Whoa, so much to catch up on! We've been on the move quite a bit these last 2 months, and working out the details for our grand return, as well. The first and most important event to address- my mom's visit to India! Mom was here for 2 glorious weeks, the first 2 weeks of February, and boy did we fill those weeks to the brim. I'll try to be brief (probably unsuccessfully) and share some of the highlights from this amazing tour around India:
The first day we spent in Delhi, driving around to see the major sites, checking out some markets, and enjoying lunch at one of my favorite spots in Khan Market. Mom did not miss a beat, and we hit the ground running. It was an easy day to show off a bit of Delhi and introduce Mom to our life here.
The next morning we flew to Jodphur and then drove to Osian, a village several hours away where we checked in to Reggie's Camel Camp. In the middle of this scrub-brush desert was an oasis of immaculately kept grounds with fountains, huge terrace, beautiful pool, various sitting/dining areas, flowers, and charming touches of authenticity in the decorative pieces adorning the rooms. We stayed in a "luxury tent" and after a light lunch, we headed off on our camel rides. Our camel rides- hilarious and amazing! The camels were very goofy, not to mention wonky to ride and much taller than you'd expect. We rode with 2 guides across the camel racecourse (!) and into the brush. We passed through small outcroppings of huts and over dunes through the arid landscape and sparse vegetation. We stopped at a small home for chai and were quite entertained by the women who lived there as they showed off all of their children and their beautiful, though modest, homes. We rode all afternoon and then returned to the lodge for the evening's entertainment: traditional Rajasthani musicians and a dancer. With drinks in hand (and several already imbibed) we were pulled up from our seats by the dancer onto the terrace, where we attempted, a bit clumsily, to mimic her moves. With a generous amount of laughing at ourselves, Mom and I twirled around the patio, wavering between intense concentration and fits of laughter.
The next day we drove back to Jodphur for a day at the Merangarh Fort and around the Blue City. Jodphur is known as the Blue City because most of the cube-buildings of the old city are painted blue to signify the homes of Brahmins (and later non-Brahmins too). The fort is absolutely magnificent, full of stunning rooms and a beautiful museum. After several hours soaking up the fort history, we went to the Sardar Market- a perfect example of an old city market with narrow alleys and bazaars and a century-old clock tower in the middle of the square. We had an excellent rooftop lunch and a bit of market shopping before rushing back to our heritage hotel to enjoy the gorgeous accommodations. The evening presented another round of live Rajasthani music, as well as puppetry, drinks and dancing on the lawn. It was hard to imagine the trip could get any better, and we were only 3 days in to it...
On Sunday, the 5th, we tackled the long drive from Jodphur to Udaipur. Udaipur is known for shimmering Lake Pichola, which has 2 main islands and is where the James Bond movie, Octopussy, was filmed. The town is set on the edge of the lake and surrounded by the Aravalli Hills making it beautiful and romantic. There is also the City Palace, Rajasthan's largest palace.
About halfway to Udaipur we stopped to take in the Rankpur temples- one of the largest and most important Jain temple complexes. The main temple of was built in the 15th century, in white marble, and has an incredible series of 29 halls, 80 domes, and 1444 individually carved columns. It was absolutely stunning and easily one of the most amazing feats of architecture I have ever seen. The drive itself, though a bit rough at first, was quite beautiful, with gorgeous and incredibly varied landscape. When we finally arrived in Udaipur, we settled in to a relaxing evening that included a sunset boat ride around Lake Pichola.
The next day we dove into the crazy, crooked streets of Udaipur and toured around the town. We started the morning with a tour of the magnificent City Palace- a maze of archways, narrow hallways, courtyards, and countless rooms extravagantly decorated with mirrors, tiles, and paintings. After the palace we had scheduled a two hour painting class to learn the art of traditional Rajasthani miniature painting- which is a completely amazing and very interesting style of painting that I have seen a lot of and even bought from time to time. Udaipur is supposedly the capital of miniature painting, and we thought it would be a unique activity, to say the least. Of course, our two hour class turned into FOUR hours of painstaking work with a squirrel-tail brush, but at the end we had both completed small "miniatures"- mine an elephant, and mom's a camel. The artist took us step-by-step though the process of how to achieve that fantastically minuscule detail-work that miniature painting is famous for. Ours, of course, struggled next to the artist's expert hand, though I'm sure if we'd been doing it for 30 years as well, we'd be almost as good! Regardless, I think we were both quite proud of our finished products and glad to have the beautiful, unique souvenirs. After our 2 hour class turned into 4, we grabbed the closest lunch/Kingfisher available, and then set out for some serious shopping and serious haggling. We found some beautiful things, bargained hard, and ended up with lots of treasures. We returned to the hotel to freshen up before a splendid rooftop dinner!
The next day- Tuesday, Feb. 7th- we had an early flight from Udaipur back to Delhi. We settled in and then tackled one of my favorite handicraft markets, Dilli Haat, before a lovely "spa" afternoon. (I had secured a Groupon deal and figured Mom might need a little R&R after the go go go!) John and I took Mom to our favorite restaurant, Grey Gardens, for dinner.
The next day, Wednesday, we flew from Delhi to Khajuraho and then drove to Bandhavgarh National Park, almost smack in the middle of India and NOT easy to access! After a full 12 hour day of travel, we arrived at our lodge travel-weary and ready for a good meal and a bit of comfort. We certainly got it as we relaxed with fellow safari-ers by the fire and geared up for a VERY early morning...
