Hideaway River Lodge

Hideaway River Lodge

The escort slowed down the jeep and looked intently at the ground where the soil was still wet from last night's drizzle. He turned around and whispered, "Look." In the first instance I looked, but noticed nothing. He again pointed with his finger. There it was.. a huge pug mark, could be of nothing else except that of one of the fierce tigers of Kumaon. At four in the afternoon the forest was almost silent except for birds calling their mates. The only other sound was that of the jeep's engine which the escort switched off promptly. He was trying to concentrate on hearing sounds around; maybe of bushes, or an alarm call by one of the deer. In this deep forest in one part of Jim Corbett National Park, tall trees of 'saal' kept the sunlight almost out, the jeep had been struggling on a path of stones, no road.

"Is he around?" I whispered a little loud in my excitement. "Shhh....! Obviously the escort wanted me to keep silent. We waited almost ten minutes. Nothing moved, no tiger. The jeep started and the journey into the forest continued. We came across a plenty of wild boars before we came out into open area which was full of elephant grass. Nothing was visible on both sides as tall, yellow grass stood like a wall, the only visible part was the motor able path in front. My heart thumped faster, I was expecting a tiger or a herd of elephants to jump out of the grass and cross our path. Unluckily nothing happened. We had now reached the bank of a river which was not very deep, but quite broad.

There was no bridge, I sat back wondering how we will cross it. People in the jungle devise their indigenous ways to overcome such hindrances. My escort jumped out of the jeep and picked up two stones as big as his shoe, he put them on the accelerator and clutch pedal. I was quite confused. Then he started the jeep and moved into the fast flowing river. With a rumbling noise the jeep rolled to the middle of the river where the strong current of the water could be felt. I felt a little scared. The jeep finally rumbled through to the other bank. Now I realized why the escort had kept the stones in the jeep. The front portion of the vehicle being of normal height had been flooded with water and so the escort had kept the stones to keep himself from getting soaked in water. The back portion where I was seated, was elevated, therefore, the water had not come into my shoes.

We were now almost near our destination. The escort again pointed out to a hill and showed me where we were going --- the Hideaway River Lodge. The jeep roared hard as it climbed up a steep pathway and we entered the Hideaway River Lodge. As I jumped off the jeep and sipped the welcome drink, I looked around --- the whole jungle lay right in front in a valley through which the river flowed. The Hideaway River Lodge of the Leisure Hotels group was located a few kilometers away from human civilization, in the jungle where the laws are different, where the fittest survive, where money has no value, where even the king has to hunt for his own food, where all are free!

I could see an elephant tied nearby. There were two rows of neatly pitched tents - my home for the night. On a green patch there was a thatched area open on all sides, this was the 'restaurant' where, in a tiny kitchenette, the chef was preparing the evening meal. A European couple sat in the lawn, chatting. A few minutes later a young man appeared on the scene, dressed in army camouflage, a wine red barrette, moustaches twirled up and his long hair tied into a ponytail hanging behind. "I am the Manager here to welcome you," he equipped even as I was still admiring his moustaches.

Before we could down to a conversation, he showed me my accommodation for the night. It was a big thatched roof tent with two shells divided into three compartments. The doorway opened right into the 'bedroom'. Twin beds were placed with side tables, there was a dressing table with a big mirror, a rocking chair, but no lights. The next was a narrow area meant to be my dressing area and also serving as the luggage compartment. At the end was the bathroom - roomy with a European pot, a bathing area with shower separated with a shower curtain and a dressing table complete with toiletries, again no electricity connections. I was now getting a little worried as the sun was setting and it started getting dark. As I walked back to the lawn where the Manager was seated, chatting with the other guests, I noticed a wire fencing around the resort area. On one of the wires, there was a small warning light blinking. Consoled a little, I murmured to myself, "So they have electricity." But this consolation was short lived.

The first question which I shot at the Manager was about electricity connections. I had seen none. Even he had seen none, because there weren't any. "Total darkness," I started with eyes wide open. "No, just relax; we have everything to make your stay comfortable even in the midst of this jungle." Living on solar energy.

Indeed there were all arrangements in place. I could see the boys coming down from the store with solar lanterns. One of them was placed before me on the bamboo table. "This is a solar lantern, we charge such lanterns the whole day and in the evening each tent is allocated two of them. If kept switched on, they last about five hours," he informed. "What after that," I queried. "After that you sleep," was the reply. Nonetheless, I was also given solar charged torch for the night. Now I was almost ready for the night. The evening breeze was getting cold, so a small fire was lit up. A chilled beer accompanied with chicken 'tikkas' made me feel out of the world. The conversation started. "What is this blinking light on the wire fencing around?" I let go the question which had been roaring in my stomach.

