India, Sri Lanka and The Maldives - Days 11 & 15

On the toy train from Shimla to Kalka

We finished off day 10 with another meal in the hotel, it’s just easier, and the other places that had been recommended were also hotels, so why not stay where we were? Anyway, I liked the fact that you could see the chefs at work. We had finished our bottle of Indian wine over two nights, it was ok, not the best wine we’ve ever had, but not the worst either. We would probably have stuck to beer, but apparently they don’t have any, just wine and spirits! So tonight, a G&T, no ice! We also branched out on the food and went Chinese, well it was Chinese new year and China is just the other side of the Himalaya! Chinese food is very popular in India, we’ve seen it on nearly every menu which is most surprising.

The little diesel train arriving at Shimla train station

Day 11

The toy train, a narrow gauge railway that used to bring the British up for the summers. Brian had some romantic notion and though it was very pretty I don’t think we’d do it again. 6.5 hours on very hard, very small seats, to cover 95km is a bit excessive. This only got us to Kalka where we had an hour and a quarter before getting on a ‘proper’ train for the 303 km, 4 hour journey back to Delhi.

It was definitely a toy, very compact. First class would have been slightly better, they have only three seats across, a two and a one, rather than two per side. However, everyone was really friendly and the views were fabulous

What was really silly about this was that as he was taking us to the station Manjit said his boss had told him to buy us some fruits for the journey and then meet us in Kalka to get us onto our onward train. We gratefully accepted the fruits, I could wash the grapes in bottled water out of the window, but we told him not to be so silly as to wait for us in Kalka. He would be there in about 3 hours, and would then have 3-4 hours to get home to Amritsar. We told him we would be fine, and we would have. The other 6 people in our section were three young couples, very friendly and also on the same train back to Delhi. Even without them we could have walked across a platform. It was a small station!

95km in 6.5 hours, so it just chugged along at a very slow pace, which got quite tiring in those small seats. The romantic element wore off after the first hour or so!

So after much wiggling and winding, a bit of a numb bum, and much chat with white faces on trains going up the mountain we pulled in to Kalka, only to find , just outside our window, not only Manjit but Anil as well! Anil was actually there to get us into our seats, and would have been quite happy holding a placard with our names on. Even Anil had told Manjit to go, but apparently he didn’t think Anil would know who we were, despite being the only white faces on the train! We felt like royalty with two assistants. We passed our bags out through the window, made a little video with Manjit about how safe we’d felt with him and what a nice man he was, gave him a big hug and finally sent him on his way. Apparently the feeling was mutual, he’d been telling Anil what good people we were and how energetic we were. He’d been quite amazed that morning to discover that he is younger than Fiona and that instead of the 45/50 he thought we were we are actually 55/68.

The railway is UNESCO listed and is pretty much as it was built by the British in the early twentieth century, so mechanical points, there's all the levers, and tokens that must be carried by the driver and deposited at the next station to ensure only one train on a track at any time - if the driver hasn't got a token in his hand he can't travel on that section until the train with the token arrives 

Passable food on the Shatabadi Express. Tea and snacks and then dhal, paneer curry, rice and roti to be followed by yogurt and icecream. Having departed the hotel at 10.00 am we pulled in to Delhi just before 10.00 pm. Did briefly wonder if this was where it was all going to fall apart, but no, as soon as the crowd cleared there was Guarav, our first greeter from the airport.

Arriving at Kalka station to be met by both Manjit and Anil to see us onto the Delhi train. Anil is a budding tv star appearing in a tv series and some tv adverts. Good luck to him in his career 

Out to the carpark, to meet Ram, our new driver whose car was completely boxed in. No worries, all cars that park across other cars just leave the handbrake off and out of gear so they can be pushed around! We were ready for our bed at Magic’s first choice Delhi stop which sadly had been full when we first arrived, hence our slightly grim first hotel. This one had a much better vibe and breakfast, and …… a book exchange. And, I finished my book on the train. Our host was very amused at how excited I was! I don’t think it was as well positioned though and was certainly noisier, not least because it was under the flight path to the airport!

