So we are now at our 2nd stop - Bikaner.
As said we have hired a driver who takes us around and so far this was a very good choice as it makes life a lot easier (at least for us :)).
The first stop was Mandawa - this city was initially not on our list but proposed by the travel agent as there are many old wall paintings (called Havelis) to be seen there, etc.. Getting there from Delhi took quite some time (approx. 7hrs by car) but the city and the hotel was nice and we met some other travellers from Chile and Down under.
Pics from Mandawa: https://picasaweb.google.com/108376587121284252497/Mandawa?authkey=Gv1sRgCMDG59mWksHV6AE#
We first tried to explore the city ourselves as we were confident that our lessons learned in Delhi reg. people approaching you would be sufficient. Unfortunately we were proven wrong and, after just 2min, had 5 kids following us (and this number kept increasing and telling them to back off did not help at all). Thus we got a guide in the end (whom we paid peanuts (not lit.) and told the jerks to stay away.
Today morning we left for Bikaner - another 4hrs on the road. Before going into Bikaner we visited a famous temple named "Rat Temple". As any temple you are only allowed to enter barefoot which, well, allows you to walk on dried rat pupu and pipi and thus giving you the full experience once the first rat runs over your foot.
Afterwards we vistited an old Fort which was quite impresive and well preserved - astonishing fact is also that, according to the book it only took 5 years to build (surprising when looking at its size)
Pics from Bikaner: https://picasaweb.google.com/108376587121284252497/Bikaner?authkey=Gv1sRgCPjD9o-W4ubm9wE#
Upload of further pics is currently in progress - link will be posted as soon as available
things we've learned - continued:
o "bat" or so means "go away" in Hindi. doesn't work when said by a foreigner though (and might cause misunderstandings once we are in Thailand)
o Girls from Chile drink their beer with lemon and salt (and it tastes surprisingly good - not sure if that's a sign for the quality of the beer)
o Camels have a 6th sense and find the way home all by themselves - thus the driver can sleep (they even step aside when a car approaches)
o Roadside restaurants can be good - but you need to know which ones (and not rely on looks)
o 10 rupis for 3 cups of tea are OK - when giving 10 rupis to an employee of a fort as a little sign of thankfulness you are laughed at
conspiracy theories (so far only one - to be continued once more are apparent)
o the smog in Delhi does not come from the traffic but from the cows
https://picasaweb.google.com/108376587121284252497/Delhi02?authkey=Gv1sRgCI-BrcOhq4_73AE#
https://picasaweb.google.com/108376587121284252497/Delhi?authkey=Gv1sRgCKi0gJWM3bab1wE#
As said we have hired a driver who takes us around and so far this was a very good choice as it makes life a lot easier (at least for us :)).
The first stop was Mandawa - this city was initially not on our list but proposed by the travel agent as there are many old wall paintings (called Havelis) to be seen there, etc.. Getting there from Delhi took quite some time (approx. 7hrs by car) but the city and the hotel was nice and we met some other travellers from Chile and Down under.
Pics from Mandawa: https://picasaweb.google.com/108376587121284252497/Mandawa?authkey=Gv1sRgCMDG59mWksHV6AE#
We first tried to explore the city ourselves as we were confident that our lessons learned in Delhi reg. people approaching you would be sufficient. Unfortunately we were proven wrong and, after just 2min, had 5 kids following us (and this number kept increasing and telling them to back off did not help at all). Thus we got a guide in the end (whom we paid peanuts (not lit.) and told the jerks to stay away.
Today morning we left for Bikaner - another 4hrs on the road. Before going into Bikaner we visited a famous temple named "Rat Temple". As any temple you are only allowed to enter barefoot which, well, allows you to walk on dried rat pupu and pipi and thus giving you the full experience once the first rat runs over your foot.
Afterwards we vistited an old Fort which was quite impresive and well preserved - astonishing fact is also that, according to the book it only took 5 years to build (surprising when looking at its size)
Pics from Bikaner: https://picasaweb.google.com/108376587121284252497/Bikaner?authkey=Gv1sRgCPjD9o-W4ubm9wE#
Upload of further pics is currently in progress - link will be posted as soon as available
things we've learned - continued:
o "bat" or so means "go away" in Hindi. doesn't work when said by a foreigner though (and might cause misunderstandings once we are in Thailand)
o Girls from Chile drink their beer with lemon and salt (and it tastes surprisingly good - not sure if that's a sign for the quality of the beer)
o Camels have a 6th sense and find the way home all by themselves - thus the driver can sleep (they even step aside when a car approaches)
o Roadside restaurants can be good - but you need to know which ones (and not rely on looks)
o 10 rupis for 3 cups of tea are OK - when giving 10 rupis to an employee of a fort as a little sign of thankfulness you are laughed at
conspiracy theories (so far only one - to be continued once more are apparent)
o the smog in Delhi does not come from the traffic but from the cows
https://picasaweb.google.com/108376587121284252497/Delhi02?authkey=Gv1sRgCI-BrcOhq4_73AE#
https://picasaweb.google.com/108376587121284252497/Delhi?authkey=Gv1sRgCKi0gJWM3bab1wE#
Super Fotos! echt a arger Kontrast - die Stadt und dann die Sehenswürdigkeiten...
ReplyDelete