Usha Kiran Palace Hotel Gwalior

When buying a ticket for the train in India there are several pointers to keep in mind. The first is that women can always go to the front of the line and the second is that she who pushes hardest gets served first.
Our first attempt at ticket buying was Orchha, where we politely stood in line and waited our turn ....an hour later we came to realize that our "system" wasn't particularly successful. Today in Gwalior we came ...

... the crowning glory - the world's biggest chandeliers which were so big they had to test the strength of the roof by having 8 elephants walk over it.
Who says bad taste is a modern invention.

After the earlier hotel problems decided to go for some sanity and pampering and went to the local hotel which the Taj group owns the Usha Kiran Palace - yes an old palace converted into a hotel. V nice, had to go through security just to get in. Then sat on the verandah ...

Gwailor is famous for its medieval fortress built upon a 7 km long mountain ridge. The fort changed hands many times over the centuries and has even been used as a prison. It played a major role during the Indian uprising against the British in 1857.It functioned as a fort from 1446 - 1516. There are several sub floors that were later used as a ...

... headed towards the stadium- joined the end of the q about 1.15Min's before game- back of ticket said be at stadium 2hours before game. i thought this was not that important.Anyways i reached the top of what i thought was the end of the Que.But it just got me passed gate,not into the stadium- i was told no phones no Cameras at the gate Deposit them somewhere- i was like ehhhhh where. Found a toilet ...

... got a room with a shared bathroom for 250. It was nice, on the roof, with a cool view of the hill and fort, and teh tempertaure outside had dipped to a comfy low 30's. We got our stuff to the room, but foudn out that the shower in the shared bathroom did not work. We called downstairs, and within 5 minutes, the bell boy ran up and tried to 'fix' it. This mainly done by hitting various parts pf teh shower, pipes, shower head etc. The fact that there was water in the tap ...

... the Har Doh song. The children had prepared a display of their posters depicting hygiene messages. The care and attention to detail of the posters was great (sometimes a little too graphic!). I can't imagine children in the UK being quite so excited about drawing latrines, or how to make your own re-hydration drink (4 pinches of sugar to one of salt - in case you are interested!). After singing our thanks to the school children, with ...

... which now includes 'you are my sunshine' and 'Holi Holi' and the women joined us to dance and celebrate the success of the village. For me though, the highlight of today was the visit to the check dam structures. Designed by the partners engineers (there are 3 who cover 47 villages between them) these simple but impressive 2m high reinforced concrete gravity dams store flood water from the monsoons, which is then used to irrigate the land in the dry ...

... out to visit what Gwalior had to offer. My reason for coming here is that it was a very large fort that is about 100m above the city and which contains a few old temples and a rather grand palace. There is also some amazing 15th century Jain rock statues carved into the rock on the way up to the fort as well as a large decorative palace that is still lived in by Maharaja Scindia. I took an auto rickshaw up to the fort which stands very impressively on ...

... be difficult for the next few weeks. I was drinking masala chai during the Thanksgiving Holiday in Chanderi thinking of home, family and friends. I hope you all had a great holiday and are enjoying some time off during the long weekend! An important Hindu festival is going on right now. Later we will be following the processions in the streets with the crowds. The sounds of music and people moving past the doorway fills the air...70 degrees and fairly close to perfection!