Friday 20th February: Delhi

Today is our last day in India before we fly home. We left today as a shopping day - firstly we caught the metro to a crafts market. Even though the market was only a 3 min walk from the metro we unfortunately walked the wrong way and got very lost.....it was ok at first as we kept thinking it was around the corner but then we realised we must have gone the wrong way - after walking around for about 20 mins we eventually found it. I didn't like it much there and we got hassled quite a bit from the vendors so ended up not buying anything. We then stopped off at another place where we had been before and had a better shopping experience!!

We have really enjoyed our holiday in India - we have packed a lot in over the last 2 weeks and have had some wonderful experiences. We have enjoyed meeting the people, experiencing the craziness of the cities of Delhi & Jaipur, the calmness and countryside of Ramatha and Shahpura, the beauty of the Taj Mahal and the spirituality of the Sikh and Hindu temples. India is a place of colour, sound and energy and unlike anywhere else we have been before - we will definitely be back.

 

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Thursday 19th February: Neemrana

This morning we had some free time before our drive back to Delhi and we went on a walk around Neemrana village with a guide. Our first stop was a step well which was built in the 18th century and is 9 storeys deep - it was built to collect the monsoon rains so that the villagers had water.

A view from the top of the step well

The steps down were quite worn so you had to be careful or you could go tumbling in to the well never to be seen again!

Further down in the step well

We walked around the town and were introduced to a few of the local tradesmen, including the guides brother and dad who were jewellers and showed us how they made the jewellery - we even got to hold a piece of gold! Whilst walking around the village a man shouted something whilst walking past and the guide told me I had just had a marriage proposal (I am sure if Peter got the chance he would swap me for 2 camels and a goat!).

One of the tradesmen we met.

A local barber offered to give Peter a wet shave with a cut throat razor for £1 but he declined! Our final stop was at a local school and as soon as we walked in we were mobbed! The kids wanted to shake our hands and hold on to you - and not just a few but loads of them. I have never had so many kids hanging off me - they were very sweet though, although when I was showing them their photos on the camera they were all grabbing it to take a look and were a bit rough with it!

Our journey back to Delhi took about 3 hours - we have returned to the Homestay where we stayed at the beginning of the trip. This evening we went to a local Italian restaurant for a meal and it was very nice - we fancied something a bit different after so many indian meals!

 

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Wednesday 18th February: Shahpura & Neemrana

This morning we were woken up by the sounds of chanting and music from the town - when I looked at my phone to see what the time was it was 5am! At first I tried to get back to sleep but it was too loud - I looked over at Peter who was sat up in bed not looking very happy! We must have eventually drifted back to sleep as it was a bit of a shock when our alarm went off! After breakfast we went on a camel safari - as I was too scared to ride on top of the camel (they are really tall!) we opted for the camel cart instead.

They took us through the town and then out in to the countryside, where we stopped at a farmers house for a cup of chai tea and a look round before coming back - it was very interesting. Seeing as we were quite a novelty just walking round the town, I am sure you can imagine what it was like riding through on a camel and cart! We had kids running after us, people shouting hello from their doors and rooftops, people stopping in the street to have a good look, people chuckling to themselves thinking 'crazy fools' - I felt like the Queen of Sheba sitting in my cart waving to everyone.

The farm that we stopped at.

On our way back we came across this car crammed with people - we have seen this a lot!

The people at the hotel wanted us to have lunch before we left but we couldn't stomach another 4 courses so we made our excuses and left. Our last stop before we return to Delhi is the Neemrana Fort Palace which dates back to the 15th Century. The Fort Palace looks lovely but a room is, shall we say, quaint and authentic...

Our small room

We spent most of the afternoon walking around the fort palace - there are so many nooks and crannies and the views were lovely.

View over Neemrana

In the evening, we had dinner on one of the outside terraces which was very nice.

 

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Tuesday 17th February: Shahpura

Today we drove approx 1.5 hours from Jaipur to a small town called Shahpura. We stayed on the edge of the town in a 300 year old palace! It has been beautifully restored with just 5 guest rooms.

The beautiful palace

The terrace near our room

Our bedroom - massive bed!

One of the lounge areas

We arrived just before lunch and we were asked if we wanted anything to eat and told us to meet them in the dining room at 1pm. We arrived and we were the only people in the big dining room - we then found out we were the only people in the hotel so we have a palace all to ourselves! Our lunch turned in to a 4 course banquet - lucky we are only here one night or we would be huge!

After lunch, and a rest from all the eating, we had a walk around the town with one of the members of staff. It was really interesting watching people go about their daily lives, and they were pretty interested in us as well - I have never been stared at so much in my life! Apparently they don't get many westerners so we were a bit of a novelty.

A street in the town

Cobbler at work

Hanging out with my new friends!

