Bundi monsoon walk

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!  

Tiger hunt

Today I decided to skip the hotel breakfast and instead raid my stash of Belvita breakfast biscuits - wise move as the DB now seems to have more or less gone so I can concentrate on enjoying the holiday rather than doubling up in cramps.

We set off early from the hotel to let us take pictures at the Wind Palace - the second most photographed building in India next to the Taj Mahal.  

We then drove 4 hours to Rathsmbore national park to a fairly basic hotel, but it does have a pool which we used and smells of sweet frangipan flowers and with a humid and sweet air smell like in Bali!  

After a quick dip in the pool we waited for a nice, but slow to arrive lunch.  I tested the boundaries with hot and sour veg soup (basic) and palak paneer (spinach with paneer cheese) and veg rice and seem ok.

Then it was safari time!  We split into 2 groups and got into jeeps and had a hair residing drive to the national park.  Once in the park we spent 3 hours driving slowly in the jeeps looking for wildlife.

Sadly we didn't find any tigers, but we did see peacocks, antelope and deer  - almost like a safari around a stately home in the UK!  The ride was bumpy, but fun and the other group got a front tyre.  We arrived back to the hotel and then tested before meeting for dinner.

Dinner was again slow, but tasty and relaxing after our jolting around in the jeep!  

Brilliant Bollywood

This morning I woke up after about eight hours sleep feeling much better.  I went downstairs and had a coffee and a very bland breakfast before getting ready for meeting the rest of the group at 10 AM.

Raj took us on a quick walking tour through the flower market and past some shops and the City Palace to the Observatory.  

Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy so when Prakash our guide took us on our tour of the Observatory, it was hard for him to demonstrate the sundials with a distinct lack of sunshine and shadow.   It was still fascinating to see him describe sundials accurate within two seconds (to be accurate they have to be really big!) and eventually the sun did come out so we were able to look at them in use.

Raj then arranged an interesting rickshaw journey on cycle rickshaws to the lassi shop.  Each rickshaw seats two people and our driver looked like he was in his 70s with only one tooth left and I felt terribly guilty as he cycled us through the crazy traffic in Jaipur!

We stopped at a famous Lassi shop for a Lassi served in a recyclable clay pot that is used once and smashed. We then had the most calorific ice cream ever followed by a samosa - lunch in reverse!  We went back to the hotel and write postcards before meeting up again at 5:30 for our Bollywood experience!

I was excited about the Bollywood experience, but probably more about the experience itself then the actual film.   I wasn't too sure what it would be like to watch a film with no subtitles that goes on for three hours and whether I'll be able to follow the plot!  The cinema itself was a lovely art deco and grand design and inside you could buy a variety of Indian snacks as well as popcorn and Coca-Cola!  I went for a big tub of popcorn and a diet Coke because that's probably what I'd end up with at the cinema in the UK but it did feel different having it in India!  We took our seats and what fascinated me was there was no one shushing or being quiet and people wandered in and out as they wished or chatted away on their phones!  

The film plot was actually really easy to follow - the premise of the film was a little girl from Pakistan ended up on a train to India because she couldn't speak and so was going to a special Muslim temple in Delhi for "treatment" only she managed to get off the train and got separated from her mother.   The rest of the film saw a chap trying his best to sneak over the Indian Pakistani border to get her back to her family.  There were cheers and shouts from the audience at various points in the performance and gave it a sense of atmosphere and occasion.  I loved it even if we weren't able to understand any of the jokes!  

We wandered back to the hotel and had a buffet dinner where there were two musicians playing things like Frera Jacques on the keyboard it was interesting...

Dreaded DB!

I can't say that I've slept through a single night yet since I arrived in India due to combination of jetlag and been too hot! Last night was the same coupled with the monsoon shower and intermittent bursts of electricity which meant that the fan was going on and off at various intervals!  Then at 5:30 AM I woke up with some rather strong stomach cramps.  I took some buscopan, Imodium and paracetamol and have managed to get through the day without too much trouble, but it's all felt a bit dazed!

In terms of food hygiene I've been seriously careful to only eat vegetarian food, put hand sanitiser on before eating and after using the bathroom, avoided saucy and rich curries and drunk bottled water and avoided ice... Sigh it's all part of the experience I guess!

