Day Seven

I woke up at 5am and was ready to leave by 5:30am. I went down to inspect the car and to my horror saw that I had been stupid enough not only to leave the key in the ignition but also on the "on" position. I couldn't believe I had done that! The intoxicating scent of all those melons in the car must have gone to my brain! The battery was temporarily discharged and the car wouldn't start without a push. Luckily, I was parked only 15 feet from where the track sloped down quite steeply and I jump started the car here. This also saved me from having to deal with the embarrassment of having the forest guys bidding farewell to me with a push to the car. I kept the car running as I said my good-byes and also left a little "something" for all the guys who had been so amazingly helpful. I left the rest house at sharp 6am.

This was my last drive through the forest for this trip and the usual sinking feeling of returning to the chaos of city life began to creep in. I had to drive down the same main track we'd trekked on my first day here and was only twenty minutes down it, when the jungle gave me my last shot of excitement as a farewell. I had already been noticing some elephant footprints on the track but thought they must have been made during the night. I was totally wrong! As I glanced to look at a grassland I was passing to my left, I got a shock to see a tusker in the middle of it.

This guy seemed in a mighty big hurry to get somewhere!!

The shock was not to see the tusker but to see it running in the same direction as me and also at almost the same speed. I wondered if the sound of the car had scared or upset him. I stopped to take a photograph and then watched him exit the grassland and disappear into the forest. I resumed my journey wondering why an elephant would be frightened so much by the sound of a car.

Wrong again! He wasn't frightened! He was trying to cut me off! As I came around a bend in the road, there he was! Standing bang in the middle of the track with his ears spread and head lowered. He trumpeted loudly and took his first aggressive step towards me. I could tell this was no mock charge and quickly switched into reverse gear. He was already just 15 feet from me but I could feel I was getting away from him. I knew there would be no gear changes for a while and it would be all reverse for the moment. So moving my left hand over to the steering, I held the camera out of the window with my right one. Remember we have right hand drive cars in India. I took my eyes of the track for a flash and looked in front to see if the beast was still after me.

I managed this lucky shot with my hand outside the window as I reversed to get away from him!!

He was! I had gained a little ground on him and although he was still coming at me, he was now just around the bend. I was almost too! Figuratively! I turned back and swung the steering just in time to avoid going off the track and into the trees. I clicked off a few snaps from outside the window in the general direction as the heated chase carried on. I was back at the long straight stretch running along the grassland and I now put some decent distance between me and the mischievous giant. Finally, he stopped.

I stopped the car and waited to see what his next move would be. Luckily, after watching me for what seemed like an eternity, he moved off the track and back into the grassland in which I had originally seen him. I waited for him to move a little further in but he stopped only some thirty yards off the track. I remembered Tripathi's advise of never taking a chance if an elephant is facing the track but not to worry too much if it was facing away. I waited from him to turn away and then slowly rolled forward, not wanting to agitate him again. He obviously was not in a very good mood because as I was just about to roll past where he'd stepped off the track he suddenly again swung around. I'd had enough of this guy and floored the pedal. That was the last I saw of him and half a kilometer down the track I resumed moving at a normal pace. I arrived at the Kalagarh gate at 7am only to find it surprisingly unmanned. Or I should say "unwomanned" as there had been a lady in-charge when we'd passed through the previous day. I got out and was even more surprised to find the gate was unlocked. I let myself out and headed off to Delhi.

I even had this little girl make me some delicious fresh orange while I waited at a railway crossing

The route was amazing! It was quite smooth, with less traffic and the main thing was it made you avoid Moradabad and also came out on the opposite side of Gajraula. I even had some delicious fruit juice while waiting at a railway crossing. It was made by a little girl who decided to keep her father's business going while he was away buying more fruit. I couldn't believe it when I looked at the watch as I parked in the familiar surroundings of my home in Noida.

It was 10:45am!! Wow!! What a great way to end an absolutely incredible trip!

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