We left after a decent breakfast at 10.30 on the bus for the drive to the abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri, about 38kms away. This actually took quite a while to get to as there was terrible traffic on the way - human traffic. It was a sort of harvest festival, which meant that thousands of people were walking the 65kms from Agra on the way to Jaipur to a temple to pray for a good harvest. The left hand side of the road was literally flooded with people, all making the trip to pray. Ved said that it took about a day and a half to do the walk. This slowed up the coach enormously, as we were driving on the wrong side of the road most of the time, and excessive horn use was required! Instead of 30 mins, 1.5 hours later we arrived at Fatehpur Sikri, and after a short tuk tuk ride up the hill, we had arrived at a massive old 16th century city, which had a similar feel to the Agra Fort. I thought it was very interesting and the kids had a good time, but Mel was bored after about 10 minutes - another old red sandstone building! As it was on top of a hill, there was a bit of wind, so that might have explained her mood - difficult to keep her hair under control...(i'm not that bad, but one red building is really much like the next! Ed)
We went for lunch in Ved's home town of Bharatpur, a short ride away. The venue was a dilapidated restaurant/hotel, run by, funnily enough, Ved's family. We met his older brother, his younger brother, as well as various other relatives. Lunch was a similar affair to last night, but they managed to rustle up a couple of omelettes for the kids, and again, Carrie liked her cabbage soup! Mel's tummy was in dire straits, and having taken some Immodium after breakfast, she continued on the food abstinence for a while longer..
There was a set of swings in the garden which the kids enjoyed, and after a few games of baked beans & traffic lights, we were back on the bus to visit Ved's house itself. It was a nice gesture to invite us to his home, as (apparently) he very rarely invites people in for a cup of tea. He has 2 young children of 3 & 5, so I think Sam & Carrie swayed his decision somewhat.
As the temperature was cooling down, we headed off to the nearby Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary. On cycle rickshaws we headed off in search of wildlife with binoculars in tow. This was a great way to end the day, as we saw all sorts of wildlife, including cattle, storks, sambar deer, sarus crane, turtles, and even a jackal.
It was back to Ved's family restaurant to grab a quick beer and pick up our evening picnics before heading to the Bharatpur train station to catch the 7.45pm 3 hour train to Sawai Madhopar. This was another great experience - we were all in one compartment, with the children all on a top bunk eating their cheese sandwiches & crisps, before watching the Jungle Book on DVD. The DVD was a life saver - the kids were amused for almost the entire journey with their food, games and bouts of bear neccessities...
We arrived very late (11.30) at our destination, and then it was a 10 minute drive to our next hotel, the Ranthambore Resort. This was very much a case of don't judge a book by its cover - the hotel looks really nice from the outside (& website) but the rooms are minging...(again, i want to put my two pence worth in...this is an absolute shit hole, am considering divorce as we speak! Ed)
All good fun, and with a wake up call of 05.30 for the first of our two game drives, let's just say Mel was not in the best frame of mind..
We went for lunch in Ved's home town of Bharatpur, a short ride away. The venue was a dilapidated restaurant/hotel, run by, funnily enough, Ved's family. We met his older brother, his younger brother, as well as various other relatives. Lunch was a similar affair to last night, but they managed to rustle up a couple of omelettes for the kids, and again, Carrie liked her cabbage soup! Mel's tummy was in dire straits, and having taken some Immodium after breakfast, she continued on the food abstinence for a while longer..
There was a set of swings in the garden which the kids enjoyed, and after a few games of baked beans & traffic lights, we were back on the bus to visit Ved's house itself. It was a nice gesture to invite us to his home, as (apparently) he very rarely invites people in for a cup of tea. He has 2 young children of 3 & 5, so I think Sam & Carrie swayed his decision somewhat.
As the temperature was cooling down, we headed off to the nearby Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary. On cycle rickshaws we headed off in search of wildlife with binoculars in tow. This was a great way to end the day, as we saw all sorts of wildlife, including cattle, storks, sambar deer, sarus crane, turtles, and even a jackal.
It was back to Ved's family restaurant to grab a quick beer and pick up our evening picnics before heading to the Bharatpur train station to catch the 7.45pm 3 hour train to Sawai Madhopar. This was another great experience - we were all in one compartment, with the children all on a top bunk eating their cheese sandwiches & crisps, before watching the Jungle Book on DVD. The DVD was a life saver - the kids were amused for almost the entire journey with their food, games and bouts of bear neccessities...
We arrived very late (11.30) at our destination, and then it was a 10 minute drive to our next hotel, the Ranthambore Resort. This was very much a case of don't judge a book by its cover - the hotel looks really nice from the outside (& website) but the rooms are minging...(again, i want to put my two pence worth in...this is an absolute shit hole, am considering divorce as we speak! Ed)
All good fun, and with a wake up call of 05.30 for the first of our two game drives, let's just say Mel was not in the best frame of mind..
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