Assistants toting Table, Chairs and Hampers of food for us
Causeway to Water Palace
Refreshments in Cupola
God, I wish they had railings on their stairs!
I had to walk across the damn thing!
Drinks before dinner
Dinner
We checked out of our hotel in Bundi, and drove to Fort
Begu. The countryside was surprisingly varied. Sometimes we were driving by
lush green farm fields. The greenery would disappear and we suddenly are in the
rocky Rajasthan desert. Then green farms would reappear. It all depended on
irrigation and soil condition that kept changing. The vastness of the desert is amazing. Here is a small clip to show it:
We stopped at a Jain Temple. I have never met a Jain in the
United States, it is primarily an India Religion. They are very strict, won’t eat
meat or any vegetable grown underground that includes potatoes, garlic, onions,
carrots, etc. They are thought of as being rich. Their god is always shown as a
nude male.
Cathy had done her homework and wanted to spend a couple of
nights at Fort Begu. I knew nothing of it. The tour people that help arrange
the logistics for our tours, had never heard of it. Our driver had never been
there and didn’t know where it was. I knew this was going to be an interesting
stay.
We arrived at Fort Begu. We drove through the narrow gates of its walls. We passed through many gates's, until we arrived in
the interior courtyard. The Fort's high, thick walls protected the Palace for centuries. They now appeared to be in
a state of disrepair. We were greeted and escorted to our rooms. It turns out we
are the only two guests in the Palace which only has 5 guests rooms. It was up several flights of narrow, steep stairs to the very top level. I couldn’t
imagine myself navigating these stairs at night or if I had been drinking (both
assumptions would be proved wrong).
I wasn’t sure what I was in for, but decided to just go with
the flow. The manager explained they would have another tour for us at 4:30. We
retired to our room and at 4:30 climbed down the steep stairs. The prince, who owns
the property, then met us. The Kingdom of Begu and the Palace has been in his family since its
inception in 1430. The family lost its title of Maharaja of the Kingdom at the
birth of India in 1947. His grandfather and father are still alive; hence he is
still a prince. He made it clear that the family was very noble, even if they
aren’t rulers. He can’t be called a prince in the newspapers, but still has the
airs of superiority and entitlement. We weren’t thrilled with him.
He invited us into his 1943 Jeep and drove us off through
the villages - in a procession followed by a 2nd car with the manager of
the hotel, 2 attendants and our driver Vijay. We went through villages his
family used to control to view some ancient Hindu Temples and another step
well. These wells are amazing to me. They are extremely deep and beautiful. We
then drove to the cremation grounds that only his royal family is allowed to
use. We then drove to the family summer palace. The entire royal family moved
to the Water Palace that is situated on a man made lake, each summer. It was cool on the
lake, compared to the harsh heat of the main Palace. The Palace and adjoining
Temple are still owned by the family. The palace is in a state of obvious
disrepair, totally uninhabitable, a relic of time gone by. It was connected to
the land by a narrow walkway.
The 2 attendants scampered ahead across the causeway
carrying, chairs, tables and hampers. I had two thoughts: this procession
heading out for a picnic reminded me of the scene in Citizen Kane, where Kane
takes a procession of cars out on a similar picnic. My other thought was of
sheer fear; I suffer from vertigo, and the thought of walking across the narrow
causeway connecting the Water Palace to the land scared the hell out of me.
I tried not to look down and slowly crossed to the Water
Palace and then the Temple. I had made it! They eventually led Cathy and me up steep narrow
stairs, to a cupola overlooking the Palace, Temple and Lake. It was sunset.
There was a table and chairs arranged, food and drink were set out for us, and
then they departed. They said stay as long as you like, when you want - come
down, we will hear your steps then we will leave. Of course the entire time I
was thinking I have to walk down that narrow causeway again, it did take a
little of the charm away, but it was still a very magical moment.
Our mini caravan drove back towards the palace. On the way we
mentioned some Bollywood stars we knew, and the Prince became a different
person. It turns out our prince wants to be an actor. Acting is his first love.
