After breakfast we drove to Bikaner, arriving around midday. En route, we stopped at some of the ancient settlements of Shekhavati. Founded at the close of the 15th century, Bikaner stands on high ground, surrounded by fine embattled walls. The 16th century fort contains palaces, temples and a mosque, mostly made of red and yellow sandstone. The marble images are considered to be the finest specimens of Hindu art. Within the massive edifice of the fort, the entrance of which is flanked by two life-size effigies of elephants, are housed some of the rarest gems of Rajput civilisation. The Durbar Hall is in Mughal style, lavishly decorated with paintings. Gilt reliefs, glass mosaics and lace- like mirrors adorn the intimate and graceful Zenana — the women’s wing, separated from the main palace by a broad courtyard with panelled niches.

After a long day we had our afternoon happy hour at Steve an Terry’s room. How this works is we draw keys for rooms…if you have the biggest room you are the evenings host! Beautiful room as you can see by the photo!

Time to introduce the group! On the left, Jim and Joan from Sarnia On., Carol, (aka Carry), with Barb behind her, then us, ( I am in back with a shiny head), the castle guard, let’s call him Shirme, behind him is Norm, beside him is Terry, behind her is Steve, all from Vancouver and finally  Maggie from a Kingston On.

After our long, sometimes scary, bus ride we arrived at the hotel for the evening…which is a 250 year old castle. The pictures don’t do it justice but still give you a glimpse of what it was like. The cow? Well they are sacred and roam the streets at will. They are owned by individuals who milk them daily, (just the cows not the bulls for you city folk) and let them out to fend for themselves. Apparently they don’t get hit by vehicles much but because their main diet is garage they sometimes die from eating plastic.

After an early breakfast we depart for Mandawa, arriving early afternoon. The town of Mandawa lies in the heart of Shekhavati, a semi-arid region located in the northeast part of Rajasthan, famous for its heritage havelis and colourful fresco art. As you approach it, Mandawa emerges from the sand like a mirage. Wind your way through two imposing gateways up to Mandawa Castle. The handsome rugged fort of Mandawa was built in 1755 by Thakur Nawal Singh, who also founded the town of Nawalgarh. In the afternoon, wander through the streets to admire the mansions of the Goenkas, Sarafs, Ladias and Chokhanis with their imposing gateways and elaborate frescoes. A painted arched gateway adorned with Lord Krishna and his cows leads to the bazaar. 

In the previous post I pasted yesterday’s itinerary a few pictures. What can’t possibly be described is the chaos of the old city; clearly this will be one of the highlights of this trip! The people loved taking pictures of us, especially Barb, tall and blond!

At the mosque the ladies had to put dresses on….cute!

Today we have a full-day tour of Delhi. We start with a drive north into Old Delhi, passing along the Rajpath (King’s Way) and stopping for photos at the India Gate. The 42m high India Gate, an “Arc de Triomphe”-like archway in the middle of a crossroad, commemorates the Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army during WWI. This landmark also bears the names of British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern frontier in the Afghan War of 1919. Next we will make a visit to the Jamma Mosque. Located in the heart of Old Delhi, the largest mosque in India can accommodate as many as twenty-thousand worshippers. This imposing architectural monument, with it’s three gateways and two minarets, took fourteen years to complete (1644-58). Time permitting we will enter to have a brief look inside. From here we board our cycle rickshaws for a tour of Chandni Chowk (Silver Street). Here we are given a glimpse into an old world lifestyle slowly fading from Delhi. The hustle and bustle of everyday life can be felt in the Chandi Chowk’s narrow lanes. We will reboard our bus after the rickshaw ride, going past the Red Fort (photo stop), and we disembark at the Raj Ghat, set within a beautiful park. This national monument is where the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was cremated. After a stop for lunch we continue our sightseeing with a visit to Humayan’s Tomb, an excellent example of Mughal architecture, predating the Taj Mahal by almost 100 years. Persian in style, this is a beautiful red sandstone building inlaid with black and white marble. We will finish our day with a visit to the Qutub Minar. Few other monuments are as closely identified with Delhi as the Qutub Minar, this first monument of Muslim rule in India. It heralded the beginning of a new style of art and architecture which came to be know as the Indo-Islamic

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We arrived right on time yesterday, or was it today but felt like tomorrow? It is kind of disorientating when you can travel almost exactly half way around the world in such a short time. Since it is 12.5 hours different I think that isn’t an exaggeration. The two flights were good and uneventful…just tiring. Checked into this beautiful hotel in New Delhi…no as the blog title suggests… it is not the the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel…but we will find it. 

Last phone call….first drink?? About right for this group.

Well, it has been a while since we travelled to anywhere that needed a blog report but for sure this one does. 33 days in India from Delhi in the north to Chennai in the south. For those who have travelled with us in the past you know we travel”light”. The two carry-on’s should look after us nicely, of course it requires no explanation…. my superior packing skills. By the way the little one is mine.

Our bags are packed!

It has been a while since we undated this blog mostly because we are spending so much time just hanging out and not really doing anything of great interest. We have been hiking a fair bit and walking a great deal but that doesn’t really provide a lot to write about.

We have climbed the some of the local hills;  they are not very high nor strenuous but still a good work out. The city just redid the Echo Canyon trail up to the top of Camelback Mountain which is the steep side so we decided to try that. It is steep and good hiking boots are strongly recommended by us because while we were well equip others were not and they appeared to struggle a fair bit.

Nahanni came for the weekend and we just did a few day trips, one of them was to Fountain Hills where there are some local hikes and the city itself which provide us a very pleasant afternoon.

Yesterday we enjoyed the first game of the Cactus League down at the Salt River Field between the Arizona Diamond Backs and the LA Dodgers. Just to explain: the Cactus League is the exhibition series of the Major Baseball teams that come to the Arizona area for spring training. First MLB I have ever experienced and we really enjoyed it, (Berniece had gone to a Yankees game when we lived in New York).

So enjoy the pictures: