Bharatpur 2

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Namaste,

Spent yesterday morning on bicycles razzing around the bird reserve with a guide. The guide was alright but we ditched him around lunchtime and decided to explore the park ourselves for the rest of the afternoon (on foot I hasten to add, Dani wasn’t too impressed with the bicycle saddles and has been in agony ever since!) which was really nice. We ended up covering nearly ten miles altogether, so we’re a bit stiff today but trying to get in practice for the Inca Trail. The park was pretty dry, which was a real shame although we still saw a fair few number of birds and its still a nice place to chill out. We also saw quite a lot of wildlife, including Sambar and Spotted deer, Blue Bull, Wild Boar, Turtles, Jackal and even a couple of Indian Pythons (which were awesome)! These guys were about 4m long and were definitely not to be messed with, though I think I could have taken them! We also came across a troop of Rhesus monkey’s and I decided it would be a good idea to feed them a banana from our packed lunch. This went down really well until they decided they wanted more which we didn’t have. They started charging us which was a little worrying, though we worked out that in such a situation its best just to charge back at them….only realized afterwards that feeding the monkeys is strictly prohibited and now we can see why!

We enjoyed some very good food at our hotel again last night. It’s all home cooked and you can even watch them cooking it which is quite reassuring. Having said that, the German chap down the hall from us is suffering from a really bad fever, but apparently this is because he drank the water in Agra, not too clever! The family who run the guest house are all really nice and have made us feel really at home. They even have a dog called Roxy who’s great fun! Last night we met a Dutch couple about the same age as us who were really good company (BA had lost their luggage on their flight over and so they’d had to start from scratch, though they’re only here for three weeks so its not too bad). There’s also another lady staying here from Canada (although originally from Leeds) who’s full of really interesting stories - she’s spent her life working in Canadian wildlife reserves with bears and wolves etc, not bad!!!! Hope to get some useful tips from her!

Tomorrow we’re off to Agra and the Taj Mahal. Staying in a place called the Shanti Lodge, which doesn’t sound promising though our room is supposed to have a view of the Taj. We’ll have to wait and see!

We've added a few photos to our earlier entries, but it takes forever and so we'll add some more next time.

Take Care

Dani & Dan

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Comments

[Dad F]

Snakes
Dan - don't mess with the snakes! I know how strong you are and it'd be no contest :) Love Dad

[colin]

monkey rule
Sounds like monkeys 1 Ipswich 0. Be careful with the natives and those snakes. Love Pa.

[Colin]

Pictures
The places look great, some good photography. However you did not mention Dani's haircut!