October 22nd - Ananda to Corbett

Our route today was to take us on a 280 kms drive through the Himalayan mountains through which the Ganges River runs. We looked at the route and made the decision that we would do the first half of the mountain drive and then, after 120 kms, take a road south that would lead us to a small road at the edge of the mountains and then to our hotel at the Corbett Tiger Reserve. The plan seemed good but it wasn't how it turned out!

We left the hotel at 6.15 am and drove down into Rishikesh, where we crossed the Ganges. Rishikesh is a centre of Hinduism and we saw many pilgrims making their way to the river. When we drove up the eastern bank of the Ganges we stopped at a pedestrian suspension bridge and looked down on the pilgrims bathing in the fast flowing waters. Right in the middle of the bridge, on its own, was a monkey!
 

A view up the Ganges gorge at Rishikesh.

We continued on up the river and the road, I should say track, climbed higher and higher and then after another 12 kms we reached the peak and looked down into the Ganges gorge. A truly impressive sight.

We continued on this narrow and, at times, quite hair-raising dirt road for another 50 kms. Just before the junction where we were parting from the group we came across Jeremy and Felicity in Car 25, a Mitsubishi Pajero, parked on the side of the road with a flat front tyre. We stopped and gave a hand, and in about twenty minutes we were all back on the go. Tim and Jeremy changing the wheel of Jeremy's and Felicity's car.

Shortly after we came to the junction where we had chosen to head south while the rest of the group continued on the mountain track. We were now on our own. A beautiful winding mountain road descended through lush green tropical vegetation. With very little traffic we made quick progress on our way to our first town, Kotdwara. Just south of the town we intended to turn left onto the road we had seen on the map which would take us all the way to the Corbett Tiger Reserve. Then we rounded a bend and found the road blocked by a queue of cars and buses. There were a large number of people milling around. We made our way forward driving around the parked vehicles, to the front of the queue. We were immediately confronted by people shouting at us to turn back. I thought at first it was due to a landslide but then I looked down the road and saw a group of elephants pulling bushes and small trees down with their trunks! One of the Indians told me that as there were babies in the group it was dangerous to go past them and we would have to wait till they went back into the jungle. Unfortunately, I now find that I only took video of the elephants and no still pictures.

Car 23, Car 28 and Car 21 had also decided not to take the 'official' route. Their route was slightly different from ours, but we had agreed to call them when we arrived at Kotdwara. They were running about an hour in front of us and when we spoke to them they told us that they had been told the road we had planned to drive along, was either closed or not suitable for us. A quick decision was made to go about 25 kms further south and then take one of the main roads, the NH 74, to Najibabad, Nagina, Dhampur, Kashipur and finally Ramnagar. The roads were all good fast highways with remarkably little traffic. Once again we saw several examples of driving, with what we have come to call, the Indian Death Wish! Motorbikes coming straight out from side turnings without a look in either direction and cars and buses overtaking straight at you. Even with these hazards we made good progress and arrived at our hotel at 2.30pm.

Tomorrow we go on a tiger safari, leaving from the hotel at 5.30am! When we return to the hotel we will set off for our next stop at Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal.