My Trip to Sariska

The motivation for writing this blog entry was absolutely Shafina and her tempting post on ‘City of Angels’ but the motivation behind the whole activity was ‘Stripey’. And, I hope you recognize Stripey for he’s the cute little tiger cub who reminds us how there are only 1,411 tigers left in the country (and just so you know that’s his name actually, don’t believe me! Check out Facebook, he’s quite a celebrity) and I decided let’s chance it out. So, away I went on my Easter weekend (let’s say extended Easter weekend) to Sariska National Park in the district of Alwar, Rajasthan. It’s a breezy couple of hours drive from Delhi and the weather is much more tolerable than the city.
And before you ask me, “NO”, I did not see any tigers at all. They simply didn’t think it was worthwhile enough to give me a glimpse of their majestic presence. So, you should all sympathize with my beautiful sentiments of extreme envy towards Shafina. However, I’m not the one to go down without a fight and so, I am with a ‘Tiger Bird’ eating out of my hands—literally. Here it is…

Now, it’s so called because this bird takes care of the ‘Dental Hygiene’ needs of a tiger. You see, when a tiger sees a ‘Tiger Bird’ it simply opens its jaws while the bird dutifully picks at the stray meat and flesh remnants in the tiger’s teeth cleaning them and snacking in turn. Nature has it’s own way of taking care of things and mostly it’s very innovative and interesting. Apart from that, here’s how the rest of the trip went.

The first thing that hits you while you are on the way to Sariska is its arid landscape. Trees are few and far in between, hills are barren and rock-faced, and vegetation, very scarce but beautiful. Once inside Rajasthan and on the by-pass of Alwar, you pass men in stately and huge turbans, women in vividly coloured ghagras and camels strutting in their majestic sway. Even, the dung heaps in the fields (which would be later used as fuel for their earthen stoves) are smoothed into big square blocks and embossed with designs in line drawings. (Again, before you ask, Yes, it’s true and No, I don’t have photographs of it because my husband thought stopping the car in the middle of the road to click dung heaps would psychologically affect his notions about our relationship. So there!)
After, reaching Sariska we checked into the Tiger Den Resort. It’s a good place with a sprawling lawn in front to unwind. The first and most obvious and overwhelming realization that engulfs you is the silence, I could not recall when was the last time I sat in so much calm and natural beauty surrounding me. Relaxation has a new meaning.

We booked a safari for the next morning and it was very scenic as well as exciting. There was lots of curious flora which our knowledgeable guide dutifully pointed to us, along with their botanical names! To make for the lack of the big cat, we spotted a lot of deers (some 3 types of them), crocodiles, tortoises, black faced langurs and a lot of birds. Oh yes, and peacocks, huge peacocks, lots of peacocks and I don’t think I would want to see anymore, I’ve had my lifetime’s fill of them. But, they are beautiful, very regal.
We next decided to hit the road for our second destination, Silisedh Lake, 14 kms from Sariska. Words fail to describe the barren beauty of the surrounding hills and the soothing calm of the pristine expansive lake. All we did was sit and stare and stare and …. There is zero noise, no commercial establishments nearby; the nearest small shop is a km. away, no jarring lights so that in the evenings the lake is plunked into a calming twilight of minimum lights. The Lake Palace hotel is the only accommodation so it’s not scarred by modern concrete structures but a palace which belongs to the scenery and the cluster of houses make a beautiful village on the other side of the lake. It’s almost like a painting and is either acrylic, or water-coloured, or oil-based depending on the time of the day you are seeing it on. A number of birds dot the rippling waters; it’s a delight to gaze at. And curiously enough, there are hordes of white butterflies, only white.

You could easily visit both these places over a weekend; Sariska is 193 kms from Delhi and took us 3 and a half hour to drive. Road conditions are good and traffic very sparse, so you can speed it up. Regarding accommodation, RTDC hotels provide the most reasonable rates, and include breakfast and dinner with the room tariff. Simple and tasty fares in food but best avoid non-vegetarian because the vegetarian cooks are not that good in it. It’s amazing how a world of difference is sitting there and is not very far from the city. Make a trip and tell me about it!


Regards,


Rima