Ride to the Tiger land – (Mumbai – Ranthambore)

First trip to Ranthambore. First Safari. Afternoon time. In a Canter. And you spot a Tiger. Heard of something like this before? Just say no so that I feel good about it.

Here we go! A Royal Enfield and KTM Duke. 1300 Kms ride from Mumbai – Rajasthan (Sawai Madhopur). I was up for the challenge along with Kartik Muchandi (You can laugh reading that Surname).

6 day road trip checklist: GoPro, DSLR, Tent, Sleeping bags, spare parts, etc.

After completing a 26 day Keto cycle and losing 13 kgs, we began our journey on 8^th October, 2016 from Mumbai at 5.30 am in the morning. First day target was to reach Udaipur and then Ranthombore the next day.

The tyres were happy about the trip and smiling as they were filled with Nitrogen gas (Sad tha kya?).

Since it was not a Solo trip this time, you can expect me to upload better set of pictures and I have made sure that I get a nice Facebook DP during the trip (third world problems).

Day 1:

Home – Atithi Hotel – Parsi Da Dhaba – Surat – Vadodara – Godhra – Modasa – MP-Rajasthan Border – Udaipur (800 Kms)

It was an ass crushing ride to Udaipur. Roads where beautiful and were potholes free. But the worst part was riding on a straight road nonstop without sleeping and catching up with KTM on a Royal Enfield. 

 

Kartik hated me as my max speed was close to 110 Kms/hr while he could have crossed 130 kms/hr with ease on his bike (Reason why we both prefer riding Solo). Spicy Chicken biryani sealed the day for us.

Day 2:

Udaipur – Chittorgarh – Bhilwara – Mushi – Shahpura – Deoli – Tonk – Aligarh – Sawai Madhopur (450 Kms)

 We started late as the distance was short (Caught up with good sleep). Away from the city there’s one thing you all must try is Dhaba food. You will end up having a complete meal at the cost of Bun-Maska on Dhaba. We had Dal-Bati, Mix veg paneer gravy, rotis, tea and more to clock lunch bill of Rs. 180. 

The journey was beautiful as we crossed less populated places with no McDonald’s, KFC’s of the world around. People looked at us very aggressively and were inquisitive about what we are here for.

 The final 80 Kms with broken road was the real test as it was dark already and we were the only ones on road. It’s a Jungle and it’s scary. We managed to book a room using OYO at night which gave us a comfortable sleep. BTW mutton is served more commonly than chicken here. We slept off dreaming of tigers.

Day 3:

The big day was here. We were all set to go for an afternoon safari. But before that, we were game for some local special cuisine. Laal Mass, Kebabs, Rotis overfilled us. Anyway Karthik’s appetite sucks big time. Tummy full and eyes set for the Jungle safari. Through the old Rajasthani Forts and old villages we enter the Ranthambore Wildlife sanctuary in a canter. We had our weapons ready (DSLR and the Go-pro camera). We had Deer’s, Black bucks, Birds, Neel Gai, Antelopes, Peacocks, Monitor lizard, etc. all in front of us in their wild environment. 

 

Heart beating fast as we wanted to see a Tiger only to realize that the last time the Tiger was seen on this route was 9 days ago and they tend to relax in afternoon being a nocturnally active animal. Disappointment was evident in the Canter as we all believed that today is not our day and so did the driver who took a U-turn to return to the base. As we were heading back, the driver got a call on his walky-talky that said the Tiger is 2 kms away from us. Elated by this news we were on our feat and ready to see the big cat. How lucky we could get? On our way, we spotted a black Bear which is found even more rarely in the Jungle (But people did not gave flying fucks about it as they only wanted to see the tiger). 

Through the bushes, waging his tail walks a huge young male tiger in front of us. What we saw was no less than a miracle as it got tears in our eyes. All I did was thank him for his visit as he respected our 1350 Kms bike ride to meet him. While others were firing photo clicks at him, I was just looking at him walk in style till he disappeared in the dense forest. On our way back, we were satisfied and happy for the successful sighting. Celebrated the day with a few beers and good food. We had plan to do 3 Safaris to spot the Tiger, but lucky enough to spot Tiger in the first Safari itself we were elated by the money saved and decided to leave for Udaipur next day itself.

Day 4: We headed to Udaipur. It was Dussehra day and we wanted to catch up on the celebrations in Udaipur. We took a different route this time and came across some beautiful places on our way. With all the time pass done on the road, we were late enough to miss the Dussehra celebrations in Udaipur. Nothing much to do, we passed out early.

Day 5: In Udaipur, we decided to go around and visit Lakes and Palaces around. 

Our ride took us through some of the breath taking paths towards the lakes. Took rope way to reach the top of a fort that gave us a view of the most beautiful part of Udaipur city. Surprise! Surprise! I got to know about a Biological park nearby and I had to literally drag Karthik to the place. I can never get enough of Wildlife. 

 

This park has large area built for animals to roam around. Animals might not feel caged here. A Roar from Lion left us scared and gave us goosebumps.

After looking at the way the Lion moved through the Grass and his style, I can only believe why he is the King of the Jungle. That day I decided that I will go to Gir Wildlife Sanctuary to visit Lions. Again, a great day spent that gave me a good night sleep.

Day 6: With everything done as per our plan, we headed back to Mumbai. Since we left at 4am, the morning in Udaipur was extremely cold and Karthik was covered like a Mummy to save himself from the cold. We took the Ahmedabad route instead of the Godhra route. That Ahmedabad road is so straight that you will fall asleep at 120Kms/hr speed. Some Gujju food for lunch on our way back was fun. This kathiyawadi food is damn sweet man (Sugar rush). We completed our journey in 16 hours.

2700+ Kms in 6 days with beautiful animals sighting was an experience of lifetime.

That's Karthik Muchandi: