Gwalior and Delhi

It continued to be hot in Gwalior and Delhi and we found out that we were in the middle of the worst heatwave in 20 years.  Just our luck (or more to the point bad planning to come to India during their summer).  So again sightseeing is only possible in the mornings, and then we retreat to the a/c of the hotel for the afternoon and early evening.  Interestingly a heat wave here seems to be classified as consecutive days over 40^o C, whereas in Australia it is over 35^o C and in England over 30^o C. 

Gwalior was a bit of a pilgrimage for us Flashman fans as it was the place where Rani  Laxshmibai, the great warrior Queen of Jhansi, was killed during the Indian mutiny or as it is referred to in India, the first War of Independence. So our first outing was to her memorial and perpetual flame in a park just down the road from our hotel.

Rani Laxshmibai memorial

We then went to a nearby mall in search of a/c and iced coffee.  Ever since coming to India Bob has been pestering me to get some Indian clothes.  I must admit us Westerners look pretty daggy compared to the beautiful outfits of Indian women.  Interestingly even in the big cities, the majority of Indian women wear some form of traditional dress.  Anyway I wasn’t going to get a sari, as pretty as they are.  I was not going to wear 6-9 metres of cloth around me in 40+ heat.  However the kurta top, dupatta scarf and leggings (rather than the baggier shalwar pants) looked comfortable and I bought some at the mall and wore the outfit that night to dinner.  It was surprisingly cool in the hot weather.

going native in Gwalior

The next day we tried for the Fort in Gwalior.  This fort is very impressive coming into the city by train (by the way Indian Railways continues to improve and the train from Agra to Gwalior was very comfortable and served meals to your seat with the service known as ‘Meals on Wheels’).  All of north India is a flat, dry, dusty plain but the Fort at Gwalior is built on a high bluff rising up straight out of the plain.  We got a late start to the fort as we were trying to plan onward travel to Rajasthan and didn’t arrive at the fort until around 10 am.  No vehicles are allowed up to the top so we had to hike up the steep road.  Halfway up Bob was really feeling the heat and we had to give up on the fort until early the next day.

Gwalior Fort on the bluff

East Gate

Wall of Gwalior Fort

The next day we decided to approach the Fort by the West gate.  We were there by 6.30 am and the place was full of early morning walkers.  The temperature was still in the mid 30’s but quite tolerable.  Walking up the hill are Jain statues carved into the rocks – smaller but reminiscent of the big Buddha figures the Taliban blew up a decade ago.

The fort complex contains a mother/daughter temple with dancing girls carved into the stone, a Sikh temple and a fabulous palace.

In front of the palace - of course any flat space is good for a game of cricket

Wall of Palace

Water Well for the Fort.  No they are not fish but plastic bottles

The fort proper required an entrance fee of 250 rupees.  This is only about $4 but it was 25 times the amount charged for Indians.  Most entry fees in India have a foreigner fee that is about double what Indians pay but this was OTT.  On principle Bob refused to pay and as the fort looked in fairly bad repair and it was getting very hot we weren’t sorry to call it a day.

On our last day in Gwalior we visited Jai Vilias Palace. This is the current residence of the Maharajah of Gwalior, the Sindia family.  We suspended our egalitarian judgemental thoughts of the contrast of the Maharajah’s wealth and opulence to the poverty right outside the gate and really enjoyed this beautiful palace. It has 400 room, 40 of which are opened to the public.

 

Jai Vilias Palace

Bedroom

Old weapons, shields and banners

Silver Hindu shrine

Sitting room

Stained glass window

Toy silver train for passing the port at the dinning table  (train track on table seen through the glass case

famous chandeliers

Internal courtyard

To beat the heat while we were in Gwalior we found a nice upmarket hotel with a good restaurant that served Continental food.  As much as we both like Indian food, after 9 weeks we are longing for some fresh green salads, meat and no spice. The Central Park Hotel became our favourite place – too expensive to stay at but the restaurant was quite reasonable and they made a mean Cosmopolitan. 

The next day we went to Delhi by train.  These trains around the capital keep getting better and better and are quite a comfortable way to travel.  New Delhi is a modern city with wide boulevards, cleanish streets and no cows, goats or pigs snuffling in piles of garbage that we have seen in other Indian cities.  The old Delhi still has this though.   We spent most of our time in Delhi trying to plan onward travel.  We got to know the very nice modern metro for getting around the city to embassies to apply for visas.

Delhi Metro

It was too hot to do much sightseeing so we sought out indoor attractions.  We went to the National Museum which I highly recommend.  There was a great exhibit of the ancient Harappa culture from 5000 years ago with wonderful miniature bronze and terracotta sculptures.  The most famous is of the dancing girl. 

5000 year old bronze - the dancing girl

The terracotta figures depicted everyday life. It struck me that the agricultural carts and ploughs and other tools are exactly the same as we see today.  So basically in food production India is still using the techniques of 5000 years ago.

We also went in the evening to the sound and light show at the Red Fort.  We were the only foreign visitors to the English language show but it was quite well done.  It was still 40^oC at 10pm but at least the sun wasn’t beating down.

The Red Fort in Delhi in the moonlight

We liked Gwalior and Delhi but Bob was really not doing well in the heat so we decided not to continue on with our plans to tour Rajasthan but head to the hills of cool Shimla.