Costa Rica Sun 28 Nov - Mon 6 Dec 2010
Final post for Costa Rica
This has been a quiet, relaxing 9 days, mostly spent on the beautiful beach, walking, running, reading, chatting, sleeping on a sunbed. Met and chatted with various people from different countries. Most of the tourists here are from the US. Also walked miles in the forest on cloudy days. The trees run right down to and onto the beach. We have had some cloud and rain, but plenty of sunshine too, especially the last few days. The naughty monkeys are everywhere though, as are the thieves with which Costa Rica is unfortunately infested, so you can't leave anything unattended even for a few minutes.
Found a great bar with excellent grilled chicken, then an even better place with amazing breakfast, dinner plate filled with 4 fruits and a pancake with syrup, then a second dinner plate also full with scrambled egg, the local rice mix and 2 pieces of bread, all followd by a mug of tea. Heaven.
The Manuel Antonio Hotel room is clean and comfortable, with the bonus of my friend the lizard running around the floor to keep me company. I can hear the sea at night, sometimes as backing music to the howling and shrieking of monkeys.
This has been a good holiday, 2 weeks with the group and 9 days on the beach. Thank you all for reading my blogs, it makes their production well worthwhile. Let me know if you have any feedback, comments or anything to add.
Till the next time, All the Best,
John
Monday, December 06, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Costa Rica Sat 27 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Sat 27 Nov 2010
9am I wave a sad bye-bye to guide Aaron and the other 11 members of the grop. They are catching a bus to San Jose from where they fly to Heathrow via Madrid on Sunday. We have had a good tour together. Now I am alone in our group hotel, packing and checking out in my own time. I pull my bag (fortunately it has wheels) 300m to the Plaza Yara Hotel where I am booked for 1 night. Nice room.
This evening I bus into Manuel Antonio, enjoy pleasant pasta dish then some beers in what appears to be the liveliest bar in town. Juggling in the street, random bongo drumming at one of the tables, I think I am going tp like this place. I transfer to the Hotel Manuel Antonio tomorrow.
Less frequent blogs for the remainder of this hol., I will mostly be lazing about on the beach with the occasional swim in the day, reading books and eating and drinking a few beers in the evenings. However I do plan to go into the Park at least one more time so there should be more to report later.
All the Best,
John
9am I wave a sad bye-bye to guide Aaron and the other 11 members of the grop. They are catching a bus to San Jose from where they fly to Heathrow via Madrid on Sunday. We have had a good tour together. Now I am alone in our group hotel, packing and checking out in my own time. I pull my bag (fortunately it has wheels) 300m to the Plaza Yara Hotel where I am booked for 1 night. Nice room.
This evening I bus into Manuel Antonio, enjoy pleasant pasta dish then some beers in what appears to be the liveliest bar in town. Juggling in the street, random bongo drumming at one of the tables, I think I am going tp like this place. I transfer to the Hotel Manuel Antonio tomorrow.
Less frequent blogs for the remainder of this hol., I will mostly be lazing about on the beach with the occasional swim in the day, reading books and eating and drinking a few beers in the evenings. However I do plan to go into the Park at least one more time so there should be more to report later.
All the Best,
John
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Costa Rica Fri 26 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Fri 26 Nov 2010
Tomorrow the rest of the group leave for San Jose but I am staying in Manuel Antonio for another 9 days. Before leaving England I booked the Plaza Yara Hotel but their web-site is fibbing when it says they are in the centre of Manuel Antonio. It is about 4k away on a distinctly dodgy road for walking along. The buses are good but I want to be beside the seaside. So today I research some hotels, calling into half a dozen or so and negotiating prices and room quality as Dalgety taught me so effectively to do. I find one 20m from the beach at 30USD cash with very helpful girl on reception.
The rest of the day = beach with some of the group + long walk through the gently breaking waves along the waters edge + a swim. Very relaxing.
This evening I eat with George, Tricia, Cheryl and Sally at the Bambu Jam Restaurant, a short walk from our rooms along the perrilous road. The 'Pollo Bambu Jam' is excellent and the 'Peras al Caramelo' for pudding is out of this world. As we finish our puddings, the live music starts, latin stuff with a brilliant girl singing. George and Tricia are soon up dancing and whooping it up with the locals. A great evening.
All the Best,
John
Tomorrow the rest of the group leave for San Jose but I am staying in Manuel Antonio for another 9 days. Before leaving England I booked the Plaza Yara Hotel but their web-site is fibbing when it says they are in the centre of Manuel Antonio. It is about 4k away on a distinctly dodgy road for walking along. The buses are good but I want to be beside the seaside. So today I research some hotels, calling into half a dozen or so and negotiating prices and room quality as Dalgety taught me so effectively to do. I find one 20m from the beach at 30USD cash with very helpful girl on reception.
The rest of the day = beach with some of the group + long walk through the gently breaking waves along the waters edge + a swim. Very relaxing.
This evening I eat with George, Tricia, Cheryl and Sally at the Bambu Jam Restaurant, a short walk from our rooms along the perrilous road. The 'Pollo Bambu Jam' is excellent and the 'Peras al Caramelo' for pudding is out of this world. As we finish our puddings, the live music starts, latin stuff with a brilliant girl singing. George and Tricia are soon up dancing and whooping it up with the locals. A great evening.
All the Best,
John
Friday, November 26, 2010
Costa Rica Thurs 25 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Thurs 25 Nov 2010
Multicereal with raisens with milk plus filter coffee for diy breakfast on the balcony of our Quepos accomodation with some of the group. Then a 15 minute public bus ride to Manuel Antonio which turns out to be a delightful beach front community of restaurants, bars, shops and hotels. The beach itself is sandy and crescent shaped in a glorious setting of rocky outcrops and islands.
Also in Manuel Antonio is the entrance to the National Park of the same name. With some trepidation I enter the Park with Sally and Cheryl who got us all lost in Cahuita earlier in the tour. However, there are many other tourists on the main track so I feel quite safe. We see iguana of all sizes, often suddenly darting off from very near us as we disturb them sunning themselves on this beautiful day. Then a sloth high up in a tree. Butterflies and birds all around us. When we arrive at the first beach in the Park, we find it infested with capuchin monkeys and racoons whose sole objective is to steal anything edible from us gullible tourists. They are fun to watch but they are very naughty.
I ask Cheryl to take a photo of me on the beach, I have to go back, back, and back a bit more and she takes the picture just as the wave engulfs my boots and fills them with water. Ho Ho.
We pass several more glorious beaches which I plan to come back and enjoy later in the holiday. Then we follow a nature trail around a headland and sure enough the girls lead me into a quagmire of boggy ground. Much of the track and its steps have been washed away or damaged by the recent heavy rains so we have to be slow and careful as we negotiate our way around. But wow is it worth it. Not only is this forested headland an entrancing place of beauty, it is full of wildlife. We see several groups of howler monkeys, a woodpecker working its way up a tree pecking away only feet from us, an agouti which we watch and film for maybe 10 minutes, and more capuchins, birds and butterflies.
This time we do not get lost and eventually find ourselves back on a beach, after negotiating the final stretch of path which has totally disintegrated into a river that we have to jump accross. Here we watch a capuchin hop over to a towel left unattended by a couple who had walked down to the waters edge. The monkey flicks through the pages of the book as if he is assessing it for readability and whether it is worth stealing. I shoo him away. Back at the first beach I watch a racoon lift the lid if a rubbish bin with one hand and reach in with the other to retrieve a piece of bread that it runs off with in triumph.
We leave the Park very happy with our close encounter with nature today. This is such an entrancing place, I will definitely want to make a return visit next week.
Dinner is in a restaurant opposite the bus station in Quepos, portugese grilled chicken, I choose it to find out what it is. The squid and mushroom sauce turns out to be delicious if unusual and the chicken is perfectly cooked and tasty.
All the Best,
John
Multicereal with raisens with milk plus filter coffee for diy breakfast on the balcony of our Quepos accomodation with some of the group. Then a 15 minute public bus ride to Manuel Antonio which turns out to be a delightful beach front community of restaurants, bars, shops and hotels. The beach itself is sandy and crescent shaped in a glorious setting of rocky outcrops and islands.
Also in Manuel Antonio is the entrance to the National Park of the same name. With some trepidation I enter the Park with Sally and Cheryl who got us all lost in Cahuita earlier in the tour. However, there are many other tourists on the main track so I feel quite safe. We see iguana of all sizes, often suddenly darting off from very near us as we disturb them sunning themselves on this beautiful day. Then a sloth high up in a tree. Butterflies and birds all around us. When we arrive at the first beach in the Park, we find it infested with capuchin monkeys and racoons whose sole objective is to steal anything edible from us gullible tourists. They are fun to watch but they are very naughty.
I ask Cheryl to take a photo of me on the beach, I have to go back, back, and back a bit more and she takes the picture just as the wave engulfs my boots and fills them with water. Ho Ho.
We pass several more glorious beaches which I plan to come back and enjoy later in the holiday. Then we follow a nature trail around a headland and sure enough the girls lead me into a quagmire of boggy ground. Much of the track and its steps have been washed away or damaged by the recent heavy rains so we have to be slow and careful as we negotiate our way around. But wow is it worth it. Not only is this forested headland an entrancing place of beauty, it is full of wildlife. We see several groups of howler monkeys, a woodpecker working its way up a tree pecking away only feet from us, an agouti which we watch and film for maybe 10 minutes, and more capuchins, birds and butterflies.
This time we do not get lost and eventually find ourselves back on a beach, after negotiating the final stretch of path which has totally disintegrated into a river that we have to jump accross. Here we watch a capuchin hop over to a towel left unattended by a couple who had walked down to the waters edge. The monkey flicks through the pages of the book as if he is assessing it for readability and whether it is worth stealing. I shoo him away. Back at the first beach I watch a racoon lift the lid if a rubbish bin with one hand and reach in with the other to retrieve a piece of bread that it runs off with in triumph.
We leave the Park very happy with our close encounter with nature today. This is such an entrancing place, I will definitely want to make a return visit next week.
Dinner is in a restaurant opposite the bus station in Quepos, portugese grilled chicken, I choose it to find out what it is. The squid and mushroom sauce turns out to be delicious if unusual and the chicken is perfectly cooked and tasty.
All the Best,
John
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Costa Rica Wed 24 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Wed 24 Nov 2010
We are spending most of today in a minibus. Before we leave at 8am, there is a treat for us all, a beautifully coloured woodpecker hopping around a tree just outside the Lodge.
The roads are not made up so the ride is very slow and bumpy. This has a positive aspect because the scenery is astoundingly beautiful as we descend from the mountains through, then out of, the rain forest into grassy rolling hillsides and finally cultivated fields on the plains.
We stop at a bridge over a wide muddy river to gawp at dozens of crocodiles lounging on the mudbanks. Some of them are very large indeed.
Our destination is Quepos on the Pacific coast, we arrive there mid-afternoon. After checking in, we walk the 2k into town where I am writing this. It is raining and the place looks a bit run down, but hopefully we will find something interesting to do.
all the Best,
John
We are spending most of today in a minibus. Before we leave at 8am, there is a treat for us all, a beautifully coloured woodpecker hopping around a tree just outside the Lodge.
The roads are not made up so the ride is very slow and bumpy. This has a positive aspect because the scenery is astoundingly beautiful as we descend from the mountains through, then out of, the rain forest into grassy rolling hillsides and finally cultivated fields on the plains.
We stop at a bridge over a wide muddy river to gawp at dozens of crocodiles lounging on the mudbanks. Some of them are very large indeed.
Our destination is Quepos on the Pacific coast, we arrive there mid-afternoon. After checking in, we walk the 2k into town where I am writing this. It is raining and the place looks a bit run down, but hopefully we will find something interesting to do.
all the Best,
John
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Costa Rica Tues 23 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Tues 23 Nov 2010
Today I hike into the depths of the forest with Peter and Lesley. This part of the forest is called The Hidden Valley and we follow the trails with the help of a rough map. Ancient and beautiful, misty and mysterious, a little forbidding, eirily quiet, the forest watches us as we tramp downwards and deeper in the half-light under the canopy.
There is a breathtaking variety of trees and undergrowth here, but we do not see nor hear any signs of wildlife, except a few strange looking bugs and the ever-busy leaf cutter ants. Until we come suddenly to a dead-end on the track at a point at the top of a steep tree-covered cliff that overlooks a valley - the hidden valley. A river crashes through the forest about 100 metres below us. Accross the other side, the trees cover gently rising ground up to a horizon which must be several miles away. It is a vista of astounding beauty.
Then, against the background of trees on the opposite side of the valley, and against the sky above the horizon, we see black vultures - huge birds, soaring in the air with no visible movement of the wings. Then an eagle, much more intense in its flight, searching for prey, maybe to feed chicks in their nest on cliff face or tree-top. Then a hawk of some kind, wings flapping as is also searches for a meal. Then another eagle, and more black vultures. This place is very special.
We eventually and reluctantly move on to continue our trek. A sudden movement in the trees reveals a squirrel, twice the size of ours in the UK, dark grey and almost black down its back, it turns and runs away from us.
After several hours in the forest, Peter and Lesley decide to head for an exit but I love it here, so go on alone back into the centre of the forest. I get lost, the map is useless here, but who cares, this is an amazing place. A sudden movement on the ground to my right makes me stop in my tracks. Something is heading towards the track just in front of me. I see through the trees and undergrowth that it is an orangy brown animal. Then it crosses in front of me, I get a clear view, it looks like a small hairy pig. I am told later it is probably an agouti.
I start to look for a way out but find that I have gone around in a circle when I recognise a bunch of bamboo growing in a clearing that I passed earlier. Never mind, I try a different way then come to a path I remember being on with Peter and Lesley so follow this. Suddenly there is a loud chorus of screeching above me, a flock of parrots are charging from tree to tree, obviously looking for trouble or shouting at something that has disturbed them............maybe me?
I get to the point that I parted company with Peter and Lesley, so walk the way I thought they went and promptly get lost again, on a track that ends in a mass of twisted foilage and dead branches. I retrace my steps and try another way, there is a grassy bank ahead, then a shack and a wider track that leads me back to (relative) civilisation.
I head for the bakery. A meat pasty, a chiken pasty and a huge chunk of the most gorgeous moist delicious carrot cake ever, are followed by a perfect cup of tea.
Now I am in a bus. It is fixed on a hillside amongst the trees and converted into an internet cafe where I am writng this blog. Bizarre.
This has been a good day.
Bye for now,
John
Today I hike into the depths of the forest with Peter and Lesley. This part of the forest is called The Hidden Valley and we follow the trails with the help of a rough map. Ancient and beautiful, misty and mysterious, a little forbidding, eirily quiet, the forest watches us as we tramp downwards and deeper in the half-light under the canopy.
There is a breathtaking variety of trees and undergrowth here, but we do not see nor hear any signs of wildlife, except a few strange looking bugs and the ever-busy leaf cutter ants. Until we come suddenly to a dead-end on the track at a point at the top of a steep tree-covered cliff that overlooks a valley - the hidden valley. A river crashes through the forest about 100 metres below us. Accross the other side, the trees cover gently rising ground up to a horizon which must be several miles away. It is a vista of astounding beauty.
Then, against the background of trees on the opposite side of the valley, and against the sky above the horizon, we see black vultures - huge birds, soaring in the air with no visible movement of the wings. Then an eagle, much more intense in its flight, searching for prey, maybe to feed chicks in their nest on cliff face or tree-top. Then a hawk of some kind, wings flapping as is also searches for a meal. Then another eagle, and more black vultures. This place is very special.
We eventually and reluctantly move on to continue our trek. A sudden movement in the trees reveals a squirrel, twice the size of ours in the UK, dark grey and almost black down its back, it turns and runs away from us.
After several hours in the forest, Peter and Lesley decide to head for an exit but I love it here, so go on alone back into the centre of the forest. I get lost, the map is useless here, but who cares, this is an amazing place. A sudden movement on the ground to my right makes me stop in my tracks. Something is heading towards the track just in front of me. I see through the trees and undergrowth that it is an orangy brown animal. Then it crosses in front of me, I get a clear view, it looks like a small hairy pig. I am told later it is probably an agouti.
I start to look for a way out but find that I have gone around in a circle when I recognise a bunch of bamboo growing in a clearing that I passed earlier. Never mind, I try a different way then come to a path I remember being on with Peter and Lesley so follow this. Suddenly there is a loud chorus of screeching above me, a flock of parrots are charging from tree to tree, obviously looking for trouble or shouting at something that has disturbed them............maybe me?
I get to the point that I parted company with Peter and Lesley, so walk the way I thought they went and promptly get lost again, on a track that ends in a mass of twisted foilage and dead branches. I retrace my steps and try another way, there is a grassy bank ahead, then a shack and a wider track that leads me back to (relative) civilisation.
I head for the bakery. A meat pasty, a chiken pasty and a huge chunk of the most gorgeous moist delicious carrot cake ever, are followed by a perfect cup of tea.
Now I am in a bus. It is fixed on a hillside amongst the trees and converted into an internet cafe where I am writng this blog. Bizarre.
This has been a good day.
Bye for now,
John
Monday, November 22, 2010
Costa Rica mon 22 nov 2010
Costa Rica mon 22 nov 2010
Walked 4k through the rainforest along dirt road and rough paths to sloth rehabilitation centre. Just me and an American couple are shown an excellent video on sloths and the work of the centre. Some of the background music is Flanders and Swann singing about sloths. Next a talk by a very knowledgeable guide aided by illustrated boards showing the ancestry, species and distribution of sloths. Then we are taken to see the animals themselves, about twelve of them in four enclosures, all rescued and unable to return to the wild for varying reasons. Some had been used to entertain tourists, others as pets. One had had his toes/claws cut off so that he wouldn't scratch the children. A sloth cannot climb trees or feed itself without it's claws. This ones regrew over time and eventually he returned to the wild.
On the way back I bought packs of tasty looking fudge for my children and striking t-shirts for the grandchildren. Then lunch in a local snackery, high up on a hillside overlooking the forest. I have their speciality wrap containing chicken, beans and cheese, with a mountain of salad.
It's another 4k hike back to the Lodge and quiet few hours chatting and resting before our evening meal in town at a locals' buffet serving traditional fare.
Bye for now, John
Walked 4k through the rainforest along dirt road and rough paths to sloth rehabilitation centre. Just me and an American couple are shown an excellent video on sloths and the work of the centre. Some of the background music is Flanders and Swann singing about sloths. Next a talk by a very knowledgeable guide aided by illustrated boards showing the ancestry, species and distribution of sloths. Then we are taken to see the animals themselves, about twelve of them in four enclosures, all rescued and unable to return to the wild for varying reasons. Some had been used to entertain tourists, others as pets. One had had his toes/claws cut off so that he wouldn't scratch the children. A sloth cannot climb trees or feed itself without it's claws. This ones regrew over time and eventually he returned to the wild.
On the way back I bought packs of tasty looking fudge for my children and striking t-shirts for the grandchildren. Then lunch in a local snackery, high up on a hillside overlooking the forest. I have their speciality wrap containing chicken, beans and cheese, with a mountain of salad.
It's another 4k hike back to the Lodge and quiet few hours chatting and resting before our evening meal in town at a locals' buffet serving traditional fare.
Bye for now, John
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Costa Rica Sun 21 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Sun 21 Nov 2010
7.30 start this morning, we mini-bus to the shore of the artificial lake, transfer with our bags onto a boat that takes us along one side then across to the other side. We are treated to multiple sightings of ospreys and egrets, plus a beautiful black and White kingfisher. I get an amazing photo of an osprey launching itself into flight from the top of a dead tree.
From the lake we are driven to Monteverde cloud forest and our lodge accommodation. We are in the clouds and it is raining; although this is a tourist area, there is an old world atmosphere about the place with it's timber buildings and corrugated rooves. Martin and I walk down into the nearby small town of Santa Elena, about 2k up and down steep hills on a hairy bendy road through the forest. We survive to meet the rest of the group back at the lodge to go out for our evening meal.
Bye for now
John
7.30 start this morning, we mini-bus to the shore of the artificial lake, transfer with our bags onto a boat that takes us along one side then across to the other side. We are treated to multiple sightings of ospreys and egrets, plus a beautiful black and White kingfisher. I get an amazing photo of an osprey launching itself into flight from the top of a dead tree.
From the lake we are driven to Monteverde cloud forest and our lodge accommodation. We are in the clouds and it is raining; although this is a tourist area, there is an old world atmosphere about the place with it's timber buildings and corrugated rooves. Martin and I walk down into the nearby small town of Santa Elena, about 2k up and down steep hills on a hairy bendy road through the forest. We survive to meet the rest of the group back at the lodge to go out for our evening meal.
Bye for now
John
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Costa Rica Sat 20 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Sat 20 Nov 2010
The Arenal Volcano had been dormant for five centuries when it erupted without warning in 1968. They found 87 bodies in three villages caught by the 1000 degree gasses surging down into their valley, many more died but were never found. This volcano does not produce rivers of lava, it cools more quickly into rocks which are hurled upwards out of the active crater, following the gasses down to create avalanches of huge hot boulders which splinter and break in all directions as the careering mass destroys everything in its path. Trees, vegetation, wildlife and villages disappeared in the carnage.
Today, the lower reaches of the mountain are green again with trees, shrubs and grasses competing vigourously for nutrients, water and light. An artificial lake, created to provide hydro-electricity, covers the three destroyed villages. The volcano, with its two craters and forming an almost perfect steep-sided cone, towers above this area of beauty and apparent tranquility. But it is still active, still spewing hot gasses and rocks in mini eruptions that occur intermittantly and with no warning.
We trek up to the lower reaches of the volcano. Nobody is allowed to go further than the point we reach. Access to Arenal has been controlled by the Costa Rica government since earlier trekkers were killed by sudden eruptions catching them too close to the active crater.
The volcano is awesome and threatening. It sits where the caribbean plate is pushing over the top of a pacific plate. There is more trouble to come.
On the trek we see three kinds of orchid and a wide variety of vegetation including large trees that have regenerated these lower slopes since the devastation only 42 years ago. It is a remarkable recovery by nature. Monkeys play in the trees. But it is only a matter of time.
But not today. We descend and are driven to hot springs which are a welcome by-product of the seismic activity. After an hour lazing about in the hot water, it´s time for our evening meal, delicious tomato soup with bits of avocado floating about in it, steak and veggies, ice cream to finish, a pleasant end to the day.
All the Best,
John
The Arenal Volcano had been dormant for five centuries when it erupted without warning in 1968. They found 87 bodies in three villages caught by the 1000 degree gasses surging down into their valley, many more died but were never found. This volcano does not produce rivers of lava, it cools more quickly into rocks which are hurled upwards out of the active crater, following the gasses down to create avalanches of huge hot boulders which splinter and break in all directions as the careering mass destroys everything in its path. Trees, vegetation, wildlife and villages disappeared in the carnage.
Today, the lower reaches of the mountain are green again with trees, shrubs and grasses competing vigourously for nutrients, water and light. An artificial lake, created to provide hydro-electricity, covers the three destroyed villages. The volcano, with its two craters and forming an almost perfect steep-sided cone, towers above this area of beauty and apparent tranquility. But it is still active, still spewing hot gasses and rocks in mini eruptions that occur intermittantly and with no warning.
We trek up to the lower reaches of the volcano. Nobody is allowed to go further than the point we reach. Access to Arenal has been controlled by the Costa Rica government since earlier trekkers were killed by sudden eruptions catching them too close to the active crater.
The volcano is awesome and threatening. It sits where the caribbean plate is pushing over the top of a pacific plate. There is more trouble to come.
On the trek we see three kinds of orchid and a wide variety of vegetation including large trees that have regenerated these lower slopes since the devastation only 42 years ago. It is a remarkable recovery by nature. Monkeys play in the trees. But it is only a matter of time.
But not today. We descend and are driven to hot springs which are a welcome by-product of the seismic activity. After an hour lazing about in the hot water, it´s time for our evening meal, delicious tomato soup with bits of avocado floating about in it, steak and veggies, ice cream to finish, a pleasant end to the day.
All the Best,
John
Friday, November 19, 2010
Costa Rica Fri 19 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Fri 19 Nov 2010
We take two public bus journeys to get to La Fortuna, a town in the Arenal Volcano Region. We travel through fertile farmlands, with cattle grazing and a diversity of crops including papaya, pineapple, sugar cane, casava (a root vegetable a bit like potatos but long and thin), taro root and ornamental crotons, the last grown for export for tropical gardens and displays.
Towards the end of the second bus ride, we are climbing steadily and quite steeply at times, the road is very narrow with many sharp bends but the driver has obviously done this route many times so that he can maintain a high speed and place the wheels with precision right on the edge of the embankments.
We see Arenal, Costa Ricas most active volcano cone. It is 1633 metres high and covered by a tangled mass of vegitation on the side we can see, but apparently it is barren on the other where lava flows have wiped out all signs of life. The top is hidden by mist and cloud so that the mountain looks very mysterious and forbidding. Tomorrow some of the group are going hiking on it, including me. Is walking in the mists on an active volcano a good idea? I'll let you know next time I write!
All the Best,
John
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Costa Rica Thurs 18 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Thurs 18 Nov 2010
Up early today, three public bus journeys, four bus stations and a taxi trip later, we arrive in Sarapiqui, not far from the Nicaragua border. We check into the Hotel Gavilan Lodge, I think we are in paradise.
After a steak and rice lunch, most of the group take a boat trip up the River Sarapiqui which runs right alongside the Lodge. The scenery is magnificent, there is no other word for it. Huge trees are lords of the river, the water is tumbling along at great speed broken only by the remains of great and small trees, lying in the torrent, victims of storms and torrential rains that wash them into the deluge. The wildlife is abundant, we see two varieties of swallows, toucans, herons, an ankinga, a woodpecker peering out of its hole in a tree, egrets, turkey vultures, an aracati, a ringed kingfisher and three macaws flying in formation over the trees.
Also a camen, quite large and threatening, and several green iguanas, including one bright orange specimen (the male changes colour in the mating season), over a metre long, chasing its brown female partner over branches and through the undergrowth. A spectacular sight.
We spend over two hours on this raging river, wonderful stuff.
Take Care everybody,
John
Up early today, three public bus journeys, four bus stations and a taxi trip later, we arrive in Sarapiqui, not far from the Nicaragua border. We check into the Hotel Gavilan Lodge, I think we are in paradise.
After a steak and rice lunch, most of the group take a boat trip up the River Sarapiqui which runs right alongside the Lodge. The scenery is magnificent, there is no other word for it. Huge trees are lords of the river, the water is tumbling along at great speed broken only by the remains of great and small trees, lying in the torrent, victims of storms and torrential rains that wash them into the deluge. The wildlife is abundant, we see two varieties of swallows, toucans, herons, an ankinga, a woodpecker peering out of its hole in a tree, egrets, turkey vultures, an aracati, a ringed kingfisher and three macaws flying in formation over the trees.
Also a camen, quite large and threatening, and several green iguanas, including one bright orange specimen (the male changes colour in the mating season), over a metre long, chasing its brown female partner over branches and through the undergrowth. A spectacular sight.
We spend over two hours on this raging river, wonderful stuff.
Take Care everybody,
John
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Costa Rica Wed 17 Nov 10
Costa Rica Wed 17 Nov 10
Today is our last day in Cahuita. This morning, four of us go snorkelling, it´s only a short walk to meet Joseph with his boat then 10 minutes max to the reef. An hour in one area then a second hour over a different part of the reef. The water is clear, we see loads of fish all shapes, sizes and colours. I am also lucky to see a ray and a reef shark. I follow a shoal of quite large fish, several varieties yellow, blue and brown, charging around as a group, sometimes stopping to feed on a piece of coral then charging off again. Then I follow a big fat fish, all head and no body, maybe 12" diameter. It doesn´t like being followed and hides under a rock until I go away. This is a very pleasant way to spend a morning. We feed on pineapple on the way back in the boat.
This afternoon I walk with two of the girls about 3k along a dusty road to the ´Tree OF Life´ which is Botanical Gardens and a Wildlife Rescue Centre. The gardens are beautifully laid out with trees and shrubs and various herb and spice growing plants. The animals in residence during our visit included a pecary (a piggy sort of thing), racoons, a capuchin monkey which had lived in a bar and become anti-social with other monkeys, coatis, a kinkajou which has a prehensile tail and normally lives in the forest canopy, deer and turtles. There is also an aviary and a butterfly farm with dozens of those beautiful big blue ones fluttering all around us. As we leave we chat with the dutch lady who owns and runs the place, it has only been open one year and we compliment her on the clean conditions for the animals.
The girls opt to walk around the coast back to the town but we end up stuck in residents gardens and are finally released through the gate of an empty, for-sale property, by a formidable looking Costa Rican lady who stands waiting for us with hands on hips. But she mellows a bit when one of the girls shows her a bleeding leg which she had caught on barbed wire, luckily for us.
Another good day, 6.30pm now, there is reggae music in the bar next door and soon Aaron our guide will take us to yet another restaurant. I am hungry and must go and shower now.
All the Best,
John
Today is our last day in Cahuita. This morning, four of us go snorkelling, it´s only a short walk to meet Joseph with his boat then 10 minutes max to the reef. An hour in one area then a second hour over a different part of the reef. The water is clear, we see loads of fish all shapes, sizes and colours. I am also lucky to see a ray and a reef shark. I follow a shoal of quite large fish, several varieties yellow, blue and brown, charging around as a group, sometimes stopping to feed on a piece of coral then charging off again. Then I follow a big fat fish, all head and no body, maybe 12" diameter. It doesn´t like being followed and hides under a rock until I go away. This is a very pleasant way to spend a morning. We feed on pineapple on the way back in the boat.
This afternoon I walk with two of the girls about 3k along a dusty road to the ´Tree OF Life´ which is Botanical Gardens and a Wildlife Rescue Centre. The gardens are beautifully laid out with trees and shrubs and various herb and spice growing plants. The animals in residence during our visit included a pecary (a piggy sort of thing), racoons, a capuchin monkey which had lived in a bar and become anti-social with other monkeys, coatis, a kinkajou which has a prehensile tail and normally lives in the forest canopy, deer and turtles. There is also an aviary and a butterfly farm with dozens of those beautiful big blue ones fluttering all around us. As we leave we chat with the dutch lady who owns and runs the place, it has only been open one year and we compliment her on the clean conditions for the animals.