But the downside of being a prince is you have to stay in the royal business,
which isn’t acting (although in a way it is, I suppose). All of sudden we were swapping Bollywood Gossip. He became
much more real with us as we connected on this superficial level. It is actually kind of sad, that he feels constrained
from doing what he has a passion for. Pity the head that wears a crown as Shakesphere said. When we arrived back at
the Palace he said we should come down at 7:30 for drinks and dinner in the courtyard.
When we descended from our room to the courtyard there were kerosene lanterns illuminating
the yard, classical music be played, and 3 chairs arranged around a fire.
Nearby was a portable bar stocked with liquor. The prince explained in India, the host
never says when dinner was to be served. We should enjoy the conversation,
drink the wine, and when we were ready to eat, we should inform him. 10 minutes
later dinner would be served. That works for us. We drank, we talked of
Politics, Bollywood, US and India, and then if by magic, we happened to mention
Cathy’s Indian born doctor: Sonu Ahluwalia. It turns out the prince went to
school with his brother and knows Sonu. It is a very small world. Our connection deepened.
We said we were ready for dinner. The prince departed, and Cathy and I were left alone in the
garden. There was a table set and the staff started to serve us a delicious
dinner. All the while we were enjoying the magnificent stars overhead. In Los
Angeles, we don’t see very many, in Rajasthan the sky is filled with stars. After dinner we when we
decided it was time to retire we successfully navigated the steep steps to our
room. It was an unbelievable experience.
After breakfast, we met our guide. He turned out to be
excellent. Key to a good guide is that when he speaks I can understand him. His
English was excellent. He took us first to the wholesale vegetable market. We
walked around and really enjoyed ourselves. Spread out on the ground in front
of us were all kinds of vegetables: eggplants, cauliflower, red carrots, garlic,
turmeric, chickpeas, etc. What I especially liked were the mounds of herbs: cilantro,
parsley on and on. They were all so fragrant. Cows mingled among the people,
and merchants brushed them away if they were munching on their produce.
We left the market and headed out to see several Step Wells.
Bundi is famous for the fabulous wells. There are many in Bundi. They are
amazing. They are not religious temples but rather wells for water. There are
extremely deep. Many of them date back to the 14th century. They are
beautifully persevered, although not used today. During the monsoon season,
the wells would fill up, both through the rain that came down and an intricate
system of natural drainage from the aquifer. People could take the water and as
it was used the well level would lower and the people could descend another
level of steps to get water. As we climbed around the step wells, I had to
stand close to the wall, I have vertigo and looking over ledges makes me very
uncomfortable.
We visited 3 of the Step Wells and thought they were all
magnificent. The third was interesting, because it was locked and closed to the
public. One family across from the well, was responsible for it. Our guide
called up to a family member that was sitting on a balcony overlooking the
street, and asked for the key, a family member came down, gave him the key. We
were then able to open the gate and descend into the well. Every family seems
to have their privilege.
We went up to the Fort and Palace. Like most Forts and
Palaces in Rajasthan, they were situated as the highest structures on the
mountain. It was quite a trek up the steep hillside. Apparently there is no
word in Hindi for railings, cause there sure aren’t a lot of them at this fort.
Like many forts there were layers of protections of walls and gates, with the
Palace at the center.
This Palace has long been abandoned although there was a
nice collection of miniature paintings. Our excellent guide explained the
different schools of paintings and the stories associated with them.
Interestingly with the Maharaja having many of wifes, that meant on any given
night a lot of the women were left alone. Many of the paintings depicted them
either drinking to the point of being drunk or smoking opium to get through the
boredom of the harem.
After visiting the Fort and Palace we stopped for a little
jewelry shopping, nothing big, just some gifts, then walked the narrow streets
of Bundi. We were constantly avoiding motorcycles, cows, bicycles and
occasional car or auto-rickshaw.
We purchased some fenugreek seeds to see if we can grow them
in America. As far as we know we can’t buy fresh fenugreek anywhere in LA.There is a recipe we want to make that
calls for it.
We then returned to our Palace Hotel to read, have a massage
and dinner.
Bundi grew on us. We were out of the tourist bubble and were seeing an India that was hardly westernized.
