From Qutub Minar it is time for our first drive outside of Delhi. If only we can make it out into the traffic as the exit from the parking lot is seemingly blocked by motorcycles and buses. Inch by inch we make it through the traffic and we are able to join it at the snail pace as we move towards the outskirts of Delhi.
We continue to weave through the traffic as we slowly make our way towards the Delhi-Bombay highway. We see lots of motorcycles and tuktuks besides the cars but also weirder things like horse drawn carriages in the middle of traffic.
Or trikes and bikes which are really not that uncommon. And then we arrive at the highway and we just have to get on it for a better traffic experience according to our driver.
And it is much better. There are multiple lanes and relatively few people seem to be using them as we pass through Gurugram and our future lodging on the last day in India.
Here we also start observing the stark difference in living conditions between the rich in modern apartment buildings and the poor who live under the highway in makeshift tents.
We find the reason for the low traffic volume, all the major roads are toll roads and according to the driver the tolls are high enough to keep many drivers off the main roads.
About halfway we stop at a McDonalds as our driver needs a restroom break. He wants to convince us to eat McDonalds but we really do not want to, at least that early in our trip.
We then leave the highway and start driving on small country roads through villages avoiding cows and seeing slices of Indian life almost everywhere. It is quite interesting and we are mesmerized by our drive.
There are a few stretches when the road is not passing through a village or fields and that is when we see the more interesting wildlife like our first Grey Francolin for which the driver stops and lets us take photos of and then the electricity pole full of macaque, which is quite fun.
We stop also at an overlook to take photos before descending towards Sariska and the gateway village. As we pass through it we observe a fort at the of the hill, however it is not marked anywhere and no one knows about it, so we start calling it the mystery castle going forward.
Arriving at our lodging from a one lane road we enjoy the great views all around. On one side the lake is dry completely and there are fields as far as the eye can see, with the hills being occupied by a temple and our mystery castle looking beautiful in the falling sun.
It feels like we are the only people in the resort as we explore and in fact as we find out there is only one more couple in the whole building. So the atmosphere is quite relaxed which we really enjoy.
The resort also has a pool, which is really cold so there is no chance for us to take a bath. That will not discourage another set of Indian visitors to take a bath the next day, weird. Also on the side of the pool is the only remaining section of the lake, a really small section which likely will go dry in the near future.
There are also lots of birds including our first white-throated kingfisher and an unexpected Hume’s Leaf Warbler, possibly the only one on our trip.
There are other birds too including tailorbirds and an Oriental Magpie Robin, a beautiful bird.
Then it is time to enter our room, yes we explored the grounds before the room, it is quite standard with the bath being a shower only with no delimitations to stop the water to flow in or on the toilet. This is weird to us but quite common in India as we will learn from our next accomodations.
As the sun is setting and we enjoy the lake we hear a large commotion and then a flock of bar-headed geese land on it. Not how we expected to see our first bar-headed geese, a winter migrant that passes over the Himalayas in one of the highest migration of the animal kingdom. And then we also spot an owl, a Spotted Owlet that really doesn’t care about us at all so we stop and admire it for a while.
We then order dinner and even though supposedly it is not served in room, it is served in room only. Also most of the items are not available but we find something good to eat, a bit on the spicy side but edible as we were hoping for. And then we throw every blanket that we can find on us as it gets really cold at night with no heating and it is time to go to sleep if we can. This is because in the morning we have a birdwatching tour arranged and we really are looking forward to it and want to be fresh and ready for it. And we are able to mostly sleep through the night and not die of exposure and are ready for breakfast and the tour on the next day.
