and not create any disturbance by being absolutely silent and as motionless as they could be, to enjoy the moments.

The Gypsy sped off, bouncing up and down the dirt track and I had a tough time keeping both my balance and the video camera in focus. In fact I have to check whatever I have recorded there and see if it is worth while to upload it- I am a hopeless photographer.

So it was left to the children to record and observe. From here on I will let the snaps do the talking, except to highlight a point here and there. I have not edited much, because qualitatively and quantitatively there is not too much to brag about, except that we were fortunate

Pic 26

Pic 27

Pic 28

Pic 29

Pic 30

Pic 31

Pic 32

Pic 33

Pic 34

Pic 35


More coming soon.

Regards, drive safe

[issigonis]

>>>

Pics # 26 and 27 in the post above, show the deep claw marks that a tiger had made (possibly to mark its territory?).

Once we saw those, our guide's enthusiasm and blood pressure shot up and he was rattling of suggestions to our driver to direct the Gypsy where we could run in into the biggest cat of all.

We crossed a stream ( pic #32 shows a pic taken toward the rear with the rising sun sparkling though the forest) and went along some tracks, waited patiently for about ten odd minutes and then scurried off to keep track of an elephant which was trying to catch a glimpse of the tiger.

Now for some pics.

Pic 36

Hush! Pug marks


Pic 37

From a different angle


Pic 38

The elephant on its quest for the cat with its payload


Pic 39

Stolid payload -they were unlucky!



Pic 40 :

Langur in the sky



Pic 41 :

Spotted deer



Pic 42 :

Another view, is the cat nearby?


Pic 43 :

Still another


Pic 44 :

Waiting, waiting, blood thrusting


Pic 45 :

On track of the cat, again



Pic 46 :

The trail's hot


Pic 47 :

More than simply pugmarks, he has sat on its haunches here


More coming up..

Regards, drive safe

[deky]

The thrill of being with the wild is unparralleled. Its a lovely change from the normal hustle and bustle from the normal life.

Great going