We had another early start today so I settled on breakfast biscuits and sleep rather than paying for breakfast. We spent 4 hours in our private transport to Bundi stopping on the way at a chai tea stall.
I like chai it's spicy and milky although boiling hot drinks in boiling hot weather I can't quite wrap my head around!
We arrived at our "hotel" which is the old residence of a maharajah! It's lovely and interesting rooms and decor and surprisingly again has wifi!
After settling into the rooms we had a lovely lunch before being picked up in auto rickshaws and taken to see the step well. The well was interesting, but smelt overwhelmingly of bat poo - common smell within Indian monuments - hard to describe, but lots of ammonia!!
We then headed up to the Bundi City Palace and the owner of the hotel took us on a tour pointing out the lovely paintings and it was beautiful although sadly due to an ownership dispute no one is preserving the building so it might not be around forever.
We were looking in a closed to the public area of the paintings when the rain started...
It's not yet stopped... We were more or less trapped in a fort until it eased enough to make our way down the slippery steps to the exit. Joe killed the hour we had to wait by choreographing a Bollywood dance which has been recorded for future enjoyment!
We were offered the option of a taxi or walking back to the hotel, the group was on the fence so we ended up walking/paddling! Not many pictures as it was a bit too wet... At one point we crossed the road which was a river with a current and had to hold hands! We arrived back at the hotel and the reception was flooded, although seems to have been cleared now! It was certainly an experience and the people of Bundi and indeed our guide Raj were taking it all in their stride!
After a well earned shower we grabbed dinner and I succumbed to my western food homesick stomach and had some French fries, although also palak paneer (spinach with paneer cheese), Bhindi (okra) and chappatis followed by Gulab Jalan for dessert - I was hungry!
The rain still hasn't stopped, but has calmed down - we're on a train tomorrow so I'm hoping for a good journey!
No comments:
Post a Comment