I'm continuing my blog series on my trip to India back in early 2007. To read the previous post click here.
Thursday January 25th , 2007 - After a light breakfast at our hotel in Jaipur we toured the Jantar Mantar which is a collection of nineteen astronomical instruments built by the founder of Jaipur in 1734. It is a World Heritage Site.
Then we walked over to the City Palace. On the ride over we had seen the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) which sits beside that palace.
It is such a striking building and I recall monkeys scrambling all over it though it doesn't show that in this picture.
On to the City Palace! which dates from the 18th century. While there was some beautiful artwork I commented in my journal that it wasn't all that exciting.
Of course, I had to pay for this picture but it was worth it!!!
Could not resist this shot of the pigeon on the elegant chandelier!
After the short tour of the palace we stopped at a carpet factory - I never realized how long it takes to make an East Indian carpet. (6 months) They were absolutely beautiful but not in my budget unfortunately. Back to our hotel through the chaotic Jaipur traffic. Cows are all over the street and while no one will deliberately hurt a cow (and the cows know it - they do have an attitude) once they quit giving milk they are mostly left to their own devices. It is heartbreaking to see huge piles of garbage with cows, goats and dogs foraging around. Mr. Hotty said he knew someone who opened up their dead cow and found around 85 kg. of plastic. If they cannot find food they eat what they can. Any leftovers I had from meals I always took them in a ‘doggie bag’ and put them out on the side of the road or down a quiet alley as I knew some hungry mouth would find them. That was one of the painful things about India for me - the (usually unintentional) cruelty towards animals. However when you are struggling to find enough to eat yourself worrying about animals getting enough food is not a priority by any means. Yet as with everything in India there were contradictions - stray dogs that were taken care of by local tuk-tuk drivers and businessmen - a couple of dogs I tried to feed toast to turned up their noses and walked away. I noticed the toast was gone later though.
A pig sorting through rubbish looking for a bite to eat.
After a nice lunch with “the gang” - meaning the five of us, three of us took a tuk-tuk to the shopping area - and prayed we did not need to cross the road. Utter chaos! The male in our little group took off to a local coffee shop to observe the locals while the Dutch girl and I went shopping. We came upon a lovely jewelry store and both spent a bit there - myself on pretty silver semi-precious stone bracelets as gifts including one for myself. (the owner was upset I wasn’t getting anything for myself so I gave in….)
Lots of motorbikes on the streets of Jaipur!
Back to the hotel on the rickshaw ride from hell in rush hour traffic (well it seems to be all rush hour there) - I took video as it was wild - we didn’t think we’d ever get back to the hotel especially as the driver kept asking other drivers for instructions. These are the experiences that stay in the memory banks though - palaces may be pretty but it's fun things like laughing your head off with fear (because it's better than crying) that remain! We arrived back in time for a quick change and wash up then out to dinner to a nice place called “Indiana” which featured musicians and dancers. I had a Tandoori salad which was basically vegetables baked in a tandoori sauce. For the most part I stayed on a vegetarian diet in India just to "be sure" although I did make an exception now and again.
Thursday January 25th , 2007 - After a light breakfast at our hotel in Jaipur we toured the Jantar Mantar which is a collection of nineteen astronomical instruments built by the founder of Jaipur in 1734. It is a World Heritage Site.
Then we walked over to the City Palace. On the ride over we had seen the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) which sits beside that palace.
It is such a striking building and I recall monkeys scrambling all over it though it doesn't show that in this picture.
On to the City Palace! which dates from the 18th century. While there was some beautiful artwork I commented in my journal that it wasn't all that exciting.
Of course, I had to pay for this picture but it was worth it!!!
Could not resist this shot of the pigeon on the elegant chandelier!
After the short tour of the palace we stopped at a carpet factory - I never realized how long it takes to make an East Indian carpet. (6 months) They were absolutely beautiful but not in my budget unfortunately. Back to our hotel through the chaotic Jaipur traffic. Cows are all over the street and while no one will deliberately hurt a cow (and the cows know it - they do have an attitude) once they quit giving milk they are mostly left to their own devices. It is heartbreaking to see huge piles of garbage with cows, goats and dogs foraging around. Mr. Hotty said he knew someone who opened up their dead cow and found around 85 kg. of plastic. If they cannot find food they eat what they can. Any leftovers I had from meals I always took them in a ‘doggie bag’ and put them out on the side of the road or down a quiet alley as I knew some hungry mouth would find them. That was one of the painful things about India for me - the (usually unintentional) cruelty towards animals. However when you are struggling to find enough to eat yourself worrying about animals getting enough food is not a priority by any means. Yet as with everything in India there were contradictions - stray dogs that were taken care of by local tuk-tuk drivers and businessmen - a couple of dogs I tried to feed toast to turned up their noses and walked away. I noticed the toast was gone later though.
