Travel Memories: I Will Always Be Grateful for These 8 Unforgettable Moments — Part 1
#4 I got to make an elephant take a bath in Dubare Camp!
Lockdown gave me a chance to look back into my travel memories recently. I still remember my friends and I sitting down and chatting while the topic slowly drifted towards travel.
We soon started sharing our travel stories and especially started recollecting all our travels the year before lockdown. I then realized that I had taken four vacations in 2019, with multiple weekend trips in between.
Growing up, my family never had the habit of going on vacations. Vacation for me always meant visiting my grandparents’ places for the summer and playing with all my friends there.
After I got married in 2019, my husband and I decided to travel as much as possible. And talking about my travel stories with my friends made me realize how grateful I was to create those memories before the “deadly virus” year.
As we went through all of our photos, emotions of joy and gratitude filled me, which I aim to share with you here.
**All the photos are of the Indian subcontinent (2019)
1. On the way to Munnar, Kerala — Photo from both sides of the road
My husband and I visited Kerala, God’s own country, in December of 2019. We had started a round trip from Kochi, visiting multiple places before returning to our hometown after ten days.
I took these pictures on the way to Munnar, a picturesque hill station prominently known for its tea plantations (below). We had to cross a terrain of ghats and took these two photos from both sides of the mountain. The photo on the right represents the sunset (it was extremely foggy due to the cold). Can you see the patterns of hills in the background?
2. Naini Lake, Nainital, Uttarakhand — Best Maggi Ever!
It was a day of random temperatures. One minute it was freezing and foggy when we were boating on the lake, and another minute (half an hour later), the clouds cleared up beautifully with the sun rays pouring in. The contrast between them was striking and breathtaking!
On the right is Naini Lake. Its name comes from the Hindi word, Nain, which means eye — the lake is in the shape of the goddess’s (Naina Devi) eye. Our boatman gave this tidbit of information. It was so cool!
After boating, we went shopping around the lake, where I took the photo shown on the left side. It was a football court, 5 minutes away from the lake, where kids played after school. It was an incredible sight. I also had my best cup of Maggi (hot ramen with an Indian twist) that day, sitting on the compound wall watching the kids.
A completely random thought: Have you ever drank hot soup/noodles when it's freezing? If you haven’t, you are missing something in life.
3. Jim Corbett National Park — I saw a tiger for the first time, for 2 seconds :)
On the same trip as Nainital, we visited Jim Corbett National Park on the way to Rishikesh — one of the holiest places in India. The national park is famous for its Bengal tigers and has an abundance of flora and fauna. Because we were able to see a tiger for only 2 seconds (it was huge!), I could only capture photos of its paw prints(bottom left).
We rented a jeep to check out the entire National Park (a view from our jeep on the bottom right). After covering half of the route, we came across the elephants' section of the park. On the top right corner is a trainer sitting on top of the elephant, preparing it for the safari.
On the way, we also found a beautiful deer that watched us throughout until we disappeared from its sight (top left). The place is a must-visit for any animal or nature-lover.
4. Dubare Elephant Camp, Coorg — I got a chance to make an elephant take a bath!
Dubare gave me one of my most unforgettable experiences. As a person who was afraid of elephants from time immemorial, this day will always remind me how cute and innocent they are.
The baby elephant on the right was my height! How cute! We could also feed them hay, make them take baths, and play with them. On the left is my husband helping the trainer wash the elephant. I still remember how much the elephant was enjoying the rub by making adorable noises!
Note: This article is a 2-part series, with the next one coming out in some time. I can’t wait to show those moments!
