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Date:
March 9, 2003
(A few corrections on the last email: I didn't swim across the Ganges.
I wrote that thinking to trick myself into actually doing it. I only
managed to get about five feet before turning around. It was painfully
cold. Debbie said that was just my bones contracting and that it would
pass. I was frightened of being swept downstream and I neglected to
check if there were crocodiles in the Ganges. Also, the guru, Shanti
Miya summoned me to visit her. We had an interesting conversation that
left me feeling peaceful and knowing that I was traveling the right
path.)
We bicycled partway down the forest roads of Corbett Tiger Reserve. It
was nearly pristine wilderness just out of sight and hearing of the
"real-India" though locals still illegally shepherded their buffalo
through the park or cut the foliage down and carried it home. Within
moments we glimpsed a jackal bounding through the bush. And, a pile of
wild elephant poo, enough to fill a pannier, lay on the ground. A few
kilometers down the road, Debbie found a fresh pile. We were very
excited.
The road was sand and stone. I was alternatingly being shaken apart or
bogged down. I was struggling to push my 265 pounds and in the bottom
of the dry, sandy riverbeds my strength was of no use. I figure it was
the eigth most dificult road of the trip (The first three weren't even
possibly to bicycle). Occasionally, the ground was damp and smooth
giving us needed breaks. I was impressed how well Debbie managed being
a rookie. Her fat tires and suspension helped immensely. Well, that's
my story, so she says.
As I mentioned, our surroundings blossomed into a jungle when freed
from the teeth and hooves of the cattle and hands and knifes of the
Indians. The road tunneled through numerous species of trees and bushes
that I didn't recognize from the farmlands. On the forest floor, thick
bramble and thorns fenced us on the road. I couldn't fathom how a tiger
could prowl through the undergrowth or an elephant through the dense
trees. The most notable aspec to of the jungle wasn't the flora or
fauna but simply the light. The canopy was sparse compared to a Costa
Rican rainforest where several layers of foliage and mist blocked the
sun, or the dense pine forests of Germany that seem to eat every photon
leaving me to fend for myself with a flashlight in midday.ľ The sparse
canopy and leaves burnt yellow by the sun, others transperent asif
overwhelemed by the sun, fives the jungle the appearance foľ being
illuminated from the inside, a yellow-orange light reminescent of a
perpetual sunset and tigers. The wind wiggled the leaves and it
appeared the grass shimmered and the jungle itself stalked us. I got
quite a few scares from troops of monkeys and herds of deer.
Well, I have to go and probably won't be able to return to the internet for
weeks. suffice to say, I was severally disappointed when we weren't
able to return because of the Indian red-tape. It is a whole book
in itself.
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