17 January 2008, Saturday morning. Weather was chilling in Delhi. I was having breakfast when suddenly a new idea peeped into my mind. Without second thought I called up my friends and told them about the plan. The plan was for Bharatpur bird sanctuary. January is the season for the migratory birds which is really worth seeing. It was a weekend and my other friends were readily nodded their heads for the trips. So instantly we had to planned accordingly.   Bharatpur is 180 km frm Delhi. You will have to take Mathura road till Mathura then there will be a diversion. One road to Agra and other to Bharatpur (40 km frm Mathura). We dediced to check the train option and lucky enough to get tickets in JanSatabdi express. The ticket cost was 82 Rs per head and the duration was around 3 hrs. We started at 1.30 pm from Hz Nizamudin and reached Bharatpur Junction at 4.30 pm. It was a small but good station. Took an auto rickshaw from the station and reached Hotel Saras of Rajstan Tourism. Rooms were bit cheaper. Rs 700 for Non-AC double bed. You wont need an AC room in this season in Bharatpur as the temp is almost the same with Delhi.   We checked in at 5 pm. The staff was nice, helpful and informative. I wanted to visit the tourist information centre which was adjacent to the Hotel. The gentleman was very much happy to serve us in each possible way. He gave us a guide map and elaborated everything. Finally we were back in the hotel for sometime. Thought of exploring the town that evening, so we took cycle rickshaw (Rs 5 per head) to the chhota bazaar near Bijli Ghar. The town was small and congested. Streets were very tight. Anyway it was fun walking down the main market street. We could not imagine how much distance we had covered that night by walking. Finally we reached the central point of the town. It consists of very massive Ganga temple, huge Lohagarh fort, Bihariji temple. It was night so we thought of not going to the fort. Hence we tried the Ganga temple option. It was really a huge temple with Mughal architecture everywhere. Had a very good time with aarti darshan in the evening. Then we walked down the Loha bazaar where we tried Pani puri and Tikki in Sri ram hotel. It was really yummy. One should try this option.   It was 8.30 on the watch. We decided to come back to our hotel. Dinner option is not good inside the market. You wont get more than samosha and jelebi. So its better to come back to your hotel in saras chaurah. There are a lot of hotels and restaurant in saras chowk. In RTDC saras hotel the food option was less. So we tried some other restaurant nearby. Found a restaurant ‘Lazzez’ in Eagle nest hotel. The food was of good quality and within pocket. Specially chitodi chicken was awesome. You wont find a single bar in the town if you want to booze for a while. So the hotel is a good option. Hehe.   Hey!! Don’t forget to get mineral water all the time as the water is very much hard in Bharatpur. The taste was very bad. After dinner we came back to our hotel and took complete rest for the next moring cycling.   18th Jan morning 6.30 am : we took rickshaw for the bird sanctuary. The distance is very small, u can even choose the walking option. Early morning is the best time to explore the park to have fresh air and to witness the sunrise inside the sanctuary. We reached the main gate at 6.40am and booked our ticket. Each ticket cost 25 rs (for students its 5 rs.. so carry ur I-cards). You will have several option to visit the park : hiring a cycle (25 rs whole day), hiring a cycle rickshaw (50 rs per hour and the man acts as a guide), Tanga, electric vehicle. The best way to explore it on cycle. So we hired 4 bicycles and a big binocular. You can take a guide (100rs per hour) if you want to list down the name of all the birds. We were least interested in the name so we started on our own. Due to bad luck we had a thick foggy morning. It was tough to spot a bird initially. But after crossing the 2nd checkpost we cycled down slowly and tried to spot every sound and bird. It was a good experience in the foggy morning. Best part was we were cycling after almost 7-8 years. We did it last in school days. Then gradually we could see a lot of beautiful birds. Large in number and size too. Spoonbill, Ibis, Siberian cranes were really good. The whole park is good for photography. We were bit unlucky due to the fog. Hmmmm        Most important thing!!!! U wont find any good canteen inside the park. Only tea and biscuits are available, so better prepare urself with good amount of breakfast and pack ur bag with some extra item. We crossed the neel tal and enjoyed the view and the birds. One bad thing about the sanctuary is that you cant find any signage anywhere. So you will be laterally lost inside the park if not alert upto some extent. I think the government should work upon the betterment of this place a little more. Ok..ok then we went to the python point and cheetal point. The cycling was a real fun and we couldn’t stop cycling at any moment. The park is full of birds, deer, sambhars, cows, wolves.     Finally after a 4 hrs cycling inside the park we came to the main gate and handed over the cycles and binocular. The crowd was very heavy that time. Hence its better to take the morning trip to avoid any kiosk. We left the sanctuary at 11.30 am and came back to our hotel. After the long cycling we were exerted and chose to take good shower. We checked out at 12.30 and wanted to have lunch at our hotel restaurant. The food option is very less in bharatpur and specially in Hotel Saras. Most of the items in the menu were not available. But after having Dal fried, chana masala, raita and roti we left our hotel.   As per the planning we wanted to visit the Lohagarh fort and museum. We reached there but were really shocked by the step motherly activity of Govt. You wont believe how the fort was badly maintained. 50% of the fort was occupied by the local people. I suppose Bharatpur is the least promoted by the government. The fort could have been one of the best tourist place if maintained properly. It’s a huge fort. Anyway we dropped the idea of exploring the whole fort and reached the museum.  Museum was better.     After spending an hour we came to the Bus stand to take the Roadways bus to Delhi. Here comes the most pathetic part of our trip. I suggest the travelers to go back by train too. Train option is really good. Bus service is very very very bad in Bharatpur bus stand. No advance booking, no discipline in counter, rough staff and lack of information. So either u take ur own vehicle or choose the train option. Anyway finally we could find tickets after a battle of an hour.   I will provide a basic synopsis which will help u a bit. Though it’s a very good town and tourist place still it needs more attention from the govt. The huge monuments must be treated as the assets.   Anyways, what we liked : The station, location of RTDC hotel Saras and its huge interior space, abundance of rickshaw for local transport, Ganga temple, Bird sanctuary, the security inside the park and the local people.   What we didn’t like : ill-maintained fort, no signage was provided in the sanctuary propelling one to take the guide, scarcity of restaurant in the town and finally the roadways bus service.   Best time and duration : best season is Nov-Feb. best option is to hire a car from Delhi and start early morning around 5 am. You reach there by 8 am and enter the park at max by 9 am. Explore the park and come back by 2pm or 3 pm. Go to the museum for an hour visit and start for Delhi at 6 pm. It’s a very good option to enjoy and avoid other hazard. Or take the Jan satabdi train in afternoon from delhi and reach B’pur at 5 pm. Take rest in hotel and next morning enjoy the park visit and come back by train only at 3.20 pm (golden triangle) .   Overall it was a nice and enjoyable trip….One must go and enjoy the wonderful experience of being with nature and so close to the birds.