After an overnight in Delhi, our driver Ram drove us 6 hours to Jaipur and here we are on an evening stroll with our guide Nidhi outside the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, probably the most photographed building in the Pink City of Jaipur

Day 12

Currently in the car with Ram, 6 ish hours to Jaipur. It may be longer than that as getting out of Delhi was a bit of a nightmare, 35 minutes to do 5km. I’m not sad to be leaving Delhi, crowded, noisy, dusty and dirty, like many big cities, with men weeing everywhere you look. I guess it has to be done, there are some good things to see, but hopefully it will be a little less citified till we get to Kolkata, India’s capital before New Delhi.

Overlooking the bustling centre of Jaipur with is noise of constant car horns, exotic smells and culture that is India

Arrived in Jaipur, just in time to go to the hotel, check in and meet our guide. Nidhi, a lovely lady. We both think she is a hoot, and she knows her stuff. This was an evening walk through the bazaar which was certainly an experience. We started at the Hawa Mahal, an amazing structure, absolutely beautiful and with many many windows behind which the ladies used to sit to look out at the goings on without being seen themselves. We learnt then that Nidhi is small but mighty getting us across the busy road and back, and moving people out of the way of our photographs. A force to be reckoned with. We went down wedding dress alley, oh my, some of them were absolutely beautiful. The men’s were too, and apparently often hired rather than bought as in the U.K. We said we would like a little something as we couldn’t really be bothered to eat, and just wanted to go to bed, but despite having some lovely hot fried chickpea fritters and a taste of a funny milk sweet, she still ended up sending us to a full restaurant. Straight to bed when we got back!

Shave sir?

Day 13

Met Nidhi at the hotel for a full morning in the pink city (which is a bit orange), painted for the visit of Prince Albert in 1876, by Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh ll. Pink being the colour of hospitality. We started off in the Hindu temple, so no need for headscarves, it’s all very confusing. (As is all Sikhs are Singh, but not all Singh are Sikhs) Next stop was the observatory, or Jantar Mantar which strangely I loved, built in 1734 by Rajput Sawai Jai Singh, another UNESCO world heritage site. It has the world’s largest sundial accurate to 2 seconds. Its face angled at 27 degrees, which is the latitude of Jaipur. There are 19 other astronomical and astrological instruments, quoting Wikipedia “for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking location of major stars as the Earth orbits around the sun,ascertaining the declinations of planets and determining the celestial altitudes and related ephemerides” I just can’t believe the accuracy from all that long ago.

Lots of monkeys too, quick to steal something, this one wondering how this mirror can be removed from this motorbike

Next stop was the royal palace which seemed relatively expensive £40 each for the full experience! We took the mid experience at £20 each which was really worth the money. We saw some beautiful rooms, and learnt about the current king of Jaipur, a very handsome 25 year old. He is actually the grandson of the previous king who only had a daughter, so adopted his grandson to be king. Drinks and biscuits were also included on a rooftop in the centre of the Palace which gave a fab view. We also had a second very interesting conversation with Nidhi, somehow we’d got on to the topic of arranged marriages, prostitution and all sorts earlier. I’d apologised for asking many questions, and assured her she was free to say she didn’t want to answer if she felt awkward. 

Morning visit to a temple

She was very free though and happy that we wanted to understand the culture. Over tea she volunteered the information that when I’d asked yesterday if she had daughters (it being very expensive for the parents of the bride) she said she was single. This was correct, but she had had a very late, arranged marriage 5 years ago, moved with her dowry to Bopal, 12 hours away to her husband’s family, as is the way. He didn’t work, so she had spent lots of money keeping him, while still working here in Jaipur, until he died of COVID, less than 3 years after they married, having only spent 9 months together. His family kept the dowry, and his money and basically sent her back to her parents who still have her two sisters at home too. I suspect her chances of another marriage are slim, so she will be caring for her parents as she has no brothers to bring their wives in!

