Breakfast at Suryaa Villa was wonderful again and the lovely waiters, Padam and Ranjeet, serve us so graciously and go the extra mile to accommodate the fussy requests of the kids. Really it is wonderful here. We wrote a great review for them on Trip Advisor.
And then a good Skype call to Tim's teacher at DECV inspired him to keep going. Both big kids are having slight to major melt downs because of the learning requirements, but what's new?! It happens every year when they start a new level but this is a bit more challenging. As I said to them, it will prepare them for university and life when self motivation and discovery are necessary.
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| Little dairy. |
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| Cow pats drying in the sun...nb hand prints... |
Karl and I went for a walk locally to find an ATM but the one we found wouldn't spit out the money so we were concerned for a while that our card had been blocked...but never fear, we went to our familiar ATM and all was well. The back streets were again a feast for the senses: little dairies and cows, rubbish heaps and shacks cobbled together with any material available alongside posh houses that would not look out of place in Toorak (a classy Melbourne suburb).
School work aside, we had promised Tim that we would go back to Amber and climb the walls surrounding the town which looked so enticing and we were up for the challenge. We nearly caused a traffic jam as we negotiated a black (slightly larger) tuk tuk for the day for 600 Rupee. In a flash there were nine or ten tuk tuk drivers ready to squeeze us in.
We hopped out opposite the Amber Fort and started the ascent up the ramparts. The steps were huge and irregular and would not pass Australian safety standards. It was amazing as we climbed higher and higher with a wall one side and no barrier on the other side of our path which was at times no wider than a metre (if that)! Not for those wary of heights!
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| The challenge ahead. |
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| When you are not too keen on heights... |
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| Window to the world...Amber Fort looks small from here! |
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| Big steps for little legs |
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| Note no railing on one side |
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| Amazing view which was good for defending the city. |
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| Tim and a local young man reach the heights! |
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| Great spot for a traditional hand stand! |
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| What a feeling! What a jump! |
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| Tim's turn to jump! |
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| Tim in Far Far Away Land. |
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| Under another archway! |
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| Annika braves the heights, too! |
As steep as it was going up, the descent was probably more of a challenge because we had to look where we were going! Finally, with shaky knees, we made it to the base in the middle of the village at a building site where the women were carrying building materials on their heads. One asked to be photographed and was delighted to see the digital image of herself on my camera!
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| Knees beginning to shake! |
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| You can make it, Karl! |
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| Getting rather narrow here... |
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| Can't complain about the view. |
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| This beautiful lady asked for a photograph! |
Tim was keen to climb some more and we allowed him to go off exploring with a commitment to our rendezvous at 4PM. In the end he couldn't find the next part of the wall so set himself the challenge to walk up to the Jaigarh Fort again.
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| We never tire of elephants on the streets! |
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| Love this! |
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| Shiv temple en route to Amber Fort. |
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| They couldn't be happier. |
Meanwhile, the rest of us wandered through a market place and bought some more peas in pods. Luke is finally eating some veggies in the form of delicious pink carrots and shelled raw peas and loving the crunch again. He loves naan bread and papadams and bananas, too, so we are happy he is eating more variety. There were several friendly goats chomping on the empty pods, the sight of which seems so common place now!
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| So enjoy the cobbled streets and archways. |
We followed the cobbled streets toward the Amber Fort, passing Shiv temples and cottage industries and of course cows and pigs and goats! Again, there are surprisingly few tourists so we attract a lot of attention. We tried to circumvent the Amber Fort and get to the front entrance and I have a feeling we may have trespassed as a kindly security guard ushered us to the front through a rope....eeek!
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| Annika chose the back seat! |
Tim made it on time back to the pre-arranged spot and we tuk tuked near to our accommodation. A brief hitch happened when we got out of the tuk tuk and the driver wanted an extra 50 Rupee for "parking" (Karl had seen him give 10 Rupee to the parking attendant), but Karl insisted on the negotiated price and that was that. Fresh orange juice from our trusty orange juicer and some peanut brittle from a spice vendor and we were on our way home.
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| Fresh orange juice for 20 Rupee...can't get better than that! |
Tim was particularly eager to let off the fireworks Karl let him buy the other day. They are illegal in Australia for the general public to use so this was his chance. With the help of a curious young man watching us, the "Gems" lit up and sparkled brightly and delighted us all!
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| Fancy fireworks as they say! |
There's bits in every single story where I wish to be there with you, but I just realised, that nearly always, it's the food bits! I admire your street food buying, because I'm sure you select carefully, but so many travellers miss out on this wonderfulness due to fear. Yay!
ReplyDeleteSticking to vegetarian and crowded stalls so we know there is a good turnover. The vendors are always delighted to serve us and if they can't speak English, someone is always willing to help. On the whole they charge us what we think are local prices ie very cheap. Bold, yes, but we "suck and see" trying one day a little and then more the next day if it all goes well so to speak!
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