India by bus

AIndia diary

A retired university professor of fine arts assembled a group of 20 adventurous Canadians, mapped the route , booked the flights, an Indian bus, a driver and the hotels and away we went on a unique 24 day journey through northwestern and central India. (See map)
Our trip was like a visit to two different countries: the more prosperous touristy India of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra, and the desperately poor and less traveled rural areas of Madhya Pradesh.

Friday, Feb 23
Toronto - Amsterdam - Bombay (Mumbay)
After good flights we arrived at our hotel at 1am local time and what better way to start a trip than with a birthday party for Bill and Mark.

February 24, Saturday
Mumbay - Aurangabad

We were finally in bed by 2 am and up again for breakfast at 7.30 After a short tour of the Mumbai Gate, the majestic Taj Mahal hotel and the laundry whallies we headed towards Aurangabad. Mumbai is truly a city of incredible cultural and social contrasts. Cattle is roaming the busy streets, creating chaos and traffic jams. There is an abundance of shiny new cars and cell phones are everywhere. However, one of the most powerful first impressions of the country is its treatment of the poor. They live in the most appalling conditions, with no government assistance and their situation seems hopeless. There are so many of them. Beggars are everywhere, families with small children are sleeping on bare pavements, the smell of urine is overwhelming, they seem hungry and many are in poor health. As we leave the city it soon becomes obvious that the poverty is widespread.
It took us three hours to get out of Mumbai, then many more hours on a slow and rocky road to our next overnight stop in Aurangabad where we arrived by midnight.

Feb 25 sunday
Aurangabad - Jalgaon
After our early breakfast at 6:30am we were off to see Bibi-Ka-Maqbara, aTaj Mahal lookalike, a 17th century mausoleum for the wife of Aurangzeb, the last of the six great Mughal emperors.
We drove by the Daulatabad fort with its victory tower Chand Minar and made a longer stop at the magnificent 34 cave shrines of Ellora. The caves were created between the 7th and 10th centuries AD to honor Buddhist, Hindu and Jain beliefs. The highlight is Cave 16 dedicated to Shiva.
After lunch we headed towards Ajanta caves, which are some 110 km northeast of Aurangabad. There are 27 caves sculpted and cut out of a granite rock of a semi-circular ravine. These caves dating back from the 2nd century BC to the 7th century AD illustrate the life of Buddha and the life of the monks through sculptures and fragmented paintings.

By 6 pm we were back on the bus for what turned out to be one of the worst and bumpiest drives ever. The road resembled a dry river bed with potholes the size of cars. We were traveling at an average 5 to 10 km per hour and the seats on the back of the bus were like a trampoline. Jean who sat at the back of the bus had a good advice for all the ladies: wear your sports bras !! We finally arrived at our Royal Palace Hotel in Jalgaon by 2 am.
The hotel turned out to be a real dump, with dirty sheets, malfunctioning shower, filthy towels and beds with 1 inch foam mattress. But since we’ll only be in bed for 3 hours, who cares!!
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Monday, Feb. 26
Jalgaon - Mandu

Up by 5 am and on the road by 6. We were not sure how many hours we would be traveling today to cover the distance of about 250 km from Jalgaon to Mandu, but it turned out to be another full day of shaking, jumping and bouncing over some of the worst possible roads. By traveling through the villages and small towns off the main tourist tracks we saw a very different face of India. As we passed through the villages we saw incredible squalor and poverty, people robbed of all dignity by having to live like animals, sheltering in hovels with no electicity or water, There is no garbage collection and discarded plastc bags, garbage and animal excrement are everywhere. We see many men milling around in villages and we see mostly women working in the fields of cotton, wheat, corn and sugar cane. They are shaping cow dung into patties that they dry and use for cooking fuel, harvesting wheat with sickles, trashing the wheat, making bricks, etc. Most of the field work is all done by hand and an occasional ox. Small herds of goats graze in the barren fields or roam the villages in search of organic garbage.

