"3 Banjaare" on astonishing expedition into Seven Sisters's Land from Bangalore - 5
March 15, 2017
The day got started with 5.30 am after a cold night when Mr. Tarzan had taken over all the responsibilities from Mrs. Tarzan that day and was watching her sleep for couple of minutes before finally waking her so that they can be at the Bagori range of Kaziranga National Park by 6:15 am at Bagori range merely 12 km away. She was feeling better than a day ago but still feverish and anyways the enthusiasm to visit a new place was more and that was energizing her.
Mr. Tarzan had already enquired with the manager about safari the previous day after dinner and decided along with Mrs. Tarzan about the time for Safari and rest of the plan. Mrs. Tarzan had already sketched the plans for him to execute in smoother manner. She had already decided much before starting from Bangalore to have an elephant safari and that too in Western range which ended her to choose this government stay. One reason for elephant safari was that she wanted to have an experience of elephant ride along with Mr. Tarzan, and the other reason was that she wanted to see the Rhinos more closely which was best possible while seated on an elephant.
Mr. Tarzan had greeted her morning with a hot cup of tea and then immediately pulled her as she finished to get going, as he didn’t want to be late for their first encounter with the rhinos.
They better hurried up and Cheetah was reading “3146.6” at 6:10 am when it was turned on. The sun was peeking out slowly from the clouds in the morning glory when they were coming out of the bunch of resorts nearby, the whole path being surrounded with greenery before merging with the highway.
Kaziranga National Park is divided into zones; primarily western, central, eastern and each have its own speciality. One can spot more of birds and lesser Rhinos along with the wildlife in the eastern range of Agoratoli ; while the western range in Bagori has both the migratory birds and other wildlife with lot of Rhinos ; and Central range of Kohora has lot of Rhinos and if you are lucky you can also see tiger.
Mrs. Tarzan chose Bagori range for elephant ride and close proximity with no. of rhinos, with a thought of a Jeep safari in Central range for having slight chances of tiger sighting along with Rhinos. Central range also offers Elephant safari but not the eastern range. You can see tiger at some other national parks but Rhinos are only found in Kaziranga so Mrs. Tarzan was going there primarily for Rhinos.
As they were approaching the Western range they can cherish green tea estates on both sides of the road which Mr. Tarzan did not realize while running on the same road the previous evening due to darkness. However, Mrs. Tarzan already knew as she had the route and map and the reviews all fed into her mind but she missed it in the evening, so she held go-pro in her own hands keeping it on radar to record a better view, and probably was longing to spot some Rhinos there ...ha ha ...what a wish !!
Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan were full of enthusiasm to see the Rhinos for the first time that when they saw the entrance of the Western range recollecting it from last night, overlooked it only to miss it and went ahead a couple of kms only to take a U-turn. The entrance was flocked with numerous people and several jeeps lined for a Jeep Safari to be open. It was a big ground with enough parking space on the right while on the left were a couple of tea and snacks shop lead by a ticket and information facility. The ticket cost for elephant safari was Rs. 875 per head.
After getting down Mr. Tarzan met the guide and proceeded to get ticket while Mrs. Tarzan suddenly realized that she forgot to put on her shoes. She returned back to put them on and then followed the directions along with Mr. Tarzan to get near the boarding point for safari which was a good 500-700 m from the parking. They were entering the woods with taller trees getting bit denser with the distance, after crossing a comparatively huge water body with a bridge for enthusiastic travelers to get to the other side of the woods, which felt soothing in gentle breeze as if it was connecting one species residing in green woods to another species coming for concrete jungle.
After good morning walk there came a tall platform or rather an elephant-station to climb over the elephants. The elephants would arrive like a jungle cab keeping the left side close to the platform, open the door(read as latch) to drop down 2 passengers, then turn to the right side and repeat same process, pick up 2 passengers and shut the door, again turn to the left and then pick up another 2 of them and leave. Watching the elephants waiting in queue to drop and pickup illustrative as professional cab service at airport gave them goosebumps already.
They climbed on the platform with a flight of stairs and looked down to noticed people around, especially the kids who were buying bananas and feeding the elephants as tips when they returned from a trip. In a few mins Mr. and Mrs’ Tarzan’s turn came and they slipped into their jungle ride with pleasure. It was first hand experience of elephant ride for them and it felt comparatively better and comfortable. Being already experienced of camel ride at Jaisalmer for half an hour they had seen the worst side effects of the adventure and were prepared to see what happens in case of elephant as a ride. Mr. Tarzan took out goPro to capture his homecoming in his natural habitat… wink wink !!
The Mahaut was guiding his elephant well to follow defined route through the mesh of wood ending into vast open area with lot of bushes and mushy ground. This guy could locate a few Rhinos at distance and also showed them deer but all they could see were tiny dots. Very carefully he was guiding the elephant on easiest path to follow.
There were rhinos all over with their family and friends. This guy took his elephant nearer at comfortable distance to let them have a nice picture. It is the first they were seeing Rhino so close and adore its look at Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan. There was this Rhino who was so big and looked so heavy, probably got habitual of people visiting them it showed no sign of being aware of human presence. They went near to several rhinos, some were on their morning walk lazily and some were having their breakfast. Mrs. Tarzan was trying to capture one rhino while he was grazing, but several rhinos were so shy that sensing somebody approaching them they would turn their backs and as the elephant would move they would also move with their backs towards Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan. However one rhino who was side facing to them turned around to have a glance, with straw in its mouth looked as if it was smoking a pipe and was caught red handed.
On the way the Mahaut would also point to some more deers, wild buffaloes, migratory birds and other animals and would also take them nearer so that they can watch without disturbing the animals in their home.
As they were passing by a huge bush Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan located two wild buffaloes locking their horns but had stopped while they were passing by giving them amazed looks wondering who these new creatures are . At some distance, there was a cock digging his treasure in the ground, and then at an opposite side there was eagle sitting on top of the tree.
They also spotted one baby rhino and tried to capture it but immediately mama rhino came along and being protective tried to move fast to get past them, so the Mahaut didn’t go near them not to make them uncomfortable letting Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan appreciate his gesture and capture the baby from a distance.
They were now moving along a big lake where the Mahaut showed rhinos at opposite side. There were several birds spread all over the bank which looked like flies to Mrs. Tarzan.
The Mahaut was a very talkative guy matching with Mrs. Tarzan, sensing which he told several stories and his encounters in the jungle to his very much interested audience. He mentioned that rhinos are very strong that even 2 elephants are not enough to take over it so elephant riders should be careful not to induce any anger or discomfort to them. Mrs. Tarzan as expected wouldn’t stop talking and asked about his home, his experience, his elephant and so on. He felt pleasure about being asked about himself, probably no one takes much interest in such information and went on telling about his village and family. His village has few more young boys like him who also have elephants whom they train and take care of during off season, and would return here for business in the season. It becomes too dangerous and there is too much water during rainy season that it floods massively costing lives in this national park. Wish that something can be done with floods here in Assam as every year due to floods each of the species face several issues and casualties. He also told that his elephant is female as taming females are easier and they would pay more attention to the commands and act more responsible in the environment, listening to this Mrs. Tarzan grinned ear to ear squinting at Mr. Tarzan who was smiling in his same usual way.
It was already around an hour hence they had to start going back by a round trip encircling the area and leading towards the direction of huge swamp lit by the golden sun. There were fellow elephants with their riders at a distance, all returning back. At some distance they noticed something different in the mush and by then Mahaut told it's a Rhino. Looking carefully Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan could make out there was this lazy rhino in the mud, whose color was also muddy and due to water it became dark muddy for a few centimeters till the mark where it was merged in water. Only its eyes and horn were outside with a slanting little portion of its back, looking as perfect version of Mr. Tarzan on the couch !!
While Mr. Tarzan was smiling at his version, one Mahaut tried to move him by throwing stones. Looking at this, other people yelled at him not to disturb but he kept doing so making this rhino stand up and move. Feels so pathetic when one living being doesn’t respect and understand the necessity of the other living being.
Along with Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan’s their Mahaut was so furious with such behavior and he also shouted at that guy. They both really liked him for his goodness and his willingness to stop what is wrong around him. He then also shared with them that rhinos are very quiet by nature but if one provokes them then he is dead. Going on with his narration, he told about a cranky guy for whom he was riding had made lot of noise and was arrogant to hit the rhino showing his superiority which irritated the rhino to attack and trying to climb on elephant, later joined by another rhinos as well. But this mahaut showed presence of mind and ensured that they are on top of elephant at all time to ensure more safety tried his best to save this fellow and get out from there. He also mentioned that sometimes tigers also roam around but usually they visit here at night. He pointed at a skull lying in the bushes and told that it is tiger’s work.
Mrs. Tarzan was amazed to see such a bonding between them.