Thursday morning we woke at 4:30 am. We had to be in the jeep, ready to go by 5. It was not the easiest day. Our tiger safari was off to a rough start as we realized we were wildly unprepared for the cold, bouncing around in an open-air jeep for 6 hours of the early morning. Bandhavgarh boasts the highest density of tigers in India; however, "highest density" only means 50 tigers for over 150 sq. miles! They're not just hanging out in the road, that's for sure- and they're elusive to boot. We returned from our morning safari a bit disheartened, but warmed our bones, ate, and geared up for the afternoon trip out.
The afternoon safari was amazing- we were warm, the drive was beautiful, and we were newly enthused. We spotted a variety of animals including several kinds of deer, birds, jackals, wild boar, and bison. We even spotted the very small and rare jungle cat, and I spotted a mongoose to my immense pleasure. At 5:30 we had to be heading back to the lodge. Our guide lamented a second trip out with no tiger-sighting. As we headed back toward the park gate, the ranger in our jeep suddenly cried out, "tiger! tiger!" We scrambled, desperately scanning the landscape and spotted her- a tigress out hunting for her two cubs. We only had her in our sights for 2 minutes, but that was enough. By the time any other jeeps reached us, she had gone. We were the only ones to have seen her. Feeling quite good about ourselves, perhaps even a bit smug, we returned to the lodge for celebratory food, drink, and bonfire.
The next morning again started at 5 am. Too damn early. It was another rough morning- 10 degrees colder, in fact, than the previous one. But we grinned and bared it. It was a better morning, however, thanks to re-calibrated expectations and hot water bottles. We enjoyed a short elephant ride, and rode around straining our eyes, commenting on the flora and fauna. The afternoon safari was, again, great, though no more tigers. We enjoyed our last jaunt into the wilderness and returned content to the last night in the lodge.
After a glorious sleep-in, we headed out the next morning back to Khajuraho. One there we enjoyed some Ayurvedic massages to soothe our bouncing-jeep-weary joints- it was Mom's first experience with Ayurveda, getting down to birthday suit and all! We both emerged feeling like new women.
The next morning we headed out to tour the Khajuraho temple complex- most of the remaining 25 temples were built in the 10th and 11th centuries. They are a world heritage site and include some of the finest temple art in the world, including the famous erotic kama-sutra sculptures. The intricacy of the carving and the sheer volume is stunning; no detail is ignored on each of the thousands (millions?) of individual figures. After the temples we drove to Jhansi where we boarded a train to Agra- our next destination.
Monday morning we visited the Taj Mahal. I had been there once before with John when we first arrived in India. For whatever reason (probably a multitude of circumstances) I was not as awed then as I had expected to be. However, upon returning with Mom, I felt I really got that sense of wonderment. I wasn't initially excited about returning to the Taj, but I am so glad that I did because it felt like seeing it new again (some of which I am sure I caught from Mom). Of course it is a phenomenal structure, the day was beautiful, and our guide great. After soaking in the brilliance of the Taj Mahal, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch before boarding the train back to Delhi. We got home a bit late, and so after everything, decided to just relax at home, share stories, and order-in.
Finally back in Delhi, we started the next day at the Red Fort in Old Delhi. It was a very hazy morning and not the best for seeing the grounds or lingering around the streets, so we moved on to our next stop- lunch at the Imperial Hotel. Our intention was just to have coffee and admire the exquisite place, but once seated on the terrace with the height of luxury around us, coffee quickly turned into bloody marys, which led to a sumptuous lunch. Fully sated and thorough impressed, we swung back to Khan Market and then went to the Santushti Arcade- a boutique-y market with some lovely, more upscale crafts. After we went home to get ready for.... THE GREATEST NIGHT OF OUR LIVES-
THE KINGDOM OF DREAMS!
How to explain it?? It's billed as a live Bollywood musical show- and it is. And so much more! It feels like the love-child of a glorious three-way between a Vegas show, Bollywood movie, and Broadway musical- with the "over-the-top" factor multiplied by three. "Culture Gully"- the all-around-India dining hall throws Epcot into the mix- a massive structure with a "sky-ceiling" and ambient light where you can "visit" all the different parts of India and enjoy their cuisine in authentically decorated wings of the building. C.R.A.Z.Y. Aside from the madness that was everything visual and aesthetic before even entering the actual theater, the show itself was insane! It was incredible, as over-the-top as possible, an assault on the senses- the costumes, the set, the dancing, the songs, the AERIAL ACROBATICS! Quite unreal and wildly exceeding my expectations. It's true- my mind was blown and I felt as giddy as a schoolgirl seeing
Cats for the first time. Broadway could learn a thing or two. It truly was the Kingdom of My Dreams. Whoa.
The next day, Mom's last day, was begun with a leisurely morning and then Ayurvedic treatments. The treatments were heavenly and afterward we spent the afternoon in Hauz Khas Village. It was a fine time wandering around the shops and galleries, only it ended too soon. As Mom packed, back at the house, we reminisced about the last two weeks and mourned the fact that is was over already. We had a farewell dinner with John and then a tearful goodbye at the airport. I cannot imagine a better two weeks with my mom- everything was amazing, and best of all, we got to share it, just the two of us. I am so impressed by her- the incredible person she is. She truly made the trip- embracing everything, taking it all in with no small sense of awe and bewilderment, and approaching everything with openness, curiosity, and many, many questions! THANKS MOM!
