Walk in the Woods and Sunset on the Beach

Muir Woods and Stinson Beach, California

Grand old trees

After visiting the Point Reyes lighthouse we started our drive to Muir Woods National Monument, described as `an old-growth' coast redwood forest, meaning the forest has grown naturally undisturbed for hundreds of years. The drive was a scenic one through wooded areas and was topped by the winding hilly coast-hugging drive via Stinson Beach.

San Francisco in the distance shrouded by a light haze

We got stunning views of the San Francisco coastline from the road and every now and then stopped to appreciate the beauty (and take photographs of course). As beautiful as the ride was for me, it was torture for my friend who gets dizzy on hilly roads. Almost the entire trip to and fro was spent with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, taking deep breaths and saying `this is torture'! She absolutely refused to take the same route back to San Francisco the next day. We may have another hill holiday in India planned for her this year in India. Don’t tell her! I plan to have tons of the travel nausea pill Avomine on hand. 

Reach up up up to the sky

Before starting out, we stopped by at Perry's Deli in Tomales Bay and picked up an array of sandwiches, cookies, pies and whatnot to eat on the way. The stuff was not cheap but the sandwiches were very nice and mine had almost an inch of black forest ham in it and a good amount of mustard on soft white bread. I could not get through more than half in one sitting. Perry's Deli is great for foodstuff if you're in that area and are heading off for a picnic. 

Old growth forest

Our lunch ended up being an inadvertent stop in the middle of nowhere on our way to Muir Woods when we realised that almost an entire bottle of water had leaked out and flooded the floor of the back seat. So we stopped by the side of the road, pulled out our food and ate on the trunk of the car. 

Stinson Beach

Made it to Muir Woods just about an hour before its 5 p.m. closing and walked the shortest trail through the tall redwoods and other trees. The redwoods there are as old as 800 years and the tallest is 258 feet. The woods are beautiful and interesting with some of the trees having such fascinating `architecture’.  There was one tree which actually had a cave built in to its base making it seem like something out of an Enid Blyton book. 

The end of a lovely day

There are many trails one can walk on depending on how much time you have to spare around that area. Unfortunately (as usual) we didn’t have much of that luxury. It had got quite cold by then and my light sweatshirt didn’t quite cut it. Somehow I never seem to get it right with winter clothing. I always take too little on a holiday and even if I have the right item, it’s never around me when I need it.

Now you see it..

Right, back to Muir Woods. I did mention it’s an old growth forest, and by that, it means it’s largely undisturbed by human hand and that dead trees are not cleared away but are allowed to fall back on the ground and enrich the soil and provide a whole ecosystem for a large number of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, insects and plants. For those who are really interested in nature and want to learn more about what the term describes, this web page explains it very well. 

...now you don't

 As our time at the woods ended, I was quite disappointed that we had so little of it but at the same time happy to get into the warmth of the car. Would hope to go back there and spend some quality time exploring and walking the trails. We then headed back to Tomales Bay with a stop at Stinson beach where we watched the sun go down. It was also fascinating to watch the patterns made by the flow and ebb of the tide on the shore as the waves crisscrossed each other. 

We ended our day by tucking into pizzas baked in a wood fired oven at Cafe Reyes in Inverness. Good friends, great travel and junk food, what more could a girl want. 

Thirty Storey Lighthouse Trek - Point Reyes

Point Reyes Lighthouse, California

Point Reyes Lighthouse

Having just one whole day in Tomales Bay made us want to see everything we could in and around that area, so we drove about 30 minutes to Point Reyes National Seashore on a beautiful clear sunny November morning and made our way to the lighthouse situated at the tip of the peninsula. 

Scenic Walk 

The park, covering 71,028 acres in Marin County, California, is about a one and a half hour drive from San Francisco and is characterised by rolling hillocks mostly lightly covered by green or brown grass and every now and then you'll come across an opening between the hillocks where you catch a glimpse of the clear topaz blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. 

Deep Waters

The walk from the car parking area to the lighthouse steps was picturesque with gnarled trees along the side of the road. We also got a beautiful view of the expansive stretch of beach which would have been ideal for a long lazy picnic on such a beautiful day. The tree branches were low and beckoned to me like low hanging fruit, so I thought I'd try and sit on one. 