We arrived at Hotel Rupmati in the small town of Mandu by 6 pm. The hotel is situated on the edge of a ravine overlooking the valley below.

Tuesday, feb 27
Mandu - Chitaugarth

This morning we were up by 5:30 to catch the sunrise which was beautiful. We finally have a bit of free time to explore the village and the sights of Mandu and call home from the village telephone booth.

Mandu is a town about 2000 ft up the Vindhya hills. This ancient site has 45km of ramparts and palaces and is dominated by Jahaz Mahal, a royal palace of the Sultan Ghyas-ud-din who build it for his harem of 15,000 women.
We departed from Mandu by 11:30 heading towards Chitaurgath which is about another 12 hours of bouncy bus ride away. Will surely have buns of steel by the end of this trip!!!
The saga of unbelievable potholes continues as we average again the speed of some 10 km per hour until we cross into the state of Rajasthan . Here, the roads are much better and there is even a new divided paved highway!!
At midnight we finally arrive at our hotel, a beautiful heritage palace hotel Castle Bijajpur. The hotel staff is very nice and we are served a tasty dinner at one in the morning. The hotel is in a converted palace, furnished with antiques and decorated with locally made colorful fabrics. Just beautiful!!

Wednesday, February 28
Chitaugarth - Udaipur

We had another short night as we assembled at breakfast by 8:30 and were on the road again soon after. We visited Rajastan’s oldest fort, Chittaurgarh , which dates back to the 7th century. Five km of walls encircle the ruined old capital of Mewar. The most interesting structure is the richly carved Vijay Stambh or victory tower. The fort is known for its first incidence of Jauhar, a mass suicide of women by fire before their men went into a losing battle. The easiest way to see the fort was by motorized rickshaw.
By 2:30pm we were on our way to Udaipur. What a noticeable change in cleanliness and road conditions in Rajastan as compared to those of the state of Madhiya Pradesh. Here there is garbage collection and the streets are much cleaner. Traveling on a four lane highway is a real treat for our sore bums.
We arrived to Udajpur by the afternoon. We are staying at Lake Piccolo Hotel, a lakefront hotel with lovely views of the town. Udaipur is bordered by three lakes and is an enchanting town that derives most of its revenues from tourism.

March 1, Thursday
Udajpur

City Palace is Rajastahn’s largest palace. It is entered through a triple gate where in the past the rulers were weighed and the equivalent value of gold or silver was then distributed as food to the poor. The palaces house restored frescoes and mirrorwork and mosaic glasswork.
A boat ride on the lake was a relaxing way to admire the palaces on the two islands, now converted to luxury hotels. The stroll through the town’s main shopping street was no easy task because of the vast selection of beautiful fabrics, silver jewelry and miniature paintings and fierce competition for customers by the merchants. Bargaining is a must.
In the evening Bill, Audrey and I had a nice dinner at a rooftop restaurant across from our hotel. Went to bed early and all of a sudden I broke into shivers and chills, then my temperature flared up, and I was sick.
Friday, March 2
Udajpur - Jodhpur

My fever is down, but my stomach is unsettled so I am taking it easy today. On our way to Jodhpur we stopped at two Jain temples in Ranakpur. One also had an ashram for guests. The rules to visit the temple were very strict and the photography was very restricted. Chaumukha temple is one of holiest Jain sites and its intricately carved 1444 marble pillars are each a unique work of art and no two pillars are alike.
By the evening we arrived to Jodhpur, Rajasthan’s second largest city and often referred to as the blue city because of its indigo colored houses. Originally, blue signified a house inhabited by Brahmins but today anyone can have a blue house. We stayed in another beautiful heritage hotel Ranabanka Palace where we dined in the garden and were entertained by the local folk music and dancing.

