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Published: January 30th 2016
Here I go again - in more ways than one. It’s two years or so since I last wrote here on TravelBlog. In the meantime, I’ve tried other prettier, more flexible, but decidedly less friendly blogsites. However, I’ve really missed the bonhomie of the many TravelBlog friends I made during my previous 96 blogs here – so here I go again...
The other ‘again’, of course, refers to where I’m going - the overpopulated, overwhelming and over-endowed (god-wise) land that is India. I love it. My wife doesn't. So, it’s here ‘I’ go again, rather than ‘we’!
The original plan was to travel with those inveterate bloggers the
Grey Haired Nomads (who double as my lovely elder brother David and his even lovelier and younger wife Janice). We were going to follow, very roughly, the course of that holiest of rivers, the Ganges, from near its source high in the Himalayas in north-west India to its delta in the mangroves of the Sunderbans, south of Kolkata in the east.
Billy Connolly put paid to that idea!
You see, I had a choice of attending the Makar Sankranti festival in Haridwar or accepting my daughter’s generous
A Makar Sankranti kite
Flying kites is a traditional park of the Makar Sankranti festival - some of the kites escape!gift of tickets on around the same date to what was likely to be the farewell tour of the wonderful ‘Big Yin’, my all-time favourite comedian and raconteur. Billy Connolly, you see, has had prostate cancer, plus he’s in the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease (which he wishes f...ing Parkinson had kept to his f...ing self!).
I chose Billy. The Ganges will be around for a good while longer. Billy, alas, won’t be!
So, our Ganges trip has been put on the back-burner until this time next year. For now, this my tenth visit to incredible India will involve sticking to Rajasthan. I'll be taking myself a bit outside of my comfort zone by seeing unfamiliar places and by almost always travelling alone. How on earth could my past trips have missed the popular hill-station of Mount Abu, the fortress of Jaisalmer, the dusty towns of Bikaner and Ajmer, and holy Pushkar? Well, my only excuse would be that India’s a big country and I guess I’ve avoided, rather than missed, this most arid desert part of west Rajasthan.
My first few evenings will be spent in the company of my dear friend
Lajpal, currently in Jaipur on a training course for his new career as a senior officer in the state government. We’ll then travel with his wife Rajshri and two-year-old daughter Dhruvi to spend the night with his parents at his home in Sadri, near Ranakpur (the place at which I first met the boy Lajpal 18 years ago). Next day, we’ll have lunch with his uncle, my pal Khuman, at his fort in Gundoj and drive on with him to Mount Abu. Khuman was educated by Christian brothers at Mount Abu, his youngest son Shibu runs a small hotel there and another of my friends is Shibu's manager there. So I won’t be short of knowledgeable guides for my short stay. Lajpal has to return to Jaipur the following day, but I’ll spend another night there with Khuman before starting my two-week independent tour by boarding a train north to Bikaner.
Look out desert, here comes the oldest backpacker in Rajasthan! Right now, I’m in Jaipur, Rajasthan’s hectic capital city. Last night, within a few hours of my arrival, I had dinner at my hotel with Lajpal, Rajshri and Dhruvi – the cute little bundle of fun I’d
Manish
Formerly only a friend on Facebook, Manish kindly introduced me to the Smriti Van park not met before. We caught up with the latest news and confirmed plans for a get-together I’d asked to be arranged for tomorrow night with invitations to all their friends and family living in the city. It seems that around 25 people will be coming. Partying, fortunately, isn’t expensive in India!
I’ve been to Jaipur, ‘The Pink City’, many times before, so I’m aiming to see places that tourists usually don’t get to. This morning, for example, I met a Facebook friend for the very first time outside his office at the local television station and rode pillion on his motorbike to nearby Smriti Van.
This is a vast public park, a conservation area for birds and butterflies with well-marked paths, trees and flowering plants galore, rocky outcrops and great views towards the city's eastern suburbs. It’s a tranquil and seemingly under-utilised place, where people can relax and enjoy a natural setting close to the city centre. What an amazing contrast to the noise, pollution and congestion of the nearby crowded streets!
It was chilly and misty at first but, as the sun came through, a handful of local people enjoyed their morning exercise or meditation in
a few open spaces among the trees. There was only one ‘tourist’ in evidence – me!
We spent an enjoyable two or three hours walking on and off the sandy trails and climbing over rocks to reach the highest point, with the ever-present cries of wild Peacocks, Babblers and other heard-but-not seen birds as a joyous background. We’ll be meeting again early tomorrow morning to explore lesser-known alleyways of the Old City as it wakes up to a new day.
This promises to be an interesting journey of discovery.
For those who don't know the one and only Billy Connolly, click here and here for information about him. Accommodation: Red Fox Hotel, Opposite MNIT College, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Bajaj Nagar, Jaipur Tel: +91 1414120101 Booked through Booking.com
I chose this 3-star hotel because of its proximity to my friend’s training centre, but it proved to be convenient for the airport (just 2½ miles/around Rs.450 by taxi pre-arranged through hotel), although further from the railway station (5 miles/about Rs.600 by taxi pre-arranged through hotel). It’s part of the small Lemon Tree Hotels chain. The building is a modern tower block with reception,
café, fitness room and a ‘cyber kiosk’ on the first-floor, accessed by lifts from a spacious, secure car park. The 180 or so rooms are on the four or five floors above.
I spent three nights here at the beginning of my trip and a further night at the end. I had different rooms on each occasion but they seemed more or less identical - very clean, modern, air-conditioned, with a comfortable double bed, desk, plenty of power points, large wardrobe, free tea and coffee making facilities, and a well-equipped bathroom with shower, toilet, hand-basin, constant hot water, a large mirror and basic toiletries. The only downside was that the soundproofed windows were sealed shut and, on the fourth floor at least, the view of pigeon shit on the outside sill and external air-conditioning unit was unpleasant.
A good buffet breakfast was served in the Clever Fox Café. I also had dinner there - a wide choice from an à la carte menu or buffet at very reasonable prices.
Service was outstanding. The hotel seems to have a commendable policy of employing people with disabilities, but the standard of training was such that most guests would never
notice that some staff were actually deaf and dumb. Without exception, every one of the staff was polite, very obliging and efficient.
Cost: Double for single occupancy around Rs.3200 (£32) a night plus a variety of taxes adding a further Rs.300 or so. Good value for money.
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Doggins
Doggins Bloggins
Welcome Back!
Hey Mike! Great to see a new blog and it's wonderful you're back in India! Looking forward to following this adventure