We had breakfast at the top of the fort with an amazing view I had mostly rich tea biscuits and a banana.  

We got into our own private transfer vehicle to Jaipur and stopped at Amber Fort and a lovely guide called Sanjay took us on a guided tour.  There was an option of riding an elephant up to the fort (and this is an item on my bucket list), however intrepid advised against riding these particular elephants because they're concerned about their treatment, so we walked up which didn't take long at all.

The tour was very interesting although as I mentioned earlier I was a little bit dazed, I did enjoy the mirror palace and some of the very ornate painted gates.

We drove a little further after the tour had finished and took some photos at the water palace.  

We then stopped off for some of the group to go to a gem stone demonstration and the rest of us went for lunch in an interesting restaurant that had a Turban Museum attached!  

After lunch we went to a block printing demonstration and I was overwhelmed with the amazing and ornate fabrics... so didn't end up buying anything at all!  However, Joe got a custom-made shirt commissioned which should arrive tomorrow and Connor went for a full three-piece sweet and I look forward to seeing the results.

We then checked into our next hotel The Wall Street which is lovely and plush and cool and most excitingly has a laundry service!  It becomes necessary when you're in this humid heat to change your clothes between 2 to 3 times a day which is fine....however I didn't bring many clothes with me and there is only so much effective washing that can be done with shower gel in a sink!

After a bit of rest we met downstairs for another briefing and city orientation walk, most of the group went out for dinner, however I took the opportunity to walk back with Lindsey (who kindly offered to keep me company) and have a bland meal of Belvita breakfast biscuits and crisps!  I'm already starting to feel better - fingers crossed Delhi belly is on its way back to Delhi without taking me with it!

My bedroom in a castle

Not such an early start today meeting for a 6.30am breakfast.  I'm still opting for bland food at breakfast when I can and so far have successfully avoided the dreaded "Delhi belly".  I'd got my bag ready for the porters to pick up as instructed before 7am and then had a last minute panic when I realised I'd left my money belt complete with passport and cash cards under my pillow back in the room with the door wide open!  Fortunately a very honest porter handed it over to me as I ran towards my room!

We got on a minibus to the local bus station and then onto a "local" bus for our 4.5 hr drive to our "homestay" experience.  Fortunately I'm like a child when it comes to transport, unless I'm driving, if I'm in a moving vehicle I fall asleep so poor Mark who was sat next to me didn't really have much of a conversationalist!  We stopped once for a comfort break and then headed towards Bassi which is where we were staying for the night.  We swapped from the bus into a minibus and by this point I'd woken up so started to read "Dark a Places" by Gillian Flynn and glanced up from the page to see the fortress that was to be our hotel!

After arriving we were given our rooms at random and as I write this I'm lying on a bed set into a marble alcove like I'm some sort of Indian princess.  It's almost unbelievable.  We ditched our bags and then had the tastiest lunch yet with some amazing cumin potatoes.

We had some free time and despite all the snoozing on the bus I felt exhausted so went to read more of my book and have a rest before meeting the rest of the group back at 4pm for our village tour.

We walked down from the fort observing peacocks, green parakeets, pigs, cows and other native birds which I forget the names of on the way.  As we entered the village we were approached by several groups of extremely cute children with requests of "one photo, one photo" they wanted us to take their photo and let them see their images - they were delighted with the results, but we could barely move without additional requests!  

Our guide Raj accompanied by the mayor showed us some village people weaving cotton as well as a bangle maker and we encountered more children including one moment where Joe from our group was convinced into playing cricket and the boy batted the ball all the way over a nearby building - I can see why the Indian team are hard to beat at cricket!

We wandered back up to the fort and met up at the top of a minaret for drinks. Popadoms and Bombay mix (actually called something else!) and then were offered the chance to dress up in a sari.

Once again (last time was in Bali!) I became aware of how much bigger the British "frame" is compared to other countries as the poor woman battled to find a top that would encase me and some of the other ladies into traditional Indian attire in between several power blackouts!

We enjoyed the experience, but escaped quickly from our outfits to enjoy dinner which was a delicious buffet of mostly vegetarian food - 4 days in I'm not yet missing meat!  

We had a couple of beers (Turbourgs) and chats and then retired to our ceremoniously grand bedrooms for an early night!