Blogs from Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 2

Bharatpur is a very convenient weekend getaway destination from Delhi. We managed to combine it with a very pleasant trip to bharatpur and Agra within one weekend. Bharatpur was a chance destination as we left delhi on August 14th for Sariska, only to reach there and discover that the sanctuary was closed for the season. Unfortunately correct and sufficient information regarding the timimgs is not available on the internet either. From Sariska to Bharatpur took more time than we had anticipated. The roads are under construction, and therefore the drive is slow. We reached late in the evening, checked into our guest house. There are plenty of hotels at reasonable rates within a walking distance from the sanctuary. Although the winter season is the peak time, we were told that this year has been bad in ... read more

After leaving Agra everything would probably seem a bit mundane. Or so we thought. Welcome to the Monkey Temple. Unreal! Hundreds, no thousands of cute little grey monkeys who would eat right out of your hand. And then pick your pockets. The real name of the temple is Galta Sun Temple but because of the number of simians it's know as the Monkey Temple. It is an interesting temple in many other ways. There are 2 bathing pools, one for men and one for women, monkeys can use either. The temple is situated in a narrow valley and the buildings seems to be carved out of the rock face. Definitely worth the drive. After the Monkey Temple we drove off to Jaipur. A town with 2 forts and lots of Palaces, monuments and other assorted temples. ... read more

While planning a weekend getaway from Delhi, especially in winter, Rajasthan is the undisputed choice. The centerpiece of our trip this time was Bharatpur, the famed bird sanctuary at the border of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. But being amateur bird lovers, we knew we would not need more than a day in Bharatpur. We needed some place nearby to visit, and Sariska seemed to be a good choice. Along the way we found out about another place to visit - the biggest center of exorcism in north India, the Balaji temple at Mehendipur. With all our previous experience of planning trips, we have become efficient in putting together the logistics for a trip. Car was booked for two days, called up one or two hotels to find out if there was a rush. Finally, a group ... read more

Today Mr Dutt took us off the the nearby bird sanctuary nice and early. We were going to hire a guide for an hour to help us see more birds and travel around on bikes but the guide demanded we hire a bike for him after we'd been told that guides should have their own - so off on our own we went. We felt a bit petty about this but we had lots of fun anyway and the guides English was terrible. On the way to the main gate we saw monkeys, deer and peacocks and then we entered the park proper. The first birds we managed to get a good look at were a pair of parakeets (see photo) and we spent a while stalking around some bushes peering upwards to see what ... read more

Namaste, Spent yesterday morning on bicycles razzing around the bird reserve with a guide. The guide was alright but we ditched him around lunchtime and decided to explore the park ourselves for the rest of the afternoon (on foot I hasten to add, Dani wasn’t too impressed with the bicycle saddles and has been in agony ever since!) which was really nice. We ended up covering nearly ten miles altogether, so we’re a bit stiff today but trying to get in practice for the Inca Trail. The park was pretty dry, which was a real shame although we still saw a fair few number of birds and its still a nice place to chill out. We also saw quite a lot of wildlife, including Sambar and Spotted deer, Blue Bull, Wild Boar, Turtles, Jackal and even ... read more