March 3, Saturday
Jodhpur - Jaisalmer

Today’s visit to the fort Mehrangarh fort was one of the highlights of our trip so far. Audio guides were included with the admission fee (250 rupee) and made the visit more meaningful and memorable. The museum shop had lovely art and crafts from the local area. The fort dates mostly from the 17th century and is a complex of palaces and courtyards. The women’s quarters have the most amazingly carved filigree sandstone jali screens and the whole complex has been beautifully restored.
In the afternoon we departed for Jaisalmer, the town that reflects the desert culture of the Thar Desert. We arrived to the hotel Himmet Garth by late afternoon. Our hotel is about 1km from the town and from our balcony we can see the fort which is perched on a hill overlooking the town. Tonight and tomorrow is one of Hindu most important holidays called Holi. The first day of the event signifies the burning of Holika by lighting a bonfire at night. Hindus wear their best clothes and watch a bonfire with a large tree branch in the middle of it. The fire is lit at the time of the moon rising, or around midnight.

On the second day of Holi Festival, also known as Dhulandi, people meet their friends and throw colored powders at each other and drink local rum. The throwing of color gives the event its name Festival of Colors.

Sunday, March 4
Jaisalmer
Although some of the adventurous from the group decided to go into town and risk getting painted, the majority of us stayed put at the hotel and took advantage of the pool, do laundry and enjoy some well deserved rest. Our driver and his assistants came by at mid-morning and we did get a taste of the rum and a symbolic smear of paint across the face to help them celebrate the holiday.

Monday, March 5
Jaisalmer

We headed into town and walked through the bazaar towards the fort. Some were hoping to get some cash from the ATM machines. We found two but neither was working. In Asia is always best to come with cash as banking can be very unpredictable, especially in smaller places. Our sightseeing started with the visit to the town’s fabulous havelis, the intricately carved facades of private homes of wealthy merchants, over 200 years old.The Nathmal haveli, is the work of two Muslim brothers who competed with each other by each carving half of the large facade. The seven balconies are each carved from a solid piece of stone. Many adjoining houses are similarly adorned with carved verandas, fountains, niches pillars, elephants and frescoes.
Just outside the fort is the busy market of Manak Chowk where there is a great selection of embroidered shawls, silk fabric, silver jewelry, and leather products. Within the fort
I visited the palace museum. The palace was severely damaged during the earthquake of 2002 but it was painstakingly restored. From the roof is a wonderful view of the city and in the distance one can see a forest of windmills generating electricity. The city is experiencing serious underground erosion because of the increased use of water but with no proper drainage and canalization. Next to the palace are carved Jain temples dating back to 12th and 15th century.
In the evening a group of us returned to town and had a lovely dinner at "The Trio", one of the most praised restaurants in town.

Tuesday, March 6
Jaisalmer - Bikaner

Our next destination is Bikaner, a city on the silk trading route where camels rather than oxen pull the carts and carry loads. The road from Jaisalmer to Bikaner skirts the Thar desert and for hours all we saw is sand and scruffy vegetation. There are only a few settlements along the road and we saw an occasional herd of goats, some cattle, and many camelsand wild peacocks.
For lunch we arrived at a beautiful Gayner Palace Hotel some 20km from Bikaner situated on the banks of a lake and surrounded by nature preserve. This was a palace from the times under the British when it was used by hunters. The bar still resembles a gentlemen's club from the bygone years Lunch was served on the terrace overlooking the lake. What a wonderful place.
We arrived to Bikaner at 5 pm and our Lalgarh Palace Hotel is another heritage property with huge rooms, marble floors, luxury bath, , and the room is decorated with beautiful local fabrics. It also has an indoor pool, lovely garden and in a separate wing there is also a museum.
We had a buffet dinner and were entertained by folk music and dancing. A nice way to celebrate the mid-point of our trip.