After breakfast we sadly checked out of The Oberoi. To go to Ranthambore is a one time event for us. We saw our tiger, stayed at an absolutely 1st class hotel and enjoyed our time in nature. It was a great way to recover after the bustle of Jaipur.
It was a 3 hour drive to Bundi through the lush landscape of Rajathstan. We saw fields as far as the eye could see lush green from young wheat. Other fields were bight yellow as mustard grew in the fields. We passed through many tiny, dusty villages and could only wonder what the people's lives were like. Probably most of them would never venture more than a few kilometers from their home in their entire life. Women still balance jugs of water on their heads as they walk from pump to home.
The roads were filled with motorcycles, bikes, cars, trucks, cows, bullock carts and people walking in the emptiness between villages.
On the drive we passed a group of people on a pilgrimage to a Temple. Music was playing, they were happy and dancing in the street. This is the way we love to think of India. You can see a short video clip below.
We arrived at out hotel in Bundi, It is without a doubt the finest hotel in all of Bundi. It is grandly named The Hadoti Palace. The elevator doesn't work, wifi in lobby only. It is a long way from staying at a Taj or Oberoi. Luckily figuring we wouldn't be able to get good wine in some of these more remote places we stocked up in Jaipur. The hotel freaked us out at first, but actually has kind of a ramshackled appeal. We will be fine here.
Sometimes it is better to be lucky than smart. Yesterday we mistakenly believed we had two reservations at The Imperial Hotel in Delhi. I hopped right on it and called to cancel the reservation. Mission accomplished. Today I had to call back and make new reservations at The Imperial. To my delight rates had gown down. I was able to get a better class of room for less money. Lucky us!
We went for a long walk through the old town. Narrow streets, crazy motorcycles, very occasional car. Tiny stores dot both sides of the street. They are roughly organized (as in much of India) by what they sell. Tiny store after store selling just locks, then a group selling pots, then a group selling musical instruments. I don't know how any of them make any money. We wound up walking into a poor Muslim neighborhood dotted with mosques. Everyone was friendly, many waving their hands, smiling, saying hello or wanting me to take their picture.
You can get a sense of the craziness of walking in Bundi, by the short clip I made here of us walking down the narrow street.
We took a tuck-tucked pack to our somewhat downscale palace, checked out the wifi in the lobby, then retired by the pool to read. Not so bad after all.
We woke up early and enjoyed taking a nature hike after
breakfast. Our guide pointed out flowers, birds, animals, insects and
fish we would never have been aware of. He is a naturalist that rescues all
kinds of animals. Two female elephants came over to the Hotel as they do every
day. They offered to take us for a ride but Cathy was content to just snuggle
with their trunk. They are amazing creatures.
We were scheduled to go for an afternoon Safari. Since we
are in the North of India, the jungle is a forest jungle, it is covered with trees, it is not a
tropical jungle. Most people, actually I guess all people, that stay here at The
Oberoi Vanyavilas in Ranthambhore go on at least one Safari during their stay - many do not see a tiger.
We had no expectation of actually seeing a tiger.
The open jeep was very dusty
as we rode the dirt trails of the preserve. The forest is filled with deer, crocodiles, turtles many species of birds, monkeys, etc. The driver was surprised when I told him we don't have monkey's in America. They are ubiquitous in India. Our jeep stopped and the
guide and driver started pointing and say "Look over there by the fallen log, there is a
tiger". I look I can’t see any tiger. I say "Where is it"? The guide says "By the fallen
tree". I say "I am in the middle of a fucking forest, there are trees everywhere,
can’t you be more specific"? He eventually gets me to see the tiger, that
blended right in, those stripes come in handy if you want to camouflage your
self in a forest. All of a sudden a
deer approaches and heads out into the water. Tiger now has dinner on his mind. I
start thinking do I want to see the end of Bambi? This nature thing seems a little
in your face at this point. I know this is how pretty tiger gets his food, but I don’t want
to see it. We drive off to see some other tigers and I wonder if the deer ever
made it out of the water alive.
The Safari was fun, I was glad to see the tiger, in all its majesty,
but it was time to return to the Oberoi for drinks before dinner. On a separate
notice, We have stayed in many high end hotels on our travels, but we both
agree we had never had more attentive staff, they continually performed at a
level that was extraordinary.
