Northern India

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North India
Day 1
After an early start from Kochin we arrived in Delhi by lunchtime and were met at the airport for our transfer to our hotel. Arrival was into the new section of the Domestic Airport and it is very nice all this is getting built up for the commonwealth games next year.
After checking into our hotel and getting comfortable we headed out for some food…what else! At the lobby we ran into our new guide, Animesh, and first impressions are this guy is a professional. He directed us to a good food joint and we were off to explore Delhi. Wow… there are just so many people everywhere you look. The hotel is just off one of the main bazaar sectors for the area and it is solid all day long of hawkers and vendors. The beggars are a lot pushier here and they grab your arm and tap at you to try and get your attention. Ignoring them isn’t easy to do when all you want to do is yell at them to stop touching me!!! Personal space is something you surrender when in Delhi.

Day 2
An easy morning catching the train to Old Delhi, to see the Jama Masjid, Delhi’s oldest Mosque. A visit to a Sheik Temple and the to the spice markets as part of the tour. Animesh showed us the Metro, a very quick/clean and efficient to travel the city, to get us to our destination. Once there it was a quick walk for some Chai on the corner and off to the Mosque. Entry here is free but the catch is they charge Rs200 per camera. So we boycotted the camera, however after our entry in, women are given a gaudy full length gown to put on to “respect” the Muslim culture…and definitely not a fashion statement. Being good tourists we hung around here for a while and worked out a way to get a hideous photo of the girls in drag.
We caught a bus from the street that in Australia would be licensed to carry maximum 15 persons and at a guess we had about 30+ on board … getting the picture of personal space here… well it would be more tolerable if the locals were introduced to the deodorant concept that is for sure. Anyway, this but took us to the spice markets where we had free time to look around and dodge the traffic...
Once done, it was free time and it was off to the National Museum for us.… AMAZING. With 2 hours up our sleeve to look around with a headset for the main features to explain the significance we were transported back to 1000BC and submerged into the Indian culture and lifestyle. I would strongly recommend anyone who travels to India via Delhi and has a couple of hours spare to visit this place.

Day 3
Get up, Get up, today we travel out to Agra for the Taj Mahal and Red Fort. Early start to catch the Taj Express to Agra and visit one of the wonders of the world. The journey is 3 hours by train and very comfortable nearing the end we could hear some guy snoring his head off and was a source of entertainment for us waiting to alight the train for a couple of minutes. Man this guy could snore.. Hmm guess you had to be there for that one. I was just jealous. So far on this entire bout of travelling I have not been able to sleep on the transport anywhere. Anyway, back to Agra, after getting caught in the wave of exiting passengers we found ourselves in the car pack for our trip to the Red Fort.
Massive…wow…amazing these are words that come into your head as you come up to this structure. It’s circumference is approximately 2.5km’s and it is just as the name says… a fort and yes it’s got a reddish colour to it from the sandstone used to construct it.
The construction of this fort started in 1565 and completed over about 4 generations each with a different influence in the architecture. Our guide was great with a good sense of humour that kept us all engaged and showed us the best way to picture the Taj that could be seen in the distance. With all the different generations adding to this fort it was also modified to be a Palace as well with Shah Jahan using white marble throughout his additions to this spectacular feat of construction. It is here that Shah Jahan, the man responsible for building the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned by his youngest son for 8 years with a view over the Taj Mahal where his beloved first wife is was entombed. We ambled around this beautiful Palace/Fort for a couple of hours and it lived up to its name and reputation and built an even greater anticipation to seeing the Taj Mahal in the afternoon.

The Taj!

One of the draw cards of India. The Taj Mahal conjures up a romantic image and tale in my mind whenever I have thought about it and looked at pictures of it in the past. It’s hard to describe what was felt the first time we caught a glimpse of this from the Red Fort. Being at the gates and walking through you enter into a massive garden area and you need to walk down a path and turn right and you get a glimpse of the Taj through a decorative arch way and everyone just stops at the sight of it. From this archway before you walk through you still cannot comprehend the size of the structure and it’s not until you get to the base do you realize it’s big.
One thing you become in India is a bit snap happy with the camera and standing in front of the Taj you become transfixed with trying to get the perfect shot that captures everything that you are experiencing but no photo can do justice to what your eyes can see. Jay and I just sat and took in the world around us from the local families having a day out to, other tourists. Taking in the intricate details of the Taj, everything is symmetrical, the Taj, the gardens, the bodies of water and the fountains that lead you up to the Taj. It is all perfect with nothing out of place.
We spent 3 hours taking in the Taj and something like 80 photos of different angles/light etc trying to milk as much as possible of our time here and all too soon it was time to head out and back to the hotel.

Day 4
We spent the day travelling to one of our first heritage stays at an old fort, Fort Madhogarh, a heritage property of the Royal Family of Rajastha. Every room is decorated differently. Ours overlooked the main sitting area/dining area and had a cool recess for the bed. The fort was used as a headquarters to defend an attack on Jaipur it was a brutal but quick campaign that lasted about 2/3 days and the undermanned defenders won.
An afternoon village walk to meet and interact with the local community saw us taking many more photos of kids and families and once again Jay playing cricket. On this part of the trip he has a willing participant in Animesh and the two could talk cricket under water.

