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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“built on a concrete tower in the middle of the stream is a Schwammi temple. Its marooned on a rock forty feet high with ... ” |
"Have you seen many tigers outside the park?" I asked Manoj.
"Oh many times", for he was a local boy, "one time out jogging a tigress and six cubs crossed the road in front of me. It was very early in the morning." Tigers and panthers regularly leave the park and kill neighbouring dogs and goats. And herds of wild elephants cause destruction in the paddyfields. They kill villagers but no reparation is made against the protected beasts.
Today I didnt get to see tigers, elephants, sloth bears or Indian rhinos - all denizens of Corbett NP. The rain has been incessant so we've only been able to skirt the periphery of the park - see a couple of animals but something tells me Shere Khan and his compatriots are waiting out the rain in the sal forests just like the rest of us.
So we joined a small tour with Corbett Tours which said it will get us to the Jhirna gate for 700 rupees. Suresh is getting a little depressed with the rain and spent the afternoon improving his English back the hotel. So, myself and the American Eleanor climbed into the jeep driven by a Sikh who had his turban covered in polythene to protect it from the rain. We peered out of the backflap of the jeep at a wet India all around us - rivers were swollen, paddyfields overflowing and the only ones who looked happy were the wallowing buffaloes.
We didnt even reach the Jhirna gate as the road was flooded. We turned back to Ramnager we would try a different route to the north and the Corbett museum and the Schwammi Temple on the Kosi river. The Kosi river was just to the east and was massively swollen with run-off from the mountains. The burly Sikh driver was still happy to give us a good time and pointed out 'bulbuls' and 'peahens'. It was interesting to pass through the parks peripheral sal forests and gave me a taste of wild India.
Another blocked road meant we could not get to the museum and settled on the Schwammi temple. Through a set of forest is the wide Kosi river and built on a concrete tower in the middle of the stream is a Schwammi temple. Its marooned on a rock forty feet high with a set of steps leading up to it with a Krishna temple at its peak. With the mighty mountains in the background and the sal forested covered shores of the river - it was a lovley sight.
Strangely, for an hour the rain stopped. And during that hour we were able to spot troops of monkeys, peacocks and mongeese. A jackal was sitting by the road watching us - on his haunches patiently watching us leave. For that hour as well there was a chorus of frogs. For that last hour I got a glimpse of the wildlife of Corbett. Enough to make me come back and see it properly.One day I will return and see the tigers of the Himalayas.
That evening a strangely miserable Suresh talked a while. His father was a general and gets a thousand rupee pension. Hes fed up being a tourist driver, as it pays so little and wants to become a truck driver. Ramnager is the right place to do that.
He does not like Nazir as they are Kashmiris and "musselmen"
"They eat cows" according to him
"So do the British.." I countered.
"Ah yes, but they are very nice people..."
previous travel blog entry
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