Trip Report part 2
Aug 1st, 2006, 08:24 AM
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Trip Report part 2
After 4 days we drove off to Jaipur. We spent two nights at the Shahpura House hotel. It is a heritage hotel and is small but lovely with hand painted designs on all the walls. We stayed in the Maharani Suite and the kids had another large room with twin beds. The hotel was really nice as were the staff. The restaurants in the hotel served excellent food at night. The breakfast was just okay.
We ate upstairs at the rooftop restaurant the first night because it was so hot and there was a lovely but vigorous breeze. We were the only guests up there because of the wind. We stayed because we enjoyed the fresh air and the smell of the gardens. The only problem with the restaurant was that there was entertainment (a puppet show and a group of dancers and musicians). Well! When you are the only guests guess where all the focus is??? They worked so hard to entertain us while we tried to eat. There was a scary moment when one of the dancers was dancing with a flaming pot on her head and the wind picked up. The flames started shooting sideways from the pot and it looked like her veils were going to take off in a flaming whirlwind. She valiantly kept smiling as she edged her way away from our table, full of chalk white faces and startled eyes, to the other end of the deck to quickly put out her potted inferno! We tipped mightily and ate the following evening in the restaurant downstairs.
In Jaipur we went to the City Palace, where we were caught in a sand storm. I’ve read about them but this was the first time I had ever been in one. We also went to the Amber Fort, the Palace of The Winds and a carpet weaver. The ride by elephant up to the Amber Fort was slow but enjoyable. Well worth doing. It was so hot and dry in Jaipur that the Lake Palace was dubbed the Mud Palace by my husband. The local news station was doing a story on tourism so they rushed up to our car and filmed us as we visited the Wind Palace. It was a little weird but kind of fun. We just smiled and waived.
The next day we were off to Agra by way of FatehPur Sikri. FatehPur Sikri was remarkable but we were very hot and tired from the drive. We spent a couple of hours there before heading to Agra. We stayed at the Howard Park Plaza which was okay but nothing special. We had a terrific guide, Sanjay, who showed us the town. We started at 6:00 a.m. the following day and went straight to the Taj Mahal. It was absolutely beautiful. The smell of the jasmine and gardenias in the gardens added to the atmosphere and beautiful surroundings. We also saw the Mini Taj, the Red Fort and the place where they still do the stone inlay.
After Agra we drove 10 hours to Corbett National Park. We did a lot of driving on this trip but it was far from dull. Seeing the differences in the villages and the people from one region to the next was remarkable. As we changed areas we saw the camels give way to elephants which gave way to oxen and horses. We took tons of pictures from the car. We also had our picture taken frequently. People were always asking us if they could have their picture taken with us. We posed for them and they posed for us and everyone went away happy. We also had children coming up and speaking with us to practice their English. It was really special.
At Corbett we stayed at the Corbett Jungle resort. The hotel is very nice and right on the river. The views are spectacular. They have their own elephant so you can book an elephant ride. We did ours at 5:00 a.m. and really enjoyed the forest as it awakened. The staff is very nice. The food is so so. The buffet dinner is “Chinese” and not the best. Ask instead for the Indian food. It comes hot and fresh to your table in copious quantities and is very tasty. The only drawback here are the beds and pillows are like bricks and hot water is sporadic. Other than that, who cares! It’s India and the area is spectacular. We took a jeep ride into the national park and were lucky enough to see a herd of wild elephants and …….my dream was fulfilled……a TIGER!
We ate upstairs at the rooftop restaurant the first night because it was so hot and there was a lovely but vigorous breeze. We were the only guests up there because of the wind. We stayed because we enjoyed the fresh air and the smell of the gardens. The only problem with the restaurant was that there was entertainment (a puppet show and a group of dancers and musicians). Well! When you are the only guests guess where all the focus is??? They worked so hard to entertain us while we tried to eat. There was a scary moment when one of the dancers was dancing with a flaming pot on her head and the wind picked up. The flames started shooting sideways from the pot and it looked like her veils were going to take off in a flaming whirlwind. She valiantly kept smiling as she edged her way away from our table, full of chalk white faces and startled eyes, to the other end of the deck to quickly put out her potted inferno! We tipped mightily and ate the following evening in the restaurant downstairs.
In Jaipur we went to the City Palace, where we were caught in a sand storm. I’ve read about them but this was the first time I had ever been in one. We also went to the Amber Fort, the Palace of The Winds and a carpet weaver. The ride by elephant up to the Amber Fort was slow but enjoyable. Well worth doing. It was so hot and dry in Jaipur that the Lake Palace was dubbed the Mud Palace by my husband. The local news station was doing a story on tourism so they rushed up to our car and filmed us as we visited the Wind Palace. It was a little weird but kind of fun. We just smiled and waived.
The next day we were off to Agra by way of FatehPur Sikri. FatehPur Sikri was remarkable but we were very hot and tired from the drive. We spent a couple of hours there before heading to Agra. We stayed at the Howard Park Plaza which was okay but nothing special. We had a terrific guide, Sanjay, who showed us the town. We started at 6:00 a.m. the following day and went straight to the Taj Mahal. It was absolutely beautiful. The smell of the jasmine and gardenias in the gardens added to the atmosphere and beautiful surroundings. We also saw the Mini Taj, the Red Fort and the place where they still do the stone inlay.
After Agra we drove 10 hours to Corbett National Park. We did a lot of driving on this trip but it was far from dull. Seeing the differences in the villages and the people from one region to the next was remarkable. As we changed areas we saw the camels give way to elephants which gave way to oxen and horses. We took tons of pictures from the car. We also had our picture taken frequently. People were always asking us if they could have their picture taken with us. We posed for them and they posed for us and everyone went away happy. We also had children coming up and speaking with us to practice their English. It was really special.
At Corbett we stayed at the Corbett Jungle resort. The hotel is very nice and right on the river. The views are spectacular. They have their own elephant so you can book an elephant ride. We did ours at 5:00 a.m. and really enjoyed the forest as it awakened. The staff is very nice. The food is so so. The buffet dinner is “Chinese” and not the best. Ask instead for the Indian food. It comes hot and fresh to your table in copious quantities and is very tasty. The only drawback here are the beds and pillows are like bricks and hot water is sporadic. Other than that, who cares! It’s India and the area is spectacular. We took a jeep ride into the national park and were lucky enough to see a herd of wild elephants and …….my dream was fulfilled……a TIGER!
Aug 1st, 2006, 10:54 AM
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great report....for the ease of reading it, instead of making a new posting each time, please contiue it here so we can just follow it easily instead of trying to locate lost pieces...thanks...just do additional segments as a "post my reply"
Aug 1st, 2006, 10:54 AM
#4
I'm enjoying your report! Sounds like a great trip.
One sugesstion though, is that you just "reply" to this with your next part. Or better yet, Make a new one with a title of "Alsonv's India Report" and cut and paste parts 1 & 2 into it and then add new increments as "replies". that will make it easy for people to find and read the whole adventure at once!
Looking forward to more!
One sugesstion though, is that you just "reply" to this with your next part. Or better yet, Make a new one with a title of "Alsonv's India Report" and cut and paste parts 1 & 2 into it and then add new increments as "replies". that will make it easy for people to find and read the whole adventure at once!
Looking forward to more!
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