Arrived in Udaipur after a 16 hour travel day…The latest tiger photos are delayed…The pure joy of safari…

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We passed over many sprawling rivers in Kanha National Park.

Note: We’d intended to post the new tiger photos today, but apparently, our order for the camera-to-computer adapter from Amazon India didn’t get delivered. Subsequently, we’re posing other safari photos and will get caught up as soon as it arrives. Thanks for your patience.

By the time we arrived at our hotel in Udaipur, the Fateh Sagar Lake Hotel, it was already 8:30 pm. We’d left the Tuli Tiger Resort at 4:30 am. As expected, we were greeted by a tour guide at the layover point in Mumbai, who drove us to the next terminal and again by yet another tour guide at the airport when we arrived in Udaipur. 

The beauty in Kanha National Park is breathtaking.

This personalized service is slick. We never have to figure out where to go and how we’ll get there. It is all arranged for us, included in our Indi tour package with Tailormade Journeys. Rajiv has done a fine job covering each step of the way. From time to time, we have questions that are responded to quickly and efficiently.

On the first of two flights, I ordered a small container of almonds and a cup of tea. Tom never ate a thing. We’d planned to go to dinner upon arrival, but after being so tired, we decided to go to bed and hopefully sleep by 10:00 pm. For the first time in a long time, I slept through the night. Tom awoke several times but also managed to get sufficient sleep to feel refreshed today.

A pair of Sambar deer.

The included breakfast is served at the hotel’s restaurant, and we both looked forward to a hearty meal to start the day. Although we can’t get bacon or any facsimile, we usually eat lots of eggs with veggies for me and eggs and toast for Tom. It fills us for the day.

The hotel in Udaipur isn’t as plush as we’d expected. Still, it has a view of Sagar Lake, and our room is spacious, clean, and well-appointed with everything we need: good WiFi, air-con, comfortable bed, and good plug-ins for our adapters and converters.

The bulky gaur, a rare type of buffalo.

The hotel reminds me of those I’d visited in years past, which was historic with 1930s decor. We’re pretty OK here. We’re staying in Udaipur for four nights total, and on Thursday, March 5th, we’ll head to Chennai. In the interim, we’ll be visiting points of interest in Udaipur and surrounding areas starting today at noon. We’ll share photos and stories of those visits over the next few days.

But today, we wanted to wrap up our final safari experiences, including the last sighting of a tiger in Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh (there are 28 states in India and eight union territories).

Many people live within the national park in modest houses such as this.

At the moment, we’re awaiting the arrival of the SD card adapter. Once it arrives from Amazon India, I’ll download the photos from the camera, which contains all the final safari photos.

On the last day in Kanha, I went on both the morning and the afternoon game drives on my own. Tom felt a little under the weather and is fine now, but he wasn’t quite up to bouncing around in the safari vehicle for 10 hours.

As I sat alone in the center seat of the safari vehicle’s three rows of seats (including one row for the driver and the naturalist) with a park representative in the third row), I felt comfortable and at ease. I had three professional guides to focus on finding a tiger, and all I had to do was balance myself on the outrageously bumpy roads and take photos when we spotted something.

A peacock was searching for a mate.

Of course, my eyes were peeled on the surroundings, hoping to spot the familiar stripes of yet another tiger. Yet, it was almost equally exciting finding other exciting species such as those we’ve included in today’s photos.

Once the safari ended, I found Tom waiting for me in the lobby, where he stayed and worked on his laptop in my absence. It was great to see him, but I felt liberated and pleased with going on safari by myself.
 
After my long and difficult recovery, it felt good to be independent for a day after a year of Tom’s thoughtful and generous hovering. I’d managed to get in and out of the safari vehicle independently without him or anyone spotting me, which requires cautious maneuvering to avoid injury.
Sambar deer on the side of the road.

We didn’t sleep more than four hours on the last night in Kanah, and after the long travel day, I was exhausted last night. The substantial bouncing for 10-hours left me a little stiff and sore, but not unlike the feeling after a good and healthful workout. Today, I feel like new.
Today, we headed out on a much-anticipated exciting tour in Udaipur, details of which we’ll share in tomorrow’s post.

Have a fantastic Monday! We’ll be thinking of YOU!

Photo from one year ago today, March 2, 2020:

This adorable female kudu is suffering from TB, as indicated by the tumor on the left side of her face. For more, please click here.

Photos of Tuli Tiger Resort inside Kanha Tiger Reserve…

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The spacious veranda outside the door to our lovely suite.

We’re having some technical issues. Maybe I should have bit the bullet and purchased another Windows laptop instead of a Chromebook. As it turned out in my haste to order, the HP Chromebook I ordered doesn’t have a slot for an SD camera card.

A small, casual bar in the dining area.

Subsequently, I’ve had to use my phone to take photos and although many come out well, using zoom is a missing aspect of using a smartphone as a camera. Now that we’re in the midst of another nine safaris after nine at the last location in the Bandhavgarh National Park, today I broke down and used the camera, getting many better shots than ever possible using the phone.

