Walk a km, glide 5.7 kms and then climb 253 + 43 steps to see HIM wreathed in mist – the Lantau Buddha.

Lantau is Hong Kong’s largest island, south west of it; an interesting place as it has modern tourist spots cleverly designed to look ancient and interesting! An art the Chinese have perfected throughout China. Lantau’s primary attractions are the Big Buddha statue, The Po Lin monastery situated at Ngong Ping. There is also the old fishing village of Tai O and various beaches.

I wanted to see the Big Buddha and experience the cable car. To do that, I took the MTR from Causeway Bay to Tung Chung. The MTR system is efficient but it involves long walks, with and without steps, to your destination. At Central linked to Hong Kong station, the walk is really long. Exiting at Tung Chung, famed for its retail malls which allegedly sell items cheaper than down town, you walk still more to reach the cable car.

This is where you get the cable car to Ngong Ping, SW part of Lantau. The 5.7 kms cable car ride is awesome, especially the stretch over the sea where there is no supporting pillar in the sea.

 The ride is dramatic as you see not only the whole harbour, the container terminals as well as the airport, but as you climb, you see waterfalls and the steps going all the way up, under you, to the cable car junction area.

The Big Buddha is another story. At 34 metre height, the bronze Buddha statue sits atop Mount Muk Yue, 482 metres above sea level. I had been told about the cable car ride but not the climb! Mainly because those known to me had never really experienced it themselves. 

The cable car offers different packages. Whilst HK MTR permits senior citizens of any country a discount, the cable car restricts the discount to HK citizens only, knowing full well that the majority are tourists.

Reach early so you don’t have to queue too long for the cable car. At 11 am,it took me an hour’s wait. The arrangements are excellent. Reach by 10 am so that you avoid the long queue up. The ride takes about 30 minutes and ensure you sit facing the direction of the ride. Try and get a window seat rather than in the middle. If the windows are dirty, lift the small upper window louvers and take your photos clearly from there. Nobody stops you. 

Tower 2B gives a spectacular view of Tung Chung Bay and Tower 3 of the whole airport.

                                                    

At Ngong Ping, as you walk towards your goal, you pass a complex where tourist kitsch is sold and where you can get food. Right there under a Bodhi tree, someone has created a Bodhi Wishing shrine; talk about commercialism ! Lantau actually has attractions for nature and wildlife as well as local delicacies. 

The day I went, it was cloudy and sunny, the sun playing hide and seek. When I reached the area in the centre, all I could see was the huge central circle and the Gate, which I called the Gate to Heaven.

I missed the entry to the steps due to the mist and landed up in the monastery instead. 
The Po Lin monastery was built around 1900’s and is rather basic as it houses a library and a meditation hall. Except for the beautiful floral display lining the steps to the monastery, it was mediocre.

Then I found the entry to the Buddha. 

 

My Russian ‘friend’, who had queued up in front of me at the cable car and who had taken the special ticket for the cable car at extra cost, was right there about to start his climb. The steps were wreathed in mist. Cleverly designed so that you don’t see them all at one shot, and thus get disappointed, they are in batches of around 12 to 15 steps. Its halfway through that you realize that you are nowhere near your destination which looks so close. At this stage, the mist was still covering the top of the Buddha’s head.

 

Reaching the top, with a sigh of relief, you walk around the whole Buddha. Its then you notice more people above you, near the lotus flower petals and try and find the entry to those steps. Pay a small fee, climb 43 more steps and you get a free ice cream and free water on exit. 

It’s really here that you get to see the relic of the Buddha and the fantastic view. In this area, you see the stone inscriptions which are really old and the Relic which you can’t see clearly as it’s six feet away and its small in size. 

It was only on the way down that I counted the 253 steps, as on the way up, you are far too busy getting back your breath and trying to climb without being mentally hassled at this exercise. The walk down is easy but you need to watch the steps due to the slippery mould at corners.   

Then go to the Chinese medecine shop and buy /try out some of their interesting products. i bought the dried ginger for dry throat.

