Sawai Madhopur: why we hated it

We hated Sawai Madhopur. It was the second stop in our India trip and we had high expectations. Gorgeous photos of the tigers lured us to this small town in Rajasthan and we boarded a Jan Shatabdi from Delhi´s Nizamuddin Station to go there. That trip was doomed to be a disaster from the start. The train was delayed and the 2nd AC compartment was crowded with vendors, loud holidaymakers, crying babies, and freeloaders. Annoying music blared from mobile phones and the toilets stank like hell. We passed endless tracts of trash-covered land, sewage-strewn housing communities, and plastic fluttered around like butterflies. By the time, Sawai Madhopur arrived, it was nearly evening and a big orange setting sun was the only saving grace of the day. We got off at a station that was attractively decorated with tiger-themed murals and a rickety autorickshaw took us to our hotel.

View from the top of the fort in Sawai Madhopur

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The disappointment called Sawai Madhopur

The town of Sawai Madhopur had nothing to write home about; it was filthy and dreary. Trash spilled out from everywhere and the open sewers were complete with choking plastic, slime, and dead piglets. It did not even have the colours quintessential to a Rajasthani village. My heart sank as we drove over broken roads and potholes as large as meteors. Our hotel which was an odd combination of an airconditioned shack with a large garden was pleasant enough and I have to admit that the food served there was absolutely delicious. We had already booked a morning safari and so went to bed with the expectation of a beautiful drive through a misty jungle. Honestly, we did not expect to see any wildlife especially tigers (though we hoped for a sighting). All we wanted was to experience a jungle that the big cats called home. I have been to wildlife safaris in Africa and there is a huge difference between spotting animals in a vast savannah and seeing a jungle where they lurked. To our ´Rudyard Kipling fan´ minds, there was something magical in the thrill of a jungle. The actual safari was a complete anti-climax. To begin with, we found out that our guide had no love for either the jungle or his visitors. He was an ambitious greedy man who was out to fleece his tourists and all he wanted to do was rush around the jungle looking for tigers.

A spotted deer

A bumpy ride and a tiger sighting

The drive was extremely bumpy and we held on tightly as our open-topped safari bus jumped over large rocks and dry river beds. The jungle passed in a daze of green and the only time we paused, was to spot a tiger on a faraway ridge. The sight, however, was magnificent and the large striped animal lounging camouflaged underneath a thorny bush was absolutely regal. It was a brief sighting and soon there was a long queue of vehicles and tourists totting massive cameras aiming to photograph the lone tiger. The contrast was a tad ridiculous because the sight of the line of vehicles somehow reminded me of the traffic jams in Cairo: a strange thought, I know but there it was. The idea took away whatever little magic was left in the experience and the unusually aggressive demands for tips by the guide at the end of the tour finished off Sawai Madhopur for us.

View of the jungle in front of our hotel

Was the experience and expense worth it?

We were all quiet on our way back to the hotel. After all, we had seen a tiger, something that we dreamed of but the overall experience was so unpleasant that we were sure it was not even worth the journey. I am usually not so critical about a place. Over the years, I have learned to accept human follies and foibles with a pinch of salt and a lot of humour. I have also realized that each place I visit as a traveler is someone´s home and thus respect is in order. However, Sawai Madhopur is one place that I absolutely hated and it was because of the people, or at least the ones we interacted with. Cut-throat, aggressive, and completely dishonest: they were a completely bad lot. I have often wondered if we were the only ones who felt this way about Sawai Madhopur and whether we were being unfair. Honesty, however, is not an overnight trait and I am sure there are many others who felt equally disappointed with this ´famous´ tourist place in India. Had someone spoken out loud about their experience and feeling, would I have gone there? Perhaps not. Or perhaps, I would have; been lured by the eternal dream of seeing a tiger in the wild.