India and the Maldives 2018 | Pushkar

I am sitting on the patio in front of our room, enjoying a warm summer-like evening at our palatial hotel somewhere near Pushkar. We have walked the village markets of the village, following the route of the pilgrims and local Brahman Hindus who come to worship at the Brahma temple. As with other sacred sites around the world people pour in from far away to dip in the waters of the sacred lake and visit the Brahma temple. Our drive was long, and the visit by necessity short, but we had a great time wandering through the markets, learning about Hindu castes ( we learned to detect  the warrior women and the camel men by their clothing).

The hotel borders on the exotic. It's a desert oasis. We are surrounded by barren fields and gentle mountains. But inside there is green grass, garden beds of scented flowers, lighted pathways.  The central patio is lit up with flashing red, green and yellow lights. We've had a swim in the pool, and our gin and tonic here on the patio. The dining room has finally opened and we are looking forward to another  adventure with Indian food. We are loving it!

Tomorrow is another morning of driving. We hope to find some throw-away white clothes to wear on the colour day following Holi. We have been assured that if we are out and about we will get paint tossed in our direction, so best to be prepared. We are told that young Europeans make this an early spring holiday destination just to participate in Holi--or more precisely to throw paint around.

For now photos are random but I think I have this figured out. Below, the Taj of. ourse and the many ways to get there--all eco- friendly of course.

India and the Maldives 2018 | Some photos

Our room at the Alsisar Haveli aka the Grand Marigold Hotel in Jaipur.

Along the road--mutten on a menu is actually goat.

 Workers at the factory along the road chisell away at stone to make statuary for export.

 

Waiting to be frisked at the Taj Mahal

India and the Maldives 2018 | Carpet shopping

We are on our way to Pushkar this morning after a few event-filled days in Johdpur. Our car is wi-fi enabled, air conditioned of course, and happens also to be non-polluting which is all helpful. Only non-polluting cars are allowed in some places, for example near the Taj. I'm not sure how all those motorcycles managed it but perhaps that explains the horse- drawn carriages and rickshaws.

All of the guides insist on taking us to see the local artisans which of course is a ruse to get you to buy. The prices are high and the exchange rates low, and include as much as 20% commission to the guide. Bargaining here is mandatory but we are advised that that same 20% is about how much room you have to bargain with. The Delhi shop was very expensive but we did brush up on our carpet facts. We've been through this before but it is nice to be reminded that silk costs more than wool, just in case you take a  fancy to a nice silk on silk carpet design. This morning we managed to each buy a small carpet. That's it-- no more shopping for me. We don't travel to shop and it is annoying when we are pushed into it. We would much rather be on the street or in a spa!

We stayed in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Well just kidding, of course. It was the Alsisar Haveli in Jaipur, but I'm sure you get the idea. We enjoyed breakfast and afternoon drinks  (Indian gin and Schwepps tonic) in a huge courtyard, but it was only one of several (courtyards that is, not g and t!). There were of course comfortable seating spaces scattered throughout and our third floor room (no elevator) was set on a large upper patio with views across the bustling (dirty, crowded! crazy) city. Decorative coloured glass windows cast diamond patterns on our walls in the afternoon. We could have enjoyed this little oasis much longer and perhaps taken on the pool and an Ayurveda massage, but its onward for us. We have an ambitious itinerary.

Sharing the road...

We toured Fatehpur Sikri and exchanged photos with these tourists from Kolkata

Detail at Fatehpur Sikri on the road to Jaipur

So off to the desert town of Pushkar. Now that we are out of the city the highway is good. Pushtar is a holy city, where Hindus come to worship at the Brahma temple. This is where there is no alcohol allowed and all food is vegetarian, however, Rashpal has advised that our hotel is outside of the city! Whew. So we have time today to walk around the lake, and if we wish, take in the holy waters. I'm not quite sure what that entails, but will let you know if we do indulge, since it is likely to wear off before we get home.  We will visit the temple, and check out a restaurant recommended to us by fellow travellers. Rashpal has offered to help us try a few specialties of the area foodwise on the street, but only after his careful screening of the vendor. We are also looking for some cheap white pants and tunics--emphasis on cheap--in preparation for Holi which is in two days. This is the Hindu festival of colour when  people throw paint bombs at each other. We will be sure to take pictures! Apparently that washes off too.

Margaret has been practicing Hindi with our driver and managed so far how are you, I'm fine, and thank you. I'm stuck on hello and goodbye, which is of course, namaste.

 Lunchtime. Later!

India and the Maldives February 2018 | The Taj Mahal

We traveled to Agra yesterday morning, with frequent stops for photos of Indian rural  and small town life.

Brick factories for miles and miles

A dung factory, I think. Dung disks are stored for heating in the winter.

