DISCLAIMER: Disaster! When we sat down at the Internet Cafe in Sawai Madhopur and connected our memory cards to transfer photos, the local anti-virus program perceived our benevolent memory cards as threats, and proceeded to corrupt both of our SDs! We therefore regret to inform you that we are unable to provide original photos at this time, and all photos are taken from generic Google searches.
That said, let's get on with the next part of our exhilarating adventure. It's time for stories from the quiet village of Bundi.
When Thomas and I got on the train from Udaipur to Bundi, we half-expected another 5 hours of stares, whispers and "Poto-pleas" from the locals. (Even though Indians can be very friendly, we also do encounter this unexplainable behavior quite a lot.) Instead we ended up in a compartment with two amiable and very British Brits. Adam and Leo, both 18, are residents of Yorkshire and would become our travel companions during our three night stay in Bundi. We got to the station at 10.30 in the evening and shared a chilling rickshaw ride to the city center. What met us was a ghost town with everything, even our guest house, shut down. It wasn't even 11! We called for an early night and decided to meet up again for breakfast at the Englishmen's guest house.
On Thursday morning the entire valley was filled with an enchanted fog and we ate our rooftop breakfast at Leo and Adam's hotel shivering, unprepared for the sudden change of temperature. Suddenly, the spell lifted and a stunning view was revealed to us.
How's that for dramatic effect? Anyway, we instantly knew that we had to explore this fort complex as soon as the weather cleared completely.
We explored the city center in search for warmer clothing, and stumbled across a kite store. Everywhere we have visited in India we've seen kids flying kites, and we all felt that the joy of flying one was a gap in all our childhoods that needed filling. Full of confidence we bought some cheap kites and wandered over to a dirt field to fulfill our dreams of soaring.
Alas, our rose-tinted dreams were soon ran into the ground. Kite-flying was not as easy as it seemed. Also, some local, obnoxious teenagers arrived at the scene. They quickly stole the show and crashed our kites into the nearby lake.
Disappointed, we drowned our sorrows in lassis and delicious Nutella and banana pancakes at the local backpacker-friendly Tom & Jerry's cafe. The mood was brightened by the soothing, self-picked tunes of Amy Winehouse and Led Zeppelin.
The fog had now lifted completely and it was time to explore the hill fort and palace. The abandoned palace had very few restrictions and we were able to explore practically every bat-filled corner of the place. But it was first after the steep climb to the top of the hill that our wanderlust was really satisfied. The massive complex of abandoned forts nearly felt like wandering straight into Middle Earth. No pictures can capture the essence of being able to wander the 700 year old ruins and imagine the musty rooms and battlements at their full glory.
We ended yet another fun-packed day at a lakeside restaurant, and decided to rent bikes to explore the surrounding countryside the following morning.
Biking through serene villages and bumpy dirt roads off the beaten track was quite an adventure, but without our personal pictures the stories fall rather flat. In short, we frolicked in abandoned ruins and mysterious lakes, but we all knew this care-free atmosphere couldn't last. It was time for us to move on, and on Saturday morning we took the bus to Kota with a connecting train to the town of Sawai Madhopur. Here we would embark on a quest with a single goal: to spot a wild tiger in India's largest tiger reserve, Ranthambore National Park.
That said, let's get on with the next part of our exhilarating adventure. It's time for stories from the quiet village of Bundi.
When Thomas and I got on the train from Udaipur to Bundi, we half-expected another 5 hours of stares, whispers and "Poto-pleas" from the locals. (Even though Indians can be very friendly, we also do encounter this unexplainable behavior quite a lot.) Instead we ended up in a compartment with two amiable and very British Brits. Adam and Leo, both 18, are residents of Yorkshire and would become our travel companions during our three night stay in Bundi. We got to the station at 10.30 in the evening and shared a chilling rickshaw ride to the city center. What met us was a ghost town with everything, even our guest house, shut down. It wasn't even 11! We called for an early night and decided to meet up again for breakfast at the Englishmen's guest house.
On Thursday morning the entire valley was filled with an enchanted fog and we ate our rooftop breakfast at Leo and Adam's hotel shivering, unprepared for the sudden change of temperature. Suddenly, the spell lifted and a stunning view was revealed to us.
 |
| Generic picture #1: Bundi Palace and the overlaying Taragarh Fort. |
We explored the city center in search for warmer clothing, and stumbled across a kite store. Everywhere we have visited in India we've seen kids flying kites, and we all felt that the joy of flying one was a gap in all our childhoods that needed filling. Full of confidence we bought some cheap kites and wandered over to a dirt field to fulfill our dreams of soaring.
 |
| Generic picture #2: Kite-filled fun! |
Alas, our rose-tinted dreams were soon ran into the ground. Kite-flying was not as easy as it seemed. Also, some local, obnoxious teenagers arrived at the scene. They quickly stole the show and crashed our kites into the nearby lake.
Disappointed, we drowned our sorrows in lassis and delicious Nutella and banana pancakes at the local backpacker-friendly Tom & Jerry's cafe. The mood was brightened by the soothing, self-picked tunes of Amy Winehouse and Led Zeppelin.
The fog had now lifted completely and it was time to explore the hill fort and palace. The abandoned palace had very few restrictions and we were able to explore practically every bat-filled corner of the place. But it was first after the steep climb to the top of the hill that our wanderlust was really satisfied. The massive complex of abandoned forts nearly felt like wandering straight into Middle Earth. No pictures can capture the essence of being able to wander the 700 year old ruins and imagine the musty rooms and battlements at their full glory.
 |
| Generic picture #3: We had to clamber through a similar hole in the gate to enter the fort complex. |
Biking through serene villages and bumpy dirt roads off the beaten track was quite an adventure, but without our personal pictures the stories fall rather flat. In short, we frolicked in abandoned ruins and mysterious lakes, but we all knew this care-free atmosphere couldn't last. It was time for us to move on, and on Saturday morning we took the bus to Kota with a connecting train to the town of Sawai Madhopur. Here we would embark on a quest with a single goal: to spot a wild tiger in India's largest tiger reserve, Ranthambore National Park.
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