Ms Treacy Loves 2 Travel
  • About
    • CONTACT
    • Teaching Resources
    • Travel Resources >
      • Travel Planning
      • Travel Books
      • Adventures in Photography
  • Country Profiles
    • Ecuador
    • Ethiopia
    • India
    • Israel
    • Morocco
    • New Zealand
    • Sri Lanka
    • Tanzania
  • City Guides
    • Belfast
    • Copenhagen
    • Dubai
    • Lisbon

North India Unplugged Part 9

7/12/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture

Agra

Famed for the awe-inspiring Taj Mahal, Agra is a city with a fascinating history and is rich in Mughal heritage,  lush gardens and exquisite buildings and temples. (Trip Notes)
Finally the awesome Taj Mahal!
This is when being on a tour with an amazing tour guide really helps. Monty had taxis ready for us at some ungodly hour and we were waiting at the top of the queue well before the gates opened at 6am. It was just amazing to see this wonderful view as the sun rose, long before the crowds took it over. 

Agra Fort

You cannot visit the Taj Mahal without visiting the Agra Fort. Watch the short video below to understand the connection. 

Learn more about this amazing wonder

1 Comment

North India Unplugged Part 7

5/12/2016

1 Comment

 

​Jaipur

Jaipur was designed by royalty and has delighted visitors for centuries with its pink-hued buildings,
wonderful bazaars and rainbow of bright colours dancing along hectic streets.(Trip Notes)

​Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal or "Palace of Winds" was built in 1798 as a part of the City Palace.
It is an icon of Jaipur. Its unique honeycomb design comes from the five stories of intricately latticed windows.
These were designed to allow the ladies of the court to see out over the street with out being seen.
The lattice also helps to cool the air flowing through it.
It is built of red and pink sandstone and is spectacular when it seems to glow in the early morning light.
Picture

Night at the Cinema

As part of the tour, we had an option to go to the cinema and watch a Bollywood movie. We all opted to go and we saw Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. 
The film itself was very enjoyable. Not too long by Bollywood standards at about 3 hours (Bollywood movies can be much longer). It was the true story of Milkha Singh, one of the greatest Indian athletes. While the dialogue was mostly in Hindi, some of the film was set in Australia and it was easy to follow the storyline. We also had some whispered help from Monty. Eventhough it was a serious story of courage, resiliance and endurance there was room for plenty of Bollywood dancing and singing!
Now the cinema experience. First of all the cinema was a beautiful building, very plush and ornate. There was an interval during the film and plenty of time to stock up on snacks. The audience behaviour was something none of us were used to. Maybe because many films are so long, the audience seemed to treat it as background entertainment to their own conversations. Phones were freely answered, catchups continued and the noise level from the audience was quite high. As we got into the film, the audience seemed to participate with it more. When Milkha competed in a major race the audience cheered him on, hollered when he won, whistled when he kissed the girl and shouted at the badies! Truely an experience. 
While I won't provide links to it here, I see the full movie is uploaded to youtube if anyone would like to view it. 

​The best Part of Jaipur

Jaipur is Monty's home and he invited all 12 of us for dinner at his apartment. He is also an amazing cook!
Picture

Amer Fort

1 Comment

North India Unplugged Part 3

27/11/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture

Thar Desert

Also known as the Great Indian Desert is the 18th largest subtropical desert in the world. It is 200,000 square kilometres in area and how else to travel this ocean of sand but on the "ships of the desert". My first camel trip!
The plan was to travel by camel to our campsite and sleep under the stars. I suppose there's a clue in the category of desert "subtropical". We had just finished dinner when the thunder and lightening started, followed by heavy rain! The camels were abandoned and Monty called for the jeeps-back to the hotel in Jaisalmer!
Can you guess why we couldn't stay in the desert if there was a lot of rain?........snakes!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Our cots for sleeping on the top right. Look at all the clouds though!
Picture
Watching the sunset while waiting for dinner.
1 Comment

North India Unplugged 2013

13/11/2016

2 Comments

 
 In the summer of 2013 I spent a month in India beginning with a three week Intrepid North India Unplugged tour and ending with almost a week in Kolkata. I was very lucky to have Monty Bhatt (2015 World Guide Award Winner) as our tour guide on this "basic" trip. Basic in Intrepid travel terms means local trains, buses, tuk-tuks, rickshaws and basic accommodation- home-stays and guesthouses. We got a true sense of India and got to partake in lots of Indian everyday life. The tour has changed slightly and can be found here. Monty has since set up his own company Undiscovered India Travel.
​
You will see from my account and photos, that Monty or Intrepid Travel are a great way to visit India.
Picture
Tour map beginning in Delhi and finishing in Kolkata

Days 1-2 Delhi

Discover the beating heart of Old Delhi - its narrow streets burst with stores selling silk, copper and spices. Board an overnight sleeper train and head towards Rajasthan. (Trip Notes)
Picture
Picture
Mahatma Gandhi memorial

First Train Journey

2 Comments

    Books to Read

    ​Shantaram    Gregory David Roberts
    Still my all-time favourite book. A thriller set in India/Goa. 

    Goa Traffic    Marissa de Luna

    Indian Summer    Ceri Stone

    Lion: A Long Way Home     Saroo Brierley

    Archives

    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

    Categories

    All
    Adventure Travel
    Agra
    Bharatpur
    Camels
    Catholic
    Delhi
    Education
    India
    India Culture
    India Customs
    Indian Food
    Indian History
    India Train
    Intrepid Travel
    Jaipur
    Jodhpur
    Kolkata
    Mother Teresa
    Pushkar
    Religion
    Saint Teresa
    Solo Travel
    Taj Mahal
    Thar Desert
    Travel
    Varanasi

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly