This is a different post. Back before I had a blog I used to write up "trip reports" to send to friends and as a keepsake for myself. This is a diary-type report on a two-week tour of Northern India I went on in January/February 2007 I've made a few adjustments from rereading my journal (such fun to read!) and of course, I will add photos as well but I will leave the dates in. Being as I likely won't be back on the road for another year or so thanks to (insert naughty words..) Covid-19 this is a chance for me to not only get caught up with all my recent travels but share "before the blog" adventures as well. As this was a two week trip with loads of highlights it will be spread over several posts. I hope you enjoy reliving this wonderful trip with me and even more, I hope it changes your perceptions of India. It truly is a magical country. I have to say it is probably up there in the top five trips I have taken in my lifetime.
This is the beautiful Birla Mandir (Birla Temple) which was built in 1939.
This was our hotel the Mandawa Haveli. As you can see it was beautiful. These two "pictures" are actually postcards as they do more justice to the hotel than my pictures.
Saturday January 20th - My adventure began at
Heathrow Airport. I had flown over to
England on the 8th of January - spent a fantastic long weekend in Venice
(how could I refuse with airfare of a pound each way? I splurged a bit and stayed at a canal-side hotel with my room actually overlooking the canal - thanks for the tip Rick Steves! ) and the rest of the
time in London. My real excitement
began when I checked in and was told my e-ticket was no good - I needed an old
fashioned ticket due to the fact I had booked through a travel agent. I gave the ticket agent my envelope and she
walked away with it and brought it back and said quite coldly “This is no good
- you will have to buy another ticket”.
Well needless to say I was in a panic and almost in tears as no way
could I afford to buy another ticket.
She told me to go over to the customer service desk and as I was
standing in line I saw a voucher under my eticket that looked like it should
work. I verified with customer service
and yes that was it. I didn’t even know
I had it and it was tucked into the back of the envelope my travel agent had
given me - I can’t remember my travel
agent telling me about it but then she did drop it off at my apartment at 9
a.m. before I had my morning coffee (the perks of having your travel agent
living in the same building) so who knows!
It is just luck I decided to take the whole envelope with me. I still break out in cold sweats thinking
about it! Anyway, the second agent who
checked me in was so sweet and gave me a better feeling about Virgin
Atlantic. She packed up my small bag that
I thought I could carry on - Heathrow airport now only allows one carry on even
though the airline allowed two. (this of course has changed since then) That feeling intensified when I got on the
flight and saw that everyone had their own TV screen with loads of movies and features to watch. I happily sat and
watched “The Queen”, “The Da Vinci Code” and part of “The Devil Wears Prada”
until my screen almost disappeared on me.
Not to worry - between the movies and the delicious curry meal and
breakfast the 9 hours went quickly. I can't sleep on planes sad to say.
Sunday January 21st
- Arrived
into Delhi International airport and the Imaginative Traveler rep was there to
meet me. We got into a taxi and then
halfway there the rep got out and said he had to go back to the airport to
meet more clients - it was the middle of nowhere. That was strange and I was a bit nervous but
it all turned out find in the end and the driver got me to my hotel - another girl on the tour had the same thing
happen to her only hers was around midnight - much scarier!!! It was a hairy ride but not much
worse than the previous year in Peru. (I was still half asleep!) I arrived at
the Hotel Florence and checked in. I had
missed most of the orientation but was able to freshen up before we went out on
an afternoon tour of Delhi. Our group
was small - just seven of us. I won't put names here though there will be pictures. The English guy (with an infectious laugh) from Birmingham in England, the Dutch girl, - a mother/daughter team from Boise, Idaho and an obnoxious mother/daughter team from Australia. The
latter proved to be the bane of all our lives and it took me a few years to hear an Australian accent without cringing. (I got tired of hearing "Australia Oi Oi Oi"!) Our guide was Karon - an Indian fellow about 30 - to be known in this report
as “Mr. Hotty”. (he was DIVINE) (photos later ladies...)
The
tour was interesting - we visited the huge Birla Hindu temple and a Sikh temple
which was fantastic with a beautiful man-made lake in the middle - it is one of
the bigger ones in India.
This is the beautiful Birla Mandir (Birla Temple) which was built in 1939.
The Gurudwara Bangla Sahib which is a prominent Sikh temple in Delhi was opened in 1783. Sikhs are known for their caring and giving nature and you will not see a Sikh beggar in India. They not only take care of their own but others as well. At their temples there is always food and/or drink available for everyone.
We weren’t
able to get close to India Gate due to high security for Independence Day in a
couple of days. So we carried on to see where
Mahatma Gandhi was cremated.
After the tour
everyone was going out for dinner but I decided to have a quiet meal at the
hotel and go to bed because as you can imagine I was absolutely exhausted. I learned my lesson the hard way and always arranged to arrive a day before any tour I booked from then on!
