Here we go with the first post of 2013 (at least it is still January!)
As many of you know we went to India over our winter holiday. It was quite an adventure and we have many pictures and stories to share when we catch up with you in person but for now here is a small taste of our adventure.
We took some advice from our friends Belinda and Graham and decided to hire a car and driver to get around the "golden triangle". This was a good move as the trains and other public transport were crowded, on strike or shut down for a lot of the time while we were there. We had an excellent driver, Ram, who showed us many insider areas as well as having us to dinner at his house. I would definitely recommend your own car and driver (and Ram) if you want to tour that part of India.
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| Here is the street in Delhi outside our hotel - can you even see me? |
We were in Delhi on the Sunday when that horrible rape took place. We came back through a week later when all the protests were happening. Again a reason not to take a bus... so sad but maybe some change will come out of it. It did taint my feelings for large cities and groups of men walking the streets while we were there. I realize how much I take for granted as a woman at times.
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| Our hotel with a climbing wall |
As I said, we booked with a car and driver - we also had them book hotels for that leg of the journey. We stayed in a Maharaja's palace (his grandson was strolling around meeting people and looking important), a hotel opened by an Everest mountaineer and a hunting (now photography) lodge. All interesting in their own ways - still glad we brought the sleep sheets.
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| This was just one wife's palace within a fort |
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| How long did it take to do all that carving? |
We toured and travelled as most tourists do seeing forts, palaces and temples. The roads were crowded and the drivers loved to honk - in fact the trucks all have "Honk please" painted on the back of them. The drivers can't be bothered to look behind or to the side of them so you must honk to tell them you are approaching. Gives you a headache after a while!
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| I know it looks fake - but it really was like this! |
Of course we had to see the Taj (I have heard the phrase "See the Taj, with Raj in his Dodge" since I was 3). The mist was incredible and the monument is breath taking. We probably enjoyed Agra the most of the cities we visited. Although based on tourism it had a more relaxed feel and was a bit cleaner. We had some amazing food there as well.
Between Jaipur and Agra there is a national park where there are a few protected tigers ( I was told there are only 48-54 left). We went out on a very cold game drive in the morning and saw nothing but birds. I went in the afternoon and after hours of circling a dead deer and looking for footprint (pug-marks) we got our prize! It is amazing how she blends into the grass.
After our hard days of touring (it actually is quite tiring) we flew down to chill out at a beach in Goa. We chose Agonda beach, which is about as south as you can go in Goa. This beach protects turtle nests and doesn't have any large hotels or resorts. Lovely white sand, palm trees, waves to play in... what a way to spend 9 days over Christmas and New Years.
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Our resort - Richard Gere stayed in the hut on the right
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Doesn't look so bad...actually the beach, the fresh fish, the waves and kayaking were all great.
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You even get used to the cows everywhere! This one tried to eat my table cloth as I had my morning coffee.
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But then there was our hut....
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Rustic, basic (love those sleep sheets!)
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Made of plywood, no windows, an attached "bathroom" with a pipe out of the wall for a shower....hmm...underneath a family of pigs made their home and liked to rut and squeal for most of the night. The tree behind us was home to a colony of fruit bats (100's of them) who would arrive back to the tree about 4AM and proceed to fight over which branch to hang off - high pitched bat squealing. For this luxury we were paying $65 a night! As it was Christmas/New Year's we were lucky to have that, every day people came to the compound wanting to stay.
That being said, the "boys" who ran the place and did all the cooking were great, the food was delicious, we met some interesting people and loved the beach. Would we go back to Agonda beach and Goa - in a heartbeat. We would just stay down the beach at a different place.
That wraps up this edition of our blog - until next time... M and S