Now, I’m left with no way to load them. A few minutes ago I purchased an adapter from Amazon India with a proposed receipt date of Monday, March 1st, the date we arrive at our hotel in Udaipur. Hopefully, once again a shipment within India will work out as well as the last.

The spacious pool is near the dining and bar area.

As a result, in the interim, I will be uploaded only those photos we’d taken on our phone while continuing to use the camera. Once the adapter arrives on Monday when we’ll have more time, I’ll be able to share the many fine photos we took at Kanha Tiger Reserve.

After going out on four safaris as of today, with two more remaining tomorrow that encompass 10 hours of each day, we decided to split up today with me taking the 5:30 am session and Tom out right now on the afternoon session.

The grounds are filled with named indigenous vegetation befitting this type of resort.

Doing so left me with time to post today’s story and photos and to work on the Amazon order which is trickier than compared to ordering supplies from the US.

The bathroom is small but nicely appointed.

Since we don’t have a tremendous number of tours during our three nights in Udaipur, we’ll have time to upload the camera’s photos and get more caught up posting.

Plus, the WiFi in both safari resorts has been sketchy at best, in each case, off and on all day and only accessible from the reception office. Not being able to put up my feet and relax while preparing a post is a bit annoying, but soon we’ll be in a hotel with good service in our room (so says the online information).

There are several seating areas in our suite.

This resort is beautiful and well-appointed otherwise. Besides Tom’s disappointment with the food, we’re enjoying our time in this premium property.

So far, our 55-night tour of India is going quite well and we have a fabulous company, Tailormade Journeys continuing to work with us for any questions or concerns. We’ve been very pleased with their service working with rep Rajiv and his support staff in making this a seamless series of events, a highly complicated scenario for this extended period. They can be reached as follows:

Rajiv Wahie
Tailormade Journeys Limited
25 Grangewood , WEXHAM , SLOUGH , SL3 6LP , South Bucks. United Kingdom.
United Kingdom Tel : 01753 577330, 01753 201201 Mobile: 07739716978.
USA & Canada Toll Free : 1 – 855- 9 – 526526 , Canada :416-619-7795
Australia : 61-2-86078986Email: great-vacation@btconnect.com
Website : www.TailormadeJourney.co.uk
The king-sized bed is very comfortable.
Well, that’s it for today folks. We’ve included photos of the lovely Tuli Tiger Resort. We’re looking forward to sharing more photos soon.
 
Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 28, 2019:

Mom and Babies hanging out by the recently cleaned cement pond. For more photos, please click here.

Wednesday was a travel day…Now amid more safaris at Kanha National Park…

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Note: All of today’s photos were taken from the car on yesterday’s road trip. No captions needed.

Yesterday, as I wrote this post we were in a crisp clean white SUV with air-con comparable to other vehicles that have been transporting us from one location to another.

It was travel day once again with an expected 5½ hours drive time until we’d reach our destination and yet another safari camp, Tuli Tiger Resort, this time to Kanha National Park where we’d be spending another four nights with two game drives each day.

The drive is interrupted every three or four kilometers by small towns lined with shops and vendors selling fruit and vegetables, clothing, and a variety of tourist goods and household goods for the locals.

Cows, dogs, and goats wander through the streets aimlessly in search of the next meal and women walk with baskets of food and other items atop their heads, while men congregate in small groups discussing the events of the day.
The women wear colorful Hindu costumes impeccably draped and pleated regardless of their income level of poverty. The beautiful garb us unlike any other we’ve seen in the world. Although each town may have its own personality the premise of the Hindu philosophy is evident in every aspect of creating a certain familiarity from town to town.

Once back out on the highway, the landscape is brown and somewhat desolate, scattered with trees and vegetation of one sort or another. It’s winter time here and until the monsoon season arrives everything the grasses remain brown and less hearty for the cows and other animals in search of good grazing fields.

With nary a patch of green for meandering cows and sheep, they often seek out public areas in hopes of food donations from the locals who appear at times to be very generous with their sacred cows. Hindus have a love of all creatures, both human and animals.

People often smile and wave as we pass through. School children in freshly pressed school uniforms play together in the streets without a toy or a ball and yet seem happy and content in their lives.

Their simple life is accepted with a powerful faith not so much as a religion but as a way of life leaving them grateful and accepting of whatever lifestyle they’ve been provided.

We are humbled and in awe of their dedication and their strength as they work their way through any obstacles life presents them. Many have no access to medical care, modern conveniences, clean water, and in many cases such taken for granted commodities such as electricity.

These individuals and families work together however they can to create the best life possible without complaint, without disharmony and without a longing for what could have been.

I often think of all the times I’d grumbled when making a call for customer service to end up with a heavily-accented Indian person on the line, often working in a hot uncomfortable boiler room taking calls for various digital and computer equipment companies all the way from India to provide customer service for companies in the US. Now, I have an entirely different perspective.

In a land of 1.3 billion people there’s is little to no government subsidies such as welfare, food stamps or government assistance. Overall, Indian people are on their own.

We’ve seen fewer homeless people here in India in the almost month we have been here than we saw in an equal time in the US. That speaks for itself and the powerful work ethic and life values imposed by their Hindu strength and principles.

This morning at 5:30 am we began our first morning safari from the resort. We didn’t see any tigers yet but we have five more safaris scheduled at this location, including another today at 2:30 pm. 

By the time we return for the afternoon game drive at 6:30 pm, we’ll freshen up for dinner, dine at 8:00 pm and head to bed shortly thereafter. It’s a busy and exhausting day but typical in the lives of wildlife enthusiasts like ourselves.

Have a fantastic day and night!

Photo from one year ago today, February 27, 2019:

The kudus give us “the look,” which means “more pellets please.” For more photos, please click here.

Safari adventures continue…The rigors of game drives…

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A female sambar deer.

It wasn’t entirely about the Bengal Tiger. Safari in Bandhavgarh National Park also included many other forms of wildlife and, as shown, some stunning scenery along the way.

This baby elephant was being prepped for humans to ride him in search of tigers. Riding an elephant is a custom in India, but we wouldn’t ride one, as most of our readers know. 

The morning drive beginning at 6:00 am each day was cold, and we were covered with the blankets provided by the resort. The roads are as bumpy as can be, and thus, those with back or spine problems would be miserable during either the morning or afternoon game drives.

The baby’s mother was chained nearby. I supposed the chains are the saddest part affecting us animal lovers. We have to respect the customs in other countries as we travel the world. After all, we don’t cringe when horses are ridden.

Bathroom breaks are at a premium, and often the toilet is but a hole in the ground, not conducive for us women wearing pants. What a challenge that is! I choose not to drink any fluids in the morning to avoid the necessity. Of course, for men, behind a tree works well.

A white gum tree, the bark of which is used by locals for medicinal purposes.

Between the morning and afternoon game drives, one can expect to be out for no less than 8½ to 9½, making for a very long day. There’s a 3½ hour break between the morning and afternoon game drives, allowing time for lunch in the dining room. All Indian food is spicy and flavorful (not necessarily delectable to Tom. He ordered separately on most occasions).

When we stopped during the safari for our packed breakfast, consisting of boiled eggs, toast, and muffins for Tom and vegetables for me, a few cows entered the picnic area in the park.

Climbing in and out of the safari vehicles is not easy. It was challenging. But I managed well. My legs did not fully recover, but I kept a stiff upper lip and did so with nary a whimper. Tom stood close by, spotting me in the event of a fall.

Not easy to see in this photo taken at quite a distance, a tiger is dining on her catch.

In other words, safari is not necessarily for everyone. But, for us, after years of experience in Africa, we didn’t complain a bit and bounced our way through hour after hour of game drives through the rough terrain.

We saw many of these vine trees in the park.

Our fantastic safari driver was with us throughout the three days, and in each session, a different naturalist joined us. But, our driver Babalu was most knowledgeable after 27 years as a safari driver. 

“Apart from being a rich wildlife reserve, Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh has other ways to beguile travel aficionados. One can be interested in noticing an age-old fort called the Hill Fort or Bandhavgarh Fort standing right in the middle of the national park. This majestic fort allows visitors to peep inside the rich history and shows the prominent influence of religion in the state. So, what exactly are we talking about here? Well, we are focusing on the priceless heritage that includes the cave dwellings, shrines, and several sculptures that indicate the strong faith in the power of Lord Vishnu here.”

We wouldn’t have needed the naturalist when many barely spoke English (our problem, not theirs. We are in “their” country, after all) but seemed to provide good service as spotters whose hearing is acute and eyesight keen for sightings.

A Common Kingfisher.

When a tiger is nearby, the spotted deer make a barking warning sound. The driver and naturalist quickly picked up these sounds, and then the watch for the elusive tiger would begin. We’d often sit quietly in the vehicle at the side of the road for 20 or 30 minutes, watching and waiting for the animal to appear.

A gorgeous sunset over Bandvargarh National Park in India.

There’s tremendous with no sightings of any animals and others when they were in abundance. On a few occasions, they did appear. On many more other occasions, they did not. An impatient person would not do well under these circumstances.

Another photo of the tiger we spotted.

Since my camera card doesn’t work with my new Chromebook (no slot), I couldn’t use my camera until I purchased an adapter or cord. Subsequently, all of our photos were taken with our Google phones, not the best for zooming in, as we all know. There was a bit of frustration over this on my part.

Male spotted deer.

Plus, the photos from our phone, which generally would appear on my laptop within a few hours of taking them, didn’t appear for at least 24 hours with the slow WiFi signal using my phone as a hot spot or when sitting in the reception area of the resort. Yesterday, photos appeared on my laptop in a more timely fashion, and I was able to do yesterday’s and today’s posts in a little more timely manner.

Rare wild buffalo is referred to as a gaur. We were excited to spot this elusive animal.

We apologize for the lack of a post on Monday. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get photos to load. There was no point in writing a story about a fine artist without uploading the images I took in the shop, especially when I was thrilled with their clarity.

Mom and baby wild boar. I love all types of pigs. This was no exception.

If you didn’t have an opportunity to see yesterday’s post, please click here.

Today, we are moving again on another over five-hour drive to the next safari lodge in our itinerary. We’ll be back with more on that soon.

Photo from one year ago today, February 26, 2019:

This is our Basket, the Bully, who was thrilled to see we’d returned to the bush.  Many weeks ago, he appeared with a bloody right ear, which now is but a stubble of an ear that seems to have healed nicely. For more photos, please click here.

A noteworthy artist at Tiger’s Den Resort…A wildlife artist beyond comprehension…Rakesh Prajapali…

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Perfection!

Over the past 48 hours at the Tiger’s Den Resort, we’ve been so wrapped up in going out on safari twice a day (8½ hours a day) and dining on delicious food three times a day, we’ve had time for little else.

With the resort’s WiFi connection only available in the reception area, preparing posts in our room using my phone hotspot technology has been slow and laborious. The only position I’d uploaded from here was yesterday’s story after our first tiger sighting. Please click here for details.

Endearing…

However, getting up at 5:00 am and being safari-ready by 6:00 has left me a little weary and preferring to stay in our beautifully appointed room when not in the jeep or dining room.
Today, I decided to bite the bullet and head to the reception area, where the signal is perfect. Also, today, after last night’s heavy rain and hail, this morning’s sightings were few in the safari areas of the park. 

After a five-hour foray of searching for the elusive tiger, after yesterday’s great success, we decided to forgo the afternoon game drive and stay in at the reception area to do a post that was nagging at me… The stunning work of Rakesh Prajapati, a young and vibrant wildlife artist like none we’ve ever seen in our over seven years of world travel.

Darling cubs are so beautifully represented.

We happened across his fine work by accident. When staying in a hotel or resort, we may breeze through a gift shop paying little attention to the typical trinkets-type inventory offered to impulsive tourists, often overpriced and often unused and unappreciated once returning to one’s country of residence.

When we casually entered the “Souvenir Shop” after dinner our first night here, when at that point, we’d yet to embark upon the first of many safaris and weren’t quite as tired as we are now, our mouths were agape at what our eyes beheld.

There before our eyes, lie the most exquisite paintings we’d ever seen of any wildlife, let alone the mysterious Bengal Tiger, only found in India, with only 2500 remaining nationwide. 

Stunning!

Leaning against a glass countertop stood a handsome young man, Rakesh with a tiny paintbrush in his hand, painting an exquisite rendition of a tiger from a photo he’d taken here in the Bandhavgarh National Park with its 1536 square kilometers (593 square miles) surrounding this and other safari resorts.

After being engrossed in his work, I asked him if we could highlight him with a story and photos of his actual paintings, and, let me stress, these aren’t photos of photos.  These are photos of his real paintings.

Of course, the tiger is a perfect subject for the skilled and determined artist, but Rakesh has taken this advantage to an incomprehensible level. After seeing hi

Such fine detail.

Today, we share a few of Rakesh’s stunning works (painted, not photos) and invite any of our readers who may so wish to contact him directly if you’d love one of his masterpieces. 

He ships his works worldwide in a secure cardboard tube for your framing preferences once received. Prices range from INR 5000 (US $70) to INR 75000 (US $1043) plus shipping. The sizes of each original painting vary. Feel free to inquire as to the size of each masterpiece. Many would ideally encompass a substantially sized wall.

To reach Rakesh, contact him at his email here: prajapatirakesh73@gmail.com.

Rakesh paints a wide array of subjects, human and animal, besides tigers. Outstanding work!

As for this resort, Tiger’s Den Resort, we couldn’t be more pleased. The grounds, rooms, and public areas represent a vast wildlife and safari persona. The service is impeccable. Monkeys, birds, and a few lovely German Shephard dogs protect the guests and yet are friendly and welcoming. The area is safe and unhindered by many risks one may find in more populated areas.

We will leave here tomorrow but will take many good memories of Rakesh, Tiger’s Den Resort, and its staff.

Happy Day!
(Today, it is one year ago that I resumed posting after a two-week break after open-heart surgery).

Photo from one year ago today, February 25, 2019:

Tom had cut several stalks of celery, saving the scraps for the kudus, bushbucks, and zebras, all of which love celery.  For more photos, please click here.

Safari luck prevails in India…The elusive Bengal Tiger…How lucky could we be?…

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There she was. We couldn’t have asked for a better vantage point.