We have dinner outside warmed by a giant log fire, then
return to our tent for the night.
I woke up at 3am with a bad case of Delhi Belly. I have been
very careful of what I eat (except for a lot of cashews). What ever it was, I
was sick. We were supposed to leave Rambagh Palace at 10:30am and drive for
3-1/2 hours to The Oberoi Vanyavilas in Ranthambhore. We carry a lot of meds
with us to treat Delhi Belly and eventually I thought I was getting a little
better. We were then faced with classic travelers dilemma: Do I attempt the car
trip on bumpy roads, winding through the Rajasthan desert, or do I delay our
departure?The Rambagh is not a bad place to be stuck!
We decided I was stable enough that we would attempt the
drive. I had visions of me needing to hide behind a tree somewhere during the
ride if the Delhi Belly re-occurred. Happy to relate, the meds kicked in, I am
on the road to recovery and the ride was uneventful.
We drove the desert to Ranthambhore. We are going on a
Safari. The animal preserve at Ranthambhore is a major tiger home. Sometimes you see them on
the Safari, sometimes you don’t. But the Safari trip itself should be great
fun.
We get to see, hopefully, Parsifal and Polenta’s big
brothers. We are staying in a luxury tent. On a previous trip, Courtney, Ferris
and us had stayed in a luxury tent in Pushkar - it was horrible. Cold, no running water, etc. It was hardly
luxury. This time it is luxury: warm, wifi (always important to me), wooden
floor, etc. The service here at the Oberoi is exceptional. When they heard I
was sick, they immediately provided me with hydration liquids. In addition to
the hydration liquids they served me Kitcherie for dinner. This is basically a
lentil and rice dish that is the Indian equivalent of Grandma’s Chicken Soup.
It is very bland.
The Oberoi is set on 45 acres of land, and is a nature and
animal preserve itself. They have all kinds of nature walks etc. At one point,
Cathy looked out into our yard. There were 6 Peacocks. 5 females and one male
spreading is tail like a fan and strutting his stuff.
Tomorrow in the morning we will explore the hotel grounds,
in the afternoon, it is off on our Safari to see the tigers (hopefully).
Today was the fifth and last day of the Jaipur Literary
Festival. Once again it has been a great experience for us. We were introduced to books,
authors and ideas we would never experience in America. We were lucky that the
weather was so cooperative. It was warmer than previous years and we
experienced no rain.
Over 300,000 people attended the festival over the 5 days. It is the
largest literary festival in the world. At any given time there are 5
different venues presenting panels, we had to be judicious as we selected the
sessions we wanted to attend. All are recorded and available free on-line, so we
can always stream what we missed.
The first panel I attended was entitled “Heirs to Forgotten
Kingdoms”. Within the Muslim world of the Mid-East there have been various sects and religions
that have survived for millennia. Some of these religions are obscure and have very hidden practices like the Yard's of Iraq, others
like the Druze of Lebanon are more widely known. Because of the upheavals and
chaos of the Arab world these ancient religions are in danger of extinction.
The peoples have been displaced away from their religious sites, ISIS has
destroyed many relics, and entire ways of life have been disrupted. Many of these religions are doomed as the cohesiveness brought on by their remote locations are destroyed by the necessity of fleeing for their lives. The lecture
by Gerald Russell from his book “Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms” opened my eyes to
these strange religions and their plights. The only one that is still semi-flourishing is the Coptic
Christians of Egypt.
The next session was entitled “On Empire”. It featured
Shashi Tharoor. Shashi is an intellectual, an author of many books, an
extremely handsome man, a member of the Indian Parliament, and a possible murder
of his deceased wife. The British Raj brought much to India: The English
Language, an English style parliament, cricket, railways, etc. It also
subjugated the people, caused the death of up to 30 million people, sent back
to England enormous wealth and denied to the Indians the very rights that
they proclaimed as the reason they came to India. Indians have a very
ambivalent feeling about the Raj. The session tried to sort out some these
complex issues.
