Chambal

Feb 11^th we depart from Dholpur by bus and drive towards Chambal.  The livestock along this part of our journey are plentiful and in good condition.  We pass a cattle and buffalo auction on the side of the road.   Speaking of bovines, cow dung is a valuable commodity in India.  The owners of cattle actually lay claim to their cow dung or gobar.  The cow dung is harvested, mixed with chaff and reshaped into large patties.  These are set to dry anywhere there is space to do so.  The cow patties are then stacked into elaborated conical piles.   The cow dung is used for fertilizer and for fuel.  Cow dung is also used as pavement and flooring because of its repellent properties for some types of insects. 

Cattle and buffalo auction

Cow dung drying and stacked

    

Occasionally I sit in the bus drivers’ compartment where you get a great view of the road and there are opportunities to take amazing photographs. There are always fascinating things to see along the way.   However, there can be some close calls with various obstacles along the way which make you not so sure you want to be right up front.

Street vendors

The back of trucks are commonly marked with a sign indicating 'blow horn' if you want to pass;  blowing of horns to make people move out of your way appears to be second nature, no need to be told :)

Our guide Sandhya tells us there is a saying in India that 'there is always room for one more'.   Due to overloading, vehicle suspension takes a lot of abuse.

A family sitting, what appears to us to be dangerously close to the edge of the road selling produce

Transporting milk cans

Home-made farm vehicle

 

We arrive at the Chambal Safari Lodge in the early afternoon.  It is an eco-lodge created on 35 acres of a family heritage plantation. After settling into our accommodations, we go with local guides towards the nearby town of Beteshwar.  On the way we stop to visit a site where Naga sadhus live in caves and temples carved into ravines along the Yamuna River.

The Guru of this sect of sadhus.  

One of his disciples

For many sadhus, the consumption of cannabis is accorded a 'religious significance'.

Beteshwar is the site of more than a hundred Hindu and Jain temples along the banks of the holy Yamuna River.  We appear to be the only tourists in this town which is refreshing.  The first temple we visit is a Jain temple that is very clean and austere.  The Hindu temples of Beteshwar are dedicated to the God Shiva.  In the courtyard of one of the Hindu temples there are many suspended brass bells.  People ring the bells when entering the temple to announce their presence to the Gods.  Inside one of the small temples we attend an aarti ceremony.  The Hindu priests begin by dressing the central deity figure of the Shiva Linga.  They then anoint the Shiva Linga with many things such as flowers, vermillion paint, Bilva leaves, pung (cannibas) and string (for good luck).  We all participate in the act of anointing the deity.  Next is the invocation of the image using fire and camphor.  The candles and incense are on a metal plate which is passed to everyone to wave over the Shiva deity.  The priests are chanting during the ceremony.  At the end of the ceremony, a priest ties red and orange string around our wrists (left for women and right for men).  These strings are meant to be left on until they naturally fall off.   The priest then marks a vermillion bindi on our forehead between our eyebrows (marking the third eye), pats a few grains of rice onto the bindi and throws a few other grains of rice into our hair.  Participating in the ceremony is a surreal experience.  At dusk we leave the temple.  The sun is a bright orange ball setting on the far side of the river.  We have masala tea and snacks on a balcony while  we watch the temples and the river fade into the soft evening light.

Shrine in the Jain temple

Yamuna River with temples along its shore

Hindu temples

Pigs down at the polluted Yamuna River

Walking through the temples

The bronze bells for announcing your presence to the Gods.

The Hindu aarti ceremony

Our vermillion bindis with rice grains

Sunset across the Yamuna

Back at the Chambal Safari Lodge we have drinks around the fire and listen to the jackals howl.  Following supper we head to bed.  The electricity supply is minimal.  The local power grid is unpredictable.  The lodge supplements this by generating a few hours of power per day.  Hot water bottles for our beds tonight which is a treat. 

The next morning, February 12th, we drive by bus from the Lodge to the National Chambal Sanctuary.  The Sanctuary encompasses a 400 km stretch of the Chambal River and a 1 to 6 km wide swath of the ravines on both sides of the river, covering an area of 1235 sq. km. Ancient Indian texts refer to the Chambal as the Charmanyavati - originating from the blood of thousands of cows sacrificed by the Aryan King Rantideva. Its ‘unholy’ origins have certainly helped the Chambal survive and thrive.  It remains one of India’s most pristine rivers.  

In one of the villages along the road to the Chambal River, we see a potter on the side of the road making small clay bowls.  We stop and watch as he places the clay body in the center of the stone wheel, places the end of a stick in a small depression at the outside edge of the wheel and spins the wheel by turning the stick using both arms.  Once he has the wheel up to speed, he lays the stick down and begins shaping his bowls out of the clay body. 

Potter spinning his wheel with a stick

Potter shaping bowls out of the clay body

As we are driving to the river there is an abrupt change in the agricultural landscape as we enter the Chambal Ravines.  These ravines have been created by soil erosion by flood and rain waters.  The result is dry rolling sand hills covered with dry scrub vegetation.  The road is rudimentary.  There are many men herding cattle and camels up from the river.  Most of the cattle are tied together in groups of two.  The camels are carrying firewood. 

Men herding cattle up from the river

Camel transporting firewood

Our bus stops at the top of the river embankment.  The view is magical.  It is like we are looking back into the past. The river is large, slow and wide.  There are camel trains crossing the river as well as large wooden barges moving people and motorbikes back and forth across the river. We walk down to the river and board two motorized boats.  There are very few tourists.

Camel train across the Chambal River

Al and Harry

 

It is a beautiful, calm day as we make our way downstream.  We see many birds, turtles, Gharials and Marsh Crocodiles. We are hoping to see the rare Gangetic Dolphin which lives in the fresh water of the Chambal River.  Our guide says we are very lucky today.   We see two or three dolphins jumping out of the water, surfacing every minute or so.  We continue to see the dolphins for at least a half hour.



Indian Tent Turtle



Marsh Crocodile



Indian Skimmer



Pied Kingfisher





Great Egret



Gharial

After our river excursion, we drive back to the Lodge for lunch.  After a nice siesta, we travel by Jeep to look for the Black Buck.  We park and walk along dirt roads amongst crops of canola and barley.  We come to a field where eleven men are harvesting the canola using small hand-held sickles.  The harvesters cut off the seed head portion of each plant and leave them in bunches on the ground.  They have been working all day and have cut about five acres.  The guide says each person is paid a dollar a day.  (On our journey we will see thousands and thousands of acres of canola all being cut by hand.  The fields are plowed by tractor and the grain is threshed by machine but all the cutting is manual labor.)  All this time we are still looking for Black Bucks.  They elude us at first but at dusk they start to appear everywhere, however none are close enough to allow for a good photo.



We are back at the Lodge for supper.  There is a village close by that never seems to sleep.  There is loud music and horns all night.  Ear plugs again!

February 13^th and we are starting the second week of our tour.  Today we head back down to the Chambal River for another adventure.  We take a boat across the river.  From there we go by camel three kilometers to Fort Ater.  We board the camels while they are kneeling on the ground.  As they stand up you first pitch forward as they partly straighten their back legs, then backwards as the camel stands up fully.  They are grunting and groaning through this whole procedure.  There is a lead rope which is fastened to a wooden pin piercing their nose.  The camel driver attaches this lead rope to a rope around the rump of the camel ahead.  Their feet are like big fuzzy bedroom slippers and they pad along softly as they walk.  The bells around their neck are tinkling along with more occasional grunts.  The sitting position on the saddle is actually quite comfortable and it is a peaceful journey through the sandy ravines.  As we make our way up the road, Fort Ater becomes visible in the distance.  It is an impressive structure; expansive and elevated on a hill. 



Our camels and herders awaiting our arrival







Village children



Harry



Our camels resting at the fort after we have disembarked



When we reach the fort, we disembark and walk to the front gates.  There is a person there to unlock the front gates.  Fort Ater was built by the Bhadauria kings from 1644-1668.  It is not a busy tourist destination and, in fact, we are the only tourists there.  The fort is in the early stages of restoration but it is charming in its current state.  There are a few very big bee hives under the cover of archways.  The guide suggests quiet as we pass by them.  The height of the fort provides grand vistas of the countryside.  We explore for an hour or so and then board our camels and make our way back to the river.  

Silhouette of man sweeping the steps sets the tone for the tranquility of the fort.

Large bee hives under the protection of an archway

Columns awaiting restoration

An observation tower

A viewing gallery open to the courtyard below

View of the countryside from the fort

Cattle somehow find their way into the courtyard of the fort

Anne

Passing camels and their riders going to Ater as we make our way back to the Chambal River

Man out riding his horse along the river edge

Face to face

Back at the Lodge we view Indian Flying Fox hanging upside down in a large Tamarind tree.  These are very large bats having a wingspan of 4-5 feet.  Even though it is broad day light, some of the bats are actually active, opening and closing their wings.

Indian Flying Fox

This afternoon we are traveling to Agra via bus and then on to Delhi via train.  We make a stop in Agra at the Gateway Hotel for coffee and supper.  While we are there, Sandhya organizes a palm reader/astrologist.  Astrology still plays an important part in the lives of many Hindus.   Most of us have our palms read and have a fun time telling each other afterward what he tells us.  We feel that he is a very good judge of character. 

From there we catch the high speed train to Delhi.  We arrive late at night and the traffic from the train station to the hotel is very heavy.  Apparently transport trucks are only allowed on the roads in Delhi from 9 pm to 6 am.  It takes us about an hour to get to our hotel.  We crawl into bed about 1 am.