Huffing and Puffing up the Equivalent of 30 Stories

Well, lets just say I’m not as agile as I may have thought I was, living a city life for the last gazillion years, so that ended up being quite an effort and the sight of me with well fitting jeans trying to get a leg up provided a fair bit of amusement for my husband and friends. Managed to hoist myself up though, and even got a picture on the branch with my friend - who somehow didn't seem to have as much trouble getting on herself!

The Beach 

Getting to the lighthouse from the station is a challenge for the lazy and the trek up and down the 308 steps is guaranteed to give your glutes a solid workout. Visitors are cautioned that negotiating the stairs is equivalent to climbing a 30 storey building so not that appropriate for the fragile. However, there is a welcome respite every hundred steps or so in the form of rest stops with benches which we happily availed of on our way up. 

And Who Are You Looking at? 

Looking inside the lighthouse and the standing on the wraparound porch you realise how vast the ocean is and how quiet and peaceful it is around there. One of the rangers we met there said that t's quite an isolated life and sometimes they go days without seeing anyone. If you're lucky, you can spot dolphins and whales in the water but we had no such luck that day. Also, given our limited time available, we needed to get going to our next destination, Muir Woods.  

Between the Rocks

We just visited the lighthouse at Point Reyes, but the park has many other activities available such as hiking trails lasting less than one hour to six hours, the beach and culinary pursuits around.

Tomales Bay Resort

Tomales Bay Resort, Inverness, California

View from beside the dining room

Where do you go for a four day trip from San Francisco? We chose to do Napa and then were recommended Point Reyes by a friend. So from Napa we drove the two hours to Inverness, where we arrived at the Tomales Bay Resort, which we were staying in for two nights. If you've read my post on Hennessey House, you would know our first impression of this place but for those who haven't, an excerpt..

``We arrived at our `resort' which was more like a motel in the middle of nowhere, It was dark, our friends' room keys were taped to the window pane of the reception door in an envelope, and ours was nowhere to be seen. After calling our contact we found it had fallen on the floor. The place was so impersonal, and the exact opposite of our experience at Hennessey that we were quite depressed. We razzed our friend quite a bit for opting to spend more nights here. However, we got a ton of sightseeing done over the next day and a half which would never have happened otherwise and the motel grew on us by the second night so she was forgiven!''

Bungalow rooms

We chose the Tomales Bay Resort as it was the only place located on the bay inside Point Reyes National Seashore Park, so obviously the only place to stay. The room was quite large, clean and had a kitchenette and a heater with a chimney whose thermostat was bust so we kept our windows open to avoid getting stifled by the heat. Somehow none of us took pictures of the room so you're not going to be able to see that unfortunately. The place was deserted and the whole area is so quiet that its a bit disconcerting if you arrive after dark. 

After getting settled in our rooms we got back in the car to drive to Inverness to find a restaurant for dinner. We stopped by a grocery store in the middle of nowhere and being the last customers, as soon as we exited, they switched off the lights. It was really dark, quiet and eerie and reminded me of a scene out of the movie Psycho Cop where you get jumped on by a crazy killer in a deserted spot! That's my imagination running wild. That night we ate at the Station House Cafe in Point Reyes Station which was so so. 

Entrance to our rooms

The bungalow rooms we were in did not have a bay view but there are others that do. Breakfast was very basic and after spending more than $200 a night for the room the choice of cereal, two fruits and a couple of croissants (tea and coffee included) on both mornings was quite disappointing. The place is wonderfully located and the restaurant with glass windows faces the bay but I feel they haven't capitalised on the opportunities they have and lots more could have been done about the food which really is a huge part of the appeal in any resort one stays in. 

A Walk in the Park - Singapore

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Supertree Grove OCBC Skyway

On a hot sultry day in May, we went to check out the Gardens by the Bay, in Singapore, a man made conservatory and ecological park developed by the country's National Parks Board. What we didn't  realise is that you’ll need to set aside a fair bit of time to fully explore this place as it is huge! The day we went, the conservatory, which houses the flower dome and the cloud forest was closed, which was a real pity. It would make sense to check out their website gardensbythebay.com.sg before making a trip there so that you don’t miss out on anything. 