Wednesday, March 7
Bikaner - Mandawa

We all felt a bit sorry to leave so soon because this was the nicest and most luxurious place we stayed so far. Before we departed towards Mandawa which is our next two-night stop we visited the fort of Bikaner, a sprawling palace that houses some government offices as well as a museum. We made good progress on almost new paved road heading toward Sikar. There are camel pulled carts everywhere as we are in the camel centre of India. We also stopped at a brick making enterprise, and later in a small town of Fatehpur where we visited a few painted facades of havelis dating back some 150 years. The houses are all lived in and there seem to be no preservation work being done as most paintings are severely deteriorated. We saw an interesting painting of Queen Victoria in a motorcar which was painted during her reign.
By 5 pm we arrived to Mandawa, where we are staying in Mandawa castle. The hotel has a lovely pool and our room 118 was nice but very damp. The dampness was explained once we realized that the floor just above was a major construction site where they were pouring new cement floor.
We are staying here two nights and in the evening the courtyard was transformed into a lovely open air dining area where buffet style dinner was offered and we were entertained with local music and dancing.

March 8, Thursday
Mandawa
We are staying another day in Mandawa. It is a small, one street type of town where the fort is also the hotel. I did some shopping, visited the internet café, then sat at the pool and enjoyed another relaxing day that concluded with yet another candlelight buffet dinner.

March 9, Friday
Mandawa - Delhi
We started our drive through rural farming country towards Delhi. The desert slowly gave way to irrigated wheat fields and other crops. Camels are still the main mode of transport. We had a washroom stop at an all-boys technical school and the whole school came out to stare at us. Everywhere we see men holding hands or walking while embracing. In India, this signifies friendship. However, we never saw any man holding hands with a woman as any public expression of affection between opposite sexes is not customary.
The travel to Delhi was slow because of heavy traffic and ongoing road constructions and we arrived at the YMCA(tourist) hostel in time for dinner. The rooms are very basic and quite run down but the hostel is centrally located and is within walking distance of the Connaught Circle.

Mar 10, Saturday
Delhi - Jaipur

This morning we had a quick stop at India Gate, visited a Jain temple, and then Delhi’s oldest monument, Qutb Minar. This is the site of India’s oldest mosque as the minar dates back to the 1190. The courtyard has a beautiful carved colonnade for which the stone comes from from a demolished Hindu and Jain temples. In the courtyard is also an iron pillar from the 4th century and its origin s a mistery as is the reason why the cast iron pillar has remain rust free over the 1600 years of its existence.

After our lunch at at the officers club, we were off to Jaipur, a distance of about 210 km which we managed in about 6 hours.
Our hotel Mandawa Haveli will be our home for the next three nights. My digestive system is in turmoil and I decided to skip the next few meals and start with my antibiotics.


March 11 sunday
Jaipur

Life is not fair. Here we are , in the shopping capital of India and I, a chopoholic, can’t go shopping because I have to stay within a sight of a washroom!!
This morning the group went to the outskirts of Jaipur to see how block printing is being done by hand. After lunch some went to see the city palace and look at the many shops. I stayed put in my room and made extensive use of the bathroom facilities.

Monday, March 12
Jaipur

Amer Palace perched on the hill and overlooking the Maota Lake is best visited on the back of brightly colored elephants. The harem section of the palace is richly decorated with ornaments adorned with mirrors.
A visit to a carpet and textile emporium with beautiful selection of oriental carpets in wool and in silk proved to be irresistible to some . The textile section of the shop had many exotic fabrics and beautiful shawls and scarves.
Finally, I felt well enough to venture into town by taking a bicycle rickshaw. The crowds were overwhelming as I strolled down the main shopping street. Soon there was a rumble in the sky, the winds picked up and as I found a rickshaw to take me back to the hotel, there was a tremendous downpour and within seconds I was soaking wet.


