Against the odds, considering Ranchi’s aversion to foreigners, by 10am we’d checked out of our hotel, scoffed a good breakfast and were in a private car embarking on a mini trip. The travel agent mentioned in the Lonely Planet actually existed and the chap listened to our wishes. He promptly explained the package he could offer and came up with a reasonable price. For Rs11 500 we’d have a car and driver for 3 days plus the deal would include jeep and elephant safaris at Betla National Park. The route we’d chosen would see us visiting the park, popping up to Bodhgaya and back to Ranchi to catch the train to Kolkata. All-in-all we’d cover a fair number of kilometres and we felt it was a good deal.
As we sped along the road that was in fairly good nick it initially felt good to have space and be sat on a comfortable seat. The drawback was we could see the front windscreen and rapidly concluded that improved car performance and better road surfaces are not a good combination in India. Their driving has always bordered on suicidal and now prangs occur at a greater velocity and involve more vehicles. A tad white knuckle inducing at times. Plus it was hot, even with the windows down. We said we wanted to thaw out following a month in the Himalayas but plunging straight into 40oC dry heat was a tad overwhelming.
We reached the tiny village adjacent to the national park by 2.30pm and drove into the grounds of Van Vihar where we’d been told we’d be staying. Our guidebook had warned us that it was somewhat run-down but in reality it looked abandoned. Sure enough the staff that we inexplicable hanging around didn’t bother inviting us to view a room. We were taken over the road to a Forest Department tree-house that certainly wasn’t luxurious but felt palatial in comparison. The wood lined concrete huts and in serious need of a scrub (particularly the bathroom) but the viewing balcony, overlooking an area with chital and langurs hanging around, compensated - just.
Even though we’d paid up front for our mini safaris we still had to negotiate; we knew about the Rs100 for a camera but who’s ever heard of a 1hr jeep safari? In the end we got them to agree to the 2hrs we’d arranged in Ranchi. The national park is only small (35kms2) but hosts a wide range of species albeit in limited numbers. For example; there are only 2 tigers said to be present so how much longer the park can boast having these striped cats remains to be seen. We knew not to expect to see much but unlike the previous week at least we’d reached this park and found some tourist infrastructure. Chital, langurs, macaques and a variety of birds are pretty much constantly around and with the whole area being exceptionally dry we’d hoped to spy something at the water holes. In fact nothing was thirsty while we were there but we didn’t leave disappointed. By the end of the jeep ride we’d seen a pair of jackal, a couple of guar (rare, wild bison) and at long last we found some wild Indian elephants.
Following a restless night being mercilessly feasted upon by mosquitoes we didn’t need our alarm clock to alert us to today’s early start. We were up and ready long before our 6am rendezvous with a domesticated pachyderm. The monkeys and deer were also up and pottering around the park’s entrance plus a pair of jackal put in another appearance. We didn’t expect to see any wildlife this morning and other than a pair of giant squirrels our expectations were realised. However, we enjoyed plodding along in the peace and quiet; listening to the bird’s chirping away and watching frogs hop out of the way as our elephant splodged through streams. At one point the mahout directed our heffalump through a tricky rocky section where it clearly wasn’t happy to go. In a moment of defiance Steve and I thought we were going to slip out of the howdah but ultimately the elephant obeyed the commands.
Obviously we have been lucky enough to partake in much better safaris than this in places that are geared up for eco-tourism and where wildlife abounds. However, we enjoyed this little park that actually has huge potential starting with sprucing up the facilities and training guides properly so they understand and respect the animals. We were well and truly off the beaten track and it’s not every day you get a wildlife reserve to yourself. Finally, seeing Indian elephants in the wild made it well worth the effort.
Following breakfast we studiously ignored the outstretched palms of those hoping for tips, despite making a zero contribution towards our stay in the area, and climbed into the car. Our driver took a greater maniacal approach to covering the distance between A and B than he had the previous day even though we were running on a dodgy wheel following a puncture. After 6 hours of nerve-jangling travel and too many perilously close near-misses, I was just about to scream at him to slow down when we pulled in Bodhgaya; the most important Buddhist site in the world. After checking into Lucky Guesthouse (Rs800 a night for a spanking clean room) we went to explore this peaceful, by Indian standards, town.