I did not visit the other tourist spots as I had no time, my nieces and their families were waiting for me at Tung Chung retail mall where they were having a shopping jamboree. After 15 minutes, I left quickly as I had to get back to HK. On the whole, i felt it was a worthwhile trip as compared to going shopping! 

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The pregnant tigress climbed out of the pool watched by 360 fascinated eyes! What a superb sight she was.

A retired Naval Commodore from Delhi, a chemical catalyst manufacturer who grows mangoes as a hobby, an anthropologist / advertising professional from Mumbai turned artist, two senior Nestle salesmen, an Air India pilot and a TIFR physicist couple met recently with 15 other like-minded people. What did this eclectic group have in common? They were all part of the BNHS trip to Tadoba to see tigers.

Frankly I was surprised to see other participants from across India – a couple from Pune, an elderly couple from Bangalore. But then, as the Zero Mile post shows, Nagpur is the centre of India, so it was to be expected. What was most striking about the group was they are avid BNHS fans and many have undertaken multiple trips with BNHS to other reserves – Bandhavgarh, Ladakh, Assam and Rajasthan being some of the favoured destinations. Even more surprising was some were actually coming for the 2^nd or 3^rd time to Tadoba.  They were knowledgeable about many bird and animal species and some carried fearsomely large cameras. I enjoyed the trip as it was a learning experience and eye opener for me, a first timer with BNHS. 

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a Tiger reserve near Nagpur in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. Tadoba forest reserve is predominantly  southern deciduous forest  with dense woodlands, around 87% of the protected area. However we were told that bamboo is now extremely common and is around 75% of the whole forest.  



I love seeing such signs as it recalls signs of camels, snow skis, deer and other animals seen around the world.

The name 'Tadoba' is the name of the God "Tadoba" or "Taru", loved by the tribals who live in the dense forests of the Tadoba and Andhari region. 

The River Andhari,  meandering through the forest, gives the name to the forest

Early morning or afternoon queue at the Moharli Gate. Around 25 to 30 jeeps. All gung ho to see the wildlife.

The road from Nagpur station to the MTDC resort is 168 kms, it took us nearly four hours excluding a pit stop at Jaam, 74 kms from Nagpur. The road from Jaam, near Tindurli, bypass near Shirao, becomes a narrow road and at times a dirt track as it passes through villages. Upto Tindurli, the road was a perfect well tarred highway. Then began the bone wrenching journey as the track was single lane most ways and often dirt track. There were patches of tarred road in between but how or why they were there made no sense to me. 

The best tea stall at Moharli Gate. You got tea, eggs, pawa etc at cheap rates. 

Be warned,the authorities charge Rs 200 per camera if it has a large lens. Definition of a large lens - it varies!!

This is the guide registration hut at Tadoba Gate. The beginning of the Tadoba reserve, 116 sq kms.

Total area of the Reserve is 625.4 square kms (241.5 sq mi). This includes Tadoba National Park, created in 1955 with an area of 116.55 square kms (45.00 sq mi) and Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary created in 1986 with an area of 508.85 square kms (196.47 sq mi). (Source - Wikipedia)

The Reserve also includes 32.51 square kms (12.55 sq mi) Protected Forest and 14.93 square kms (5.76 sq mi) 'Other areas'. Densely forested hills form the northern and western boundary of the Tiger Reserve. (Source - Wikipedia)

The roads inside the forest are mud track, tarred and marked so that all roads are one way direction only. these photos show the vegetation - at times bare, at timers full of bamboo trees. 

There are only TWO routes inside the reserve from Moharli Gate so after four safaris, you have  seen it all. 

The major drawback at Tadoba is that no cell phone works other than Reliance and there is no internet facility. Hence in case of any emergency at home, you are stuck. No one can get through unless you have Reliance. However, what was unusual and unexplainable was that just outside Moharli gate, for a span of 50 feet (no more), between the gate and the shop, there was cell connectivity from where I could touch base with my family daily just before or after safari.

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This is the AIN Tree - also known as Crocodile Bark Tree due to the texture. its unusual and quite beautiful. 

