Brahmin Blue

Rajasthan, awash with colour as we have said previously was no different today. We departed Jaisalmer, ‘The Golden City’ and headed towards Jodhpur, ‘The Blue City’.

It was a great drive, approximately 280 klms with flat scrubby desert landscapes morphing into rocky hills along the way. The trees were greener and larger and more frequent. Quite different to what we had experienced so far. We passed through Balesar, and while it was a bit ‘grubby’, the village was a hectic place with swarms of trucks, tractors and men all going about the business of quarrying sandstone. The scale was much smaller than the Kimberley mining but still huge chunks of the hillsides had been mined and large machinery lifted, cut and stacked this valuable resource.

During our travels in Rajasthan we have stood in wonder of the skill of the artisans and the enduring strength of the sandstone and marble that has been employed as the building blocks of this amazing desert state.

Nearly 1000 years of storms, wind, rain and harsh sun has made little impact on the legacy left by the many artisans and stone masons from another time.

As we neared Jodhpur, the mighty Mehrangargh Fort appeared standing again on a rocky outcrop some 120 metres above the old city. We had been here before but still enjoyed the impressive view ahead.

Mehrangargh is another magnificent fort and construction began in 1459.

The Rathore leader Roa Jodha understood the geographical importance of his new fort and the new city Jodhpur. It was on the important trade route between Delhi and Gujurat.  Jodhpur grew on the profits of this trade route as caravans of opium, dates and sandalwood (another connection to the Kimberley ) passed through it’s gates.

The old town is a rabbit warren of winding narrow streets flanked by many buildings painted in the most fantastic shades of blue!
In traditional times this indicated the home of a Brahmin (the priestly class) and it supposedly had the side benefit of being cool and also keeping insects at bay?

Things are a little more relaxed today and non Brahmins can also use the blue colour on their homes, and many do, creating a most beautiful townscape from any point of elevation. The fort is an obvious place to get the best view! We walked up to Mehrangargh Fort for this exact reason. Wandering back down into the ‘Blue City’ itself we enjoyed the balance of the afternoon in and around the bazaar, using the century old clock tower as our reference point.

As the sun went down, and the spotlights lit the spectacular fort above us, we searched out a place for dinner. The winding alleyways of the old town were surprisingly well lit and it was great to see many kids simply being kids and playing games in the street while the families arranged their evening meals often on the front step. A real treat to see just how the locals live.

Something worth noting is that in reality, the majority of the world’s population lives like this.
We are definitely the minority with our abundant creature comforts and excesses.

We passed through one alleyway and a young guy caught our attention as he drummed up some business for his restaurant. He insisted we have a look inside ‘Ravla’, and he promised it was a great place to eat.

Trusting our theory that a restaurant with fairy lights is always good we went with our ‘gut feel’ and walked through the little gate to be greeted by a beautiful little garden, squeezed in between a couple of old buildings.

Old beer bottles were fixed to the walls that had small LED fairy lights inserted. The relaxing glow across the tables added to the atmosphere of the cosy courtyard set below some small trees.

He was very proud to tell us that his restaurant had only been open for a couple of months but already was number 4 on trip advisor.
He had done a brilliant job and the service was attentive and the food tasty and pretty cheap. For a change from the Indian fare we have been eating for nearly a month now we settled on pizza and a Mexican quesadilla along with a tunda Kingfisher beer. Perfect!

We seem to constantly entertain the locals with our request for ‘Tunda’ Kingfisher. Tunda was one of those words we mastered quickly as it means COLD !  On approval of our Tunda beer we say ‘Tikka’ which means GOOD !

We don’t speak a great deal of Hindi, just a few important words that always seem to convince the locals that  we do speak it fluently.

It sometimes gets tricky when they wish to continue the conversations in full Hindi. We always end up with a flowing flap of arms and hand gestures along with just the right amount of head wobbles to order our food. In the end we either do or don’t understand each other but it really doesn’t matter. We haven’t been disappointed yet!  

Desert Dust

The Thar desert covers almost three quarters of Rajasthan and the western side of the state is known as the ‘Land of Death’!

