The Park Bharatpur

Drive to Karauli via Mahuwa and Hindaun ACTUAL from journal: This morning I enjoyed the solitude of my room before breakfast, until I learned that I had received a phone call but they didn't know which room I was in! A bit of a downer, but okay... I shared breakfast with Indira and we talked about Hindu philosophy and yoga :) then we all got on a very bumpy 4-1/2 hour bus ride (one stop where I picked up souvenirs ...

... were leaving, I went into the gift shop and found a chessboard for less than one-third the price I was originally quoted in the other place! *And* he carved my name in the back!! It was a fast transaction but for 100 dollars, I got more than enough. :) We took the bus in the morning to the palace in Fatehpur Sikir (City of Victory?) where we saw more forts, palace buildings, and carvings in red sandstone. There seems to be an abundance ...

... legs ached as well walked back to our hotel. A total of 15km for the day. Day 3 - Dennis and I took a cycle rickshaw to the 5km mark. Calvin and Latha weren't feeling well (the bagged lunch from yesterday turned out to be a bad idea), so Calvin met us around noon and Latha took a day off. We found 12 new birds for the day including two owls and a night jar that our driver showed us. The bird of the day was the elegant sarus ...

... from the UK and Europe will come here, but right now till December it is filling up with locally migrating birds (from India and Asia). Its funny to think that this becomes a hot spot for indians comming here to see a mallard and other everyday UK birds! I hired myself a guide and the worlds most rickety bike. And at 6am, off we went for four hours riding around......mind you I reckon my bottom thought it had been way more than 4 hours! Saddle ...

... impression that it was conceived in one of Akbar's many fits of dancing or love making - hence it is a very pleasurable place, full of discord, of broken orders, unclear heirarchies. Beside the Fatehpur Sikri palace is a very impressive mosque, perhaps the best we have seen in India thus far: The Jama Masjid. The entrance gate - Buland Darwaza - is perhaps the highest of any mosque ...

... like this in the group, as the people you get on best with at first often do not end up being long term friends. We had the buffet which was a bit **** really, in that the food was too far aimed at tourists.Matt, Justin and I walked home after that. This was the first place that I felt like a trendy coach tour, and where we were was a million miles for the reality of life in India.

... mosque (Jama Masjid) in Fatehpur Sikri as saying: "The world is a bridge, pass over it but build no house upon it. He who hopes for an hour may hope for eternity". And Virgin Mary's dress is, in my humble opinion, very similar to an Indian saree. As a final thought, I would like to briefly talk about the intenationally famous Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who writes, lectures and gives seminars around the world and even works with the UN. My friends and relatives who ...

... he was taking the **** (the whole room rate was 9 pound). Despite paying extra for the optimistically named "Super deluxe" room and paying further for the extra electric, the owner refused to give us and electric heater - so a cold night was had as it dropped to 2 deg C, we could have collected all the dust together to form a really thick blanket, but Lisa overruled this idea - out with the sleeping bag liners again! On the plus side, the food was good and cheap.

... grappoli neri sotto la volta altissima della porta, che mi sono reso conto che costituiscono sicuramente la comunitià più popolosa della zona. Gli enormi nidi di vespe, sembrano pianeti sospesi tratti da Flash Gordon. Quando li ho scorti da alcune decine di metri più sotto, attraverso vari nembocumoli di pungiglioni volanti, confesso di aver nutrito una certa apprensione. Centinaia di spadine di Damocle mi pendevano sulla pelata. Il momento di lasciare la moschea, mi ...

... only 12 years after its completion. Who's the genius that made that mistake? Our extremely enthusiastic guide through Fatehpur Sikri was a former professor who spoke so quickly that most things came out as gibberish. Still we dutifully followed along with his antics and nodded at the appropriate times. The splendid grounds were very impressive and during those 12 years Akbar must have had a great, albeit thirsty time.