From the Himalayas to the Ganges

We have been without the internet for nearly a week now, mostly while we were in Himachal Pradesh but with no logic to it (something you get used to here)
So, sorry communication has been impossible,
We arrived in Haridwar late yesterday afternoon after an 8 hour bone shattering (the roads often strung together with potholes) or head jarring noise (our driver Anil was very, very fond of  honking the car horn to frequently overtake, avoid a cow, pedestrian or monkey,etc).
Now we are parked in our hotel on the banks of the sacred Ganges River with our own private Ghat (now we will not be dipping our toes) and temple....the river is lined with rubbish and frequented by Sadhus and pilgrims.
To backtrack a week and a half to Jaipur in Rajasthan where our time was spent admiring Rajput Architecture in the might palaces there.
Our driver Ajay kindly organised a visit to an elephant "camp" so we could get up close and personal to them after it turned out the ride to Amber Fort was off due to the ongoing Goddess Festival...as it turned out it was a much better experience (photos to bore you with later).
I would rate Jaipur as the most difficult place for being hassled by hawkers, Agra pales in comparison...it was relentless.
The trip up to the Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh with distant views of the snow peaked Himalayas was spectacular and it was so nice to have some clean cool air at last.
We did some serious walking with Paul, a friend from Australia who spends 6 months here very year,up into the hills. Walking at 10,000 feet proved difficult but the views were worth the effort.
Every home has a loom and weaving(nb Maris) fills in the hours not spent in the fields...now getting ready for winter harvesting grass for the cows and goats through winter. The houses and farms are mostly on the side of mountains and the tenacity and resilience of the people extraordinary(especially the women who do more than their fair share of the hard yakka)...and all so friendly and such a generosity of spirit!
Then on to Shimla (only a 6 hour hair -raising and bone shattering ride)...still a beguiling place with it's decaying British architecture and vibrant community.. It is the spot now to go for the Indian middle class which has now meant that many of the handicraft shops on The Mall have been replaced with Western brand name shops...they are a scourge and very sad to see.
We were so lucky to been there for a Classical Indian Music Festival in the old Raj era Gaiety Theatre AND for FREE! We went the 2 nights we could of course and were treated (I suspect) to some of the best.....what beautiful music: tablas, sitar,sarod,singing...and to think before the British left Indians were fordidden here.
Proudly Gandhi's statue looks down over Shimla  from the top of The Mall and the Indian flag proudly flies above.
Now out into the Market here in Haridwar to test the waters (metaphorically of course) Kolkata tomorrow back in Sydney Saturday night....maybe another entry internet permitting,
Namastae
Kathxo

PS Meant to mention our driver yesterday turned out to be a communist...so refreshing to hear someone talk so enthusiastically about real change (not the dirty word it is at home) ...turned our Anil had a degree in languages and political science and driving a cab (sound familiar) and no lover of Modhi (we have yet to find someone who does).

ThIkarda Village School visit, Bundi Rajasthan

FINALLY.....

a photo of the tremendous welcome we received at the school (see earlier blog)
Kath xo

Bundi to Jaipur

We were really sorry to leave Bundi, It is such a special place with such wonderful people.
I have been there twice before and made some friends who were genuinely overwhelmed that I had returned (hard to believe I know) and made me promise to come back (don't really know how I will manage that)...oh dear. And then there was the Brad Factor....a Katoomba resident and lover of India who spends a lot of time in Bundi and if you are a friend of Brad you embraced.
Yug the artist and teacher such a gentle and kind soul , Manesh with the antiques stall with the lovely daughter who stole my heart,Avelin the tour guide with the Masters Degree in English Lit who loves Shakespeare and John  Austen  (he did mean Jane)and has never seen a play:a Jain who married a Brahman Hindu for love and whose family won't speak to him anymore,Jaisingh who is also a tour guide and decided I was his mother and he would never forget me.....
Today we drove (well Ajay did) to Jaipur...a very different kettle of fish to small and generous Bundi.
The heat and pace(fort in the morning with it's world famous wall paintings and very rough rickshaw ride to a waterfall , not much water, loads of monkeys ,temples with resident Sadhu receiving another red spot on our foreheads) yesterday meant we stayed inside out of the heat reading, dinner on the roof with Indian music and dancing and great food. We asked a single woman sitting alone to join us...she was from Florida and very nice EXCEPT for her politics which were dire (my cousin is married to a Black and I don't mind that but...........you get the picture) We did very well to button our lips so as not to create an international incident!.
Sorry I am having soooo much trouble posting photos ...maybe tomorrow some of Rigmor's as we don't need a USB port for hers, but will have a problem finding them on her phone .
Big day in Jaipur tomorrow with an elephant ride to the Amber Fort...early start to beat the worst of the heat....and it is very very very hot!
Kath xo

Missing photos Agra

Delhi!

Now in Rajasthan

For days now I have either been unable to access the internet or it has been so slow it is unworkable... so in that time we have spent time in 2 towns in Madhya Pradesh: Gwalior and Orchha.
Both places have beautiful forts, palaces and temples and the usual crazy street life .....we are managing to dodge rickshaw drivers persistently trying to cart us off somewhere or other, street vendors attempting to sell us all manner of goods but with our flight weight restriction for Kullu we are being very strong (well more or less).  It is the Kashmiri embroidery that is (very) hard to resist (admittedly our resolve has been challenged on that score)....and the Kashmiris are very charming and mightily persuasive!
The photos I posted last were not the ones I meant to post as the numbers on the photos differ on the camera and the computer and the internet is such that I can't check what is what.........and this takes me so long to do I am scared of losing the bloody lot.
So 2 photos I meant to post from Agra (just to prove we really were there...not that you didn't believe me,did you?)
It will not let me insert images now so I will try later.
We are now in Bundi and I have met up with old friends Yug and Manesh.
Today we went with Yug to the  Thikarda village school where he teaches painting for a special ceremony for the education goddess Sarasvati and as they teach tourism at the school (about 600 students K-12) we were the special guest tourists (it was World Tourism Day)for the assembly which included recitations, music and speeches , the goddess was parked on a chair at the front and she got special attention too of course.
We spoke about the importance of education and inclusiveness etc and it was translated for the kids.
We were overwhelmed by their kindness to us and received gifts and garlands of jasmine and marigolds and afternoon tea prepared by the children .
(photos to follow)
Tonight we are going to dinner with Manesh and his wife and little girl.
We feel very lucky to be here.
Kath xo
PS Quite a few monkeys today!

Agra

A scorcher today with humidity to match. At the Taj this morning by 7am but I suspect already in the 30s and very busy........but what a sight to behold....it is astonishing!

Many have waxed lyrical about it's beauty but I rather like the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore's description as "a teardrop on the cheek of eternity"

We were fortunate to view it from across the river later in the afternoon at the newly reconstructed Moghul garden Metab Bagh and to visit the exquisite and much smaller tomb Itmad-ud-Daulah (built by a Persian woman Nur Jahan for her father).

That was yesterday .....today we moved on to Gwalior and our oasis of a hotel set in beautiful gardens complete with 400 year old carved Hindu temples and resident peacocks.....the purple and orange colour scheme of our Agra digs is a distant memory.....ah well.

The monsoon has hit so we took a rickshaw ride to the completely different world that is the real Gwalior....a very busy market stretching for kms and much religious activity as it is the start of a 9 day festival to Hindu goddesses.....so much music, noise and colour in the streets....all in the pouring rain.