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Blogs from Bundi, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 5
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August 17th 2008
nous voila arriver a bundi petit village a 8h de bus d udaipur il s agit d un petit village sans aucun magasin touristique ce qui lui donne beaucoup de charme en effet il est tres rare de croiser des touristes nous visitons un fort abandonne sur les hauteurs les seuls habitants sont des singes souvent argneux et a la recherche du moinbdre truc a voler hier nous avions loue des velos et apres 15km dans la cmpagne d e bundi on attend finalement sous un soleil ecrasant des chutes d eaux ... la baignade fait vraiement du bien , car le retour va etre long aujourd hui (19aout ) nous allons assister au teej festival avec elephants , chameaux et musiciens ... read more
July 25th 2008
We experienced our funniest bus ride recently. After catching a train from Jaipur to Kota, we were left with no real option but to take a public bus for the remaining 40 or so kilometres to Bundi. 40 kilometres wouldn't take too long in NZ or the UK, but this is India! Somehow we managed to find the dodgiest looking bus ever and managed to hurl ourselves and our packs onto the back seat. Tourists don't appear to be much of a common sight on the public buses over here so as soon as we entered the absolutely packed bus, every eye was upon us. It was about 40 degrees and we were drenched in sweat so Chris decided to zip the bottoms off his trousers so they became shorts. Every passenger watched this with great ... read more
May 19th 2008
BUNDI & RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK A bus ride away from Pushkar is the fairytale town of Bundi. A place well off the beaten track and with very few foreign visitors, but a magical one that was a little hidden gem! The main town is made up of old havelis and small buildings, many painted the Brahmin blue as is tradition, and surrounded by rocky hills, one of which has the abandoned Maharaja's palace clinging to its side with a ruined fort sitting right on the top! The palace was abandoned many years ago and shut up with only the bats as tennants and has only recently been opened for the public to see. Unfortunately this means that it's in a really bad state, but somehow this makes it even more endearing and eery, yet magical to ... read more
January 6th 2008
Amazing place! Very quite and peacefull. Incredible people. In the morning you have to fight with the monkey if you want to have breakfast on the rooftop. Right now travelling with the same people that I met in Pushkar... read more
December 8th 2007
Training for Battle, Bundi-style Travelling alone throughout the wilds of India is not easy; nor recommended for those without the proper and adequate training. Judging by my short time in this country, I realized that those who survive are, to use the cliche, the fittest. The wile and guile of the monkeys; the fear-enducing image of the bats; and the pride and prowess of the Tiger were all to be studied. But alas, let us not forget the ferocity and speed of the hawk... I spent my time in Bundi practising the lost arts at the Taragarh amidst the monkeys who adopted me as their own. With one day under my belt, it was time to venture out into the wild itself to see what else I could learn from these, and other, creatures... The Hawk ... read more
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April 12th 2007
For anyone who has never seen Octopussy, it's shit. It's easily the worst of the Roger Moore bastardisations of Bond. And in Udaipur, it's played in every restaurant in town. There's no escape. So spare a thought for the poor waiters who have had to witness this crud every day since the film was shot there in 1983. What must have seemed a blessing at the time can now only be considered a curse. In the film, Rog encounters snake charmers, men on beds of nails, fire eaters and sword swallowers all on one stretch of street before hopping into a high speed rickshaw towards Octopussy's floating mansion. In reality, the streets of Udaipur are a smidge quieter, and actually pleasantly calm compared with most places. Many people go so far as to describe the place ... read more
February 28th 2007
Bundi's a local town with local people - friendly, good-natured and genuine. It's only a small place dominated by its looming palace and not touristy at all. Most of the guesthouses are in the shadow of the palace and that part of Bundi is very quiet with only small shops and miniature painting schools. For that reason, even in a couple of days you start to get familiar with the locals. The town's people actually greet you simply for that purpose, not because thay want something. Other than the peeps, Bundi's primary attraction is its wonderfully charismatic palace. The exterior is a bit tatty and years of neglect haven't been kind but some of the murals on the walls and ceiling are well preserved and spectacular. There used to be a massive bird and bat problem ... read more
November 20th 2006
My last day in Bundi, I so wished that I was staying longer, I really felt like I was only just getting to know the town and people, but I must move on. Already there are too many things to experience in India and not enough time, one gets rather templed, forted, palaced out and some of my best experiences have been just people watching, wandering about and digesting all. Still I went back to last nights restaurant for breakfast - what a feast. A plate of fruit expertly carved and delicated placed, with bananas on the outside rim of the plate, then a ring of apple, guava, papaya, watermelon, banana and finally a clump of bright red pomagranite seeds, followed by a huge honey and lemon pancake. I spent the morning just munching my way ... read more
November 19th 2006
I had such a lovely day with Corp yesterday, he was so knowledgable and kind that I asked him to organise a tour of the surrounding countryside. My main objective to visit the Sukh Mahal (built in 1830) on the Sagar Lake, a small (very!) palace where Rudyard Kipling is said to have written parts of 'Kim'. Stopping on the way to visit another waterhole, this one in even worse condition but still as breathtaking, sandwiched in between the ramshamkled houses. You realy wouldn't have even noticed it from the street. Further on we drove through the narrow twisting streets, it would be so easy to get lost, until we left the town and stopped at the edge of Sagar Lake. The Sukh Mahal is not that much in itsef, most of the character has been ... read more
November 16th 2006
Almost the moment we left the outskirts of Jaipur and entered the surrounding countryside I felt myself relax and inspiration return. I sat staring out of the window absolutely enchanted. The landscape stretched out flat for as far as the eye could see, criss-crossed by electricity and telephone cables, flashes of vivid green irrigated land appearing every now and then, in stark contrast to the grey/ golden sandy soil and hardy looking stumpy trees. It completely lived up to my exspectations; road side truck stops dripping with tinsel, women dressed in brightly coloured sari's carrying heavy loads on thier heads or tending the fields (pink neon is definitely in this season!), men dressed in white with orange and red turbans, sitting under the trees, in the cafes, drinking chai and chatting animatedly. As I watched the ... read more
