Day 147 (Fri 1 Dec) - Delhi / Sawai Madhophur

Up very early this morning (6.15am) to catch our train to Sawai Madhophur for our trip to the Ranthambore National Park.

Our hotel is next to the new train station so walking to it was a breeze. Even at this hour it was heaving.

Found our seats and settled down. A few stops down the line a family of about 9 got on and completely surrounded us. We practically had people sitting in our laps!

We got to SM and met Ajit from the tour company. After the Sunderbans trip we weren't holding out too much hope for this trip but Ajit seemed okay so this was encouraging. He bundled us into a jeep and we headed off to our hotel.

Had lunch in the hotel restaurant where we met the tiger waiter. This guy was really amusing. Everything was about tigers! For instance, when you order a beer it had to be called a 'Tiger beer', when he brought the knives and forks they were called 'Tiger Knife' and 'Tiger fork' etc. We soon got into the spirit of it and after our tiger lunch decided to have a tiger nap. Obviously we called him the tiger waiter.

We relaxed after our nap on a verandah overlooking the road, marveling at the camels trotting past. It is sometimes very difficult to remember that you are still in India.

We met Moin, the manager of the tour company, in the evening. A really nice guy and we feel really positive about this trip. Fingers crossed.

Had a few drinks and turned in early as we were up for our first drive at 5.45am t'row.