The Grand Tour of Rajasthan October 2010

An epic adventure which had been discussed and planned by two intrepid pensioners for some time is now nearing fruition - it was daunting to begin with until after much deliberation the route was decided upon. The next step was working out the Indian train system - got there eventually with help from Indiamike.com - it was not too difficult but needed time and care but eventually the seats were booked through IRCTC e-ticketing, it was good to find that as pensioners we got concessionary fares and so thrilling when the first ticket appeared.

The next thing was which guest house to choose within our budget, we had received advice from our daughters Belinda and Emma, studied Lonely Planet and Rough Guides consulted the so helpful Indiamike.com and searched the internet, eventually emails were sent to likely places to see if suitable accommodation was available on the dates we required and to confirm cost - of course it was even more exciting to get back friendly and helpful replies.

At last the date was getting near we had borrowed backpacks and made the big decision on what not to take - that was the hardest thing. Our daughters even came to supervise our minimal wardrobes lending me their Indian dresses to wear over trousers - 6 outfits for 3 weeks - how would I ever manage!

Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 October D-Day and Delhi

We left Gatwick with Emirates at 10am in bright sunshine and later enjoyed the wonderful sunset which lasted almost to Dubai. I was delighted to have obtained a window seat so that I was able to feel on top of the world. Unfortunately had to to change planes at Dubai but never mind we were soon on our way to Delhi. As expected there was the usual red tape and very long wait for luggage after which went out into the warm Indian night, obtained a taxi at the prepaid kiosk and were on our way, we were surprised at the lovely wide boulevards in a very quiet city, we eventually arrived after the driver stopped and asked about half a dozen times for our street in Paharganj then tried to demand a very large tip - which wasn't forthcoming.


Our Hotel Lal's Haveli was in darkness but we found a bell with the help of someone in a doorway who we had woken up and were let in by a sleepy man. Upstairs in reception I felt guilty at waking the bodies sleeping there. By now it was 4.30 am and we were wondering what our room would be like - after all, this week was during the Commonwealth Games when most hotels had doubled their prices and many were booked up - a pleasant surprise - clean and quiet with big comfortable bed and lovely white sheets - a clean bathroom with shower and hot water and we hadn't expected the huge TV and shag pile carpet.




We got up rather late, completed the booking, obtained directions and decided to have a quiet day walking around just looking and feeling the atmosphere, it was very hot but we stayed in shade where possible. My first surprise after walking down the road was the small, brick built open fronted box on the corner with a queue of men, of course I quickly realised it was the local urinal, as men turned around putting themselves away! Nearby we found a long busy street lined with open fronted shops where artisans were carving marble and stone - wonder who buys it all, there were some enormous items of furniture and huge animals such as lions.

The road which was very near to New Delhi Station was teeming with noisy hooting vehicles spewing out stinking fumes, as well as motorbikes, tuc tucs, cycle rickshaws, poor skinny horses pulling wagons overloaded with large men, ladies and children, and a surprise seeing an enormous camel pulling a laden, long rubber wheeled cart, dogs lying around, beggars and friendly locals. We decided to check out the station for tomorrows trip and were told which platform and where to stand. The morning had long disappeared and by now we we were in need of a proper Indian meal so we took a tuc tuc to Connaught place and went to the first place we saw that looked promising The Maharanee, we enjoyed nice cold beer with vegetarian curries - what else.

Afterwards we found Fabindia where I bought a pair of blue cotton trousers, we wandered around but although this area has much written about it to me it was a large, overcrowded shopping mall. By now we desperately needed a money changer but couldn't find one which seemed strange so we returned to Paharganj where we were sent in the right direction, the rate of exchange is not very good about 66rs to the pound. We also phoned Agra to confirm our arrival tomorrow. Then off to the optician for Johns new reading glasses, he was so well looked after with half a dozen ladies fussing around him, we were offered large cold glasses of water and then the owner sent them off to make us masala chai - so refreshing.

That done, back to hotel for shower, I decided to repack our bags in a more sensible way, after realising that we would be living out of them for the next three weeks and I needed to know where to lay my hand on things quickly. Off out and back to Connaught Place as we were too tired to look for a local restaurant, Lonely Planet recommended Legends of India which was a delightful place with excellent food and service but we did go over the budget - will have to starve for a day. And so to bed tired, happy and feeling excited about Agra tomorrow.

Wednesday 13 October Agra and Fatehpur Sikri

Up soon after 5am found a ricksahaw and set off to New Delhi Station for the 6.15am train to Agra. The vista which was rather nondescript could hardly be seen through the very dirty windows, but time passed with breakfast and bottles of water being served, we arrived at 8.10am. Hurrah there was the card with our names being waved from the crowd, we were then whisked of to Tourist Rest House by a very pleasant rickshaw driver. Although it was early we were able to check in and were offered a choice of two rooms, we chose the very good basic room with tiled floor, bathroom and fan which was spotless, we could walk straight out to the courtyard garden, a cool and green oasis with a couple of small fountains which also served as the restaurant.

After settling in we asked the chatty, friendly owner Anil for advice about visiting Fatehpur Sikri, a place I have read about and wanted to see for many years, he was able to arrange a hire car and we set off for the 40km journey which we enjoyed as our driver pointed out anything he thought might be of interest, the land was was green but quite flat, with a few villages. New to us were the many tiny donkeys being used to carry bricks and other building materials, also more of those huge camels pulling long carts piled high wih all sorts of goods, another sight were the many large herds of buffalo some being driven along the roads or else in fields and by areas of water, they are kept mainly for milk - and are rather beautiful I think.

We arrived at Fatehpur Sikri around mid-day - mad-dogs and Englishmen I said - it was very hot but thank goodness it was also windy. We found a guide and passed through the red sandstone outer walls and up to the city. This Mughal city built by Akbar in around 1570 was abandoned shortly after his death due to water shortages. The complex covers a large area with many sights including three palaces, unfortunately too much for us to see in an afternoon, so we decided to visit Jama Masjid, this mosque is in a huge enclosure which is entered via a wide sweep of steps and through a massive gate which opens into an enormous courtyard - everything is big.

We also visited the beautiful marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti, a Sufi holy man who blessed the childless Akbar who shortly afterwards had three sons, childless men and women come here to pray, many enter the building to make offerings of cloth and flowers, they then tie three pieces of coloured thread to the jaalis which surround the tomb, and make their secret wishes - as we did - but I can say it was not to become parents again!


There were other tombs and interesting buildings in this magnificent city. We were sorry to leave this place - another time we would stay overnight in the village. Our driver took us to a truckstop nearby which he said served good food, he was right, we were treated like royalty in a special room on our own where we ate excellent veg and potato curries with paratha, the cold beer was nectar. We were dusty and tired when we arrived back in Agra and went to sleep, we couldn't be bothered to go out so ate in the courtyard, a very nice biryani, tomato salad and chai afterwards we sat out and read, then off to bed so looking forward to tomorrow.

Thursday 14th October Taj Mahal and Agra Fort

We had arranged with the rickshaw driver to be taken to the Taj Mahal for opening at 6am. I was surprised on our arrival at how tacky the area was with cheap souvenier shops, budget guesthouses, restaurants and even this early people selling Taj tat.
There were not many people around but on the road down to the ticket office there were lots of macaque monkeys - sitting, running, jumping all over the place, some were quite large and looked aggressive with their big yellow teeth and red bottoms.



We bought tickets at the west gate kiosk as advised then joined the queues, ladies and men separate, got searched and we were in. Along a path to a courtyard where the entrance is through a big sandstone gateway. As I approached I could glimpse the Taj, it was tantalising as people were standing and blocking the entrance and I wanted to rush through.



Yes I was there, one has seen and heard so much about this fabulous monument which left me speechless and just wanting to stand and stare. We looked down through the gardens and watercourses with the marble Taj at the end raised on high in marvelous silhoutte against the early morning sky. The sun rising on the right made it glow pearly white. We walked towards it John clicking away with the camera. A workman came over and suggested where to stand for the best shots and showed where to to get the Taj reflected in the water, then offered to take photos of us together.
We left our shoes behind and climbed up the marble staircase to the platform and just walked round and round as the day got brighter. The only backdrop was the sky behind and below that the river - Magic.




On either side of the Taj down at ground level are two matching sandstone mosques which we visited later. In the distance down the river we could see the Agra Fort where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb who siezed power in 1658. He died there in 1666 and was buried here beside Mumtaz who died in 1631. The platform around the Taj is large and all that white marble is breathtaking, it was a wonderful feeling wandering around in bare feet and wondering how many people had walked round, or stood in awe to gaze since its completion in around 1653.

We went inside to view the Cenotaphs of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan, which are surrounded by a marble screen inlaid with semi precious stones and delicate carving of plants and flowers. It was sad to see these small tombs side by side - their real tombs are locked away underneath this place. The workmanship in here and all over the monument is truly magnificent and just has to be touched, even at a distance the colours of the inset stones can be seen.


We eventually moved away to stroll around the gardens and came to the small museum containg some interesting items, including nice Mughal paintings my favourites being two quite simple pictures of Mumtaz and the other of Shah Jahan looking very young. We went back to collect our shoes and with many backward glances left this magical place, we were so glad we came early as by now many people were arriving in large tour groups. Wouldn't it be nice to be the first person to arrive in the day!





Back to the rickshaw and off to the rooftop restaurant at 'Maya' for banana porridge and chai, this place has the best toilets anywhere. Next on the itinerary was the Agra Fort a huge edifice in red sandstone, started by Akbar in 1565 with many addition added in marble by Shah Jahan. This place is vast, buildings within buildings it really was a city. We loved it we didn't bother with a guide, there was quite a lot of information and it was so full of history, much was destroyed by different inhabitants including the British.

We particularly made a visit to the tower and palace containing a private mosque overlooking the Yamuna River, where Shah Jahan was imprisoned. There was a lovely garden in the courtyard of the harem quarters, apparently there were 500 ladies here during
Akbars time.



The Hall of Public Audiences, a throne room, the Ladies Bazaar or the court ladies shopping mall, some lovely small mosques one especially for the ladies, the Gem Mosque, the Mirror Palace,a bathing pool and many rooms to walk in and gaze, walkways outside and on the walls overlooking the river and the former moat, and of course the view upriver of the Taj Mahal unfortunately seen through a haze of pollution.. The walls are so high and thick it was a real fortress. Another place where one could linger in all day and just soak up the atmosphere.

We had to leave eventually as we were hot and starving so we decided to return to 'Maya' for lunch where we enjoyed Thalis this time in the a/c restaurant. Our rickshaw driver asked whether we would like to see some carpet making (of course we knew he would get commission for taking visitors) actually it was very interesting and we made it clear straight away that we would not be buying.

We were then taken to see artisans working at the art of creating inlaid marble - the same as was used in the Taj Mahal - it was fascinating seeing this painstaking work carried out and to listen to the explanation given us by Anthony. we were of course taken to the showroom for very welcome chai, I being a fool bought a little box for 1500rs - my muddled brain thought I was paying £2.50. Ah well we could starve for the next few days but it is a pretty memento.

Then to see a jeweller, this was disappointing it was just a shop and although the prices were pretty good we were not interested. Back to the guesthouse for a rest before going out for a  somewhat expensive meal at Riao Restaurant. We ate inside as there were biting insects, all the other guests were sitting outside so we were in solitary spelendour.

Friday 15 October Off to Bundi

Just lazed around prior to going to the Agra Fort station, a nice rickshaw ride on which we were able to get glimpses of the Taj as we drove round the fort walls. We were in plenty of time for the 12.35pm train to Kota which eventually arrived at about 3.30pm, I suppose it wasn't too bad we found seats next to a family with small boy, Aman who practiced his English on us, and the little girl who I thought, much to his amusement was his brother, she was deaf and dumb but never stopped dancing and was a real handful.

The train arrived and we found our seats but were horrified to find that they didn't serve food and we only had water. We had expected to arrive at Kota at around 17.45 but eventually arrived at about 21.15pm. The carriage had a number of men going to Gujerat they were very friendly, and when they realised we were without food they opened their bags and plied us with fruit, sweets, biscuits and John was even offered beer from one bag, a lady on the corridor seat peeled a pomegranite for John - we were very appreciative of their kindness and generosity. One man was worried that our hotel, who had arranged for a car to meet us, should be updated, he phoned twice just to confirm that we were on our way and to advise of arrival time. We were more than grateful for their assistance.

When we arrived at Kota we found the driver and were so pleased that our daughters had insisted we book ahead as there were no taxis, just a few rickshaws. The drive to Bundi took about an hour on an extremely busy road full of enormous trucks going in both directions, all with headlights full on and belching black smoke, this is the state highway going from somewhere to Gujerat full of potholes and obstacles. When we thankfully arrived at our hotel Haveli Katkoun everyone had gone to bed. But they quicky appeared and rustled up a quick meal of chapati, rice, dhal and our favourite aloo jeera.

