I could tell I was tired this morning when I realized on the bus I had forgotten to wash out all of the conditioner in my hair. Thankfully although it felt like a gooey mess for a while it didn't look too bad and I thought of starting a new fashion after all the instructions say leave it on for a while.
We spent a bit of time on the bus today and as we rode along I thought about all the forms of transport we have used this week. Cars (noisy, smelly, aggressive and seat belts only in the front), tuk tuks (quieter, noisy, more agile, cheap), rickshaws (difficult to maintain momentum up hills so driver is very aggressive and competitive with other vehicles and takes a few risks), buses (big and can rule the road but still no seat belts), jeep (great for rocky uphill tracks but still no seat belts). Which is where our day began.
G adventures don't allow us to ride the elephants up the hill to the 11th century palace. It's apparently too hot for the beautiful graceful animals and they have a pretty hard time. We all agreed and instead embarked on a jeep ride through the back streets along some fairly bumpy roads. We wandered around the palace and I longingly looked at the wall high up on the hill. If I was with Harry we would take a day and do the 11 kilometre walk. The palace was the first place we had been to where there were a number of tours and guides and straight away I felt a loss of the Indian culture and color.
After a few hours of taking creative photos around a huge and magnificent palace we drove to a textile place where I spent some money and then we drove on to our hotel in the little village Sawarda. Ever heard of the Exotic Marigold Hotel. Well we are staying at a very similar place. The photos say it all. Magical. We wandered the little town followed by children who wanted their photos taken. 'Don't give them your camera as the children will run home to show their parents the photos' was the instruction. We were welcomed into someones home where we sae the central courtyard watched complete with motor bike and cooking fire. The house wss very clean and the floor newly decorated for the festival season. A potter also moulded his clay and we were told that each family hasxa unique pattern pattern painted on so you can return if faulty
. Teenagers too cool to have their photos taken or to say hello passed by on their motor bikes more than once. A very humbling and moving experience.
I am quite impressed with the changes the Indian government is making. Snake charmers are banned for new snakes. As they only live for about two years in captivity this means soon this cruel circus activity will be no more. Children have free clothing and food and medical care is free for all. Villages have subsidies for building toilets and for getting LPG for cooking. Our guide couldn't really tell us where the money came from but there must be a magic pot somewhere as 60% of Indians live in villages and villagers don't pay tax. He also said it is very difficult to leave India even for a holiday, you need to own land so you come back.
The last evening of this part of the tour was spent drinking chai tea, flying kites as it is the kite festival (which includes a day of charity, lighting chinese lanterns (sort of like a little hot air balloon but a huge fire risk particularly when one of ours landed in a tree) and playing silly party games around a bonfire. Stories of ghosts made some people concerned which is possibly why quite a lot of gin and vodka was consumed. An amazing experience. The following day we headed back to Delhi a long day with no new adventures but simply a reinforcement of the things we have seen in the past week.
We spent a bit of time on the bus today and as we rode along I thought about all the forms of transport we have used this week. Cars (noisy, smelly, aggressive and seat belts only in the front), tuk tuks (quieter, noisy, more agile, cheap), rickshaws (difficult to maintain momentum up hills so driver is very aggressive and competitive with other vehicles and takes a few risks), buses (big and can rule the road but still no seat belts), jeep (great for rocky uphill tracks but still no seat belts). Which is where our day began.
G adventures don't allow us to ride the elephants up the hill to the 11th century palace. It's apparently too hot for the beautiful graceful animals and they have a pretty hard time. We all agreed and instead embarked on a jeep ride through the back streets along some fairly bumpy roads. We wandered around the palace and I longingly looked at the wall high up on the hill. If I was with Harry we would take a day and do the 11 kilometre walk. The palace was the first place we had been to where there were a number of tours and guides and straight away I felt a loss of the Indian culture and color.
After a few hours of taking creative photos around a huge and magnificent palace we drove to a textile place where I spent some money and then we drove on to our hotel in the little village Sawarda. Ever heard of the Exotic Marigold Hotel. Well we are staying at a very similar place. The photos say it all. Magical. We wandered the little town followed by children who wanted their photos taken. 'Don't give them your camera as the children will run home to show their parents the photos' was the instruction. We were welcomed into someones home where we sae the central courtyard watched complete with motor bike and cooking fire. The house wss very clean and the floor newly decorated for the festival season. A potter also moulded his clay and we were told that each family hasxa unique pattern pattern painted on so you can return if faulty
I am quite impressed with the changes the Indian government is making. Snake charmers are banned for new snakes. As they only live for about two years in captivity this means soon this cruel circus activity will be no more. Children have free clothing and food and medical care is free for all. Villages have subsidies for building toilets and for getting LPG for cooking. Our guide couldn't really tell us where the money came from but there must be a magic pot somewhere as 60% of Indians live in villages and villagers don't pay tax. He also said it is very difficult to leave India even for a holiday, you need to own land so you come back.
The last evening of this part of the tour was spent drinking chai tea, flying kites as it is the kite festival (which includes a day of charity, lighting chinese lanterns (sort of like a little hot air balloon but a huge fire risk particularly when one of ours landed in a tree) and playing silly party games around a bonfire. Stories of ghosts made some people concerned which is possibly why quite a lot of gin and vodka was consumed. An amazing experience. The following day we headed back to Delhi a long day with no new adventures but simply a reinforcement of the things we have seen in the past week.
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