p.r.bullen - travelogue

We finally went off for a weekend away, once Jim (Aingeal's boss) got back. And, we've had a house guest, Norma, a good friend of Aingeal's. Aingeal and Norma went off in Jaipur for a nice weekend away. Actually, it was A's second weekend away in a row! Only fair, considering that she's been unable to leave Delhi for 3 months, while Jim's been gone. I've been to Jaipur a couple of times and didn't feel like going away two weekends in a row, so I stayed here instead.

Our weekend away was really nice -- we went to Gwalior, in Madhya Pradesh state for a few days away, taking the Shatabdi Express down Saturday morning and a mid-day train back on Monday. (hmmm... they caught a different Shatabdi Express this morning; getting to be a regular Saturday morning thing!)

We stayed at the Usha Kiran Palace Hotel, which was the residence of the Maharajas favorite daughter and guest house for his visitors. Big, charming place, with large gardens. Last time I was there, there were peacocks, but I guess they only come out in cooler weather. We took a nice nap after our 6AM start, had a late lunch, and walked over the the Jai Vilas Palace & Museum.

Now, this place was really big. Our entire hotel would have easily fit in the courtyard. Part of the palace is still occupied by the maharaja, but one wing is a museum.

It was full of an amazing eclectic collection of stuff, mostly rather old (read: 1880s to 1940s). Some tidbits: a room with a nice collection of ancient Indian statues and one (1) very tiny stylized stone duck, about 4 inches long, from... Ohio, USA. A life size diarama of stuffed tigers in various, generally action, poses; the hallway had photos from tiger hunts, including one where they'd shot about 9. And you wonder why they're endangered? A room full of erotica (mostly oil paintings, but including what the guide book describes as "A life-sized statue of Leda having her way with a swan". Weird.). Rooms & rooms full of furniture -- the Addams-Family-esque black-laquer dining room set (table fully set as if dinner was about to be served), the Belgian cut-glass furniture room, the formal French living room (Louis the which?). But the piece-de-resistance was the formal ballroom and diningroom. The dining room, seating 150 at 3 tables, includes a small electric-railroad for bringing around the drinks tray-or-should-I-say-carriage. The ball room has the two biggest chandeliers that I have ever seen in my life. It is a room that would be at home in any palace in the world. Period. There was a large collage of the Maharaja's daughter's wedding in 1994 -- wow! And on and on.

After a nice dinner, with a British-American couple we'd met a few weeks ago, who happened to be staying there too, we made an early night of it. The next day, Sunday, we headed up to the fort overlooking town. After stopping off at the Archaelogical Museum at the foot of the road up, we walked up to, through, and down from the fort. The museum was nicely laid out, but neither of us was really in the mood for more ancient Indian statues. The road, quite steep, twisted its way up the hill. What's amazing is the amount of noise that you hear -- down in town, you'd never guess there was such a racket! (not that it's quiet, mind you).

Anyway, at the top we quickly went through the old palace up there, which was empty, most interesting from *outside* and bat infested, and then set out to walk to the other end of the fort. As it turned out, firstly you can't walk all the way to the other end of the fort because the last bit is a military school, and secondly the other road down is halfway back the way you came. So we ended up walking a long way in the middle of the day in the hot sun. I'd a bandana with me, which I tied over my head, but even so I got rather sunburned, but poor Aingeal was beet red by dinner time. Next time, I'll pack a small collapsible black umbrella to use as a parasol. (Something to consider bringing for your own use, on a visit to India.) All in all, though, it was a lovely walk, with a magnificent view of the town and the surrounding countryside, cool in the breeze you get at a height.

When we got back, we had another late lunch, on a table under a large tree in the garden at the hotel, of various types of pakora (meat veg or cheese, in batter, deepfried) and ice cold beer. And lots of water, after our walk! Then, another nap (funny how a lot of sun really saps your strength) and dinner.

The next day, we caught the Kerala Express, which arrived exactly on time, something of a miracle since it had been travelling for 48 hours by the time it got to Gwalior. When we caught it from Kerala, it was about 4 hours late at that point, so I was all set for a loooong wait in the station. By the time the expected wait was over, we were almost home! Glad we didn't count on it being late...