Month: February 2019

Tourist tax

It’s expensive being white. But, to be fair, it’s because our earnings are higher. But some entrance fees can be up to 20 times what the locals pay.

Roundabouts

In India they call them “circles”. Can’t argue with that. Most of the time.

Gender inequality

Gender inequality is mind-boggling and depressing in equal measure. Exhibit A is a conversation with the owner of one of my hotels:

Me: “How long have you been married?”

Him: “35 years.” *sighs*

Me: “Did you choose your wife, or was it an arranged marriage?”

Pause.

Him: “I chose her.”
Me: “That’s nice. Did she choose you?”

Uncomfortable pause.

Him: “She, er, didn’t really look up.”

I see. That’s a “no” then.

Indian women

In an impressive display of body confidence, Indian women let it all hang out. They wear a short top under their saree, so you can see their stomachs and, in some cases, rolls of fat. They’re very unselfconscious, but this could be because fat is not demonised here like it is at home – it’s a sign of wealth and, in some cases, health.

Sarees also add a splash of colour to the place – they’re sometimes very pretty. The men could try harder, mind.

Communal urinal

Men’s contribution, on the other hand, seems to be to p*ss everywhere. Seriously. I’ve lost count of the number of men I’ve seen weeing up the side of walls, buildings and, well, anywhere really. Stale urine makes the whole place smell like one big urinal.

Gross, unhygenic, disrespectful and unnecessary. And, of course, so much a part of the culture of male-privelege that it’s unlikely to change anytime soon 🙁

Car number plates

Two letters + two numbers + two letters + four numbers

The number plates themselves are of various designs. Early on, the above sequence resulted in the following – it sounds like a stock-exchange announcement:

T-shirt slogans

Total rubbish this one: Happiness is DEBITS = CREDITS.

It should read: Happiness is DEBITS < CREDITS.

Babel fish

In Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhikers’ guide to the galaxy”, he describes a fish – when inserted into the ear, the wearer can understand whatever language is being spoken. Google isn’t far off something similar. And it’s going to be a game-changer.

It’ll mean I can more easily communicate with the locals – and I’m really interested to understand about their lives, hopes, fears and dreams. With their permission, of course.

On the other side of the coin… tourists are at a disadvantage because they rarely speak the local language. This enables tu-ktuk drivers, for instance, to scheme against them… in front of them.

It might be a bit sneaky, but I can’t wait for the first time this happens… and I can understand them. 

Helmets

Most drivers wear helmets. Passengers rarely do, but at least the drivers have some sense.

Toilet complex

Not just a block, but a complex. After my dodgy tummy, I fear I’m developing a toilet complex, too.

Tuktuk negotiation

We’re refining our technique. After a rather unsuccessful attempt to haggle the fare back to our hotel, we realised that there was a tuktuk etiquette – whoever approaches the tourists first, gets the ride. Driver A quotes a price and we haggle (in this case, from 600R to 400R). When we ask the others, they quote higher than 400R, so we’ve no choice but to go with it.

So we changed tactic. The key is not letting the tuktuk drivers know what you’ve been quoted. So we first agree a reasonable price and then immediately separate. As we both haggle with different groups, we can play them off against each other – “he’s offering 100R – can you beat that?” – until we get the price we’re after (which, for the record, is always reasonable – we’re not trying to scam them, just get a decent price).

More practice required, but we’re starting to do ok.

Weight loss

I’m one of very few people I know who loses weight when I go on holiday. It’s partly because heat suppresses appetite and, in India, because there’s only so much curry I can take. So I stop eating as soon as I’ve had enough.

I’d weigh myself when I got home, except that I’ve no idea how much I weighed before I left, so it won’t be very informative.

Hawa Mahal means “palace of the breeze”. It’s well-named – the semi-octagonal windows channel the wind from all directions, creating natural air-conditioning throughout the light, airy building. It was built so the women of the royal household could observe street festivals without being seen.

Constructed of pink and red sandstone, it sits on the edge of City Palace, rather helpfully connected to the women’s chambers (although nobody’s ever found the underground passages).

Built by Pratap Singh in 1799 AD for his wives, concubines and children, it was his haven also. Being Maharaja doesn’t sound like much fun, to be honest – especially during Pratap’s reign. He apparently valued his leisure time here. Unsurprising, really as he was surrounded with women, singing and dancing, and (I assume) offering their, er, “services”.

Purdah (“curtain”) is the practice of separating women from the gaze of all men except their husbands. It came over with the early Muslim traders and still exists now, albeit in a watered-down form of women covering their heads – it’s regarded as a sign of modesty and respect. Probably by those who don’t have to wear them.

I also learnt the rather distressing story of Raja Ishmari Singh. He swore “death before dishonour and committed suicide by snake bite (there being fewer options at that time). But his 21 wives and concubines were then obliged to perform a ritual mass suicide by throwing themselves on his funeral pyre. Hmmm – doesn’t sound very honourable to me.

Pratap was a devotee of Lord Krishna and designed the facade of this palace in the shape of Krishna’s crown. Pyramid-shaped, the five-storied structure has 365 windows (seemingly nothing to do with the days of the year) and stands 87 feet high. That’s 26.5 metres in real money.

“Chandpoli” is the main gate (above) with five images over the arch, each under their own umbrella (or “chhatri”):

• Ganesh (spiritual growth, remover of obstacles)
• Shiva (Ganesh’s father, the destroyer, usually holding a trident)
• Lakshmi (beauty, good fortune and wealth, but no time for those who seek easy money)
• Vishnu (the creator, has 24 avatars)
• Calci (the final avatar of Vishnu, destroyer of evil, ushers in truth and love)

In contrast to most other buildings, there’s distinct asymmetry. It’s deliberate as it stops people seeing through to the main courtyard, and the ladies. Enuchs were engaged as doormen to avoid any extra-curricular nookie.

Hawa Mahal is a seamless fusion of Rajput (square pillars, chhatri-domed small balconies) and Mughal (filigree marble, stone inlay) elements and Pratap was so taken with it that the architect was rewarded with “a handful of villages”. And very right, too.

A puppet show was in full flow (it seems to be a thing here, as we saw one in City Palace, too):

“Holi” is the celebration the day after a full moon – it’s traditional to throw coloured powder made of crushed flowers and veg, over each other. Everyone is equal for a day 🙂

There are many theories as to why Jaipur’s old city is pink. The audio guide suggested that the Maharaja wanted a city to rival others, but that funds meant he could only use local stone. Whilst good for the core, it wasn’t as pretty as red sandstone, so he had it painted.

Jaipur is built in a basin, a commercial town rather than a fort to be defended, planned on a grid structure with the City Palace at the centre. It’s founder was Jai Singh… hence the name “Jaipur”.

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Albert Hall Museum was rather dry. The top five exhibits (in my view) were:

• A copy of the Qur’an (see photo above)
• Pictorial representations of the 36 ragas (the 6 Indian musicals scales, each with five “wives”)
• A collection of musical instruments (it always fascinates me how different, isolated civilisations ended up designing very similar musical instruments – a reminder that there is more that unites us than divides us):

• Four entire bookcases with each figurine in a different yoga pose – here’s one cabinet’s worth:

• The story of Rameses II:

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Finally, Birla Mandir is a relatively new temple, opened in 1985. The white marble is striking, calming and peaceful. My favourite bit was the thin marble relief carving – the back had been chiselled to thin marble so that from the inside, the image appeared as a silhouette. No photos allowed and I can’t even find one on the web – so here it is from the outside:

Stained-glass windows were reminiscent of Christian churches – and I assume the images would have been as familiar to locals as the scenes of the Bible are to westerners.

A peaceful end to an enjoyable, busy day.

Amer Fort was built by Man Singh in 1592, and subsequently expanded by Jai Singh I. It was the principal residence of the ruling Maharaja for the next 150 years until 1727 when the capital moved to nearby Jaipur.

