Moving around

India is a vast place and we're only seeing some parts of south India. In Oz we always had a car or camper to get around. Here we go the large stretches sitting or sleeping on a train for sometimes 12 hours. Shorter distances are okay by bus as well though not nearly as comfortable. To see the Ellora caves we went for 30 km in an autorickshaw that even managed to get up over the mountain.People flock to the cities in search of a better life but they're an unhealthy place to live, crowded, dirty and noisy. Mysore is at least a reasonably relaxed city and all the roof gardens here to have a Kingfisher are a nice perk.
We escape out of the city to Mudumalai national park. It's a serene place where we go hiking in the early morning with a guide to enjoy the great nature and spot some animals. The spotted deer are very common as are the buffalo but we also see a wild dog and, in a flash running by, a black bear with her two cubs. In the late afternoon we go out to a different place near the river to catch the elephants. Big as they are they walk quietly and you won't hear them coming so we're lucky the guide spots the big lone male before he smells us and we make an evasive circle to get out of his way. The lone male is quite dangerous and we're told one has killed 2 people and tore up a car door with its tusks. As the sun is setting and the sky turns to nice streaks of orange and blue we walk along the grassy plain with a mountain backdrop. Lots more deer come out and a big wild boar.It is our lucky day we find as a group of 4 elephants come into view, one still quite small. They cross the plain majestically and it feels very special and exciting indeed to be just walking here among these creatures.