A jungle safari in Jim Corbett Park

 We left for the jungle safari in an open jeep at six in the morning when the temperature was at six degrees. It was  bone chilling cold and dark. However as we neared the park around quarter to seven it became light. The total park has an area of 1300km.of forest area with 488 species of trees. One can see hill locks, marshy lands, rivers and thick forest areas. The forest is divided into three areas. The first is a buffer area ehenere villages are established the the people in these areas use the products of the forests. Next to this is the touristic zone where one can travel only with a Government permit in a forest jeep and with a forest guide. After this is the core area where the public is not allowed. The whole park is divided into various areas such as Dhikala, Bijrani, Hhirna, Durg Devi. We got the pass to go to the Hhirna area. Only thirty jeeps are allowed in a n area at one time. We were not lucky enough to spot a tiger but saw plenty of deers, Antelope, elephants and deers. I have been to many safaris in Africa and seen many wild animals from close quarters. However those forests are very different from the Uttarakhand forests. The pollution free air, the sounds and sights of the forests are a treat.

Jin Corbett Resort

 The resorts in Jim Corbett National Park, in Nainital District of Uttarakhand are a new addition to the landscape. This park is one of the oldest wild life  park in India. Established in 1936, to protect the endangered Bengal tiger it was earlier called the Hailey Park. As a child when I visited this area many times in 1962 or 1963, visiting relatives in Dhikala, Bailpadao, Ramnagar, I remember only huge forests covering the area. I have some memories of visiting a very well to do uncle who was a big landlord of the area and  had big orchards of mangoes and licchis around the area. Their house had a lot of tusks of  wild animals kept in the drawing room and through a child's eye, this room fascinated me and also created some fear of the wild. They were known to enjoy hunting as a pass time. Except their huge mansion like house, I only remember villages and small hamlets surrounding the area. The forests were not open to the public but I am not sure about this, for it was never a turistic place and I never heard of others except friends invited to hunting parties visiting the forest area. Today, the forests are an open space and open to public. This has resulted in the area being  dotted with beautiful resorts. They provide modern amenities in a wild landscape. The resort where we are staying has a swimming pool, a huge dinning room and lots of open spaces. There  are various cottages  surrounding the pool and we are in one of the cottages. The rooms are  very ethnically decorated with cane furniture, where the beds, sofas, chairs, tables, mirror frames are all made of cane.  I am very happy to see the development of this region and the various tourists coming to this place. Uttarakhand has a lot of scope for tourism. Till now the emphasis has only been on pilgrimage tourism. Wild life tourism can be explored and what better place than Jim Corbett Park.

Jim Corbett Falls

On the road from Nainital to Ramnagar at Kaladhungi Road is the Jim Corbett falls. Amidst a lush green forest one has to walk about two kilometres . One can admire the jungle and enjoy the teak forest as we walk and suddenly behind a big rock a natural waterfall emerges. When we reached here the whole area was deserted with out any tourists. The walkways looked almost like they were abroad. Slowly as we wound our way up the hill, we could see tourist buses coming and many tourists getting down.

Good Bye London

 A London good bye dinner. We decided to treat ourselves to a Turkish dinner a day before we leave London and spend the next day  packing and resting. I do not think I have walked this much in India in the past two years as I have done in London. So, London, good bye it is.