There are six things of note:

First courtyard houses the Ganesh Pol, or Ganesh Gate. Ganesh was one of my favourite characters from my first trip to Asia – he’s the “remover of obstacles”. It’s an impressive structure, with more latticed windows through which the women would watch proceedings, and acts as the entrance to the Maharaja’s private palaces.

Second courtyard contains the Diwan-i-Am (hall of public audience), a regular feature in the forts I’ve visited here so far. It was used by the kings to receive petitions from his people. It’s two-tone structure of sandstone and marble makes it quite striking:

My favourite factoid was that Ram Singh II converted the rear portion into a billiard room! Good man.

Third courtyard is the private quarters of the palace, set around a Mughal-style garden. Jai Mandir, or Sheesh Mahal (“Mirror Palace”), catches the eye with its exquisite glass-inlaid panels and multi-mirrored ceilings designed to glitter in candlelight:

On the other side is the Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure) with its distinctive marble inlay and small niches. A water channel running through the centre, and out into the garden, was designed to keep its residents cool – a rather innovative air-conditioning system:

Fourth courtyard led to the women’s quarters – royal family, concubines and mistresses. The king could visit the woman of his choosing without anyone knowing who’d been selected as all the rooms opened into a common corridor. Dirty old dog.

Ramparts were extensive – small rooms connected by corridors and staircases. It was incredible. You could walk round here for hours and still not see everything.

And I liked that tourists were allowed to explore at their leisure – it gave a lovely relaxed atmosphere to the place which is probably more similar to the original feel than if everything had been organised.

Tunnel from Amer Fort to Jaigarh Fort acted as an escape route. It’s described as “subterranean”. Except that most of it is above ground and open to the sky. So an open-air tunnel. It was a nice walk to Jaigarh Fort and back.

One of the more depressing parts of the day was seeing the convoy of elephants moving fat, wealthly, ignorant Europeans up to Amer Fort. Inhumane, degrading and unnecessary, the treatment of these elephants has been of a concern to authorities for some time, fuelled by tourist ignorance. No excuse, people.

In contrast, one of the most peaceful parts of the day was the first stop on our little tour – the Royal Gaitor:

It housed the tombs of deceased Maharajas and, in one case, that of fourteen children who died in an epidemic (of what, it wasn’t clear).

The latest addition to the collection almost shone in white marble:

And the day ended by running the gauntlet of the tuktuk drivers. We knew a return journey should cost 300R. The first offer was 600, and a little crowd gathered. He wouldn’t go below 400R. We realised that there was an etiquette amongst them whereby the first one to speak with us had first dibs – all the others quoted higher than 400R. Lesson learnt, we conceded – it’s only £1. But it’s not about the money, it’s the principle.

And so back via the Water Palace that we’d stopped at earlier in the day:

It’s a “palace” in the water. Nuff said.

City Palace is a palace complex built between 1729 and 1732 by Sawai Ji Singh II. It was the seat of Jaipur’s Maharaja and is still the home of the current royal family. It consists of numerous courtyards, gardens and buildings.

Mabarak Mahal was built in the outer courtyard as a private guesthouse so the Maharaja could offer hospitality without compromising his privacy. The most interesting thing about this building is the way the overlapping balconies make the building appear to float:

Textile museum showcases more recent items as older ones have not survived due to the fragile nature of the cloth. I learnt that Islam doesn’t permit its followers to wear pure silk, so a cotton/silk blend called “mashru” (“that which is permitted”) was created.

Men’s garments form the majority of the collection, an interesting opposition from my perception of today’s fashion followers. Or, as we’re about to see, it’s because it was a extreme patriarchy, so items related to women were not considered worthy of preservation. The “paijama” was described as a “drawstring trouser”, the origin of our nightwear.

Turbans were a sign of honour. Indeed, the removal of his turban was the most insulting punishment for a nobleman. Twelve days after the death of a father, there would be a “pagari” ceremony in which the eldest son wears a turban in front of family and friends to indicate that the honour of the family had come into his hands. I told you it was an extreme patriarchy.

