Kolkata, India
22° 34' N 88° 22' E
Aug 22, 2008 16:51
Distance 0km

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Sunderbans is a washout!

Text written in: English

We really wanted to visit this World Heritage Nature Reserve, though we knew we would not see any tigers. But the West Bengal Tourist Office told us to get our visas via an operator called Eco Tourism. What a fiasco!

We tried to get our permits for the Sunderbans Reserve on Saturday. The West Bengal Tourist Office don't issue these permits on Saturdays as they are not running tours themselves in August so there's no commission in it. Intro to operator who charged us the rate for 8 people (we are only 5) but promised a special tour tailored for us. We duly paid Rs20,000. "Come Monday at 10: the earliest the permits can be issued" But on Monday the West Bengal Tourist Office say the rules just changed we don't need the special permits any more. Mr Nayan Kar sends us off, (with a driver who needs my help/map reading to get round KolKata!) but omits to mention the lack of permits to his staff, and doesn't phone ahead to advise the Reserve about new rules.

Result: 2 hours of negotiation/ argument and we can't get into the reserve at all on Monday. Well, with the delay re supposedly unnecessary permits, which are now definitely required, we would only have had an hour, but we are denied that, and warned not to return illegally without permits.

Day 2, no 6am to noon viewing as promised: just sitting around at the accommodation, waiting for permits.

Finally just as we are allowed to enter the Reserve, the rain arrives and obscures all views.

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earlier Entry 12 of 14 later
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