A pig sorting through rubbish looking for a bite to eat.
After a nice lunch with “the gang” - meaning the five of us, three of us took a tuk-tuk to the shopping area - and prayed we did not need to cross the road. Utter chaos! The male in our little group took off to a local coffee shop to observe the locals while the Dutch girl and I went shopping. We came upon a lovely jewelry store and both spent a bit there - myself on pretty silver semi-precious stone bracelets as gifts including one for myself. (the owner was upset I wasn’t getting anything for myself so I gave in….)
Lots of motorbikes on the streets of Jaipur!
Back to the hotel on the rickshaw ride from hell in rush hour traffic (well it seems to be all rush hour there) - I took video as it was wild - we didn’t think we’d ever get back to the hotel especially as the driver kept asking other drivers for instructions. These are the experiences that stay in the memory banks though - palaces may be pretty but it's fun things like laughing your head off with fear (because it's better than crying) that remain! We arrived back in time for a quick change and wash up then out to dinner to a nice place called “Indiana” which featured musicians and dancers. I had a Tandoori salad which was basically vegetables baked in a tandoori sauce. For the most part I stayed on a vegetarian diet in India just to "be sure" although I did make an exception now and again.
Friday January 26th - Happy Republic Day India!! After a breakfast of a masala omelette and fresh fruit we headed off for Ranthambore Park which is a good place to see Tigers. Along the way at a rest stop we fed a mama dog with her four babies. It is heartbreaking as you wonder how many puppies will make it to adulthood. We saw a similar mum with nursing pups right in the middle of a road with traffic zooming around her - the American mother /daughter duo and as well as myself all cried. The three of us were softies.
Mama gratefully and politely took her food. None of the strays we fed snatched their food - they took it politely and gently. (getting teary eyed here!) I hear people bitching when people bring strays home from another country when "there are so many dogs "here" who need saving". Well there you see it...you would have to be pretty hard-hearted not to feel sorry for this...
Or this....
These dogs politely took pieces of my granola but you just have to look to know the poor pup on the ground wasn't long for this world. (yes I cried...there was a lot of crying on this trip as well as a lot of joy)
Anyhow we arrived at our resort just before lunch which was a lovely buffet of lentils, rice, veggies and of course naan! We headed off with another group on an open-air safari bus. On the way into the park there were the inevitable "sales people" wanting us to buy scarves, t-shirts etc. Of course the Oz mother/daughter team wanted to buy some and were trying to get the price really low and in fact underpaid them. Our driver and guide were impatient to get into the park and we took off immediately after they gave the fellow his money. Well!! All too soon there was a motorbike behind us tooting his horn - turns out they had underpaid him. How embarrassing for us all - our guide was furious which made him look even hotter! Getting him upset was definitely a mixed blessing as I laughingly told the American mom - she agreed!
Ranthambore Park was once the hunting grounds of the Maharajahs of Rajasthan until India's independence in 1947. It is home to the famous Bengal tigers, leopards, deer, jackals, crocodiles and lots and lots of cheeky monkeys. I hadn’t expected to see any tigers or leopards so I wasn’t really that disappointed when we didn't - I just enjoyed seeing the deer and jackals. No hyenas but I've seen my fair share on a previous adventure on another continent.
The park wasn't at its most beautiful being the dry season. That being said I recommend traveling in north India in January/February as it isn't too hot yet and it isn't the rainy season.
After a delicious buffet for dinner (I didn't take pictures of my food back then...sorry!) I had a ‘dessert’ of English toffee (that I had brought from London) in my room and out came a filling. I was distraught as you can imagine. But it turned out fine - no problems whatsoever and I got it fixed upon my return to Canada.
Mama gratefully and politely took her food. None of the strays we fed snatched their food - they took it politely and gently. (getting teary eyed here!) I hear people bitching when people bring strays home from another country when "there are so many dogs "here" who need saving". Well there you see it...you would have to be pretty hard-hearted not to feel sorry for this...
Or this....
These dogs politely took pieces of my granola but you just have to look to know the poor pup on the ground wasn't long for this world. (yes I cried...there was a lot of crying on this trip as well as a lot of joy)
Anyhow we arrived at our resort just before lunch which was a lovely buffet of lentils, rice, veggies and of course naan! We headed off with another group on an open-air safari bus. On the way into the park there were the inevitable "sales people" wanting us to buy scarves, t-shirts etc. Of course the Oz mother/daughter team wanted to buy some and were trying to get the price really low and in fact underpaid them. Our driver and guide were impatient to get into the park and we took off immediately after they gave the fellow his money. Well!! All too soon there was a motorbike behind us tooting his horn - turns out they had underpaid him. How embarrassing for us all - our guide was furious which made him look even hotter! Getting him upset was definitely a mixed blessing as I laughingly told the American mom - she agreed!
Ranthambore Park was once the hunting grounds of the Maharajahs of Rajasthan until India's independence in 1947. It is home to the famous Bengal tigers, leopards, deer, jackals, crocodiles and lots and lots of cheeky monkeys. I hadn’t expected to see any tigers or leopards so I wasn’t really that disappointed when we didn't - I just enjoyed seeing the deer and jackals. No hyenas but I've seen my fair share on a previous adventure on another continent.
The park wasn't at its most beautiful being the dry season. That being said I recommend traveling in north India in January/February as it isn't too hot yet and it isn't the rainy season.
After a delicious buffet for dinner (I didn't take pictures of my food back then...sorry!) I had a ‘dessert’ of English toffee (that I had brought from London) in my room and out came a filling. I was distraught as you can imagine. But it turned out fine - no problems whatsoever and I got it fixed upon my return to Canada.
Saturday January 27th - Early in the morning we left for the park once again.
Here I am ready to go back out on safari with my tiger T-shirt and baseball cap...how I do hate hats (especially baseball caps) but was told to have one so the resort shop was happy if not me. I'm not sure what that thing was hanging over my upper leg. When you are on safari you are told to wear neutral coloured clothing so as not to attract or scare the animals.
This isn't something you see every day on the street...you could take an elephant to the park but we didn't have time on our schedule. Now of course riding elephants is not encouraged and most ethical tour companies have dropped that activity from their schedules.
Up we walked to the 900-year-old fort. The time of construction of the Ranthambore Fort is not totally clear but it's generally understood that construction began around the mid 10th century. There were lots of stairs but they were easy to navigate and it was well worth it. What a view!!! The thousand-year-old fort is beautiful but badly in need of repair - sadly the Indian government does not have the money to fix it.
This is one of my favourite pictures..I call it "Proud Mama".
There are a few temples scattered in the grounds as well so while we could take photos we didn't have a chance to visit most of them.
The Ranthambore guide was a bit difficult to understand but Mr. Hotty came to the rescue translating for us when needed.
Back to the hotel for breakfast and then we set off for Karauli (a non-tourist town) which took about three and a half hours. Here are some of the pictures I snapped from the van. People waved and were so friendly.
Okay not to be judgemental..just making an observation. The men seemed to sit around a lot while the women worked.
A school yard
And then we arrived in Karauli. But that's another post!
Hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane as much as I did.
Here I am ready to go back out on safari with my tiger T-shirt and baseball cap...how I do hate hats (especially baseball caps) but was told to have one so the resort shop was happy if not me. I'm not sure what that thing was hanging over my upper leg. When you are on safari you are told to wear neutral coloured clothing so as not to attract or scare the animals.
This isn't something you see every day on the street...you could take an elephant to the park but we didn't have time on our schedule. Now of course riding elephants is not encouraged and most ethical tour companies have dropped that activity from their schedules.
Up we walked to the 900-year-old fort. The time of construction of the Ranthambore Fort is not totally clear but it's generally understood that construction began around the mid 10th century. There were lots of stairs but they were easy to navigate and it was well worth it. What a view!!! The thousand-year-old fort is beautiful but badly in need of repair - sadly the Indian government does not have the money to fix it.
This is one of my favourite pictures..I call it "Proud Mama".
There are a few temples scattered in the grounds as well so while we could take photos we didn't have a chance to visit most of them.
The Ranthambore guide was a bit difficult to understand but Mr. Hotty came to the rescue translating for us when needed.
Back to the hotel for breakfast and then we set off for Karauli (a non-tourist town) which took about three and a half hours. Here are some of the pictures I snapped from the van. People waved and were so friendly.
Okay not to be judgemental..just making an observation. The men seemed to sit around a lot while the women worked.
A school yard
And then we arrived in Karauli. But that's another post!
Hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane as much as I did.
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