The cancelled Himalayan expeditions of 2020 & 2021

I will have to go back to January of 2020 when my friend and I decided to go for a Himalayan trek. We planned to register for any of the IndiaHike treks, as I wanted to try a new trekking organization apart from the usual YHAI. After careful considerations of the trek duration and available leaves we booked Har-ki-dun Ruinsara Tal trek from Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The trek was supposed to begin during first week of May 2020. However, we all know, the pandemic showed its ugly face and many of the countries including India went on a lockdown and restrictions for many weeks, if not for months. Due to this, even our trek got cancelled. No doubt we were sad but somehow convinced ourselves that it was a good thing. The organizer provided us two options; either to get a refund deducting the processing fees or to collect a voucher, valid for 18 months, which could be used for any future treks. We opted for the latter option.

Fast forward one year. The whole world went through & still going through all the problems caused by the pandemic. Now, the virus was better understood and that was being controlled. Vaccines were in pipeline and there were signs of things getting under control. And then, we started discussing about the upcoming summer trek again in Feb 2021. I badly wanted to have a break and was looking forward for a wonderful trek. After checking the available treks, we booked Deoriatal Chandrashila trek starting from Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. Unfortunately, after few weeks of this, India was hit by the second wave of pandemic. The infection rate again climbed up and to control the situation, many state governments decided to declare curfews and few other restrictions. Undeterred, I still had my plans on. We were supposed to start on Apr 24th to Rishikesh and things were still uncertain w.r.t state-imposed curfews and other arrangements. But on 20th or so, it was informed by the organizers that they have decided to cancel the treks which were starting in next 2 weeks considering the high infection rates in state and city.

I was heartbroken. We all were, as it was our second trek that got cancelled in as many years after booking all the things including flight tickets. I was in the zone, to be in the mountains and having a peaceful time. But that didn’t happen. Again, we might end up saying that it’s all good for all considering the situation and the uncertainties surrounding it. But it was very disappointing.

Hoping we all come out of this pandemic strong and have our ‘normal’ back.

Bandipur National Park & Tiger Reserve Safari

It was quite some time that we hadn't been out on an outing and I was planning for one. And when one of my friends informed me about his plans to visit Bengaluru from Mumbai and popped a question about an outing together, the timing couldn't have been any better. He suggested Bandipur national park safari, and since I had not visited it before, we all decided on it.

I quickly started checking for different hotels/resorts for the stay. There were couple of good luxurious options but based on some good online reviews about National Tiger Reserve cottages, I decided to book it instead. I have penned down the details about cottage booking procedure and details here.

Bandipur tiger reserve cottage area is a huge campus beautifully located inside the national park. That’s why we witnessed many deer casually walking around, resting right next to our stay. Peacocks sang, or disturbed, in the wee hours.

Bandipur being one of the first nine tiger reserves in the country, extends over an area of about 82 sq.kms covering forest area of 3 states Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala. We booked for an afternoon safari and that too in a gypsy/jeep, which was a right fit for 5 of us. The wildlife safari starts from the new campus and is a 2 hours affair where they take us through the designated area of the forest on the set trails. The drivers and the official accompanying are, of course, well trained and explain the things quite nicely.

It actually took us few minutes to realize that we are in an open gypsy in the forest, yes in a tiger reserve, and there is of course a chance to meet a tiger in the open. This very thought when we all discussed in open brought the fear factor.

We were fortunate enough to spot the following animals:

• 5-6 Elephants
• Deer, in abundance
• Barking deer, a very shy animal
• Sambar deer, apparently the largest deer in India
• Peacocks

However, NO tigers ☹. The driver informed that in his morning safari they were fortunate enough to spot 2 tigers. And this information certainly didn’t help us feel any better, in fact made us sadder.

May be, next time.

The safari was of course an enjoyable experience. The rain added a nice touch to the already attractive bumpy ride. My son enjoyed it more.

Bandipur National Park and tiger reserve turned out to be a good destination, surely something to visit again in future.

On our way back, visited the Gaganchukki and Barachukki water falls too.

Bandipur Tiger Reserve cottage booking

 As mentioned in my other post, my friends and my family decided to visit Bandipur National Park & Tiger reserve and have a wildlife safari over the weekend.

I decided to book the Govt. run accommodation that is located inside the national park, instead of booking other available resorts located outside the park gates.

https://bandipurtigerreserve.in/ is the website you can visit to book it online. Please note, we pay the cottage accommodation fees, safari fees along with park entry fees and parking fees at one place and this helps in a way.

This website takes us to https://www.bandipurtigerreserve.co.in/ for reservations/bookings post registration. You get different options to pick a cottage from many options like Gajendra, Vanashree, Chital, Harini etc along with dormitories. Since I was booking it in a short notice, I had only the 9-bed dormitories as the only available option. Only annoying factor during booking process was that the calls to contact numbers provided and emails go unanswered despite trying multiple times, something they need to fix asap. It's very common that someone would want some questions to be answered before booking.

Well, initially I was hesitant to book a dorm considering it’s our first time there and that too with family and friends. I was worried about cleanliness and things but once we reached the place, we realized following things:

• It’s situated in a beautiful location inside the national park. That’s why we witnessed many deer casually walking around, resting near the cottages.
• The campus is huge with no boundary with big bungalow kind of cottages & dorms.
• Dedicated buildings as canteen and reception area etc with very good staff who are ready to explain things neatly.
• Our dormitory having bunker beds was cozy and clean with bathrooms on both sides. (They can however plan to keep the bathrooms posh and sheets cleaner. It was ok but it can be improved. Those who are super particular about sheets, please carry your own ones).
• Breakfast & meal options are limited but they served good food.
• We were not allowed to walk around by ourselves post sunset and were escorted around in electric carts.

Well, to summarize, it’s a very good accommodation for those coming in with families or just with friends.