Even the tree was super neat with perfectly rounded fruit!

The gardens were like almost everything in Singapore. Neat, clean, beautifully manicured. Our highlight was the Supertree Grove, a clump of about 50 meter-tall tree like structures with creepers growing on them giving them a very War of the Worlds (remember the Tom Cruise movie) kind of look. Apparently they're a beautiful sight at night too, accentuated by a sound and light show. 

Seated Old Man (rock carving)

We went up to the OCBC Skyway, a hanging path 22 meters up the trees for a gorgeous view of the gardens and the city. You also get a full frontal of the stunning Marina Bay Sands hotel up close. Anyone with a fear of heights or vertigo would be severely affected by a wave of dizziness as experienced by my uncle, who, after taking four steps out of the lift, literally froze. He simply couldn’t take another step forward. I teased him a bit about that and got a dirty glare from someone walking by as he probably thought I was being totally inappropriate. But that’s what you do with near and dear ones right? Tease them about their weaknesses.

Anyway, he went back down and we walked the length of the walkway. Being at that height it was quite windy and luckily, the day was a bit cloudy and we didn’t have the strong sun beating down on us. Around the middle, the walkway gets quite narrow and the strong winds make it sway a bit. Just saying.

Very War of the Worlds'esque no? 

After that, we took a stroll around a part of the gardens and walked through to the Sands hotel. Very impressive. The Gardens by the Bay is a must do in Singapore. There are lots of hidden treasures such as the Seated Old Man. You're walking by an ordinary looking rock and see a little piece of white paper next to it and you wonder, why is there trash in the middle of a pristine garden, especially in Singapore? Upon closer inspection you realise it's not just a rock but a brilliantly carved face of a Chinese man on one side and the paper is it's identifier. 

Marina Bay Sands

The garden also has scores of eating places if you want an interval, ranging from McDonalds to fine dining restaurants like Pollen, a modern European restaurant, which has a dinner tasting menu for SGD $190++ a plate. I will go back on my next trip to see the conservatory and some more of the gardens and if someone is treating me, to eat at Pollen! Watch this space for part 2. 

Cotswold Capers - The Journey

London to Kidlington, England

London Eye

In October last year, my husband and I whizzed off on a much needed vacation to London. Since we were going to be spending eight days there, getting a whiff of country air seemed a great idea too. After tossing around options from the Lake District to Cornwall to as far as Scotland (neither of which would have made any sense given we had only two nights to spare), a friend suggested the Cotswolds. And what a great suggestion that was.

The Cotswolds is an area of rolling hills and pretty countryside with villages made of limestone cottages in the southern central part of England. The area comprises the counties of Oxfordshire, Gloustershire and parts of others such as Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Somerset (all this info courtesy Wikipedia).

Almost Over!

We figured the best way we'd get to explore the region was by car. So we got on to Cartrawler and booked one. Thought we got a good deal at 95 pounds for two nights for an Opel Astra sized vehicle, given it was a last minute booking. Got to Europcar at Victoria Station at 3 p.m. and were told we needed to furnish an international drivers license. The fellow behind the counter insisted that he couldn't give us the car without the international license as it was some insurer stipulation. Being us, we arrived on the dot to collect the car, never realizing there could be a problem so to maybe make it to the rental office a wee bit earlier. When we called the website they said that they couldn't do anything about the refund at that moment because it was already past the allotted pickup time.

So here we are with our Cotswolds trip dissipating before our eyes, about 10,000 rupees down the drain and quite dejected, when we approach the Budget rental right next door. Thank God for Budget! We got a car, at the Nth hour, a teeny two door Nissan Micra for 190 pounds with a full tank of gas. Though I thought that was a s***load of money to pay for two days, it was well worth not destroying our holiday. A word of advice, don't take the full tank of gas from the rental for a two day trip. We ended up returning the car with almost half tank unconsumed. After getting the keys, the three of us...a friend who lives in London joined us on this trip..piled into the car and made our way into the London streets.

Round and Round the Garden

Now London roads can be quite tricky to maneuver. Not the actual driving part, which is quite slow and a cakewalk for anyone used to driving in India where cars come at you from all directions and you have to be on hyper-alert at all times, but the narrow lanes, sharp zig zag cuts and general rules took a bit of time to master. The friend who suggested the Cotswolds had very kindly lent us his Garmin GPS device (God bless him), but my husband insisted we use Google Maps on our friend's iPhone (He has some weird fixation with Apple). After driving around in a loop at least three times and getting kind of lost, I put my foot down and snarled `it's going to be the Garmin and nothing else!' Thankfully he agreed otherwise we would still be going round and round the streets of London.

The drive along the A40 motorway was pleasant, and what made it better was that we were going against traffic. Being a Sunday, we had clear roads while the lane leading in to London was jammed for at least two to three kilometers and we're saying to ourselves ``we got so lucky! Look at those poor suckers'. It took us about two hours to reach our hotel.

Destination Nowhere

The Garmin (our best friend) was spot on and precise, right up to the point we got to our final destination. We had reservations at Sturdy's Castle in Kidlington, a few miles from Oxford and since it had already become dark, we couldn't really make out our surroundings. Driving down a deserted country road, we were told our destination was 500 meters ahead. Destination approaching.. approaching.. approaching....huh? Nothing. Staring at the Garmin, I see us going over the destination marker. Meanwhile our GPS friend is squawking ``you have reached your destination, you have reached your destination. Then...``you have overshot your destination..turn around..turn around. We turn back. Still nothing. Deserted road, darkness. Turned around again and took a right turn. Still nothing. Come back to the spot indicated and go ahead a bit. See a gate with wild brush beyond, dark and creepy.. reminded me of the horror movies bhoot bangla (haunted house) types! Noooo it seriously couldn't be this place. Any reputable establishment would have lights right? Finally we drove back a bit, stopped at a car dealer parking lot, fished out the number of the inn and called them. Found out that it was just about a mile ahead and all lit up.

Sturdy's, a motel like place in the middle of nowhere had very comfortable rooms and bathrooms, pretty decent size too and good rates. Our rooms were on the first floor so were quite silent and peaceful. The inn is well located between Oxford, Bicester (where you have designer store outlets at cut prices), Woodstock and other Cotswold villages and it;s about a 10 minute drive or so from Blenheim Palace, the home of Winston Churchill, a big tourist attraction. You definitely need to have a car to be staying here.

Sturdy's Castle (why didn't I think to get a better picture!)

After checking in we went to the dining room for dinner. A nice cozy place. Ordered liver pate and a baked camembert with pear and fig chutney which came with toasted slices of bread. Was yummy. So when the bread finished, we asked if we could get more. The waitress said sure. Went into the kitchen and out came a guy who wagged his rag at us and said that we needed to get to our mains as the wait staff had been working since six am and needed to get home. Wow. All we asked was for more bread! Kinda Oliver Twist like. Decided to leave it be and not make a scene.

Lemme Know What You Want, Will Make Sure I Don't Get It!

The waitress after asking how we would like our bread, toasted or otherwise and with us saying toasted, put down a platter of plain sliced bread. We just left it. After that, apart from our breakfasts, which were included in the room rate and was quite good, we didn't eat any of our meals there. The mains weren't exceptional enough for a repeat performance. The other staff were polite and I would consider staying there again for the rooms. The free WiFi was an added bonus which allowed the husband to bury his nose into his computer while my friend and I nattered away and planned our next two days.

P.s. Cartrawler, after a couple of months, refunded half the money.

Misty Mountains Part 2 - Kasauli

Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, India
 

 

 

Down memory lane, was the Kasauli leg of my mountain holiday. I went back to the quiet little hill station opposite the Lawrence School Sanawar, where I studied for seven years, and dragged my family to experience all that I had in those long ago days, including the food I ate and the places I roamed.

Being an army cantonment and due to restrictions on land purchase it's probably the only popular hill station in India which hasn't fallen prey to rapid haphazard development (so far) and the sleepy little town, which you can pretty much cover in one whole day, is a real delight for people looking for a quiet holiday. It's the perfect weekend getaway. Though June was peak season and not so sleepy with loud tourists chattering up and down the hills.