A charming young man, the son of the owner took us upstairs and again we had a choice of rooms, we chose a huge room with lots of windows, a terrace opening to a view of the fort which was lit up, a large bathroom with plenty of hot water and bliss a huge comfortable bed. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Saturday 16 October Bundi

Up at 7.30am for breakfast. Our room goes onto a walkway which has mesh all along and a gate which has to be kept shut to keep the monkeys out of the house. We look onto an old wall with a couple of monkeys popping in and out of openings. Had breakfast downstairs,beside the courtyard which is in the centre of the haveli with a large tree growing up through and past the roof. Met a Dutch couple who were leaving today. The elderly owner was sitting at a table and when his young daughter-in-law came in, she approached him then knelt in front and put her forehead to the ground - I was very surprised. We chatted to the son and got directions to the town and Garh palace.



We were in an excellent location. What a lovely place this is, as we strolled along everyone greeted us with smiles and namaste. We gazed up at the fort and the palace which glowed white and looked beautiful, the approach to the palace was up a very steep walk over stones and cobbles, entry via the superb elephant gate. It was a lovely place, with beautiful architecture although it is in a bad state of neglect.




Once inside we wandered around interesting rooms, much seemed to have been vandalised and damaged and reeked of bats, one room had dozens of them hanging from the ceiling. Many rooms had murals again in a bad state, most depicted Krishna, one small room had fairly well preserved paintings all around, some with angels, that was a surprise and many still retained vibrant colours mostly a brilliant turquoise. We spent ages here enjoying the views and wandering, it was really made up of a number of small palaces.




We then went to the Chitrasala a small palace lower down the hill and built around a pavillion courtyard where the Maharani could go, a lovely cool area open to the front. The walls are covered in beautiful murals and paintings depicting Krishna, and the maharani who with her lady companions seemed to spend their days having fun drinking and smoking opium. On three sides are a number of locked rooms only opened by the guardian, we were the only visitors at that time and enjoyed walking with him as he explained each painting, some of the stories were very amusing, he opened the locked rooms one was covered with inlaid glass.



By now it was well past lunchtime so we walked back and found the Lake View restaurant, where we sat in the shade with one eye on a couple of large monkeys and a rather beautiful cat who seemed to be in charge, there were a lot of butterflies too. The lunch was very good, the beer took ages coming as they don't have a licence and he had to go to the beer shop.

After a good rest we went to the Maharao Raja Bahadur Singh museum, the place was stuffed with animals shot by the prolific killer of wildlife Maharao, his friends such as the Mountbattens and wealthy American 'personalities' their photos abounded on the walls with their trophies at their feet, mainly tigers. There was one display of a tiger with her pair of cubs on either side - beautifully preserved - and photo showing the proud 'hunter' taken in 1953, the American inventor of the ball point pen. There were other buildings containg memorabilia.



We left this place and wandered into the town which was interesting, the open fronted shops with many crafts being carried out together with goods being sold, it was teeming with friendly good natured people - so many namastes - as well as children, cows, dogs and pigs and young boy racers speeding around on motorbikes. There seemed also to be many temples. There was a procession and music going on with many men only, they processed to each temple along the road, very colourful. We passed a lady whose very small boy was misbehaving - with a laugh she handed him to me and seemed to tell him that we were going to take him, I think he nearly died of fright, but he went silent, she gave us a large smile.

When we walked under the city gate I was pooped upon from a great height, by a great big pigeon - all over my hair, face and clothes. We had just bought some nice shampoo so back we trotted to the Haveli for a hot shower and shampoo.

That evening we decided to eat at the Haveli then went out for a walk, everywhere was very quiet. We took a look at the lake and gazed at the illuminated castle, on our way back we heard music and people in a side road it was quite noisy - women dancing in wonderful colourful clothes, many wearing head dresses and carrying silver sticks with which they hit each other (a bit like morris dancers leaping), some children insisted we come to meet their mother and sit on the doorstep to watch. We were told it was 'temple dancing' to the Goddess we thought her name was Dandiya but found later that is what the sticks are called. This is a lovely place and feels village like, maybe because not so many tourists come here.

Sunday 17 October Bundi

Got up early as we intend visiting the Taragarh Fort, the building of which started around 1354 and which towers over the town. We wanted to start the steep climb before it got too hot, so set off about 9.15am and on the way hired 'monkey sticks' stout poles which we intended using as walking sticks, at least I did.