Monday January 22nd
- After a
quick breakfast we hit the road just before 8 a.m. as it was a long drive. I was wide awake so I was able to absorb
more around me - saw a few “interesting” sights on the way out of Delhi. Open urinals on a city bridge - how quaint!!
A child pooping on the sidewalk - sad to see as obviously that's where his family lived. Let's just say my mouth was in a fully open position until we got out of Delhi. And of course the traffic is absolutely something else. It's considered polite to honk your horn when you are passing or meeting someone else so yes, it was rather noisy.
We arrived in Mandawa in the Shekhavati region of the northern state of Rajasthan in the
late afternoon and stayed at a haveli - an old merchants house that has been
turned into a hotel. These houses are
decorated with beautiful frescoes. It was on the old silk route and merchants
would vie with each other to see who could have the most beautiful home. Dinner that evening was a fantastic buffet
(the highlight for all of us was the carrot pudding) eaten on the rooftop with
live music and fireworks. The desert is
cold at night so all of us had a hot water bottle as a night time companion!
This was our hotel the Mandawa Haveli. As you can see it was beautiful. These two "pictures" are actually postcards as they do more justice to the hotel than my pictures.
This was the rooftop - eating up here was a lovely experience.
Tuesday January 23 - After breakfast, we went for
a walking tour of Mandawa and saw many more buildings with frescoes on - the ones done with natural minerals have
endured for a couple of hundred years while the synthetic colours have cracked
and faded.
The frescoes of Madawa were beautiful but some of the other things you saw on the street weren't. But you know what? Sadly that's life here. I travel to learn more and seeing unpleasant things..or what are unpleasant things to western eyes is all part of it. I will spare you the pictures of dogs that were so thin they were skeletal.
Yes, this is a "holy cow" eating plastic and other crap. Cows are looked after well while they can give milk but it is not uncommon once they become "ladies of a certain age" and cannot perform this function anymore to release them and let them fend for themselves. It is heartbreaking. They eat what they can including plastic which eventually kills them. Somehow they do know they are "special" and have attitude - and will saunter down the middle of the road while traffic waits. They are safer on the road than humans!
A short five-minute bus
ride and we were at our desert resort which was amazing. We all had our own luxury mud huts! I decided I could happily live there - I
would adopt a couple of stray dogs from Mandawa and be quite happy! The interiors were absolutely
beautiful.
This was the entrance to my "mud hut". Yes, I had it all to myself. When I take tours I book the "private room" option. There are plenty of social activities and busy days on tour so I am grateful to have quiet time in my room at the end of the day to relax and write in my journal. Sharing a room would be cheaper but even with a friend I find it is stressful...I just need quiet time (no chatter!) to unwind. Yep, I'm a true introvert!
The huts were several different designs.
A nice little nook to curl up and read in...with a canine companion beside you of course!
It didn't matter where we stayed in India...the beds were HARD. I loved the detailing on the walls which were redone daily by women from the nearby village.
Yes, there was a shower in there somewhere. Sadly we were only here for one night as I'd have loved to stay longer.
This was the entrance to my "mud hut". Yes, I had it all to myself. When I take tours I book the "private room" option. There are plenty of social activities and busy days on tour so I am grateful to have quiet time in my room at the end of the day to relax and write in my journal. Sharing a room would be cheaper but even with a friend I find it is stressful...I just need quiet time (no chatter!) to unwind. Yep, I'm a true introvert!
The huts were several different designs.
A nice little nook to curl up and read in...with a canine companion beside you of course!
It didn't matter where we stayed in India...the beds were HARD. I loved the detailing on the walls which were redone daily by women from the nearby village.
Yes, there was a shower in there somewhere. Sadly we were only here for one night as I'd have loved to stay longer.
While the Spring rolls I had for lunch were disappointing the mango lassis were excellent!
After lunch, the Dutch girl and I went for a short walk around the complex.
This was looking back at the resort complex.
Later that afternoon we went for our camel ride to a nearby village for masala chai (tea) and then back. I sat behind the Dutch girl on the way there hanging on for dear life until I got the nerve to actually hang on to the saddle behind me. I was up at the front on the way back. When the camel got up and down it was quite exciting but so much fun!
"Mr Lovesick" - (the camel that is). More on him later.
We were welcome to take photos of the home where we were served the tea.
The camels had a welcome rest as well. Three are pictured here but there was a fourth one. One male and three females. We called the male "Mr. Lovesick" as he was trying to impress the ladies who didn't want to know. You can't blame them...he would roar, do a really gross thing with his tongue and then drool. Maybe that's a pick-up line in camel language but these ladies were NOT impressed.
This where the tea was made. While we sat drinking our delicious chai the Americans and I had a discreet behind the hands giggling fit over the youngest member (a shallow 15 year old who was much too young to take to India...she just didn't "get" it) of our tour group trying to explain to a puzzled Karon about the movie "Happy Feet". I'm not sure how penguins fit into being in the Indian desert but that was the typical behaviour.
My view going back...camels have the most gorgeous eyelashes!!
Saying goodbye...