Ahhhh...great coffee at Costa

The outskirts of Agra

After checking in to our hotel, a swim and some shopping, we headed for the Agra Fort where we had out first glimpses of the Taj Mahal. There is much more to say about that but its mostly history. Besides, with the Taj sitting across the river it was pretty hard to concentrate on the history lessons. Last night we headed to a cultural show. There was great music and dancing, and a dramatized introduction to the love story that resulted in the Taj Mahal.

There it is...seen from the Agra Fort

The Islamic detail--arches and carving--is spectacular.

More detail of the inlay (carnelian, jasper  lapis lazuli, jade) at the Agra Fort

We were only a little conspicuous with our white hair and fair skin.

Women and children are friendly, and always dressed so beautifully.

We were up with the birds this morning to go to the Taj. There are lots of ways to get there. Horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, tuk-tuks, and rickshaws all converge on the gate dropping off early birds there to see the Taj in the early morning light. After passing through security (men in this line, Indian women in that line, foreign women over there) and a gentle pat down, we were anxious to get through the gate to see one of the seven wonders of the world.


It does not disappoint. The beauty of the white marble, the perfect symmetry, grand gardens and pools that you see so often from afar are even more magnificent up close. What look like innocent markings are revealed up close as carefully inlaid precious stones--carnelian, jade, black onyx, torquoise, jasper--creating swirling images of jasmine, hibiscus and lotus flowers. Every inch of the sparkling white marble, unique in this part of the world, is carved with images and decorative elements. It is simply the most elegant structure imaginable, a mausoleum built for Emperor Shah Jahan to fulfill a promise to his dying wife Mumtaz Mahal. She was his third and favorite wife, and died giving birth to their fifteenth child. He did such a bad job of looking aftr the Empire after her death and his greedy son was anxious to take over, so the poor Shah was imprisoned in Agra Fort. He did however have a lovely view of the Yamuna River and the Taj from his prison quarters where they are now both buried.

The love story continues daily with couples hanging on to each other and posing for selfies.

Monkeys on the roof of the security clearance gate

India and the Maldives 2018 | Delhi in a day

We are in Agra tonight and caught our first glimpses of the great Taj Mahal from the balconies of the Agra Fort. Tomorrow we will greet the sun at the Taj--this is apparently the best time to see it up close--and visit the mausoleum.

We requested 'boutique' or historical hotels and tonight is our first taste of that. Our main floor room is along a covered walkway separated from a large lawn by smooth Doric pillars. There is a smattering of tables, a few flowering shrubs but other than that it could be lawn bowls.  A second section features a pool, and spa; a restaurant and quaint bar separate the two sections of hotel. There are two sets of French doors in solid wood; the outer one has a long slide bar and a large padlock that slips through a big ring and locks with a church key of sorts. From the inside each door has bolt locks up into the frame to lock the doors in place. I hope there isn't a fire; we would never get out of here!

Each of our  twin beds is topped with a  cream-covered sheer canopy trimmed in gold. These are two-posters: propped up by a single wooden post trimmed with lattice at each end. There are multiple pieces of dark wooden furniture, with carved legs and spindles. Large framed pictures cover most of the walls, including a life-sized cow and calf portrait that fills an entire wall. It is actually a curtain to keep out the tiny bit of light that might make it's way through a likewise tiny window.The lamps are etched glass with dangling crystals. There is a raised claw foot bathtub! I'm not sure which or whose heritage it represents, but this afternoon as we walked back from the pool, a big floppy hat barely hiding my fair complexion, I couldn't help but feel like I was playing a minor part in the India version of Out of Africa or one of those Kipling stories from the time of the British East India Company. I think there might have been fish and chips on the dinner menu.

Twin canopy beds at the Grand Imperial Hotel, Agra

But before I get to Agra, there is yesterday. All that apprehension was for nothing. We had a fabulous day, and a busy one (on no sleep). Fortunately we started with the hustle and chaos of Old Delhi and ended in the orderly and somewhat officious New Delhi. It's a city of contrasts and that might be the biggest one. Our driver inched his way down narrow streets with five or more cars crowding into the space of two lanes. We rode a rickshaw down narrow lanes wide enough for only one. We visited both Hindu and Muslim mosques, ate lunch in the high rent district and walked the mall leading to the Presidential palace. Think the Champs Elysee but in this case lined with matching Indian and Canadian flags in honour of the Prime Minister's visit last week. New Delhi is like other English cities with wide streets, boulevards and parks. The influence of the British is everywhere and in modern day India looks rather out of place. Through thickets of trees you can see the grand colonial 'bengalows' so named for the wealthy British aristocrats from Bengali who built them. At first we thought bungalows but clearly that would not be an accurate description!


We skipped dinner. I slept for 12 hours.

Old Delhi

Old Delhi

Celebrating Gandhi at Raj Ghat

Expensive jewels?

