Tadoba - Part 9
Read earlier posts here - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
While we were busy with Safaris mornings and afternoons, MTDC was acting as our base. After the 3-4 hours of bumpy ride, the room in the resort provided for the comfort much needed by the body. The room was spacious, lot of empty space, a balcony and a sit-out. All this was situated very next to the tiger reserve and we heard some stories of tiger slipping out of the Jungle boundaries and capturing some of the cattle from the village around.
The restaurant @ MTDC was a big "thumbs down" experience. There wasn't much choice available in the food items. The menu was more or less restricted to Panjabi items, which were prepared with pathetic raw material. On one of the meals, I just separated the pieces of Paneer as I couldn't eat them. Breakfast/snacks comprised of either Pohe, Bread Omlet or Bread Butter. After having "mirchi" pohe, we resorted to bread butter for the snacks and the bread was over for next two rounds!!. The only good part was the Chapatis and Dal Jira which were good and eatable.
On the second day, I was so desperate to have something different, I actually thought of stepping out of the MTDC and have dinner at one of the other resorts nearby. This was vetoed by Mrunmay strictly saying we'd not go outside!! Even Ashish, our guide, kept of stating MTDC is best amongst the available choices.. I stopped imagining what would be happening at other resorts..
It was surprising for us to know that there are villages inside the tiger reserve. We could see some farming and some villagers during our regular safaris. Some folks were just walking down the road, some were on two wheelers and some were waiting for the S.T. Bus. Yes, one bus travels through the Jungle and helps people inside the reserve to connect with the world outside!!
One thing that was distinctly different from Bandipur - the co-operation amongst the Gypsies, the guides and the drivers. At Bandipur, the guides used to help each other a lot, specifically in terms of information exchange. However, here I saw that as a problem. Information was exchanged very reluctantly and one would always have a doubt if that is true or not. Probably this was because here the Gypsies were private and owners were different, whereas at Bandipur the Gypsies are supplied and governed by the Forrest Dept. But at the end of it, the tourists are at disadvantage, due to lack of information exchange.
On the whole, this trip left me dissatisfied on two fronts - No Tiger sighting and no good food. However, we had good fun along with Mrunmay during the Safari as well as during the stay at MTDC. One thing that we realized about Mrunmay - he was reserved with most of the folks, but opens up and becomes friendly with some select few and it leads to some interesting conversations :)
It was time to pack bags and start our journey back home. With the memories of Ghugus still haunting, we were desperate to try some other route. It was not an easy dilemma - would the other road be better than Chandrapur-Gugus road or it would be worse? We were slated to leave Moharli by noon, by considering the time it took us to reach Moharli, it would have been midnight before we reach Akola. That means night drive and if the road is bad, it would only add to the worries.
We decided to choose "Unknown God"...
Continued...
While we were busy with Safaris mornings and afternoons, MTDC was acting as our base. After the 3-4 hours of bumpy ride, the room in the resort provided for the comfort much needed by the body. The room was spacious, lot of empty space, a balcony and a sit-out. All this was situated very next to the tiger reserve and we heard some stories of tiger slipping out of the Jungle boundaries and capturing some of the cattle from the village around.
The restaurant @ MTDC was a big "thumbs down" experience. There wasn't much choice available in the food items. The menu was more or less restricted to Panjabi items, which were prepared with pathetic raw material. On one of the meals, I just separated the pieces of Paneer as I couldn't eat them. Breakfast/snacks comprised of either Pohe, Bread Omlet or Bread Butter. After having "mirchi" pohe, we resorted to bread butter for the snacks and the bread was over for next two rounds!!. The only good part was the Chapatis and Dal Jira which were good and eatable.
On the second day, I was so desperate to have something different, I actually thought of stepping out of the MTDC and have dinner at one of the other resorts nearby. This was vetoed by Mrunmay strictly saying we'd not go outside!! Even Ashish, our guide, kept of stating MTDC is best amongst the available choices.. I stopped imagining what would be happening at other resorts..
It was surprising for us to know that there are villages inside the tiger reserve. We could see some farming and some villagers during our regular safaris. Some folks were just walking down the road, some were on two wheelers and some were waiting for the S.T. Bus. Yes, one bus travels through the Jungle and helps people inside the reserve to connect with the world outside!!
One thing that was distinctly different from Bandipur - the co-operation amongst the Gypsies, the guides and the drivers. At Bandipur, the guides used to help each other a lot, specifically in terms of information exchange. However, here I saw that as a problem. Information was exchanged very reluctantly and one would always have a doubt if that is true or not. Probably this was because here the Gypsies were private and owners were different, whereas at Bandipur the Gypsies are supplied and governed by the Forrest Dept. But at the end of it, the tourists are at disadvantage, due to lack of information exchange.
On the whole, this trip left me dissatisfied on two fronts - No Tiger sighting and no good food. However, we had good fun along with Mrunmay during the Safari as well as during the stay at MTDC. One thing that we realized about Mrunmay - he was reserved with most of the folks, but opens up and becomes friendly with some select few and it leads to some interesting conversations :)
It was time to pack bags and start our journey back home. With the memories of Ghugus still haunting, we were desperate to try some other route. It was not an easy dilemma - would the other road be better than Chandrapur-Gugus road or it would be worse? We were slated to leave Moharli by noon, by considering the time it took us to reach Moharli, it would have been midnight before we reach Akola. That means night drive and if the road is bad, it would only add to the worries.
We decided to choose "Unknown God"...
Continued...
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