Day 5
We are up and at it again this morning and off to Jaipur and yet another Palace/Fort. Sort of over doing the fort viewing but each has something different to offer. The views from here are great and the history is significant. I phased out a bit on the tour and there are only so many facts and figures one can remember but it was an interesting visit.

Day 6,
Well it’s a free day for us and Jay is still not well. I left him in the care of a doctor and went out to the Cit Palace that is a museum. I spent about 2 hour here wandering through this passage of time. The armoury section was my personal highlight but overall it was a worthwhile visit. After this I caught a cycle rickshaw to the Hawal Mahal (the palace of winds) which was literally around the corner….40 minutes or so and one really lost rickshaw driver I finally got to my destination with an old city tour added into it. After taking the photos here I walked back to one of the old city gates after weaving through the markets and masses of people.

Day 7
Tiger Time!! Off to Ranthambhore National Park for the night and safari in the afternoon. Our hotel is called the Pug Mark and the rooms although very dark are quite comfortable.
We set off for our Safari into the park with hopes high and everyone hanging out to see a Tiger. This is our 3rd national park on the itinerary where there has been a possibility of a Tiger sighting and we are all anxious to start. Each vehicle has a pre-assigned route to take on the park to make sure that there are not too many people in one area and alas, we didn’t see a tiger. . Several of the other vehicles did, but that’s the luck of the draw. We did see plenty of spotted & Samba Deer, 2 baby crocodiles sunning themselves on rocks, lots of different birds and lots of cheeky monkeys.

Day 8&9
We are off to Bundi to see Bundi Palace and spend the night. The palace is build at the top of a steep hill and the views are awesome. Unfortunately I was suffering from back pain and made the steep incline and then decline memorable for the wrong reasons.
We transferred out to heaven today. After driving down some small laneways and then bumpy roads (all great for a sore back) we emerged at the end to see our accommodation for the night. Luxury tents located on the bank of a lake in the middle of nowhere. No car horns beeping just the sound of nature.
Our afternoon is our own to chill out and relax. Something that’s very easy to do in this environment. As we all go do our own thing we struggle to stay awake. There are a couple of healthy friendly dogs here that add a homely touch and the young golden retriever is keen to play with or chew anything he can get his mouth onto.
The tents are stunning and are bigger than most of the rooms we have stayed in so far this trip and there is a separate area for our bathroom. Yes our tent has a western flushing loo, a normal shower complete with hot and cold water. What more could you ask for out of a tent??
We were to stay at the sister property the next night and along with another relaxing day and very nice pool area we stayed within the premises to relax yet again.

Day 10 & 11
A bumpy ride to the main highway and we arrived into Udaipur. Out attraction here was the city palace like all palaces and forts in India build around 1534. A beautiful palace, still in use by a very commerce minded Maharajah who has developed a series of Hotels (RHR). He still uses some of the palace that obviously isn’t accessible to the crowds but the old rooms of use, his great grandfather’s room for instance is open for viewing along with some other spectacularly furnished rooms. The views from here are amazing and of all the Palaces we have views I would class this as the nicest one. Mainly as it has been nurtured and looked after.
In the evening prior to a traditional dance we were lucky enough to see a Hindu Festival for the women to bring them good luck and fertility. Looking from our vantage point is was awash with colour from the many women in saris on the banks of the lake with Idols balanced on their heads for prosperity.
For the evening dance we Claire, Lindsay, Allan, Jay and myself were a little apprehensive that we were in for replay of the southern Indian dance experience but to all our surprise it was quite good. A bit of a laugh at one of the ladies in the first dance who looked like she couldn’t be bothered with the whole thing and was very lack luster in here efforts in this as well as another dance later in the evening. We had a puppeteer who cracked us all up with his antics and finally a traditional dance from the women from the dessert with carrying water pots on their heads. The lady dancing for us balanced a total of 10 pots in varying sizes whilst balancing on a small round plate thing and then after a few more pots thrown on her head, walked on glass… hmmm… she was very good and her balance incredible.
The next day was ours to do what we wanted. Jay went to Cooking School and I went and wondered the streets and tried to fix problems on my laptop..Spent most of the day trying to do this and wasn’t that successful!.

Day 12 & 13
Travel out to Pushkar by local train to Ajmer and then transfer to Pushkar. Our accommodation, Jagar Palace, was spectacular and by far the best we have stayed in to date and it had the best shower!! Pushkar is overrun by hippies and when wandering the town they stand out with their dreadlocks. We had some awesome food here, as both Jay & I are back in the eating food game now and feeling better than we have for a couple of days, and made the most of it.
The highlight of Pushkar was the camel ride. Having not ridden a camel before and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and my camel behaved himself most of the time however every time we went past water he would drag his mullah (who looked all of 15 years or less and about as tall) over to the water tank and drank waiting for the reins to be dropped before cantering off without restraint. First time he did this caught me off guard but after that it was entertaining. I think my camel was a bit cheeky with his mullah.
On our final day of the tour jay and I lazed around the pool after a well deserved sleep in and wondered around town for a while and returned back to the pool, such a tough life this travelling business!

We overnight trained to Delhi and our sleeper berth sucked big time. We had a snorer from hell in our section along with a few others scattered around the carriage and by the time I woke in the morning my back was seized up again and I am now writing this in Delhi and hobbling around Delhi feeling sorry for me.

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