Photography and painting exhibition (no photos allowed) started unimpressively but got significantly better. Personally, I didn’t like or admire the paintings because:

• They were significantly less technically accomplished in comparison to what was going on elsewhere in the world
• Designs were very fussy (for instance, background repeating patterns cluttered the view)
• There was little perspective so they didn’t look very realistic

Also, the subject matter was very misogynistic – for instance, a prince with his harem attending to him. With one signficant exception: the goddess Devi, with her 18 arms. She was created by the energies or power of all the gods and “enjoys supremacy over all of them.”

Cartographer maps were much better and more interesting. One of Surat and naother of the red fort suggest that the king was doing some research for his “city project”. Indeed, Jaipur was planned as a trading city.

I was also impressed that there were tactile versions of some of the images. A valiant and appreciated effort to make the exhibition more accessible to all.

Photography section was much more interesting. Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II was a keen photographer taken several (now quite famous) images showing himself as a real person – at prayer (worshipping Shiva when this wasn’t the local custom), formal and informal.

Early photos were overpainted to add colour and reduce the blur when they were enlarged. Photos were seen as another technique, rather than a superior one, with some paintings made to look like photographs. And, wait for it, later ones included women “who were not previously photographed”.

“Meghdoot” (“cloud messenger”) by Vijaivargiya was my favourite painting. It was in two parts: the exiled Yaksha (shown whispering a message, represented as a flower, to a cloud of how to find his wife) and the Yaksha’s wife (who clearly doesn’t warrant a name and receives the said flower from the said cloud).

Arms were used mostly on formal occasions as decoration. Guns would be tied with a white handkerchief to show they came in peace.

Daggers were triangular with an H-shaped handle for thrusting and hand protection. This design is unique to India.

Rajendra Pol was flanked by two elephants made of blocks of Jaipur marble in 1931 to celebrate the birth of Maharaja Parani. Lotus motifs abound, a symbol of purity and prosperity.

Sarvatobhadra is a building of one floor with small rooms at each corner. I’m impressed that they have a specific word for this. It served as a Diwan-i-Khas (hall of private audience) and is painted in Jaipur’s signature pink.

(As an aside, there’s a story that Jaipur was painted in honour of the Prince of Wales’s (later to become King Edwards VII) visit, but that was disputed by information at the site which claimed it was “the pink city” long before that).

Gangajalis are the largest silver objects in t he world, commissioned by Sawai Mahdi Singh II in 1902 to store Ganga water for his trip to attend the coronation of King Edward VII. They are made of 14,000 silver coins issued from the state treasury, beaten and shaped over wooden moulds (so there are no joins). With a capacity of 4091 litres, they are estimated to weight 345 kg. He didn’t travel light, did SMS2.

Current royal family is headed by the queen as the king has died. Her grandson was adopted as the heir. Because you can’t rule if you have breasts. Oh please. Tradition does not justify sexism.

“Sawai” is added to the name of the ruler. It means “one and a quarter” and was a throwaway comment to a young heir. His descendants rather liked the sound of it, so had it officially added to their name when they become Maharaja.

Women’s quarters are the most private part of the palace. They could watch proceedings from latticed windows (“jalis”) around the courtyard’s first floor (coral-coloured in these pics):

The central courtyard had four elaborately decorated doors (that were almost constantly being used as the backdrop for various selfie shoots):

It was £39 to tour the royal family’s current home. No thanks.

Maharaja portraits showed the family line. Women are merely instruments in the male succession. Except that Ram Singh II adopted a court nobleman’s son as heir, so the blood line was broken anyway. So it is all, quite literally, a load of b*llocks.

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Jantar Mantar (what a great name!) is a collection of 18 (or 19, depending on which board you looked at) architectural astronomical instruments built by the Rajput King Sawai Jai Singh. It was completed in 1738 and features the world’s largest stone sundial:

A UNESCO World Heritage site, the masonry, stone and brass instruments were built using astronomy and instrument design principles of ancient Hindu Sanskrit texts. They allow the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye.

Originally built to accurately predict auspicious dates and times for ceremonies, they’re still used for astrological predictions.

After a long trek around the City Palace, my brain wasn’t quite up to properly getting behind the science. So here are the highlights, starting with the previously-mentioned sundial – aligned to Jaipur’s position of 27 degrees, its size results in an accuracy of 2 seconds. The curved surfaces facilitate easy reading.

But it doesn’t work when it’s cloudy 😉

Twelve smaller dials were used to read the time when the sun was in each of the twelve zodiac signs:

[And more based on M’s photos]

 

Our tuktuk driver for the return journey was notable for two things: he was the first overweight tuktuk driver I’ve seen, and he didn’t beep at all. Not once. Sir, I salute you.

Within five minutes of entering the park, we spotted a leopard high on the rocky outcrop above us:

He surveyed his leopardom for a few minutes and then disappeared over the other side.

My first wild leopard sighting, and a total result – they’re much rarer than tigers because they’re shy creatures.

Our guides could hardly believe it when we spotted another about an hour later! We’d heard the warning cries of the red spotted (a “whoop”) and samba (more like a bark/honk) deer, and the chattering of the monkeys, so we knew there was something around.

She emerged from the grass in no particular hurry:

… with a group of female samba deer pacing about 20 metres behind her! Apparently the deer can outrun her, so she has to really on the element of surprise. Which is difficult if you’re being stalked by your prey.

Today’s guide gave her lower odds than yesterday’s 1 in 10 – he reckoned only 1 in 15 to 20 hunts were successful. I suspect this is more realistic. Unless leopards’ hit rate is significantly different to the tigers.

“Niglai” literally means “blue cow”. Maybe because these antelope look much like, well, blue cows:

And the Indian gazelle is the smallest type of antelope in the country:

 

The fire wall seemed it would be of limited use in an actual forest fire – it wasn’t maintained and was much too thin to stop flames leaping between the trees:

The “small owlet” was an unexpected find:

As well as the brilliantly-named “woolly-necked stork”. Which has a woolly neck:

Summer is very dry with temperature of about 45 to 47 degrees – it looked parched even today:

After the monsoon there is just 20% chance of seeing a tiger, as opposed to 70% during the summer months, as the animals congregate around the watering holes. Unfortunately, no tigers were at home today, although we did see some fresh tracks:

… as well as yesterday’s tracks (recognisable as yesterday’s because of the small amount of tiny rubble that had fallen into them):

 

… and porcupine tracks:

 

No tigers, but two leopards is a very impressive result, indeed 🙂

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“Are you married?”

I showed him my wedding ring, and pointed to my male companion (we’re not married, but that’s beside the point).

This didn’t deter him in the slightest. He man-spread across the train seats, and opened his arms across the seat tops in an obvious attempt to make himself appear bigger.

Then came by far the best chat-up line I’ve ever heard:

“I have a palace…”

I must have looked unimpressed because he rallied slightly, and continued:

“I have a palace… in India.”

Sure you do mate – that’s why you’re travelling on one of the lowest classes of Indian train 😉

England could learn a lot from Indian trains (and India could learn a lot from us, but more on that later). It was busy but comfortable, with plenty of legroom and even a bottle holder:

It was considerably cleaner than South Western Railway, too. And the tickets cost less than £6 for the 2.5-hour journey. Actually, the tickets cost £1 each, but the online booking fee was £9.50!

Various traders plied their wares on the coaches as we travelled through the dusty countryside. It was like a moving bazaar with sellers getting on and off, so each station brought a new line of wares.

