Tiger Tiger Burning Bright!

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Hello my Lovies !
Hello there from an India that is hotting up nicely. The issue is that the culture here is one of cover-up so it breaks my heart but I am forced to protect my fair skin from those hot hot rays! Those of you that know me well will understand why I cant get my head round that one!. We seem to be rushing around from place to place but we are a small group ( unlike New Zealand where we were 50!) and it is working well . Having said that there are 9 members in the group and at one point we had our multilingual and knowledgeable western tour leader Paula, our driver and assistant driver , a local tour guide , an additional guide to ensure our train journey went without mishap and we have charming Que ( her names means cinnamon) a Vietnamese tour guide who works for travel Indo china and is on our tour to learn the ropes in India. So we had 5 employees for 9 people - no wonder the it is costing an arm and a leg!!! Still it does give employment to lots of people.!

We have stopped and sampled some wonderful food in some amazing places and laid our heads in pseudo palaces ,real palaces and more than ok hotels,

We experienced a small part of the Indian railroad travelling for two and half hours well into Rajasthan , we were in first class so really most of the people were westerners with a smattering of local people., The station seems to have not only humane traffic but cows on the line and monkeys , quite an adventure! .

We were making our way to the Rathamore national Park , one of India’s most famous national parks that is home to many verities of birds, and mammals including the much acclaimed tiger. We were staying at a rather splendid heritage complex and enjoyed two game drives The country is very beautiful with lakes, bush , trees and mountainous areas. We were extremely lucky and saw a black sloth bear ( rarer than the tiger) lots of deer and had two amazing sightings of a tiger . It is difficult to explain how these sightings come about , there are sectors in the park and tourists together with park rangers drive into the park. We are looking for footprints and listening for the warning cries of the other animals which indicate that tigers are around . If a sector is lucky the word gets around and all the jeeps converge on the area., and we are talking of maybe 15 to twenty vehicles with any things up to 60-100 people . All hell breaks loose jeeps jostle for position as drivers and guides want their passengers to get the best views , Why the tigers don’t get frightened and head off in the opposite direction is beyond me. But thankfully he didn’t and we saw him in the early morning and again on the late afternoon drive. Unfortunately he was too far away to get a decent picture. Even members of our group who had flashy comers only managed some grainy images. But I do have in my head the view of this magnificent animal talking a short stroll on the side of the track coming towards the line of jeeps and then disappearing into the trees. You will just have to believe me ! Everyone was so excited , apparently this last week the male tiger has been around and shown himself over a number of days to those people who happened to be at the park at that time. We are honoured to have seen him

We moved on to a rural small town of Samode with our brill driver who negotiates the roads with such skill. As we journeyed deeper into Rajasthan ,the biggest and wealthiest state in India with the size and population equal to GB, we did have a few hairy road moments , you will see a few on camera!.
Samode is off the beaten track and as a backdrop has a magnificent palace that was home to one of the maharajahs. He has now turned his palace, where we had dinner, into the most amazing hotel to help with the upkeep of the buildings my pictures don’t do justice to what we saw- I must learn how to take pictures at night!!. We stayed in the grounds of the palace in luxury tents, and indulged in the beauty of the gardens and the outdoor jaccousi

This part of the State has a number of small towns and villages , though when I say villages , our guide tells us we are talking about 15,000 people!!!- In India’s terms this is small. We journeyed in jeeps to one of them walking through the village where things are pretty primitive, animals and people juxta positioned in the challenge to make a living. The villages though are very friendly, they farmed crops mainly wheat and lentils and kept cattle, goats and pigs. the kids were just wonderful , eager to have their photo taken as long as they could see the outcome. We popped into a school and stayed just long enough to disrupt the morning lessons!!. All junior pupils have free education , those over that age have to contribute to their studies. Finally we drove to the heart of the “industrial area “where small business making farming tools, cooking equipment, bangles, handicrafts and other needy things were located- an interesting and thought provoking experience.

We now were heading to the capital of Rajasthan , Jaipur which is a bustling place known as the pink city because one maharajah had the city painted pink in honour of the visit of the prince of Wales back in the early 20th century! It was founded in 1727 by the maharajah Jai Singh who built the fascinating Mantar observatory using advanced techniques and science for that time. We toured around the City palace museum where the current Maharaja still lives viewing some of the magnificent rooms and robes once used and worn by the wealthy and aristocratic. They certainly knew how to live well!

Jaipur has as its centre piece the incredible Amber Fort built strategically on a hill in the 1500s by the then Maharajah as a palace for himself and his wives. It is a huge complex and draws lots of visitors. I hate to name drop but some of the views across the hillsides reminded me of the great wall! We went tpo a printing and carpet making factory and that was interesting , we had seen carpets made before but it never ceases to amaze me how nible and fast thses craftsmen are, And yes I bought one - he must have seen me coming , it is very beautiful and was a bargin!! I’m not going to say we went to a silver and gem establishment Jaipur is famous for this , so I wont!!. Finally 5 of the girls trotted off to the barzaars to get a feel for this way of life. The traders are all very eager to sell and it does get a bit wearisome but hey ho everyone has to make a living!

So tomorrow we are off , Flying this time to Udaipur and the desserts of Rajasthan!! So camels here we come
xxxx

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