Our trip was a continuation from Naldehra (see earlier post) and took us about three hours because we got stuck in a bit of a traffic jam in Shimla and stopped for lunch. We checked in to the Kasauli Castle hotel in Garkhal, a teeny village between the Sanawar and Kasauli hills. Peak season and last minute booking (seems to be a common thread in my posts) it's all we got. Garkhal, which was a four-shack village in our school days, has been rapidly developed and a multitude of hotels, many calling themselves Kasauli something or the other, have popped up.

I was told the hotel was located above Mushroomlee, the only proper restaurant in Garkhal in those days and very prominently visible from the road, which now can't be seen amid the crush of buildings around. So naturally we overshot as I couldn't spot it. Imagine staying in Garkhal. Never thought I'd see the day! The road up to the hotel is really steep and narrow and you'd better hope there's no car coming down at the same time.

Commercial Comfort

After a quiet, peaceful homestay in Naldehra, the full on commercial establishment was quite disorienting. A modern construction with 15 rooms which got pretty decent reviews on tripadvisor. It had a hall where they played loud popular Hindi and Punjabi music every night and the lawn had tables and chairs where you could also eat your meals and a huge concrete patch on the wall where they showed a new movie every night by projector. Oye Lucky Oye being one of them. 

 

Kasauli Castle

My idea of the hills is to enjoy the beauty of nature and the peace and tranquility it affords so I was quite disgruntled at this situation, but got over the gripe after I realized the benefits. The rooms were very comfortable and one of the restaurant staff members who happened to be a Bengali far away from his homeland, was so happy to meet fellow countrymen that he went out of his way to help us. The entire staff was very friendly and responded quickly to all calls and that really was the selling point of the hotel. More importantly, the brats were quite happy fooling around in the play area with swings and slides all day, which left us to our own devices to explore Kasauli at leisure.

 

The weather was beautiful. It would threaten to rain but it wouldn't. Cool, crisp and misty mostly. Every once in a while a cloud would pass through us. Such a wonderful feeling especially after coming from the sweltering National Capital Region.

We walked the steep upper mall road, past the Kasauli Club, the TV Tower (which I spent many an hour gazing at from my classroom on the opposite hill wishing I was somewhere else)  right up to the Nature Trail, a scenic path wrapped around a hill that takes five minutes to cover. Thanks to our workouts on the steep slopes of Naldehra, I was quite the mountain goat by then. The road has little paths leading into the hillside which seem interesting to explore and are spaced with driveways leading to charming colonial era cottages owned by admirals and major generals and the like. So envious. How I'd love to have a place there.

Came back down to the lower market where we had bunsams (samosa in a bun with chole and chutney), jalebis and chai. The market is a long narrow line of shops selling ethnic products, cheap Chinese toys and street food. We sat on a bench against the wall and enjoyed our fare amidst flies and stray dogs loitering around. Yeah, that's one area they would do well to clean up. Has potential but falls prey to the typical dirty street market category. The only not-so-clean part of Kasauli.

I Famous

Jalebis coming up!

The owner of the Narindar Sweet House shop where we had the bunsams was quick to tell me about how famous persons have frequented his place. He thrust a laminated article written by Khushwant Singh about his shop, showed me a picture of himself with Omar Abdullah and said  ``do you know who that is? Do you know who that is?'' God(eyeroll) that was irritating. Apparently Rocky and Mayur, hosts of a food show on NDTV Good Times, have eaten there too. Yeah well you know.. don't care. Surprisingly,  the food is still the same, though the enjoyment of it a little less than I remembered as a perpetually starving student in boarding school.

The shops in the main market are still the same after at least 20 years. Sharma & Bros, photographer for the school, Gupta Brothers, the grocery shop and round the corner, Daily Needs, the place to go for burgers and cold cuts. I remember going to Daily Needs in 2001 and asking for barbeque chicken. It was November and quiet and the owner actually walked down to the market to buy the bird. I told him about it this time and he laughed. You have to buy minimum two burgers as they use the oven to heat the chicken part of it (conscious about electricity wastage) and it was totally fine because I ate them both back to back! Still nice.

We saw an array of different fruit flavoured wines made locally in Himachal as well as stuff like apple cider vinegar, which we bought (apparently it aids weight loss). I bought a rhododendron (their specialty), apple and strawberry wine too. So far only opened the apple wine and the verdict .... it would find better use in desserts.