A very small section of the amazing Jantar Mantar observatory. This particular structure is possibly the worlds largest sundial. The angle up is 27 degrees, which is the angle Jaipur is above the equator and faces exactly south. The curved structure is calibrated in hours minutes and seconds, am this side, pm the other and is apparently accurate to within a second or two. There is an adjustment required that is posted each day to account for the distance from the Indian meridian to Jaipur

We then went for some lunch, street food is a slight misnomer, but it was certainly not a restaurant we would walk in to on our own. She does food tours, so we trust her judgement, and we did have some very good food. Hopefully we can get away with a light dinner tonight. I’ve probably upset Ram, the driver, who wanted us to go half an hour away to somewhere that virtually every review on Tripadvisor says gives kickbacks to the drivers. We are going 5 minutes away to somewhere on the Magic tours list that our host here recommend.

Seen flying around the observatory grounds. A black kite? All other birds were frightened of it, flying off in flocks as it approached in a graceful glide

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Albert Museum, a beautiful building with an eclectic mix of things, not all from India so we tried to whizz past those bits, including the mummy. We arrived just as the bus load of school girls entered and goodness they were noisy. I had to do some posing and have my photo taken with some of them, but they did move quicker than us. I also adopted an 18 year old British gap year lad, got talking to him in the queue and then he felt a bit intimidated by some of the girls. In fact one of them asked me if he was my son? I said yes, she said “he’s so very handsome” the colour he blushed when I told him this! He was a lovely lad, so very young, come from Sri Lanka where he’d been with his girlfriend, he’s now in Jaipur for 4 weeks (1 of which has gone) doing voluntary teaching, has been ill, quizzed for hours at immigration, stared at in the streets by all and sundry, but does seem to be enjoying it. I could never have been that brave.

The chipmunks seemed unconcerned though. Or maybe that is a look of concern?

Day 14

The Amber Palace or Amer Fort, or any combination of the two seemingly. About half an hour away it was originally built by Raja Man Singh. It was expanded by Jai Singh I in the early 1600’s and improved and extended for the next 150 years until a move was made to Jaipur.

Arriving at the Royal Palace. No idea of the significance of the classic pink car - but it is a classic!

Nothing is ever direct though, so en route we stopped to take photos of the palace across the lake, where we didn’t watch or photograph the snake charmer, illegal and cruel, then at a temple, and then a step well, not that you are allowed to go down the steps. Although designed for bathing and washing it has been used for neither of these for a long time, since the number of houses increased, each with their own water tank that drastically reduced run off into the well.

Jackie and Nidhi at the entrance

Finally then to the Palace, the back way. The front way being reserved for those going up by elephant. We were not going to do that, though Nidhi did say that they are protected, only allowed to do 5 trips each in the morning in winter, and two in the summer. Nidhi again was very thorough, lots of information and history interspersed with time taken for photos and conversation. There will be many photos that will say everything better than I can.

One of two giant silver containers used to take water from the Ganges (before it was polluted so much) to be used as drinking water for the Maharaja Medho Singh II during his voyage on a specially built ship to England to attend the coronation of Edward VII in 1902

On our return, nothing is ever direct, stop for photos of the lake palace, not for living in, just for recreation. Then the block printing workshop where we had a really interesting demonstration of the work involved as 4-7 different stamps of different colours are laid over each other. Some of the stamps are over 100 years old, carving them is said to be the hard bit, but I think the physical registration of stamp upon stamp over huge lengths of material is difficult. We both bought here. I was aware Jaipur is famous for jewellery, so we stopped at a workshop, saw some of the processes, and did buy, happy Valentine’s Day to me. Last stop was a spice shop for saffron, which we didn’t buy though we did get a spice mix for cooking chicken. A very late snack for lunch (about 16.00) and we finally said goodbye to Nidhi and went back to the Amber Palace for the sound and light show. We were early but there was no point in trying to do anything else. We had a wander around the garden we had seen from above before we got shouted at! The show was not what we expected, I think we expected pretty and fluffy, this actually told the history of the fort interspersed with some music. Out of there to collect my necklace, which had been made for me, in the last three hours, a quick dinner and bed.

