Blogs from Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India, Asia

Musician in the streets of Jaipur Struggling with feelings of doubt or low self-esteem? I have just the place for you. After settling into a picturesque, bougainvillea-festooned Maharaja's estate in this small town of Karauli, not far from Agra, India, our group of 10... Brits, Americans, Aussies and we Canucks... wandered out the front gates of the palace, clambered aboard flatbed carts attached by long wooden poles to large camel-toned... you guessed it... camels. Two carts, two camels, 5 pale-white tourists per flatbed and we were off. The mid-afternoon sun settled over us warmly as the camels began slowly trodding forward into the narrow streets of the town. Sitting immediately behind the behind of the camel, its rump muscles shifting smoothly up and down like pistons, I'm a bit surprised there isn't a stronger animal scent ... read more

With both legs dangling over the edge of this world heritage site, listening to a faint sound of Indian music in the distance, we sat watching the sun set over the immense city ahead. Looking below us the city was bustling and alive. We however were sat at a height amidst the calm majestic walls of the Chittorgarh fort. This area of the fort was in ruins and was barely standing but somehow it still stood tall and proud as a reflection of the power and glory that once was. Not managing to say much we sat in near silence trying to absorb what we had seen and learnt at this fort. We were reminded of the rich history that had moulded this fort and the many people who had gave their lives away in honour ... read more

Chittaurgarh February 17th 2004 “..I've been told there's a sucker born everyday, but I wonder who?... Maybe the one who doesn't realise there's a thousand shades of grey, 'cause I know that's true....” Rosy and Grey – Lowest of the Low There is just a rush when you get back on the road and set off for what you always know is going to be another adventure. I had heard about Chittor but never really even stopped to explore what was there – then a friend in Pushkar mentioned how it was this amazing place with a big fort. Chittor was the main centre of Rajput power from the 7th to the 16th century. It has seen many dynasties and been seriously attacked at least three times. Each time jauhar was performed by women and their ... read more

Christmas Day. Spent in the car. Almost all day. But it couldn't be avoided. We had 16 days in India and making the most of it meant being in the car on Christmas Day. But we didn't see any dead animals. Or people. So that's positive. We had breakfast at Cafe Edelweiss and were on the road by 9AM. We didn't see Hardev yesterday, so it was good to see him again this morning. We were on our way to Jaipur and it was a long drive, but we stopped at Chittorgarh, Rajasthan's largest fort (100Rs) on the way there. We felt like we had seen enough forts, honestly, but Hardev said it was the biggest and we knew he wanted us to feel like we got the most out of our trip, so stopped without ... read more

We stopped at Chittorgarh for two nights, just to see the magnificent old hilltop fort. It is only a small town, and there is not much else to do there, and not many restaurants to choose from. As usual we opted for a Lonely Planet recommendation. This was a basement restaurant, with harsh fluorescent-strip lighting, formica table tops, a colour scheme dominated by dark brown, and a dog-eared plastic menu card in bizarre English. The buzzing flies outnumbered the human customers by about 50 to 1. We have seen quite a few restaurants like this in India. Most of the dishes consisted of a spicy dark brown sludge, with small amorphous black lumps that always seem to call for further investigation to ensure that they were not fragments of flies or cockroaches. Nevertheless the food turned ... read more