Lawrence School Sanawar

The next day, after I took everyone on a tour of my beautiful school, with its stunning landscape spread over an entire hilltop (though I'm very happy not to be a student anymore), we went back to Kasauli for lunch. Ross Common, a Himachal Tourism department owned property on the lower mall road, is in my opinion the best located hotel in Kasauli and has some pretty decent food at great prices. The service is horrendously slow though.

The grilled chicken was succulent and a very welcome change. The hotel was my first choice but was fully booked, though Kasauli Castle was the better place to stay especially if you have your own car. Being government owned, Ros Common's furnishings are a bit old and musty and maintenance is not their strong point, BUT..... location, location, location.

Holy Places Are Holy Hell to Get to

After lunch, two of us walked the 3.5 kilometres to Monkey Point. A hump at the end of the hill on top of which is a Hanuman temple. The point is guarded by the Air force and visitors are not allowed to enter after 4 p.m., or take any phones or cameras into the area. We barely made it in time, avoiding getting splashed by cars bumping up the badly maintained road with potholes filled with water.

As we huffed and puffed up the steep 350-foot climb to the top, stopping to catch our breath every once in a while (we had to be back down in half an hour), one guy on his way down told us that his eight year old son who has asthma issues just ran up the hill in like five minutes.....I don't think that made us feel any better and we huffed and puffed on. We reached the top, paid our respects at the temple and then stopped to admire the view. On a clear day, you can see the city of Chandigarh from there but that day, a misty cloud passed through us. Ah well, still good.

Cheeky!

After that we took a very steep short-cut down to our hotel in Garkhal, picking up fallen pine cones along the way, and I remembered all the times I wheezed UP the slope (which is quite a killer) in my school days. As my walk down memory lane ended, I wondered if the next time I came back, I would see a big change in this wonderful little town as property developers are now building villas all around the hills at exorbitant rates. It seems that Delhi land and food prices have stretched as far as the cars from there can go. Totally ridiculous. But as of now, it's like time's stood still in Kasauli and sometimes, that's the way it should be.
 

Corbett, India

CORBETT

Tiger Dekha?

That's the question everyone asks everyone they meet, strangers in the other vehicle, or the driver and guide. In front of me, it's always been a no. Seriously, has anyone seen a tiger in Corbett? Those who have are truly the chosen ones. This has been my third trip there and still no luck spotting the elusive beast. Guess that's the reason they're listed as endangered animals. Barely 160 of them loitering around a 1300 square kilometer reserve of which you get to travel not even a minute fraction. Good luck finding one. Unfortunately, during peak tourist season, you'll be hard pressed to see any animal. They're too busy avoiding the roar of the engines of the hundreds of Gypsys loaded to the max with loudly chattering people, unless you ambush them by stealth.

Our trip began on Holi day. Left Noida early around 7.30 am because we wanted to try and get to our destination before drunk revellers on bhang and God knows what else hit the roads. To our extreme good fortune it was the perfect day to travel. Holi being a major festival in north India, there was not a bus or truck on the highway and the very occasional car. Reached Moradabad in two hours flat and would have made it to Corbett in three and a half hours, but because of the bad roads before and a bit after Kashipur, we reached in a little under four hours. Our return took six hours, seven with a break for lunch.

Interesting road this. While most of it is four laned up to Moradabad, an ambitious attempt to build flyovers in a couple of small towns flanking the highway have met with setbacks. As a result, the flyovers start up, then end abruptly on top, turning them into ramps that could well be used for flugtag (a competition where home-made flying machines are launched off a pier into the water). Meanwhile, 85 percent of the road has been hogged up by the incomplete structures so on both sides cars have to negotiate all of 4 meters with bullock carts, cyclists, trucks, buses, tractors and pedestrians. You can imagine how smooth this makes the passage on a regular day.

The resort we stayed in was wonderful. Corbett Riverside, set on 21 acres of prime land right on the edge of the river Kosi, had huge lawns, blooming flowers and very well spaced out living areas with some huge rooms and suites. There's a vegetable patch with brinjal, mustard, cabbage, coriander and other vegetables and herbs and an orchard with mango, litchi and chikoo trees among others. Bliss for a country girl at heart like me! Well kept horses roam freely on the expansive lawns.


