travel pax: December 2013

Bundi

Bundi is a small town and off the beaten tourist trail. It is a maze of fragrant lanes and blue pastel alleys. We are so glad that we visited! It was a pleasure to wander and and observe the coming and going off daily Indian life. The Palace and the Fort were incredible in their crumbling glory and we had them all to ourselves apart from a few cheeky monkeys and the odd Indian wanting us to pose with them. We stayed a a gorgeous heritage haveli that even had an espresso machine on the roof!

Canola Fields

On the road again this time we are headed to Bundi a small town in Rajasthan. We drove past fields and fields of canola growing. It was so beautiful that we had to stop and have a family photo shoot. Lazar took this stellar shot. A flying Flora Bertie ninja.

Ranthambore National Park

Ranthambore National Park is the place to go if you want to spot a tiger. Until the 1970's this region was used as a tiger hunting ground but now tourist only shoot the tigers with their cameras. We set off at six in the morning in an open air canter bus, rugged up with blankets from our hotel. We saw a mongoose, lots of deer and peacocks, amazing birds a crocodile or two, wild boar but Shere Khan was hiding from us that day. Our guide said that a tigress had killed a young buffalo and was feasting with her cubs. We did see rather impressive tiger foot prints in the sand and this satisfied us and added to the mystery of our search.
After our safari we all enjoyed a bit of old fashion colonial rest and relaxation, lazing by the pool, reading, drawing and drinking chai.

In the afternoon we explored the old fort on the hill. More adventures in climbing for the boys as Flora slept on my shoulder. This sleep put her in good stead to join in with the dance demonstration at the hotel that evening. All those mangala classes have paid off as she span and twilled with the best of them.

Fatehpur Sikri

We left Agra satisfied with our encounter with the Taj and we even escaped the touts trying to sell us marble inlay tables that could 'easily be shipped back to Australia for us'. Continuing our journey to Fatehpur Sikri, an old palace where a mogul king married a christian, hindu and a muslim wife to keep the peace. I guess that he just about had all his bases covered. The palace was very beautiful as most palaces are. In one section was a huge open courtyard with a small temple. We purchased some coloured cloth, a bag full of rose and marigold petals and some red twine. Inside the temple we all wore head coverings and made our offerings by placing the cloth on an alter, and spilling and spreading the flowers onto it. Next we tied the string to a carved marble window. Three knots and three wishes for us, one wish for Zar. If a husband and a wife make the same wish it will come true...or so they say.

AGRA

We left Delhi after meeting our driver Shyam and our luxury 6-seater Innova. We thought that we would leave the haze behind in Delhi, but it seemed to follow us all the way to Agra as we passed brick making kilns and new high-rise housing compounds after another. We were reminded that everything takes longer than you expect in India, even with private, modern highways. We arrived at our hotel after dark, too late and too cold for a swim, but had dinner on the rooftop accompanied by a tabla and sitar player.

In the morning we were greeted by a thick cloud of fog and doubted whether we would see the Taj or even our fingertips. We headed to the Taj and made it through security but lost our deck of uno, a figure of Ganesh, jelly beans and a pocket knife. Apparently all for security reasons, except for Ganesh, on religious grounds and uno on 'who knows what' grounds.

The fog eventually lifted and the Taj certainly didn't disappoint. The kids started to tire, being bigger attractions than the Taj for most local families.

Delhi

We have arrived in India to whirlwind of colour, noise, smells and smog, a lot of smog. Everyone is blowing black out of their noses at the end of the day. The haze is thick in the morning and never seems to really lift. We have nearly fallen for the same old touts and their promises of the perfect itinerary. Everyone is trying to sell tickets, drivers and dreams, but it is a hard sell in the age of internet booking. It reminded us that we know what we want and how to get it and to trust ourselves and our own judgement. We have visited the Red Fort, Old Delhi Markets, Humayun Tombs, Connaught Place, India Gate and all the usual suspects. Ridden all modes of transport and survived a major traffic standoff that lasted half an hour with traffic cops wielding six foot spears and swords and using them on the antagonists. The little kids have managed to eat corn flakes and toast for breakfast, French macaroons and pizza for dinner, so much for the challenges of Indian food. Zar on the other hand has embraced the spicy subji and upma for breakfast and is leaping back into his blog - newfoods. We avoided Delhi Belly and now we are off to Agra.