Horses, Havelis and the Undead

Today started with yoga on the rooftop a little after sunrise. It was a welcome way to ease out some kinks, because the beds are rather firm. Our fearless leader Jane runs a lovely gentle routine.

Today's theme was horses 🐴

We took a 20-minute side trip to Dundlod, home to Dundlod Fort and a stable of Marwari horses. The family behind the fort have been at the heart of bringing the breed back. Marwaris have unique inward-curving ears that swivel , which along with their long eyelashes help to keep the sand out.

Marwari horses came close to disappearing. We were told the English favoured their own stallions, and by the mid-1990s only a few hundred pure Marwaris remained. Framed magazine articles at the fort tell the revival story. A British horsewoman, Francesca Kelly, fell for the breed on a horse safari and teamed up with Raghuvendra Singh of Dundlod, known as Bonnie, to found the Indigenous Horse Society of India. Foals are born at the Dundlod stables each year, and the export of Marwaris is still tightly restricted, with only small numbers ever allowed out. Treks are on offer, and we were also told there's a farrier school reviving traditional horse-shoeing techniques, with some international teaching.

Whilst at the stables we found welcome shelter under the khejri trees, which are everywhere here. They're protected, and cutting one down without government permission can bring heavy penalties. Locals trim them back for shade, stock feed and tools, which gives them that knobbly, pruned look.

Next was the family fort. It's in the middle of a huge renovation, and you get the feeling it will always be a work in progress. The frescoes that have been maintained are phenomenal.

Local artisans called chiteras, traditionally from the potter community, paint onto wet lime plaster. The skills have been passed down through generations. Very few of those artisans remain, but modern restoration projects are training new ones, which is essential to preserving this amazing architecture. 🎨

Our last stop was the Seth Arjun Das Goenka Haveli, the one haveli in Dundlod open to the public. Entry was ₹100 (about NZ$2). It was built around 1870-75 by a merchant family who made their fortune in Calcutta, and the layout is very typical. The front is where the men met and traded, with an upstairs balcony where the women could put in their two cents. Behind the trading area lies the family space, which was also used for honoured guests. There are rope-operated fans called punkas, and the restored frescoes are stunning.

Then it was back to Mandawa for lunch and a siesta.

Revived, we wandered the streets with no real plan and stumbled onto a film set. Some of the cast and crew are staying at our hotel. The women's costumes were brightly coloured and I managed to get a couple of photos. We also passed more havelis, a few temples and street vendors whose stalls were a riot of colour.

Back at the hotel we had drinks with some of the crew. One actor explained the film: a Bollywood zombie movie. It sounds ridiculously amusing 🧟

Over drinks we also got a peek at the honeymoon suite, and the bling was something else. Every wall and the ceiling are covered in mirrored mosaic, and a painting of Krishna dancing with the gopis hangs above the bed

Delhi to Mandawa: Roads, Rituals and a Living Museum

Yesterday was a travelling day, and after a lousy night's sleep I snoozed most of the way. Lots of bumps, potholes and creative driving. I was glad I couldn't see out the front, because I'd have been a nervous wreck. You just have to trust the driver. 😅

We left Delhi around 10am in a much more comfortable coach, "Luxury Beyond Expections" (sic) according to the sign. The luggage was tied on the roof, but we were leaving Delhi, so rules were bent a little.

 

Lunch on the road

We stopped at a clean little roadside diner with dosa, a crispy rice pancake that you tear into pieces and dip in the soup. The dosa batter is fermented, and so is the yoghurt in the lassi, so hopefully my good bugs are getting a top-up, because there isn't much else fermented around. Lots of vegetables, though, I wish I could cook eggplant half as well, perhaps my kids would get why its such a great vege!  

Only three of us are younger than retirement age, but you wouldn't know it. Before getting back on the bus, we found a little toy train and took turns pushing each other around it. There was a lot of laughing, some puffing, and plenty of competitive pushing. Consider it our exercise for the day.

