Deb
This morning we had a sunrise tour of the Taj Mahal so we had a 5.30am wake up call and an order of tea & coffee & banana bread, to get us going! It’s a pity the Tea and coffee arrived before the wake-up call. 🙂 We met our guide around 6am and went for one last look at the Taj Mahal.
We were grateful that we visited yesterday as this morning was very smoggy and the photos poor. We sat for and hour or so and just soaked it up! There weren’t as many people around so it was a bit more peaceful as well. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel for breakfast.
After we checked out, our guide took us to the obligatory tourist trap this time to look at marble goods, we were polite and looked at their wares, then left!
I have tried to think of a way to describe the streets of India as the photos don’t do them justice, so this is what I came up with.
These are the sights that we saw on the road right next to us in a half hour car ride this morning out of Agra.
Camels, buffalo, donkeys, cows, pigs, goats, dogs, monkeys, buses, cars, rickshaws, motor bikes, bikes, people, mopeds, auto rickshaws (like tuk tuks), bikes carrying goods, stalls, markets, small trucks on 3 wheels, larger trucks, horse & buggy, they were all travelling inches from our car. There was also a motor cycle accident. The worse thing we saw or should I say smelt was a waste tank being emptied on the side of the road, in a semi country area.
Some more info on India
We are the only ones in the car that wear seatbelts, the driver and guides don’t.
On the 3rd of November is a light festival, all of our guides have described this to us with much enthusiasm, evidently everywhere will be lit up, and there will be fireworks, we are looking forward to it
It is difficult to get used to the tipping. Seems like Greg has his hand in his pocket giving out money all the time. We are certainly doing our bit for the Indian economy!
Greg
Back on the road after the “Tourist Trap”, we headed off to a “Holiday Fort/Palace of the Moghul Ruler in Gulistan, The Fatehpur Sikri Monuments, built in 1569, taking 12 years to be built and after 60 years they were abandoned until the British took possession of them as a garrison, eventually, in 1958 the site was taken over by the Indian Government and has since obtained UNESCO World Heritage Status. It is a Huge, 18 square mile fully self contained fortress. The Moghul Rulers certainly knew how to build in opulance for themselves, have Royal quarters covering a large area of the fort. It is all constructed of the local Red Sandstone (Ironstone). It was very interesting seeing how it was all made and how well it had lasted the test of time. It has an amazing drainage system, feeding many ponds and fountains, they were used to cool the Fort in the heat of summer and for watering crops and gardens. There were summer and winter sections of the Fort, to provide either cool or warm/sheltered places depending on the season. We even saw the remanents of original wall paintings from the time of the Moghuls, drawings of elephants, horses, maidens, flowers and Hindu Gods. There are also graphical indications of the influences that the changing shape of the Moghul Rulers philosophy had on the decor, as they moved from a secular society to a more stricter muslim one.
From there we hit the road again for a short drive to Bharatpur for lunch. Bharatpur is a famous Twitcher place. It is the destination of many migratory birds from the Himalayas, who come there for the winter, so between the months of Nov and March every year there are thousands of birds in town attracting many birdwatching enthusiasts. After lunch we had another short drive to the train station, and waited for our train to Ranthambhore. No we didn’t travel on the roof of the train, comfortable class for us. 🙂
Its was 2hr 15min ride to our destination, 5 stops on our train. The train that left the station 20mins before us was going passed the same place as we are heading but it was an all stops, and would arrive an hour later than our train and it didn’t look as comfortable! The countryside on the way was typical rural for this part of India, the fields are both still under crop or laying fallow or ploughed waiting for the next seasons crop. We were told that the winter crops are far more valuable to the farmers than the summer ones. They plant mustard, wheat, soya beans and barley (amongst other things)
We arrived at Ranthambhore a little ahead of schedule at 6pm, and were immediately picked up by an A&K rep. We were in a car within 5 mins and at our “Campsite” (aka The Oberoi Vanyavilas.
On the way we were given a briefing on our schedule for the next 3 days. There are Ranthambhore NP Safaris every morning at 6:30 and again in the afternoon at 2:30. Each safari goes for 3 hours and in a different section of the National Park. We get a driver and a Naturalist to take us around, and hopefully see some tigers. 🙂
On arrival we were given the traditional welcome with a Tilak on our forehead (We are getting used to all these customs) and a glass of fresh watermelon juice. We were then given a tour of the facilities and taken to our Tent (room). Our tent is amazing, a king size bed, claw footed bath, our own private garden with day beds, yes comfortable! 🙂
We settled in and then went for dinner. We had dinner outside in an enclosed courtyard, with a couple of (Very good) Indian musicians playing traditional instruments. The highlight was the best Matar Paneer we have ever had, bursting with flavour, yum! So much food!
We then called it a day, we have a wake-up call scheduled for 5:45am tomorrow, with coffee and tea in the foyer before we head out on our first Tiger Safari. 🙂
Congratulations Laura on your great 10km (47:51) run this morning, good to hear you’re in the “Red” runners for next years City to Surf.
Was great to to a bit of family Facetime this morning from our balcony in Agra, we loved chatting with you.
Congrats to Kate and Seth on buying your first home, enjoy. 🙂
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Deb and Greg, you are both so lucky to be living your dreams. It is as if I am right there with you. I love your photos, especially of the people. They are amazing. Can’t wait to read more!
Another great blog what an awesome time you’re having, it was lovely to chat with you yesterday, you both seem very relaxed, looking forward to the next updates xoxo
Yeah I wouldn’t call that a tent!!!! But it is a very nice way to camp!
It was lovely to have some FaceTime. Xox enjoy!!
I think what you are doing is referred to as “Glamping” 😉