Quite the opposite this area is so full of life!

The desert is sparse but covered with a mass of low scrub. Both animals and humans however have adapted well to this challenging landscape. Interestingly  there are many similarities to the Kimberley. Many plants the same and along with the camels and donkeys we also note the, what seems like, an invasion of Brahman cattle.    

Bikaner, one of the many desert towns was once on the trade route of the great merchants. With their camel caravans loaded with wares they used Bikaner as a staging post and so the town flourished.

As a result the imposing Junagarh fort (well worth a look ) was constructed between 1589 and 1593 by the then ruler Raja Rai Singh.

Outside the fort the actual town felt less busy than many others and it was nice to wonder around amongst the people and share their amazing life on the street.

From here we continued on to Jaisalmer, ‘The Golden City’.

The country was dead flat and as we approached the town of Jaisalmer. We couldn’t help but notice the amazing ancient fort, situated strategically on the hilltop looming out in the dusty distance.

It looked like the sand castles I am sure you all remember building, with the upturned buckets of sand as kids.

My sand castles only ever lasted until the next tide came in, whereas this incredible sandstone structure has stood the test of time with it’s construction dating back to 1156 AD. It is a living fort as subsequent rulers have added to the original structure and no longer is it just the Palace inside the mighty walls but now home to 5000 inhabitants.

We zig-zagged through four massive gates and climbed the gentle rise to the top. Massive wooden doors with large spikes protruding through the top half were designed to eliminate the possibility of the elephants of an invading party ramming through.

Inside the fort itself we were greeted by the string of souvenir and snack sellers. A real sight to see!! The women in their beautiful traditional saris and decorative nose rings were all happy to see a new wave of people and what we found interesting was that the majority were Indian local tourists. We seemed to slip by un-noticed.

Narrow winding alleyways headed off in every direction. We picked one and tried to get lost!! No luck as all the tiny streets seemed to hook up at some point and the walls were an obvious boundary, but it fun just to wonder without taking note of our tracks.

It was alive with people, motorbikes and of course cows roaming around the alleyways. It felt a little like Thamel in Kathmandu to us. A great little rooftop restaurant called ‘Free Tibet’ was an awesome spot to enjoy a plate of vegie dumplings and an amazing view. Below we could see the surrounding sprawling  new town where apparently 70,000 people call home.

After lunch we met with our driver for a trip out to the ‘Sam’ sand dune area some 40 klms west of town.

It’s was a good road and ‘what’? no traffic so Mr Ishu offered us a chance to drive.

Thommo had driven in Europe, the USA, much of South East Asia and all of Eastern Africa, he was confident to have a steer, but knew that he had adapt to the many quirky Indian techniques.

Roads in India are NOISY and it is seems almost mandatory to constantly toot your horn! We told Mr Ishu that this relates to road rage at home!! In India it just works.

As you approach an oncoming driver it is customary to give a quick toot almost like a ‘hi there, I am behind you’ and then another one to make sure he sees you and finally again when preparing to pass.

Finally, one more to say you are beside him and merging back in front of him. If you haven’t lost count already you may just get a return toot to say clear to merge. It is very entertaining considering that this tooting game works for almost everything, cows, donkeys, camel carts and stationary trucks.

Balding tyres? No worries! Poor brakes? No worries! Faulty blinkers (actually we think they are just stuck on J ), Nothing else really matters BUT a broken horn, well that would be the unthinkable and in their eyes just not safe!!

We did however arrive safely at the Sam sand dunes, the first true 100% sand dunes that we had seen in the Thar desert. Sam is popular among tourists as it presents an opportunity to participate in a late afternoon camel ride or Jeep Safari through the dunes.

Both Gools and I had ridden a camel before and have seen plenty while we have been based in Broome. We felt no need to take a ride but did wander around and grab a few photos.

As we headed back to town we were happy to avoid the oncoming tsunami of tourist buses and cars all heading west for the sunset.