THE port of call for the world’s Buddhists is Mahabodhi Mahavihara; the temple in whose grounds is the spot where Prince Siddartha found enlightenment to become Lord Buddha. He achieved this whilst sitting under a Bodhi tree and the tree planted where he sat has actually grown from a sapling taken from the Mahabodhi in Annaradhapura, Sri Lanka. This in turn was grown from a cutting taken from the original Bodhi tree that was poisoned by the Hindu queen at the time in a fit of pique. Although the area is important primarily for Buddhists, Hindus flock here too, as the temple is built on top of the original Hindu religious buildings. The temple itself more closely resembles a Hindu kovil than a Buddhist stupa and is very attractive – we were very impressed with the whole complex. The gardens are lovely and the entire place exudes an air of peace and tranquillity; a rarity in hectic India where everything and everyone are jostling for space and attention.
Spread around this small town are Buddhist temples built by nationals from other Buddhist nations using their traditional architectural style. Amazingly we couldn’t find any evidence of Sri Lankan temple which surprised us due to the all-important tree link. They are all impressive but with insufficient time to visit them all so we skipped the Taiwanese, Chinese, Thai, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese and one of the Tibetan temples. We did take a look at the Japanese temple and thought the Bhutanese Monestary next door was the most impressive with its ornate gates and stunning interior. Most of the temples are highly decorative with the murals depicting the life of Buddha but this one’s walls were covered in intricate 3D art. We happened upon the ideal time to visit – a random Saturday morning well away from the peak pilgrimage season. It meant we had every temple and monastery to ourselves.
We also went to have a look at the 25m tall sandstone Buddha seated upon a lotus flower. This is a modern addition but held in high regard as it was unveiled by the Dalai Lama. We were keen to see the Tibetan Black Hat Monastery and that involved crossing to the other side of town. Bodhgaya is an odd place with scruffy plots nestled alongside pristine temples and our final quest meant walking through an agricultural farming community. The ducks were dabbling in a stagnant, stinking pond which almost blocked the alley between people’s homes. Not a pleasant start to our walk but luckily the path then cut across the paddy fields. Like I say; strange place but curiously enjoyable.
The next day it was time to get back in the car and run the gauntlet of India’s roads once again. We were amazed to find ourselves on the equivalent of the M1 but of course dismayed to realise that meant everyone driving at least 20kms/hr faster. You think you know what the hard shoulder is for don’t you? In Indian it’s there to facilitate the movement of livestock, people, bicycles and motorbikes and remember this is a 2-way flow of traffic irrespective of the orientation of the carriageway. As the road slices through the centre of town the hard shoulder makes a great spot to set up shop while in rural areas it doubles up as a car park, picnic site or cracking place for a kip. With 300 000 000 gods to celebrate carriageways are invariably lost to religious processions whose protection is relied upon. Cows enjoy feasting on the central reservation and nonchalantly launch themselves into the flow of traffic to reach the verge to chew the cud. These sacred bovines are oblivious of the carnage left in their wake and humans emulate this lack of awareness of things and people in the immediate periphery. Presumably this comes as a direct result of knowing you have the protection of every religious leader, deity and god in the world.
There are regular signs imploring drivers to follow the road rules but does anyone know what they may be? The only evidence we’ve seen are the messages painted on the rear of wagons. Namely; blow horn & use dipper at night with the former being fastidiously observed and the latter blatantly ignored! Basically, all road users have a blithe lack of consideration of the potential consequences of their actions i.e. it’s up to you to notice me. Today our driver wasn’t quite so gung-ho behind the wheel and it helped that we were on much better and quieter roads. We reached within 40kms of Ranchi and began to believe we’d complete our mini tour unscathed. That hope was short-lived when our driver’s companion (brother?) took over the driving duties. The more sedate pace was appreciated but his obvious lack of experience wasn’t – out of the frying pan and into the fire. Fortunately this dual-carriageway driving lesson was short-lived.
We finally reached Ranchi without the car gaining any additional knocks or scrapes. The road had been much faster than we’d anticipated so we ended up with 4 hours to kill before boarding our train to Kolkata. To celebrate being alive, and having seen elephants, we popped into one of the hotel bars. The rooms might have been out of our league but the beer was supper-chilled, sensibly priced and the staff were very friendly and happy for us to while away some time watching IPL cricket.
Back to Kolkata.