Freshly-prepared fruit:

Bags of pulses and other dried wares:

Hot chai:

And, er, “fanny water”. I swear that’s what he kept saying. I’ll never look at bottled water the same again. Tasty 😉

Dinner at the hotel started with the customary platter and small bowls. Except I still haven’t worked out what the bowls are for. As they’re a social bunch, I guessed that I was to serve the main dishes into my small bowls, and then transfer it on to the rice on my main plate. I asked the owner for a lesson, and my theory proved to be correct. There’s one small bowl for each dish with a sauce – they stop the sauces merging.

The coriander dip of coriander, chili, sugar and lemon was particularly good.

Finally to bed after a very long and tiring, but enjoyable day!

“Tiger! Tiger!”

There was a frenzy amongst the jeeps and canters assembled near the lake where a tigress had been spotted earlier that day. We were privileged to spend the next 20 minutes watching her move languidly around the waterline to the head of the lake, take a short bath and wander back before disappearing off into the grass cover.

Just incredible to see her in the wild.

Ranthambhore is on the map because of its population of Bengal tigers. As tourism and the human population increased, fatal tiger-human interactions and poaching did, too. So the Indian government started Project Tiger in 1973. The area has expanded to from 60 to 392 square km, and was declared a National Park in 1980.

Tourists can only access 30% of the park, and this is divided into 10 zones. Drivers, guides and zones are randomly allocated. You pays your money, and you takes your chance.

Back to our tigress. “Arrowhead” (or T-84) will live to about 15 or 16 years and have 4 or 5 sets of cubs during this time. We didn’t see her two cubs. They’re about two years old, so in another 12 months she’ll leave them and move away to mate again.

Other interesting info:

• Catching a big deer will last her 4 or 5 days, whereas a small deer only two.
• She will hunt on average once a week
• Her hit rate is about 1 in 10
• She eats deer, antelope and monkeys but not birds
• Deer are faster, and she can only run 15 to 100 metres so she relies on the element of surprise
• Hunts are more successful in the early morning and late evening as tigers are warm-blooded animals, so more alert out of the heat of the sun

Mind you, I had to work quite hard to extract this information from the “guide” – he was on a single-minded tiger hunt to see and photograph them. That we might actually want to know about tigers clearly didn’t cross his mind. Maybe most tourists don’t, which is sad.

We also saw red spotted deer:

Samba deer:

 

And monkeys:

 

Monkeys and deer are good friends. Monkeys deliberately drop leaves and fruit from the tree for the deer to feed upon, and they have good eyesight so can spot tigers and give the warning signal. The guide said the deer don’t give anything back, but I wondered if that’s true.

Firstly, there’s safety in numbers – the more eyes the better.

And secondly, if I was a tiger and had a choice between a small monkey and a juicy deer, I know what I’d go for. I doubt the monkeys are behaving completely altruistically.

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Ranthambhore is named after the fort. Built in 944 CE (or 1110 CE, depending on which theory you read) it changed hands multiple times before passing to the Kachwaha Maharajas of Jaipur in C17 until Jaipur acceded to India in 1949.

It was a very pleasant, interesting place with lots to explore (and lots of steps!) including a deserted palace overlooking a well-maintained garden:

Various courtyards with good views:

And it was overridden with black-faced, long-tailed monkeys – feisty creatures with a mischieveous streak:

When the gates of the park were left open, they proceeded to jump and bounce off them, using the swing of the gate to launch themselves. Activity got more frenetic as the park keeper strode over, with the little devils getting as much fun out of the gates as possible before they were closed.

A honey badger:

The wonderfully-named “rufus tree-pie”:

Two lakes:

Covered in rubbish 🙁

Some gators:

After the tranquility, and relative peace from tourists, in the fort, the Ganesh temple area was a considerable contrast, a hive of activity:

And my tally of selfies with various Indians increased significantly – lots and lots of requests, some of whom wanted various combinations of themselves and others. I feel like a minor celebrity.

Train cancelled.

New government rules meant that lower caste candidates should be prioritised for jobs. But this hadn’t reached the rural areas, so a local tribe were protesting by hitting the government where it hurt: trains. And if that didn’t work, they’d start blocking the roads, too.