The Mahaut also understood that the elephant got tired and was also pepping up occasionally to reach the platform-station soon so that after dropping them it can relax for some time. After getting down Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan thanked this man and also took couple of pictures on the way.
They returned back to the jungle lodge at around 8:15 am to have some tea and breakfast before saying bye to Kaziranga. Mrs. Tarzan had ordered puri for Mr. Tarzan for his love for puri. They did Checkout at 9:15 am under full sunshine to Tezpur from where it leads to Tawang, the star attraction of the trip.
They were again going amid tea estates till they were near to Tezpur. After traveling for 63 kms they reached the majestic Brahmaputra and were about to cross a bridge which Mrs. Tarzan spotted from a distance and yelled it is “Kalia bhomora Setu”, a major connector to the upper half of North east India. They just slowed down for a fraction of second to take a picture but immediately noticed that this bridge is well guarded. They thought it's better to stop and take a quick pic not airing any suspicion. From the bridge, one can admire the vegetation and houses at the bank and a lot of boats as you look down.The bridge was really long and you can’t differentiate its end at once while they were moving on it and then slowly slipped into Tezpur.
Tezpur is the biggest place where you can get all major stuffs before heading on to Arunachal. As they moved on the highway, they noticed a huge petrol pump and also a kind of service station named “MS Lahkar” that provided service to the tiresome soldiers (vehicles) who are heading for taking up the challenge of the mountains. This is one stop place for all kind of needs for those who feed on oil to edibles. Mr. and Mrs. also had a pull over and fed Cheetah, then moved on the mountains waiting to welcome them.
The road was good till Balipara when they had covered around 96 km of the journey. From here there is a diversion on left to Bhalukpong situated around 36 km from here, which is a tourist hub for Nameri National Park and the view similar to Kashmir valley. All the way they were playing hide and seek with Kameng river flowing parallel to them which would hide in green valley at times. Mrs. Tarzan was wishing if they had extra day to spend here.
At Bhalukpong, they entered first checkpost for Arunachal where you need to enter your details and submit a copy of ILP to enter the state. This is one of the circuit which can be covered in single ILP. There are few guest houses as well if you want to halt and enjoy majestic nature or Nameri National Park.
Very soon we were in Tippi after driving for around 5 kms and then there was an orchid research centre on the right opposite to a big pothole to which Mrs. Tarzan looked at with pleading eyes to Mr. Tarzan.
He went inside to enquire if it is open as it was lunch hours and as expected no one was around. They thought perhaps not a good idea to enter but considering Mrs. Tarzan’s love for flowers Tarzan peeped inside. Quickly one guy came out wondering who these nomads are and visiting orchids in such a season and handed over the booklet sharing quick details on orchids. Well, there are various kind of orchids and they do have season. Best season when one can see most species is winter months while some of them bloom all year. There were several glasshouses housing the orchids while some of them were under cultivation or research in an open area, both separated by a wide enough road, while the museum stood at the end. On the right, there was another pathway leading to smaller cabin like structures housing various species and also a pitcher plant !!
Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan could see several varieties of orchids and also visited the museum, read about them, laughed at their cute resemblances with animals or figures. They were the solo owner of that place and captured several orchids in their habitat through their lenses and bidded farewell until they come back in some winter.
By then, already waves of hunger growing inside Mrs. Tarzan and she asked Mr. Tarzan for food. As expected, she was asked to wait till Mr. Tarzan finds some good eatery which she supposed to be a rare case. From there, the road was broken and turned rough that they were hardly going at 15-20 kms per hour. In an hour they crossed Sessa which was around 20km from there and had very attractive sculptures at the entrance of Orchid Sanctuary. Having hungry belly and knowing that there won’t be much orchids in summer Mrs. Tarzan shaked her head in no and asked to move ahead instead of another stoppage.
As the road was getting rough the beauty of the valley was enchanting and Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan was enjoying it along with melodious numbers while going dead slow. There were very bad to worst road in whole stretch and construction was in full swing at some stretches when they touched backbone highway NH13 connecting Tawang from rest of the eastern part of the state . In a way they were happy to see such progress. At one place they were literally unmovable and stuck for half an hour due to Jam, funny but true even with a handful of vehicles. Every now and then the turns would become much closer to each other.
At the end of one blind turn they were accompanied with the army fleet probably on their move and were moving very slow. Every time they see army men it pumps up their hearts with happiness and pride. They were behind one truck of the fleet and were following it without any hurry of overtake knowing that it might cause problem for both or anyone coming from opposite side. Being very friendly and sensible they gave them a pass very soon, and then again they were following another truck ahead in the fleet, and then again they gave them pass….they had kind of started enjoying this repeated sequence of events with pleasant music and an open sunroof .
It was then that all their gadgets were in continuous action after the start of the journey, dashcam for recording, camera for random captures, phone for maps and navigation and time and captures etc.
It was 4:15 pm by then and Mrs. Tarzan’s belly gave up. Her brain now started thinking of alternative. It instructed her hand to reach out to back seat and perform search operation, being obedient it stretched to vanish behind and later appeared with a container and brought it in front of the eyes. It was container full of besan ka laddoo which she had prepared foreseeing such emergency situation. Something is better than nothing - agreeing to this proverb she opened the container holding with left hand while still resting phone on her lap and balancing camera with the other leg she shoved one laddoo into Mr. Tarzan’s mouth followed by a nibble on another laddoo lying on the top. Then another ladoo. And then as she picked another one, there they stood standstill with whole of army fleet which seemed to have stopped due to a blockade. Couple of jawans had jumped out from each vehicle they could see till the turn ahead and behind, engaged in chitchatting or wandering while some of them being vigilant. One could spot senior ones on guard around the big rocks at the edges appearing to be much serious, while the jawans were pulling each other’s legs in their own boyish way...altogether very jolly and relaxing atmosphere where probably Mrs. Tarzan would not be scared even it happens to be stuck there itself the whole night. After spending 10-15 mins inside, Mr. Tarzan felt uneasy in confined space and moved out to stretch his legs. Within another couple of minutes he called Mrs. Tarzan with scarf to accompany him in the twilight with gentle breeze and clouds started hovering and temperature started shooting down. Though with worries on running behind the schedule, this was the moment Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan cherished with their Cheetah….awww
Finally after another half an hour one of the jawan and also Mr. Tarzan spotted the vehicles moving at far far end, may be a couple of turns emerging out of the mountain folds. By the time the ripple effect reached this end, all of those who were out got on board and very soon all of them started moving. Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan were being escorted in the convoy with few more hiccups like this on the way which added up to total journey time.
It grew dark and darker by they reached Dahung Haat at around 6 pm after traveling 65 km from Tippi. Coming back to her hunger senses , which gained sixth sense, Mrs. Tarzan spotted one beautiful glowing army bakery/canteen/all in one at a distance. That’s it…!!!
Mr. Tarzan decided to see if they allow nomads like them. While parking, passers by army guys showing curtsey took a minute to stop for them and let them settle down. Mr. and Mrs. Tarzan smiled and entered the canteen and Mr. Tarzan enquired if they can have something to eat. He was so glad to hear back that finally he can get some good snacks, namely tea, coffee, cake and desi pizza for Mrs. Tarzan. They both enjoyed their evening feasting in single plate, being surrounded with most trustworthy brothers who were wandering and joking around adding life to the music played on radio in various languages which was echoing with surround sound effect and also chorused from our neighboring tables...a very positive environment altogether !!!!
Heading towards destination, they started in 20-25 mins and weather was even more chilling that Mrs. Tarzan had to wear jacket while sitting at the canteen. Again, they were escorted with an army convoy for quite an hour on dark and curvy mountain road till they crossed Tenga a few km ahead and reached near Bomdila. Mr. Tarzan was worried in the start as it started growing dark but having such a great company of our own brothers, he seemed more of carefree and was enjoying with Cheetah on twists and curls.
It was around 8 pm when they reached Bomdila and Mrs. Tarzan started trying to locate decent stay for their halt which she had shortlisted in the beginning of their journey. Unfortunately, all the information was either outdated or they didn't find it good enough. Going round and round about in the town finally Mr. Tarzan got furious and decided to just take up their first rejected stay.
On getting down Mrs. Tarzan felt shivering from head to toe as it literally got biting cold by then and partly could be due to the fact of experiencing that much cold for first time in the journey when they were on traveling from summer bitten regions. She could not wait to get cozy in a warm room and luckily it had room heater at least though the room was shabby and very basic but it was okay. Mrs. Tarzan noticed it as first thing and when tried to switch it on she couldn’t make out any difference in the cold. When asked to the staff she came to know when electricity will be back around 9 or so they can turn on heater. Well, she ordered dinner hoping it will not be bad while waiting for the power to be back. When it was back, the heater was on and after the dinner they went to bed dreaming about Tawang - the next adventure !!
Part 4 Part 6
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