they make very annoying sounds. Not sure how you would describe it, it's not a chirp, or a tweet, but sounds more like babies crying or cats in heat. There is one that shows up every once in a while outside my window in the mornings and decides to sound off, but we heard them the most when we were up in Nawalgarh two weekends ago.
I'm finally getting caught up on my updates, after having a rough week last week due to stomach issues. It was inevitable given the way I was eating, the food is too good here! I missed two days of work and then we had a trip to the Taj Mahal over the weekend and now I'm winding down my last few days of work. Hard to believe it's been almost 4 weeks. But, before I get there, I'll go back two weekend to the "country" trip.
One of the groups is working with the Morarka Foundation on rural tourism. We had the opportunity to be their guests for the weekend in the historic town of Nawalgarh, which was on the Silk Road back before the British closed it down. 10 of us packed into our Tempo Traveler tourist bus (same as before) and headed the 3.5 hours Northeast. We arrived at our Heritage hotel, circa 1910, which was at the end of some very narrow, bumpy and dusty roads. We were treated like royalty, there was a nice buffet dinner setup out front, with dancing and a traditional puppet show and an open bar. It was very nice and the Morarka Foundation is all about organic food, so the meal was all organic and we finally had chicken! This was a treat as we have been eating mainly vegetarian since we arrived.
The rooms were really nice, with all old antiques and made to look as it would have been 90 years ago. I got up at 6 the next morning and made my way to the roof to take in the sunrise, even though it was a bit cloudy, and that's when I figured out what was making that awful noise - the peacocks! They were everywhere. And to think, as a kid, we loved being able to see them at the Bronx Zoo. I've come a long way! :-)
Vijay, from Morarka, met us after breakfast and we had a walking tour of the town. It was nice to be out of the city and to just wander the streets and see how life exists outside of Jaipur. It was still dirty, and rundown, and animals everywhere, but had an odd peacefulness to it. Almost as if the people there took care of each other. We visited a temple and were blessed (this happens if you give them a few rupees) and then made our way to the Morarka Haveli museum. The town of Nawalgarh is made up of lots of old Havelis, which is basically a walled house, you enter from the outside into a courtyard, sort of. The paintings were original and the historian showed us how life would have been. Was quite interesting.
Then it was off to tea at the estate/now hotel of the Prince of Nawalgarh, which looked exactly like I would have expected an Indian lodge to look like back during British days, with the men and women in their big safari hats and the green open top jeeps and lots and lots of horses. It was a bit dated and tired, but you had to use your imagination.
After a bit more driving, and after a visit with a Women's Self Help Group, and a visit to the Morarka farm / organic store and training center, we made our last stop of the day, at an organic farm for a traditional Rajasthani meal. We sat outdoors on the ground, shoes off on a burlap floor. The food was served on a big silver plate and was all organic vegetables from the farm. Purple carrots, scallions, potatoes and peas, curd made from the cow's milk on the farm. It was as close to the earth as I will probably ever get. We toured the farm and their eco-tourism lodgings, you can actually vacation there! They heat their gas stove with cow "patties" and use geo-thermal techniques for refrigeration. Was very interesting and the farmer who hosted us was very sweet as well as his family. Here are some pictures of the journey
https://picasaweb.google.com/sachagoodson/NawalgahrTrip03180319?authkey=Gv1sRgCLitre7-zMXyIw#
Next update: Taj Mahal!
I'm finally getting caught up on my updates, after having a rough week last week due to stomach issues. It was inevitable given the way I was eating, the food is too good here! I missed two days of work and then we had a trip to the Taj Mahal over the weekend and now I'm winding down my last few days of work. Hard to believe it's been almost 4 weeks. But, before I get there, I'll go back two weekend to the "country" trip.
One of the groups is working with the Morarka Foundation on rural tourism. We had the opportunity to be their guests for the weekend in the historic town of Nawalgarh, which was on the Silk Road back before the British closed it down. 10 of us packed into our Tempo Traveler tourist bus (same as before) and headed the 3.5 hours Northeast. We arrived at our Heritage hotel, circa 1910, which was at the end of some very narrow, bumpy and dusty roads. We were treated like royalty, there was a nice buffet dinner setup out front, with dancing and a traditional puppet show and an open bar. It was very nice and the Morarka Foundation is all about organic food, so the meal was all organic and we finally had chicken! This was a treat as we have been eating mainly vegetarian since we arrived.
The rooms were really nice, with all old antiques and made to look as it would have been 90 years ago. I got up at 6 the next morning and made my way to the roof to take in the sunrise, even though it was a bit cloudy, and that's when I figured out what was making that awful noise - the peacocks! They were everywhere. And to think, as a kid, we loved being able to see them at the Bronx Zoo. I've come a long way! :-)
Vijay, from Morarka, met us after breakfast and we had a walking tour of the town. It was nice to be out of the city and to just wander the streets and see how life exists outside of Jaipur. It was still dirty, and rundown, and animals everywhere, but had an odd peacefulness to it. Almost as if the people there took care of each other. We visited a temple and were blessed (this happens if you give them a few rupees) and then made our way to the Morarka Haveli museum. The town of Nawalgarh is made up of lots of old Havelis, which is basically a walled house, you enter from the outside into a courtyard, sort of. The paintings were original and the historian showed us how life would have been. Was quite interesting.
Then it was off to tea at the estate/now hotel of the Prince of Nawalgarh, which looked exactly like I would have expected an Indian lodge to look like back during British days, with the men and women in their big safari hats and the green open top jeeps and lots and lots of horses. It was a bit dated and tired, but you had to use your imagination.
After a bit more driving, and after a visit with a Women's Self Help Group, and a visit to the Morarka farm / organic store and training center, we made our last stop of the day, at an organic farm for a traditional Rajasthani meal. We sat outdoors on the ground, shoes off on a burlap floor. The food was served on a big silver plate and was all organic vegetables from the farm. Purple carrots, scallions, potatoes and peas, curd made from the cow's milk on the farm. It was as close to the earth as I will probably ever get. We toured the farm and their eco-tourism lodgings, you can actually vacation there! They heat their gas stove with cow "patties" and use geo-thermal techniques for refrigeration. Was very interesting and the farmer who hosted us was very sweet as well as his family. Here are some pictures of the journey
https://picasaweb.google.com/sachagoodson/NawalgahrTrip03180319?authkey=Gv1sRgCLitre7-zMXyIw#
Next update: Taj Mahal!
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