Everyone at the hotel had a different recommendation on what to do: the son recommended we get the bus (with two changes); the owner suggested we hire a (very expensive) taxi; and  the daughter thought we should go to Jaipur and “do something else”.

With a dodgy tummy, only three weeks to explore India, a desire to visit the National Park and with transport options only likely to reduce, we decided to bite the bullet, stomach the cost and get a taxi (a fair proportion of which turned out to be the fuel at 74p per litre – extortionate by Indian standards).

Good decision. The journey was fast, comfortable and interesting.

Things of note on the journey included passing a region that clearly specialised in making stone minarets:

A warthog:

Loud-speaker tuk-tuks:

Love the decorated backs of trucks:

A very quick 4 hours later, we arrived at a very impressive-looking hotel… with a loudspeaker blaring out music. Turns out that the neighbour’s son is getting married. Celebrations will last 8 – 10 days. Now that’s what you call a party!

The groom was sat upon a decorated white horse (looking completely unperturbed about the whole shenanigans – it was clearly very used to this). He was dressed in traditional Indian wedding finery, and people were dancing around him. Well, some people were – others were just stood around. The party would move 10 metres down the road, and the dancing would start again.

The effect was ruined slightly as the groom was periodically looking at his mobile phone, seemingly disinterested in what was happening around him!

Upon our arrival, we were immediately invited to the celebrations that evening. Introvert dilemma :/ Whilst I really wanted to experience it, I knew it’d be stressful and uncomfortable for me. I was also exhausted. Decided to give it a miss. May regret it.

Upgraded to the Maharaja suite. Which was definitely an improvement on the standard rooms as it had a bath and balcony. Whether a maharaja would have been impressed with it is another matter. But I’m not a maharaja, so very happy with the gesture.

After a rather shaky start, the day turned out OK 🙂

Fifty-five species of bird in 6 hours. That’s not bad going  by any standards. Keoladeo was an oasis of avian life – everywhere you looked there were 2 or 3 sometimes 6, different species.

I’ve listed them all at the bottom, for those who are interested, but here are my top ten (in the order in which I saw them).

Black-headed ibis

 

Purple heron:

 

Glossy ibis:

Painted stork. We arrived at feeding time – the juvenile would cry insistently whilst the adults were out fishing. Upon their return, they’d regurgitate silvery fish, the youngsters reaching their long beaks into their parent’s mouth.

Purple swamp hen:

 

Magpie robin:

 

Pheasant crow:

 

Dusky horned eagle owl:

 

Little green heron:

 

Black-necked stork

 

The sarus would have made it on to the list if we’d actually seen it. As it was, we only heard its call (followed by a frenzy of twitcher excitement, but no sighting).

Other animals of note were:

• Termites (other insects live in their nest, and snakes)
• Red spotted deer
• Antelope
• Turtle

 

And finally, the fruit bat (commonly known as a “flying fox” as their faces look very vulpine). No prizes for guessing the gender 😉

Money, money, money. It’s all about money for the locals. Maybe not all of them, but they can be so insistent, forward and, on occasion, downright rude, that it’s very, very trying. For instance, we’d decided to get a cycle rickshaw and guide for just two hours (to try it out). After walking for at least one of the two hours, we decided to ditch the rickshaw as we wanted to stop to actually see the birds. As I was getting his money (which was a decent 300R for doing not a lot), he said “And a good tip, yes?” I gave him a decent amount extra and got the response: “Is that all?”

Yes, that’s bl**dy well all, you rude man. I know they’re only trying to make a living, and I’m well aware that I’m considerably more rich than they are, but it really does take some of the enjoyment out of whatever you’re doing when it’s all about the money, money, money.