Little towns, big contrasts

We drove through lots of small towns with a big gap between rich and poor. There were unfinished buildings everywhere, and brick kilns with piles of bricks, so the ground here must be good for brick making. 

Monsoon season has just finished so most fields were being prepared for replanting.

Squeezing into Mandawa

Arriving was the real revelation. Our coach drove through streets so narrow that people barely moved aside. You'd swear we were driving over their toes. 

The hotel: a living museum

Then we saw the hotel, It was everything I was hoping for and more. Hotel Heritage Mandawa is a painted haveli, a merchant's mansion, and it's amazingly ornate. Every wall is decorated, and it feels like a living museum that you get to sleep in. Mandawa is known as an "open-air art gallery" for its frescoed havelis and was originally built by a Marwari merchant family (the Poddars) around 1853

A welcome to remember

We were greeted with drumbeats, a red dot (tilak) on our foreheads and a garland of flowers around our necks. They're traditional ways of honouring guests. Then we were handed a glass of rose syrup, a cooling welcome drink.

Dinner and a history lesson

At pre-dinner drinks, Bhooi gave us a history lesson on the old trade routes. Once the overland routes through the Middle East came under Ottoman control, European powers went looking for sea routes to India's spices and textiles.

In 1494, Portugal and Spain divided the newly "discovered" world between them in the Treaty of Tordesillas, drawing a line down the Atlantic. About a century later, Queen Elizabeth I granted a royal charter to the English East India Company in 1600, giving it a monopoly on English trade with the East. The Dutch East India Company followed in 1602, backed by the Dutch government.

At the time, India wasn't one country but a patchwork of kingdoms. Merchant caravans crossing Rajasthan paid heavy duties to the rulers of Jaipur and Bikaner, but the local lords of Shekhawati charged much less. So the caravans took the long way round, and the money settled in Mandawa. Later, British tariffs and new ports pulled the trade away, but the ornate architecture remains.

Roadblocks, Raj Ghat and Dry Days

Sunday: Delhi on high alert

After a shared breakfast we hopped on our bus. It's only a temporary one, since it won't be suitable for the full three weeks. We get the real one tomorrow.

Jane told us a good story about why buses are in short supply. Late last year a bus carrying badly balanced luggage on its roof was involved in an fatal accident, and the rules changed afterwards. Roof carriers are being phased out, so operators have been taking out back seats to fit bags inside. Jane says it's typical of India: rules tighten after a serious accident, and then it becomes a blanket rule.

Anyway local events have us in a bit of a sightseeing pickle

There have been protests and demonstrations in Delhi, mainly on Thursday and Friday, calling for the Chief Election Commissioner to resign over allegations of "vote theft". The government rejects the claims. Possibly as a precaution to quell the unrest, liquor shops across the city were ordered shut for a couple of days, so we've had a couple of dry days.- 

All that meant a heavy police and army presence and huge cordons around many of the sights we'd planned to see, including India Gate, the war memorial dedicated to Indian soldiers who died in the First World War. We couldn't get close enough for photos. We did manage to stop for pictures of two of the government buildings in front of the old Viceroy's House.

Because it was Sunday, we drove through a big Sunday market in Old Delhi. We stayed on the bus!

Gandhi's memorial

Next we visited Raj Ghat, Gandhi's memorial, which was lucky to be open. You go through security to get in, and then it's a big, beautiful, peaceful garden with an eternal flame. After the chaos we'd driven through, it felt like an oasis. We spent about half an hour wandering around, and it was very peaceful and calm.

My phone was dead by then but here is a web image.

Several in our group became the tourist attraction themselves. Complete strangers wanted a photo with them. Apparently being pictured with international visitors is a bit of a status symbol, so they obliged and smiled for the cameras. 📸!

Lunch with no onions or garlic

Lunch was at a local restaurant that served no onion or garlic, which I'd never come across. It turns out some traditions, including Jain and sattvic cooking, avoid them. We ate so much that we had to take food away, and everyone sat there wondering how we'd manage dinner.

In the end we just ate snacks and leftovers and  drank kombucha the whilst Bhooi filled us in with some of India and his own family history. (Definitely a story of its own)

Today we head out to the countryside, to some of Jane's favourite spots. My phone battery went flat during the Old Delhi drive, so I'll recharge and report back with more photos tomorrow.

Bling heaven and Haggling

Our group is finally complete. Erin arrived late on Sat night, so all nine of us are here, plus Jane and Bhooi. Two big days in Delhi, so here's the catch-up.

Saturday: the market

We walked to Central Market, a short stroll from Amar Inn. Whilst the Amar Inn is not the fanciest hotel it does have air con and hotwater and is quite central such that we can actually walk to this market. The pavements are narrow and uneven, so you're dodging tree roots, kerbs and people. 

We started with a big lap to see what we could see. Nothing really opens in Delhi til after 11am and apparently after dark the Central Market is heaving so although the middle of the day was hot and muggy, it was better for dealing with than hoards of people.

Lots of stalls sold the same things, including beautifully decorated saris that weren't quite what we were after but the local women look gorgeous, many in matching tunic, trousers and scarf (dupatta) sets, though Jeans (in this weather!) and tshirt are also common.

When the heat got too much, we hid in an air-conditioned shoe shop full of bling: a diamante-encrusted tiger handbag, wildly impractical heels and embellished sneakers. 🤩

I'd deliberately packed light with just 11kg suitcase (one of the other guests arrived with just 4.5kg bag!!) with the intention to shop once I was here. I came away with 3 outfits (trousers, tunic and scarf) for NZ$20 each. Despite instructions to do so, haggling over NZ$5 can feel petty, so I paid ticket price.. I doubt these outfits will make it out of the house in New Zealand, but they're light and comfortable, so my summer pyjamas are about to get very glam. 

Thrre was only one incident of negotiation. I wanted a white top, 750 rupees but the one they had on display was a bit grubby. "We have a clean one out the back," they said, and then they took my money. The clean one never appeared, and the grubby one went straight back in the bag.

A bit miffed we asked for the money back or a discount, the seller said "one minute!" and dashed off, presumably to find the same top at another stall. meanwhile they had my money AND change! 1050 rupeesI was getting a bit nervous and after a while demanded that the money come back into my hand to be handed over again should this 'clean shirt' ever materialise". It never did so we walked away only to finally start negotiating over the price 600 rupees, 500 I said,  so we got the price down from 750 rupees to 500, about NZ$15 down to NZ$10. Stoked because I really wanted that top!!

First night in India

We're staying three nights at Amar Inn in Delhi while we wait for the rest of the group to arrive. In total there will be nine of us, plus our two guides, Jane and Bhooi, on Best Exotic Tours' trip through Rajasthan. 

Dinner, Chindian style

After an hour's rest from our travels, we had a 'Chindian' dinner last night. It was very fulfilling, though apparently the flavours were more Chinese than Indian. Chinese restaurants elsewhere in India tend to be more of a fusion with Indian flavours.

Bhooi also told us about a local custom: some places in India often leave a little food on the plate to signal they're stuffed and couldn't possibly eat another bite (even if they could). It's the opposite of our Western habit of cleaning the plate to be polite and avoid waste.

4am and wide awake

My body clock is still adjusting. I was asleep before 9pm last night and now I'm wide awake at 4am, hence this blog update 🙂

An evening stroll

We went for a short walk after dinner and I spotted a shop called Archie's, so of course I had to snap a photo for my Archie. I also noted the amazing maze of electrical wiring overhead!!!

Traffic surfing

Bhooi describes driving in India as "traffic surfing", and after my trip from the airport I get it. I landed at a similar time to Richard and Vicki, which meant arriving in peak traffic and being met by a driver. The trip to the hotel took 45-60 minutes and was nerve-racking. There were no lane markings and no indicating, just 4-5 lanes of traffic that were all actually moving, unlike Auckland, where it grinds to a standstill.