After watching the sunset from the roof we enjoyed another fantastic buffet under a marque with live music, a puppet show and singing. (if you can call it that) I have to say that in all the trips I've taken the food in India was the best by far. Heaven!
After lunch, the Dutch girl and I went for a short walk around the complex.
This was looking back at the resort complex.
Later that afternoon we went for our camel ride to a nearby village for masala chai (tea) and then back. I sat behind the Dutch girl on the way there hanging on for dear life until I got the nerve to actually hang on to the saddle behind me. I was up at the front on the way back. When the camel got up and down it was quite exciting but so much fun!
"Mr Lovesick" - (the camel that is). More on him later.
We were welcome to take photos of the home where we were served the tea.
The camels had a welcome rest as well. Three are pictured here but there was a fourth one. One male and three females. We called the male "Mr. Lovesick" as he was trying to impress the ladies who didn't want to know. You can't blame them...he would roar, do a really gross thing with his tongue and then drool. Maybe that's a pick-up line in camel language but these ladies were NOT impressed.
This where the tea was made. While we sat drinking our delicious chai the Americans and I had a discreet behind the hands giggling fit over the youngest member (a shallow 15 year old who was much too young to take to India...she just didn't "get" it) of our tour group trying to explain to a puzzled Karon about the movie "Happy Feet". I'm not sure how penguins fit into being in the Indian desert but that was the typical behaviour.
My view going back...camels have the most gorgeous eyelashes!!
Saying goodbye...
After watching the sunset from the roof we enjoyed another fantastic buffet under a marque with live music, a puppet show and singing. (if you can call it that) I have to say that in all the trips I've taken the food in India was the best by far. Heaven!
Wednesday January 24th - After a wonderful buffet breakfast (in case you hadn’t guessed I didn’t lose any weight in India!) we headed off to the pink city of Jaipur. Why is it called pink? Many of its buildings are pink! Our hotel Arya Niwas was basic but had a lovely garden and a great restaurant. The rest of the morning we relaxed in the garden.
In the afternoon we headed over to the Amber Fort which is 11 km north of the city. It is a huge complex of palaces, halls, pavilions, gardens and temples built over a period of 125 years beginning in 1592. The fort was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site a few years ago. As you can see from the pictures the fort isn't an Amber colour. Amber (Amer in Hindi) is derived from Ambikashwara (Shiva) Temple. This place was impressive and the detail of the artwork was exquisite. In order to explore it thoroughly you would need a full day which we didn't have.
On the way back we stopped to see the Jal Mahal (Water) Palace which was surrounded by earth and not much water as there has been a drought. It has a complicated history and if you are interested here is a link to more information.
That evening we went out to Nero's restaurant by motorized rickshaw - called a tuk-tuk. When we weren’t in the van we did all our traveling by either bicycle rickshaw or motorized tuk-tuk. Quite exciting at times! No road rules seem to apply in India and traffic lights are few and far between. My tummy was burning a bit - I was never sick to my stomach the whole time I was in India - but I was reacting to the Indian spices. I decided to give it a break and had macaroni and cheese of all things with stir-fried vegetables and the inevitable butter naan. (I loved that stuff!) but it did the trick and I was back to normal the next morning. I could not finish my portion so took a "doggie bag" and left it on a quiet corner for a passing animal or animal to enjoy. The next morning just the vegetables were left. I did this with all my leftovers. In a country where people and animals are starving it is criminal to waste food.
We had more exploring in Jaipur to do but that will have to wait until next time!
In the afternoon we headed over to the Amber Fort which is 11 km north of the city. It is a huge complex of palaces, halls, pavilions, gardens and temples built over a period of 125 years beginning in 1592. The fort was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site a few years ago. As you can see from the pictures the fort isn't an Amber colour. Amber (Amer in Hindi) is derived from Ambikashwara (Shiva) Temple. This place was impressive and the detail of the artwork was exquisite. In order to explore it thoroughly you would need a full day which we didn't have.
On the way back we stopped to see the Jal Mahal (Water) Palace which was surrounded by earth and not much water as there has been a drought. It has a complicated history and if you are interested here is a link to more information.
That evening we went out to Nero's restaurant by motorized rickshaw - called a tuk-tuk. When we weren’t in the van we did all our traveling by either bicycle rickshaw or motorized tuk-tuk. Quite exciting at times! No road rules seem to apply in India and traffic lights are few and far between. My tummy was burning a bit - I was never sick to my stomach the whole time I was in India - but I was reacting to the Indian spices. I decided to give it a break and had macaroni and cheese of all things with stir-fried vegetables and the inevitable butter naan. (I loved that stuff!) but it did the trick and I was back to normal the next morning. I could not finish my portion so took a "doggie bag" and left it on a quiet corner for a passing animal or animal to enjoy. The next morning just the vegetables were left. I did this with all my leftovers. In a country where people and animals are starving it is criminal to waste food.
We had more exploring in Jaipur to do but that will have to wait until next time!
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