India - Day 13 - Wednesday 16th November

Another day of relaxing by the Arabian Sea! We had a very slow start to the day, then went down to the sea for a swim. As the waves were quite large this turned out to be quite exciting, plus a good exercise in how to gather sand in your costume. We then spent most of the rest of the day laying in hammocks reading.

At 5.50 we went to the Farm Kitchen area where we had pre booked our meal. We were the only ones, which was slightly disappointing, but the experience was great. First stop was the veg garden where we gathered some of the ingredients for the meal.

Then our chef set us to work chopping the veg, which included hibiscus flowers to be used in the dessert.

Using many spices he then proceeded to cook us a soup, three veg dishes, a fish dish and a dessert.

Coconut oil and milk was used extensively as were garlic, ginger and turmeric. Others used included ground cardomon, coconut milk and fenugreek. It was a delicious meal, and at the end we were given a small cook book each.

India - Day 12 - Tuesday 15th November

A very different day today! We are now at a beach resort in hot and humid weather, with no agenda. The room here is lovely, with a semi outdoors bathroom and lots of storage.

Breakfasted on fried bananas with cashew nuts, and had grape juice shots with chilli, something I must try at home next year when the grapes are ripe. Then we had time for a walk round the grounds and down to the beach before going to reception to book a seafood meal tonight, a farm kitchen meal for tomorrow, and an Eco tour for later in the morning.

The Eco tour took us round all the sewage works, and was interesting though full of insects which bite!

Then we changed into swim wear and spent the next few hours by the pool, swimming, reading and catching up on sleep, before taking another walk on the beach to photograph the local fishing boats. 

At 16.00 the resort provides tea from a barrow on the lawns, together with banana bread and cake wrapped in leaves.

Dinner in the beach grill was excellent. Mick had a menu which included calamari, then fish stew then a seafood platter and topped off with chocolate mousse. I just had a main, choosing my own bream from the fish caught that day, which was wonderfully cooked with spices. Bed early, once we had cleared all the flowers off the bed!

India - Day 11 - Monday 14th November

Our last day in northern India, so after saying goodbye to the rest of our tour group we get a tuk-tui ride into the centre of Delhi. We start off in Connault Place, but the garden in the centre is closed as it is a national Seikh Festival. A passerby directs us to a bazaar, then puts us in a tuk-tuk to get there, which means we are now slightly lost. Inside the bazaar I'm once again surprised at the price of silk, but end up buying 3 metres of fabric and some lime green leggings. It takes three people to serve me, then someone else to take the money. Another person cuts the fabric and takes it downstairs where, with the production of my receipt, I'm finally allowed to collect my purchases.

Outside we start walking in the direction we want, ignoring many tuk-tuk drivers, and stumble across a little fabric shop run by a single old man. He asks if I want dress fabrics, then pulls out sets of fabrics. Each contains a fabric for the tunic, already embroidered, and a matching or contrasting fabric for the trousers. Some also include a scarf. Prices are really good, and I buy two sets!

We set off again, bump into another helpful man who offers to show us a good shop, and five minutes later were back at the place we first started from. Giving up on shopping we get a tuk-tuk ride to India Gate and join in the holiday feel with hundreds of locals. 

Our next tuk-tuk ride takes us to Lodhi Gardens, and the tombs of a number of rulers from the 1400s. Lovely gardens, and obviously a favourite place for wedding photos.

Our next ride should have taken us back to the hotel, but the driver has no idea of where we want to go, and despite us telling him several times he was going in the wrong direction, we end up back at India Gate. Somewhere in the confusion Mick also lost his Tilley hat as we stormed out of the tuk-tuk. Finally we got a ride back to our hotel, though it was through some of the roughest and dusty streets we had yet seen.

Off to the airport at 3pm for our flight to Kochi, and we finally arrive there at about 9pm. Then a two hour transfer to our beach resort hotel before we finally can get to bed exhausted. A busy and stressful day!

India - Day 9 - Saturday 12th November

Today we leave our hotel at 8.30 and our first stop is a chance to photograph the Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds. It's a five story high, one room deep facade built to allow the ladies of the court to watch street processions through the Pink City.

Then we move onto the observatory, built by Jai Singh II as a place to calculate the time and positions of celestial objects for the purposes of astrology. It's more like a modernistic sculpture park, and full of huge structures, the biggest of which shows local time to within two seconds.

Next stop is the city palace, partially a museum and next door to the residence of the current maharajah, though he is currently away studying in England. There is a textile museum which I find fascinating, and a weapons museum, but the main attraction is the buildings. In one hall there is a pair of enormous silver urns, the largest crafted items of silver in the world.

From the palace we drive to a jewellery workshop where we are shown how they polish and shape the stones, then into the sales area where we are wooed by rum and cokes! The it's on to another workshop where we see fabric block printing and carpet making, and are given refreshments during the carpet sales pitch. The room at the back sells fabrics by the metre, but I'm surprised how expensive the silks are. We buy a table runner, a scarf and a length of silk, getting rid of some of our 500 and 1000 rupee notes in he process.  Will gets measured for a suit which is delivered later that day to the hotel.

Dilip then lets us loose in a street bazaar for a short while, and I buy a tunic, leggings and another scarf. Our final visit of the day is to a Hindu temple built by Mr Bilars, owner of one of the biggest business concerns in India. He has built many temples throughout northern India, and also funded an engineering school for girls in his native village.

Back to the hotel and a quick rest before we go out for another tuk-tuk ride with John and Judith to a restaurant. Great meal, and we get an electric tuk-tuk back much to Mick's delight.