We never expected to see a tiger in India. However, we’re scheduled for six whole days on safari in two different national parks. We are now at Tiger’s Den Resort in Bandhavgarh National Park and upcoming on the 26th, Tuli Tiger Resort in Kanha National Park.

We were up bright and early at 5:00 am and having coffee tea (as they call morning beverages here in India) by 5:30 am in the dining room of our lovely resort. Both of us were still tired but also pumped for our first-morning game drive that began at 6:00 am while it was still dark.

Our hearts were pounding with excitement while we attempted to take photos.

We were bundled up with blankets on a chilly morning as we headed to Gate 1 of 3. Our diligent travel agent for India planned for us, a driver and a naturalist, alone in a small open-sided vehicle Jeep with elevated seats.

The naturalist sat in behind us on the seats usually reserved for additional guests to ensure we could easily hear him and provide him with an elevated view.

After the first hour and a half without seeing more than some spotted deer, monkeys, and bush chickens, we resigned ourselves to the fact that spotting the elusive tiger may be more of a dream than a reality. 

Such a beautiful animal!

And then, around 8:00 am, it happened. Our guides were able to predict a tiger in the area when varying antelopes were rapidly on the move, monkeys and birds were particularly noisy.

Suddenly, we were hopeful but still kept our enthusiasm in check. And that, she caused no less than ten other safari vehicles to jockey for position to get a glimpse of her majesty.

She was walking perpendicular to the road, and as shown in our photos, she bravely crossed the road at one point. Our guide explained the tigers weren’t as intimated by safari vehicles as one might think. They grew up in the park, a popular destination for many wildlife enthusiasts for decades.

Oh, yes, I wish we could have been able to get better photos with more closeups. But, since my new laptop arrived, I sadly discovered it didn’t have a slot for a camera data card. I tried to Bluetooth the camera to the laptop, but that didn’t work.

She didn’t seem to be disturbed by all the gawkers. 

The only option for the future is to purchase an adapter to fit Chromebook, but for now, we’re sadly stuck using our phones. And, although the photos are adequate, they surely aren’t the closeups we’d have been able to get with the camera.

Right now, using my phone as a hotspot, since there’s no WiFi in the rooms at the resort (not good), I was having trouble gaining access to the photos in a timely fashion. Hopefully, by dinnertime, the images were in my cloud, ready to be uploaded to this post. 

A pretty scene we spotted in the national park.

Hopefully, as you are reading this, we’ll have plenty of photos we could upload.

This afternoon at 2:30 pm, after the 1:00 pm lunch, we’ll go out on our second game drive of the day. After seeing this morning’s tiger, we can sit back and relax and enjoy nature, and whatever may come our way.

Happy day to all. We’ll be back with more soon.

Travel day…We’ve arrived in Bandhavgarh National Park…Here we go eight days of safari in India…

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“The Khajuraho Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu temples and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh India, about 175 kilometers southeast of Jhansi. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.”

These five or six-hour road trips teach us a lot more about India than any other tourist venues we’ve been visiting day after day. Traveling through the countryside of this country with a population of over 1.3 billion is, without a doubt, eye-opening.

Today on our way to the Tiger’s Den Resort in Bandhavgarh National Park, we acquired yet another perspective of life in India away from the big cities we’ve visited date.

We couldn’t have been more thrilled with our private tour guide, Dr. Anand Tiwari, who had a doctor’s degree in Hindu idols. He explained he’d done a tour the previous day with guests on the Maharajas Express! What a coincidence and an honor for us! He can be reached here for tours.

The distance between towns is often as little as two to three kilometers. Then suddenly, we were caught in yet another dilemma of honking horn traffic, tuk-tuks, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles, cows, goats, and dogs in the streets.

Again, vendor lean-tos line every possible surface with impoverished sellers soliciting passersby, mainly tourists like ourselves. The amount of poverty before our eyes is unbelievable, yet these cheerful people seem to take their circumstances in their stride. 

It’s ironic, but we visited this historic site on a particular day, the wedding anniversary of the revered Lord Shiva, as part of an annual festival. This stairway to his temple was packed with visitors coming from all over India to honor him.

Sure, there are apparent homeless beggars in the street, but overall the people seem to be preoccupied with their work and tasks at hand, often with a smile on their faces. We are the “odd-man-out,” and they may look at us in a state of sheer wonder and curiosity. F

The carvings on the temple resulted in many years of work by skilled artists.

Our India travel agency and rep Rajiv didn’t let us down. Upon arrival at the beautiful upscale safari camp, Tiger’s Den Resort, we were escorted to our beautifully appointed “luxury accommodation” (as they described our room) to find it to be perfect. 

It’s not a tent. It’s a series of rooms, each with its small veranda connected as duplexes might be by a common wall, each with direct access to the outdoors. The furnishes remind us of India in the 1920’s such as the former retail shop in the US, Bombay Trading Company.

The various temples are breathtaking.