A few klms from town Mr Ishu diverted off the highway for a quick look at some interesting ‘cenotaphs’ or as he called them ‘Chhatri Bara Bagh’

These are elaborate stone structures built in commemoration of the passing of important rulers of the region and while the area was a little neglected, the structures were quite impressive and a nice spot to watch the sunset without all the people.
Once the sun went down we headed into town and you guessed it went for some great food. The restaurant ‘Trio’ was a real find. A nice cold beer with dinner was a perfect way to wash away today’s desert dust!

 

 

 

 

  

Rajasthani Real Estate

The range of accommodation styles in Rajasthan is huge!

Modern hotels catering for all budgets from 2 star to amazing 5 star properties. Many of these hotels appear to be catering to very large tour groups. We do hope they are not missing out completely on the amazing experience to be had at the many Forts, Palaces and Majestic Haveli’s. Rajasthan is renowned for these Heritage style residences with many being converted to hotels which gives you a fantastic insight in to how the people with wealth and power once lived.

The powerful rulers built the forts and palaces while the wealthy merchants built the ‘Havelis’

The Haveli’s and ornately decorated residences that were commissioned by the wealthy merchants, who in most cases had moved away to trade in India’s new commercial centres and many date from the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries.

The wealth of the merchants was in many cases unimaginable and they were very competitive, all trying to build a home even more grand than their neighbours so the bulk of their vast fortunes were sent home to their families to complete these massive projects.

The highlight of Havelis in this region are the colourful frescoes that adorn absolutely every wall of the home, both inside and out. It is amazing to see them still in such great condition and many still bright in colour.

 ‘Mughal’ period decoration is an early style, which include floral designs and geometric patterns. The highly influential ‘Rajput’ style is also evident showing intricate Hindu mythological designs.

Upon the arrival of the Europeans, many of the previously unknown technologies that they introduced became commonplace scenes on the murals such as bicycles and aircraft.

They are a sight to see and absolutely bombard your visual senses at every turn. Each room in the Haveli’s are all decorated in different style and colour.

We saw one yesterday that was completely covered in small glass tiles. Every inch of every wall and the ceiling as well. While this type of room may suit some people we did note that particular room number so as to request to NOT have it next time we come here! A little over the top for us !!!

The other options for places to stay are the converted forts and palaces. What a treat to experience this historical accommodation style.

These properties are often constructed on a massive scale and have been a work in progress for 100’s of years and many with successive rulers. One that we stayed at was 9^th generation with family portraits that followed that families linage.

Grand entrance halls adorned with colourful murals and low doorways leading into cavernous dining rooms filled with fantastic antique furniture. The tables are ready set for the meals, and often the smell of a buffet meal fit for a prince can waft by.

We are currently in a smallish village called Mandawa, in the Shekawati region of Rajasthan. We are actually staying at ‘Castle Mandawa’ this time round and it is fantastic.

This whole region is renowned for its very old and beautiful Havelis. It is a great place to simply wander around with your camera and soak up the atmosphere as the village is small enough that it is easy to find your way back to your hotel or in our case “our Castle”.

The Rajasthani Rainbow

Jaipur, the bustling capital of Rajasthan is known quite simply as the ‘Pink City’.

The old part of town is chaotic in a fun kind of way with a number of captivating busy market areas with many colourful and over decorated rickshaws. One street in particular called Tripolia Bazaar is made up of lots of tiny shopfronts all with their vibrant clothes and wares exploding onto the footpath. Along with historical sights and traditionally dressed men and women this area is a must.

 
Jaipur was founded by Jai Singh a great Rajput warrior and astronomer. It is believed to be one of the first fully planned cities in Northern India with it’s  foundations being laid back in 1727.

It became known as the pink city in 1876 when the Maharaja Ram Singh ordered that the entire city to be painted pink, the traditional colour of hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales.

Laws have since been passed to compel all residents to preserve the now internationally recognised pink colour scheme.

The old city, enclosed by it’s impressive walls, and entered through huge beautiful gates is home to some absolute masterpieces of Rajput architecture. Those on the top of the list include the City Palace, Jantar Mantar (the observatory) and the fairy tale, pink sandstone ‘Hawa Mahal’, the ‘Palace of the Winds’.

