India: New Delhi and Ranthambore

Back in the crazy traffic

of New Delhi

As we disembarked our Nepal Airlines stewardesses told people “Namaste. See you again.” How pleasant is that? We stayed in New Dehli for a bit on the way to Ranthambore. I had one full day there to get some errands done like a much needed laundering of all my clothes and mailing postcards We were at my favorite hotel in New Delhi, the Doubletree Baani Square outside of the main city area. There were two laundries on Google Maps nearby but one had much better reviews so I took off in the 100 degree heat to find it (India started a heat wave while we were there, yay! Especially coming from the cold of the Nepal mountains), along with a post office. As I walked towards the laundry I found reviews saying the post office I was headed to does not sell stamps! Bummer.

Nifty old iron with red hot someting burning inside

Then I got to the laundromat…or where it should be. After walking around a bit, I asked some people working at a nearby store and showed them pictures. It closed, possibly some time ago since a new business was now in its place. I asked where to find another and they gestured back down the road towards my hotel. I felt like I was in a story book walking along the street asking every 50-100 yards “Is there a laundry here?” (like the book “Are you my mother?”) and getting a “No” and a gesture down the road. Finally, I found it. There were a series of vendors outside a public housing area. First was a really cool sewing station with a guy and an old sewing machine. Then I found my laundry booth! They even had a cool iron heated with something (coals maybe?) glowing red inside. An iron literally made of iron, nice!

Cool tailor on an old sewing machine

My laundry place

Post office that doesn't

sell stamps

Next I had to find a post office. The front desk seemed confused by the question and suggested a stationary store. Does no one mail anything in India? I took a Grab bike to the post office but he didn’t understand where it was so we aborted that goal as it was closing soon anyways. There was another nearby and he was able to find that one more easily but when I got there, they didn’t sell stamps either. I am now completely baffled at what the post offices in India actually do. Are they only for id cards and passports? I finally found a stationary store in the mall behind the hotel and she said everyone buys stamps on Amazon. Really? Amazon takes care of selling stamps for the government? Apparently yes. Further research revealed that mail going to foreign countries doesn’t always make it there so I decided to skip India. Sri Lanka was having protests as their government is breaking down and nearly bankrupt so that seemed like a bad choice also. Maldives was crazy expensive so I decided to mail everything from Singapore, who is probably the most dependable country to mail from in Asia. Everyone follows rules (or else they fine you) and things are efficient there!

Camel carts on the highway

Early the next day we flew to Jaipur and took a taxi to Ranthambore. It takes 4-5 hours and is 175km from Jaipur (remember they drive speeds of 35-50km/hr here as they have to watch out for things like cows, tractors, and bicycles on the road). We got a taxi for 4400 rupees (US$60) including tolls, which wasn’t bad considering they have to drive back and Grab was 3800 but tolls were extra. Our driver Ashok was really good, and helped us call the resort we were staying at so we could arrange a safari that afternoon, which would be in Zone 4, and one the next morning in Zone 6.

Cows wandering all over the highway

Crazy puffy trucks

Along the trip we saw many sights including several cows wandering across the highway, some gigantic ballooning covering over the back of many trucks…if you know what that’s about please comment, camel drawn carts, and guys sitting on top of a bus going down the road. We actually saw one guy at the toll booth run up, hop onto the ladder on the back, and climb up while it was moving slowly through the toll booth to join the others. They better get a really cheap fare for those seats! We also saw more of the colorful dump trucks like we saw in Nepal only these had fun musical horns like the tour buses did in Nepal. I have a theory that all the bright colorful clothing and the dancing (think Bollywood) they do contributes to their happy peaceful mindset. I suppose greeting everyone with “Namaste” doesn’t hurt either.

Cool India dump truck

Bright colored clothes

Camel cart front view

Guys riding on top of the bus

Another guy joining them on top of the bus

Wonderful dinner

We arrived at our place in Ranthambore, Welcome Heritage Mount Valley Resort, and got settled into our room before our safari. It blessedly had air conditioning as the highs were 110 degrees when we were there (did I mention India had a heat wave during our stay?). The room was nice but I only took one picture. I did also get one of the lobby, and of the food, which was outstanding! The best we had in India, which is saying a lot. They also had one gift store that we felt obliged to support. I got a t-shirt and then they showed us these beautiful paintings of tigers on cloth. We each bought good sized paintings for US$48 each. I was pretty sure that was just the starting point, but with them just recovering from 2 years of Covid, I just didn’t have the heart to bargain to save maybe seven dollars.

