INDIA 2010 : Tigers, Trains and Temples

Nov 15 – We spent a wonderful few hours at the Ranthambhore Fort this morning. Standing 481 meters high, this hill fort was built in 944AD and is 7 1/2 square kilometers in size encompassing 27 temples, 1 palace and 5 lakes. At its peak it held 20,000 people!

We made the slow and steady climb to the top pausing often for photos, birds and to listen to Pankaj explaining the history, the reason for the gates, or architecture. On the way up we stopped for a Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher and a pair of Painted Spurfowl (above) that Arden spotted.

Once we were through the seventh gate we were officially inside the fort. The view from the top is magnificent, giving us a bird’s eye view of the lakes and vastness of the park. From way up here Vicki spotted a tiger! For 15 minutes we watched it walk the grasslands on the far side of Lake Padam before crossing the lake at its narrowest point. Once on the other side it worked its way around the lake towards our direction. On this stretch we could see it make a half-hearted attempt at Chital, who were well aware of its presence. Much to Sherry’s dismay we were not amongst the canters (above) that we could see had positioned themselves in about as perfect a spot to watch the last bit of the event unfold. What a different perspective. It was hard to top that sighting!

As we worked our way towards the Ganesh Temple we looked into the first tank (lake) and watched a Ruddy Shelduck bank and land in the water. We climbed the steps to the 32 Pillar “Chatri” (above) built in 1276. Chatri is a hindu word for umbrella, in this case a large dome on pillars. Along the way we picked up a couple of new birds, these being a Golden Oriole and a male Crested Bunting Eric found preening in tall grasses. At the Ganesh Temple, we were each given a marigold lei, with most of the group visiting and making an offering in the temple. The walk back is often perilous as the langur are very fond of the marigold lei’s. In fact one monkey did manage to rip a handful from Janis’ neck.

As expected our train was about a half hour late. This gave us ample time to get to know many of the others on the platform who where fascinated by a small group of birders. We felt like rock stars as we attracted about a small crowd of 40 people with more clamoring over the railings of the stairs leading to a skywalk. As the Golden Express approached the Sawai Madhopur platform – the coaches bore the names luggage, pantry, third, second…….through the barred windows we could see people packed into the carriage and at the doors 4 or 5 hanging on. Somehow I’m sure there was room for 1 or 2 more…sleeper, of which there were many, was our coach, we just had to find the right numbered one for our ticket! Once inside we opened a doorway to a narrow corridor that led through the carriage. A larger compartment was to our left with four beds perpendicular to the hallway and two beds to our right running parallel. These seats are books many many months in advance and trying to get seats for group either together or better still on the lower level beds (which double as a bench seat) is next to impossible. With the help of very nice young man who was traveling with his parents, and who worked for Morgan Stanley in Mumbai, we were able to shuffle people around and join them in their compartment.

Two and a half hours later, and at the fourth stop, Bharatpur Junction (above), we got off. On the platform we were warmly greeted by our bus driver and Gagdish, our guide for the next 5 days. While many of the natives opted to cross the half dozen tracks and 3 platforms to the station exit, we took the skywalk over the top!

If you thought that birding rubbish dumps and sewer ponds was something only birders did, real birders do the public combined version of both of these in this country! While it may not win any aesthetic award, a short walk along the “canal” did produce Spotted Redshank, both male and female Painted Snipe (above), White-eared Bulbul and Red Avadavat.

As a perfect orange sun slipped over the busy town of Bharatpur we pulled into The Bagh for our next extended stay of the trip.