The next session was with Vali Nasr, entitled after his book The Shia Revolution. If only George Bush had heard this lecture before the war
in Iraq. He covered so much ground I could write several pages about the
ramifications of the Shia Revolution. Suffice to say, the split between Suni
and Shia goes back to the years after the death of the Prophet Mohammed. Both
Suni and Shia view the Koran as their holy book, yet on almost every
interpretation they disagree. The split is gigantic, much bigger than Catholic
vs. Protestant in the west. It involves political control. The Suni’s have been the
traditional leaders of nations, the Shia are often thought of as lower class. The
bottom line is that the old order has crumbled and no one knows what will
happen next. The only optimistic thing in the Middle East is Nuclear Deal with
Iran, which holds the possibility of Shia Iran becoming a stabilizing force in
the Middle East.
The next panel was entitled From Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo.
It was extremely unflattering in its description of these American Prisons.
When you hear them discussed in a foreign country, you realize the great damage
these two prisions have done to America’s reputation. The hostility of the
audience towards America was palatable. Obviously other countries have their
own prisons, many of which I am sure are far worse, but these two have become a
rallying point against the United States. Abu Ghraib is no longer under our
control but Guantanamo is. Of the 800 men that have been sent to Guantanamo,
only 20 were even chargeable. The two American authors on the panel gave
chilling recitations of these two institutions and how the have corrupted the American Judicial and Prison systems.
The final session was jammed packed. It featured Laxmi
Narayan Tripathi. Laxmi is a very politically active Hijra. The Hijra in India
are roughly comparable to what we would call Transgender in the United States.
They are a combination of hermaphrodites, eunuchs and transgender men. Laxmi is
outspoken, extremely intelligent, politically savy and a natural communicator.
She LOVES the limelight. The large audience adored her.
The final event of the Jaipur Literary Festival is always an
Oxford Style debate. The proposition was: Should India have Unlimited Free
Speech. 4 people spoke for the proposition, 4 against. This was the most
crowded event of the 5 days. There were thousands of people jammed into the
venue to listen to the debate. For Cathy and me the answer is obvious. Unlimited
Free Speech, that is what we enjoy in America. Although India’s Constitution
guarantees free speech it is limited. The people that thought there should be
limits on free speech all talked of the responsibility of the speaker not to
offend the sensibilities of others. In America we don’t put that responsibility
on the speaker, if the listener is offended, so be it. They can respond in
turn. In India people not only can be offended but they can also bring the
weight of the state against the speaker. This leads to censor boards that
vet movies, books etc. There was much cheering and hand clapping as various
speakers made their debate points. It was almost like a sporting event with the
audience cheering on the speakers making their points. I can’t conceive of an
event like this in America. Everyone is appalled about the fact Donald Trump could possibly be elected president of the United States. His campaign besmirches the country in foreign eyes.
We returned to our hotel for cocktails. John and Shumon
joined us for a ride into downtown Jaipur to the City Palace for a dinner at a
new restaurant. The modern architecture combined with the old palace made for a
beautiful restaurant.
We attended some great sessions today many of the dealing with the madness of the world. The day started with
a brilliant panel of experts discussing "The Great Partition". This refers to the
partition in 1947 of the Sub-Continent when India and Pakistan gained their
independence from Great Britain (later East Pakistan split from Pakistan creating Bangladesh).
The results of the partition were disastrous: millions of people uprooted from
their homes, massive killings and atrocities on all side, the creation of two
states that subsequently fought 3 wars. It is an ugly story that continues today. The questions are
foundational to the angst both people feel. We have read many books - histories, fictional accounts and biographies about this traumatic time. There exists in the mind of all who reflect on it a continual consideration of
alternative theories: could somehow partition been avoided by employing a loose
federation? Could the partition been accomplished with less loss of life? What
caused the madness and the killings? Which leaders were responsible and why did
they allow the bloodshed to continue? The guilt of England in not protecting people during the massive migrations. None of these issues and many more have been put to bed, it is such a complex story. There is tremendous amount of academic scholarship
underway to try and understand the multitude of reasons this unfolded the way it did. The issue of minority
rights of Muslims living within Hindu India, the issue of Hindus within Muslim
Pakistan was vexing and has never been adequately solved. The disposition of Sikh dominated Punjab, the problems on the east with Bengal all were discussed. The violence against women perpetrated during the madness. The panel brilliantly
discussed these issues. We loved it. One interesting note was the desire to eventually have a museum directly on the border to commemorate the agony of the partition. Boy will that be a contentious undertaking if it is to say anything meaningful.
