India #5 Ranthambore

Well, I seem to be slowly getting through the holiday. R managed a bit of soup and has now gone back to bed. He's about 3 days behind me infection wise and is feeling decidedly rough. I really need to be in the greenhouse sowing my seeds but can't quite face it yet. Maybe tomorrrow.

March 13th

Our next destination was Ranthambore National Park in the Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan. It was quite a drive, so we decided to break up the journey with a visit to Fatehpur Sikri (the City of Victory), founded by Emporer Akbar as the capital of the Mughal Empire in 1571. The complex of monuments and temples includes one of the largest Mosques in India, the Jama Masjid. It is sometimes referred to as the ghost city after it was abandoned when Akbar went off to fight a campaign in Punjab. The capital then moved to Delhi, possibly because of the inadequate water supply.

We hired a guide to give us a tour and again we learnt far more than if we had wandered by ourselves. We would, however, have possibly avoided what seemed to be a bit of a tourist scam.

Akbar built 3 palaces, one for each of his favourite wives - one was Hindu, one Muslim and one Christian. The largest palace was for the Hindu wife as she gave birth to his son. 

 

Diwan-I-Khas or Hall of Private Audience:

The elaborately carved central stone pillar:

Akbar remained heirless until 1569, when his son was born in the village of Sikri. He began construction of a religious compound in honour of Salim Chishti, who predicted his son's birth. The guide took us to Salim Chishti's tomb and we were told the ritual of tying knots in the marble screens to get 3 wishes. You can only tie the knots, however, once you have bought a chadar (a cloth used as a head covering) from a vendor. In the tomb, the chadar is placed under a wooden canopy and sprinkled with rose petals. Then the knots are tied and the wishes made. It is popular for child birth blessings and you are supposed to keep your wishes secret. The cynic in me wondered what happens to the donated chadars and whether or not they are merely recycled for future tourists. It may not have been a scam but it certainly felt like it. I only hope that the chadars were actually donated to the intended recipients.

We continued our drive, stopping for lunch at a roadside restaurant. We weren't terribly hungry and shared plates of pakoras and samosas. There was an adjoining handicraft shop where we bought a few souvenirs. We left the main road in search of our hotel as the sun began to set. The road was atrocious and I really felt for our driver and at one point feared for his car. He assured us that he was used to the conditions but he had to stop and check directions to our hotel 'The Tigress' before we finally found it.

This was probably the poshest hotel that we stayed in and the one in which we felt the least comfortable. Things didn't get off to a good start when we realised that there was no nearby ATM and we needed cash for the driver. Eventually, the hotel let us pay them by credit card and they gave us ready cash. Then we had to get them to replace the kettle in our room after the original one was found to be disgusting. I really don't know what the problem was and it sounds ridiculous I know, but it really stank. We made the chap who came with a replacement smell the original and take it away - even he rocked back on his heels a bit! 

Given that the hotel was in the middle of nowhere, we were forced to eat our meals there. Dinner on the roof, complete with musicians and a dancer with a flaming bowl on her head, was a relatively expensive buffet affair. R began to get distictly frosty when he realised that there was only 1 vegan dish available. I wasn't especially hungry after bouncing along the dirt track but he eventually complained to the head waiter and a dish of supposedly vegan black dhal  miraculously appeared. I sampled a bit and declared it decidedly creamy. R ate a large portion and was up all night with abdominal pains. He wasn't best pleased.

March 14th

Breakfast area:

Breakfast dosa in progress:

Batti Lal, the head waiter from the night before met us at breakfast and tried his best to accommodate us. He carefully pointed out any dishes containing dairy and promised to make sure that vegan dishes were available for dinner. I think he was worried about complaints, although it really wasn't his fault that the hotel hadn't warned him about our annoying dietary requirements. Luckily, it wasn't a life- threatening allergy, although R is now convinced he has developed lactose intolerance.

The morning was spent swimming and doing more poolside knitting/ Audible listening before the main reason for our visit to Ranthambore. The National Park is best known for its tiger safaris.

What followed next was, on the one hand, very enjoyable and on the other, possibly a bit of a scam. We only ever intended to do the one safari. Even in retrospect, I wouldn't have wanted to do it again. Speaking to other guests at the hotel, they had all been on multiple trips; repeatedly booking in an attempt to see a tiger. On the day, our jeep arrived - we were sharing one with a lovely couple from Mumbai - and we were told that we would be entering Zone 7. The jeep ride itself was great fun, we bounced around the park tracks for over 3 hours. We paused by rivers where the tigers were likely to be, saw multiple deer (because we don't see enough of them! :O) ), a mongoose, monkeys and lots of peacocks (it was mating season). The tigers were conspicuous by their absence! It was our jeep mates' second trip and, so far, a 0 for 2. They booked one more for the following morning.

There was a bit of drama at one point, when, after speaking on his phone, we suddenly reversed our direction and sped back to the river....... still nothing.

Now, here's the rub. Speaking to a chap that we met in Jaipur later in the trip, he informed us that the tigers were not in Zones 7-10 and that the people running the safaris know exactly where they are likely to be. I'm not sure whether some zones are used to encourage tourists to book more trips, until they look like they are getting fed up, then they produce a tiger. I may be doing them a disservice but I'm suspicious by nature.

On the way back to the hotel, the jeep developed a flat tyre and we waited by the roadside while it was changed.

Possibly owing to being jolted around for hours, R and I felt quite unwell that evening. Batti Lal went above and beyond and sent some watermelon juice and bananas to our room.

On checking out of the hotel the following morning, we met a group of American tourists returning from a morning safari. I don't know how many they had been on and I think they said that they had been to Zone 5........  they had seen 5 tigers - a male, a female and 3 cubs. I hope that the Mumbai couple had been in luck too.

Toodle pip for now. x