Outside our window. I've got my eye on you!

Langoors and monkeys shared the same space though usually langoors are used to chase away monkeys. Thankfully none of them came after us for our food. I have horrible memories of school days when vicious monkeys used to terrorise us. I loved my stay at Riverside even though we changed three rooms in four days due to last minute booking on an extremely busy weekend and a mix up on the reservation desk's part (they allotted the same room to two of us). The good part was, we got much better rooms than we paid for because of the goof up!


Chilling on Riverside lawns

Days were spent playing with the children in the mornings, splashing about in the pool, horse riding, lying around in the hammocks and playing badminton (after years I might add). We avoided the river this time. Otherwise, being dry season it could be crossed on foot. In  the evenings after our safaris (jeep and elephant), we would sit by the river drinking tea and eating pakoras and biscuits..one of my favourite times of the day. The staff were extremely helpful and accommodating on every aspect even though they were reeling under the load of almost 90 percent occupancy of extremely demanding guests.

The only weakness would be the restaurant. Since the resort was full, the dining staff just could not cope with the demand especially at breakfast. What with people on holiday, leaving their diet plans behind and just deciding to let go, the food always ran short and there were long waits to get replenishment. Also must say that some people have just no etiquette, manners or consideration. Vegetable cutlets being in high demand one breakfast, were coming out very slowly. After a wait of about 20 minutes, the waiter came out with about six or seven of them. One greedy idiot took the whole lot on his plate not caring that there were about 10 others waiting for a piece. Ah our fellow countrymen. Such sophistication and finesse. And then they waste. Plates and plates of finger chips..,also much sought after and denied to many.. were just left half eaten on the tables and abandoned.

Jackal

The jeep safari, which came complimentary with the hotel package, was quite interesting. As usual because we were so late with the bookings, all permits to the main Jim Corbett park were finished, so we were taken to the other side of the river through the Sitavani forest..it was a very pleasant day having rained the night before, so the open Gypsy, crisp, clean air, wind in our hair was lovely though we ended up frozen in our shorts. We saw deer, jackal, vultures, Siberian ducks, an eagle and other interesting birds. Sadly, no tiger. Our vehicle driver was quite the wit. Brutally honest, he told me to get the tiger out of my head and assured me I wasn't going to see one that day. We passed many other vehicles with tourists and since he knew all the drivers they would slow down or stop and have a chat. On one of these I asked him if those people had seen a tiger (I'm obsessed now). ``Dekhta to shakal mein shining hota. Inke mooh dekho, billi bhi nahin dekha''. These guys look upon us tourists as poor desperate suckers who'll drop any amount of money to spot the orange striper. Sigh, maybe someday....

The elephant safari also provided no luck. After two hours of bumping along through the river and forest, all we saw were two spotted deer, a turtle and carcasses of two cows (probably the closest I got to a tiger, not to mention the stuffed one at the gift shop). The mahout told us that we were his sixth trip that day and no luck for anyone. The ride was great fun and an exciting experience. Though I would advise people with motion sickness to take a pill before getting on because it is rough! Also, make sure you wear tough full length trousers or jeans because the branches and thorns will get to you. I have the scratch marks to prove it.

 








                                                                                                                                                            
One night we drove out more than 25 kilometers past the village of Mohan in the hopes of seeing a tiger. It was pretty spooky driving in the night. Lone car in a forested area with barely any traffic. If you really want to see animals, you have to stop at particular spots and wait patiently. With two small kids in the car, dead of night, hoping we wouldn't bust a tire or get waylaid by bandits or whatever, there was no chance of that happening. With a two or three car convoy I would say it's a must do. If not for anything, just a sense of adventure. This time again we just saw deer.

To be fair, as you approach the forest area there's a big yellow signboard with the disclaimer ``Tigers are one of the many animals in the reserve''. They're basically warning you that you're not likely to see one so be happy with the birds and the prey.

I hope to get lucky somewhere else sometime. Still, I'll keep going back to Corbett to stay at the Riverside for the sheer pleasure of the idyllic place.