The next session was on the new book: Silk Roads a New
History of the World, by the historian Peter Frankopan. I have read this book
and thought it was fantastic. Peter has turned our usual European Centric view
of history on its head, focusing on the trade routes of the Silk Roads between China and Europe as the critical story of the last 2000 years. Europe
was a sideshow, having few resources and constantly having violent wars. These wars allowed it
to eventually create superior weaponry that eventually gave it its power. The history of
the West’s intervention in the mid-east, trying to dominate both the routes and the natural resources has been uniformly disastrous. The Silk Roads have constantly been shifted as transportation and the desire for goods changed. The railroads, the Suez Canal all changed the Silk Roads, yet the commerce continues. With China building new ports and islands, the Silk Roads story is not complete. It was a
dynamic presentation.
The next presentation we attended was based on the book: The Young Lawrence.
This is a new book about Lawrence of Arabia from his troubled youth to just
before the start of the First World War. Call it Lawrence Almost in Arabia. I have read
several biographies of Lawrence and enjoyed this perspective on his
life. Among other things, Lawrence has had more biographies written about him then
any other person of the 20th century except Churchill. He is
endlessly interesting. Scholar, Archeologist, Mid-east expert, champion of the
Arab cause for independence, solider, troubled soul and the First Media Superstar in the
World. Lowell Thomas made a movie of his exploits after the war that was seen
by millions, making him this celebrity par excellence. He was short unlike Peter
O’Toole. He did die in a motorcycle at the age of 46. If you want to read a
really excellent biography I would recommend: Lawrence in Arabia by Scott
Anderson.
The next session was on the Arab Spring. The panel objected
to the name because many of the countries in revolt against authoritarian rulers aren’t even Arab.
Nonetheless the name has stuck. The big questions are: was it a good thing or
bad thing, how will it all shake out, what was the cause, are the people of the
region better or worse off? Heavy questions with no clear-cut answers. The
experts on the panel think the Gulf States especially Saudi Arabia, Bahrain,
etc. are dominos ready to fall. The panelists all think America is behind everything
bad, with one exception. There has been universal praise for the nuclear arms deal
with Iran. We have heard it many different contexts from many different panelists.
Everyone thinks Iran now has a opportunity to play a major and more constructive role in the
Mid-East. One strange outcome of the Arab spring, is the plight of the
Palestinians has been pushed to the background. The governments are more obsessed with keeping their own power with a dual fear of their own populations revolt and the threat of ISIS, they don't have time for the Palestinian question. Much of the Arab Press is owned by the formerly rich Gulf states and has turned their direction towards ISIS, because of the threat it poses. The role of religion and rise religious fundamentalists
is of great concern. One great quote I liked was: "In the interval between the
death of the old order and the birth of the new order it is a time of madness".
There was a passionate discussion of the role of women in Muslim society. The
biggest applause of the session was when someone called Donald Trump a Fucking
Fascist. He is not popular in this neck of the woods. The decline of oil prices will do much to topple these governments as the oil rich Gulf States face their own turmoil and won't be able to support the poorer states in the region. It is going to get ugly! The struggle for freedom and self-expression is a long one. We won't know how this plays our for decades.
The last panel was on the Kama Sutra. I was typical of the
several thousand people listening to a lecture on his new book: The Book of Love by James McConnachie. It is history of the rediscovery of Kama
Sutra. When asked by the author for a show of hands how many have heard of the
book, all hands were raised. When he asked how many had read the book, almost
none were raised (including mine). The author dispensed with several misapprehensions about
the Kama Sutra. There are no pictures in it. It is not a sacred text. Most surprisingly, although written in the 3rd century, it was basically lost until the
early 19th century when one of the few remaining copies was rediscovered
by British and Indian Scholars. The book is the telling of that tale.
After this last session we returned to our hotel, John and
Shumon came over and joined us for drinks and dinner.
