Blogs from Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, Asia

Most magnificent place...birds of all sorts everywhere as well as wild spotted deer and bif horned antelope, monkeys, a jaguar! like a massive savannah as far as the eye can see. Peacocks, owlet, parakeets, Golden Orient parrot, Mongolian migrating geese, fantails small and large, storks and egrets, Ibis and eagles and falcons, partridges and small chittering birds...and many, many more. Heaven!... read more

Geo: 27.2156, 77.4902 Of all the wonderful places and palaces I have seen in India there is one thing that has truly impacted my enjoyment of exploring here, and that is that in this country, to all men I must be invisible. At first I thought our guide's only looking at and speaking to my young roommate was an older man thing, where he was infatuated with a young woman and flattered by her attention. This was bothersome, and I mentioned it to him, but he denied it vigorously, and tried, after that, to look at me occasionally to make his point, and when he did, I felt acknowledged, a powerful thing. He is a lovely man, extremely generous and very kind, but although he is a professional guide and is 69 years old, he has ... read more

Jamie here, Thought we'd try fit in all these different places into one as they are smaller and to keep it interesting! Spent a good deal of time on buses to and from all these places which has been eventful! On one bus between Pushkar and a bus station in a city called Ajmer I ended up having a big argument with the bus conductor who was trying to grossly overcharge us for having bags, which was in hindsight, quite funny. Pushkar seems to be a hippy paradise (especially for Australians and Kiwis); most of the shops seemed like they were from Glastonbury, and in fact a lot of the clothes sold at Glastonbury were made there! Meat, eggs and Alcohol were banned in the town because it had a special temple and lake for the ... read more

Day 13 - Bharatpur - Jaipur An early morning start saw us catch cycle rickshaws to the Bharatpur Bird Sancturary which actually was a little further from the hotel than we thought. The rickshaw riders looked like they were struggling a little but we guessed they must be used to it, although a Chris Hoy in the making they are not. The bird park was good and we spotted loads of different types of birds including Serpent Eagles, Owls, Cattle eagrets, Kingfishers, wagtails, drongos and much more. We were also told about a part of the monestary where a monk lived where he feeds the local soft shelled turtle population and were asked would we like to go for a look, so excitedly we agreed and set off towards a small building within the park. Once ... read more

So glad to leave Agra and the horrid sweat box behind - did not get a good sleep at all! The shower was sparse at best and Sarah ended up with a bug on her leg. But anyway, it's in the past and we are in a lovely - and brand new - room in a nice hotel. Not a great journey. The first bus from Agra was full and when the next arrived (30m late of course) it was a mad pushy scramble to get on and get a seat. Super tired so was feeling crabbit but trying not to be outwardly so. Got some heavy angry music on my ipod and turned it up loud and also played some solitaire to pass the time. We were not at our final destination when we got ... read more