You can't get that service at New Street!
15 November 2009
Zip-wallah
Ever since my bag got broken into and robbed in South Africa I've been unable to lock it as the zips were hacked off by the thieving toe-rag scumbags. Thanks to the Zip-wallah who was plying his trade on the platform at Jaipur station it's now fully repaired and good as new.
You can't get that service at New Street!
You can't get that service at New Street!
14 November 2009
Jaipur - the pink city
Jaipur is sometimes referred to as the pink city. In 1876 every building was painted pink, a colour that represents hospitality, for the visit of the Prince of Wales (who would later become King Edward VII). The tradition continues today with the all of the buildings in the old city being painted pink.
The most famous sight in Jaipur is probably Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, which dates from 1799.
The practice of purdah, keeping women veiled and in seclusion, was and still is a custom among some conservative Rajputs. The Palace of the Winds acted like a big burka and allowed the women of the royal court to watch the action in the city street below without having the lustful eyes of any men fall on them. I may modify our balcony at the flat in Birmingham in a similar manner when we get home.
Hawa Mahal is located in the heart of the walled Old City and is surrounded by a chaotic and bustling bazaar. The bazaar is divided into quarters each specialising in a different trade such as saris, gems, pots, shoes and even bangles.
In the middle of the Old City lies the City Palace where the current maharaja lives.
The the highlight of the palace was Pitam Niwas Chowk, a courtyard which featured four ornamental gates that represent spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Just over the road from the palace is Jantar Mantar, built in 1728 by the founder of Jaipur, Maharaja Jai Singh II.
Although it looks like a modern art sculpture garden on acid it is infact an observatory used for tracking various celestial objects and assisting in the bunkum that is astrology.
There's loads of different types of astronomical instruments including the Worlds biggest sundial.
With a height of 27m it can be used to measure time intervals as small as 2 seconds.
We also made a trip out to Amber, a massive walled city 11km from Jaipur that was the ancient capital before Jaipur was founded. At the center of the city is the Amber Fort which dates from 1592.
Although the trip around Amber was fairly interesting the best thing was that the effects of the cyclone had passed and the sun came out!
India isn't reknown for it's night life and we discovered why after a visit to Reds, supposedly the most happening bar in town. The music on the evening we visited consisted entirely of pan pipe cover versions of lame 80's power ballads!
We followed the excitement of Reds with a visit to the Raj Mandir Cinema to catch a Bollywood movie. We saw a film called Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahni which proved quite hard to follow as it was entirely in Hindi! We had a great time though as the cinema experience is a lot more interactive than back home. The atmosphere was crazy. There was so much shouting, cheering and jeering it was more like being at a football match.
The most famous sight in Jaipur is probably Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, which dates from 1799.
The practice of purdah, keeping women veiled and in seclusion, was and still is a custom among some conservative Rajputs. The Palace of the Winds acted like a big burka and allowed the women of the royal court to watch the action in the city street below without having the lustful eyes of any men fall on them. I may modify our balcony at the flat in Birmingham in a similar manner when we get home.
Hawa Mahal is located in the heart of the walled Old City and is surrounded by a chaotic and bustling bazaar. The bazaar is divided into quarters each specialising in a different trade such as saris, gems, pots, shoes and even bangles.
In the middle of the Old City lies the City Palace where the current maharaja lives.
The the highlight of the palace was Pitam Niwas Chowk, a courtyard which featured four ornamental gates that represent spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Just over the road from the palace is Jantar Mantar, built in 1728 by the founder of Jaipur, Maharaja Jai Singh II.
Although it looks like a modern art sculpture garden on acid it is infact an observatory used for tracking various celestial objects and assisting in the bunkum that is astrology.
There's loads of different types of astronomical instruments including the Worlds biggest sundial.
With a height of 27m it can be used to measure time intervals as small as 2 seconds.
We also made a trip out to Amber, a massive walled city 11km from Jaipur that was the ancient capital before Jaipur was founded. At the center of the city is the Amber Fort which dates from 1592.
Although the trip around Amber was fairly interesting the best thing was that the effects of the cyclone had passed and the sun came out!
India isn't reknown for it's night life and we discovered why after a visit to Reds, supposedly the most happening bar in town. The music on the evening we visited consisted entirely of pan pipe cover versions of lame 80's power ballads!
We followed the excitement of Reds with a visit to the Raj Mandir Cinema to catch a Bollywood movie. We saw a film called Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahni which proved quite hard to follow as it was entirely in Hindi! We had a great time though as the cinema experience is a lot more interactive than back home. The atmosphere was crazy. There was so much shouting, cheering and jeering it was more like being at a football match.
13 November 2009
Cyclones and Tigers
Since Paul and Sarah arrived in India the weather has been slowly deteriorating, getting cloudier, grayer, colder and on Thursday, very wet. We originally thought that they had brought the bad weather with them from England. However; yesterday we discovered from the front page of a local newspaper that we were in fact feeling the effects from cyclone Phyan which was causing chaos out in the Arabian Sea.
We'd come to Ranthambore to visit the national park in order to try and spot some tigers in the wild. Up until the 1970's the park was the Maharajas' hunting ground but now serves as a wildlife reserve for the last few remaining tigers in Rajasthan (41 at the time of our visit).
Safaris into the park are conducted in what the locals call a "canter". This turned out to be an open sided 20 seat van with a sheet metal roof. We discovered quite early on that this probably isn't the best sort of vehicle to go out in a cyclone in. To say we got a bit cold and wet would be something of an understatement.
It was all worth while in the end though when we managed to see some wild tigers, one of which at fairly close quarters. However; the cyclone conditions with black skys and driving rain made getting any decent pictures somewhat challenging!
The park also contains lots of other animals including leopards, sloth bears, monkeys, antelope and dear too.
Although the bad weather was a little annoying it was nowhere near as annoying as the staff at Hotel Anurag Resort where we stayed. Apart from the appaling service they were possibly the most incompetent staff we've encountered since the lovely folks at Sepilok Jungle Resort. They tried to overcharge our hotel bill by over 50% for food that we didn't have and they overcharged Paul and Sarah by 25% for a superior room when they put them in a standard one.
We'd come to Ranthambore to visit the national park in order to try and spot some tigers in the wild. Up until the 1970's the park was the Maharajas' hunting ground but now serves as a wildlife reserve for the last few remaining tigers in Rajasthan (41 at the time of our visit).
Safaris into the park are conducted in what the locals call a "canter". This turned out to be an open sided 20 seat van with a sheet metal roof. We discovered quite early on that this probably isn't the best sort of vehicle to go out in a cyclone in. To say we got a bit cold and wet would be something of an understatement.
It was all worth while in the end though when we managed to see some wild tigers, one of which at fairly close quarters. However; the cyclone conditions with black skys and driving rain made getting any decent pictures somewhat challenging!
The park also contains lots of other animals including leopards, sloth bears, monkeys, antelope and dear too.
Although the bad weather was a little annoying it was nowhere near as annoying as the staff at Hotel Anurag Resort where we stayed. Apart from the appaling service they were possibly the most incompetent staff we've encountered since the lovely folks at Sepilok Jungle Resort. They tried to overcharge our hotel bill by over 50% for food that we didn't have and they overcharged Paul and Sarah by 25% for a superior room when they put them in a standard one.
11 November 2009
Around Agra
Yesterday, whilst we were still in Agra we also paid a visit to Agra Fort, a Mughal castle from the 16th century. It was a fairly interesting diversion after the excitement of the Taj Mahal.
Today we hired a car and driver for the day to take us to Bharatpur where we would get the train to our next destination, Ranthambore.
On the way we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri which was briefly the Mughal capital between 1571 and 1585. The town was abandoned 14 years after construction started due to the city being built in an area affected by drought.
The highlight of the abandoned city was the Jama Masjid mosque which contained the white marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti.
The building had some incredibly elaborately carved marble screen windows which childless women tie thread to in the hope of getting a son. Liz kept her string well away from the windows.