Scooters, tuk-tuks, cycles, trucks, buses, taxis and cars all shared the same space, and everyone was beeping. That was the funniest part, because the beeps rarely seemed to achieve anything. I sincerely wish I had taken a video of our driver 'parting the waters' through a flow of traffic that had no gaps. It was insane and completely appealed to me and what Cedric calls my crazy driving.

Back on the Blog After 18 Years: Greetings from Kuala Lumpur

If you're reading this, you have been roped into my solo mad adventure after 18 years!

I've decided to revive the old blog for this trip. I'm heading off on a big three-week adventure, and this way everyone who's interested can follow along without me answering a dozen separate messages. Consider this the group chat with fewer typos.

Kuala Lumpur was just a stopover on the way to the main event, a tour through Rajasthan in India with Best Exotic Tours. I broke the journey for a few days to shake off the worst of the jet lag.

Foot massage and a good cause

On my wanders I noticed lots of blind massage businesses. They provide work for people with visual impairments, and after a wonderful foot massage my feet were ready for the next leg of the trip.

Eating like a local

I always seek out local places to eat. Lunch was served on a banana leaf, a delicious mix of Malaysian and Indian flavours, and everyone around me ate with their hands. Everyone except me! 😂

Dinner, for Frankie

I'm sending this one for Frankie, who loves fish  will appreciate that a whole fish arrived at the table looking right back at me. That small little citrus fruit on the fish had so much juice I had to google it. I really want to plant one in my 'to be planted'  citrus grove. It is a Calamansi (Citrus microcarpa) native to the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

Meet the locals

It was a sweltering 27 felt like 30 so of course I went for a wander- there are no real routes here so wandering often meant a footpath  might just end at the edge of a busy road with no obvious way to cross. 

At the botanical gardens I saw some large monitor lizards swimming in the lake- It looked like an alligator at first! 

I also spotted a small animal that I think is a common treeshrew. They live across Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. It looked a little like a squirrel/stoat

Service with a smile

One thing that really struck me is how many people work in service roles here. Even the smallest hotel has a doorman! Perhaps lower wages make that possible, but it also means more families and communities are supported, which is quite different from NZ.

Next stop: Delhi. Stay tuned.

Ka kite,

Marea x

Special edition or special addition!!!

Here it is, our final entry - hopefully one you'll never forget!!


For those not in the know
Here is a poem of our trip, just so we can crow

Like all our other adventures we have done
Who knows how we came up with this one

An eventful weekend to London was the plan
Smashed up one vehicle but bought a big red van

You all voted for its name which we chose to ignore
We added our own touches throughout the winter core

Thus Pat was born, all set to run
Ready to be our home for the European sun

Skinny dipping in the Highlands is chilly
The fiords were alot more than just hilly

One day we ran out of fuel
Thanks to the bikers we continued without it being too cruel

How amazed we were to see a Puffin
It had us absolutely laughin'

We got pretty good at hiking
But some days we just went biking

Sometimes we made it up to snow
That had us going pretty slow

Medieval cities took us back in time
Communism made sure that people towed the line

Some of the roads were all full of dust
I hope that doesn't make us rust

In some big cities we chose camping grounds
Just to make sure we could see all around

Some of the cities had lots of heart
Especially after listening to some of Mozart

Walking in the Alps could be quite far
So instead we took a cable car

Seeing so much history has been an absolute treat
All the way, the nature could not be beat

A special thanks to all that gave us a bed and helped us recharge
When we see you in NZ, no favour will be too large

We have brought home a souvenir with us to keep
Don't worry there's no way this is tacky or cheap

Some might say it happened in Sweden
But the Baltic Storks may want to argue between them

Late March is the month it will be delivered in
By then, hopefully we'll have a job to keep it from being too thin

Marea already has big plans for when she's 60 and wrinkling
A return trip with her kids to make up for what little she's been drinking

Thanks for reading our blog, sorry if it got too long
But now we have a new subject in which to start another song.