Jaipur India, our beginning to the Golden Triangle

Finally we embark on our journey of the Golden Triangle. This is the place everyone thinks of when traveling to India. The Triangle comprises of Agra (home of the Taj Mahal), Delhi (the thriving capital city of India) and Jaipur (home of the Red Palace & Amber Fort).

We stayed at the "peacock hotel" I loved it, it felt like how I pictured places in India to be. You know like during the era when the British occupied India. One of my favorite things are the bowls of water with flowers in them, not only do they look gorgeous but the smell is wonderful.

Upon checking into the hotel we meet Salim, he was very helpful and friendly and by the end of the night we decided to hire him as our tour guide/driver. By the end of the 2 days we became "family" Matt was like his son, and I was like a daughter. Our first stop of the morning was Lassiwalla, if you want to try Lassi(or give it a 2nd try) this is the place. When done right this dairy beverage is delicious, but it is quite easy to mess up in the making, but I find most are deliciously passable. If your American, get the sweetened version, you will thank me later.

 We stopped to look at the Jal Mahal Palace and Amber fort. A snake charmer came over and started his act. We were very intrigued, and the charmer even let us play the flute, touch the cobra! At the end the charmer wanted a crazy amount but Salim set us straight on how much to pay. Sadly the pictures of me where lost when someone left their phone in an Auto, guess I will just have to go back to Jaipur and charm some more Cobras.

The Amber Fort was a great stop, but be prepared to walk up stairs or get their early and ride an elephant.

 On second thought if you don't like elephants, people, architecture or good views, don't stop here because that is all this place has to offer.

Heading out we went to visit some beautiful tombs and monuments for past kings, I am telling you these intricate designs are absolutely beautiful. I love the architecture and how they have carved stories from the deceased's life into the stone.

Shortly after we did stop at a scientific/astronomy park, it was cool but I didn't understand any of it.. I did Aries, which is my sign. 

The culminating moment was when Salim took us to ride the elephants! Life long dream come true! These elephants take tourists up to the Amber fort in the morning and then are taken back to the park. I got to ride an elephant bareback, the real kicker is how we got up onto the elephants. Contrary to what I had originally believed, we climbed up on the elephants via the foot/trunk. Once the elephant had lifted its foot high enough we scurried up the trunk onto their back.  This is a lot tricker than you think, once you get to their fore head it is straight up and down. We all made it on without incident, and proceeded on a parade thru the "forest" with our Mahouts (the elephant guides). 

 Our last stop of the day was Monkey Palace (you can imagine my delight at this decision.)  If you want an adventure watching your back and your companions back, this is the place for you. DO NOT carry food, cameras or bags loosely. These guys aka Monkeys are quick and strong, once they have hold of your stuff it is history. Between speed, agility and the other monkey gang members you stand very little chance.  The monkeys are most active in the morning and evening, but even when you think they are all sleeping during midday they will be watching you.

PS the monkeys at the top end are aggressive.... don't make eye contact unless you are prepared to battle for your life. On the upside there are some nice monks there.

The Red Palace of Jaipur. 

Such beautiful designs and architecture on the gate to the city. 

Once back at the Peacock palace/hotel we watched the World cup in the lobby (the only place with a TV) with a bunch of other americans and foreigners. What a blast, who new soccer could be so entertaining.

Matt's new friend who wanted Matt's deodorant so the boy would smell good for his girlfriend.  Hilarious exchange!

At the end of the day, we got on a overnight bus to Agra and the Taj Majal, this time with flat beds. Since there were 5 of us and 3 beds I bravely took the single bed, with Hudson and Matt across the aisle from me to keep me safe all night long.

Below is how you climb onto an elephant… or at least how I do.

First you grab the ears

Next you jump onto the trunk

Don't stop climbing or else you will end up like this...

Finally on...

Next you have to turn around

Whew I think its over when they tell me I have to jump onto the other elephant

Here I go!!!

Made it! 

                               

                              Making peace with the monkeys with a Monks watchful eye (&permission)

Traveling India's Jungle: is it for you???