As soon as we arrived and explained my special diet, our reception host brought my food list to the chef, who met with me to discuss options. I made it easy for him. Prepare chicken or fish in butter (not harmful oils) with a side of steamed vegetables without starch. Add two hard-boiled eggs at breakfast and lunch, not dinner. Easy peasy.

Visitors climbed these steep, uneven steps, but we opted to observe rather than rise.

We had a nice lunch in the nearby dining room, and now we’re situated in our room or outdoors on the veranda until dinner at 7:30 pm. Perhaps we’ll order a glass of wine for me and a beer for Tom to enjoy on the veranda. Humm…sound familiar…just like South Africa.

Tomorrow at 6:00 am, we’ll experience the first of six safaris we’re scheduled for during our four days at this camp. Our travel agent booked us for “private” safaris each time, with a driver and a naturalist on board in the vehicle. We didn’t expect this but are delighted. It was included in our package. 

We’re posting only two Kamasutra photos etched into the temples here, but they are a part of the history and needed to be represented.

Unfortunately, there’s no WiFi in the rooms, so at the moment, I’m using my Google World phone as a hotspot, and although the signal isn’t great in this area, it’s working. It will cost us quite a lot for the data we expect to use, but sometimes, we have to bear such expenses.

Most likely, when we head to our next location on the 26th, there will be more of the same. The only expenses we’ll incur at either of these safari camps will be tips and beverages. Three meals a day are included in the package. A picnic breakfast will be provided when we go on safari in the morning. Nice.

Another hand-carved representation of Kamasutra as it was practiced centuries ago. It is no longer accepted based on the polyamory (multiple partners) premise frowned upon by the Hindu people.

So now, I must get to the photos of the fantastic tour we had yesterday in Khajuraho to some of the most stunning temples we’ve seen to date. Again, we don’t have much time until dinner, so I need to wrap this up quickly.

This is a goddess surrounded by servants and admirers.

Gosh, I’m excited to be here. It reminds me of Africa, and nothing warms my heart more than that! Will we see a tiger? Maybe, maybe not. But whatever we see, we’ll share here with all of you.
Happy day.

Last post with Varanasi photos…Visit to a textile company…King of Brocade Weaving Centre…

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                           Exquisite handmade silk brocade made on-site at Tiwari International.
 
We are experiencing awful Wi-Fi issues at the Ramada Hotel in Khajuraho, India. The town is considerably smaller than many we’ve visited over the past three weeks and without a doubt, this is the worse signal we’ve experienced.
The quality of the work is evident in every piece.

For the past several hours, I have been trying, off and on, to complete and upload today’s post about a fantastic silk-weaving facility we visited on our last day in Varanasi.

Neatly arranged shelves with countless fabrics in varying designs and colors.

From time to time, over the past seven-plus years we’ve been traveling, we’ve had an opportunity to describe and subsequently promote a small business we encounter along the way. 

Whether it is a barbershop, gift shop, street vendor, or luxury shop as we describe today, we’ve always enjoyed sharing details with our many worldwide readers.

Shelves are lined with stunning fabrics suitable for the wardrobe for Indian women and men, tourists, and many household goods such as draperies, furniture, bedspreads, pillows, etc.

Should any of you decide to visit Varanasi in the future, the stunning shop is worth a visit. I drooled over the gorgeous Pashmina shawls and scarves and only wished I’d had room in my luggage for one or two.

The staff was busy working with customers.

Unfortunately, after recently paying the airlines for overweight baggage, there was no way I could purchase even the lightest item and have it make sense. Plus, I cannot wear scarves often when I attempt to keep my clothing accessories to a minimum.

But, as we travel throughout India, we find most women, Indians, and tourists wearing scarves and shawls. Once women arrive in India from other countries, they immediately adopt the scarf concept to blend in with the population.

The shop also offered a wide array of ready-made clothing, including scarves and Pashmina shawls.

On the Maharajas Express, we all received no less than eight scarves as gifts at various stations as welcome gifts. I will have no choice but to give them away along the way. No doubt they contributed to my bag being overweight when some of them were pretty heavy.

But, few travelers have the same issue of “traveling light,” and many tourists come to India for shopping which is exceptionally exciting in this land of diversity and color.

The owner escorted us to the fabricating area, where a diligent weaver was hard at work.

Tiwari International appears to be a family-owned business. With the shop so busy when we arrived, we had little time to speak to the owner/manager Keshav Tiwari who was extremely kind and welcoming, even knowing we were “lookers,” not “shoppers.”

He was excited to share that actress Goldie Hawn had recently visited the shop, as he pointed to the framed photo on the wall as shown here in our photo. They were so proud to have a celebrity visit but equally enthused to welcome us.

This photo of actress Goldie Hawn hung on the wall in the shop. The staff was proud she’d come to visit and purchase several products.

We told Keshav about our visit to India and our site and promised him a story with today’s photos as a thank you for showing us around. He couldn’t have been more pleased, as were we.