Our room in Ranthambore

Lobby of our hotel

Picture of Natalies tiger painting on cloth

Turtle in the river

Our safari jeep held 6 passengers. Three in front and three in back. A couple was in front when they picked us up then we got another couple. The woman got in next to us in the back. She engaged us in conversation and reminded me of Katheryn Hepburn: outgoing, well informed, strong, and friendly. They were from the South of India where they seem to respect women more and women are more educated with careers. She gave us more information than the guides did, sharing stories and giving tips (like long sleeves even in the heat are better for protection from the sun). I forgot to mention she’s also very stylish dressing like I imagine Katheryn Hepburn would on safari this decade. I kinda want to be her when I grow up, she's that cool! I missed it, but Natalie said the woman in the front seat gave her a disdainful look like she was improper. I guess as foreigners we get a pass.

In the jeep on our first safari Me Natalie and Katheryn Hepburn

Spotted deer aka one of the tigers favorite foods

Peacock

Sambar deer

Our private guide Ms. Hepburn said they have been here for weeks and seen many tigers. She said you typically see one about every 4-5 safaris. We were doing four safaris so I began to worry we may not see one. We did see a number of spotted deer, macaque monkeys, large black bucks, a baby crocodile, and peacocks. Then our driver spotted four other jeeps stopped ahead to the right. We swung in beside them and right there in the water, maybe 15 yards away, was a tiger cooling off in the river. It was Krishna, aka T-19, daughter of the famed tigress Machali who was largely responsible for repopulating Ranthambore. We are so lucky to see her!!! Even better, as we watched, she walked out of the river and up onto the bank where she lay down. Usually if people see tigers they are very far away so it was especially lucky to see her so close. We went off in search of Krishna’s daughter who has three cubs but we did not find them. Hot and sweaty, but content, we headed home.

Baby crocodile bearing its teeth

Viscious tiger...yawning

Krishna looking right at us

Good shot of Krishna

Krishna in the water

cool yellow bird

The next morning our jeep came bright and early at 6:30 to pick us up. We discovered that is it much cooler in the morning. Today we saw a sloth bear! It looks like a black bear only its face is different. It ran away when we didn’t leave. We also saw a bright yellow bird. I got a good picture of it. Then when we stopped for a bathroom break, another one came and sat right by us on the jeep! We were pretty sure we wouldn’t see a tiger today since we were in zone 6 (1 to 5 is best) and we were okay since we had already seen one. Then our driver heard an alarm call and took off. Deer (or monkeys?) make them when they see a tiger coming. He kept listening then driving. A couple other jeeps came up and he sent them off in different directions to look.

yellow bird came right up and sat on our jeep to check us out

birds in a tree by a lake in Ranthambore

Sloth bear

Ladli looking our way

Then we saw it, off in the distance. A tiger making her way through the trees. It was Ladli aka T-8 (the numbering is not directly connected to age as T-8 is younger than Krishna, T-19). Other jeeps came up and we watched her wander through the woods about 60 yards away, moving our jeep to new positions so she would walk past us again and again. Then we pulled up to a parking area where logs separated the road from the woods and waited. The guides know their stuff. Soon Ladli came walking up and settled into a depression in the ground about 35 yards away from us! I got video of her walking up (see below). Our safari was complete. We were so lucky to see a tiger on both of our safaris.

People in another jeep taking selfies with the tigress

Tiger Ladli

With our jeep safari guide and driver

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Stand on side of the road

Canter bus that I'm glad we didn't have to take

We planned to do two more safaris, but decided it was only worth going out in the heat if we could get zone 3 or 5 (recommended by Ms. Hepburn) and we decided to skip the morning one so we could head back to Jaipur sooner and do a little sightseeing. Unfortunately there were no afternoon safari jeep seats available for those zones and we did not want to take a canter (large vehicle with lots of people). One of the zones (Zone 5?) was closed because jeeps had surrounded some cubs and caused them distress so the park was taking action by closing it down and issued a statement chastising the drivers. It’s nice to know they take action to protect their tigers.