Udaipur the City of Lakes

Known by many names including "City of Lakes," the "Venice of the East," and the "Kashmir of Rajasthan", Udaipur is set on a series of interconnected man-made Lakes. It is the most picturesque of the Indian cities that we have visited.

The local Maharajan once owned three palaces: a City Palace, a Lake Palace (now a hotel) and a Mountain Palace. We toured part of the City Palace, the old market and went on a boat trip to island with gardens.

Tomorrow we fly from Rajasthan, India’s largest state to Goa its smallest where we will be having some R&R.

Jaipur the Pink City

We arrived in the pink city of Jaipur on Saturday afternoon. The Old City which dates from the 17^th century is a planned city with wide streets inside its defensive walls. The walls and buildings were painted pink for a visit by Prince Albert in the 19^th century and have remained that colour ever since. We explored the markets of the old city on Saturday.

Today (Sunday) we took an elephant ride to the Amber Fort and we explored its palatial buildings, and then returned to the Old City to visit the Wind Palace. We finished the day at old observatory built by a king to accurately calculate horoscopes.

 

Tomorrow we head on to Udaipur which will be the end point of the tour component of our Indian holiday.

Varanasi, Agra, Ranthambore

It’s been a busy time since arriving in Varanasi on the overnight train. We visited Sarnarth where the Buddha first preached and had an evening boat trip down the Ganges where we viewed 2 competing prayer ceremonies. The ceremonies were about 100 metres apart, were conducting the same chants and rituals but were out of synch by a few minutes.

We received some comments about the skinny cow in Delhi. In Varanasi the cows were much fatter and much more common on the streets. We were told that they like to stand in the middle of the road as passing traffic keeps the flies off them.

After a night in a hotel we were up before the crack of dawn for a sunrise boat ride. We didn’t actually see the sun, due the thick smog but it was pleasant and cool. After breakfast it was off to the airport for a flight to Agra. Joy went on a tour of the Red Fort while Adrian stayed at the Hotel to sleep off a dose of Varee Belly. In the morning it was a tour of the Taj Mahal and then an 8-hour road trip to Ranthambore. Along the way Joy became ill: so, it has been a diet of boiled rice and dahl for the both of us until today.

This morning we went on the first of two-jungle safari’s at the Ranthambore Tiger Park. Tiger sightings are not guaranteed but we were lucky enough to see a pair of them doing what comes naturally. We also saw deer and antelope and some pretty specky scenery.

   

   

Dalliance to Delhi

It has been difficult to find reliable WIFI so far in India.

We touched down at Delhi International Airport at around 11.00pm (Delhi Time) on Friday after a journey of around 20 hours elapsed time. Having been granted E-Visas before arrival, we expected an efficient passage through border security. But we were wrong. The Indian Government requires E-Visa holders to have fingerprints scanned as well as the usual document checking. This was a tediously slow process as the scanners repeatedly failed to read and in the end, it took over 2 hours to make it out of the airport. Fortunately, we had a driver waiting for us and he managed to get us safely to our accommodation.

Saturday was a lazy day and all we did was lounge around in the 36C weather, visit some nearby markets and eat: Yum.

Sunday, we met our guide and toured monuments in New Delhi including: Qutab Minar, a Jain Temple in the shape of a lotus flower, Humayun tomb, India Gate, and a Sikh temple.

Monday was all the hustle and bustle of Old Dehli with a rickshaw ride through the old city, a walk through the spice markets and visits to various mosques and temples.

We are now on the night train to Varanasi (a 12 hour trip) but more about that later.

PS we made it to Varanasi. Hotel overlooks Ganges ... pics later

Bound for India

The bags are packed, tomorrow we fly to India.

Where to next?

You might wonder how on a trip to Western Australia we ended up on the Gold Coast. Well that's what happens when you don't have a fixed itinerary. After Broken Hill we headed to Lightning Ridge (also not on our plans but not so far away).

We had to decide where to next?

There was flooding down south, Queensland was 60k north, so we headed to Queensland.

We have been in Port Macquarie for the last couple of days and will start our journey home tomorrow.

Heading East

After heading through up country we spent a couple of days in Esperance.

Then headed back across the Nullarbor.

 Through the Gawler Ranges.

And on to the Flinders Ranges. We had planned to spend more time there but the skies opened while we were at Wilpena. We sought advice from the ranger who said "Go back to bed with a hot water bottle". The road north was closed due to flooding and the dirt roads were unsafe.

We decided to head through the Southern Flinders to Peterborough where we learned about its railway history at Steam Town. We then spent a couple of days in Broken Hill where we visited galleries and had tea at the Palace Hotel which was featured in Pricilla Queen of the Desert.

Tonight we are in Cobar and heading north toward Lightning Ridge tomorrow.

Down to Up Country

We have heard of people going 'up country' now we know where to find it. We traveled down to Lesueur National Park.

Then down to Nambung National Park to explore the Pinnacles desert. 

Further down to Dryandra where we stayed at Dryandra Woodlands Park and went on a guided nocturnal tour of Barna Mia, a predator-proof sanctuary for endangered marsupials including Bilby, Boodie, Woylie and Marla. Barna Mia is at a secret location within the park and its only when you book for the tour that the location is disclosed.

Down, down and we came to Kojonup (a  wildflower hot spot). We think Koji, as locals refer to it, is the capital of 'Up Country'. Exploring google maps to decide on our next destination we found that a majority localities in the area end in up. There is Changerup, Dinninup, Kulikup, Jingaup, Mobrup, Chowerup, Jackitup and lots more ups

We chose a route past the Balicup Lake and Jebarup Nature Reserves and have spent the last two nights at the Mt Trio bush camp in Amelup on the edge of the Stirling Range National Park.

Here we have been on a guided walk to Orchid City.

Tomorrow we will head into the national park and then eastward through Toompup, Ongerup, Needilup and Jacup

Heading Southward

After our sojourn in Coral Bay, we have been gradually heading southward. Spent a couple of days exploring the highlights of Shark Bay ... dolphins at Monkey Mia, Stingrays at Eagle Bluff, stromalites at Hamelin Pool. At Shelly Beach we saw shells and along the road we met a Bobtail Lizard.

Further down the road we found the famous leaning trees of Greenough and visited the abandoned village which is now managed by the National Trust. We camped last night at Western Flora Caravan Park which is set in bushland in the middle of nowhere. And guess what! ... there were more wildflowers.

Coral Bay

We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and arrived in Coral Bay on Monday and have propped for a while. Have snorkeled off the beach, toured the bay in a glass bottom boat and explored the Ningaloo Reef James Bond style on a sea scooter tour.

Tomorrow it will be more snorkeling and kayaking before continuing the journey south on Saturday.

What a Week in WA

Wow its been a week since our last post. We've been to...

Coalseam Conservation Park

Geraldton

 Kalbarri

 

Left the country to travel to the Principality of Hutt River where we were greeted by Prince George and had an audience with Prince Leonard on his 91st birthday.

And explored the highlights of Carnavon

Wildflower Wanderings in WA

A week ago Adrian couldn’t tell the difference between a daisy and a dogwood but now he can spot spiders, donkeys, snail and other orchids as well as various varieties of everlastings, damperia, hakeas and more. Yes, we have entered wildflower country. 

 

From Merredin in the wheat belt we travelled to the New Norcia to explore Australia’s only Monastic town and then on to the Wildflower Way with a night at Dallwallinu, one in the bush and now at Mullewa.

Along the way we have made excursions to wildflower hotspots, seen mini wave rock and tramped numerous nature reserves.

So, A horse sticks its head in a ute …

After seeing the whales at the Head of the Bight, we made it across the Nullarbor to WA, spending nights at Cocklebiddy and Kalgoorlie before heading north to explore sculptures on Lake Ballard and wild flowers around Niagra Dam (where we camped last night).

Today we went to the outback town of Kookynie (population 13) because we heard a story about a horse that goes into a bar …  The horse didn’t make an appearance while we were at the pub but we spotted him as we cruised the ruins of this ghost town. The horse ambled over stuck his head in the ute and had a laugh. Western Australian Tourism has a video on youtube about the horse click to see

After a few laughs with the horse we travelled to Merredin. We will stay a here a couple of nights to get the washing done and explore the area.