7/3
It was after 16.00 when we hopped into Colin’s Car and he drove us up to South Geelong station, where we just managed to board a train to Melbourne seconds before it departed. At Spencer St station we boarded a Craigieburn train and got off at Broadmeadows station, and outside the station we had a short wait for the 901 bus that takes you to terminal 4 at the airport, we arrived there at about 19.15, cost about $5. We now had a 12hr wait before our flight took off.
8/3
At 4am in the morning the gate opened for our flight to Singapore on Singapore Airlines. Now let me tell you how we ended up on this airline, because it wasn’t Imagine Holidays first choice. The initial booking was with Vietnam Airlines going via Vietnam, but shortly after the booking came through I had a call from Imagine suggesting that if I paid and extra $800 each we could fly Singapore Airlines, I declined. The next day they rang me up again and said we’ve made a special deal and we can do it for $400 each, and we were the only ones still flying Vietnam Airlines, I declined. It was later that week that the flights were confirmed and they were with Singapore Airlines, so we saved a bit of money there. We had a few hours in Changi Airport, so we wandered around checking out all the smoking areas that give access to the outside, but the only bird we saw was House Crow, so they’re very good at exterminating birds at that airport. We also spent some time in the butterfly garden, which is a huge enclosure with waterfall and feeding stations for a variety of local butterflies, I highly recommend it. Not long before our flight was due to board a thunderstorm washed over the airport suspending loading of the plane, so we left a bit late for our flight to Delhi. we were met at the terminal by an Imagine Holidays person who guided us onto our bus thence to the Leela Ambience Hotel, where Bev discovered that her bag was wet, so wet that all her clothes inside were wet, so they were draped all over the room and we collapsed into bed.
9/3
I was up at 6.30 and went for a wander around the park next door to the hotel. It’s very ratty, plenty of trees but poor ground cover and the fountain was dry, so not many birds, but started the bird list for the trip with Rock Dove (they were perched on the ledge outside our window on the 11th floor), House Crow, Red-vented Bulbul, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Myna, Coppersmith Barbet and Black Kite. Back to the hotel for a good breakfast then we congregated in the foyer to start our tour. There are 16 of us with a large bus, so anyone who wants to can have a window seat to witness the bedlam that is Delhi traffic, even on a Sunday. It’s definitely the city of horns, with the crush of vehicles creating jams every few hundred metres, with tuk tuks squeezing their way through and motorbikes darting into any gap that was left. Delhi attacks the senses, there was just no let up of the throngs of people. I couldn’t live here. First stop was the Jama Masjid Mosque where I added House Sparrow, White Wagtail and Laughing Dove. We then all piled into trishaws for a ride through the narrow laneways of the old quarter where there isn’t enough room for two trishaws to pass each other, it’s a popular thing to do, so there were trishaw jams with all the tourists, the locals all getting frustrated because they can’t move either. We ended the ride with a ride through the large street market where it seemed that the entire population of Delhi had come just to mill around. we had a brief stop at the India Gate for a long distance shot. Next stop was Humayun’s Tomb, a very Taj Mahal like building where I walked the perimiter of the compound finding a bit of habitat in which I found Indian Grey Hornbill, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Indian Peacock and Clamorous Reed Warbler. we had a set lunch at Lazeez Affaire resturant in Chankiapuli district. Everything had chilli in it, just a bit beyond comfortable, so nose runny hot, but not blow your head off hot. Most of us enjoyed the meal. I had a glass of local Indian wine a Grover Cabernet Shiraz, as good as any Australian wine, but at 710rp very expensive, won’t be drinking any more. The exchange rate at the moment is 54.53rp to the dollar. Over to Quwwatul Islam Masjid, to see an ancient tower. I was taking my shot of it when something crashed into my arm. I was surprised to find an egg. Someone had thrown one at me. I had looked a guy in the eye not a minute before, most people when you do that smile at you, this guy it seemed to me gave me the evil eye, but because I was looking through my camera I never saw who did it, nothing else happened though. From there it was back to the hotel, where I washed the egg off my clothes. I’m just thankfull it didn’t hit my camera or binoculars which would have been more problematic to clean.
