Kadamb Kunj Bharatpur

... fish. It's amazing seeing such a large bird hovering in one spot! Eventually after about 3 1/2 hours we did hire a cycle rickshaw with a really good driver, who was very, very good at spotting the birds, so we spent another three hours travelling around with him seeing even more birds and a jackal! I really enjoyed today, definitely my favourite thing in India so far.

... was announced just as we arrived at the bus station and we hopped on! It was a local bus, which means no reservations, which means being very full and also very rickety. There wasn't much space to put our luggage (or ourselves!), Anna's pack spent most of the time across our knees. Everyone seemed quite good natured about our messing around trying to find space for our luggage. The trip only lasted about an hour and ended ...

... After this visit it was time for us to part with our guide who was apparently quite ****** off with what we gave him. Well, it is the rate and he was not that great for us to put something extra. <br><br>We then drove to Fatehpur Sikri, another fort near Agra. It is deserted red stone city built by Mughal emperor Akbar. It is huge and built on several floors. We sneaked in the bus for free while a dirty kid is ...

... particularly teenagers, come up and talk to us, curious about the western life. The conversation inevitably moves onto cricket, where India are leading England 3 - 0 in a series of international matches. Then we go for some food in the garden, where the breads and pappodums are being cooked fresh on charcoal ovens. More questions and everyone wants to have their picture taken with us. Whilst we are eating, the wedding ceremony is taking place inside ...

... our temper. PT: Depois de passarmos a manha no taj Mahal e no Forte de Agra, arrancamos em direccao a Jaipur no Rajastao. De caminho paramos em Fatehpur Sikri, a apenas 37Km de Agra, para ai visitarmos o complexo real. Esta cidade muralhada foi construida no Sec. XVI e foi a capital Mughal durante 14 anos. Apesar de abandonada ha seculos (presumivelmente por falta de agua) esta muito bem conservada. A mesquita Jami Masjid, ainda ...

... whilst everyone else went on a local village tour, where I understand that general feeling of the place was really nice, and the children actually didn't beg at all! Sue joined the others for dinner, but I wasn't up to anything that adventurous - not a good day overall!

... with him over their price. This discussion seemed to take the whole of the five minute walk to the car and even continued as we were driving off. The rep explained wearily that it was always like this. We were very glad to have his services as even Jamie's training of throwing money at the problem may not have saved us in this situation as we suspect no amount of money would have satisfied them. It was with some relief that we arrived the Hans Plaza, complete with cappuccino machine ...

... elements of different religions around 500 years ago!!!. A Muslim himself, he founded this "perfect" city, Fatehpur Sikri, as a haven for respect, having wise men and priests from all religions come and discuss/debate the tenants of each in a civilized environment to assert the common truth. Many could call this a sacrilege, and holy wars have been fought throughout the times to defend one religion over another, yet I still think this Maharaja learned first hand what ...

... imprisoned by his son in quite a sweet confine. His son imprisoned him because he thought he had spent too much effort and money on building the Taj, go figure. Having said that, he had quite the nice prison "cell" in his palace. The fort had a moat with crocodiles, a pit with tigers and capital punishment inflicting elephants to boot! This complex was possibly equally impressive as the Taj to me ...

"Ma pensano proprio che siamo scemi?", diceva tra i denti Lenka, visibilmente irritata. Erano le 9 di mattina ed anche se la notte era stata fredda, il sole cominciava a picchiare sulla quindicina di chili che ognuno di noi due portava in zaino. Dopo aver visitato i palazzi di Fatehpur Sikri, andavamo a prendere l'autobus per Jaipur, e la solita folla di rik-shaw (nella versione ape-piaggio e carretto-con-cavallo) si accaniva su di noi. Tuttavia in albergo, chiamato con ...