Blogs from Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, India, Asia - page 4

We arrived at our next desination 'Orchha' after a 3 hour car journey and were dropped off right outside the massive Fort there.....which also happened to be our hotel too! (Sheesh Mahal). We were taken to our Marharaja suite (only the very best of course!) which was very grand! We spent our evening sipping the local brew and watching the sunset from our private open window seat in true marharaja style followed by a breakfast the next morning at our very own alfresco dining area! For the rest of the morning we explored the rest of the fort and the village. The village itself is rather unpleasant compared to our last stop in Khajuraho. After a tasty curry lunch we took another short car journey to Jhansi to catch the Shatabdi Express to Agra (Executive class ... read more

It's been go go go the past couple of days. But what fun! Quite pleased to have seen the back of Agra truth to told - it just seemed like EVERYONE wanted to rip you off one way or another. The hotel I stayed - Hotel Sheela on the East Gate in Taj Gang was however a little oasis of calm, with a nice garden, good food, and freindly alastian and an even friendly manager who warns you of the tourist do's and don'ts in Agra. Unfortunately I failed to heed his advice on getting a rickshaw driver to take you on a tour of the city. He told me he'll arrange a taxi for 700 rupees, but when the nice rickshaw man I took from Agra Fort station said he'd do it for 300 rupees, ... read more

A great night's sleep was followed by a much-needed hot shower, and to top that I was even served marmalade with my toast for breakfast. Perhaps I need to snap out of enjoying these comforts so much. I kicked off the day with some sight-seeing, starting with the Raj Mahal complex. Though the buildings are in good condition structurally, there are few remaining traces of the paintings and hanging decorations that once adorned them. It was the same story in the Jahangir Mahal, though here there were some of the original blue tiles that had covered the facade. The town of Orchha itself is small, consisting mainly of one street, with a sidestreet that opens up into the market square. The place is clearly established on the tourist trail, as I saw many groups of foreigners ... read more

Our guidebook describes the small town of Orchha in such positive terms that we absolutely had to go there. The train brought us to the city of Jhansi, an important city where many trains pass through, from there we had to hire a taxi because we did not find any shared rickshaws. We arrived in the afternoon and after some searching for a convenient hotel, we decided for one with a splendid view of the fort. We had hoped for a place similar to Hampi, where we could chill out in a peaceful surrounding and Orchha was exactly hat! Already the hotel was nice, the rooms arranged around an inner courtyard, where it was nice to sit and read, write or watch the fort. We quickly took a walk around and immediately liked what we saw. ... read more