Blogs from Bundi, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 6

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

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

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

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

How can you describe a country that spans from the Tibetan, Nepalese and Bhutanese Himalaya in the north, nearly 3000km to the Gulf of Mannar near troubled Sri Lanka in the south, from the borders of Pakistan in the west, 2500km to the border of 'East Pakistan' (Bangladesh) in the..well, east, and with a magnamonious (yes, I made that word up) population of over 1 Billion people? Answer: you can't. India. There can't be many words to start a paragraph that invoke so many varied reactions and so much imagery: Bollywood, bright hindi clothing, Kashmir and Pakistan, curry, the Maharajas, the sort of music Saif, if you knew him, would famously play in his car, elephants, nuclear weapons testing, the Taj Mahal. But to assign such preconceptions to a country made up of 28 states diverse ... read more