Tuesday March 13
Jaipur - Agra

We were on our way to Agra and were making good progress when suddenly, about
80 km from Jaipur, the traffic came to an abrupt stop. Local farmers blockaded the road with large stones and were not allowing any traffic to pass through. They were demanding the government to help them. The evening before a severe wind and hail storm ravaged the area and killed 28 people, destroyed litchi, mango and wheat crops, and caused significant property damage. While we waited, riot police and special tactical unit came and suppressed the rock throwing rioters and after about 2 hours we were finally moving again, but not for long. About half an hour later we again were stuck in a huge line of cars, trucks, and assorted other vehicles and we waited and waited. After a couple of hours, we started seeing groups of demonstrators waving red banners marching by, and then the marchers became more and more numerous, and then for the next 8 hours there was a continuous and steady stream of protestors By early evening we started moving again, a meter or two at a time, taking detours over terrible roads, competing with trucks, inching ahead in a state of unimaginable chaos. The 210 km trip that started at 9 am ended at the hotel in Agra at 10 pm. It was interesting to note that next day, the local English newspaper mentioned the storm, and the local farmers riot, but not a word about the mass demonstrations that paralyzed the roads of the area.
The day was shot, we had no lunch and had missed all the planned sights, but we did end up ordering steak and fries for dinner at our luxury Sheraton hotel, and finally I slept on a wonderful mattress that felt just like the one at home.

Wednesday, March 14
Agra - Khajuraho

Our day started with a visit to Taj Mahal at sunrise . It was raining again during the night and the morning was humid and misty but even in the mist the most visited site in India was truly magnificent. Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife who died in childbirth of her 14th child. It took 22 years to complete and some 20,00 craftsmen and laborers worked on it. Shah Jahan was later imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb and he spent his last 8 years in Agra fort from where he was able to see the tomb of his wife. When he died in 1666 he was buried beside his wife and the two tombs are housed in the crypt. We had two hours to explore and photograph the place and take a group photo, we returned to the hotel for breakfast and by 10 am we were on the bus again for a 410 km trip to Khajuraho, our last stop before returning to Delhi for a flight home. The roads within the city of Agra are in terrible shape, and the rain created huge puddles and the bus and the trucks have a real challenge navigating through the mud. It is hard to understand that Agra, the home city of Taj Mahal and thus the most visited place in India has such terrible roads. But in India, nothing surprises me any more. We made minimal stops on the way as our driver was anxious to get to our hotel before midnight because we were passing through a bandit territory and travel through that area can be dangerous late at night.
We arrived safely to our luxury Chandela Hotel in Khajuraho just in time for a late dinner.

Thursday, March 15
Khajuharo

Today we have the whole day to visit the famous temples with erotic sculptures and carvings and to explore the village and do some shopping. The weather is perfect and the village is clean and quaint. For me this is the best day of our trip. The Chandellas, creators of the temples were the rulers during the 9th century. Of the original total of over 80 temples, only 22 survuive and until 1835 when they were rediscovered by a British engineer, were hidden in the vegetation. The presence of the erotic sculptures shows that in those days there were no inhibitions about sex and pleasure. Karma, or pleasure, was one of the four legitimate aims in life for a Grahast.

Friday, March 16
Khajuraho - Delhi

Today we will say goodbye to Anil and Ravi, our bus driver and his helper, and take an express train to Delhi. We are picking up the train in Jihansi, a few hours by bus from Kharujaho. We are also saying an early goodbye to Gary and Jean who are going on to Varanasi for a few days before they leave India.
The railway station is incredibly crowded and while we are waiting, we see two cows stroll down the tracks and through the station. There are rats scurrying between the tracks . Too bad that railway stations are not allowed to be photographed. Another sight to behold!!
We check in at the YMCA for our last night in India.

Saturday, March 17- Sunday, March 18
Delhi - Amsterdam - Detroit - Toronto

Today we do some last minute shopping at the government Emporium at the Connaught Circle and visit the bazaars around the Circle, and by 9 pm we are off to the airport and the flight home.

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