Jaipur to Fatehpur Sikri
While everyone set up camp and got the tea underway, Geoff and I strolled into town to see what delights we could find. We selected a Chai shop that looked well if not clean, at least busy. Geoff ordered two teas and went through his usually routine to get his without sugar. "Du chai, ek chai chini nay, nay chini" (two teas, one tea sugar no, no sugar) this was greeted with big smiles and lots of head nodding. The shop owner then proceeded to make two teas both with sugar. On tasting his Geoff went back and had another go, this time he stood next to him and when he reached for the sugar Geoff clipped him round the back of the neck. Even bigger smiles this time, the penny had finally dropped. They had some of my favorite Gulab Jamin but it was covered in flies, many of which had drowned in the syrup, so we settled for a chappati and a curry dip. By the time we got up to leave the shop was full to bursting point, we were the best attraction they had seen for years. Outside the shop the crowd was 20 deep all straining to see the foreigners. On arriving back at camp we found it surrounded by locals, they stayed for hours just watching every move. The children sat at the front and every time we went too close, jumped up and drew back almost in fear. I did my trick with the paper bag and imaginary object thrown into the air but it didn't take them long to work it out, slowly the smiles got big and the children moved in closer.

Night camp with audience
When we woke in the morning we already had a small audience which grew during breakfast to quite a crowd, by the time we were ready to leave. As we pulled out there was lots of waving and they ran along side until they couldn't keep up. Before we left they went through our rubbish bag and took almost everything, empty corn flake packets, plastic bags, empty coffee tins, even the scraps of bread. I think a visit to 3rd world countries should be a must for our children. They might think twice about demanding the latest XBox when they realise that many kids would be happy with a full stomach just once a week. When our children are deciding what to order at McDonalds some kids are scavenging in rubbish hoping to find a morsel to stop the hunger for a few minutes.

We arrived at Bharatpur bird sanctuary at 9.30 and were soon doing a walking tour trying to spot not only birds but some of the many types of animals in the park.

I'm missing something

Wild Bore
In mid afternoon we set of for Fatehpur Sikri the magnificent city built by Akbar the Great but abandoned only 30 years later. Work began on the city in 1571, it was built from red sandstone and is a wonderful example of Mogul architecture. Originally a mosque was built to honour a local Sheikh who had predicted a son would be born to the Emperor Akbar. Then the city was built eventually becoming the capital of the empire. Walking around Fatehpur it's easy to imagine what it must have been like in its day. The city is in such good condition you feel that people must still live there, around every corner you expect to see Akbar returning on an Elephant after a days hunting. There is a grassed courtyard where it is said that Akbar determined peoples guilt or innocence, by having them bound and lain on the ground where his favorite elephant was tethered. As the elephant walked around it would stand or tread on and crush the guilty or step over the innocent. Mogul justice at work? I have never forgotten Fatehpur it left a big impression on me and made me realise how grand the Mogul Empire must have been. We think the world begins and ends with western civilisation but we are just one in a line of civilisation that have risen and collapsed over the centuries.

Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur

Elephant Stables

Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti
We camped the night just on the edge of the city even though the locals warned us that tigers and leopards often hunt there at night. Tiger are rare even in India and leopards are hardly likely to attack such a large group. I did notice that everyone was packed very close together that night, why tempt providence. When it got dark I took a stroll around the city, it was very Erie in the moon light and gave off a ghostly feeling making the hair stand up on the back of your neck. The tigers did cross my mind but what grand place to be eaten in! The night passed uneventfully and in the morning we had a great view out over the plain as the sun rose over the city and tinged it pink with long dark shadows.

Carved Pillars
The trip continued
An overland journey to India following the India overland trail through Belgium, Germany, Austria Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, & Nepal. Visting sites of Dubrovnic, Split, Kotor, Athens, Kerimoti, Istanbul, Galipolli, Troy, Delphi, Efes, Goreme, Nemrut, Tehran, Esphan, Persepolis, Shiraz, Kerman, Bam, Quetta, Kandahar, Kabul, Bamian Valley, Kyhber Pass, Indus river, Lahore, Punjab, Amritsar, Kashmir, Delhi, Agra, Taj Mahal, Vanaris, Patna, Raj Path, Kathmandu, Himalyas. All this undertaken in a 20 year old Asian Greyhound, Swagman Tours, LS Bristol bus. This Indiaoverland company was held together by Norm Harris an expatriate Aussie living in Windsor. With drivers like Bob Ashford, Geoff Lawrence, Clive Parker, Dave Watt, Ronnie Martin, John Witchard, Ken Mcdonald, Derek Amey & couriers Fred Fisher, Jos Livingstone, Peter Swift, Kieren Smith & mechanics Gordon Hammond, Graham Libby, Pomme John & Rastas just to name a few.