After months of looking forward to going away again, on 5th November it was finally time to go for a 2 week Exodus trip to India: The colours of Rajasthan. A trip away with my dad, which I always enjoy.
We began our trip on 5th November flying from Newcastle to Dubai and then from Dubai to New Delhi. It took about 15 hours to get to New Delhi, including a 4 hour wait in Dubai. As we descended into Delhi on the 6th we were met with the thick brown smog that has engulfed the area after the Diwali festival and farmers burning their fields for a new crop.
After an hour and a bit of queuing and going through immigration we eventually left the airport and met with an Exodus representative who took us to a taxi which would take us the hour drive to our hotel Taj Princess. On the way we saw just how busy and different Delhi is. Not long after leaving the airport the roads are full of cars beeping, dodging and weaving around each other, ignoring lanes or sides of the road. Squeezing past one another and being barely inches apart as they move round trying to get where they want to be. There were also people all over the roads, either walking around or it being where they live, either just on the road side or under a tree, on a roundabout or under bridges.
When we arrived at the Taj Princess after weaving our way through the narrow streets of the bazaar in Karol Bagh. Once we arrived we were told our room wasn’t ready yet and would be ready soon, so we waited in the lobby. I don’t know how much time passed but it felt like a long time waiting in the lobby trying to stay awake as we hadn’t slept on the plane.
When we finally got into our room we thought we would have a small nap so that we could be reinvigorated for the start of the Exodus tour in a couple hours time. We set our alarms and went straight into a deep sleep, so deep that we didn’t hear the alarm and the phone had to ring a long time before it woke us up.
On the phone was Bali - our group leader - asking if we were going to be joining them today as it was over 30 minutes after the arranged meeting time. We quickly got up and went to the lobby to meet Bali and the 13 others who were on the exodus trip as well.
Once all together we walked a short distance from the Taj Princess to where our bus was, the streets were heaving with people trying to walk, trying to sell you things, begging or food stalls.Then people also on either rickshaws, tuk tuks, motorbikes, cars all trying to get somewhere on the narrow streets. The air was heavy and thick with smog you could feel your chest and throat tighten and eyes prickle with the pollution and lots of different smells of food and fumes.
Once all on the bus we drove round some of New Delhi and went through to Old Delhi which had even more people. There was a book market on and a flea market which went on for streets and streets. We went past the Delhi Red Fort and stopped at the largest mosque in India - the Jama Mosque. A local guide met us there and gave use a tour around the mosque and gave us a bit of history about Delhi.
After visiting the mosque we walked back to the bus and drove to the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi which we had a wander around and then set off to visit the India gate.
However, we didn't get to see if as there was a protest on. Students were protesting at the India Gate and surrounding area for the police to do something about a student that has been missing for a week and nothing has been done to investigate it.
Once we worked through the traffic jams caused by the protest we went back to the hotel where we tried not to go back to sleep and relaxed for an hour before meeting the group on the roof where they had a seating area. On the rooftop we we were briefed by Bali on what would be happening the next day and some general information and how to contact him if we got lost at any point on the tour.
From there we went out for our first meal in India to a nearby restaurant where we had a buffet meal trying different dishes. We had tandoori chicken served with a spicy mint sauce, Makhani Dahl, Spinach and paneer curry and naans which was all delicious.
After the meal we returned to the hotel and we could then finally go to bed and sleep!
Day 2: Delhi, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib & AgraFort
Bali had arranged for a wake up call for each room at 7am, once up we went up to the hotels restaurant and had some breakfast. There was the usual hotel breakfast options of toast, cereal and fruit but with added spicy chicken sausages, paratha and a selection of curries.
After breakfast we met with the rest of the group in the lobby, whilst waiting we saw on the India Times that the smog the day before was the worst Delhi had experienced so far The schools had been closed for 3 days and construction work had been halted.
Once on the bus Bali introduced us to our bus driver and his assistant and on the way to our first destination gave us our morning story time. Each morning on the bus Bali would give us some information about where we are or where we’re going to, a history of the cast and class system of India, information about weddings or plots to Bollywood films.
Our first stop off this morning was going to be India Gate again to see if we could get near it. However, it was still blocked off by police, so we will try again when we return to Delhi. We then made our way to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, which is a Sikh temple that started off construction in 1664.
Inside the temple there is a kitchen - where volunteers feed people 3 times a day, a holy pond, a school and an art gallery. At the temple visitors are not allowed to wear shoes and there is a section where people volunteer to help keep the shoes in a shoe-minding room.
After our visit to the temple we began our 144 mile drive to Agra. On arrival into into Agra we drove around the city for a short while then went to the Agra Fort where we met a local guide who showed us around.
The fort used to be a Mughal imperial residence and 2.5km in size. It used to have 2 moats one dry and one wet, the dry moat was like a rain forest which had predators in. Then a wet moat which had alligators and crocodiles and then a drawbridge as the first defence. Then inside a long winding entrance so that the enemy couldn't charge straight up to the residence, they were then met with a slope where the moguls could pour boiling oil on to the attackers and make the slope slippy.
On a clear day you can see the Taj Mahal from the Fort. But we were not so lucky as the smog was still around, you could just make the Taj Mahal out in the smog but would seem to fade and come back. In the Fort there were a number of mosques, one for the imperials, one for women and one for the general public.
The father of Aurangzed (who built the Taj Mahal) Shah Jahan was imprisoned in the fort by his son in an area of the fort that had a view over the Taj Mahal.
After visiting the Fort we got the bus to the Puskhar Villa hotel where we relaxed in the room for a bit before going out for some food in a place where locals apparently go. We decided to try a few different dishes, we had makhani dahl, butter chicken, dopiaza chicken, biryani rice and a chickpea dish. Portions were bigger than we expected so struggled with eating it all, but certainly made a good dent in it.
We were given two options for the next day. We could either wake up to go see the sunrise over the Taj Mahal or wait until after the sun has risen and it would be much brighter. With smog still being an issue we decided the latter as if we went at sunrise we wouldn't have seen anything until later on as there'd be no light due to the smog. Also, we wanted a lie in.
Day 3: Taj Mahal & Fatehpur Sikri
This morning we got a wake up call at 06:30, once up we went up to the hotels’ revolving restaurant which was disappointing on many levels. We found it overrun with young school girls running around screaming and screeching. There was pretty much no food choice to choose from and what options was there had pretty much all gone.
After a measly breakfast we got on our bus to the Taj Mahal where our local guide from the day before was waiting for us. As we had arrived a bit later we didn’t have to queue to get into the Taj Mahal. Before you get to the Taj Mahal you are greeted by 30m high gate inscribed with verses from the Quran.
Once you make your way through the gate you are met with the sight of the immense Taj Mahal.
We were given some brief information on the Taj Mahal, then we had some free time to wander around and explore. After an hour of free time we made our way to the bus which was a short walk away.
Along the way we were followed and harassed by lots of Hawkers - people trying to sell you things. They were trying to flog postcards, fridge magnets, a glittery snow globe of the Taj Mahal, books on it, pens and elephant keyrings. The hawkers are very persistent that you buy their wares, never taking no for an answer.
Once back on the bus we were taken to a workshop nearby where they make table tops, boxes, picture frames and animal models out of the Makrana marble they used to build the Taj Mahal. They then add on semi-precious stones such as: turquoise, coral, jade, agate and onyx into the marble glue them on using the same type of glue they used on the Taj Mahal, or so they say.
You could buy these things and they would ship them to you, the prices started around £500 and went up depending on how many stones were in it.
After being followed round seeing if you’ll buy anything we got back on the bus and headed for Fatehpur Sikri which is the abandoned city of King Akbar. The city was the first planned city of the Mughals and the first to be designed in Mughal architecture. It was founded in 1569 and used as the Mughal capital from 1571, it was only in use for 14 years. It was abandoned in 1585 as the water supply they used was unable to sustain the growing population.
On arrival the bus parked in the car park and we had to walk a short way to the shuttle bus. Along the way you were followed by more hawkers or people trying to get you to go into their shop.
Once all crammed into the shuttle bus we headed up to the city with the local tour guide. The tour guide we had at Fatehpur Sikri wasn’t any good, he spoke ridiculously fast and quietly with tons of information all at once, so you couldn’t take any information in.
Once the guide had shown us around the city we all cramped into a shuttle bus and returned to the car park. We then headed for lunch at a restaurant not far away where we all sat outside underneath a big old parachute. For lunch we tried a paneer and a chicken Kati Roll, which was very tasty.
After lunch we began our long 6 hour drive to Ranthambore National Park. The route took us along some normal roads but it was mostly bumpy dirt tracks, some of which were tolled. Before arriving at the hotel Bali stopped the bus on the roadside and to celebrate the end of our first very long day had bought a bottle of Sikkim rum for us all to share. He handed out glasses of rum which we tried before adding coke to it, it definitely needed the coke to make it drinkable.
When we finally got to the hotel at 9pm the staff greeted us and as we got off the bus put rings of flowers over our heads. We got checked in and headed to our rooms to drop our stuff off then we joined the rest of the group outside for a buffet meal. The hotel had put some tables on a grassy area and set up a fire pit.
Day 4: Ranthambore National Park
We were woken up at 06:00 and had to be ready to go for 06:30, we met the rest of the group for coffee then we waited for our canter to arrive to take us into the national park to hunt for some tigers.
The park is separated into 10 zones and you have to stick to your zone, if a tiger is spotted in a different zone you are not allowed to go there. We started off in zone 4, where we saw spotted deer, sambar deer, Nilgai, crocodiles,an eagle and langur monkeys.
The roads were extremely bumpy so you were thrown all over the place constantly. But we saw no tigers we were on our way out of the park when we suddenly zoomed off as apparently something was happening up ahead. When we got there we could just about see a tiger. We followed the road a little bit and waited, then it appeared and we filled it as it walked down the river and then turned off and away into the forest.
We then set back off, but again on our way out the local guide got word that it had come back so we zoomed in reverse back up the track round corners to see it again,
We couldn't get near it as there were so many jeeps and canters around, but I managed to get a far away picture. We were very lucky to see it as there are only 48 tigers in the whole park and they say before you go in that the chance of seeing one is very low. There was a woman and her 2 children on the canter who had been on 2 previous trips to see the tigers but with no luck. They were so happy to finally see one.
We then returned to the hotel where we had some brunch and then our first real free time of the holiday for 2 hours before going back out again, for a leisurely tour it's been none stop.
In our afternoon canter Park trip we were in zone 2 and we were looking for a female and her 2 cubs that had been spotted there recently. We went to where they were spotted but couldn't see them so we had an explore around the zone.
After awhile we returned to see if the tigers had turned up. So we sat and we waited and waited....
And then, no tigers showed up.
We then drove, or rather bounced and thrown our way back to the hotel. We were caked in dust and dirt from the park, after we got cleaned up we went for another buffet meal in the garden of the hotel. Where we had: pineapple raita, butter paneer curry, dahl, a chicken curry, spinach and radish with rotis and rice.
In the morning we had a lie in until 07:00 went for some breakfast then set off for our next destination, Bundi. Our guide Bali began story time today with two bits of information. One: he was going to try and find a school for us to visit so we could see what the education system is like in India and on the way picked up some notepads, pencils, sharpeners and rubbers to give to the kids if we found one. Second: the Indian government had announced that they are taking 500 and 1000 rupee notes out of circulation, people had until the end of December to change their notes into the new 2000 notes or the old 100 notes. The objective of this was to try and get rid of “black money” which is the term they use for money that people don’t claim they have so don’t pay tax on it.
Over the next few days this caused loads of problems for the group as people no longer accepted the 500 and 1000 notes, we couldn’t get to atms as they queues were ridiculous and all the money in them would be gone within a couple hours and there was a limit on how much you can withdraw from them. There were also huge queues at the banks and post offices trying to change money or deposit it but there was a max on what they can put in the bank. So we all began to run out of money, not able to get out anymore from atms or easily change the larger notes and as it’s a country that runs on cash transactions most places didn’t accept card.
We also heard different stories about those who had lots of “black money” had tried to get rid of it. Such as: someone going to a phone shop and trying to buy all their stock, an employer paying their staff 2 years wages in advance all in black money and leaving them to exchange it, a politician went to a jewellery shop and bought gold ornaments worth 20 million rupees, relatives with black money calling friends and relatives asking if they can deposit some of their money into their accounts. And one of the best stories was the story of a doctor who had some cash at home which he planned to turn over to the bank, and then discovered to his dismay that his wife had hidden away six times the amount in her cupboard.
Along the way to Bundi Bali did find a school that was happy for us to visit. We got off the bus in a small village and walked to the school. There we met the children and the teachers who told us about what they taught at the school, their education system and the children asked us questions. We handed out pens and pencils to the children which they were very happy and grateful for.
Whilst we were there the leader of the village came to welcome us and said we are always welcome there. After the school the leader wanted to show us around his village, we were invited to stop at one place and have chai which we did. They were very friendly people, they had a camel which they offered us rides on.
After chai we then got back on our bus and carried on to Bundi. When we arrived we had some lunch at the hotel which we ordered when we arrived as they had to make it all fresh. I had a non veg thali which was a small buffet of dahl, spiced seasonal vegetables, chicken and mutton curry, rice, poppadoms and roti.
We then got the bus to a small temple called Raniji Ki Baori “Queen’s Stepwell” where we met our local guide who gave us some info on the temple.
After Raniji Ki Baori we headed to the palace which which was constructed during the reign of Rao Raja Ratan Ji. Rudyard Kipling described as ‘the work of goblins rather of men’ it seems to grow out of the rock of the hillside.
The way up to the palace is up a series of steep cobbled slopes and when you reached the top you were greeted with a high gate with elephant statues on the top.
We had a look around the palace which is falling apart everywhere, most of it is closed off to the public. The rooms left hold lots of fading turquoise and gold murals that are still bright with colour.
After the palace we walked back down the slopes trying not to slip on the polished stones. We then walked through the old market of Bundi looking at the shops and avoiding traffic. In the market we stopped off in a small chai place called Krishna’s Chai, we had some freshly made chai before continuing to explore.
We then walked through the market and through the city to our hotel. On returning to the hotel we had a bit of time to shower and get cleaned up before going to meet the rest of the group for a drink before tea. This time we tried: stuffed aubergines, cauliflower and potato curry, cumin rice, paneer and cauliflower curry and paratha.