To enter the tomb you had to cover your head. For the men this meant that you had to wear a small plastic hat that looked a little bit like something that chicken in a basket would be served in at a Harvester pub.
Before we hopped on the train at Bharatpur we also paid a flying visit to the Keoladeo Ghana National Park where we were whisked around in a couple of bicycle-rickshaws.
The park is supposed to be an excellent place for bird watching as it is a stop off place for migratory birds. Unfortunately the last monsoon was a little dry in Rajasthan so there wasn't much water in the lakes which meant the birds where a little thin on the ground. We saw a spattering of parakeets, kingfishers and a couple of Saras cranes. The lack of water made spotting the mammals a little easier and we were lucky enough to also see a jungle cat and a pack of Jackals.
Today we hired a car and driver for the day to take us to Bharatpur where we would get the train to our next destination, Ranthambore.
On the way we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri which was briefly the Mughal capital between 1571 and 1585. The town was abandoned 14 years after construction started due to the city being built in an area affected by drought.
The highlight of the abandoned city was the Jama Masjid mosque which contained the white marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti.
The building had some incredibly elaborately carved marble screen windows which childless women tie thread to in the hope of getting a son. Liz kept her string well away from the windows.
To enter the tomb you had to cover your head. For the men this meant that you had to wear a small plastic hat that looked a little bit like something that chicken in a basket would be served in at a Harvester pub.
Before we hopped on the train at Bharatpur we also paid a flying visit to the Keoladeo Ghana National Park where we were whisked around in a couple of bicycle-rickshaws.
The park is supposed to be an excellent place for bird watching as it is a stop off place for migratory birds. Unfortunately the last monsoon was a little dry in Rajasthan so there wasn't much water in the lakes which meant the birds where a little thin on the ground. We saw a spattering of parakeets, kingfishers and a couple of Saras cranes. The lack of water made spotting the mammals a little easier and we were lucky enough to also see a jungle cat and a pack of Jackals.
10 November 2009
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal on the western bank of the Yamuna River in Agra is one of the most well known and iconic buildings in the world.
It was built by Emperor Saha Jahan as a mausoleum for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631 whist giving birth to their 14th child. Some 20,000 people were involved in the construction, which was started in 1631 but took 22 years to complete.
The outside of the building is stunning and doesn't quite look real when seen for the first time. Thanks to some renovation work and a pollution exclusion zone it still looks brand new despite being nearly 400 years old and sat at the heart of a big industrial city. The white marble glows and is inlayed with flowers and verses from the Quran.
The inside doesn't quite live up to the splendor of the outside, mainly because it's so dark you can't see! Only a tiny amount of light comes in through the carved marble screen windows and this is supplemented by what appears to be a single 40 watt light bulb. After entering from the blinding light outside it's impossible to see anything and you spend most of your time stumbling about bumping into the hundreds of other similarly impaired visitors.
If you want to get up close and explore the building you have to take your shoes off or wear the natty shoe covers that are provided.
The Taj Mahal is probably the busiest tourist attraction we've been to on our trip, the crowds were huge and stopped it being the calm and relaxing experience that you might imagine it would be. It's a little bit of a shame really because it's one of those buildings that it's nice to just sit on a bench and look at.
Since we arrived in India we've been continually pestered by people to have our photos taken with them. We experienced it a little in other parts of Asia but in India it happens all the time. Every where we go people stop and ask us to pose in pictures with them as if we are some sort of celebrity. It's truly strange and at first slightly unnerving. At the Taj it was just ridiculous, barely a minute would pass without someone coming up to us and requesting one, some or all of us pose for a picture.
At one point Liz had a new born baby thrust onto her (which she appeared to thoroughly enjoy) so that the parents could get a snap.
In contrast to the beauty of the Taj Mahal, Agra is fairly ugly, chaotic and seems to be a little lacking in visitor facilities despite having India's biggest tourist draw. The Taj Ganj district that surrounds the Taj Mahal is a real higgledy piggledy mess crammed full of wonky buildings, animals, effluent, muck and rubbish.
Just to add to the fun are the incredibly persistent and annoying touts, vendors, guides, rickshaw drivers and chai-wallahs who don't give you a seconds peace.
Despite the crowds, hassle and muck of Agra it still makes a visit for the Taj Mahal well worth while.
It was built by Emperor Saha Jahan as a mausoleum for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631 whist giving birth to their 14th child. Some 20,000 people were involved in the construction, which was started in 1631 but took 22 years to complete.
The outside of the building is stunning and doesn't quite look real when seen for the first time. Thanks to some renovation work and a pollution exclusion zone it still looks brand new despite being nearly 400 years old and sat at the heart of a big industrial city. The white marble glows and is inlayed with flowers and verses from the Quran.
The inside doesn't quite live up to the splendor of the outside, mainly because it's so dark you can't see! Only a tiny amount of light comes in through the carved marble screen windows and this is supplemented by what appears to be a single 40 watt light bulb. After entering from the blinding light outside it's impossible to see anything and you spend most of your time stumbling about bumping into the hundreds of other similarly impaired visitors.
If you want to get up close and explore the building you have to take your shoes off or wear the natty shoe covers that are provided.
The Taj Mahal is probably the busiest tourist attraction we've been to on our trip, the crowds were huge and stopped it being the calm and relaxing experience that you might imagine it would be. It's a little bit of a shame really because it's one of those buildings that it's nice to just sit on a bench and look at.
Since we arrived in India we've been continually pestered by people to have our photos taken with them. We experienced it a little in other parts of Asia but in India it happens all the time. Every where we go people stop and ask us to pose in pictures with them as if we are some sort of celebrity. It's truly strange and at first slightly unnerving. At the Taj it was just ridiculous, barely a minute would pass without someone coming up to us and requesting one, some or all of us pose for a picture.
At one point Liz had a new born baby thrust onto her (which she appeared to thoroughly enjoy) so that the parents could get a snap.
In contrast to the beauty of the Taj Mahal, Agra is fairly ugly, chaotic and seems to be a little lacking in visitor facilities despite having India's biggest tourist draw. The Taj Ganj district that surrounds the Taj Mahal is a real higgledy piggledy mess crammed full of wonky buildings, animals, effluent, muck and rubbish.
Just to add to the fun are the incredibly persistent and annoying touts, vendors, guides, rickshaw drivers and chai-wallahs who don't give you a seconds peace.
Despite the crowds, hassle and muck of Agra it still makes a visit for the Taj Mahal well worth while.
09 November 2009
Hello Paul & Sarah
Our next, and probably final, visitors from back home have just joined us. Say hello to Paul & Sarah . . .
It's great to see some friends from back home but the only problem is that they appear to have brought the dreadful British weather with them. We've had cloudy skies and rain since they arrived. Where has the sun gone?
It's great to see some friends from back home but the only problem is that they appear to have brought the dreadful British weather with them. We've had cloudy skies and rain since they arrived. Where has the sun gone?
08 November 2009
Udaipur
We had a very close escape on Wednesday when we got on the wrong overnight train at Ajmer station. Luckily we realised just before it pulled out and sent us 100 miles in the opposite direction of our next destination, Udaipur.
Rather confusingly, being as there are no canals here, Udaipur is referred to in our guidebook as the Venice of the East - did you know that Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice ;-). The town is centred upon Lake Pichola, which contains Udaipur's most famous landmark, the Lake Palace.
The palace, which was built in 1754 under Maharaja Jagat Singh II, looks like it is floating on the lake but actually completely engulfs Jagniwas Island upon which it is built. Bond fans may recognise the Lake Palace from its staring role in Octopussy where it out acted Roger Moore. Unfortunately we weren't able to visit the palace as it is now the rather exclusive Lake Palace Hotel. Unless you're staying, the rooms start at $450 a night so we're not, the only way you can visit is by booking into their very expensive restaurant, which we also can't afford! We instead had to make do with the view from the shore.
The second main attraction in town is the City Palace which is situated right on the lake side overlooking the Lake Palace.
Construction of the City Palace was started in the 1500's and was added to over the years by various maharajas.
Just outside the City Palace is the Jagdish temple.
The carving on the temple is incredibly detailed and looks as though it was done yesterday despite the temple being built in 1651.
We've also visited Bagore-ki-Haveli, a grand 18th century house built by a former Indian prime minister.
The house has 138 rooms, some of which have been turned into various bizare exhibition spaces. This included some very low quality contemporary art and several rooms packed with turbans, including the worlds largest.
Apparently, the colour and the way you tie your turban can indicate your religion, caste, social status or job. There's even a specific turban of the ground nut vendor.
The strangest exhibition was a room that featured world famous monuments that had been, very badly, carved out of polystyrene. The Eiffel Tower was strangely misshapen and the Statue of Liberty looked like she was holding a giant croissant aloft.
On Friday we hired a car and driver for a few hours to visit a couple of sights that are located further out from the centre of town. The first stop was at Saheliyon-ki-Bari, otherwise known as the Garden of the Maids of Honour.
As well as the gardens and some fountains it also featured the worlds crapest museum. Among the many scintilating displays were some rocks on a plate, three five inch high plastic dinosaurs and a prawn in formaldahyde.
We then made our way out to Sajjan Garh monsoon palace which is located in the Aravalli hills overlooking the town.
We've really enjoyed our time in Udaipur. It's a nice town with some great sights (excluding the crumby museum displays).
There's also lots of really nice roof top restaurants where, after the vegetarianism that was enforced by Pushkar, we've been enjoying copious amounts of meat, eggs and just one or two beers!
Rather confusingly, being as there are no canals here, Udaipur is referred to in our guidebook as the Venice of the East - did you know that Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice ;-). The town is centred upon Lake Pichola, which contains Udaipur's most famous landmark, the Lake Palace.
The palace, which was built in 1754 under Maharaja Jagat Singh II, looks like it is floating on the lake but actually completely engulfs Jagniwas Island upon which it is built. Bond fans may recognise the Lake Palace from its staring role in Octopussy where it out acted Roger Moore. Unfortunately we weren't able to visit the palace as it is now the rather exclusive Lake Palace Hotel. Unless you're staying, the rooms start at $450 a night so we're not, the only way you can visit is by booking into their very expensive restaurant, which we also can't afford! We instead had to make do with the view from the shore.
The second main attraction in town is the City Palace which is situated right on the lake side overlooking the Lake Palace.
Construction of the City Palace was started in the 1500's and was added to over the years by various maharajas.
Just outside the City Palace is the Jagdish temple.
The carving on the temple is incredibly detailed and looks as though it was done yesterday despite the temple being built in 1651.
We've also visited Bagore-ki-Haveli, a grand 18th century house built by a former Indian prime minister.
The house has 138 rooms, some of which have been turned into various bizare exhibition spaces. This included some very low quality contemporary art and several rooms packed with turbans, including the worlds largest.
Apparently, the colour and the way you tie your turban can indicate your religion, caste, social status or job. There's even a specific turban of the ground nut vendor.
The strangest exhibition was a room that featured world famous monuments that had been, very badly, carved out of polystyrene. The Eiffel Tower was strangely misshapen and the Statue of Liberty looked like she was holding a giant croissant aloft.
On Friday we hired a car and driver for a few hours to visit a couple of sights that are located further out from the centre of town. The first stop was at Saheliyon-ki-Bari, otherwise known as the Garden of the Maids of Honour.
As well as the gardens and some fountains it also featured the worlds crapest museum. Among the many scintilating displays were some rocks on a plate, three five inch high plastic dinosaurs and a prawn in formaldahyde.
We then made our way out to Sajjan Garh monsoon palace which is located in the Aravalli hills overlooking the town.
We've really enjoyed our time in Udaipur. It's a nice town with some great sights (excluding the crumby museum displays).
There's also lots of really nice roof top restaurants where, after the vegetarianism that was enforced by Pushkar, we've been enjoying copious amounts of meat, eggs and just one or two beers!
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