"Trekking" in India. By Hollie, 12/10

Which seats are "leach free"? 

I had yet to get the sleep from my eyes, before we were on our way to the Peryiar Tiger Reserve. We walked to this little hut to be taken on our way, and were immediately given what looked like a giant, sock looking, wader and all they had to say was one word: “leeches.”  They obviously didn’t care that the giants sock did not fit in our shoes, but I guess better that than leeches up our pant legs. The moment I stepped on the bamboo raft, if you want to call it that, tied together with coconut “string”, crawling with the slimy leech creatures, and about half way to sinking, I knew this day would be trouble – and it was only 7am. When my mother suggested trekking for this weekend trip, I knew it wasn’t going to be like any old trip to the open space. After today we’ve realized that in India, trekking more likely consists of following non-existent paths, in the hope of finding some kind of animal, by following its dung through a never-ending mess of jungle. Along with us was our guide, (don’t ask for his name), who had one of those voices from a National Geographic documentary, his tone proceeding to deepen with every word.

We began with our trek and we hadn’t even gone 5 minutes when there was a sharp shrill of a scream I know so well. There was indeed a leech on Mom’s chest and she did one of her dance seizures in getting it off. This was going to be the beginning of a long journey. The view from the back of the three of us was often amusing, with the constant thwapping of the arms, throwing off the imaginary leeches. Not to mention, my body was still recovering from being sick, and trying to stay in good spirits was hard when all the branches on the non-existent trails would be let go and catapulted into my face as I tried to keep up.  It was all worth it in the end – as we climbed our last heart kicker of a hill, we saw a stampede (ok, it was like 4 or 5 of them, just trying to make you jealous..) of bison running away from us to safety. 

Did you see, hear, or say anything?

The preserve was beautiful and the views were amazing, looking over the lake and the trees with all the sounds of the jungle. We headed back, and finally made it to the sinking raft, and made our way back to the hotel. We decided to spend our “resting” hours, as preparation for Christmas. We got out the lists of what we did and didn’t need, and we headed out to see what we could find. But all we could see was a closed/locked gate, with what looked like a patrol officer guarding it. Yep, we were stuck, like little animals in a cage. The problem was local rioting over the dam have become so severe that people are beginning to rob houses and tear them down (they just need a little more attention than what they were getting…) So, no guests were allowed to leave the hotel.

However, at 3 we were still able meet Jay, our driver, for our boat ride through the preserve, to see the lions, and elephants, and whatever else we could find.

Does this vest make my face look fat?

We have come to realize India is the “land of false promises” – just like all hotel menus, all that you see is not necessarily real or possible. The tigers we came to find out (once on board and ticket price paid) are seen at best once a year, and the elephants?  Nope, the waters too high; funny how that works out. The excursion was not one to remember, but ended up burned into our minds as one of our endless laughing fits through the entire hour and a half. We waited in line (not what were used to) with masses of humanity to get on a boat that seemed to be the only one not half way under. We boarded, and were instructed to put on the life jackets. These weren’t your ordinary jackets, they were like giant orange turtle shells, restricting us from any movement at all. We looked like engorged ticks ready to pop (God knows what would happen if we were to actually fall in the water). We sat in our assigned chairs and waited to begin our adventure – caught between the overweight, nose blowing, and wheezing German lady, and the itch I couldn’t scratch due to my turtle shell encasing, to the laughter and crying because of how it simply overwhelmed us. 

The scenery was beautiful, and we enjoyed everything that was around us. The millions of trees, the calling birds, and the howling monkeys made it feel so peaceful and different. It’s so much more enjoyable when you know that these animals are free and safe in this beautiful environment, as opposed to in the cages we tend to see them in. Mostly what we saw were Cormorants, King Fishers and Snake Birds, all of which we have at home.  The one deer like creature we saw we couldn’t get our camera on it fast enough, isn’t that the way it goes?  We were about to yell  “look, a herd of elephants!” just to see what kind of chaos we could create, but I’d be afraid someone might fall overboard with their turtle vest if there was an ELEPHANT to be seen. 

At the end of our trip, Mom was proud to say that she saw the first bison on the hill. Everyone immediately rushed over and began snapping as many pictures as they could. A thought ran through our minds that there was probably a little man holding it by a rope in a bush, just for the boat to be able to see something – but I guess we’ll never know.

Jay took us back to hotel, where the gate was still locked and we were told to still stay inside until tomorrow. Time for dinner, and a new, beautiful day tomorrow!