Monday, March 29, 2010

Monkeys in the Forest (and Other Wild Things) Part One

Saturday night, Jana, Katie, Stephen and I boarded an overnight train for Mysore. The rest of the team elected to stay in Chennai for their weekend off. Before we left, Aneesh spooked us with tales of his horrible experience with Indian trains, so Jana, Katie and I approached the train ride with some trepidation. We were pleasantly surprised. The train wasn't fancy, but it was clean (including the toilets) and while we felt that our belongings were safe, although we observed reasonable precautions (the same as what you would practice anywhere in the world.) The train station was huge and crowds of people swarmed the platforms. We wanted to take pictures, but Stephen informed us that photography was forbidden as a security precaution. (Our bags were scanned when we entered the station.) Stephen unerringly led is to the right train, the right car, and the right seats. For this trip, I had a top bunk and it took a little manuveuring to climb up top. I did have to climb down and up for a few bathroom breaks but overall I slept fairly well, being rocked by the train's motion.

We woke up shortly before we reached Mysore the next morning. Stepping off the train was a pleasant surprise as the air temperature was cooler and there was a lot less humidity. Stephen had arranged for a driver and car to meet us at the train station, so we were soon whisked off to a nice restaurant for breakfast. I had "milk coffee" (which is just what it sounds like, coffee with milk) and french toast. After breakfast, we dodged the vendors and quickly climbed in the car. One vendor still had his arm in the window trying to sell us something, even after the car started moving! Fortunately, he took his arm out before we picked up much speed.

Mysore was cooler, greener, and cleaner. We headed for the forest where we would be spending Sunday night. As we drove, we enjoyed viewing the countryside which included rice paddies, coconut plantations, and banana plantations. Large green trees lined the road for much of the way. Approaching the forest, we saw a large troop of monkeys by a roadside shrine and vendors. They were wild monkeys, but obviously knew where to look for food.

We finally entered the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, where we would be spending the night. As we drove to our accommadations we saw more monkeys and also spotted deer. When we came to a small village, Stephen picked up a young gentleman who would show us the way to the tree house where we would be staying. The tree house was actually made on top of a thick growth of bamboo. It had two rooms; Jana took one room and Katie and I shared another room. Our rooms even had toilets and showers (cold water only, of course.) One steep flight of stairs led to a viewing platform, and another flight of stairs led to our rooms. After we freshened up, the staff brought us our lunch to eat on the veranday outside our rooms. The food was very good and once we had eaten our fill, we took the opportunity to rest.

Late afternoon, Katie, Stephen and I took a walk with the young gentleman to look for animals. (Jana wanted to stay back at the tree house to rest.) I should mention that the forest in this area was very dry; the leaves and grass were mostly brown. We were hoping to see elephants and came across a lot of elephant dung, but we were unable to come across the herd. I was thinking that Dave would be appalled that we were walking in an area which contained tigers, leopards, bears, and elephants and the only weapon that we had was the foot long machete our young guide carried. (Later, I was told the knife was for the bears.) We were told that tigers and leopards would not bother humans, the only animal to really worry about was the elephant. Elephant advice: 1) If an elephant charges you run, keep running and don't look back. Most of the time if an elephant feels that they scared you off, they will stop pursuing you. 2) Elephants are herd animals. If you see one elephant in front of you, slowly turn around to see if the rest of the herd is in back of you. Stephen told us we were very safe; only one woman tourist was killed last year. :)

More later - need to go to Assisi to help care for the children

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