Castle Mandawa

Today we made our way to Mandawa which is in rural Rajastan. We stayed at Castle Mandawa which is now a heritage hotel which is a beautifully restored castle. The castle itself is stunning.









After lunch we took a camel ride through the town. It was a bit scary to start but great once we got going. We went all around town and being so high got a good view of peoples houses and the beautiful buildings. (sorry no photos of the camel as we could not let go but will add some when I can download from one of our group).

After this we took a walking tour through town to look at the buildings. The village is made up of Haveli's. Some of which have been renovated but otherwise are lived in by the locals. The homes comprise of a courtyard with rooms to the side for the men and then a back courtyard surrounded by rooms for the women. The families living there now just use a few rooms at the back. All the Haveli's are beautifully crafted and painted and it is like walking into a different world. The village I surrounded by sand with a small Tarmac road running through it. The streets are full of the usual mass of people, dogs and cows and here you also have camels and donkeys in the mix! Certainly very different from Delhi and Jaipur!

It is a bit of a trek north but well worth a visit.

Tomorrow we set off on a mammoth trip back to Delhi by road and we hope to get to the markets in the evening. The next day we are up early for our journey to Shimla! Cannot believe we are nearly at the final leg of the tour!


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Jaipur

This morning we visited Amber Fort. The fort palace of Amber was the Kachhawaha citadel until 1727 when their capital moved to Jaipur. The fort includes the hall of private residence as well as private apartments for the men and separate apartments with courtyards for the women. When touring around you can see the old path ways of the city and get a real feel for how people used and lived here. The view of the fort from outside with it's surrounding Walls is magnificent and the paintings and architect inside is breathtaking. This is a real must to visit.





























Later in the day we took to the streets of the city for some shopping. The market places are bustling with stalls selling textiles, jewellery, household goods, souvenirs. It is amazing the difference in pricing from shops next door to one another. It is a wonderful experience to walk, around but actual shopping can be exhausting with persistent vendors pretending not to hear you and showing you the opposite of what you ask to see. However, a real must for Jaipur.


Dinner time in market restaurant Krishna style:



Mum trying on size small!:


The floating palace:



This evening we went to the famed cinema Raj Mandir to watch a Bollywood film. The film was in Hindi but was still easy to follow and amazingly good fun! Mum cried all the way through!







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Rajastan

Today we are making our way through Rajastan to the capital, Jaipur.

Rajastan differs from other regions in that it has free medical treatment for all and free government schooling. In addition, girls are provided with school uniforms and pens and pencils as well as pushbikes if they live further than 2 km from school in order to encourage their attendance.

This is the only region where turbans are worn. The colour worn depends upon cast. Red is the colour worn by the warrior cast, white is for a farmer and the style depends on where you are going.

Rajastan is in general a more fertile area where everyone owns a smallholding or farm as well as having day jobs. I. The villages and towns, the highest casts (priests and warriors) will live in the centre with the lowest cast living on the outskirts. The government now guarantees 200 days employment to everyone in the village where they will undertake local development. They are paid direct into a bank account to avoid any corruption with local governments. The minimum wage is 20,000 rupees per month and jjcvhmno individual taxes are paid for salaries up to 500,000 rupees per annum. Higher than this, taxes are paid and these people will work in private companies.






Jaipur is often called the Pink City as the buildings are washed in this colour. The heart of the city is surrounded by the old Walls of the city which house the City Palace, the astronomical observatory and the Hawa Mahal as well as bazaars that sell everything!

Our tour in Jaipur began with viewing Hawa Mahal, known as the Palace of the Winds. It was built in 1799 by Sawai Pratap Singh and dedicated to Lord Krishna. It is 5 storeys high and one room thick built to enable the veiled ladies of the harem to observe the streets below unnoticed.


We then continued with a tour of the City Palace, the home of the present Maharajah of Jaipur. Part of the complex is open to the public and you can view the public buildings that lead to private apartments and the throne room. The museum also includes weaponry and clothing.















The astronomical observatory known as Jantar Mantar is well preserved with a number of structures that look like something from the future. The structures are used to forecast weather and to determine peoples exact astrological profiles. It was extremely interested. Based on my time of birth my profile is a person of independence, decisive, self made and occasional ego problems (ha!). Mum was described as occasionally aggressive (and if you saw how she deals with persistent street hagglers, you would see this is perhaps true!)





We then took a Rickshaw around town going through alleys and busy streets full of vendors, shops, Market food stalls and lots of cars, tuc tucs, bikes and people all fighting for a piece of the road. It was great fun and a good way to see Jaipur town.
















We then returned to the hotel late in the afternoon exhausted and had an early night in preparation for tomorrow. Mum says this is her best day yet and she is in love with Jaipur. It is a city which you imagine India to be like and where scenes from Hotel Marigold were shot.


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On the trail of tigers!

We were up early this morning before breakfast to go on our first safari to the Ranthambhore National Park which is famed as a tiger reserve but also houses jackal, hyenas, panthers, sloth bears, antelopes, deers and crocodiles in it's 106 miles as well as numerous species of birds.

Most people visit here in the hope to sight a tiger although we are warned how rare a sighting is likely to be. Having said that, the scenery is stunning with the boulders upon which the fort sites right at the top, tree filled jungle areas and wide open spaces. There are also a number of beautiful lakes.

This morning we viewed crocodiles and deers as well as a number of birds. No Tiger though. Ah well we will try again later in the day!












Between safaris we went for a walk local shops. Unfortunately thy were geared towards tourists and although they have beautiful handicrafts, they are priced so differently between shops and you need to barter. As you walk up the dusty road you share your pathway with cows, goats and pigs. We have never walked a street with pigs, so bizarre but perfectly normal here!


We returned later in the afternoon for another safari. Seeing the park at a different time of day is wonderful as the scenery is so different. The park was full with deer and birds. We also spotted more crocodiles and monkeys. However despite our search, we did not find a tiger. Nonetheless, it is beautiful park although the roads are very bumpy and it is very hard to stay seated!












We ended the day with a local massage and dinner. Another early rise tomorrow as we head to Jaipur.


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