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Complete list of sightings (in order of appearance):

1. Egyptian vulture (more vultures now as previously ate dead meat with dicobenicsodium and paracetemol, but people stopped using the former to treat animals as it was killing those higher up food chain)
2. Yellow-throated sparrow
3. Common teal
4. Spot-billed duck
5. Greylag goose
6. Black-headed ibis
7. Northern shoveler
8. White-throated kingfisher (quite common round here)
9. Purple heron
10. Wire-tail swallow
11. Snake bird / Indian darter
12. Gadwall
13. Northern pintail
14. Rufous treepie (tiger dentist – apparently it picks the bits from betwen the teeth of the tiger. A mutually beneficial relationship, I’m sure)
15. Little cormorant
16. White-eyed pochard
17. Black-winged stilt
18. Booted eagle
19. Brahman ruddy shell duck
20. Mynah
21. Bar-headed goose
22. Little grebe
23. Black drongo (with forked tail)
24. Glossy ibis
25. Marsh harrier
26. Painted stork (adults and juveniles)
27. Dalmatian pelican
28. Pond heron
29. Jungle babbler
30. Ashy Prinia
31. Bronze-winged jacana (plus juvenile)
32. Eurasian spoonbill
33. Lesser white-throated warbler
34. Indian moorhen
35. Greater white pelican
36. Gargny teal
37. White-breasted water hen
38. Purple swamp hen
39. Common kingfisher
40. Cotton pigmy goose
41. Pied bush chat
42. Reed warbler
43. Magpie robin
44. Red-vented bullbull
45. Great cormorant
46. Pheasant crow (red eyes, very shy)
47. Dusky horned eagle owl
48. Pied mynah
49. Little green heron
50. Night heron
51. White-eared bullbull
52. Black-necked stork (male has blue eyes and female has yellow but they’re the same colour and size, eats the common coot)
53. White-cheeked bullbull
54. Wood pigeon
55. Parakeet

Selfies

During our Red Fort visit, we had dozens of selfie requests – at one point, they were literally queuing up. I decided on a strategy: agree to any selfie request, but get a shot on my camera, too. Interested to see how many we’ll collect by the end of the trip.

Money, money, money

As a western tourist travelling in second- and third-world countries, you get used to the constant attempts to empty your wallet. Except you don’t, really – it’s just as tiring now as it was when I first travelled. But so far in India, it’s been worse – everyone’s after my money. Which drives the behaviour of not trusting anyone. And that’s a shame.

Tuk-tuks

Related to the “money, money, money”, the tuktuk drivers are some of the worst offenders. Even if you’ve rejected the two in front, the third driver will still hassle to take you somewhere.

Bland food

First week over and I still haven’t tasted any spicy food. But I’m also using tourist restaurants to reduce the chances of a dodgy tummy (although *that* didn’t work, did it?). Hoping it’ll get hotter soon.

Slogan t-shirts

Not so prevalent as in other places I’ve been but had a few brain-teasers. Try to work out these:

• I Would Everyday To Justify
• Sometimes think something else (with a picture of a rose)
• Dimond Perfect

And the best one I’ve ever seen (unfortuately no picture because I wasn’t quick enough) – it had a silhouette of the Eiffel Tower and underneath the words…. “I love London”. Brilliant!

Driving

It’s not that much different to other Asian countries, to be honest. But I do admire the Indian drivers – that they are the best in the world might just be true. They weave in and out of the traffic – with seemingly little etiquette – and yet I haven’t seen a single accident. There’s still time, I guess.

Oh, and as a hang over from the British (I assume), they drive on the left.

Life is… a photoshoot

Sightseeing seems to be more of a photoshoot. People spend precious little time looking at the monument, temple or site and much more time smiling inanely into their phone. I’m clearly not cut out to be normal.

Karwa Chodh

Komel mentioned the practice of “Karwa Chodh” – where Indian women fast to show devotion to their husbands. But there doesn’t seem to be anything reciprocal – what a surprise 🙁

I was prepared for the inevitable – I think it was yesterday’s lassi.

It’s not the spice (I haven’t actually eaten anything very spicy), it’s the bacteria.

Draining, in every sense of the word. This photo adequately sums it up:

Decided to write off the day in the hope that I’m feeling better tomorrow and we can visit the birds.