Stonehenge

 Stonehenge is the ultimate historical mystery that has baffled many and till today we are not sure about the details of this  and many theories propound. Built on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, this is the largest human made circle of erected stones. This consists of thirty stones in an outer circle in a horse shoe shape and the stones are called Sarsens. Inside is an inner circle and then an outer circle called blue sarsens. The lightest stones weigh 3600 kg. and the heaviest one weigh 22 tons which is equalent to the weight of four African Elephants. These stones were brought from 32 km.and 225 km.from Wales and this is a mystery as to how they were brought and for what purpose. Some say they were dragged  through wooden made sledges and other say through wooden rafts flown across the river.The next mystery is that after being brought here, how were they made to stand. It is believed that a deep hole was dug and using wedges and ropes these stones were then made to stand erect. The very imagination of this boggles one's mind and this looks beyond one's imagination and one is no longer sure. However, what is known that all this was built in about 1000 years in several stages. Most probably all this began about 5000 years back as a simple earth work enclosure where pre historic people buried their cremated dead. The stone circle as per carbon dating is said to have begun around 2500 years in the late Neolithic period. Some theories propound that this was for measuring time with the shadows falling on earth, some say this was a healing place where early period people came for healing, to some this is a ritualistic place and others think it is a burial place. What ever the reason, it continues raise the awe factor and attract a large number of people. Even today on Summer Solstice, 21st June where the sun is at the highest point, 15,000 to 20,000 people gather at this site to observe the sunrise, which is said to be really beautiful. The first rays of sun fall on the Heel Stone a single stone that stands outside the main circle of rocks. However, I had visited this site earlier in 2005 or 2006, when I was in Bristol and had rented a room with a British Lady. Her son and his friend had  come down from London and we had driven to this place. It was empty, there were no tickets and I am sure, I have a face book post some where or at least pictures, where we went inside, touched the stones and took pictures standing next to these stones. My only memory is that there was a lot of cow dung around and we had to be very careful where we were stepping but we went around taking a number of pictures standing near each stone and looking like pygmies. We were the only four people in the place. I have a very vivid memory of this visit  for on our way back they decided they wanted to eat Indian cuisine for they loved Indian food and were looking for an Indian restaurant.  I had then suggested to  them that if they help, I would cook a meal which  would be better than the restaurant for here ever Indian restaurant (be it of a Pakistani, Ceylonese or Bangla desi, they all called it Indian and add a lot of sugar in dishes). They very haapily drove me to the market, we shopped and there was so much excitement in learning to cook an Indian meal. To me what was needed was a lot of onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and each dish was done in a similar fashion. The two boys had helped in cutting, peeling, crushing and we did indeed have a wonderful Indian vegetarian meal with Lassi added minus Haldi, which I could not find in the market. Every one had enjoyed the meal very much and the son had also noted down some Indian recipes and told me he would cook them back home. However, today, when we visited this site in 2019,there were thousands of tourists, we had to buy tickets, buses took us to the spot and the whole area is cardoned off and we cannot go near the stones. May be this is required to protect this cultural heritage for posterity. But this site always raises a lot of curiosity and one wonders as to how the earlier humans managed to drag these stones to this distance and place them erect.

London Underground Trains

 The underground Tube trains will always remain a lasting memory of London and the reason why this is my most preferred travel destination in the world. Travel in and around London is so easy due to the Trains. We have a similar system in Paris but not knowing French and the accent was do different that I could not really get to know this or feel completely at ease during my travel in Paris. Even in the US the public transport is very bad and one has to depend on children to take you around especially in the outskirts. In London, one has total independence to travel and I am amazed at this network of trains. Like many other firsts, this is the first railway network laid down in the world. The first proposal for this was laid in 1830 but it did not have many takers and the proposal to have a central rail was soon rejected. As the population of London was increasing and many people commuting and coming into London, Charles Pearson again put up this proposal in 1853 and the first New Metropolitan line was set up from Farrington to King Cross. Slowly many were added and today there is a network of so many lines, Picadelli line, Circle line, Jubilee line, Victoria line and we have traveled extensively on it. There are maps in the station and on trains with routes and an announcement tells you which station is coming next and which side the door would open and the most famous one liners, Please mind the gap. It is slightly expensive but very convenient. We get an Oyster card which we paid some thing like 112 pounds for two for a week and once the money is over you refill it with 20 to 25 pound each, which for us lasted a week and you can keep refilling it and we did this five times during our stay. Each station is spick and span and even from my memory of 2005, I don't think not find any wear and tear in the seats or stations. My hats off to the upkeep and maintenance and also to the population that respects these and owns these as their own. I saw a gentleman eating from a box in one of the trains and felt little bad that he was keeping the boxes below his seat. However, when he got up to leave the train, he picked up the boxes and carried them in his hand to be thrown in the Trash bins outside. I picked up a News paper few weeks back and unfortunately did not see the name of the paper and thought I kept looking at many papers after this, I could not find this column.This column was titled, Tube Crushes or some such thing and many people had sent in their write up and it brings a smile. Sample this, she was the most gorgeous blond that I ever laid eyes on and as she spoke on her phone, I fell in love with that husky voice. Another wrote, she wore the most striking skirt and when I sneezed, your bless you, rings in my ears. Another wrote, I can keep travelling up and down this route just hoping you will again get into this train. The most charming personality that I have come across. Indeed travel in London with in the city is so easy and there are different trains for travelers going out of London and we have been in a large number of these traveling a lot with in London and outside it.