 

The Hawa Mahal is certainly the most recognisable building in the city, capturing the imagination of all travellers.

This amazing building was constructed in 1799. It is 5 storeys high, but very narrow with many windows opening out onto the street. Each window obscured by delicately cut screens so to allow the ladies of the royal household to observe life on the street without being seen by the people below.

As we walked from our hotel to the ‘Hawa Mahal’ we wandered down through Tripolia Bazaar. The atmosphere was electric with street vendors bustling for sales and everything you can imagine was on offer from perfectly presented fruit and vege to beautifully decorated traditional Rajasthani shoes.

As we zigged and zagged through the bazaar we noticed one tour group gliding by with comparative ease on cycle rickshaws and decided that this particular option looked like a pretty good one!

I must just re-emphasise that for those of you that have read each of our posts, I wrote earlier in our trip that something had clearly changed in India, for the better! As was the case in Agra, even though we were down in amongst the crowd there was no hassle whatsoever….only minimal begging, and while the odd vendor tried to sell us some fruit, and of course some shoes, once you politely declined they simply smiled and you were on your way. The atmosphere was welcoming, the city was clean (by Indian standards) and the people were great.

A little later in the day we walked by a busy little local café that looked inviting so we decided that it was time to eat. We ordered an Egg curry, Paneer (cottage cheese) Masala (curry), some rice, a couple of chappati’s and a couple of naan breads. All up with a soft drink it cost us 180 rupees which is about $4.

Feeling satisfied we headed back down to the bazaar and enjoyed the colour and energy of the old city before returning home.

Tiger territory!

Ranthambhore National Park, covering an area of 1334 sq kms was once a Maharajas hunting ground with the centrepiece being the imposing Ranthambhore fort.

It was ironically turned into a sanctuary and now a National Park to try and protect the endangered Bengal Tiger. It was tiger that the Maharajas hunted for with such vigour.

The protection of the tigers for the most part seems to be working and according to the ‘Lonely Planet’ guidebook, the tiger numbers were 48 in 2014.

 During our many trips over the years through both Nepal and India, we have visited Chitwan NP in Nepal 3 times and Ranthambhore NP once. In both parks we were in search of the elusive tiger, and never spotted one. Having said that, this is not the only reason you would visit the parks as they are beautiful and there is still plenty to see.

 

So, this being the case we entered Ranthambhore again with little expectation of sighting a tiger. This time however we were lucky and spotted one tiger on  both the morning and afternoon safari!

A little obscured by the long grass we were still super excited to finally see our first one in the wild! We waited around for quite a while hoping it would stir but this was not the case. We continued through the park and saw plenty of Spotted Deer (Chital) Samba Deer and Blue Bull (Nilgai) along with lots of birdlife, including plenty of beautiful peacocks!

There are still many remnants of a bygone era scattered through the park including the old hunting pavilions.

Most people do as we did, an AM and a PM safari with a short rest back at the resort for lunch.

Our safari vehicle was an open air canter truck with very little added comfort. It carried 20 people along with the driver and guide. Each vehicle is allocated a specific route through the park to ensure an even spread of safari traffic. We took a different route each time. In the morning we traversed the plains with the hills as a back drop. The afternoon’s drive took a long and narrow rocky track skirting along the edge of a rocky range. Even if there was not a single animal in the park, the drive would be still worth it!

On the afternoon safari the tiger was a bit closer, awake, and hunched down in a typical feline attack position. It was watching some deer quite intently. Still a little too far away for us to get a decent photo with our iphone!!  

We waited at least 20 mins to see if it would make a move on the deer. Unfortunately the deer was well aware of the tigers presence and took off as soon as the tiger twitched.

Being late in the day and dusk approaching we returned to our hotel for a lovely hot shower and a cold beer. The buffet dinner was excellent, with lots of choice and was a perfect way to finish a very busy and exciting day.

Next Stop, Jaipur the ‘pink city’

Schools, Sanctuaries and Streets!

