Time flies

Since last writing we caught the train to Delhi arriving at our hotel at midnight Friday. This was the official end of our Intrepid journey.

Saturday was spent sightseeing and shopping.

Delhi is a very green city with large park lands and forests. There are wide boulevards lined with trees and long views from the Delhi Red Fort to the Indian Gate.

We visited the Gandhi Museum and Library to learn about Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle with the British, but only after visiting the site of his cremation which is located in a huge park/ monument.

After some shopping we met a few of our fellow Intrepid travelers for a splendid dinner. we finished early a sour wake up call was at 4am.

Ready and packed to go at 4:45am we left the hotel.

Alice's flight was scheduled to leave for Singapore before ours, but on arrival we learnt that our Mumbai flight was cancelled so we were moved on to an earlier flight. Thus we left 15 minutes before Alice who left from the International Terminal.

All being equal Alice is in Singapore as I write, about to leave for Melbourne, after w eheqard tonight that her flight is landing 45mins late.

We changed planes in Mumbai and flew further south to Goa.

After a short car ride we arrived at our hotel mid afternoon ready for a swim and rest.

The firdst photo shopws ur new room, quite a change from Chitwan and the island on the Ganges.

 And, the second is the view from our room facing the Arabian Sea to the east of Goa. Tonight we have rain that is the tail end of the Monsoon season.

It's a long way from Nargakot..

Agra - The Red Fort

There are a number of things to see in Agra that make this such an interesting place.

This morning we traveled 5km by rickshaw to the Red Fort, so named because it is red...although much of it includes semi precious stone inlays and marble.

Protected by a water moat, with crocodiles, then a wall, then a dry moat with Bengal Tigers, no-one was keen to attempt to enter uninvited.

Tonight we leave Agra at 8:30 by train bound for Delhi.

Taj Mahal or bust!

Before dinner we went into Orchha to watch the locals celebrating the last night of the Ganesh festival.

This involved a lot of noise, throwing of pink powder and loud music.

The final act was thye launching of Ganesh statues into the river. A lot of the locals wanted to have their photos taken with us.

Last night we enjoyed drinks on the rooftop of our hotel in Orchha enjoying the view of the river and many of the Palaces and temples.

We woke at 4:45am to leave at 5:30 to catch the train to Agra.

We made our way to nthe hotel, refreshed and headed of the the Taj Mahal.

We had a very pleasant time as the day cooled as we walked around the gardens and viewed the Taj Mahal. It is truly spectacular. A long but enjoyable day.

A day of rest in Orchha

We had breakfast and began a 'day off' here in Orchha.

Kay, Alice, Lily and Jack decided to take up the rafting option and headed off for a morning on the water.

I am writing this sitting in the back room of a shop as our hotel doesn't have wifi.tomorrow morning we leave at 5am for Agra and the Taj Mahal.

Goodbye Varanassi. Hello Orcha.

After a very hot day in Varanassi we met at 4pm at the hotel to head off to Varanassi Station.
We travelled through peak hour in six Tuk Tuks, much like the chase in The Italian Job.

We had the privilege of being able to wait in the Executive Waiting Room courtesy of the Indian Railways.

Be boarded our train from Varanassi to Jahnsi which would take thriteen hours. Each curtained compartment had six bunks, two each side with a two bunks on the opposite side of the walkway.
All in all it was a pleasant and comfirtable trip.

On arriving in Jahnsi we travelled by Tuk Tuk for half an hour to our beautiful riverside hotel, with pool.

After a quick break we travelled into thye town to do a tour of the old Palaces of Orchha. There are six here, along with twenty two temples.

The palaces were impressive in their size and design.

We retreated from the heat of the day to an air conditioned restaurant after which Kay and Alice walked to view the Cenotaphs.

The rest of us hit the pool.

In the cooler eveing we went to visit a papermaking factory funded by Intrepid and the Government.

We then moved on to a cooking class held in a private home,the demonstration included our dinner.

Back at the hotel we gathered on thye lawn to enjoy a few drinks and a performance of Indian music (although ourleader Vivek suggested that they were really just freestyle buskers).

Another boat trip

Last night after a walk we boarded a boat in the darkness to participate in a candle ceremony on the Ganges.

We drifted down past the Ghats and lit candles that floated in rafts made of dried leaves.

We launched about a hundred and then drifted along fora few minutes. After that we stopped at a river side Hindu temple and watched the evening ceremony amongst thousands of pilgrims, locals and tourists.

It was an amazing site and the sounds were confused by neighboring temples performing similar ceremonies.  Whilst offered a second viewing at 5:30am today none of us took up the offer.

Later today we board the train for an overnight trip towards Orcha and a few days of peace and quiet.

Drifting down the Ganges

So yesterday morning we left our hotel at 10:30am and drove upstream of Varanassi for an hour and a half.

On arrival at our boats we boarded and made ourselves comfortable under shade.

We  had the five of us and two boatman aboard as we drifted down the holy river. After an hour we rafted up the three passenger boats and the kitchen boat and had a magnificent meal.

We continued drifting for another four hours until we arrived at our venue for the evening - a sandbank in the middle of the Ganges.

Our boatmen set up tents and the cooks prepared our evening meal.

We headed off to bed at 9ish and awoke at sunrise.

Again we were welcomed by food, chai, tea and coffee.

We set off for Varanassi stopping again for lunch before finally arriving in the heat of the day after a relaxing and enjoyable 60km trip down the Ganges.

If it's Friday night we must be in Varanassi

After a very pleasant ht in Lumbini we got up at 5am for a 5:30 am departure.

We drove to the border and crossed into India by 7am. We drove until 9am when we stopped for breakfast which was a welcome break.

After two more stops for refreshment we arrived in Varanassi at 6pm. Thankfully our cars had air-conditioning so the trip was bearable.

We arrived in Varanassi at peak hour which was amazing.

After dinner we retired for a good nights sleep.

Today we boarda sailing boat to head down the Ganges for a night camp, returning Sunday afternoon.

On the road to Lumbini, the birthplace of The Buddha

Seven hours to cover 170 kilometers can be explained by a bridge that had washed away, a puncture and then a blow out. In Nepal that is no big deal.

The bridge crossing took us about two hours, some of the trucks we passed had been waiting three days.

After an hour of driving we then had a puncture and finally a blow out.

Fortunately we were within walking distance of the Buddha Shrine and Stupas, so the hotel bus collected our luggage and we walked.

A long day, but our new hotel is fabulous.

My desk in Nepal

Just thought I would share the view from my table here at the Royal  Park Hotel near the Chitwan National Park.

 

And here is a shot of the grounds and accommodation that we are enjoying after the -2star accommodation last night.. This is Jacks bungalow in the lush gardens.

 

The Rhino encounter

Tuesday morning we had a quick breakfast and jumped into the back of a jeep.

After half an hour we boarded a dug out canoe and swept down the Rapti River for an hour on the swirling flood waters.

This was followed by a two hour jeep ride to the Chitwan National Park. Upon arrival we walked across the bridge to the park, which is bordered on all sides by water and provide a natural sanctuary.

Immediately we saw a Nepalese Rhino wandering along the river bank.

After an hours walk we stopped for lunch at a Crocodile farm. The Crocs here have extraordinarily long snouts and have been endangered.

We then started to walk through the jungle which was punctuated by two bridge crossings. The first with the deck of the bridge under water (which was very hairy) and the second just a slimy log bridge.

It was a beautiful walk as the rain eventually stopped and we arrived at the river bank for a canoe trip across to our camp on the opposite bank.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset with a cold drink, followed by dinner and sleep on the solid wood bed with one inch thick pad...

On the road from Kathmandu

There is a good reason the roads of Nepal are described as some of the most dangerous in the world.

The reality is that many of the roads cling to the sides of mountains and when there is heavy rainfall, such as on Monday, there are large landslides.

Distances here are always in kilometers, because time is irrelevant.
We spent ten hours traveling the  180 km from Kathmandu to our hotel.

Along the way there were many landslides and accidents of all kinds.
Safely in our Royal Park Hotel we refreshed and were briefed for our jungle encounter.

The temples of Kathmandu

Today we visited three distinctly different temples around Kathmandu.

The first, The Monkey Temple, is located on the top of a hill overlooking Kathmandu. It is the oldest known Stupa.

The second we visited was the largest Stupa in the world.

And the third site was the Hindu cremation ghats, where we were unable to take any photos.
This is a shot of the 'Toorak' of Kathmandu where a three storey house on a 50m x 50m plot could cost $300,000 AUD.

And why so few new cars? Probably because there is a 240% tax on the import price.


The travel around Kathmandu was punctuated with sessions in absolutely mad traffic. This is a shot of the Chinese Government built Kathmandu ring road....

We are now finalising preparations for our trip to Chitwan National Park. It is a six hour bus trip which should prove interesting on Nepal's less than smooth roads.

And, so it begins

It is now late Saturday night here in Kathmandu and we have met our fellow travelers.

We have ten Australians.
Two Irishman, one of which has just finished three mo0nths volunteering at an orphanage here and was up at Base Camp two weeks ago for a bit of a lark.
We have two Doctors from Box Hill..
A teacher from Bogabilla.
A lovely couple form the Sunshine Coast.

At our pre-dinner briefing we were given details of the journey ahead.

I'm not sure, but I  can't remember anyone mentioning the night we will spend in an elephant dung hut in the jungle...

To quote Titus Oates...sort of...We are heading off into the wilds of Nepal and India...we could be some time....

Bhaktapur

Today we visited a neighbouring city of Kathmandu known as Bhaktapur - the 'city of the devotees'.

It is  World Heritage declared site full of  interesting Palace grounds and temples. Some of which are famous for nothing more than there magnificently gifted deities.

We wandered the lanes  arriving in places like 'Pottery Square', where not surprisingly they make pottery.

We visited  a community co-operative art school which specialises in the painting of Mandala.

Traffic is pretty much back to its choked, fuming, noisy, lawless self following the strikes during the week.

By mid afternoon we were back in Kathmandu where we enjoyed a late lunch and a little shopping.