Rajasthan (by Helen; photos mostly by Will)

Last week, we took a mini-trip from Delhi to three different places in Rajasthan: Agra, Ranthambore National Park and Jaipur. Julian had a great connection to a driver for this trip. This was a completely new experience for us. It was ideal in many ways, as it took away the stress of organizing other transport and meant we could spend more time at our destinations. We also got to know Pawan over the course of our time together and appreciated his perspective on India and stories about establishing his career. It was also a little tricky at times, as we were unlike most tourists in some ways, refusing guides and booking our own tours. We ended up with a mix of accommodation, guide/no guide experiences, and types of adventure.

When we first arrived in Agra, we visited Agra fort. The guide painted a wonderful picture of what the fort would have been like at its height: Drummers welcoming you as you arrive by elephant, and women throwing petals down from the windows. The design and scale of the fort was impressive and it was relatively quiet there in the early evening.  

In Agra, we stayed at a youth hostel at the end of a cobbled street. The hostel had a fabulous café with views of the Taj Mahal. It also had a resident family of street puppies, which Clara loved. We woke at dawn to see the Taj Mahal. It really is incredible. At the end of the tour, sitting on its walls, I felt I was soaking up its peace and beauty to power me through the coming weeks. The driver then took us to Fatipur Sikri, and ancient Mughal city. Other visitors were friendly and we rested there, drew and read. 

                                              

                                                  

Our second stop was a small town near Rathnambore national park, home to 40 tigers. We stayed in a fantastic family-run hotel, which included meals on its rooftop. They served lassi, curry and masala omelets. During our evening meals we could hear the call to prayer over the rooftops. After a long sleep and some homeschool, we went on a tiger safari. The highlight was riding in a 6-seater jeep through the jungle. “Hold on!” the diver called, as if we weren’t already! Tourists are randomly assigned the jungle zones, and ours had only two tigers. The drivers tried hard to find them, but no luck. We did see monkeys and several types of dear. It’s pretty amazing to see where a tiger can be, with or without the tiger. 

 

Our third destination was Jaipur, where we stayed in a lovely hotel with a pool. As you’ll see in the kids’ posts, we spent a very memorable morning there with Shakku the elephant. We also got to have a home-cooked meal in a nice Indian home. It was interesting to see how homes can be arranged to fit multiple generations comfortably in smaller spaces than we are accustomed to in Canada. Clara managed to swim in the hotel’s nice but unheated pool twice, and the boys joined her the second time while I enjoyed a G&T (my go-to drink is very popular here). We visited the city palace and another fort in Jaipur as well. Beautiful architecture and interesting stories that helped us to picture life there many years ago. 

We stopped at McDonalds on our journey back to Delhi. So many great vegetarian options there, and everywhere in India. Wishing there were options like these at home. So far, there have been no close calls with allergies. Many packages have English ingredients and our allergy card has been helpful at hotels. As I write this, we are back in Delhi and Clara is having some tummy trouble, so we haven’t evaded that challenge. It feels comfortable to be back in Julian’s airconditioned apartment. We know the neighbourhood now and the right price for auto-rickshaws and taxis. The birds continue to make magical noises in the evenings and there is always something interesting to see off the balcony. We’ve even been to the mall a few times to try to fix Ben’s iphone, and it is exactly like malls in Canada or Europe. They kids have been to Starbucks more in the past few weeks than they have in their entire lives. Fingers crossed Clara feels better by Saturday when we head on our next adventure, this time with Julian in tow.