Over last night’s dinner, Vivasvat told us that his family controlled a trust that, among other things, helped to fund a school in a nearby local village of Kaila Devi.

When the school first opened we were amazed to learn that the Maharaja himself made a vehicle drive through all the surrounding villages with a loud speaker and plastered in banners in an attempt to encourage people to enrol their children in the new school. It did take a little while to get the enrolment levels up but now 820 students are attending. Kindergarten through to year 12.

This school has a female principle who is a very progressive thinker and works tirelessly to improve the life of the children in the area. She puts in an extra effort to make sure the young girls are equally encouraged. It is quite common to only send boys to school here in India as many young girls are kept home to work the house and the land.

 We were walked through the school passing by each classroom while the kids were studying. The year 3 and 4 students were learning English at the time and we had the pleasure of one young boy read some of his work for us. He did really well and we felt that these kids were being offered a really good opportunity thanks to the Maharaja.

As we moved through the school we could not help but notice how quiet the classrooms were, even taking into account that each class had around 50 students. They were well behaved and under the control of just one teacher. There was an obvious level of respect shown to the principal and teachers.

All in all it was a really positive experience and we hope that we can in some way support this school in the future.

The lunch bell was due to ring and the staff took us over to a separate building where all children are supplied lunch daily. The kitchen was buzzing with activity with many staff members preparing lunch for 820 kids.

The one piece of modern equipment they did have was a paratha (traditional flat bread) making machine. One kitchen hand sat on the machine and with a deft hand dropped balls of dough onto a rotating table timing it perfectly so that in the next action a press banged down and flattened the dough. The paratha then rotated through the machine and over a heating element and dropped out the other side cooked and ready to go!  A real time saver when catering for so many!

The bell rang indicating it was time for us to go before we got mobbed by 100’s of hungry kids so we headed for the car.

After visiting the school we drove back through the village of Kaila Devi. A bustling traditional village far from the westerner tourist trail. It was an important pilgrimage town and catered to these visitors with a number of purpose built guesthouse.

 Vegetable vendors lined the streets through the market area selling seasonal vegetables including cauliflower, radish, aubergine and red onions. Carts pulled by camels were commonplace as they pushed their way into the market area, loaded with goods

On the way back to Karauli we detoured through the Kaila Devi sanctuary. This area is the home to a number of simple villages, and as simple as they are, we were pleased to note that some of them generated their own solar power. The population levels were quite low so there were lots of open spaces and great views across vast plains. At one point the road dropped off the plateau dramatically down to the valley below .

A quick walk from the car was a lovely lake view offering some good bird watching opportunities. We saw what looked just like a Jabiru along with super sized geese and many ducks.

Back at the Bhanwar Vilas Palace we were greeted by Vivasvat and offered the chance to see more of the palace grounds.

The estate covered approximately 50 acres and included its own vegetable garden, dairy, chook pen and stables. The Palace garden etc completely supplied the kitchen and restaurant’s needs.

It’s a pretty major operation and employs 65 permanent staff.

We had to both stop for a second look as we passed the large garage area as it housed an old Bedford bus, a number of ex army ‘Willys’  jeeps and to our amazement a classic Desoto car that was in pristine condition but apparently hasn’t been driven for years, along with a lovely old Buick. Probably a good thing they stay in the garage as they would get knocked around on the busy India roads.
After a walk through the Palace grounds we were surprised to learn that the Maharaja himself was arriving soon and Vivisvat insisted we join them for lunch.
Now that was a first, Gools and Thommo dining with Indian royalty enjoying a very traditional colonial/ Indian spread.

Next stop, Ranthambore National Park, home of the endangered Bengal tiger!

Rural India

Agra is a busy city so it made sense to be up early and ready to get moving to try and beat the traffic. The plan worked and the city was soon diluted by the many ploughed fields preparing for the next crops.

The roads were relatively good but as is always the case in India they were busy with buses, cars, tractors and trucks peppered with the random sacred cows, camel and horse drawn carts and of course those on foot. Unlike Australia those on foot are not hitch hiking they are simply on foot.

