After 12 hours scrunched into "shared jeeps" (one common form of public transport in India, where a land rover jeep will basically go on a specific route, leaving when "full", and I mean full, i.e. 15-20 people inside and on top!)reaching Wild Grass was music to my ears. To be more specific, what was so nice is that I had been planning on staying in a tent there, but the manager (who I think was astonished/impressed/incredulous with my travel means) told me had upgraded me to a suite! Now that was one sweet upgrade!
The next morning I did what I'd been looking forward to for five years, since I first came to India: a safari through Kaziranga.
In the cool morning air, I travelled in the back of jeep (just me and the guide this time!) for 3 hours, rolling through the woods and marsh lands, looking at all sorts of wildlife, including Assamese deer
Asian Hornbills
Random domestic elephants *yes, domestic, as in they're used for tourist rides)
and of course, rhinos!
While seeing the rhinos was quite cool, not surprisingly, it didn't quite live up to my expectations--not sure what I was really expecting, them to be charging each other with their horns? Regardless, what I will certainly remember from the trip was the cool morning air, warm sun on my face, standing up in the back of the jeep and hours of enjoying the beautiful scenery.
So ruminations: what is it about the difference between expectations and experiences? In other words, the more I travel, the more I try to hone in on ensuring I have the kind of experience I enjoy. Not surprisingly, right? One doesn't want to go on vacation and have a horrible time, and travel can both be the best and worst (sometimes at the same time). While standing in the jeep, watching the rhinos ruminate (wait, are they ruminants?), I pondered this for myself. I think, what differentiates my experience at Cherrapunjee (previous posts), which was phenomenal, from Kaziranga, which was nice but somewhat lackluster, is my affinity for exploration. There's something that really entices me about coming to a place and being able to explore on one's own, taking little side trails just because, sitting by a root bridge and enjoying the quite with no concern for the passage of time, enjoying walking through small villages deep in the woods and sharing in a "hayyylooow; yorrr name?" greeting with a smiling child. Opposed to this, I find myself somewhat underwhelmed with being driven around (i.e. a "wild safari"-even if the animals are completely out in "nature"). Of course, one couldn't/wouldn't want to explore Kaziranga by foot, the thought of being impaled by a Rhino coming out of that wild grass is enough of a deterrent for me! But, in general, I guess it's something about the unexpected, and the excitement of exploring that will keep me exploring those random alleys and bazaars, and not sitting in line at the next temple on the tourist trail....
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