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| Dhalia Usha Kiran Palace Hotel Gardens |
Dear All!
We have arrived and are safe and well (well, wellish with each of us coming down with DB in turn) and happy. Been in Delhi one week then off on a little trip to Gwalior, Orchha, Panna National Park, Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and finally Varanasi before returning to Delhi on 30th January.
Below you will find some updates and pics by the boys - Edward is now official photographer having a) the only camera that will charge and b) the only one who seems to be able to take a photograph in focus.....I have also written a little of our journey to give local colour and flavour....
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| Edward's amazing close-up of Indian Squirrel, Lutyens Bungalow, Delhi |
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| Harry in the Maharaja's Palace Museum, Gwalior |
When we came to India we stayed in a hotel called the Imperial. Every time you came into the door two ladies offered you sweets. After three days in Delhi [the capital city of India] we got on a train which took us Gwalior. When we arrived at the hotel there were bowls of flowers at the door. We went to a museum [and a palace at the same time!] and at the museum there were lots of household items of some guy who had died. He really liked weapons so in one room the walls where plated with guns*. There were German light machine guns like the mg13 and the mgnobodyknewwhatitwascalled. On the wall there were guns from the British Empire [imperials]. There were handguns revolvers rifles bigger rifles revolvers with four barrels and three. There was a special rifle that was 2 METRES LONG! After two days at the leisure of Gwalior we left to Orchha. It was poorer than Gwalior and we saw lots of beggars and let me tell you something about the food....J
(I have no idea how I just did L hey I get the hang of it just do :) and it automatically turns into J and if you do :( it turns into L.
In Orchha there were these cool little things made of milk and sugar and holy water J it is DELICIOUS. At a temple we saw monkeys and got within two metres. When my brother Edward held up his camera they started posing! When we smiled they angrily screeched at us. We shoved off. After being at Orchha for two days we travelled to Panna National Park. Right now I am at Panna and my brother is waiting for his turn on writing so I guess that’s goodbye. Goodbye. Click!
*I am going to be talking a lot more about guns
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| Harry's Favourite BIG GUN! |
Eward's Blog
First of all as soon as we were out of the airport we went to an amazing hotel in Delhi called The Imperial. It was amazing! Our first trip out was to the Lodi gardens and we saw the tombs and the chipmunks and the amazing birds. We also went to Haus Khas where we saw more tombs, more birds and some very tame chipmunks!
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| Edward by stone fretwork Usha Kiran Palace Hotel |
After that we caught a train (about a week had gone by, by now!) to Gwalior. We visited the maharaja’s palace where there was a museum with amazing (as well as sad) stuff such as ...... guns, swords, chandeliers (the biggest ones in the world!), stuffed tigers (that’s the sad part... L ), a mini silver train (used for giving out spices on a table! J) and a giant ladies only swimming pool! Later we visited the Man Singh palace which had beautiful decorative tiles like yellow ducks, tigers, elephants etc. We also found out about its past and apparently an evil Islam king trapped 51 Hindu kings inside it! A couple of days later we went on a long drive to Orchha were we were on our way to a palace when some little girls bribed us with bracelets to go to their dad’s stores so we looked around the palace and then went to their stores ( we also saw some people playing cricket! ). At their stores we got some henna stamps on our arms. We later visited another palace that had a mixture of both Hindu and Islam architecture but was made for a king but this king only slept in it one night! :o We also visited a paper factory which was stunning! After a couple more days we had a long drive (4 hours to be exactL) to Khajuraho. There we saw a gross sight - the Kama Sutra temples covered in naked statues doing weird things, Yuk!
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| India - not quite finished yet.... |
We then came here to the Sarai at Toria (it is next to a tiger reserve!) we have gone on safari twice and seen so many amazing wild animals such as .... spotted dear, the Indian roller bird, antelope, nilgai (it means blue cow in English but is actually a type of antelope!), crocodiles, sambar deer, buffalo, wild boar, jackals, some hoopoe birds and a couple more. We also nearly saw a leopard and that’s pretty much all, bye Ps. My sister kitty thinks nilgai says night guy that’s true and she is 6 and coookooo!
Susan's Blog
21st January - After a few days settling into Delhi and our new home at The Imperial, we are on our first of many forays out of the city. We are on our way to Gwalior in Mdahya Pradesh, known as the heart of India.
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| Breakfast tea on the Bhopal Shatabdi Express |
An early start for a 0615 train, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express. And it is an express. We are RATTLING along - hot tea spilling everywhere! Had a wonderful Indian Moment at the train station – the seething mass of humanity with the wonderful mix of the Dark Ages and the 21st Century rubbing along very well together. People in dirty rags, women in gorgeous saris, and men in the smart, neat short sleeved shirts and smart pressed trousers and shiny shoes: the uniform of the professional man in India. Hypnotic, beautiful, distressing all in one glance. Thousands of people apparently wandering aimlessly about and yet our train left at 615am on the dot! With Swiss-like efficiency. Everyone was given a sweet-smelling rose on departure – eat your heart out First Great Western. Harry and Kitty have had some Indian HOT/STRONG/SWEET tea and loved it. Kitty saying she has the hottest throat in the world. The sun rose before the moon (nearly full) disappeared and there was a beautiful soft mist on the well-irrigated patchwork of fields as the sun came up. All incredibly uplifting.
I am gazing out of the window at the ever-changing landscape which is surprisingly lush but of course it is still early spring here and a relatively cool 20 degrees. Always interesting, but sometimes quite distressing views from the train. Lots of emaciated cows on short leads tethered to a post eating cardboard or plastic bags...
A full breakfast – a lovely mix of Continental and Indian – cornflakes with BOILING HOT milk, a hot Indian spicy dumpling thing – will set us up for the rest of the journey and the day which will start with a tour of the Palace Museum in Gwalior. Kitty’s message about today’s journey – she enjoyed the views out of the window and tells me she saw a tiger in the fields. She also saw a space ship just before we got on the train.....
23rd January - Now travelling in a little mini bus at breakneck – really BREAK NECK – speed and playing games of chicken with the other road users. If it were happening in real life of course I would be TERRIFIED. We have been these past days in Gwalior – saw a wonderful fort and beautiful, crazy palace museum. Amazing Taj-run Usha Kiran Palace hotel which was the Maharaja’s guest house – not having quite enough room in his 500 room home...Pristine gardens, and wonderful carved stonework around the hotel balconies and a beautiful serene swimming pool. Too cold to swim in still but a lovely place to hang out with a book and a telephone. Now in Orchha which is palace and temple central. Quaint little town and children very happy as we have been having close encounters with monkeys, vultures and sacred, malnourished cows.
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| Welcome to Usha Kiran Palace Hotel! |
Have done quite a lot of tourist shopping in Orchha (wealth redistribution) having been accosted by small girls posing as owners of shops for their fathers. On our last night in town we popped into a store run by a man from Ladakh, with a nice sign saying “More Junk Inside”. Almost impossible not to go in.
25th January - From Orchha to Khajuraho, where the amazing carvings on the Hindu and Jain temples are and the infamous Kama Sutra carvings. A UNESCO site of breath-taking beauty and wonder. Slightly lost on the children. From there to Sarai Toria – a nature reserve on the edge of Panna National Park. Very eco friendly with 21st century interior-designed mud huts and gourmet cooking. Have spent a couple of days on safari but really most enjoyed sitting by the river watching the water buffalo wallowing.
