Day 8 – 12 : Tryst with the King of Ranthambore and back to Buribana via Delhi

We were out of the hotel in Udaipur after breakfast at 8.30 am. We were looking at a long drive of over 400 km today.

We first took NH 27 going to Jaipur– and we had rocky - hilly landscape with dry deciduous forest for the first part. We drove past Chittorgarh the original capital of the Mewar kings which was about 100 km from Udaipur. Then after 100 more kilometres at a place called Bijolia we went off this road for about 45 km through state highway 29. We then descended into a green bowl with a shimmering lake at the bottom. We drove along the base of this bowl till we joined NH 52 going towards Jaipur.

This road had lots of palash trees in bloom. The landscape was dotted with the bright orange trees. After and 25 km we branched off east on NH 148D. This was an NH but it was not a dual carriageway. The road had little traffic so maintaining a steady speed of 80 kph was not difficult. 68 km later we branched off further east onto NH 552. This too was not dual carriage way. However, Sawai Madhopur started appearing on the signage and I passed familiar names like Nainwa and Indergarh where I had visited last November. The terrain was now much less hilly and far greener. The fields were full of ripening wheat. Several fields were being harvested and were strewn with bushels. Piles of hay chips indicated threshing was also underway and we passed many tractors pulling threshers.

Soon we were in Sawaimadhopur. It had been a long drive, but it would be mostly on highways and expressways so it was smooth. The roads were good and the traffic was light. The landscape was interesting. Unfortunately, the roadside eateries were very basic. We stopped twice hoping to cool off and give the engine some rest. At one place there was just one small bottle of cold drink in the fridge and nothing else. Half the hall was filled with charpais or frame-and-tape beds with a plank placed in the middle. This particular arrangement is popular with truckers and serves both as a place to have meal followed by a quick nap. The name of the place was fancy - I forget it right now put it included the word ‘King’. The second place was called a family restaurant and was competent in very elementary sort of way. Travelling on the road is still a challenge for women even if it is only a clean toilet that you are looking for. Highways continue to be geared for truckers and the male travellers.

We reached Hotel Shani Vilas at 3.43 pm. It was among the many hotels and resorts on the road from Sawai Madhopur to the Ranthambhore National Park gate. The hotel was designed as  a modest resort with rooms and cottages arranged around lawns and a small pool. All the guests were there to visit the National Park. We had an early morning safari so we took an early dinner and went to bed to get up rested to meet the king.

Total distance travelled 409 km; Driving time - 6.30 hours;  Ave - 19 kpl.

Booking a safari on Ranthambhore is streamlined on paper as it is done online through a formal Rajasthan Forest Department website. However in practical terms I had not found any dates when I had tried booking a safari two weeks back. I had then connected with a private travel agent and they had said that they would be able to book us safaris on a Canter (an open truck), because Gypsy (open jeep) safaris were all booked. They had said they would give us the details about the vehicle and the zone allotted a day in advance. We received information about our early morning safari, and when I rang up to ask about the afternoon safari I was told to wait till the morning safari was over.

Early morning at 5.45 the canter was at our hotel gate, and we were the first passengers. Next the Canter went to a few other hotels and picked up the rest of the tourists booked for this tour. Most of the tourists were foreigners. From their conversation it became clear they were travelling as a group from England. The arrangements are quite streamlined, and at the gate of the National Park our guide did all the formalities and soon we were in the tigers territory. For the next three hours we drove high and low and saw many animals but alas no tiger. I realised that being on a safari with many others has its limitations. There are fewer possibilities of asking the driver or guide to stop and explain things that are interesting to you. It was like a conducted tour, aimed at the lowest common understanding, and in our case the guide was clearly interested in making a good impression on the foreign tourists. 

Here is a one minute video on our Ranthambore National Park visit.

I was neither surprised or disappointed since I believe a firm sighting of a tiger is only possible in a zoo. Also, some of the videos that are shared on social media show hordes of tourists crowded around the animal which does seem like an intrusion of their privacy. But I must also confess that it is also exciting to see a big animal in the wild. We have had glimpses of the tiger earlier at Sariska and Kanha, and it was quite thrilling.

Being in a forest has always been an interesting experience for both Jashodhara and me and we often go for long walks in our neighbouring forests. Bumping around in the poorly sprung Canter was not very comfortable but seeing animals and birds in the wild more than made up for it. Anyway we thought to ourselves, our luck would turn in the afternoon safari, because Ranthambhore has a high density of tigers.

Unfortunately the afternoon safari was a non-starter. When I rang up to confirm, the agent told me that they had not managed to get a booking. I realised that the private agents were all dependent upon ‘tatkal’ or ‘immediate’ bookings which were released a day in advance. Our agent had been able to secure the morning safari booking but not the afternoon one. They would refund half the money he promised us.

We now had an afternoon to kill, as well as the disappointment of a missed safari. We asked our hotel manager about alternatives, and he suggested that we could go to the Chambal river safari to see crocodiles and gharials. The Chambal National Park is a tri-state river national park on the river Chambal. Palighat, from where the safari started, was about an hours drive away and there were boats that took you around showing you the wading birds and of course the crocodiles and gharials basking in the sun.

Off we went with feeding the directions into Google maps. We went past a section of the Ranthambhore National Park and then past some villages and headed east towards Madhya Pradesh. A little before we reached the river, and we could see the river on the map, Google maps directed us to get off the road and we travelled on a dirt road right into a village. Clearly we had come to the wrong place. There was an old gentleman snoozing on his charpai in the courtyard and I went up to him and asked where the river safari boarding point was. He said we had come to the  village Palighat and the safari boarding point was further up the highway. Back we went to the highway and soon found the right turn off. Constructions for the Safari gateway were still underway. We purchased our tickets and walked down to the riverside eager to board Boat No 50.

We boarded a flatbottom boat with an outboard motor along with 10 other people and life-jackets were handed out. For the next one hour we went up the river, hugging the bank. We saw several crocodiles and birds. Then we went to a small flat in the middle of the river, and there several crocodiles and one gharial basking in the sun. When we went too close, a couple slunk into the river. Some were blasé and stayed put with their mouth wide open. Some were floating with their noses and eyes above the water. It was a calm, quiet and different experience.

Here is a one minute video on our Chambal River Safari

Our tryst with the King of Ranthambhore hadn’t materialised but the one day break at Sawaimadhopur was well worth it.

The last but final leg of the journey was from Ranthambore to Delhi. It was through the he Delhi – Sawaimadhopur section of NE 4 that we had done on our way to Goa. The drive was very  fast and smooth, and we were in India International Centre, New Delhi 2.30 pm. We had planned a day’s break for catching up with friends before we drove up to Buribana.

Sawai Madhopur to Delhi

Total distance travelled 367 km; Driving time – 4.47 hours;  Ave – 17.5 kpl.

We took it easy for the last leg back home. The route was one we took quite often when we travelled to Delhi by road. We reached home in Buribana close to 6 pm in the evening.

Delhi to Buribana

Distance travelled 367 km, time taken – 9 hours Ave – 14 kpl