I was meaning to post this picture a few days ago when posting about India, but it had slipped my mind. We came across this Massey Ferguson 1035 – there are thousands here – when driving into the city of Jaipur.
My dad has an identical one which he uses for all manner of things. Dad, if you happen upon this post, this pretty much sums up India, colours galore and tractors are no exception. I know you will like it – I did!
Tuesday we set off from Agra on our 28 hour journey to Chitwan National Park in Nepal. It was pretty horrendous, especially our leg on the chicken bus (below). Leaving India and entering Nepal was a breath of fresh air - leaving behind the filth, the touts and constant noise - never to return. Thank you Lynne for recommending Nepal, its paradise on earth.
Please be aware that we have no phone coverage here and both electricity and internet are intermittent - just what we love. Last night we had dinner by candlelight, not because we were feeling romantic, we had no choice :-). In case of an emergency, please call Chitwan Tiger Camp on +977 580060.
The first few pictures are of us leaving India and then entering Nepal - see if you can spot the difference (tip: look for filth).
A six hour drive from Jairpur to Agra to see this magnificent marble structure, the mighty Taj Mahal. . In order to preserve this wonder, visitors are only allowed to take in money and water, for fear that tags would be etched and smoke would stain the marble.
Having seen the Taj all these years in movies and magazines, it’s surreal being able to see it up close and actually touch it. It too has seen the effects of global warming, which is a real concern for the Indian Tourism Board. The structure was engineered in such a way that it requires the force from the river behind to keep it upright. Because the river has started to dry up in recent years, two of its piers are leaning by 7%, and if the trend continues, they will only last another 25.
You get free bottles of water when entering - and although it was a normal hot day - the reflection off the marble intensified the heat and we lost at least 2ltrs of sweat - even the Indians were drenched.
Great to see it and worth the entrance fee.
UNESCO World Heritage Site #3
On our last day in Jaipur we visited The Sun Temple, more commonly known as Monkey Mountain because of the vast number of monkeys that congregate at dusk to feed off the locals when coming to pray.
Many are pretty tame, but the majority are vicious bastards - they get quite irate if you don’t feed them, especially if they know you have food. We visited early in the day so there were only a few monkeys there. Just another experience we’re sharing with you.
It’s different to Delhi in so many ways - ignoring the filth that seems to be widespread throughout India - the atmosphere, culture and buildings here is a considerable improvement.
We only had a whistle stop tour but managed to fit quiet a lot in. The Pink City got its name when the entire old city was painted pink (it’s actually moire rustic), a colour associated with hospitality to welcome the Prince of Wales in 1876 (later became King Edward VII). The colour has been maintained since - probably because it attracts so many tourists.
Sorry for the lack of decent photos, we’re not as trigger happy and we haven’t been inside many of the temples - trying to sticking to our budget!
 
 
 
