The first evening we all decided to go and see the old Fort that is situated in the heart of the park perched on top of a cliff. As we were driving out there some one yelled something to our driver and suddenly all the Indians became panicked and I figured that there might be a tiger around. Sure enough as we turned the corner out of the jungle casually strolled this cool cat. I could not believe how calm it was just kinda looked at us and keep going. After it looked at us it walk into the bush and our jeep along with few others hurried as we all wiped out our cameras and tried to get the money shot of the tiger.
It was pretty humurous as all the people in the jeeps were looking so intense and just waiting for the pretty shot. It seemed as though everyone was hunting with their cameras! After we saw the tiger we headed on up to the Fort. It was a very impressive fort built right in the middle of a mountain which was filled with monkeys.
The next day we woke up at 5:30am to do our actual did our actual safari. It was a chilly morning out in the park so we bundled up and hit the road in our Cantor.
Once we entered the park you could feel the anxiety and want to see a tiger. Everyone was on the edge of their set. As we drove through the park our guides began to get very serious and you could tell that they wanted to find a tiger. At one point they stopped and got out to examine some tracks and sure enough it was a tiger's. So we all got excited and followed the trail, which eventually lead to no tiger. However, along the way we saw numerous spotted deers, Indian Moongoose, Owls, parrots, wild alligator, many exotic birds, several langoor monkeys, a huge bald eagle, many peacocks and many other exotic birds that I have no idea what they were, but they were cool to see.
The safari was drawing to an end when all of sudden the monkeys starting acting weird. They were sitting on what looked to be watch out duty on the tops of palm trees in a specific area and they were all making noises to each other. Our guides told us to be quiet and again every one had their cameras out ready for the money shot. After 10 anxious minutes the guides gave up and said that the monkeys were warning each other that leopard was coming. It was a great day and we enjoyed every bit of it.
After the safari we relaxed bought a train ticket to Udaipur. Our train was a few hours late and of course we met a local who was ever so interested in planning our trip and insisting that we call him if we ever need help. For some reason we got that on every public transport we took in India.and we boarde. We arrived in the beautiful white city of Udaipur and checked into our guesthouse and took to the streets and explored the city.
Our Guest house
Udaipur in considered one of the most romantic cities in all of India and just happened to be Valentianes day coming up!
We toured some city sights, as we saw a vegetable and spice market, a gorgeous garden made for the prince, old tombs of the royal family and some other Hindu temples all made out of pure white marble.
Women always work in their saris.
Musician
Opium Smoker
After the city tour we went to a traditional Rajasthanie dance showed, which showcase how the Rajasthan women dressed and danced. It was very entertaining and to top it off a lady danced with nine vases on her head at once time!
The next two morning we did yoga on the roof top of our guest house. It was very hard, but felt good after the fact. But man I am so unflexible, Missie did very well though. On valentianes day we went into a cooking course, where we learnt how to make 10 Indian dishes! It was fantastic, 10 dishes, we learnt how to make Masala Chi tea to a sweet fruit curry. And of course after the class we did what we do best and ate to much.
Two of our 10 dishes!
Making the naan
Right after supper we hurried and bought some beer and bacardi breezers and made it up to the moonsoon palace for sunset. The view from the palace was so incredible, we could see the entire area surronding two cities. The sunset was unbelievable, what a way to spend valentianes day!
Moonsoon Palace
The following day we went to go visit the City Palace. This palace was constructed of pure white marble, just as the rest of the city, but this Palace housed the royal family. Every little detailed of the palace was unbelievable. We kept thinking how cool it would be to live during these times.
City Palace
This is Missie's henna that a 16 year old girl did. It was the daughter from the family run guest house which we stayed at. She loved it and would look at it every morning to make sure it wasn't going away too fast! It is an Indian tradition for women to have henna work done ( by the other woman in her family ) to their hands and feet when the women is getting married. Since it was wedding season when we were there, we saw many women with henna all up their arms. Missie loved and admired the beautiful work on the Indian woman and wanted to experience the tradition herself. Many local people would comment on her henna and how beautiful it was. She was very happy! Locals told It is suppose to mean that you have a happy healthy relationship when your henna is very dark and if you look at hers it is!!
The next day we boarder a bus ride from hell headed to Jodhpur. We have been on some rough rides in the past 4 or 5 months, but this was seriously crazy. The driver seemed like he had a trillion dollars waiting for him in Jodphur if he made it there faster then some rediculous time. I mean he was swearving in and out and in and out of traffic. You could feel the entire bus swaying as he turned. He would drive through villages at like 8okm an hour and just lay on the horn the entire time. And for what ever reason Indian horns are all different and his was the most annoying little tune that would play for 10 seconds when he just pushed his horn once.(we never got to hear it only play for ten seconds it was more like 10 minutes straight.
But we made it safe and sound and the following day we set out to visit the magnificent Mehrangarth Fort, which is the most majestic and one of the largest forts in all of India. The fort was built right on the end of the city and it over looks the entire city. It was so impressive, we got the audio tour, which made us feel like the biggest tourist as we had headphones on while looking at this big map.
The next morning we stopped for a famous omelette from a guy who claims to go through 1 000 eegs a day. So for 50cents we enjoyed two omelette sandwichs each. After that we hopped on another train and headed for Jaipur.
In Jaipur we were lucky enough to stay at a families house. The lady picked us up from the train station and took such good care of us. When we arrived at her house we met the family and sat down for some Chi tea and talked about our different lives. After a couple hours of conversation, Missie and I went to a Bollywood movie in a very famous theater called the Raj. After the movie we stopped for some good old Indian sweets and headed back to the house for supper. The family made a outstanding supper and yes again we ate to much, but it feels so good at the time to taste all that food. After supper we skyped with the family and their daughter who now lives in Dubai and then we watched her wedding video. Indian weddings are very colorful and are a big deal to the Indian people. They spend lots of money and put a huge 3 day event on.
Inside the theater
Supper!
The next morning we ate again too much, but the breakfast the family made was wonderful. After our goodbye ( one daughter even took the morning off work to say goodbye!) we headed to the airport where we were off the GOA.
Take care
shaun
1 comment:
Once again that was an amazing trip and look forward to joining you both in the next chapter.
Take care, Julie
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