Kaziranga

It’s fitting I suppose, that the same person who told me about the vipassana center in Igatpuri, where I had my first silent sitting retreat, is also the first and only person to have mentioned to me Kaziranga! That was 3 years ago last month, and I have wanted to come here ever since. But the northeast always seemed so far, in need of a chunk of time in order to explore, and intimidating due to the government permits necessary for foreigners to travel around some parts of this region. Still, Rajesh’s interest for this place stayed with me.

And so here we are… I’ve managed to drag Nisarga all the way up here to a place in the world he had never considered visiting or even heard of before. And we are somewhere really foreign to us in comparison to what we are used to. We have never seen any pictures from here, no one I know except for Rajesh has ever been here, and the travel guide is rather lean when it comes to this region. The planner in me feels soooo unprepared… the controlling self in me feels starved.

After a 5 hour bus ride we reach Kaziranga, at 430pm just before it gets dark. A wide path with tea plantations stretching out on either side welcomes us. We settle into a lodge with a huge beautiful tree out front, the last room on the east corner of the furthest annex … perfect! This place looks like it used to be something built and used by the British about a century ago. There is a little stream that runs through the forest just beyond our room. The stars are shining bright. We’re happy. Nisarga is in love with the vibrations of this place, and I’m excited to finally be living this.

Kaziranga is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it covers an area of 430 sq.km comprising of forest, elephant grass, marshes and shallow pools. It is home to over two thirds of the world’s one-horned rhinos. There are about 1,800 or so rhinos at Khaziranga, up from just 200 in 1904.

We went for an elephant ride safari in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP). This was a big day… Nisarga’s first elephant ride ever. Instead of taking a car we walked the 3km to the KNP entrance gate. We headed out just after 530am. There was a thick layer of mist covering everything. The birds on alarm duty announcing the start of yet another day, the sun slowly creeping up behind the bamboo, and the villagers beginning their morning routines. There are 5 elephants on this ride and ours is the one with the gunman escort… who has a good eye for spotting rhinos.

One hour and 2,500 rupees later (just over US$50) we have seen 4 rhinos, wild boar, buffalo, so many deer, pelicans and storks, among other things. And it was so effortless, the animals in such abundance and so close, I felt like I was in an interactive open air zoo or something like that. Incredible! Best safari outside of Africa I’ve been on. We relaxed in the middle of the day and went back for an afternoon jeep safari. Obviously we saw animals from a further distance, but on this trip we got to appreciate the different landscapes of the park. And a lovely and romantic sunset!

In the morning we are greeted by the sun rising through our windows. We go out to the veranda and have herbal tea. We spend time doing yoga, breathing exercises, sun bathing, and reading. Then it’s time to say goodbye to this peaceful and tranquil place. Nisarga doesn’t want to go, and we consider staying but the bus comes just in time and we are on our way again.

We agree to return to Kaziranga sometime before we leave India, for at least a week, and just be. We take with us beautiful memories and pictures, and a bunch of bananas which are delightfully sweet and have seeds like small stones or pebbles throughout them (kinda freaky!).

Nisarga also tried his first beetle nut pan here… we won’t be repeating that experience though (beetle nut, a green leaf, some white gunk which serves as the stimulant, some burning and a whole bunch of numbness of the mouth and tongue after chewing and sucking on this highly addictive concoction which turns your teeth and mouth red and results in endless amounts of red saliva to be spat out).

PS: there are some lovely pix from kaziranga on the assam picassa album.