Day 4

I woke up at 5am to the sound of voices outside my window. Some of the guys were already up and around. I heard the lovely clink of a sauce pan against a mud and stone stove.

Watching the animals and birds that seem to have made Khinanauli and its surroundings their home is a fascinating pastime

I knew some lovely hot tea would be on it's way soon. I jumped out of bed, waking up fresh as always in these surroundings, got dressed and was out to welcome the refreshing tea. It is an incredible feeling there at Khinanauli, which seems to have it's thousands of resident birds and animals. To sit out and sip your tea while watching a herd of spotted deer walk past or a pair of bee eaters fly from branch to branch, is a pleasure comparable by very few other experiences.

We left for our trek at 5:30am. The plan as usual was to cover the main road well before the vehicles began moving and then move more into the interiors. We headed off in the direction of Sarapduli. The first sign of wildlife we came to on the trek was a complete family of barking deer. This was the first time I had seen such a sight. One normally always saw these solitary creatures alone or sometimes in pairs but to actually see a male, a female and their young baby all together was beautiful.

One usually is accustomed to seeing barking deer as solitary creatures

The baby was the only of the three that was not too wary of the humans walking by. It only darted into the bushes, like it's parents, once the father let out a short and sharp warning call.

It was a wonderful sight to see the herd crossing the river in the golden light

We walked along the main road all the way to High bank. The only excitement along the way was the discovery of a set of pugmarks leading up onto the road from a dry stream below. This was just a little past Ramsingh road. At High Bank, we turned off the main road and took our first short break. While sitting there and looking down at the wonderful view of the river Ramganga below, we suddenly saw some movement half a kilometer up river to the right. There, from the jungle, emerged a herd of elephants.

There were twelve in all, including some very young elephants. On a closer inspection through the binoculars, one realised the matriarch and leader had already noticed our presence. She stood there solid as a rock, staring straight in our direction, watching us, as the rest of the herd crossed the river.

Our attention from the herd was distracted by the arrival of a beautiful bright red bird on a tree right beside us. I slowly moved the camera up. It was so beautifully framed! I was just about to click when one of the younger elephants below let out a loud trumpeting sound. We all swung around to see what had happened. It was just a youngster enjoying himself in the water. I turned around to click the picture of the bird - it was gone! I cursed myself. I looked around and saw it on a distant tree. I hoped it would come closer again but took a snap from this distance for reference and memory anyway. I'm glad I did as it only flew further and further with every move from branch to branch.

The distraction from the trumpeting young elephant made me miss a great chance to get a super shot of this bird with even a 300mm lens

Looking down from High Bank provided an exciting view of the birds flying low over the water surface

It was also fascinating having an aerial view of birds, like the kingfishers, skimming over the water below. Having rested and exchanged a few stories, we descended down the hillside to the riverbed below. The first sight that greeted us there was a track of clearly visible pugmarks leading from the water to the bushes behind us. It was of a large male tiger. Tripathi thought it was the same one whose pugmarks we had traced the previous day. Some of the others disagreed. It turned out to be a bonus break for rest as these marks were also traced and one excellent print was used to mould a plaster cast. Once this was done, we began our trek once again and crossed over to the other side. The elephants were now quite close by and could be heard but not seen.

We turned left along the opposite bank and moved away from the squeals of the young elephants frolicking in the water. A little further ahead, we came upon a deep section of the river running along a sharp cliff in the hillside. The only way to carry on was to climb up the hill and descend from the other side. Having done this, we came down at a spot that we'd rested at during the 1999 tiger census. Memories flashed before my eyes of relaxing there and eating some simple but delicious food out of four banyan tree leaves hooked together to form a plate.

While climbing over the hill, we came across one point from which a large section of the riverbed below was visible. Tripathi said if a person could spend two hours in a morning at this spot, one would probably see a tiger on each occasion. Unfortunately, it isn't possible to do so. I would have to agree with him because the maximum number of tiger sightings I have had in Corbett Park was in this area called "Taulia". As we walked up to the water's edge, after having climbed down, we saw the pugmarks of the same tiger whose marks we had just traced across the river. Other than this we also came across the pugmarks of the female, whose tracks we had earlier seen at Ramsingh road. This sure was one hell of busy intersection! The helpers who had come with us seemed to be in their own world and carried on in a direction of their own, without informing the forest guys, who were quite upset by this act. This left the four of us and we decided to cross over back to the other side. There were two options. Either one crossed over at this section, where the current seemed tremendously fast or to otherwise go further upriver and cross at a calmer section. The problem there was that due to the topography there, one would have to cross from one side to the other eight times before one got back to the rest house. By the first option, we would have to cross the main water channel only once.

The brave Joshiji, decided to play scout and headed off into the swift current. I knew the episode with Ram Singh, only a couple of days old, was fresh in all their minds. I also knew that all the three with me were non-swimmers, if someone was to slip and get washed away, I would have to dive in after him. I took my camera and put it into its padded water-resistant holder. Then told everyone to hold hands to give the group stability and then cross. Joshi was already three-fourths of the way across and was signalling for everyone to follow him. I could see the tension on the other two faces. I took hold of one hand each and said, "don't you let me slip!". They laughed and we made our way across. I kept talking of how I had learned to cross streams by watching Phoolkali the ride elephant. She would lift the next leg only once she knew the previous one was firmly planted and her balance all okay. This seemed to get the others focused on doing the same and we did pretty well, considering at one point the water was gushing around our waists and even wetting us as high as the chest. Luckily the thought of the crocs that inhabit this river didn't cross any of our minds just then. Finally across, the chatter broke out and each one said, "that was nothing. See! I told you so."

The rest of the walk back to the rest house was uneventful except an alarm call from a Sambhar deer, which is considered an accurate indication of the presence of a predator in the area. An interesting monkey grabbing a quick drink at the river did however provide us with some entertainment. We also had a love refreshing drink of chilled water at a spring gushing out from among the roots of an ancient tree at "Jamun Bhuji". The water here has an amazing taste and a couple of sips is all one required to quench any amount of thirst.

This monkey did some things that were so human-like that we spent almost five minutes just watching him

After returning to Khinanauli, one took a short but well deserved rest. Then it was time to freshen up and after a lovely lunch, leave for Jhirna, where I had been stationed for the next three days. Lunch also included an explosive chutney that blew the brains out of me but I loved it so much that I made sure Joshiji told me the recipe. Listen to what one of the ingredients was and you'll know what I meant when I said explosive. Ten to twelve decent sized green chilies! Wow! As I was leaving, Nishar told me that since I was staying at Jhirna for the next few days,I should try out the route to Delhi by getting out from the gate at Kalagarh and not towards Ramnagar. The decision was made the moment I heard that this route avoids driving through Moradabad all together!! Brilliant! Best news I'd heard in a long time!

En route to the gate, I picked up my clearance from Sarapduli and bid farewell to Kamlesh and his wife. The drive out was without further incident, until I had exited the park at Dhangadi gate. A little further towards Ramnagar, I noticed the temperature needle of the car climbing beyond it's normal level. After a while, as I stopped to take a picture of the hilarious signboard I had noticed on the way in, I checked out the heating problem too. I carefully checked the radiator, keeping my face back as I opened the lid. I knew of people who had suffered severe burns from the steam that suddenly sometimes escapes on such occasions. It was totally dry!! Oops!! There was not much I could do here, so refilling it with normal water, I carried on to Ramnagar. The temperature stayed fine all the way to the park office, where I had to pick up the permit for Jhirna. Having completed the formalities there, I contemplated getting the car fixed before entering the jungle. However, if I did that, it would not be possible to reach the Lal Dhang gate before 5pm. In which case, I would have to spend the night in Ramnagar.

The aim was to make it to the Jhirna Forest Rest House and then only start the car when I had to leave 3 days later

I juggled the options in my mind as I made my way to a fuel pump to top up and also pick up some coolant and drinking water. It was just an intuition that made me pick up the bottled water because little did I realise how handy it would be once I reached the rest house. I decided to be a little more adventurous than I would advise anyone else to be. I had seen that as long as the car was running, the water level was staying quite okay but it was only once one stopped that the radiator would totally drain out and the problems would then begin.

So with my mind made up to drive to the rest house and then not touch the car until I was to leave for Delhi three days later, I set off with my heart in my mouth. What if the car broke down in the middle of the jungle, it would definitely be a very interesting night to spend alone!!

The car drove fine until the Lal Dhang gate, where I had to pay for the entrance and have my permit checked. After having done so, I checked below my stationary car. Huge puddle! I'd expected it and topped it up with water again, saving the coolant for the final leg out of the jungle, three days later. At the gate, they also told me that the other three from Bareilly had left just a few hours back. On their way in they had been a little unlucky as the last dry stream, that I had just crossed, before the gate had turned into a raging river for them following some heavy rainfall. So much so that they actually had to spend the night on the other side, after having waited for hours in vain for the water level to subside. Today, when I crossed it, there was not even a trickle! Such is the unpredictability of nature! With fees paid and fingers crossed I began my journey through this slightly less familiar jungle to the Jhirna Forest Rest House.

My baby behaved beautifully as always and I got to the rest house with no problem at all. This was despite the stupidity of me stopping midway to check out the view from the wonderful machaan. It was 5:30pm and I had made good time. After a couple of room changes, I settled comfortably into a room we had stayed in last November, when we had visited this part of the park for the very first time. This was now going to be home for the next three days. This rest house and area has no canteen or restaurant inside the park and all rations have to be carried with oneself. I however had just some snacks on me but asked the forest guys to cook a little extra for me, which I would pay them for at the end of the stay. These forest guys, who are some of the kindest souls around, uninfluenced by the selfishness of city folk, told me to stop worrying about meals and start enjoying my stay there.

I was lucky to get away without any trouble with the car despite having stopped to check out this view en route

One of the helpers there came up later and informed me that he was going to retrieve a plaster cast they had left for setting earlier that day, when they had gone for the trek with the guys from Bareilly. He didn't need to say another word. I was off in a flash with him to discover an area I had never before explored on foot. It was a short walk and we were back in an hour. Just in time to watch an incredible sunset. I met up with the rest of the forest guys and then after a lonesome meal in my room, decided to finally call it a day. I was the only person staying in the resthouse. Even the forest guys' quarters were across a small stream. So to keep myself a little company, for the first time I softly put on my little radio, which I had planned to use only as a morning alarm. There was a huge storm building up and soon I could hear nothing of the soft music. I shut it off and instead fell asleep listening to, and seeing, the louder and more dramatic wonders of nature unleashed in an all out jungle storm. I slept through most of it and woke up once only when a huge tree, unable to stand up to the howling wind any more, broke and came crashing down the hillside. The crack of it snapping was the only sound that night that was able to overshadow the booming of the thunderclaps following the bright and long streaks of lightening.

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