Bijaypur and Jaipur

India 2007 - Days 4 to 6 - Bijaypur and Jaipur
by: Liz Canham

The drive from Udaipur to Bijaypur was nothing if not interesting. En route, we visited Chittaugarh Fort, a huge fortification with a whole town within it. Built on a one hundred and fifty metre high plateau in the Aravalli Hills, it is in ruins but well-restored. The entrance is on the north west side and the road winds up through seven individually named gates, each with its own guardhouse. The first gate is known as Padal Pol (lowest gate) followed by Bhairav Pol (Bhairav being an attendant of the Goddess Durga), Hanuman Pol (this gate has a temple and a shrine dedicated to the Monkey God Hanuman), Ganesh Pol (for the Elephant God), Jorla Pol, Lakshman Pol and finally Ram Pol (Gate of the God Ram) which was built in AD 1459. The gateway located on the eastern side of the fort is known as Suraj Pol (Sun Gate).

The exploits of the Rajputs place in Indian folklore compares with that of the medieval knights of Europe or the Samurai of Japan, to the extent that individual Rajput heroes have the place where they fell in defence of the fort, marked with stones.

The palace of Kumbha and Padmini's Palace are but two of the beautifully carved edifices, which have been subject to restoration.

Onwards from the fort and having travelled some distance on a very good road, our driver realised that he had missed our turning and wasted about an hour. Around we turned, eventually found the right turning then spent a further hour winding our way further and further uphill, until, if it weren't for the frequent signposts to our hotel, we would have assumed that we had gone wrong again.

On arrival in Bijaypur, the hotel certainly didn't live up to its photos on the internet, being more than somewhat dilapidated with an all-male staff who were trained in a very different school to that of the other hotels we stayed in! However, we managed to acquire beer, a sandwich (awful) and towels for the pool so whiled away the afternoon happily enough.

With some trepidation, we ventured back to the courtyard of our arrival to find a transformation. The odd tables covered with pieces of hardboard now sported bright cloths, the place buzzed with people (a convention had arrived) and the stage was set for entertainment. The staff seemed rather more awake and soon we were seated with beer and poppadoms to watch the dancing of successive ladies in bright red, green and gold saris.

Dinner, too, was a surprise, being a very tasty, mainly vegetarian buffet consisting of boiled rice, an aubergine curry, an egg curry, mixed vegetables, dal and a mutton dish, which, although not vegetarians, we didn't try. There was also nan bread on offer, which was very welcome.

Next morning, the staff had gone back to sleep, each of three separate waiters asking what we wanted for breakfast and none of them getting it right - oh well, you can't win them all.

After breakfast, we set of for Jaipur, taking an interesting short-cut to the freeway past grazing camels and wonderful orange-flowered flame trees, through tiny villages, over rough ground without tarmac, better suited to a four-wheel-drive vehicle!

Some six hours later, the welcome respite of our hotel in Jaipur and some lunch - Indian-style wraps containing spicy chicken.

Dinner was a quite spicy mutton curry for my husband and Malaysian noodles for me, incorporating chicken and prawns and a fearsome amount of chilli!

Next day involved the obligatory visits to the Jantar Mantar observatory, the Chandra Mahal (City Palace) and the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds), an interesting structure, tall and very narrow, ornately carved from pink sandstone and built solely so that the royal ladies could watch the world go by without being seen. The City Palace, too, is well worth a visit, with seven stories and seven courtyards, partly still occupied by the present-day Maharajah. There is a large museum which gives some insight into the past days of the maharajahs, including costumes, weapons, pottery, musical instruments and the two fantastic silver jars used by Nadho Singh II to carry Ganges water for bathing on his visit to England in 1901.

All that sightseeing naturally brought on hunger and thirst, so spring rolls and spicy prawns by the pool were the order of the day but so good and plentiful were they that I could only manage a tarka dal and nan bread for dinner while my husband had the interestingly-named Southern Railway Lamb curry. There was no real clue as to the contents, but we surmised the use of the normal spices and flavourings which resulted in quite a red-coloured and extremely tasty dish.

Our next few days will be spent in Ranthambhore National Park, so I hope you'll be with us then to hear our experiences, both culinary and wildlife.

About The Author
Liz Canham:
As well as a love of Asian cooking as you can see in her Asian Food and Cookery website, Liz seeks to help newcomers to the world of internet marketing with tools, tips and training from her Liz-e-Biz website.
http://lizebiz.com/

Delhi and Udaipur

India 2007 - Days 1 to 3 Delhi and Udaipur
by: Liz Canham

Arriving in Delhi in March, the temperature was somewhat higher than in Europe at about 30°C, but surprisingly, not unpleasant due to the lack of humidity. As this was our third visit to Delhi, the hustle and bustle of humanity, the porters vying to push our luggage trolley and the general feeling of organised chaos, came as little of a surprise. However, there were some changes since our last visit. The drive into the city seemed to take much less time than previously, I think because the road had been widened in places and the extension of the metro system had reduced the traffic by a minuscule but noticeable amount.

In other respects, the journey was just the same; tuk tuks whizzing in and out of other traffic, hundreds of bicycles and motor scooters each with upwards of two passengers, overloaded buses and lorries and the ubiquitous Ambassador car. Nonetheless there are now far more other makes of private vehicle on the roads than before, Tata being a favourite, manufactured by the giant company formerly only known for its trucks, but now making affordable family cars as well as branching out into the telecoms business.

The welcome at our hotel was, as always in good Indian hotels, impeccable and we were soon ensconced in the bar with an ice cold Kingfisher beer and were soon deep in conversation with the incredibly well-educated barman about, amongst other things, Indian politics and the growth of international business in this part of the world.

Another Kingfisher in and we were a bit peckish, the effects of our Virgin Atlantic breakfast having worn off. The speciality here was Chinese cuisine so we opted for king prawns in a wonderful chilli and garlic sauce plus (more) prawns wrapped in crispy filo pastry and served with a delightful, light dipping sauce, slightly sweet and slightly spicy. But enough of Chinese food, after all, we are in India!

The same night we ate a tandoori chicken dish as well as spicy, very finely minced lamb patties. To accompany the meat, we chose a tarka dal (red lentils, spiced with cumin, garlic, ginger and chilli, to name but a few) served in tiny individual dishes, as is traditional, as well as light-as-air naan bread. To follow we had (rather unnecessarily, but my husband has a sweet tooth) Zauk-e-Shahi, which we were told translates as Dessert of the Royals and is a reduced milk, saffron and paneer (similar to cottage cheese) dumpling encrusted with poppy seeds. It was a truly wonderful meal, made so particularly by the friendliness of the waiting staff and their happiness at our interest in the food and how it was cooked. They were astounded to learn that we in the West, cook Indian food in our homes too!

On day two, after a breakfast buffet which catered to every possible taste and dietary requirement, we headed back to the airport and flew to Udaipur. As there was a lengthy check-in period and the flight was slightly delayed, I just had to try the samosas, which at less than one rupee for two (if my memory serves me correctly) was the bargain of the holiday. On top of that, they were very tasty and hardly greasy at all - pretty amazing for a fast-food snack in any country.

On arrival in Udaipur, we were once again struck by the bright colours worn by the Rajastani women - shocking pink, orange and yellow being predominant. Negotiating the narrow, winding streets, many of the shops were also festooned with the same rainbow-hued saris.

Our hotel was part of the City Palace complex, still partially occupied by the Maharana himself and its main attraction, apart from the palace itself, is its outdoor bar and restaurant set right at the edge of Lake Pichola, overlooking virtually the whole lake and in particular, the Lake Palace Hotel, famous for featuring in the James Bond film "Octopussy". The view from this terrace of the setting sun reflecting in the lake and the twinkling of the uplighting of the Lake Palace is really something to see, but on this particular evening, the thrall of the sunset was interrupted by first an elephant complete with howdah but no passengers, swiftly followed by a procession of various classic European sports cars and then a marching band. Apparently, the sports car drivers were on a tour of India and had been invited by the Maharana to a banquet. As a consequence, we too were treated to processions, music and fireworks far into the night.

Knowing that there would be less choice at some of our other destinations, we went the Chinese route for dinner which consisted of chicken fried in chilli sauce, crispy shredded mutton tossed in lemon, honey and chilli plus Sweet and Sour Vegetables - red and green pepper, cauliflower and peas, which, with egg fried rice, all went down very well.

The next morning was taken up with sightseeing - a drive around Lake Pichola, the Princes Garden and the City Palace, of which there is far too much of interest to describe here. Lunch was samosas and vegetable pakora, served with a chilli dip and washed down with more Kingfisher.

Following the obligatory sunset drink, for our dinner we chose Seekh Kebab (spiced minced lamb), Khumb Palak (mushrooms simmered in puréed spinach with herbs and spices), Dal Dhaba (green lentils with cumin, onion and tomato) and Tandoori Khatta Aloo (potato marinated in fermented yoghurt and aromatic Indian spices, cooked in a Tandoor). To mop all this up, we had Kulcha, which is a leavened flour bread stuffed with onion and green chilli, then fried - absolutely wonderful …. and so to bed!

In the next installment we'll be moving southeast through Rajastan - next stop Bijaypur.

About The Author
Liz Canham:
As well as a love of Asian cooking as you can see in her Asian Food and Cookery website, Liz seeks to help newcomers to the world of internet marketing with tools, tips and training from her Liz-e-Biz website.
http://lizebiz.com/

Six Mistakes To Avoid At The Taj Mahal

Six Mistakes To Avoid At The Taj Mahal

by: Sandra Wilson

Most of your visit to India’s most-famous attraction is natural and inspiring. If it is your first visit, however, it is easy to make the following mistakes

Mistake 1: Make your visit too short.
Buses have been known to allow as little as half an hour to “see” the Taj Mahal, which is hardly time to walk the length of the reflecting pool. If this is your bus’s timetable, consider finding another. Allow a minimum of two hours to fully savor the “poem in marble.”