The most unusual thing we saw on the road was a small group of people partaking in a most unusual pilgrimage. They seemed to be sleeping on the side of the road until they all popped up bowing their heads in prayer together and then again laying back down on the road. Apparently they will continue this standing / sleeping action until they reach the Temple. Our driver explained that this is very common and the distances from their home village to the Temple can be 40kms.

We stopped at a Dhaba for lunch. A very basic, very local roadside restaurant. Channa masala (chick pea curry) palak paneer and dhal with chapati bread. Tasty and cheap. Mr ishu, our driver was surprised that we were happy to eat where he eats and the look on his face was priceless. The ambiance was somewhat challenged by the noisy tractor digging a trench a few metres away but hey that’s rural India! 

We continued on to the village of Karauli which didn’t rate a mention in our Lonely Planet guide book. However trusting the suggestion of our friend Mr Nadeem in Delhi we thought it was worth visiting.

We bumped our way into Karauli across the rough,rocky and mostly dirt roads. Mr Ishu suggested that this was a village showing great “progress”. Progress is the word they use to explain major roadworks…..looking at each other we had a silent chuckle.

Eventually we drove through some old gates to be met by the most amazing group of yellow buildings forming a Heritage Palace dating back to 1938. It was the original residence of the Maharaja of Karauli and still is !

Arriving at reception we were greeted by friendly staff along with the great grandson of the Maharaja who built this property. He along with his wife took the time to explain the history of the family and the Palace. The Palace was adorned with great relics from a bygone area, including old swords and guns responsible for the many hunting trophies that adorned the walls, dating back hundreds of years. We were led through a very colonial formal dining room out into a magnificent courtyard and then over to our room which was decorated with fantastic art deco furniture that dated back to the time that the building was constructed.

Gools and I looked at each other and agreed that the Palace was incredible   and added it to our list of places to revisit. No sooner did we settle into our room we were offered the chance to go and see the town palace. Having no opportunity to research the palace beforehand we went with no true expectations.

Karauli City Palace, what a hidden gem, not on the tourist route at all. It dated back many hundreds of years and the colourful decorations were still amazingly vibrant. We were not the only westerners in town, but apparently we were the only westerners to visit the palace today.

It was amazing to note that it was mostly untouched and the condition still original. It was explained to us that there was funding available to help with a  restoration project in the near future.

As the sun went down, our guide, Mr Man Singh suggested that if we were interested we could go and visit the local temple at prayer time.

This temple honoured Shri Madan Mohanji, the deity of Lord Krishna, worshipped by millions of followers from Rajasthan and the rest of India.

We removed our shoes and were ushered in with hundreds of worshippers. Not being too sure of what to do we positioned ourselves near the back. The temple had long curtains and long strings of beads across the altar and just a few minutes before 5:30 two men on opposite sides of the alter began to beat a flat bronze plate. The ringing was incredibly loud and the crowd instantly energised in anticipation of what was to follow. Of course we had no idea what that was going to be, but that was half the mystery!

Suddenly, a curtain was pulled and a man appeared briefly dashing across the back of the altar. Quite theatrically the crowd all jumped to their feet and began madly waving their hands in the air. He disappeared as quickly as he appeared, but we think that all the excitement was generated by the glimpse of a large black image of the deity Lord Krishna that was centre stage.

The crowd chanted and waved their arms in the air and looked like they were blessing themselves with the sheer atmosphere.  After a few minutes, women in traditional sari’s sat on the floor and began to sing to the beat of many drums. The crowd seemed to settle but there was still quite a festive atmosphere surrounding us. We sat back and enjoyed the moment and then left the worshippers to their prayer. It was quite an amazing experience!

We walked back to the Bhanwar Vilas Palace, the home of the Maharaja and were invited to dinner with his son, Vivasvat and his lovely wife.

The meal was delicious and our hosts were very modern and fun.

Walking back to our room we felt very privileged to have had the experience today that we did. It was so unexpected and enjoyable. India does deliver !!