Laxmi Narayan Temple

Mughal Emperor Humayan's Tomb (16th C)

India and the Maldives 2018 | Arriving in Delhi

It was -21 when I left Edmonton yesterday morning, or was that this morning. I don't think I warmed up until Vancouver. As I sat sipping a latte in the International terminal, with its gardens and comfortable benches, designer shops and cafes, I thought how very fortunate I am to be able to explore new places around the world. But I need not go any further than the terminal itself to see what a global village we live in. Chinese lanterns, cherry blossom bouquets, and a brightly coloured Chinese Dragon celebrate the New Year. Faces of every shape and colour greet the day. Not one of the baristas at Starbucks is fair in complexion. I watched these two tiny but worldly travelers (they looked to be about 7 and 10), one with a cello, the other a violin, pushing their own carts,  as they made their way from our Edmonton flight to places unknown. Mom was a few steps away, but clearly they'd been here before! Maybe I'll be able to get a photo up one day. So far that is not working for me!

Yeh, photos. Here they are!

So after an hour delay at YVR and 14 hours of flying followed by a good hour and 45 minutes of car travel through the smoggy streets of Delhi we are here. The hotel is in the "New Friends Colony". We are told it is safe and quiet here. It is definitely secure. Both the boot and front end of the car must be opened at the gate to the hotel and inspected by an armed guard. Purses and bags go through a security screen at the hotel entrance and we were shepherded into a private cubicle for passage through. I've been "inspected" more hands-on at YEG, so I guess they decided that a white haired old lady traveling with another white haired old lady doesn't pose much of a threat.  Our room is quiet and comfortable. We've reorganized our gear and had  dinner, a somewhat disappointing start to what ought to be a feast for the taste buds. A rooftop dining room doubles as cabaret with a mediocre sixties band, lacklustre food primarily borrowed from Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese menus, a watery martini, and a view of not very much. We are off with our guide after breakfast tomorrow cautiously optimistic that things will get better. It is 1100 in the morning where you are, 1100 pm here, but I'm going to try to sleep anyway!

2 am, 230, 3am. Margaret is putting on her headphones plugged in to white noise. She can't hear what I hear anyway. I have booted up this iPad. Is it possible that the Lionel Ritchie/ Whitney Houston swoonin' and croonin' duo of the Cabaret have undergone a conversion to techno? It is not so much that I can hear it but I can feel it. It's in the bones of the building vibrating through the pipes to my pillow. I sit, my head suspended in air, hands tightly pressed against my ears. Relief. Let go, lie down, and it starts again.
Read for a bit. 530 am. It's going to be a long day.

India and the Maldives 2018 | Getting oriented

We all know where India is, but the Maldives are a mystery to many. But, starting with India, on our northern tour through Rajasthan we will be making stops at most of the major cities in this part of India. It's lots of driving (NO, we aren't doing the driving!) in a roughly south-west direction. Our trip notes suggest forts and temples followed by driving, desert (more driving) and lakes, and more driving. We are curious about the history and religion, the landscape and architecture, and living without meat or  alcohol for 2 nights in Pushkar!  Jodhpur and Udaipur promise markets, markets and more markets. By then I expect to need some clean clothes, so we will either have to shop, or send out our laundry! Hmmm....

The trip in the south will be quite different, with some driving time into the mountains, a walk through a national wildlife reserve, tea plantations, and backwater boating. And heat. We are curious to see the differences in the food, and the culture, since these two parts of India have different languages, religions and histories.
Does this help? You can see the cities in the north starting with Delhi, and then Kochi in the south.

Then it's on to the Maldives. Where (or what) are the Maldives? Well here they are, positioned on  the equator in the Indian Ocean. Our home while in the Maldives is the Carpe Vita Explorer which you can check out by clicking on the link.


 My head is spinning as I  position myself in this part of the world, with Australia such a short distance away. I'm trying not to think about the trip home departing 10 pm from Male, going to Sri Lanka then on to Guangzhou in China, and Vancouver. I arrive in Edmonton 29 hrs later at 330 pm!

Yoga in Yelapa 2018 | Retreating is my new favourite way to travel

What a wonderful week. Our cabana (a duplex) was perfect, the bathroom divine. So nice that, our little friends, the geckos, came by and consumed all of the bugs during the night. Leanne likes to hear them laugh.

This isn't our bathroom, but it's very similar. A large rock forms one of the walls in an otherwise "wet' bathroom--as in no curtain or ledge, just a drain. And open air--to keep it fresh. My mosquito net was decorated with straw in the morning from all the activity I could not see (thankfully) in the palapa roof. The sun popped through (open roof style) every morning at about 7 am, so no need for an alarm clock. The pool was 20 steps away and the beach, our communal meal table, and the yoga room a short five minute walk. We were fed so well,  I thought I might never again enjoy bland western cooking (my cooking) again. It was truly a treat. With two yoga sessions a day, three scrumptious meals individually ordered and prepared for each meal, perfect weather, and such friendly people everywhere, I can't wait to go back next year.

Coffee at Eclipse.

The local high school has an award winning dance troupe.

Time at the pool with Leanne and a good book.

There she is again. And the beachfront, in the background.