Mistake 2: Arrive with no prior knowledge of the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum and not a palace; it was created by a Mughal king in honor of his wife who died giving birth to their fourteenth child, and it is covered in real marble. There is much more to the story that will enhance your enjoyment of what you will see and feel. Do yourself a favor and enjoy some reading and research beforehand; the more you know, the richer your experience. Guidebooks, such as Eyewitness, are helpful.

Mistake 3: Remain with your guide or group during your entire visit.
After hearing what they have to tell you, leave them and wander to a secluded spot so you can gaze at this wonder of marital love on your own. Carve out time for solitude. Sit on a bench and contemplate the grace, balance, and beauty of Shah Jahan’s creation.

Mistake 4: Limit your visit to the Taj Mahal to only one time of the day.
Throughout daylight, the marble dome reflects sunshine with hues of pink, orange and white. Clouds and rain add additional interest. In Agra, the sky provides a backdrop for the double dome of the Taj Mahal. See as many of these variations as you can. Count yourself blessed if you are able to see the Taj Mahal in the moonlight.

Mistake 5: Become frustrated with the guides and photographers.
It is a popular business to impart information and produce a lasting memory for you at the Taj Mahal. Guides will ask if you want them to tell you about their country’s most famous attraction. Photographers will want to snap shots of you during your visit. Most of them are citizens of the country you are visiting. If you have made plans that exclude your need for their services, refuse with firm courtesy. Your desire for personal viewing time needs to be balanced with their need to work.

Mistake 6: Don’t take any—or enough--pictures.
The Taj Mahal is the single most photographed place in India. You can add to this distinction with your own images. Unless you are certain you will return shortly, visually record your favorite sights while within the walls of the Taj complex. Are you drawn to the walkway? The row of shoes outside the entrance? The black and white pattern of the platform? The inlaid prayer rugs in the mosque? Whatever they are, record details as touchstones for remembered pleasure

From the moment you enter through the gate and stroll along the dazzling, rectangular reflecting pool, the lovely mausoleum will draw you to its marble steps. Slipping off your shoes, you will pass into a softly lit interior, and circle two richly inlaid caskets beneath a great domed ceiling. The carvings on the walls, the spectacular dome, and the harmony of all the details are there for you to admire.

The truth of the matter is you could actually make all the mistakes above and still be touched by the Taj Mahal. It is a sight undiminished by expectations.

About The Author
Sandra Wilson’s historical fiction, reveals the Who, What, Why, When and Where of the Taj Mahal. Go to http://www.taj-womanandwonder.com/ for more information on this highly researched novel.

Rajasthan Hotels Offers

Festive Offers by Rajasthan Hotels During Diwali
by: Arjun Roy

Rajasthan hotels are famous for the ambience that is reminiscent of the royalty of yore. Hotels in Rajasthan are often renovated forts and palaces that have opulence and grandeur hardly found in modern architecture. In October and November, tourism in Rajasthan peaks. This is the festive season. Diwali is just round the corner and the place that is famous for its golden sand, wonderful forts, picturesque palaces and amazing people is decked up for the occasion. Rajasthan hotels add to the crescendo by offering lucrative festive discounts. Book a hotel through www.travelgorajasthan.com and get special discounts on hotel rates.

Hotels in Rajasthan are renowned for immaculate service and warm hospitality. TravelGoRajasthan.com offers some of the best known hotels for booking. Heritage hotels in Rajasthan are in itself unique places of attraction. Enjoy and experience hospitality of a different kind that you have not experienced ever before. Diwali means great news. Even heritage hotels and palace hotels in Rajasthan are offering fantastic Diwali discounts and privileges. This facility can be availed at www.TravelGoRajasthan.com.

In TravelGoRajasthan.com, tourists can find different categories of Rajasthan hotels. There are luxury hotels, palace hotels and heritage hotels. Tourists can also put up in business hotels and budget hotels. People who want to tour Rajasthan during Diwali can book hotels online through TravelGoRajasthan.com and enjoy the luxury of spending a vacation in a heritage hotel or palace hotel at a discounted rate.

TravelGoRajasthan.com is among the very few travelsites that are exclusively devoted to tourism in Rajasthan. The travelsite has a number of premier Rajasthan hotels in its database and even during the peak tourist season the travelsite is able to provide online real time hotel booking. The status of the booking can be seen instantly. Since this is a real time hotel reservation, instant confirmation is displayed. This allows a traveler to plan the tour better.

Rajasthan hotels are falling over one another in a mad race to attract tourists. This is music to the ear for travelers. Avail of the exciting Diwali offers and experience royal hospitality of the beautiful land.

About The Author
Arjun Roy
Content Writer in Travel and Tourism sites.