Tadoba lake which acts as a buffer between the park's forest and the extensive farmland which extends up to Irai water reservoir. This lake is a perennial water source which offers good habitat for Muggar crocodiles to thrive. We saw one in the distance which must have been at least 12 ft long.

Tadoba lake sustains the Marsh Crocodile which were once common all over Maharashtra.

Other wetland areas within the reserve include the Kolsa lake and Andhari river. Tadoba reserve covers the Chimur Hills, and the Andhari sanctuary covers Moharli and Kolsa ranges

The Gond kings once ruled these forests in the vicinity of the Chimur hills.

These columns, made from natural material like brick,mud etc and gum from the gum tree (no cement) appear every 100 metres. A sign on them states the wildlife etc there - we did not stop to check if this is correct. 

In the old days, so goes the story, a rope was tied from tower to tower and a bell attached so that when the King went out in the country, the bell rope was pulled, the people were warned by the ringing bell and they stopped all illegal activities.

This  is the gum tree which changes colour in different seasons. A truly striking sight.

Gum is extracted by locals for different uses. There are five villages still within the restricted area practising farming etc.

Another magnificent specimen of a gum tree.

Aside from around 65 of the keystone species Bengal tiger, Tadoba Tiger Reserve is home to other mammals, including: 
Indian leopards, 
sloth bears, gaur, 
nilgai (largest deer species), dhole or wild dogs , 
striped hyena, 
small Indian Civet, 
jungle cats, sambar, 
spotted deer, barking deer, chital, and chausingha. 

Deer of various species at various locations in the reserve. The one above has just had a mud bath. 

A sambhar doe on high alert.

The young stags, some with velvet on their horns, looked very endearing but they were all on high alert seeing this motley crowd.

The Indian gaur. A fearsome beast. These are young females. We saw many of them, mainly young females in herds, the solitary male staying in the shadows. They came right onto the road and even crossed in front of us.

 
For over three hours on the second afternoon safari, I saw two tigers in front of me ---fascinating, but for the fact they were on the T Shirt of the rather large chap sitting in front of me in the jeep!!  We saw some deer and a night jar whose camouflage was superb. It looked like a stone rather than a bird. But no tigers. 

So, next day, I changed jeeps as I am superstitious of such omens! I was right, as the very next safari, we saw two real tigers, Gabbar and Choti Tara.

This is what it looked like when a tiger is sighted! Everybody queues up and silence goes for a toss."Dekho, dekho" .

The tigress Maya sleeping  under a tree.

At Gir, the jeeps keep in touch thru cell phones with rangers so they can see the lions. Here, there is no communication even though Reliance works. So, it’s all a hit and miss affair, and as it is on a one-way circuit throughout, you are bound to catch up with other jeeps. Hence the chance of seeing tigers is high, but not necessarily close up. Our sightings were around 200 metres away.

 Then hearing the noise of 30 jeeps with nearly 180 people around them, she woke to find out what all the cackle was about. 

Unable to bear this cacophony, she went for a swim and we caught her as she exited the water body. What a marvellous sight. Majestic.

 After she went, once again the wait began to see if any other animal came.

Cameras checked. Many folks seemed to have  large lens cameras.

Gabbar the tiger suddenly appeared from the bush.

 He spent far too much time in the water that we all left.

 Finally after the evening safari, at around 6.45 pm, the sun was about to set as we left for our MTDC rooms! 

The whole trip ended after our fifth outing. Basically very satisfying even though no tiger walked by me, unlike lions at Gir, but as I have had a real grown tiger’s head lying in my lap at Kanchanaburi’s Tiger Temple, I did not mind - i was happy; but that's another story for my travel blog.  The arrangements for return next day after breakfast were perfect and we reached Nagpur by lunch time. Saying goodbye to this group, where bonding takes place quickly due to the circumstances of being so close together, is always difficult but natural. One hopes that we shall meet each other again on safari or otherwise, thanks to BNHS’s organizational skills.

Text and photographs copyright of the author. No part of this article or photographs maybe transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Do contact the author on email -- helpthesun@gmail.com