Bandipor Wildlife, Mudumalai National Park

Elephant Love

Our incredible accommodation

After taking our own private van (which has sick LED lights in the back when it hits nighttime) for 6 hours to our destination, we were welcomed into the dining area of “Safari Land Resort” with mango juice and our first lunch buffet. I knew after that first meal that this was going to be one of the best weekends I have spent in India. Once I was finished inhaling mounds of dhal, veggies and roti, we were taken to our tree houses where we would be spending the night (and YES, it was as cool as it sounds). I had no idea that it was even legal to charge people to sleep in a tree house or furthermore fathom the thought of a tree house with state of the art plumbing and access to hot water and showers.  Can you say swanky?!

Relaxing Resort

As we walked around the small gated area near our living quarters, we casually passed by a couple of emus and chickens into a beautiful recreational area with swings, a ping pong and fous ball table, and smaller games. It was so nice to be able to hear the birds chirping in a relaxing setting, which is something I definitely miss while being in the city of Bangalore.

Later in the afternoon we were taken on our first safari in two open jeeps. Although I felt like a narcoleptic the whole ride due to the cool breeze and relaxing drive, I knew I needed to stay very attentive to the sounds and stirs in the woods. Unfortunately, we did not see many animals but came across a momma and baby elephant in nearby grassland after the sun set on our way back to the resort.After reaching our lodge, the staff created a “private” bonfire for the 10 of us, and even had speedy beer service right next to the fire (Win!) I thought it couldn’t get any better until they brought out a sound system with top 100 hits, as well as the ultimate throwbacks like Backstreet boys, Christina Aguileria, and Aaron Carter.

Jeep Safari!

We woke up at 5:45am Saturday morning for our second safari, and had a chance to grab our “coffee and biscuits” before we left (disclaimer: free unlimited coffee and chai the whole weekend AND the coffee actually tasted good for once!) After spending only 30 minutes in the safari bus, we were a bit disappointed that we did not see any animals, especially tigers. As it was still early in the morning, we headed over to the nearby elephant camp and were able to watch the elephants make their way 

back to their general quarters which obviously 

involved taking hundreds of pictures throughout the viewing process.

Monkey Mayhem

After making it back and enjoying a delicious breakfast, my roommate Becca informed us that  there were monkeys in our treehouses, and actually found them going through all of our belongings when she went back to get something. Not only did they get into our treehouse (I was petrified to go in for the first ten minutes until the coast was clear), but they had gotten into all 3 of our treehouses and did quite a bit of damage. The monkeys managed to dismantle our entire room, eat all of the food out of my other roommates bag, bite into two bottles of bugspray and suck down my entire bottle of Listerine.  Can you say drunk monkeys?! Luckily, we were just about to move all of our bags into our second night’s stay, which would be in small cottages across the way. It was a great experience, but I think we were all glad to be sleeping in a room that night with real windows and a door that closed.

Open up and show those pearly whites!

Later in the afternoon (once everyone settled down from the monkey catastrophe), we made our way back to the elephant camp and had the opportunity to watch the elephants get bathed and fed. Although were surrounding by monkeys (I’m really starting to hate the monkeys) it was so adorable to watch the elephants and know first-hand that they are receiving proper care in a natural habitat (Did you know that each elephant at the camp is assigned a trainer who is responsible for providing 24 hour care, and even sleeps with them if they arrive as a baby without their mother?)

Dancing around the campfire

My favorite part of the trip definitely had to be Saturday evening, where we watched a tribal dance performance around the fire at our resort (the natives used the fire to heat their instruments in order to generate desirable sounds). In addition to men walking around the circle playing a steady beat on drums and wind instruments, the native musicians were accompanied by 4 younger aged males and 2 very young female dancers. After a while they allowed us to join the circle, which was so incredible to be a part of!

Early Sunday morning we set out on a trek up a mountain to a temple that held the most glorious view of the surrounding area (which I was able to enjoy after I finished catching my breath).  It was so peaceful and calm, which made it extremely difficult to prepare to leave later that day.

An incredible view of the wildlife reserve

When it was time to check out of our cottages a couple of hours later, the manager surprised us with one more ride out in the forest, where we packed 10 people into one tiny jeep. Although I assumed that it would be another safari adventure the driver (who was the owner’s son) took us for a “ride”, which entailed going down and up huge hills. Open jeep + no seatbelts = holding on extremely tight. After about 15 minutes, he took us to a temple that was over 7000 years old, surrounded by breathtaking scenery.  The nature, all animals included, was all spectacular-a highly recommended site in India!

