Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sariska- Bhangarh trip


PART- 1 (12th March,2011)



Near a dhaba in Gurgaon


The Wanderers(from left.. Manmohan, Sam, Bala, Paliwal,Babu,Dipesh, Amitabh)

It was time for our first Bike trip. This time around we decided to visit Sariska Tiger Reserve. At a modest distance of 220 km from Delhi it was perfect for our first bike adventure. 8 of us and 4 bikes. We started at 6am and decided to take the Delhi- Gurgaon- NH8- Dharuhera- Alwar- Sariska route. And off we were........ We stopped in between a few times for our meals, suttas and sip of water. We were enthralled by the beauty of the Aravallis which lined almost our entire route. Perfect metalled roads added to the fun and we reached Sariska at around 2 pm. Bikes and other personal conveyances are allowed to enter the reserve on tuesdays and saturdays. So we booked tickets and decided to explore the forest on our bikes. We were unaware of things to come.....


Inside the forest




Sariska has very rich variety of deer. We spotter Sambar, cheetal, antelopes, nilgai. And also peacocks everywhere. A visual delight. We were heading towards Pandupol,21 kms inside the forest to visit the Hanuman temple. But then midway the unexpected happened. One of the bikes had a flat tyre. There was no repair option inside the forest. Thanx to Bala's tool kit we could open the tyre and Babu and Bala took it outside the forest for repair. But the rest of us decided to wait near the bike until they returned. After sometime Sam and Dipesh heard roars from behind us. The rest of us laughed it off as the sound of a plane. With just 5 tigers over an area of 881 sq. km its an impossibility to have a tiger around in such open. We continued waiting



Then the rangers came and confronted us that it was risky to stay in the open and it was getting dark. We decided to load the bike on their van and take it to the check post. I and Paliwal decided to follow the van on our bikes... As soon as we crossed the Kalighati check post the van screeched to a halt on hearing the sambars giving out alarm calls. The rangers frantically started looking leftwards towards the bushes. And my oh my. It was the KING himself. Cold sweat on my forehead, goosebumps and heart in my mouth would be insufficient to explain that feeling. The black and yellow stripes visible through the tall grass, the graceful and audacious walk. Feeling scared to stay longer there we mounted our bikes and rushed back to the main check post.... It was unfortunate that only i and sam could have the sight and decided to take the gypsy safari again the next day. We lodged in a small motel nearby. Watched the India-SA match and
dozed off in anticipation of an even exciting day to follow.

1 comment:

Suresh Paliwal said...

It was a awesome adventures bike trip , we have ever had.
4 bikes, 8 riders and target was sariska and bhangarh.
fun, adventure,tiredness , enthusiasm and excitement ,everything was there.experience to see tiger at a mere 5-10 ft distance was awesome.