Agra

On route we visited Akbar's Mausoleum in Sikandra - From our various sighseeing in Delhi we had heard this guy mentioned more than once so it was fitting to see his place of rest. The gateway itself was more impressive i found that the building that lay beyound.

Both me and Jo were quite excited about Agra and especially the Taj Mahal as its famous worldwide. However before seeing the temple itself we visited Agra fort where the Taj's creater was imprisoned by his son and could only gaze upon the temple he built in memory of his wife from across the river. Of Course i found this incredibly romantic.....

Next was the Taj Mahal itself. It had been threatening to rain all morning and before we arrived it had tipped down but thankfully for our visit the skies cleared. I have many gorgeous pictures from many differing angles. It was just what i had expected and didn't let me down. Once we had looked round we found a bench to watch how the setting of the sun changed the colour of the marble, we didn't stay till the sun set however. The whole experienace was peaceful and we found that we could have spent longer in front of this great monument.

Fatepur Sikri

A ghost city with an active mosque attached. - To get to the city itself we caught the tourist bus up the hill. (our driver had to park at the bottom). We had a guide for the city but soon felt that we could have done without. Although he told us many an interesting story they were probably made up because many of the functions of the various rooms are unknown. We would also have spent longer looking round as there was lots to explore even if we didn't know what it was all for.There were three different palaces for his 3 wives - one of which was christian. Her rooms still have the original paintings on the walls, the colours must have been so vivid and the paintings of animals over the door although faded were increbibly lifelike.

The Mosque next door was built in thanksgiving for the birth of a son after a prohecy recieved here had come true. Many still come here in the hope of concieving or to fulfill other wishes. We gave alms in the form of babies scarf and flowers - the money in the purchase of these going to the local impoverished women and children

Ramthambore

We had a jeep safari in Ramthambore National Park. This park is one of the only palces left where you can see wild tigers. We didn't see any on our safari but i wasn't really expecting to as there may only be 15 in the whole park. We did haowever see a tiger print so at least i had some evidence of one. IT wasn't an empty experience though as the park boasts some lovely scenery and there was plenty of other wildlife. Our jeep driver and guide even drove off the beaten path in search of the vultures ( not that we particulary wanted to see close up what had attracted their attention). They wanted to find out themselves what had been killed.

Jaipur

First of all we saw Hawa Mahal (The Palace of Winds). This along with the Taj Mahal was the most iconic images of India which attracted me to visit the country. We didn't go in, instead we saw the outide of the building from the roadside where it looked its most impressive. From behind the facade at the front court ladies could watch the comings and goings of those on street level without being watched themselves. The screens built into the windows obsured the view from down below so no-one could tell who was watching behind which screen

Amber Fort lies about 10km outside Jaipur and was the original site before the city was moved to its present location. To get up to the fort we had an elephant ride. I was glad to hear that conditions for these lovely animals has improved as rides are only available in the morings and each elephant is only allowed 5 trips up to the fort and back before they are retired for the day. Our elephant was slower than some of the others impatient to reach the top which overtook us however i didn't mind in the slightest as there was more time to appreciate both the experience and the views. At the top we were allowed to have pictures of us stroking the elephants trunks. Inside the fort was a maze of different rooms leading on form another. Nearing the end was a series of 12 appartments which was where the wives were housed. Apparently to stop jealously between the wives each was self contained but connected to a passage that led to the Marhaja's chamber so that it was unknown which wife he ahd visted....

Back in Jaipur we visited Jantar Mantar which was full of instruments to tell the time and star signs. It is here where the largest sundial can be found, and therefore the most accurate. I wasn't to fussed about this site.

Next was the City Palace Museum. An audio guide was included in the admission price so we thought we had better use it. It actually proved really interesting and worth the trouble.

Pushkar

Home to one of the few Bhrama temples found in India. Because there has been a bad monsoon the lake that people flock to to bath in was infact no more that a rather big puddle. There is also plans to deepen it as there were diggers working away in the middle which could be another reason why it was so disappointing. However later in the day we walked up to another temple for Bhrama's wife that overlooked the town. The walk up to the temple started off ok as there was well cut steps but towards the end its was more like walking up a steep rocky path. The views of the town from the top however were breathtaking and welll worth the climb however hot. We made it down before sunset as there were sevearl warnings not to be there after then. It was obvious why on our return as we passed a large group of monkeys with their children. They were very protective when we walked past. It would not have been pleasant to meet these in the dark!!!!

Udaipur

This was one city where i could have stayed longer than we did. Our hotel overlooked the lake which unlike Pushkar was full and much more impressive. On our first night we visted the Jagdish Temple and wandered from the many small streets ghats. We also visted the City Palace Museum. We arrived just before closing and it was obvious that they were following the last vistors from the Palace to ensure that it was all looked up. We weren't however the last to leave. I think that it was better to visit then as we did as it was far less crowded and we could stroll round as we liked.

The following morining we visited the monsoon Palace which was situated in its own wildlife park. The Palace itselaf wasn't much to look at all but the views of Udaipur and its lake were amazing. You could just make out The Lake Place. Once back in Udaipur we took a boat ride round the lake and got a closer look at the Lake Palace which is now a hotel and stopped of at Jagmandir island. That night we went to see a culture show in the museum opposite our hotel. For only 60R each it was amazing - there was even a women who danced and spun round with 9 pots on her head.

Jodhpur

I didn't really like Jodpur much as a city and we didn't stay that long. We did visit Meherangarh fort though. From where we were staying there wasn't much of a view as the fort was situated the other side. The fort itself was huge but as we visited quite late in the day we didn't have as long as we would have liked to explore.

Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer fort however was much more impressive to see. It just rises out of the sands and is often described as a giant sandcastle rising out of the desert. We had the morning to explore. The fort must have been the extent of the old town as contained within are many temples, houses, shops and of course the palace. The Palace museum was one of the most interesting yet. I even have notes scribbled down from the audio guide. From the roof of the Palace the views for miles just show barron desert. The heat however is intense. way too hot 2 spent too much time exploring. However we were about 2 get even hotter as the next stop was further into the Khuri desert. Here we had a camel ride out onto the dunes where we watched the sunset. After which camp was made up for us so we could sleep out under the stars. It was great having dinner by starlight and the amount of stars that i could see was increduble. However waking up the next morning was not at all dun. For starters everythging had become damp overnight then the sands had shifted so the whole of my right side was covered in sand. i don't think that this will be an experience that i'll rush to do again.

Bikaner

Just outside of Bikaner is the Desnoke Temple, here there are masses of holy rats just running around the place. As you can probably tell i didn't stay long. It was even considered lucky if one scampered over your feet.... In the city itself we visited Lalgragh Palace where we browsed round the Sri Sadul Musuem which was interesting as it held personal photos and momentos of the Maharaja's of Bikaner which included their princesses too. Then we saw yet another fort this time Junagargh. It was complusory to have a guide so we had to wait around 4 a while for enough people to merit the use of the free guide. (HE still wanted a tip at the end of it - only from us Brits though - we didn't however) The fort was ok but by this point we have seen so many that they all seem to merge into one. The inside was more impressive however than the outside would have you believe.

Mandawa

This was only a small town our our way back to Delhi. But our hotel was a restored Haveli so was incredibly beautiful. The paintings all over the walls almost dreamlike. I took a few pictures but they don't seem to do the place justice.