The girls opt to walk around the coast back to the town but we end up stuck in residents gardens and are finally released through the gate of an empty, for-sale property, by a formidable looking Costa Rican lady who stands waiting for us with hands on hips. But she mellows a bit when one of the girls shows her a bleeding leg which she had caught on barbed wire, luckily for us.
Another good day, 6.30pm now, there is reggae music in the bar next door and soon Aaron our guide will take us to yet another restaurant. I am hungry and must go and shower now.
All the Best,
John
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Costa Rica Tues 16 Nov 2010
Costa Rica Tues 16 Nov 2010
Today I am walking the Nature Reserve forest trail, I guess about 15 kilometres of it. The trail runs parallel to the coastline, sometimes straying onto the narrow beach, sometimes veering deep into the forest. I am on my own and it is quite eerie at times. But the forest is stunningly beautiful, a mix of jungly type trees and tall palms soaring above the canopy.
I see a large, fork-tailed bird with a pillar box red breast in a tree. Strikingly marked lizards dart from under my feet and hermit crabs with red feet scurry away in front of me. Then a rapidly flapping butterfly has me taking a dozen photos of nothing before I finally capture it in a picture. Red Admiral size, it has a big orange blob on each wing and a single white stripe joining the blobs. Very unusual I thought.
Next I see the biggest butterfly ever, bright blue wings and with a much more serene flight than the orange blobby. Still too quick for me though, so more photos of empty forest before I finally capture this one also. Interestingly, when settled on a branch with folded wings, its mottly brown wing undersides camouflage it perfectly against the bark.
As I walk along, there are gaps in the trees providing stunning views of the Caribbean Sea through the branches. I am very pleased with some of my photos today.
I see more monkeys in the trees and leaf-cutter ants marching accross the trail. This is a wonderful place.
Then there is a loud roaring noise from the forest. I think it is from some distance away, but still very disconcerting. It could be some very large monkeys engaged in a mating ritual, or maybe some noisy tory MPs on a trade mission taking a walk in the forest (swopping bananas for Harriers maybe?)
The rest of my walk is without incident, it has been a very pleasant stroll through the trees.
Now I am back in town, waiting for the group to meet up for dinner.
All the Best,
John
Today I am walking the Nature Reserve forest trail, I guess about 15 kilometres of it. The trail runs parallel to the coastline, sometimes straying onto the narrow beach, sometimes veering deep into the forest. I am on my own and it is quite eerie at times. But the forest is stunningly beautiful, a mix of jungly type trees and tall palms soaring above the canopy.
I see a large, fork-tailed bird with a pillar box red breast in a tree. Strikingly marked lizards dart from under my feet and hermit crabs with red feet scurry away in front of me. Then a rapidly flapping butterfly has me taking a dozen photos of nothing before I finally capture it in a picture. Red Admiral size, it has a big orange blob on each wing and a single white stripe joining the blobs. Very unusual I thought.
Next I see the biggest butterfly ever, bright blue wings and with a much more serene flight than the orange blobby. Still too quick for me though, so more photos of empty forest before I finally capture this one also. Interestingly, when settled on a branch with folded wings, its mottly brown wing undersides camouflage it perfectly against the bark.
As I walk along, there are gaps in the trees providing stunning views of the Caribbean Sea through the branches. I am very pleased with some of my photos today.
I see more monkeys in the trees and leaf-cutter ants marching accross the trail. This is a wonderful place.
Then there is a loud roaring noise from the forest. I think it is from some distance away, but still very disconcerting. It could be some very large monkeys engaged in a mating ritual, or maybe some noisy tory MPs on a trade mission taking a walk in the forest (swopping bananas for Harriers maybe?)
The rest of my walk is without incident, it has been a very pleasant stroll through the trees.
Now I am back in town, waiting for the group to meet up for dinner.
All the Best,
John
Costa Rica Mon 15 Nov 10
Costa Rica Mon 15 Nov 10
Taxis to bus station then 4 hour journey on public bus from San Jose eastwards to Cahuita. We drive through the dry forest that surrounds San Jose, into cloud forest then rain forest. The road is narrow and winding, the forests come right up to the edge of the tarmac, the scenery is all trees, up mountain-sides and down into deep valleys. Beautiful. A few dwellings, mostly single storey and basic, are scattered along the roadside, some in small communities. Towards the end of the journey there are bannana plantations and a huge Del Monte depot.
We arrive in Cahuita - first impressions, it´s a wild-west town. Single storey shack like buildings flank a dusty dirt road. In fact it is right on the Caribbean coast. The local population is mostly descendants of Jamaicans brought to Costa Rica to build a railway. They were not slaves our guide firmly informs us, and they are allowed to stay and settle in this area. They have established their own culture here, a blend of Costa Rican and West Indian.
Our rooms are 20m from the sea. After checking in, I walk along the narrow golden sandy beach, the forest on one side right up to the beach, the Caribbean on the other. Stunning. The beach is about 1 kilometre long and there are six people on it, plus a few like me just walking along. There is a sloth sleeping in the branches of a tree overhanging the beach. There are at least a hundred black-headed vultures wheeling overhead, some quite low, they are HUGE; are they looking out for a stray tourist who might become their dinner? A racoon comes out of the forest onto the beach to investigate and maybe hoping to be fed, he seems not to fear me. Two americam girls point out three Big Nosed Bats roosting on the side of a tree trunk; the bats feast on mosquitos after dark. Now I like bats. I walk along a forest path and there is a leaf walking along the path in front of me. On closer inspection I see an ant carrying it, maybe 20 times its size. Then there are monkeys playing in the trees, some of them youngsters having great fun leaping over a stream. I like this place.
Back in town I have some beers in a wild-west bar with room-mate Martin (who lives in the Chilterns!), then the whole group enjoy an evening meal in a wild-west ´restaurant´. I have the local dish - beans and rice, a delicious mix including mysterious herbs, with perfectly cooked filleted fish and salad. $8 and Excellent.
Now I am tired so it´s an early night for me.
Good night.
John
Taxis to bus station then 4 hour journey on public bus from San Jose eastwards to Cahuita. We drive through the dry forest that surrounds San Jose, into cloud forest then rain forest. The road is narrow and winding, the forests come right up to the edge of the tarmac, the scenery is all trees, up mountain-sides and down into deep valleys. Beautiful. A few dwellings, mostly single storey and basic, are scattered along the roadside, some in small communities. Towards the end of the journey there are bannana plantations and a huge Del Monte depot.
We arrive in Cahuita - first impressions, it´s a wild-west town. Single storey shack like buildings flank a dusty dirt road. In fact it is right on the Caribbean coast. The local population is mostly descendants of Jamaicans brought to Costa Rica to build a railway. They were not slaves our guide firmly informs us, and they are allowed to stay and settle in this area. They have established their own culture here, a blend of Costa Rican and West Indian.
Our rooms are 20m from the sea. After checking in, I walk along the narrow golden sandy beach, the forest on one side right up to the beach, the Caribbean on the other. Stunning. The beach is about 1 kilometre long and there are six people on it, plus a few like me just walking along. There is a sloth sleeping in the branches of a tree overhanging the beach. There are at least a hundred black-headed vultures wheeling overhead, some quite low, they are HUGE; are they looking out for a stray tourist who might become their dinner? A racoon comes out of the forest onto the beach to investigate and maybe hoping to be fed, he seems not to fear me. Two americam girls point out three Big Nosed Bats roosting on the side of a tree trunk; the bats feast on mosquitos after dark. Now I like bats. I walk along a forest path and there is a leaf walking along the path in front of me. On closer inspection I see an ant carrying it, maybe 20 times its size. Then there are monkeys playing in the trees, some of them youngsters having great fun leaping over a stream. I like this place.
Back in town I have some beers in a wild-west bar with room-mate Martin (who lives in the Chilterns!), then the whole group enjoy an evening meal in a wild-west ´restaurant´. I have the local dish - beans and rice, a delicious mix including mysterious herbs, with perfectly cooked filleted fish and salad. $8 and Excellent.
Now I am tired so it´s an early night for me.
Good night.
John
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Costa Rica Sunday 14 November 2010
San Jose, Costa Rica Sunday 14 Nov 2010
I Arrive at hotel 10pm saturday night 23 hours after leaving Bovingdon at 5am. Costa Rica is 6 hours behind the UK. It is the wrong hotel thanks to a communication failure by Explore but all sorted today.
I wander around the central area of the city, very pleasant this sunny sunday with locals and tourists mingling and relaxing in the main square. Musicians in traditional dress, children feeding and chasing pidgeons, most people just sitting and chatting.
Lunch in a locals´ caf is coffee and a flat crusty toasted sandwich. The contents are unknown to me when I choose it due my lack of spanish and their lack of english (fair enough). It turns out to be beef and tomatos, tasty.
5pm now, the group meets at 7pm for introductions followed by a meal somewhere in San Jose.
Got to go, All the Best,
John
I Arrive at hotel 10pm saturday night 23 hours after leaving Bovingdon at 5am. Costa Rica is 6 hours behind the UK. It is the wrong hotel thanks to a communication failure by Explore but all sorted today.
I wander around the central area of the city, very pleasant this sunny sunday with locals and tourists mingling and relaxing in the main square. Musicians in traditional dress, children feeding and chasing pidgeons, most people just sitting and chatting.
Lunch in a locals´ caf is coffee and a flat crusty toasted sandwich. The contents are unknown to me when I choose it due my lack of spanish and their lack of english (fair enough). It turns out to be beef and tomatos, tasty.
5pm now, the group meets at 7pm for introductions followed by a meal somewhere in San Jose.
Got to go, All the Best,
John
(just done spell test, every word highlighted! not unreasonable from a spanish set computer?)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Costa Rica
Off to Costa Rica Saturday 13 Nov 2010
Just to let you know I start an 'Explore' tour on Sunday 14th November 2010.