I recently talked with a friend of mine who had been to India on leisure and believed the only redeemable aspect of that country was none other then the world renowned Taj Mahal.
However during my summer I found 6 additional cities that should be given consideration.

Stop 1: Hampi, India

Gorgeous Sunset over the river valley in Hampi

Back when monkeys where a novelty and cute....

 

Hampi, a quaint jungle town, not for the fainthearted, but rather for those who enjoy an adventure as it is a bit of a journey to get there since there are no close airports. We took an overnight bus, which worked great, that is if you don't mind hearing the horn throughout the night. Other options include testing your luck and will to live by driving, or taking the train into Hospet(the main town outside of Hampi) and then taking a bus, or auto into Hampi. We arrived into the bus station in Hospet in the wee hours of the morning and took a short ride in an Auto to Hampi's center. After all night on a bus all I wanted was a nice comfy bed to sleep what was left of the morning away.  Our auto driver was kind enough to help us get rooms in Hampi, the first option had no AC. Luckily another hotel owner was awake and offered their rooms with AC. It was heaven, and they were very accommodating, there are only family run hotels and no "5 star resorts" directly in Hampi, so the families live at the hotel.

      Ann riding to one of the many ruins

Breakfast we went to the hotel across the street to their roof top restaurant, and this is where I fell in love, ok I became addicted, to Mango smoothies. Hampi does them the best out of everywhere I have been. As a group we met up and rented motorized scooters, with a few of us doubling up. After one slight accident(before we even took off) we traded one scooter for 2 pedal bikes. Both were great, the bikes are not road bikes, just everyday kind of bikes, and in the heat and long distance it was not that fun. (we took turns on the bikes..) The scooters were an awesome way to see the jungle, as they weren't loud, and you could still go along at a leisurely pace.  

 

This was my first venture into a "real" jungle and it felt so magical to me to see all the old ruins pop out amongst the lush vegetation of the countryside. I almost felt like I was transported into a story, like the Jungle Book. I have seen my fair share of ruins, but these were beautiful as they still held much of the original detail. It was cool to see everyone from all walks of life coming back to gather at these sights.



 

Riding back towards Hampi, we came across a lemonade stand. Who wouldn't want a nice refreshing drink or ice cream after a long, hot ride in the jungle. We learned a whole new way to make lemonade, the start with an empty glass coke bottle filled with soda water, the top is covered in a whole lemon to keep out the bugs. Now it is time to juice the lemon, and boy do they juice that lemon. Last of all there are two ways to get your lemonade, salty/sour or sweet. Ann got salty just for kicks, it was good, but I can only take a few sips before I fill sick, it is definitely an acquired taste.

We ended the day by doing a little shopping at the bazaar there in Hampi's center, they have some unique items which was so refreshing after seeing the same stuff everywhere else. The food here is delicious, we went to the "main street" and found a fully-mediterranean-themed restaurant, including a low table and rugs and cushions on the floor. I highly recommend this place. It was called ____ Leaf.

The next day we decided to go swimming in the morning, we were told Lakshmi the elephant comes down to bathe here at the river everyday. We entertained ourselves by swimming out to and exploring some of the ruins in the middle of the river. Just be aware it is mostly men and boys who swim in the river, woman and girls come to do their wash and then spread out there lovely saris all along the steps and they look beautiful with all the color.

 

Finally we spotted Lakshmi headed down to the river, we swam over and were able to help bathe her and in return at the end she gave us an elephant bath. She has quite the following as she gives elephant blessings to the lucky. I followed her but got distracted and soon lost the crowd, not that the temple was hard to find. I stumbled upon a traditional Indian wedding happening amongst the ruins, and in all my swimming glory they pulled me in to participate in the ceremony, saying I would bring added blessing to the couple(they don't get many white people around here I guess). They even took professional photos with me as well.