Inside the courtyard with the palace behind. Because we'd paid extra we were allowed behind those screens to view some of the Maharajas rooms, but we weren't allowed to take any photos 

The whole day has been interspersed with weddings as apparently it is a very auspicious day to marry, not because it was Valentine’s Day but I can’t remember why (sorry Nidhi). There was the wedding that was being prepared for the previous day at the Palace that will have cost between £200000-£300000, the wedding for 20 brides that my adopted son had been invited to from his volunteer position, a procession of lanterns and a man on a white horse that came past the restaurant, the wedding party in the house next door to the hotel where we saw our host, all dressed up looking very smart. I asked him who was the bride? He didn’t know. Now we are following behind a car with red roses stuck all over it, with sellotape….

Before going in we were invited up onto the roof for tea and biscuits

Day 15

En route to Ranthambore where we have a day and a half of Safari, hoping to see tigers, and Brian is going to try and blog in the car using my cellphone before my data month changes!

Where some delicate renovation was going on from bamboo scaffold (is there any other?)

Maharaja & Maharani Cross!

Waiting outside for the wedding party there were decorated camels, a decorated elephant, dancing girls and music

The beautiful Albert museum

Ram our driver for the Delhi, Jaipur, Ranthambore and Agra section

The Amber Fort from across the lake, another UNESCO site

The Panna Menna stepwell outside the fort. Not used for drinking these days

The Sri Jagat Siromanji temple just outside the fort a quite amazing construction

One of the many temples in this area, but this one was particularly interesting

The courtyard of the Amber Fort, built prior to the establishment of Jaipur in 1727 and encircled by an 11km wall (I wanted to walk some of the wall, but it isn't open to the public)

View from the top of the fort (which isn't a fort but a palace Nidhi told us. A fort can be a palace, but a palace is never a fort - work that out!). See raised gardens down there in the lake? To the right of them on a raised platform is seating. It was from there that we watched the sound and light show later in the day 

The gardens at the top of the palace. The arched give access to the mirror room. In the winter they would cover the arches with thick quilt covers and light candles in front of the convex mirrors inside to give light and heat

Inside the hall of mirrors

The intricate designs of the mirrors

Ladies were not allowed into the courtyard when meetings were taking place so had to view proceedings from behind these screens  

We stopped on the way to Amber Fort to take a photo of Lake Palace, literally a palace built in the middle of a man made lake. There are two floors beneath the surface apparently. 

The view of it later after the sound and light show at the fort was much better though we thought

We're not used to seeing elephants on the road, but it seems to be OK here

We visited some craft workshops in the afternoon, this one doing block printing. Here they have four colours (they can use up to seven) and they use those wooden stamps you can see to print each colour one on top of each, positioned by hand

There's the result. They leave it in the sun for a couple of days to cure. They then claim it can be machine washed at 40 C and colours won't run. We bought some clothes, Brian a shirt, Jackie a blouse and trousers using this technique, we'll find out their claims about machine washing!

We also visited a jewellery factory

Jackie bought a necklace similar to the one above. She selected the stones below, they made it in a couple of hours and we collected on the way back from the sound and light show

Late lunch with Nidhi

Waiting to get into the sound and light show at the fort we spotted this fabulous looking bird. Any ideas what it is? Edit: Helen says its an Indian Magpie - thank you Helen

We decided not to go near the lake!

The fort lit up during the sound and light show

Back to collect Jackies new necklace

Followed by dinner at the Green Pigeon. However we had to go outside to watch this wedding procession take place to loud music and lots of fireworks

We got back to our hotel later to see this wedding party going on next door. Didn't keep us awake though! That's it for Jaipur, next stop, tiger country - we hope!