Haveli Heritage Family Guest House Bundi

... my waning days in Bundi to do several errands. I visited the Vodafone shop to try to find out once and for all why my SIM card was no longer functioning. I was finally able to get a conclusive answer: My application was in the end rejected because my address could not be verified. Basically India doesn't want foreigners to use mobile phones in the country because they are afraid of Pakistani terrorists. Their fear is rational, but the way ...

... driver liked to drive down the centre line and swerve back onto our side only when we were inches away from a truck or oncoming bus. This was made even worse when it got dark and he only flashed his lights occasionally, but yet still drove on the wrong side of the road. I just closed my eyes and put my i-pod in. Arriving safe and sound was a relief and i got a rickshaw to the guest house i had booked, this ride was ...

... on the first day of this trip.

After a few hours in bed trying to sleep off my throbbing headache, we had a delicious dinner at the Shivam Guest House just behind our hotel. The restaurant at this guest house was one of the few good recommendations from my guidebook. The owners are very lovely, cheerful and charming.

16 November - Bundi

After a nice breakfast of omelets and fruit and yogurt muesli, Gregory and I walked around for ...

... in 13th century and has only recently been maintained but its not in a fit state, the paintings are decaying and the floors crumbling but its so amazing to be in there the pictures dont really show it but you can get the idea.

At the back of the palace about 1/2 mile up on the hill is the abandoned fort which looked out on the small town, up here live about 400 monkeys who arent afraid of you but you should be of them.. little buggers.. but they didnt do us any harm apart ...

... Kota and stay another night in Bundi . Bundi is a small town that is reasonably chill. But we figured much more chill than Jaipur was going to be. Truthfully were a little afraid of Jaipur. Bundi is in a valley with old forts and palaces surrounding it. Most of the hotels in Bundi have rooftops, but some of them do not serve food on the roof because monkeys are a big problem. The only site we saw here was ...

... sari's, without luck, after bathing. I think this is supposed to illustrate Krishna's "playfulness". I reckon he was just a perve, which is what Tara calls me when I point out the unnatural perkiness of the womens' breasts in the paintings. Bundi turns out to be a great antidote to the negativity Udaipur inspired. The town is friendly, free of touts and the streets are relatively quiet. It feels positively laid back. There's plenty for us to ...

... was correct after all. The festival lasted for 2 more days but on a lower key. There were three types of firework displays over 2 days. Listed was, a 'Sparkling Fireworks', 'Dazzling Fireworks' and just 'Fireworks' display. I chose to be dazzled. Like most things done in India it's not so much the quality in what they do but primarily the enthusiasm and effort in which it is done. People can be a bit too nice that its got to the point where I have to blank a lot of ...

The blue-painted shoe box town of Bundi was the last place on our tour of the Rajasthan region. We are leaving today to catch a train to Mumbai and onward as soon as we can to Ajanta. The last 2 weeks have taken in the tourist traps of Agra, Jaipur, Jodphur, Pushkar, Udaipur and Bundi and has been quite full on.

Our first stop was Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal, and after the peace and tranquility of Rishikesh somewhere inside we were both a little upset to ...

... in the buildings still remain and you can see how full on they once would have been. BUT watch out for the aggressive monkeys - some of those Tripitaka Monkey Head RingsTM would have been handy but we had to settle for a big monkey stick. The next couple of days we spent most of our time speculating on whether Andrew's toes had become septic and would have to be amputated ...

La distanza tra Pushkar e Bundi è di 5 ore di autobus per 170 chilometri di strada. Questo rapporto, indica bene la differenza tra le due città: così vicine ma così diverse. A Bundi non abbiamo trovato praticamente turisti, tranne nella guesthouse affollatissima di francesi (ovviamente sulla Guide du Routard) nella quale abbiamo cenato per le due sere che siamo rimasti. Purtroppo, non c'era spazio per dormire, con tutti quei transalpini stipati, e siamo stati dirottati presso una ...