The climb was very steep and the stones were slippery, so I found the going hard but we kept stopping for rest and water, there are no directions so we had to retrace our steps a few times as we missed the overgrown paths on the left. Anyway we eventually arrived and took a lot of photos of wonderful views of the old town below, the blue painted houses and the Aravali Hills around. We came across a few monkeys but they ignored us.

The buildings within the fort were very dilapidated but it was enjoyable wandering around, there was no information anywhere so we made our own minds up as to what the layout had been, we tried to climb to the tower at the highest point which was flying a flag - but learned from a guide who arrived with a couple of people that it was used by the military and we would not have been able to get very near. Wonder how they get up there, certainly not by the way we came. There are a couple of enormous and deep stone tanks full of green water which I suppose were the water supply. One was being used by numerous monkeys of all sizes who were very relaxed, grooming each other and playing, some very small ones were playing on the steep, narrow steps and one or two were swimming I wonder if they fell in.


We walked round the ramparts ar far as we could go to where we found an old cannon, there was a cool breeze and the views were even better, we could see for miles, on the opposite hills were what we thought were three chatris. Looking down we could see the lake, behind which were soldiers on a parade ground we could also hear the band playing. Walking around was hazardous as the place was very overgrown with lots of loose rocks and stones and we were wary of snakes, I wished I had taken my walking boots to India for this occasion. It would have been great too to have had a picnic and just sat taking in the views. Anyway we needed another late lunch so back down we slithered and slid and was I grateful for the stick, well worth the 10rs hire fee.

This time we went to Baba Roof Top Cafe a steep climb of about four floors, at the top we were greeted by a little dog, who with great pride showed us her four very new puppies, who were tucked in a corner. We consumed rather a lot of beer at 140rs a time, had a good lunch of pakoras but declined the 'fried aborigine'. When we felt recovered and refreshed we went to buy another memory card for the camera.


We ran into an all male procession winding down the road with music and a half dressed holy man with some sort of fire in a pot, couldn't find out what it was about. Changed some money then I went back to the Haveli and John explored some more, he came back and told me he had taken chai with an artist in his shop who had told him that there was to be a big procession tonight passing our Haveli, he also lent John a map of the town.

We hung around until about 8pm then came out to watch, there were loads of trucks attached to generators to get light and sound, people carrying fluorescent tubes, cables trailing all over the place. The trucks carried all sorts of tableaux, adults and chidren in colourful costumes all obviously delighted at John snapping away with the camera, there were also horses dressed in fine cloth and gold embroidery looking wonderful, bands played while off they went to one of the temples.

We then took ourselves off to dinner at Bundi Haveli Hotel, very nice food but no atmosphere, the young rather stiff staff in black and white, unusually not smiling or conversing with us, what a shame, lack of ceremony is something we enjoy here, and the beer was 200rs a glass!

Monday 18 October off to Jaipur

Up and out by 9am. A nice time of day to walk through the sreeets, gaze up the narrow alleyways, and admire the upper facades, this must be the time of day that water is turned on everyone seemes to be out cleaning, washing pots, filling troughs with hosepipes and the water flowing fast down the drains.




Walked to the vegetable market (Sabzi) typically Indian stalls selling just about everything and vibrant colour everywhere, we chatted, took even more photos and bought fruit before going to see Raniji ki Baori best known of the many stepwells here. It is big - set in a small park it has beautiful carving on the pillars and arches and is quite lovely or would be if it was cleaned up, it stinks, humans, monkeys, bats have all helped. Once inside you can only look down from a distance as it it fenced in, and there is not much light.



Unfortunately we only had time for this one as we are leaving at 11am. Stopped and bought a small painting from Yug, Johns artist friend then back to pay the bill and depart for Kota, the lovely family stood and waved us off. Really sorry to leave this picturesque old town there was so much more to see and do. Back along the higway for the train for Jaipur which arrived on time.

We arrived in Jaipur at about 4.30pm and immediately regretted not having asked to be met, we were hounded by taxi drivers and were charged an exorbitant amount as we later found out, the hotel was no distance - we could have taken a rickshaw, never mind! The Hotel Arya Niwas was quite large with terrace and lawns, our room on 4th floor was comfortable and everything looked good - don't know why I booked here as we prefer smaller guest houses but it will be nice to have comfort in this city.

We had our meal that evening at Moti Mahal De Luxe (found in Lonely Planet) the food and service were excellent as was the music played by a small group with their little boy dancing for us.