As with the village that we visited in Ramathra, the kids loved having their photos taken, and would shout hello and wave at us as we walked round.

After the walk, we stopped to look at the unrestored part of the palace which they are planning to restore to make the hotel bigger. We were taken upstairs and I did think I hope this is safe and we don't go plunging through the floorboards!

The unrestored part of the palace

This evening we had another 4 course meal - we still felt pretty full from lunch. It was a bit strange because, with a main meal of chicken curry & rice, they also put coleslaw, noodles and potatoes (similar to chips) on the same plate. I would have taken a picture but we had two waiters standing to attention for most of the time so it was a bit tricky! We have been hearing all kinds of sounds coming from the town this evening, from loud indian music, to a band playing and now we have some weird chanting going on - not sure if this is the norm or it is because there is a Hindu celebration going on today!

 

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Monday 16th February: Jaipur

This morning we had a city of tour with a guide named Gupta. Our first stop was Jal Mahal which is a palace, built in the mid 18th Century, in the middle of a lake - you can't visit it so we just took a photo.

Our next stop was the Govind Devji Temple, which is a Hindu temple that prays to Govind Dev, also known as Krishna. It is open 7 times a day and had just opened again when we arrived - This is Gupta's local temple and he took us right amoungst everyone praying and worshiping and I did feel a bit like an intruder but nobody seemed bothered! The men and women were separate so I was standing on my own amoungst the ladies (and I was like a giant compared to all the tiny Indian ladies!) and Peter and Gupta were in the men's section. Gupta moved Peter right to the front which he didn't feel comfortable about as people were trying to get to the front to pray!

Me buying some garlands to give as an offering in the temple - you can see my hands!

The crowds of people worshipping

There was lots of singing and wailing and people were desperate to get to the front to pay their respects. One of the holy men started splashing holy water over the crowds and people were opening their mouths to take in the water - I kept my firmly shut, and I wasn't overly thrilled about getting splashed either and tried to discreetly wipe it off my face! Towards the end of the session, when they started to close the curtains around the alter there was a real commotion, with people desperate to get a last look of the shrine before it was hidden by the curtains - I have never experienced anything like it, but it was a good experience.

The alter and shrine

Our next stop was the City Palace, where we had a tour of the private apartments there. Because it was a behind the scenes tour - and Gupta works at the palace when he not being a guide - we were the only ones viewing the rooms.

The last stop on our city tour was Jantar Mantar which is a huge outdoor astronomical observatory (astronomy is big in India, especially in the olden days). To be honest I found it to be a bit boring and switched off to what he was saying when he suddenly asked me a question - I told him it was going over my head a bit and he said it is because you are not listening to me - I thought yes because it is boring! Peter seemed quite interested though (or perhaps not as obvious as me!).

Jantar Mantar

We went back to our hotel for lunch and then in the afternoon I had arranged a walking tour through the bazaars. We met our guide Katha who walked us through tiny streets, showed us an old haveli, gave us different food to taste, and then introduced us to a local family who we had masala tea with whilst sitting in their home. It was quite an experience - VERY full on, with lots of things going on around you - and I was glad that we had the guide with us.

One of the small lanes we went down

Inside the home where we stopped for tea

 

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Sunday 15th February: Jaipur

Today we went out with our driver to see the forts of Jaipur. The first one was Amber Fort, which was built in the 16th century and is about 6 miles out of the centre of Jaipur.

Amber Fort

You could ride an elephant up to the fort but as we have done that before we decided not to do it, but it was lovely seeing the elephants arrive at the fort as there was loads of them!

Elephants arriving at the fort

Elephants walking up the hill to the fort.

The fort was very big with some lovely features and we enjoyed looking around it.

The next fort we visited was Jaigarh Fort which was not as fancy as the Amber Fort and a little bit run down but it had some lovely views. There was a massive cannon there which was apparently the worlds largest!

The third and final fort was Nahargarh Fort which had a palace in the centre of it. The palace was very nice to begin with but it had many rooms that all looked the same and we got lost - we have obviously must have looked lost as the guards were trying to tell us where to go with sign language and broken English - we were relieved to finally get out!

Inside the palace

View from the palace roof

Whilst looking around the fort we must have walked in to a restricted area as one of the guards blew his whistle at us and when we looked over just shook his head and pointed the other way!

Step well inside the fort

We had 'out forted' ourselves by the end of the day and we were glad to get back to our hotel to relax before dinner. It seems much hotter in Jaipur than anywhere else and we really started to feel it whilst making our way around the forts. As it started to feel a bit cooler in the early evening we sat out on the balcony listen to the sounds of the city - India has just beat Pakistan in the cricket World Cup so there are fireworks going off even though it isn't dark yet!

 

 

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