This is to keep the animals out. They will not touch the wire because it has current flowing through. So this keeps us safe even from elephant herds," informed the Manager.

"Why, but the current could kill an innocent animal," my tone this time was a little irritating. "No, the animal does not get hurt, it has just 10 volts of DC current from solar panels that gives a shock of light intensity, strong enough to scare the animal and not hurt him," assured the Manager. In fact he himself is a naturalist and animal lover and spends his day bird watching when there is not enough work.

The other funny light that blinked was my cell phone, I had been staring at it since afternoon, but it had not rung even once. There was no signal. But, all this while, the Manager had attended two calls on his mobile. Maybe my service provider had a bad signal here. My presumption was wrong. If I wanted to catch the elusive signal in this forest, I must hang it on a tree nearby. Strange ! But true. No sooner did I hang my mobile on to that particular tree, it started ringing with life. I jumped, of course not with joy because I knew it would be my wife asking her patent questions which I must answer on every trip of mine. Having gone through this regular rigmarole, I turned around relaxed, once again lost in the romantic evening in the Himalayas.

Nothing refrigerated, all fresh

The dinner was not grand, but great and fresh. Freshly cooked chicken curry, cottage cheese in gravy, spicy ladyfinger, fried brinjals, yoghurt and fluffy chapattis. All this topped up with sizzling 'gulab jamuns'. Does it sound like a meal in dense forest? And all this not a candle lit dinner, but a solar lantern lit one. Time to retreat into my bed, but by this time it had become cold enough to make me shiver. But the Manager had a solution ready - anybody who feels cold can have it - a hot water bottle to be your companion in bed. One was delivered to me in my tent. Switching off the solar lantern, I slid into my bed with the bottle. My ears were still alert, wanting to hear animal noises outside; I could hear some now and then. Sleep overtook my senses and I was away in a dream world.

The next morning I woke up to my cell phone alarm. I was supposed to go for an elephant safari before breakfast. A quick bath and I was out. There she waited, Lucky --- a female elephant to take me for a safari in to the forest. Moments later we were in the high grass moving towards the river. After about half a kilometer, the elephant crossed the river to the other side. It was moving through the high grass, as high as the elephant itself. For the next two hours we were moving around in the forest, at times covered with dense vegetation. We came across a number of animals and rare birds, but the tiger was elusive. The weather was getting warm now, the sun was moving up the sky fast, so we set back towards our resort. It was almost 10 when we reached the resort. Being hungry by now, I rushed for breakfast which was as sumptuous and fresh as the meals the other day. Omelette with golden toasted bread, butter, fresh juice, cutlets and a cup of Darjeeling. I asked for some sausages. "Sorry, no sausages. We can't store them as we do not have a refrigerator in absence of electricity. "My mistake, I had forgotten that there was no electricity and therefore you can't expect an electric gadget. So, no wi-fi and laptops and television. Say good bye to all this electronic junk to enjoy the forest. I was told that the kitchen gets its supplies fresh daily from the city, no perishable can be kept overnight.

After the breakfast I was given the option of bird watching or going fishing. I find the former more interesting, so I opted for bird watching. Sitting in the lawn I could spot rare birds with a pair of binoculars. Life in the forest.

There is no habitation around the resort as it is inside the forest and construction is not allowed, but I was offered the visit to a nearby 'village' -- a strange one where there were just two families living; surviving on farming. These two families have lived here for generations, but stranger was the fact that they did not talk to each other. Both live in total isolation, in spite of being neighbours. In one of the huts an old woman sat boiling some leaves. My escort asked her whether he (tiger) had been there in the recent past. She looked up and with least excitement pointed to one end of the vast field and murmured, "kal shaam to yahin kone pe khada tha" (it was standing here round the corner last evening). Tiger and herds of elephants were nothing new for the two families. They live together in this forest. All the families have to do is to guard their cattle and harvest from the two most feared animals of the wild. Tigers and leopards can lift their cattle as they are easy targets and elephants can rampage their fields and eat whatever they find interesting.

The Hideaway River Lodge is a real hideaway from the mad world of civilization. One can spend days here and still not realize the calendar days that fly by. A Monday, Thursday or a Saturday, each day is like a Sunday. Healthy food, unpolluted environment and life without stress is what one finds at the Hideaway River Lodge, a resort where you forget the world and live in the world of animals and nature. A week's vacation at the resort could change your life style.

If I get a chance I will do it.