Costa Rica is one of the narrow countries in Central America, bordering Panama to the South and Nicaragua to the North. It's east coast is the Caribbean Sea, its west The Pacific Ocean. It is a peaceful nation whose army was abolished over 50 years ago. Its democracy is over 100 years old. Adult literacy is 93%.
The tour is called 'Captivating Costa Rica', starting in San Jose, the capital, and finishing in Quepos/Manuel Antonio on the Pacific coast, where I plan to spend a week or so relaxing on the beaches and exploring the nearby national park.
All the Best to you all,
John
Just to let you know I start an 'Explore' tour on Sunday 14th November 2010.
Costa Rica is one of the narrow countries in Central America, bordering Panama to the South and Nicaragua to the North. It's east coast is the Caribbean Sea, its west The Pacific Ocean. It is a peaceful nation whose army was abolished over 50 years ago. Its democracy is over 100 years old. Adult literacy is 93%.
The tour is called 'Captivating Costa Rica', starting in San Jose, the capital, and finishing in Quepos/Manuel Antonio on the Pacific coast, where I plan to spend a week or so relaxing on the beaches and exploring the nearby national park.
All the Best to you all,
John
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Rajasthan 15 January 2010
Rajasthan 15 January 2010
This blog actually starts on the evening of the 14th when we board the overnight train from Pushkar to Delhi.
There are 8 beds in each compartment, so it is very cosy. I am allocated a bottom bunk; shortly after this, an Indian gentleman sits on my bed and says it is his! Much consternation all round. We find Anmar who produces our ticket for my bed. The Indian gentleman then produces his ticket for the same bed! It is double booked. The beds are about 2 ft. wide so I decide not to sleep with the Indian gentleman. Anmar goes off to sort it out with the train authorities. There is also an Indian father and his 12? year old son in our compartment so we chat to them for a while, the boy is going to sit an exam in Delhi the next day.
Anmar returns to explain that Intrepid (our tour organisation) had booked the beds from an earlier station, and because they were unoccupied from that station, they became available for sale again! Welcome to India. We are fortunate that only one had been re-sold. Mine!. Anmar kindly gives me his bunk (in the same compartment) and goes off to find somewhere else to sleep. So now I am in a middle bunk, the Indian gentleman underneath me and Kylie above.
We debate which is the best way to lay down. If your head is next to the side of the train, it is shaking and feels as if you are lying on a vibrator. If your head is next to the aisle, it is slightly lower than your feet which is strangely disorientating. I opt for the latter position after trying both ways.
Then I sleep. I am fortunate in being able to sleep anywhere anytime. (This has resulted in some inappropriate slumbertimes in the past - a pub jazz evening with Jill in Teignmouth many years ago sticks in my memory, plus various car journeys as a passenger and most of the offices I have worked in.)(including CPS, sorry John)
We arrive in Delhi and transfer to the hotel we started from 15 days ago, Hotel sky Rich, where we have 2 day rooms. I go shopping with Sarah-Jane and Kylie, they help me to pick out some nice tops for the girls. Then back to the hotel where the tour ends and we say our cherios and depart at various times.
Within 24 hours, the group will be spread out all over the world. It is a strange feeling to live so closely with a group of people for 2 weeks, then suddenly we fly off in all directions. I have all of their email addresses and hope at least some of us keep in touch.
All the Best til the next trip,
John
This blog actually starts on the evening of the 14th when we board the overnight train from Pushkar to Delhi.
There are 8 beds in each compartment, so it is very cosy. I am allocated a bottom bunk; shortly after this, an Indian gentleman sits on my bed and says it is his! Much consternation all round. We find Anmar who produces our ticket for my bed. The Indian gentleman then produces his ticket for the same bed! It is double booked. The beds are about 2 ft. wide so I decide not to sleep with the Indian gentleman. Anmar goes off to sort it out with the train authorities. There is also an Indian father and his 12? year old son in our compartment so we chat to them for a while, the boy is going to sit an exam in Delhi the next day.
Anmar returns to explain that Intrepid (our tour organisation) had booked the beds from an earlier station, and because they were unoccupied from that station, they became available for sale again! Welcome to India. We are fortunate that only one had been re-sold. Mine!. Anmar kindly gives me his bunk (in the same compartment) and goes off to find somewhere else to sleep. So now I am in a middle bunk, the Indian gentleman underneath me and Kylie above.
We debate which is the best way to lay down. If your head is next to the side of the train, it is shaking and feels as if you are lying on a vibrator. If your head is next to the aisle, it is slightly lower than your feet which is strangely disorientating. I opt for the latter position after trying both ways.
Then I sleep. I am fortunate in being able to sleep anywhere anytime. (This has resulted in some inappropriate slumbertimes in the past - a pub jazz evening with Jill in Teignmouth many years ago sticks in my memory, plus various car journeys as a passenger and most of the offices I have worked in.)(including CPS, sorry John)
We arrive in Delhi and transfer to the hotel we started from 15 days ago, Hotel sky Rich, where we have 2 day rooms. I go shopping with Sarah-Jane and Kylie, they help me to pick out some nice tops for the girls. Then back to the hotel where the tour ends and we say our cherios and depart at various times.
Within 24 hours, the group will be spread out all over the world. It is a strange feeling to live so closely with a group of people for 2 weeks, then suddenly we fly off in all directions. I have all of their email addresses and hope at least some of us keep in touch.
All the Best til the next trip,
John
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Rajasthan 14 january 2010
Rajasthan 14 January 2010
Well this is the penultimate day of the tour, with not much to report. This is a 'free' day so I wander through the streets and bazaar with various other members of the group. Selling is particularly aggressive here, so we learn never to accept a hand offered for shaking because they don't let go. Many want to bestow religious blessings on you at potentially extortionate cost. One trick they play here is to tell you a number when you ask how much, then after you have said yes they say it's dollars not ruperts. Not nice.
Despite the selling practices, this is a charming town and well worth a visit. I buy Slumdog Millionaire dvd from a shopkeeper who is friendly and helpful but almost blind.
We are meeting early evening to catch the overnight train to Delhi. More on this tomorrow.
All the Best, John
Well this is the penultimate day of the tour, with not much to report. This is a 'free' day so I wander through the streets and bazaar with various other members of the group. Selling is particularly aggressive here, so we learn never to accept a hand offered for shaking because they don't let go. Many want to bestow religious blessings on you at potentially extortionate cost. One trick they play here is to tell you a number when you ask how much, then after you have said yes they say it's dollars not ruperts. Not nice.
Despite the selling practices, this is a charming town and well worth a visit. I buy Slumdog Millionaire dvd from a shopkeeper who is friendly and helpful but almost blind.
We are meeting early evening to catch the overnight train to Delhi. More on this tomorrow.
All the Best, John
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Rajasthan 13 january 2010
Rajasthan 13 January 2010
The 6am train leaves at 6.15! We are in comfortable class, so I sleep for much of the 5 and half hours in the train to Aimer. Here we climb into a small bus, our bags are on the roof, just. Soon we are in a traffic jam. Streets are closed because the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is in town. Eventually, and via Snake Pass, we arrive in our hotel in Pushkar. This is a holy town containing India's only Brahma Temple, a holy lake, pilgrims from all over India and hippies from Hastings.
Our 'orientation' walk takes us through.............hundreds of small shops! There is a difference though, many of the 'locals' are westerners, presumably settling in Pushkar to find enlightenment, helped by the puffing of these long pipes so popular in India. I don't think they contain shag tobacco.
Next, back at the hotel, we are joined by 11 camels. One for each of us. Mounting a camel (to ride) is not easy. As my regular readers will know, I am an experienced rider of exotic animals, having already ridden a camel in Dubai, an ostrich in Africa and a Dartmoor pony in Devon. However, on this camel, there is only a small 'pommel' to hold onto, positioned at the front of the saddle immediately in front of one's groin. It is disappointing that, after centuries of using these animals to transport people and goods, no-one has bred or trained camels that can rise from the kneeling position on all 4 legs simultaneously. I think it's the back legs that go up first, they tell you to lean back and you jolt forward into the pommel. Ouch. Then the other two legs go up and you rise to a ridiculous height above ground level. The camel starts walking and I hold on tightly to the tiny pommel, trying to stay on board and protect my unborn children. Each camel is led by a minder, and the safari takes us in single file on an hour's walk through the town and out into the desert where we stop for tea. Anmar our guide follows the camel train in a camel drawn cart. This is obviously for collecting group members that have fallen off their camels. I picture the cart at the end of the safari, piled up with injured tourists, broken arms and legs hanging out in all directions and Anmar still drinking the last of his tea. Fortunately, we all make it to the half-way tea stop with no casualties. Nobody has fallen off, but now we have to dismount. Ouch. The tea and biscuits are good, but we are serenaded by the musicians from hell. I am chatting with two of the girls and before we realise it, we are surrounded by three of them. I don't know how she does it, but Sarah-Jane escapes, ruthlessly abandoning me and Kylie to the strains of the most ear piercing tuneless scratching and scraping noises from stringed instruments constructed in a scrap yard by the devil himself. Kylie recovers her senses more quickly than me and pays them to go away.
For the ride back, we have to re-mount. Another ouch. This time, I make myself relax in the saddle and not hold on to the pommel so tightly. This makes the ride less uncomfortable and more relaxed. I take some good photos, risking total letting go of the pommel and twisting a bit to take photos. A couple of times, the minder makes my camel run, and after the initial shock, I realise that this is much more comfortable than walking. It is also an exhilarating ride.
Actually, the whole experience is amazing. The camels are serene, the desert landscape is stark and beautiful, and the sunset is incredible. A highlight of this trip and all my travels.
All the Best, John
The 6am train leaves at 6.15! We are in comfortable class, so I sleep for much of the 5 and half hours in the train to Aimer. Here we climb into a small bus, our bags are on the roof, just. Soon we are in a traffic jam. Streets are closed because the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is in town. Eventually, and via Snake Pass, we arrive in our hotel in Pushkar. This is a holy town containing India's only Brahma Temple, a holy lake, pilgrims from all over India and hippies from Hastings.
Our 'orientation' walk takes us through.............hundreds of small shops! There is a difference though, many of the 'locals' are westerners, presumably settling in Pushkar to find enlightenment, helped by the puffing of these long pipes so popular in India. I don't think they contain shag tobacco.
