Weekend in India
3 days | Apr 2019 | Akash the tiger bathing in a watering hole. Photo taken through the thick jungle foliage.
Quick Thoughts
Not gonna lie, planning a trip to India was quite daunting as I experienced a bit of information overload. I mean we’re talking about a country with 4,000 freaking cities and the seventh largest land mass in the world.
With that said, my goal was to witness India’s wonderfully diverse wildlife and in particular: the bengal tigers. So I narrowed down my options for a weekend getaway and landed on Ranthambhore National Park near Jaipur.
The weekend only afforded me a taste of India, but after surviving a staredown with the King of the Jungle, suffice to say I’m ready for round two 🐯
Key Highlights
Link to my collection of Instagram Stories from the trip!
Key highlight was the wildlife safari (obviously). In 1.5 days I took 2,500 photos, mostly of tigers but also got an elusive leopard sighting, tons of langur monkeys, deer, peacocks, mongoose, wild boar, kingfishers, herons, and so on.
Galta Ji Monkey Temple - I spent my last afternoon in India hanging out with a bunch of monkeys, quite literally. It was entertaining watching dozens of playful monkeys dive repeatedly into the temple pool and wrestling nonstop with each other. Time well spent.
Cows own the roads - I understand cows are considered sacred in the majority-Hindu nation, but it’s still quite the spectacle seeing a single cow able to force the chaotic and uncompromising road to bend the knee.
Speaking of roads, do you seek the thrill of rollercoasters but are afraid of heights? Well, driving in India is somewhat of its own adrenaline rush. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a few times I closed my eyes and whispered, “Jesus take the wheel” while my driver nonchalantly weaved his way between cars, tuk tuks, cows, bikers, pedestrians, and chaos incarnate. But the more time I spent on the roads, the more fascinated I became at the technical prowess and confidence of the drivers (cows excluded). Take a few steps back and you’ll see there are unspoken, hidden rules of the road that once discovered enable you to control the chaos and ride the current. Like a boss.
Things to Know
Travel Visa - In typical fashion I booked this trip last minute and almost forgot about the travel visa. Fortunately I successfully applied for a rush e-visa via this website which approved me in 24 hours.
I stayed at the Ranthambhore Heritage Haveli hotel which I recommend. They took care of my airport pickup / dropoff, my wildlife safari bookings, and are also located in close proximity to the national park.
I flew into Jaipur International Airport in Rajasthan followed by a ~3 hour drive to my hotel near Ranthambore National Park.
In total, I booked three safaris: two morning and one afternoon drives. Definitely recommend as you’re not guaranteed optimal weather conditions or tiger sightings.