India - Day 8 - Friday 11th November

The alarm goes at 05.20, and we are sitting watching the fruit bats from the veranda by 05.50. There are only six of us this morning as this is an optional extra, and we go in a jeep rather than a cantor. It's more comfortable and has better visibility. 

We head for sector six this time, which means we use a different entrance into the park and have to pass through the old part of Ranthambore town. The terrain is different yet again, and we have wonderful views over the hills. Despite seeing fresh tiger prints neither we, nor the other vehicles in the sector, see any tigers, leopards or sloth bears. The scenery is lovely, and we see plenty of deer, antelope and birds, and we all thoroughly enjoy the outing.

We are back at the hotel around 10am, and enjoy an excellent breakfast before going to pack our bags. It's a shame to leave this hotel, it was one of the best despite the noisy trains all through the night.

 A long journey to Jaipur, though for once a four hour journey actually takes four hours. It's helped by the fact that tolls have been waived for the next three days while the currency emergency continues. At every town we pass we see huge queues at all the banks and ATMs, and Dilip is very angry at the way the government has penalised the lower and middle classes by his decision. Even though Dilip approves of the reasons for the rule, he's still not going to vote foe this PM at the next elections. He has hated the fact that in one night he, as well as most of the population, have been reduced almost to beggars. Even his wife is having problems buying vegetables as she has no cash.

Jaipur is a lovely city, and on arrival we drive straight to the Amber Fort which is about 11 km north of the city. The coach drops us off at a perfect spot for photos, then we transfer into jeeps for the rather hair raising trip up the hill to the fort. This was the home of the ruling family from about 1037 to 1728, which was when Jai Singh II built the city of Jaipur and moved the capital there.

The Fort has never been sacked or invaded as the family sided with the British at the time of the revolution and remained in power right up to independence in 1947. The paintings on the main gate from the first courtyard to the second, the Ganesh Pole, are still the original frescos and in astonishingly good condition. 

The first courtyard holds the Hall of Public Audience, then it's through the Gnesh Pole into the private quarters for the ruler and his wife, an exquisite hall decorated with mirrors, and with lattice windows overlooking the first courtyard. 

The third courtyard is the oldest, and was built by Man Singh I. Around the outside are the identical quarters for each of his 12 wives, and a confusing mass of corridors connect them and servants quarters (we think), more latticed balconys overlooking the town, and in one area a wheel and rope arrangement for bringing water up about four or five stories for storage in a huge tank.

The whole complex is fantastic, and we spend a happy hour exploring it's corridors and secrets and nearly getting lost. One of the best places we have visited, especially as we had no idea of what to expect.

Back on the coach we drive to our hotel, passing through the Pink City area (the original town as designed and built by Jai Singh II) and past "the palace of the winds". It's another ITC hotel, and is very grand, but charges for its internet, and this time we decline.

In the evening we go out with Chris and Sarah and John and Judith to the Copper Chimney restaurant, and very much enjoy getting there and back again by tuk-tuk.

India - Day 7 - Thursday 10th November

Our alarm goes at 05.30, again! We are up and having a cup of tea and a muffin by 6.15, then it's on to the cantor for our first safari of the day. The cantor is an open topped, 22 seater truck, but has surprisingly comfy seats, all covered in Indian army khaki fabric. The National Park is run by the government, and has strict limits on when tourists can go in, and where they can travel.

We are allocated to zone four, and set off with our guide and driver, through about three security checks, into the park.

It's wonderful to be out in the open air, even though it is extremely cold. We all huddle in blankets and jumpers on slightly damp seats. Out first spotting is, appropriately, spotted deer. We also see sambu deer, many birds, wild bore, monkeys (mainly on the road out), a jacket and a crocodile, but no tigers!!

Our return trip is delayed by a stone which has decided to get wedged between two rear trees. We limp back, and eventually find other drivers and guides who help to remove the offending item. It's nearly 11 before we get back out hotel for breakfast, so some opt for a good breakfast and light lunch at 1 o'clock; others for the reverse. 

There's time for a quick walk round the hotel grounds where we are delighted to see the fruit bats are more active than we expected and are all rousting in trees just outside the entrance. It's now beautifully hot, and there are people on the pool and sitting on the lawns reading.

We leave again after lunch for our second safari. This time we are sent to zone two, a hilly area below the ruins of the Ranthambore Fort. Considering the park is 1700 sq. kms., and there are only 65 tigers in it, who are each very territorial, the chances of us seeing a tiger are small, but we do!! A quick glimpse of a tiger walking into the undergrowth, then we play spot the tiger for the next hour or so. You can play your own version with the photo below.

The guides know there is no point looking elsewhere for another tiger, so they hope this one (a female called Arrowhead) will start moving around again. She decides to spend the afternoon sleeping, so eventually we move on and see more sambu deer and monkeys. There's a moment of excitement as we take the return route when animal alarm calls are heard near a rocky cliff area. It's suggested that there might be a leopard around, but we fail to see one!

By the time we get back to the hotel at 6.30 it's cold and dark, and there's just time for a very hot shower before our evening talk about tigers. The talk is good and accompanied by some excellent photos and videos.  We learn that makes have territories of around 60 sq kms, and females about 8. The tigers are identified by their paw prints and their facial markings, and there are currently over 65 tigers as three females have recently been seen with cubs. They don't use chips or radio collars as there would be a risk that poachers could also locate the animals.

We have dinner, and are in bed just gone 9pm ready for our next day.