Next, back at the hotel, we are joined by 11 camels. One for each of us. Mounting a camel (to ride) is not easy. As my regular readers will know, I am an experienced rider of exotic animals, having already ridden a camel in Dubai, an ostrich in Africa and a Dartmoor pony in Devon. However, on this camel, there is only a small 'pommel' to hold onto, positioned at the front of the saddle immediately in front of one's groin. It is disappointing that, after centuries of using these animals to transport people and goods, no-one has bred or trained camels that can rise from the kneeling position on all 4 legs simultaneously. I think it's the back legs that go up first, they tell you to lean back and you jolt forward into the pommel. Ouch. Then the other two legs go up and you rise to a ridiculous height above ground level. The camel starts walking and I hold on tightly to the tiny pommel, trying to stay on board and protect my unborn children. Each camel is led by a minder, and the safari takes us in single file on an hour's walk through the town and out into the desert where we stop for tea. Anmar our guide follows the camel train in a camel drawn cart. This is obviously for collecting group members that have fallen off their camels. I picture the cart at the end of the safari, piled up with injured tourists, broken arms and legs hanging out in all directions and Anmar still drinking the last of his tea. Fortunately, we all make it to the half-way tea stop with no casualties. Nobody has fallen off, but now we have to dismount. Ouch. The tea and biscuits are good, but we are serenaded by the musicians from hell. I am chatting with two of the girls and before we realise it, we are surrounded by three of them. I don't know how she does it, but Sarah-Jane escapes, ruthlessly abandoning me and Kylie to the strains of the most ear piercing tuneless scratching and scraping noises from stringed instruments constructed in a scrap yard by the devil himself. Kylie recovers her senses more quickly than me and pays them to go away.
For the ride back, we have to re-mount. Another ouch. This time, I make myself relax in the saddle and not hold on to the pommel so tightly. This makes the ride less uncomfortable and more relaxed. I take some good photos, risking total letting go of the pommel and twisting a bit to take photos. A couple of times, the minder makes my camel run, and after the initial shock, I realise that this is much more comfortable than walking. It is also an exhilarating ride.
Actually, the whole experience is amazing. The camels are serene, the desert landscape is stark and beautiful, and the sunset is incredible. A highlight of this trip and all my travels.
All the Best, John
Monday, January 25, 2010
Rajasthan 12 January 2010
Rajasthan 12 January 2010
Quiet day today, no organised activity, just wandering around Upaipur. Firstly, I am guided by some of the girls in the group to a very small but excellent cake shop. Had a danish pastry the size of a small dinner plate, plus carrot cake and a pot of coffee. Great start to the day.
The streets in this town are narrow and twisty, especially near the lake. Here again there are hundreds of tiny shops, for locals and tourists. I spend 3 hours walking around and buy three bananas.
Most of the group meet for an evening meal, I have a mildly spicy spinach and chicken dish with egg fried rice - delicious. We learn from Anmar our guide that we start at 5.30am tomorrow, so it's an early night tonight. Big day tomorrow! Goodnight all, John
Quiet day today, no organised activity, just wandering around Upaipur. Firstly, I am guided by some of the girls in the group to a very small but excellent cake shop. Had a danish pastry the size of a small dinner plate, plus carrot cake and a pot of coffee. Great start to the day.
The streets in this town are narrow and twisty, especially near the lake. Here again there are hundreds of tiny shops, for locals and tourists. I spend 3 hours walking around and buy three bananas.
Most of the group meet for an evening meal, I have a mildly spicy spinach and chicken dish with egg fried rice - delicious. We learn from Anmar our guide that we start at 5.30am tomorrow, so it's an early night tonight. Big day tomorrow! Goodnight all, John
Friday, January 22, 2010
Rajasthan 11 january 2010
Rajasthan 11 january 2010
The drive to Udaipur takes us on to motorway for the first time. Interestingly, cyclists and trucks occasionally use the overtaking lane as if it is the left hand lane of a single carriageway and hence travel the wrong way in the fast lane. Pedestrians walking 3 abreast either way in all lanes add to the mayhem. And nobody slows down for anyone or anything (except cows of course).
Our hotel in Udaipur is on the edge of the lake. We have an 'orientation walk' through the town then a tour around the City Palace. Adjoining the lake, the Palace is built up the side of a cliff and is huge, the second largest in India.
Some of us take a boat trip around the lake, I get some photos of the Lake Palace which is made of white marble and rises up out of the water. The sunset behind the hill on the other side of the lake is striking.
The James Bond film 'Octopussy' was filmed here, so we all gather to watch it in one of the restaurants that continuously play it for tourists. The sound doesn't work on the tele so we all watch fascinated as the waiter inserts a screwdriver into the live television set and connects wires from independant speakers into it. Some of the action and dialogue in the film is very dated and there is much hilarity.
All the Best, John
The drive to Udaipur takes us on to motorway for the first time. Interestingly, cyclists and trucks occasionally use the overtaking lane as if it is the left hand lane of a single carriageway and hence travel the wrong way in the fast lane. Pedestrians walking 3 abreast either way in all lanes add to the mayhem. And nobody slows down for anyone or anything (except cows of course).
Our hotel in Udaipur is on the edge of the lake. We have an 'orientation walk' through the town then a tour around the City Palace. Adjoining the lake, the Palace is built up the side of a cliff and is huge, the second largest in India.
Some of us take a boat trip around the lake, I get some photos of the Lake Palace which is made of white marble and rises up out of the water. The sunset behind the hill on the other side of the lake is striking.
The James Bond film 'Octopussy' was filmed here, so we all gather to watch it in one of the restaurants that continuously play it for tourists. The sound doesn't work on the tele so we all watch fascinated as the waiter inserts a screwdriver into the live television set and connects wires from independant speakers into it. Some of the action and dialogue in the film is very dated and there is much hilarity.
All the Best, John
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Rajasthan 10 January 2010
Rajasthan 10 January 2010
We are driven, in jeeps again, on a 'village safari', and stop by some fields to be shown various crops. There is barley, onions, peanuts, turmeric, garlic and opium. The last is grown strictly under government license and, of course, none of it finds its way into the black market.
Next we stop by a 'Moonshine Tree', the product of which causes much merriment in the local population, but we have not had a taste yet.
The last stop in the middle of a village includes a visit to one of the homes. It is a single storey block built structure with maybe 2 rooms and a large yard filled with goats and children. Basic and enchanting.
We arrive at Castle Bijaipur Hotel for a welcome snack of sandwiches and chips, followed by swimming in the (rather cool) hotel pool, bike rides and table tennis for some of the group. I also have an early evening lone walk around Bijaipur village, looking in vain for an Internet cafe. I don't think they see many tourists outside of the hotel, but everyone is polite and friendly.
All the Best,
John
We are driven, in jeeps again, on a 'village safari', and stop by some fields to be shown various crops. There is barley, onions, peanuts, turmeric, garlic and opium. The last is grown strictly under government license and, of course, none of it finds its way into the black market.
Next we stop by a 'Moonshine Tree', the product of which causes much merriment in the local population, but we have not had a taste yet.
The last stop in the middle of a village includes a visit to one of the homes. It is a single storey block built structure with maybe 2 rooms and a large yard filled with goats and children. Basic and enchanting.
We arrive at Castle Bijaipur Hotel for a welcome snack of sandwiches and chips, followed by swimming in the (rather cool) hotel pool, bike rides and table tennis for some of the group. I also have an early evening lone walk around Bijaipur village, looking in vain for an Internet cafe. I don't think they see many tourists outside of the hotel, but everyone is polite and friendly.
All the Best,
John
Friday, January 15, 2010
Rajasthan 9 January 2010
Rajasthan 9 January 2010
We arrive at the station at 7am for 7.15 train that arrives at 11.40 due to fog. No comfy seats this time, we are in 'general' class, but crowdedness and discomfort are more than compensated by the group's interaction with local people who stare at us strange western folk. Vendors are selling spicy chic peas and peanuts. The peanut shells and other debris cover the floor, so there is a crackling sound as people walk by.
The scenery outside is varied, rocky desert in places, but also cultivated fields that must have required a huge amount of work to create and maintain in this landscape. There is the bright green of winter barley in its early stages, the yellow of oilseed rape/canola and the brown earth awaiting spring crops. All very ordered and tidy.
After 3 hours on the train, we alight at the tiny Bassi Station where two jeeps are waiting for us. One and half hours in these takes us along the narrowest and roughest of tracks and roads, through villages and cultivated countryside. Crops include opium which has white flowers as some of you may know.
Finally, we are negotiating a solid rock hillside, driving downwards at 45 degrees to the slope; more on this later. At the bottom is a remote lake which would have been beautiful if it had any water in it. Actually there was a little water in the middle, but it was surrounded by acres of mud and dried out edges. The last two monsoons have failed to bring the rain they need, but it is still a glorious setting. The mudflats are being searched for lotus flower roots which are much prized as cooking ingredients.
We are camping in tents already set up by the lakeside and they are luxurious, with a 5m sq. sleeping section and, to the rear, a 5x2m 'bathroom' with running h&c water to western toilet, washbasin and shower!
Five of us walk up to a ruined fort perched on the top of a hillock overlooking the lake. We see that the whole valley has the shape of a huge crater, as if we are in an ancient volcanic crater with rocky sides, the lake at the bottom and a mound in the middle with the fort on top. This is a weird and wonderful place.
Dinner in the stone built, very old tile clad Dining Hall is superb. It is a help-yourself buffet with 6 containers of various Indian dishes kept hot over gas jets. Vegetable rice, cauliflower, egg plant/aubergine, mixed veg., a bean sauce and perfectly cooked joints of chicken. This is heaven. I passed on another spicy sauce though.
Now I am in bed writing this blog with the sound of night noises from the lake and surrounding green banks and rocky slopes; it is a cacophony of birds, insects, animals and snoring Australians in nearby tents. This is a great place to be.
All the best, John
We arrive at the station at 7am for 7.15 train that arrives at 11.40 due to fog. No comfy seats this time, we are in 'general' class, but crowdedness and discomfort are more than compensated by the group's interaction with local people who stare at us strange western folk. Vendors are selling spicy chic peas and peanuts. The peanut shells and other debris cover the floor, so there is a crackling sound as people walk by.
The scenery outside is varied, rocky desert in places, but also cultivated fields that must have required a huge amount of work to create and maintain in this landscape. There is the bright green of winter barley in its early stages, the yellow of oilseed rape/canola and the brown earth awaiting spring crops. All very ordered and tidy.
After 3 hours on the train, we alight at the tiny Bassi Station where two jeeps are waiting for us. One and half hours in these takes us along the narrowest and roughest of tracks and roads, through villages and cultivated countryside. Crops include opium which has white flowers as some of you may know.
Finally, we are negotiating a solid rock hillside, driving downwards at 45 degrees to the slope; more on this later. At the bottom is a remote lake which would have been beautiful if it had any water in it. Actually there was a little water in the middle, but it was surrounded by acres of mud and dried out edges. The last two monsoons have failed to bring the rain they need, but it is still a glorious setting. The mudflats are being searched for lotus flower roots which are much prized as cooking ingredients.
We are camping in tents already set up by the lakeside and they are luxurious, with a 5m sq. sleeping section and, to the rear, a 5x2m 'bathroom' with running h&c water to western toilet, washbasin and shower!
Five of us walk up to a ruined fort perched on the top of a hillock overlooking the lake. We see that the whole valley has the shape of a huge crater, as if we are in an ancient volcanic crater with rocky sides, the lake at the bottom and a mound in the middle with the fort on top. This is a weird and wonderful place.
Dinner in the stone built, very old tile clad Dining Hall is superb. It is a help-yourself buffet with 6 containers of various Indian dishes kept hot over gas jets. Vegetable rice, cauliflower, egg plant/aubergine, mixed veg., a bean sauce and perfectly cooked joints of chicken. This is heaven. I passed on another spicy sauce though.
Now I am in bed writing this blog with the sound of night noises from the lake and surrounding green banks and rocky slopes; it is a cacophony of birds, insects, animals and snoring Australians in nearby tents. This is a great place to be.
All the best, John
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Rajasthan 8 January 2010
Rajasthan 8 January 2010
First thing in the morning we are driven up to Ranthambore Fort, an impressive structure high up above the town. The steps rise steeply through stone walls and archways. The huge timber doors have spikes to discourage ramming by the elephants of attacking armies. This place has been designed to be impenetrable and has never been taken forcibly. The living quarters at the top are largely in ruins, but the bits that remain are fascinating.
Now we are driving to Bundi, seeing more of rural Rajasthan. Cattle, wild (looking) pigs, chickens, goats and local people in harmony. All of the women and some of the men are in traditional dress, colourful saris etc., I love these journeys through the countryside.
Bundi is known as the 'City of Wells', it nestles in a natural valley at the foot of a large rocky hill dominated by the town's Fort and Palace. Sadly, the Maharajah died yesterday and is being cremated today, so we cannot visit the Palace. However, our orientation walk is interesting, and we have an excellent meal in our hotel, The Ishwari Niwas (Gods House).
That's it for today, All the Best, john
First thing in the morning we are driven up to Ranthambore Fort, an impressive structure high up above the town. The steps rise steeply through stone walls and archways. The huge timber doors have spikes to discourage ramming by the elephants of attacking armies. This place has been designed to be impenetrable and has never been taken forcibly. The living quarters at the top are largely in ruins, but the bits that remain are fascinating.
Now we are driving to Bundi, seeing more of rural Rajasthan. Cattle, wild (looking) pigs, chickens, goats and local people in harmony. All of the women and some of the men are in traditional dress, colourful saris etc., I love these journeys through the countryside.
Bundi is known as the 'City of Wells', it nestles in a natural valley at the foot of a large rocky hill dominated by the town's Fort and Palace. Sadly, the Maharajah died yesterday and is being cremated today, so we cannot visit the Palace. However, our orientation walk is interesting, and we have an excellent meal in our hotel, The Ishwari Niwas (Gods House).
That's it for today, All the Best, john
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Rajasthan 7 January 2010
Rajasthan 7 January 2010
Today we have a four and half hour drive through rural Rajasthan. We pass through a hundred small communities, sometimes only a few buildings around a courtyard, sometimes a village with some shops and stalls. We are regularly negotiating our way around cattle which roam freely and with no road sense. Much of the local transport of produce is by camel carts. The fields are well organised and very clean. This time of year we are seeing the yellow of Oilseed rape/Canola, or is it mustard? There is also winter sown barley and cultivated fields awaiting spring crops.
We arrive at Hotel Raj Palace in Ranthambore. The gardens are beautiful, and in glorious sunshine we enjoy a delightful lunch including banana lassi.
Then we are collected in an open-top dwuc (how do you spell this Anne?) type vehicle for The Tiger Safari. The track rises and falls through the thinly wooded reserve. We are in a valley with steeply rising hillsides and mountains in the distance. There are lots of deer, big brown ones called Sambar and dainty spotty ones called Chital. A beautiful blue-backed kingfisher is sitting on a wire over a dried up stream. Black and white monkeys with incredibly long tails throw bits of tree at us from branches above. When we stop for a break, more of these monkeys come right up to us, presumably hoping to be fed. They have no fear of humans, even when we are walking around. We don't see any tigers, but this is a beautiful place to visit.
In the evening there is folk dancing and singing back at the hotel, followed by an excellent meal in the hotel restaurant. I am quite pleased with myself so far, chosing indian dishes for most meals, all of which are spicy to some degree despite what the waiter says. (More than half of the group have had tummy trouble at some stage of their time in India, but so far I am 100% ok.)
A great day. All the Best, John
Monday, January 11, 2010
Rajasthan 6 january 2010
Rajasthan 6 January 2010
'Free' day in Jaipur so 3 of us visit the Albert Hall Museum so named following a visit to Jaipur by our own Prince Albert. Most of the other visitors are local families, and we all gaze in awe at stone sculptures from 4th century onwards, pottery, arms and armour, carpets, clay figures, jewelry, musical instruments and garments. There are also hundreds of miniature paintings depicting stories of the Gods. One is of 'Lovers' inconsolable separation being eased by application of sandalwood paste, sprinkling of water and waving of fan'. (the paste looks like peanut butter). Another is 'Water sports as a facet of amorous love'(this appears to be a man and a woman wrestling under-water).
Also in the museum is a 1st century mummy. Some of the cloth has fallen off her shroud and you can see her toes.
Next we have a guided tour around the 300 year old Jantar Mantar Observatory. Various structures tell the time, date, positions of the planets and stars, longest and shortest days, angle of the sun and astrological signs. Fascinating stuff.
Outside of the Observatory, we find a tiny shop selling t-shirts. I buy some for the children.
We meet the rest of the group at the famous LMB Restaurant. I try Lassi for the first time. It is a yogurt based drink which is delicious. I also enjoy a very Indian veggie dish in cashew gravy with buttery nan bread.
In the afternoon I do some more shopping; the shopkeepers and street traders are very persistent sellers here and you are continually fending people off as you walk through the bazaars. If you make eye contact or stop to look at something, they are on to you. You have to be very firm, and bargain hard if you are interested in something. I buy some great Indian shirts for Leon, Harry and Ruby.
That's it for today, All the Best, John
Friday, January 08, 2010
Rajasthan 5 january 2010
Rajasthan 5 January 2010
Breakfast at Fort Mad Hogarth in the Courtyard. We have a walk through the village below the Fort, meet children playing cricket using bricks to make stumps. This is truly rural Rajasthan. A child probably less than 2 years is staggering around a courtyard shoving the goat out of the way. His young mother is happy for us to take photos of him, then I realise she would like to have one of herself and she is delighted when I show her the result. We are invited into a house where ladies are smoothing coloured stones and making necklaces with them. I buy one each for Jo and Faye. Then, in another part of the village, a girl is sat outside a doorway making bangles and we see that inside the door is a tiny shop, filled with finished bangles. I buy 3 each for the girls. They are doing well today.
Now we have to leave Mad Hogarth and we are very sad.
On the way to Jaipur is The Amber Palace. There is a Fort and the Palace sitting precariously on the crest of a long steep-sided mountain. The walk up to the Palace is much needed exercise for us, but we pass elephants carrying other tourists less energetic than us. Our guide around the Palace is Mr Vicas Bhatachraya. He has been showing visitors around here since 1959 and explains brilliantly the history and purpose of the various buildings in this fascinating and beautiful place.
Jaipur itself is a busy town and after checking into the Diggi Palace Hotel and meeting the Maharajah who owns it, we have a quick orientation walk through bazaars and town gates.
Then to a nearby cinema and Hindi movie 'The Three idiots'. Only about one tenth of the dialogue is in English, but we follow the film reasonably well and enjoy it. It is a very professionally made and popular movie.
Then a meal and to bed after a very good but long day. All the best, John
Breakfast at Fort Mad Hogarth in the Courtyard. We have a walk through the village below the Fort, meet children playing cricket using bricks to make stumps. This is truly rural Rajasthan. A child probably less than 2 years is staggering around a courtyard shoving the goat out of the way. His young mother is happy for us to take photos of him, then I realise she would like to have one of herself and she is delighted when I show her the result. We are invited into a house where ladies are smoothing coloured stones and making necklaces with them. I buy one each for Jo and Faye. Then, in another part of the village, a girl is sat outside a doorway making bangles and we see that inside the door is a tiny shop, filled with finished bangles. I buy 3 each for the girls. They are doing well today.
Now we have to leave Mad Hogarth and we are very sad.
On the way to Jaipur is The Amber Palace. There is a Fort and the Palace sitting precariously on the crest of a long steep-sided mountain. The walk up to the Palace is much needed exercise for us, but we pass elephants carrying other tourists less energetic than us. Our guide around the Palace is Mr Vicas Bhatachraya. He has been showing visitors around here since 1959 and explains brilliantly the history and purpose of the various buildings in this fascinating and beautiful place.
Jaipur itself is a busy town and after checking into the Diggi Palace Hotel and meeting the Maharajah who owns it, we have a quick orientation walk through bazaars and town gates.
Then to a nearby cinema and Hindi movie 'The Three idiots'. Only about one tenth of the dialogue is in English, but we follow the film reasonably well and enjoy it. It is a very professionally made and popular movie.
