Hello All...
It has been a long time since I have written... Many apologies.
Right now I am writing you from Varkala. Varkala is a small beach town on the Arabian Sea. Since I have last written we travelled from Varanasi to Agra where we saw the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. Both of these sites were incredibly beautiful. Walking through the gate at the Taj is truly one of those moments were you get goose bumps... Even in the 34 degree sunshine! We were there for an hour or two before sunset and were able to see the Taj covered in the wonderful evening light.
From there we made our way across Rajasthan. We were introduced to Rajasthan by visiting a small village called Tordi. There we stayed in an old palace that was converted into a guesthouse. It was basic and beautiful at the same time and had wonderful rooftop views of the countryside. In the evening we hopped onto camel carts and rode to some sand dunes. You would never know it from e photos though. Monsoon has been very good to Rajasthan, delivering the most rain in over 20 years, so the dunes were coved in lush green grasses and shrubs. In Tordi I started to get bogged down with the cough I have been fighting since the trek and was not feeling well at all.
From Todi we went to Jaipur... Here I was quite sick so I stayed behind at the hotel while the rest of the group saw the city and the Amber Fort. The upside of being here for me was the availability of over the counter antibiotics which helped me start feeling better.
We then carried onto another small village called Nimage there was not much to see but the small villages are a welcome break from the cities. The cities are generally nice but one does have to overlook garbage, cows, dogs, and people everywhere. There is also a surprising lack of sidewalks which means we are usually walking alongside the nutty traffic. The awareness of where my feet are in relation to my surroundings has never been so heightened!
We then traveled further west to Jodpur. This is known as the blue city because the old quarter homes are all painted blue. I was looking forward to coming here for the photo opportunities but we didn't actually have a chance to walk the streets of the old city. I was able to snap some photos from afar while we were visiting the very impressive palace in the city.
We had one more stop in Rajasthan at Udaipur. This was the favorite of all the Rajastani cities. The city is set on a lake and has a bit more of a relaxed feel to it. We vistited a temple when the morning songs were happening. This was very beautiful.
I will sign off for now, but I have more to share about our adventures in the South so far. The next couple of day stake us to a home stay in the backwaters of Kerala so likely no Internet. I wont take so long for the next update though!!!
Hope all is well back home and thanks to those of you who Have dropped me the odd email :)
Namaste...
Sarah
It has been a long time since I have written... Many apologies.
Right now I am writing you from Varkala. Varkala is a small beach town on the Arabian Sea. Since I have last written we travelled from Varanasi to Agra where we saw the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. Both of these sites were incredibly beautiful. Walking through the gate at the Taj is truly one of those moments were you get goose bumps... Even in the 34 degree sunshine! We were there for an hour or two before sunset and were able to see the Taj covered in the wonderful evening light.
From there we made our way across Rajasthan. We were introduced to Rajasthan by visiting a small village called Tordi. There we stayed in an old palace that was converted into a guesthouse. It was basic and beautiful at the same time and had wonderful rooftop views of the countryside. In the evening we hopped onto camel carts and rode to some sand dunes. You would never know it from e photos though. Monsoon has been very good to Rajasthan, delivering the most rain in over 20 years, so the dunes were coved in lush green grasses and shrubs. In Tordi I started to get bogged down with the cough I have been fighting since the trek and was not feeling well at all.
From Todi we went to Jaipur... Here I was quite sick so I stayed behind at the hotel while the rest of the group saw the city and the Amber Fort. The upside of being here for me was the availability of over the counter antibiotics which helped me start feeling better.
We then carried onto another small village called Nimage there was not much to see but the small villages are a welcome break from the cities. The cities are generally nice but one does have to overlook garbage, cows, dogs, and people everywhere. There is also a surprising lack of sidewalks which means we are usually walking alongside the nutty traffic. The awareness of where my feet are in relation to my surroundings has never been so heightened!
We then traveled further west to Jodpur. This is known as the blue city because the old quarter homes are all painted blue. I was looking forward to coming here for the photo opportunities but we didn't actually have a chance to walk the streets of the old city. I was able to snap some photos from afar while we were visiting the very impressive palace in the city.
We had one more stop in Rajasthan at Udaipur. This was the favorite of all the Rajastani cities. The city is set on a lake and has a bit more of a relaxed feel to it. We vistited a temple when the morning songs were happening. This was very beautiful.
I will sign off for now, but I have more to share about our adventures in the South so far. The next couple of day stake us to a home stay in the backwaters of Kerala so likely no Internet. I wont take so long for the next update though!!!
Hope all is well back home and thanks to those of you who Have dropped me the odd email :)
Namaste...
Sarah
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for keeping up with your posts...its great to hear about all your adventures and know you are doing well! Mel & D
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving from Castlegar. What a nice treat to read your notes and learn more of your travels. Everyone is following you here and the update is great. Hope you are feeling better for the last half of your holiday. Had turkey with the trimmings and are missing you. Dad and Shirl
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, I had a chance to spend 3 days in Kelowna and area visiting. ,hope you are well and taking lots of photos
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! Received your blog link from my dad - I'm looking forward to keeping up with you here. Best wishes. - Meghan V. S.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having a blast! Glad to see you've incorporated some ankle stability exercises by walking on streets with no sidewalks while dodging cows, dogs, people, and vehicles :P Multi-tasking at it's finest!!
ReplyDelete-Krystie