The quality of their products is breathtaking, and we reveled in every category of cloth he showed us. Of course, we were in awe of the artistry he showed us by one of his workers, diligently at work on a loom. 

The finest of detail went into this lovely brocade, almost completed.

When he explained how time-consuming and deliberate the work is, we were all the more in awe of his massive inventory. Prices are reasonable, and support staff is available to assist in selections.

From their website, the following:


“Banarasi Brocades, as the world knows it, is called by the name kinkab in Varanasi. A high-quality weaving is done using gold and silver threads. Silk Threads are also used as well. The most common motifs include scroll patterns and butidars designs. The other designs are Jewelry designs, birds, animals, flowers, creepers, paisley motifs. Hindu religious and Mughal motifs also influenced brocade designs. When a Gold embellishment is done on a silver background, it is called Ganga-Jamuna in the local language.
This elderly weaver spent long days working at these looms.

The designs are first drawn on paper. The person who draws the layout is called Naqshbandi. The main weaver is assisted by a helper. This design is then woven on a small wooden frame to form a grid of warp and weft. 

The process is slow and painstaking, requiring intense concentration and expertise.

The requisite number of warp threads and the extra weft threads are woven on the loom. The famous tissue sari of Varanasi is unbelievably delicate, combining the use of gold and silver metallic threads.”

It was fascinating to observe the complicated and time-consuming process.
Finally, attention from Keshav was required, and we bid him thanks and good day with a typical Indian hands-together-bow, and we were on our way back out into the crazy traffic of Varanasi.
We had an opportunity to handle this finest of silk made by worms and of great value.

It was delightful, as always, to see how local products are made, adding even more substance and interest to sightseeing outings.

That’s it for today. Now, the challenge of uploading this post. Tomorrow, we’re embarking on an exciting road trip which begins at 8:30 am, taking us to one of our most sought-after adventures in India…eight days of safari in two distinct national parks where we’ll live in camps. Yeah!
Artistic design, coupled with great skill, produces such fine works as this.

Thanks to all of you for the many birthday wishes. Your kindness means the world to me!

Varanasi…Adaptation, once again…

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Yesterday we met this lovely Indian couple at the airport.

In a perfect world, of which there is no such thing, every travel day, every tour, and every hotel would be to our liking. But, as we so well know, the world is an imperfect place, and our world travels are no different.

Last night we checked into a hotel, Ganges Grand Hotel, located in midtown Varanasi, that wasn’t of the caliber of the hotels we’ve stayed in during the first ten days following the Maharajas Express week-long train excursion.

When we arrived at the hotel by our assigned driver Ojuh, the hotel staff met us a few blocks away to collect our bags. No parking or stopping was allowed in the direct vicinity of the hotel. 
Last night during dinner, we noticed this cow entering a dress shop.

Fortunately, we only had a five-minute walk through the excessive honking of horns from tuk-tuks, cars, trucks, and motorbikes as we darted in and out of the traffic on uneven ground in an attempt to avoid getting hit or tripping and falling. This was the most traffic we’d seen in India thus far.
Finally, we reached the hotel to climb a steep set of uneven stairs to enter the lobby. The small reception area reminded me of “motels” from many decades ago when I traveled across the country with my parents as a child. 

We were welcomed and handed the box from Amazon India containing my new laptop, which had arrived earlier in the day. I am preparing today’s post using it, and so far, I’m pretty impressed. 

We were escorted to our room on the second floor. As soon as the door was opened, our hearts sank. This couldn’t hold a candle to the other hotel rooms of days (or years) past.

Lanterns and fabrics were carried on the heads of locals in preparation for a wedding.

The bed is hard as a rock; the room shows considerable wear and tear; the bathroom and shower are all-in-ones. In other words, the bathroom sink is in the same spot as the shower. 

Water covers the floor and doesn’t drain well, leaving the bathroom a slippery danger zone with the potential for falling on the marble floor. We asked for extra towels to cover the bottom to prevent falls while in the bathroom and when stepping outside the bathroom. 

After getting settled as best as possible in the room, we headed to the dining room for dinner. We hadn’t eaten a thing in over 12 hours. We giggled when we commented that it felt as if we were in a movie centered around international intrigue and espionage in the 1930s.

In our situation, I must be able to get food befitting my way of eating. There was nothing on the menu I could order. I asked for the chef (cook), and he kindly prepared a roast chicken and vegetable dish that met my criteria and tasted fine. 

Bleary-eyed and tired from a long travel day, we shared a few beers (no wine available). Since alcohol isn’t allowed in many Indian cities, this restaurant covers its beers with tin foil. Go figure.

Once again, Tom had chicken and egg-fried rice. It looks like we’ll repeat these same items over the next two nights until we leave for our following location that online appears to be more suitable for our desires and expectations.

Yes, I know, this is India, and yes, we’re adaptable and accepting of cultural differences, but we paid a lot of money for this tour and didn’t expect to stay in this particular type of hotel.

We looked up all the hotels booked over the next few weeks, and it appears this particular hotel was out of character for our 55-night tour of India. We breathed a sigh of relief and settled back into the reality we so often pursue, “love the one you’re with.” We’ll be fine.

I suppose our tour guide selected this hotel due to its convenient location to the Ganges River and other points of interest. This morning at 6:00 am, we met with our Varanasi tour guide, Avi, and proceeded on a tour of one of the most exciting and unusual tours we’ve done to date… a rowboat ride on the Ganges River at sunrise.

Need I say, we have some stunning photos to share tomorrow while today, in the short time we have left until our next outing, to continue to set up my new laptop with all the apps and files I typically use.

We’ll be back with more tomorrow. Have a peaceful day and evening.

Thursday’s missed photos from Shimla and Kufri…Jakhoo Temple…

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This giant 108-feet-high idol of Hanuman was unveiled at Jakhoo Hanuman temple in Shimla on November 4, 2010.

“Jakhoo Temple is an ancient temple in Shimla, India, dedicated to the Hindu deity Hanuman. It is situated on Jakhoo Hill, Shimla’s highest peak, 2.5 km east of the Ridge, at the height of 2,455 m above sea level. Each year, a festival is held in Dussehra. Before 1972 the festival was held at Annadale.  

According to the Ramayana, Hanuman stopped at the location to rest while searching for the Sanjivni Booti to revive Lakshmana. A giant 108-feet-high idol of Hanuman was unveiled at Jakhoo Hanuman temple on 4 November 2010. 

The temple is accessible by foot, horse, taxi, or rope way. At 108 feet, it surpasses the statue of Christ the Redeemer, which measures at 98 feet, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The cost of construction was Rs 1.5 crores (US $209,711.31). The public unveiling was officiated by Abhishek Bachchan. 
The great statue of Hanuman is more extensive than Christ the Redeemer in Rio.

The Jakhu Ropeway is an aerial lift that links a point near the centre of Shimla to the temple. It was developed by Jagson International Limited and opened in 2017.”

Based on my computer crash and a poor Wi-Fi signal in Shimla, owe realized that your posts are a little out of sequential order. Now that we have a better signal in Amritsar, we’ll attempt to get a caught up as much as possible.
 
With all we’d experienced on the Maharajas Express, it could take several more weeks to get caught up. With the lack of time with so many daily activities and a weak signal on the train, we’ve yet to share many essential and exciting experiences from the past few weeks.
The grounds at the temple are neatly kept but surrounded by monkeys. Tom had to wait in the car since monkeys in this area are known to tear glasses and sunglasses off the faces of visitors. Since Tom can’t see without his glasses, it made no sense for him to join me and Prince on the tour.

Over this next 47 days of touring in India, we’ll occasionally have an opportunity to share some of these missed events, all of which is important to us to have documented along with sharing it with all of you.

AMynew Chromebook will be awaiting me when we arrive on Monday (on a flight from Amritsar). It will take a few days to set everything up which I will do in between our arranged tours. But, I’m confident it will all work out.
The exterior of the steep walkway to the statue. I stayed behind and batted off the monkeys while Prince made the hike to take the photos of the statue.

OOurguide Prince picked us up at the Radisson Hotel Shimla for a day’s outing. On Thursday morning, The plan was to drive the the mountain town of Kufri to check out the scenery and head back to Shimla or more sites.

The drive to Kufri was again on treacherous mountain roads filled with trucks, motorbikes, and cars honking their horns simultaneously. Following any expected passing courtesies was out of the question. Everyone just took crazy chances.
There were monkeys everywhere at the Jakhoo Temple, most likely waiting for possible tidbits of food from tourists.

Prince, our highly competent driver, made us both feel as much at ease as possible under the circumstances. What a wild ride! That’s India, for you! One exciting moment after another while not only driving on the narrows road but also when walking.

Kufri was relatively uneventful other than the drive, with the exception of a few scenic overlook spots. We enjoyed people watching along the way as well as seeing the surprising amount of snow.

Even newer buildings maintain the integrity of the varying cultures of India.

On the return drive, we stopped to visit the above mentioned Jakhoo Temple and a few other temples in Shimla. As the day came to an end, we were happy to return to our hotel, freshen up and head to dinner in the restaurant. 

We’d both found items on the menu that appealed to us but nothing as spectacular as last night’s dinner here at the Ramada in Amritsar. Most certainly, we’ll have these same meals this evening, again with no cocktails since they are forbidden anywhere near the Golden Temple. 
The roads on the way to Kufri often included shops with colorful items for sale.

But the lack of a glass of wine or cocktail with dinner was a small sacrifice based on that beautiful meal shown in yesterday’s post here. Tom equally enjoyed his chicken fried rice.

That’s exciting! We’ll be back!! E is looking forward to sharing tomorrow’s post after an indescribable day of touring here in Amritsar and tonight’s special ceremony taking place at the India/Pakistan border. 

Happy day to all!