Then a meal and to bed after a very good but long day. All the best, John
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Rajasthan 4 January 2010
Rajasthan 4 January 2010
Early morning tour of the Red fort in Agra - if anything even more impressive than Taj Mahal. Built centuries ago of red sandstone, it is really a fortified palace with crocodile infested moat and a second (dry) moat filled with wild and dangerous animals. The Palace itself on the top level in the centre is amazing, structurally intact but, of course, without the gold, jewels, carpets and drapes that adorned the walls and floors originally. The guided tour is enjoyable and interesting.
After the red Fort, we have a four hour public bus journey then a hairy 4x4 ride into the hinterland ending up at Fort Mad Hogarth. The 500 year old fort is situated on an elephant back shaped hill which rises in the middle of a plain stretching for many miles to the foothills of surrounding mountain ranges. You have to see it to believe it. Astounding. I don't know who Hogarth was but for generations it has been the family home of successive Maharajahs, currently Maharajah Thakur Shiv Pratop Singh. We meet the Maharajah and his young family, and he explains that some guestrooms in the fort are let out to visitors like ourselves to raise money that is being ploughed back into renovations. We have evening drinks and a group photo with the Maharajah on top of one of the turrets. A child in the village below is flying a kite that sways and flutters in the wind above us. The sun sets behind the distant mountains. Magical.
All the best, John
Early morning tour of the Red fort in Agra - if anything even more impressive than Taj Mahal. Built centuries ago of red sandstone, it is really a fortified palace with crocodile infested moat and a second (dry) moat filled with wild and dangerous animals. The Palace itself on the top level in the centre is amazing, structurally intact but, of course, without the gold, jewels, carpets and drapes that adorned the walls and floors originally. The guided tour is enjoyable and interesting.
After the red Fort, we have a four hour public bus journey then a hairy 4x4 ride into the hinterland ending up at Fort Mad Hogarth. The 500 year old fort is situated on an elephant back shaped hill which rises in the middle of a plain stretching for many miles to the foothills of surrounding mountain ranges. You have to see it to believe it. Astounding. I don't know who Hogarth was but for generations it has been the family home of successive Maharajahs, currently Maharajah Thakur Shiv Pratop Singh. We meet the Maharajah and his young family, and he explains that some guestrooms in the fort are let out to visitors like ourselves to raise money that is being ploughed back into renovations. We have evening drinks and a group photo with the Maharajah on top of one of the turrets. A child in the village below is flying a kite that sways and flutters in the wind above us. The sun sets behind the distant mountains. Magical.
All the best, John
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Rajasthan 3 January 2009
Rajasthan 3 January 2009
Up at 5am, arrive Delhi Station in time for 6.30 train to Agra, train arrives 11.30 departs 11.40.
Although unimpressed, the group is in good spirits. The seats in the train are very comfortable and you can buy tea and snacks from vendors walking up and down the carriages. In Agra we go straight to hotel, check in, time only for toasted sandwich before we walk to the Taj Mahal.
Wow. It is Shah Jahan's monument to, and mausoleum for, his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal. She died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. Building started in December that year and took 20,000 workers 22 years to complete.
It is a majestic building, entirely symmetrical (except only for the Shahs tomb placed next to his wife's after he died), beautifully designed and constructed of white marble. The four pillars around the central mausoleum lean slightly outwards so that if they fall down they will topple away from it (in an earthquake). Surrounding structures in red sandstone are complementary and impressive. Beautiful parkland, fountains and ponds between and around the set of buildings complete this awe inspiring experience.
Agra was first made the capital of India in 1501 and subsequently alternated with Delhi as the Moghul capital. Now one of India's most industrialised cities, the pollution is turning the white marble grey. The government is making efforts to clean up the city, including the banning of additional pollution producing factories in the area and motor vehicles near the Taj Mahal.
The authorities are also supporting alternative non-polluting industries, and we are taken to visit one, a carpet factory. It is all manual, spinning and dying the merino wool or silk, producing patterns, weaving(mainly by women in their homes) and finally trimming, treating and washing. The end results are incredibly beautiful in ranges of sizes, colours and patterns. (ps you can buy them at specially low prices and have then DHL'd to your home! maybe I will one day, I have their card)
Next we eat but the spinach and mushroom meal I order is too spicy for me so I hoover up some bits and leftovers from kindly fellow tourists around me.
And so ends the day I visited the Taj Mahal. Awesome and totally worth the hassle of getting there.
All the best, John
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Rajasthan 2nd January 2010
Rajasthan 2nd January 2010
The group met up last night, 11 of us, Australian (including a honeymoon couple), British and Swiss. Anant our guide hails from central India.
This morning we take a very old and crowded bus through the hectic streets to Old Delhi where we alight near the Red Fort (which unfortunately is shrouded in fog). The bus journey is an exhilarating experience in itself, not to be missed when you visit this amazing city.
We walk to Jamamasjid, a Muslim temple built in honour of the second Mogul Emperor Sanjha in 1656. This impressive structure fills regularly with 20,000 worshippers who gather in a huge outside square yard.
Next we walk to Alla Kinari bazaar and a myriad of incredibly narrow back streets packed with tiny shops. One section is THE place to go in Delhi for wedding apparel, bride and groom. Then there are little alcove shops each with its speciality produce - nuts, fruit, vegetables, spices, dried milk. jewelry, cloths, garments and monkeys leaping around the higher levels using electricity cables as if they were in the jungle. As everywhere here, the streets are packed with people, carts, bikes etc. going about their business always in a hurry, hustling through the crowd as if their life depended on it. (maybe it does to some?)
Then we find ourselves in Chandni market Street, more speciality shops with trays of produce beautifully displayed for passing shoppers.
The whole area is a mix of mostly Muslim and Hindu people who seem to blend amicably here although shoppers apparently tend to favour their own kind.
Next we catch another (much newer) bus to a Sikh Temple. Here we take off our shoes and socks and the floor tile are freezing. After washing our feet in a stream of water then through little fountains, we enter a huge hall in which several hundred people are praying and paying their respects to the sound of loud chanting. This is a seriously religious place. ''Sikhs believe in one God, do not recognise the caste system and do not believe in idol worship, rituals or superstitions. The religion consists of practical living, service to humanity, tolerance and brotherly love to all. This can be achieved by anyone who earns an honest living and leads a normal life. Their hard working ethic has taken many Sikhs to positions of influence despite comprising less than 2% of the population.''
Next to the Temple, there is a large kitchen where food is being prepared by volunteers. It smells delicious and is provided free to anyone who enters the cavernous food hall. About 2,000 people a day. Unfortunately, Anant leads us away in the opposite direction.
Now we catch the Metro to Connaught Place where Anant guides us to an outside restaurant then leaves us to fend for ourselves. I have chicken biryani which is a bit spicy for me (I come from Devon) but I still enjoy it.
Then to Pahar Ganj, the main bazaar in Delhi, a long wide crowded street with tightly packed stalls either side and street sellers hustling tourists every inch of the way. A bit like running the gauntlet, this is a stimulating experience.
Lastly to Palika Bazaar, an underground circular shopping centre on two levels. Very hot and crowded with lots of apparently good quality (according to the vendors) clothing and electrical goods at bargain prices.
Now I am all shopped out. Back via the Metro to our hotel. 6.50 now, we meet at 7 for dinner. Bye. John
The group met up last night, 11 of us, Australian (including a honeymoon couple), British and Swiss. Anant our guide hails from central India.
This morning we take a very old and crowded bus through the hectic streets to Old Delhi where we alight near the Red Fort (which unfortunately is shrouded in fog). The bus journey is an exhilarating experience in itself, not to be missed when you visit this amazing city.
We walk to Jamamasjid, a Muslim temple built in honour of the second Mogul Emperor Sanjha in 1656. This impressive structure fills regularly with 20,000 worshippers who gather in a huge outside square yard.
Next we walk to Alla Kinari bazaar and a myriad of incredibly narrow back streets packed with tiny shops. One section is THE place to go in Delhi for wedding apparel, bride and groom. Then there are little alcove shops each with its speciality produce - nuts, fruit, vegetables, spices, dried milk. jewelry, cloths, garments and monkeys leaping around the higher levels using electricity cables as if they were in the jungle. As everywhere here, the streets are packed with people, carts, bikes etc. going about their business always in a hurry, hustling through the crowd as if their life depended on it. (maybe it does to some?)
Then we find ourselves in Chandni market Street, more speciality shops with trays of produce beautifully displayed for passing shoppers.
The whole area is a mix of mostly Muslim and Hindu people who seem to blend amicably here although shoppers apparently tend to favour their own kind.
Next we catch another (much newer) bus to a Sikh Temple. Here we take off our shoes and socks and the floor tile are freezing. After washing our feet in a stream of water then through little fountains, we enter a huge hall in which several hundred people are praying and paying their respects to the sound of loud chanting. This is a seriously religious place. ''Sikhs believe in one God, do not recognise the caste system and do not believe in idol worship, rituals or superstitions. The religion consists of practical living, service to humanity, tolerance and brotherly love to all. This can be achieved by anyone who earns an honest living and leads a normal life. Their hard working ethic has taken many Sikhs to positions of influence despite comprising less than 2% of the population.''
Next to the Temple, there is a large kitchen where food is being prepared by volunteers. It smells delicious and is provided free to anyone who enters the cavernous food hall. About 2,000 people a day. Unfortunately, Anant leads us away in the opposite direction.
Now we catch the Metro to Connaught Place where Anant guides us to an outside restaurant then leaves us to fend for ourselves. I have chicken biryani which is a bit spicy for me (I come from Devon) but I still enjoy it.
Then to Pahar Ganj, the main bazaar in Delhi, a long wide crowded street with tightly packed stalls either side and street sellers hustling tourists every inch of the way. A bit like running the gauntlet, this is a stimulating experience.
Lastly to Palika Bazaar, an underground circular shopping centre on two levels. Very hot and crowded with lots of apparently good quality (according to the vendors) clothing and electrical goods at bargain prices.
Now I am all shopped out. Back via the Metro to our hotel. 6.50 now, we meet at 7 for dinner. Bye. John
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