They invited me to have lunch with them, and I asked if I could bring my friends, we agreed to meet at the bus stop and go with them. I went to find everyone, but sadly we had missed the family or we misunderstood the spot. To end the day we did a sunset yoga session on the roof of our original hotel and then sprinted to catch our bus to Hospet.  This bus was a nicer sleeper bus as it had beds but no AC.  In Hospet we grabbed dinner at the Shanbag hotel.. I tried boost for the first time (similar to hot chocolate) and fell in love with my drink once again.
We headed to the bus depot to wait for our bus, but it wasn't coming... somehow we figured out that although it drops you off at the bus station, it doesn't pick you up from there. We booked it a block & a half and barely caught our bus.

So like I said, if you are in for adventure Hampi is right for you.

Chooti the Lucky Elephant

At last!! the long awaited day for Elephants!! We arranged a hotel pickup, so as we waited we indulged in the traditional breakfast of egg, meat and toast. (I prefer a sweet breakfast but Thailand definitely has me thinking twice about breakfast.)  We were soon picked up and taken out to the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai to the panda tour elephant camp run by Mr. 'Coconut'



 We began with introductions to all the Elephants. (He owns a lot of female elephants, and they have one baby named chooti, (which means lucky))

   

We had a whole bag of bananas to feed the sweet guys, and boy did they love them and weren't afraid to ask for them. An elephant does not know the meaning of a "personal bubble" obviously. 

Thankfully they had given us clothes to change into so we wouldn't get out own dirtied by elephant love.

I love elephants, but learning how to climb on is always a heart racer for me. In India we climbed on by walking up their trunks. In Thailand we climbed on to their foot and then once they raised it high enough we literally jumped onto their back. Sometimes that is a big jump, once on the elephant they surprised me by saying we were now going for a ride and I was driving!!! Ahhh

Our Mahout walked along side so we wouldn't totally get lost or go for a run, or end up wandering around Thailand ( and thus becoming a myth of Thailand). Once on our way our elephant knew pretty well where to go, we walked and walked and finally came back to the river where she proceeded to walk thru and then stop. She was done.

We got her to lie down and proceeded to give her a good scrubbing bath. They gave us coconut husks(? Im not positive on that) but it acts as a loofa and gets 'sudsy' as well, and when we are done the elephants enjoy the treat.  Some of the local kids jumped in and joined us as we were giving her a good washing. In fact they decided I needed a good washing as well and started throwing buckets of water at me and then laughing hysterically. Be warned though, this is elephant territory soooo the water wasn't exactly 'clean'. Somethings float and you just have to watch out for them..



It was such a relaxing moment playing in the river while watching the elephant. It was just us, our elephant, the 2 kids, our Mahout and one other guy to take photos. The river was the perfect temperature and our elephant... well everyone was in a playful happy mood.  We finally climbed out and went to retrieve our clothes to 'shower' and change. Sometimes it is an adventure learning how to work around the 3rd world way of things. Such as the showers, they were in the bathroom stall with just a spicket coming out of the wall up high. But it got the job done, and we were rewarded with some delicious homemade thai food for lunch.

After lunch we were waiting for the truck to come pick us up to take us over to river rafting. Mr. Coconut brought over the extra bananas and we went over to baby Chooti and his mom, and passed time feeding the two gentle giants.  We even got surprise elephant kisses courtesy of Chooti, sounds sweet, and it is, but it is also wet and dirty. I wish we had those pictures but just as we were enjoying the moment the truck pulled up to take us river rafting on a bamboo raft.

We blew kisses to Chotti and climbed aboard the Rafting Express. shortly later we stopped along the road and climbed down to the bamboo rafts and took a leisurely ride down the river, past many elephants. (Is that not the life??)

Once we were back at home, we were once again ready for food, so we started wandering the street, but nothing was standing out, so we turned and walked down the street and picked up our first ever Roti.  Roti is like a fried stuffed crepe filled with whatever deliciousness your heart desires, (unless its out of season, like strawberries) We found a delicious thai restaurant to complete our meal at... so much food! After we kept walking and stumbled upon the Sunday Market. Surprisingly the market was much bigger then it appeared and full of treasures. The perfect way to end the day! 

PS This is how you get off an elephant…. Slide down the trunk.  Nothing like a little adventure to start of the morning.