10/3
We set off from the hotel at 8.30 after a good breakfast into the slow moving explosion that is Delhi traffic on a Monday morning. It took us an hour to get to the start of the Greater Noida Expressway, which is a toll road so it wasn’t choked with traffic. On the way out we passed over an awful looking river which had a pair of Black-winged Stilts and a pair of Bank Mynas. From the speeding bus I managed to ID Sarus Crane, Black-headed Ibis, Cattle Egret and Egytpian Vulture. We had a toilet break at Mathura where I got Jungle Babbler and Greenish Warbler. Onwards we sped finding Glossy Ibis on our way into Agra. We went to the Red Fort where I got a Brown Rock Chat. We then went to the Taj Hotel and Convention Centre and got our room up on the 4th floor, no view of the Taj Mahal. Had a late lunch, we only had 1/2hr, the restaurant assured us that we’d have our meal in time, but it arrived with only 10mins to go, so Bev wolfed down her soup and I got a container for my hamburger which arrived even later, so I finished on the bus. They were good though in that they only charged us for the hamburger, which was nice but nothing special. It was a short drive to the Taj Mahal where we found that there were a lot more people than when we were here last and the viewing inside the mausoleum was a slow procession around the tomb and out. It was very late in the afternoon so there was a good bit of golden light to play with to get a bit more interest into the photos of this amazing place. The birds that I found here were Eurasian Hoopooe, Red-wattled Lapwing and Yellow Wagtail. Back to the hotel and back to the restaurant where I had some prawn dumplings that were really nice, we had a free desert taster with 5 small deserts that we went halves in.
11/3
Across the road from us were a few trees that in the early morning had a few birds forage through them including Indian Pied Starling and a Prinia species. Down stairs to the restaurant for another fine breakfast where I tried gun powder with my scrambled egg. Like all the foods we’re eating the spicyness is toned right down, so although there was a bit of bite to it, it certainly wasn’t blow-me-bleedin’-‘ead-orf hot. It was a short bus ride to the Akbar International Marble Factory where they did marble inlay. I suggest you stay away from this place. The prices are exorbitant but the workmanship is exquisite. We spent over A$1000 on a plate with matching coasters. It was interesting that most people bought something, and something changed in everyone. Up until now no one had bought anything from the annoying locals that swarm like flies around you trying to sell cheap trinkets. The trinkets were the same but for some reason everyone was all of a sudden in a buying frenzy so they did a good trade with us. We then went to Akbar’s old palace at Fatehpur Sikre. It’s a vast palace made of the red sandstone that the forts are made of. I found a dark room with some Naked-rumped Tomb Bats in it. Added Oriental Honey Buzzard here. We had lunch at Kadamb Kunj in Bharatpur town where we had a buffet, my favourite was a tofu curry, that I had seconds of. We drove by the edge of the reserve and spotted a Painted Stork from the speeding bus. I got to sit in the front seat today. I was tired by the end of the day just sitting there watching the ballet of the road. Driving it would be exhausting. We had a brief stop at Mahua where there was a small pool at the back of the place that had Black-headed Ibis and White-breasted Waterhen. An Indian Roller flew by and kept on flying, I hope to get a photo of one somewhere. We stopped again at Lalsot where there were some pools across the road from where we stopped where I added Common Moorhen, Black-winged Stilt, Wood Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper. Coming in to Ranthambore I got Black Drongo, Ashy Woodswallow and Purple Heron. We had another buffet of yummy curries for dinner, all toned down as usual at the Anuraga Palace Hotel. It’s an older hotel than the others but it has a lot more charm. So with three full meals and apart from the palace very little walking, I’m rather full.
12/3
We were off in the Canter before sun up into the Ranthambore Tiger reserve, our assigned area was zone 10, this is to ensure that not all the canters and jeeps go to the same area. In area 10 there were supposedly 4 tigers to be found, we found none despite 3hrs of bumping around on the rough track in the open top truck. What we did find was Greater Coucal, White-throated Kingfisher, Black Stork, Indian Thicknee, Indian Pond Heron, Oriental Magpie-robin and Rufous Treepie. We also saw Ruddy Mongoose, Chital or Spotted Deer, Sambar, Nilgai (which can be translated as blue cow, but is actually an antelope) and Black-faced Langur and a last consolation prize of a Golden Jackal. It was back to the hotel for lunch another marvelous selection of Indian dishes toned down to western level of spiciness. My favourite was the Bhuji. During the heat of the day we spent in our rooms, and at 15.30 we headed out in a different Canter with a different guide to zone 6, and bumped around on the tracks for another three hours without luck. Most people were feeling dejected as we headed back to our hotel, for me it wasn’t so bad as I’d added Black-winged Kite, Dusky Crag Martin, Little Cormorant, Little Grebe, Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark and Grey Francolin to the trip list. We had just turned onto the main road out of the park when we saw that there was a traffic jam ahead, my first thought was an accident, but the guide urged the driver forwards as far as we could go on the wrong side of the road into the traffic jam, with a bus behind us blowing it horn incessantly, we stopped. People were gesticulating and pointing their cameras to a rocky outcrop about 500m away, I eventually found the Indian subspecies of Leopard lounging and surveying its domain and managed a passable shot of it. It was then a slow inch forwards to extricate ouselves from the jam. Unamazingly the mood in the truck had changed, and evereyone was happy, including me. Back for dinner and bed.
13/3
After an early limited breakfast we were off on the road to Jaipur, along the road spotting Common Kingfisher, Long-tailed Shrike and Indian Pond Heron from the bus. The toilet stop was at Tiger Treat Resort Lalsot in Rajasthan, where I found an Oriental White-eye and photographed a Bank Myna. In Jaipur we stopped at the Shree Carpet & Textile Mahal where we bought a carpet for A$800. We had an excellent lunch at RasaRaj Restaurant in Amber Rd, then went to the Amber Fort. We were taken up the hill by jeep which was just as well because it was quite hot, and it’s a long walk up. I wandered around the maze of corridors taking a few shots. We stopped briefly at the Lake Palace where I got Grey Heron and Grey-headed Swamphen, then we went to the sundial park where there is ostensibly the biggest sundial in the world called the Vrihat Samrat Yantra. We then had a tuktuk ride around the streets and back to the bus where it took for ever to get out of the gate of no return or the Singh Gate, which is one way and leads out onto a busy road where the eternal traffic jam takes place. Whilst being stuck in the car park I saw a cripple inch his way across the car park, I saw a young chap hop over the fence and give him some money and it took us so long to get out of the car park that I took pity on him and got out of the bus to give him some money too. I really hope that there is heaven for such people after they die, it must be truly awful for them here on earth. We are staying at the Marriott Hotel with the biggest room so far but lacks the charm of the last few nights.
Weeds
Shuttered ears closed down hearts
Looking at the end of their noses
Weeds in the brain
Plasticated Platitudes
Brooding discontent
Impending malcontent
Needs evidently ignored
Information freeze
I do not see you
Slumped on the street corner
The broken willed they gaze
There is no next phase
No positive incarnation
No avenue to repent
Stuck in a rut
Fractal failure
Cap in the hand
Pleading for a pittance
Receiving ignorance
Walking on by
You do not exist
Not my problem
Shuttered ears closed closed down heart
Looking at the end of my nose
I refuse to acknowledge you
Somebody else's problem
Stuck in a rut
Weeds on the bridge
Desperation in the department
Depression into the depths
Weeds are blocking the path
Stuck in the mud
Brooding discontent
Going around and around in pain
Weeds, there are only weeds
Inevitable malcontent
Sticky weeds
cap in hand
Hello?
Does anybody care?
Desperation for a pittance
Lost in translation
Too many weeds
Someone else's problem
Probably
Frantically poignant
A push to the left
There's a carnival of seeds
An existential ellipsis
You're not my problem
This could go on for ever
It's all covered in weeds
So kindness will never reach critical mass
14/3
Today is the festival of colours, so everything is closed. After breakfast we went out to a park just around the corner where I found Rosy Starling, Black-rumped Flame-back, Indian Robin and Red-breasted Flycatcher as new and I got photos of a few other birds. On our way into the park some children wanted to daub our faces with coloured powder so we let them, and of course they got some on my binoculars and clothes. We avoided the worst of it though. We were supposed to go to the jewellers today, but not enough people turned up so we postponed it until tomorrow, so the rest of the day was spent in the hotel room. Bev’s got a bit of Delhi belly so she spent most of the afternoon asleep. I’d had enough for breakfast so no need for lunch. At dinner time some of our fellow travellers offered some tablets to fix Bev’s problem.
15/3
Bev’s feeling much better. After breakfast we were on the bus and a slow drive through the old quarter where the traffic was squeezing through. We stopped at the jewellery maker where we had a look at beautiful expensive jewellery and art work, but weren’t tempted to buy anything. It was then the transit to Delhi arriving at the Leela hotel just before dark
16/3
We all met in the lobby at 5.45 and headed to the train station for the Shatabdi Express to Kalka leaving at 7.40. We trundled through the endless small wheat fields and small towns. Arriving at about 11.00 we swapped platforms to board the toy train to Shimla leaving at 11.45. We wound our way around valleys through 109 tunnels of varying lengths, the longest being 1.14km at Barog. We arrived in Shimla at 17.15 and got into cars to take us to the Taj Theog hotel. Along the way we got high enough to have some snow patches on the side of the road. We arrived at the hotel at 19.00 and transferred to golf carts. I was expecting the next transfer to be to a motorbike or something, but the golf cart got us to the entrance to the hotel. We were all quite tired.
17/3
Not long after sunrise I ventured out in search of birds. The first one I got was a Blue Whistling Thrush in the gardens. I walked out and onto the access road to the hotel and added Grey-winged Blackbird, Rufous-belled Niltava, Bar-tailed Treecreeper, Green-backed Tit, Himalayan Bulbul, Black-throated Tit, Hume’s Warbler, Spot-winged Tit, Rock Bunting, Slaty-headed Parakeet, Russet Sparrow, Steppe Eagle, Himalayan Griffon, Large-billed Crow, Grey-hooded Warbler and Grey Bushchat, it was a good hour and a half. Back for breakfast, then went out again but added nothing. Late in the morning we gathered on the patio to split up into two groups for a guided walk to a local village, I wasn’t all that impressed with the activity. We had lunch on the way back at the Boshi by Daafi, I had an egg curry that I asked to be toned down and some roti, very nice for half the price at the hotels. Not far from the hotel we got a Rusty-flanked Treecreeper and a Eurasian Kestrel. Spent the rest of the day in the room.
18/3
Out again not long after sunrise and walked a bit further along the roads, finding Indian White-eye, Siberian Stonechat, Plain Mountain Finch, Streaked Laughingthrush, Scaly-bellied Woodpecker and Eastern Red-rumped Swallow. Back for breakfast at 9.30 then we walked down to Theog to get some money out of an ATM and then strolled down to the market where Bev bought some things, and back to the hotel where Rasheed our guide chatted with most of the group for a while. Spent the rest of the afternoon in the room.
19/3
I’m not feeling the best this morning, bit of an upset tummy, not quite Delhi belly, but verging. I had a bit of luck as we were departing the hotel. We were walking down to the convoy of cars when I heard a bird calling and went to investigate. It was a bird I’d glimpsed twice but hadn’t been able to identify. This morning it was singing away a few arms lengths away so I managed my photo of a Variegated Laughingthrush, probably the prettiest of the birds we’ve seen on the trip. We had a tour through the Vice Regal’s Lodge in Shimla then a walk through the main street that is a shopping mall thronging with people, Bev bought a few things. We left a lot later than planned much to our guide’s chagrin and sped down the mountain with a brief stop for a snack of a garlic naan at Kaithal Resort. Then into Kalka with 1/2hr to spare to catch the train to Delhi, which is cutting it dangerously close for travel in India. The train set off on time and we hurtled our way to Delhi where a bus met us and transferred us back to the Leela Hotel again. It was 23.00 when we got to our room, and sorted ourselves out for the trip back home.
20/3
Up early for the van ride with a few others to the airport for the long journey back home.
If you would like to contribute the well being of this world, our world, your world, an easy and effective way to do it is to join a quality environmental group. There are many spread across the world all plugging away trying to make the world a better place for wildlife. We belong to Birdlife Australia, Bush Heritage, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). You can donate your time and or money to these and many others knowing that the world will be a slightly better place because of your effort