Weekend Trip: Hampi

The river running through the village of Hampi

To start off my first weekend excursion, I, along with 12 of my fellow interns,  were required to take an 8 hour “sleeper bus” overnight to a town called Hospet, where we would then have to take a 30 minute rickshaw ride to the town of Hampi. I’ve never experienced a ride on a sleeper bus before, but I can’t say that anyone slept like a baby throughout the night due to the frequent bumps and swerves in the road and a man screaming in Kannada (most common language spoken) up and down the aisle every time the bus stopped. You also must have a hefty bladder for these types of bus rides unless you want to get out in the pitch dark in the middle of bumble no mans land as a man points to a hole in the road signaling the “public toilet.”

After a very long night, we finally arrived to Hampi around 7:30am and were already in need of a shower (which we found out was not going to happen for another 3 days).  

Hampi is a village in Northern Karnataka State, India, which is located in the ruins of Vijayanagara. The village still remains an important religious center and houses various temples and monuments belonging to the old city.

In essence, the river splits the village into two; the main section of town is on the one side, which houses the ancient temples, monuments, and various restaurants, cafes, shops and native homes.  The opposite side of the river is comprised of mainly “hotels” and “resorts” (not accurately described)with attached restaurants  among the extended grasslands and beautiful mountains that lie in a walkable distance.

Young natives in love with the camera

In order to make your way across the river, you have to take a small boat about 100 feet to the other side (Of course we were charged each time we needed to take this 3.5 second boat ride). While we were making our way across the rocks to the banks of the river, many children were running around while older children and adults swam in the unsanitary water and washed their hair and clothes. The children were obsessed with us foreigners (which is an understatement) and couldn’t say HI! HI! fast enough. Not only did they want their individual pictures taken, but they were very interested in taking numerous photos with us and shaking our hands at any chance that they could get.  Of course I gave in to all of the adorable nuggets.

Delicious first meal at the Gowri Resort

For $4 a night per person, we stayed in a luxurious (hmmm) hotel with an ox roaming the perimeter acting as our security guard. We had a great breakfast when we first arrived, which only took an hour to make! I’m still getting used to the dishes coming out one at a time in India, but at least the food is actually hot!

We had great luck arriving Saturday morning, where all of the power was out throughout the whole village due to a monsoon storm the night before. It put a little bit of a damper on our trip (NO fans or cold water anywhere) but we still tried to make the best of it.

One of the many beautiful temples!

Saturday afternoon we hired a rickshaw driver to take us around to all of the ancient ruins and temples, which were absolutely beautiful.  We could only spend a couple of hours walking around because the temperature was in the high 90’s, and after the 15^th temple they all start to look the same. No cold water in the village + HOT = not good. After sightseeing we went to a couple of shops and hung out at the “Chill out café.” Apparently here there is no price to chill.

Later on, we crossed the river and had dinner at the White Elephant, which was a small accommodation where some of the other interns were staying for the night. I ordered an exotic dish called the “Margarhita Pizza”. Ok, I probably ordered the most American dish possible, but it was not bad for being prepared in India!

Jammin until the sun sets

After our meal, we made our way to a mountainous area where a couple of guys who work at the White Elephant frequently bring their numerous instruments and play at the peak of the mountain as the sun sets. The one native has his own music shop down the road where he collects and maintains all of his precious instruments from various countries.

The best view of the town

The view from the top of the mountain was absolutely gorgeous, and well worth the extremely dangerous hike back down in the pitch dark. As we may our way back to the accommodation, we were trapped by stray dogs that became a little too vicious for my liking. 

The rickshaw ride back was also an interesting one. After the driver got into an argument with 4 guys on motorcycles and stopped in the middle of a road without telling us why he was getting out, I was extremely glad to be back in a room. 

My shower consisted of splashing water on my arms out of a bucket, which sadly felt oh so refreshing. The best part of the night… no mosquitoes! It’s the little things that make your day.

BAD MONKEY

After breakfast Sunday morning, we took a rickshaw to the monkey temple, an excursion that comprised of a lot more stairs than I ever expected.  The long and tiring walk up the mountain was definitely worthwhile, though. The view, like many other areas in Hampi, was absolutely incredible. Don’t let the name of the temple fool you-there were actually monkeys covering all points at the top of the temple. They were cute until they snatched a whole granola bar out of one of the interns hand and proceeded to eat it right next to us. At the point we were pretty set to walk back down.

The rest of the day was spent shopping, eating great food (with the electricity back on), and soaking up the last hours of the Hampi sun.  Although it was a very tiring weekend, it was a great way to start off my adventures in India!

More to come J

Sydney