10th – 13th of November – Agra, Delhi and home

After the last morning drive and breakfast back at the resort, we packed our bags, piled into 4 cars and drove to Katni and the train station there to take a sleeper train to Agra. The drive there we not much different that the other drives between national parks; plenty of open space and nature, and a couple of bird sightings if you paid attention. We also got to stop at a place where there were a row of large trees where we could get a clear view of a large group of bats sleeping.

Katni turned out to be a busy city but narrow roads. It wouldn’t have been too bad had it not been due to holidays which resulted in clogged roads and difficulties moving through traffic. We got to the station first, and despite the 4 cars were like stuck together for the entire drive, due to the traffic in Katni it took more than 10 minutes before the next showed up.

We had maybe 1½ hours at the station before our train would arrive. We had already been warned that trains in India can be notoriously late – several hours wasn’t unheard of. And even if it was on time departing lots of things could happen along the way so you would never really know until you arrived at your destination. It turned out that our train was delayed – but only by 10-15 minutes. The trains here are long, so getting ourselves positioned on the platform to be able to enter our carriage we had to go quite far – but as soon as we left the main building things were much less crowded so the situation improved. The general chaos on the platform was not nearly as bad as I had feared. The train rolled into the station. And rolled. And rolled. We were towards the rear of the train so we got to see all the cheap cabins/carriages pass by us (some of them were horribly crowded and made you feel claustrophobic just looking at them) before ours stopped almost right where we were standing. With a good amount of slightly chaotic rushing and piling our bags and ourselves into the train, we were ready to head north towards Agra.

We were placed in a sleeper carriage – a luxurious one, even, as it had AC and you were able to have a bit of privacy behind your curtain and it didn’t feel crowded. I ended up in a bed along one side (opposite a group of 4 beds in a cabin like you’d normally see in a sleeper train) which was definitely made for Indians. It was short enough that I had my feet out the side of the bed but just wide enough that I could be there while also having my camera bag there (it had been recommended to keep all valuables with us in the bed). Despite the not quite comfortable conditions I ended up getting a good night’s sleep on the ride, as opposed to others in the group who apparently struggled to get any sleep at all.

 

 Detailing at the Red Fort.

 

 

Arriving in Agra – on time, even – we left for the hotel where we had breakfast and deposited our bags before spending the day touring the Red Fort and Taj Mahal. Not much had changed since my last visit there but it was nice getting a refresher. Having left most of my camera equipment back at the hotel and only bringing my wide lens (recommended doing this due to security at the locations) I realized, standing at Taj Mahal, that the river passing by had amazing bird life going on, and plenty of birds that we hadn’t seen yet on the trip. Had to remind myself we were there for the buildings, not the wildlife.

 

 

We spent the night in Agra before getting on a private bus that took us back to Delhi and our hotel. Getting back I was reminded of how far away from cities we had been in the past days and weeks as the traffic chaos that met us reaching Delhi was nothing like what we had seen at all since we left almost 2 weeks ago. Goodbye quiet – hello millions of people trying to get where they need to be, dust and pollution. Returning to the hotel we had a few hours before going out for dinner and some of us ended up on the roof where we had a spectacular view of the thousands of kites in Delhi flying around and coming in to roost for the night. It was crazy seeing so many of this beautiful bird at the same time and a great end to the trip. That night I had a pickup for the airport and with an on-time departure I was homebound, giving enough time to watch Bullet Train and Nope, and still have time for a needed nap. I even had significantly more time during the layover than on the trip out resulting in far less stress.

 

Black kite.

 

And with that another amazing trip was concluded. A not so small part of the amazingness was due to the great people I traveled with. Big thanks to our guide Krishna Kumar who at all times did his utmost to get us to see as much as possible, without losing his constant high spirits. Big thanks to Phill, Kristi, Derek, Tim & Tracy, Sharon & Ian, Annette & Alan, Bev & Rod, Pam & Margaret and David & Heather for being a great group of people to travel with. I hope you had just as much fun as I did and that we may one day meet again.

Full album can be seen here.

The Jungle Book

As I mentioned in my description of my coming trip to Finland I want to do some more wildlife watching in the future and not just go running. And my trip to Finland has ended up not being the only one planned for this year.

Going to Africa I have always enjoyed looking for the cats because there is something very elegant about them. And whether you’re looking at a small house cat or a large lion on the African plains, they all have the exact same mannerisms. It’s quite funny when noticing it. But I have never seen a tiger in the wild.

That’s going to change this year.

28th – 30th of October

Flying out to Delhi, leaving morning and arriving near mid-night where I’ll check into the hotel where I’ll be staying for two nights before flying out to Nagpur where we’ll go on a 3-hour drive to Pench National Park. The full day in Delhi is the official start day for the tour so that’s when the group and guide will be meeting.

31st of October – 1st of November

The plan is to have 4 game drives in Pench NP during the following two days. Apparently this area was what was the inspiration for The Jungle Book. There are supposed to be app. 45 tigers and leopards, monkeys, deer and plenty of birds, so no risk of getting bored. That would be a bit too soon this early on the trip.

2nd – 5th of November

Transfer to Kanha National Park – a short distance but apparently a 4 hour drive. We are in no rush at all. Here we’ll be going on 5 drives trying to find any of the app. 500 tigers present in the park. Apart from tigers there are hundreds of wildlife species so we’ll have plenty to see along the way.

6th – 9th of November

Moving on, this time to Bandhavgarh National Park – a slightly longer drive of 6-7 hours. There are 60-70 tigers in the park, but due to the size of the park (or rather lack of it) it has the highest density of tigers in India. Also leopards, sloth bears, various other cats and up to 150 different kinds of birds. The 6 game drives here I suspect will be busy.

10th – 11th of November

Transfer to Katni where we’ll catch an overnight train to Agra. Getting there in the morning we’ll check into the hotel after which vi visit the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort.

12th – 13th of November

The following day we’ll be driving back to Delhi where we’ll arrive in the afternoon. The tour officially ends on the 13th after breakfast, but as I have a flight that day at 0200 (that’s AM) I’ll be leaving for the airport in the evening after we arrive at the hotel.

I am really looking forward to this trip. I have long wanted to see tigers in the wild and this is I hope will saturate that desire. It was surprisingly difficult to find a tour that only did tiger safaris; most trips included cultural stuff and days off, but wanting to solely do a safari that felt like a waste of time. Finding a tour spending two days on non-safari activities (Agra) is ok – considering we are in the relative neighborhood it would be weird not to pass by. 

I think this is going to be amazing.

23rd – The gravestone

Today was a full day free of plans according to schedule, so we were free to do what we wanted. Most of us decided it would be a good idea to spend the day in Agra to see the Taj Mahal, including me, despite it meant that we had to get up early (again).

We were picked up at the hotel and walked to the local train station a couple of minutes away. At 0600 the train departed on schedule and two hours later we arrived in Agra where we were greeted and brought to a small café where we met up with our guide for the day.

After a short coffee break we drove the few km out to Taj Mahal. Tickets were bought and we entered what I realized was a huge complex where the Taj Mahal (which is “only” a mausoleum built by the mogul emperor Shah Jahan for his third wife who died giving birth to their 14^th (!) child) is the center of attention. The area is riddled with huge gates in all four directions where one of them leads to the Taj Mahal, guest houses (“houses” is used liberally, “small palaces” would be more accurate), mosques and other various buildings.

While the Taj Mahal looks amazing on photos I don’t think they measure up to reality. This is a beautiful building with a lot of details you won’t see until you get up close. It’s a huge marble building with lots of carvings, engravings and an impressive amount of inlays. The inlays deserve special mention; the skill required to carve the marble and mount the many small different pieces of gemstones so they fit perfectly, while the end result looks fluid and organic, must be insanely high. It’s an impressive – albeit a quite narrow – skill to possess, and the result is stunning.

We had a walk around in the area, taking the obligatory shots and saw the inside of the main chamber where the wife and emperor were buried. She was buried exactly in the center, he next to her. This is the only non-symmetrical part of the entire complex and very intentional. Symmetry is perfection, and as only Allah is perfect they had to add some amount of asymmetry somewhere, and that was how they did it. We also managed a quick look of the nearby mosque and generally just taking in the views in the park. It was overall very pleasant.

I could have spent the entire day out there (as could others in the group) walking around and photographing the beautiful buildings, but unfortunately we were scheduled to leave for lunch. For lunch we visited a restaurant in a rundown part of the town, but the food was absolutely amazing. As the last real meal we have together in India this was not a bad place to finish it off.

After lunch we continued on to Agra Fort, a large fortification where 75% is still closed to the public as it is used by the military. The remaining 25% didn't make it feel small, though, on the contrary. The place was huge! Double moats and walls, large gardens and intricate craftsmanship appearing in all the buildings to name just a few features seen in the few hours we were there. It was also here Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his 3^rd son for ruining the economy by building the Taj Mahal (he even had planned a similar building in black marble). The “cell” he was confined in was a corner of the fort, beautifully decorated like the Taj Mahal itself and with a straight view to it.

Afterwards we had a small walk in the city center, which wasn't really overly inspiring. Back at the coffee shop we said our goodbyes to one of the group members who would continue on his own around in India for the next couple of weeks before going to Nepal. We returned to the train station to grab a train back to Delhi. This time it was a different train and it took us 3 hours to get back. While waiting for the slightly delayed train we were introduced to the various wildlife on the station; baboons, dogs and rats. Fun times were had!

We were back at the hotel a bit past 2200. Because we hadn't had a meal on the train despite it has said so some of us had a small dinner at the hotel’s rooftop café before retiring. To our joyous surprised they were fast at making it, and it was as usual absolutely delicious.

Tomorrow we are flying back home. We will be picked up at hell o’clock as we need to check in at almost-hell o’clock as we are flying out at way-too-early o’clock. The flight departs at 0600 and we need to be there 3 hours before, so, yeah… But it means that we will be back in Denmark already in the evening so that’s not too bad.

And back at the office Friday. Yay….

One of the entrance gates.

Taj Mahal.

The mosque to the left of Taj Mahal.

Another shot of Taj Mahal, this time from the left.

All this is carved from one piece of marble. It isn't pieces glued onto a block - it is one whole block.

The inlays. Lots and lots of this kind all over the place.

The writing is also inlays. Fun detail; the higher the writing, the bigger it is, so that when you look at it from the ground the size looks the same all the way up.

Taj Mahal as seen from Agra Fort.

The holding cell for Shah Jahan.

One of the many gardens at the fort.

Prison in foreground, Taj Mahal in the background.