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.All Trips / Asia / India
Spotting a Wild Tiger, Panna Tiger Reserve, India
It’s a rough bumpy 45 km ride from Khajuraho to the Panna Tiger Reserve — but it turned out to be very worthwhile.
A Brief Background of the Panna Tiger Reserve
The Panna Tiger Reserve is part of Panna National Park, which is a large swath of nature in one of the world’s most densely populated countries, having an area of 542.67 km2 (209.53 mi2). The reserve has grass habitat with extensive open woodlands, and plateaus punctuated by gorges. Life here depends on the Ken river and its tributary streams, which sustain everything you see. The area was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2011.
India has the world’s largest surviving tiger population. In 1993 Panna was declared India’s twenty-second Tiger reserve and placed under the Protection …
Tagged Panna National Park, Panna Tiger Reserve, Safari, Tiger, wildlife
.All Trips / Asia / Food / India
Shopping in Jojawar, Rajasthan
Jojawar is a small city in Rajasthan. Walking its streets is a good way to get a feel for how the people in the region sell their goods, shop, and live.
We spent a few days in Jojawar and had several opportunities to explore the area near our hotel. There were a large assortment of vendors selling everything from textiles and clothes, fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs, to assorted commonly used household goods.
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“Pic of the Week”, February 26, 2021: A Parade in Jojawar
Our entry into the city of Jojawar was delayed by a traffic jam. When we got out of our vehicle to see the reason why, we encountered this parade on the city’s main street.
I never did find out what the reason for this gathering was — perhaps a Jain celebration? But the colors, music, chanting and enthusiasm of the celebration were engaging and evident.
Within 10 minutes it was over and we resumed our journey to our hotel. But I did gain an appreciation for how people in India love to celebrate.
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Feb 25, 2021
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“Pic of the Week”, January 29, 2021: The Masala Chai Men’s Club, Jojawar
While rambling around the city of Jojawar, we came across this group of older men. They were gathered in the shade of an overhang, shoes off, sitting on towels and blankets, smoking and enjoying good conversation and some masala chai.
As is typical of the more remote regions of Rajasthan, the men almost uniformly wore turbans.
A street vendor near them was cooking up masala chai, a treat our tour group had grown to enjoy. We watched him go through the process of preparing our chai — a mixture of boiled milk, water and spiced tea. He kept constantly stirring the mixture until it was ready.
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Jan 28, 2021
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.All Trips / Asia / India
Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, Agra
The Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah (hereafter called TID), also know as the “Baby Taj”, is overshadowed in popularity by some of Agra’s other tourist attractions, namely the incomparable Taj Mahal (25 mins away) and Red Fort (14 minutes away). Yet TID is a beautiful marble structure that’s worth a visit, especially at dusk or dawn as the soft light highlights its beautiful architectural details.
TID is on the eastern banks of River Yamuna and was built by Nur Jahan, wife of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and step-mother of Sha Jahan (who was to become the builder of the Taj Mahal). Nur Jahan built the tomb for her father, Mirzā Ghiyās Beg, a Persian amir in exile who had been given the …
Tagged Agra, Baby Taj, Itimad-ud-Daulah, Taj Mahal, tomb
.All Trips / Asia / India
A Wedding in Jaipur
If there’s anything more colorful than a wedding in India, I’m not sure what that would be. It’s uncommon for a group of tourists to be invited to a wedding celebration; this unique opportunity arose because our tour guide was a good friend of the groom, hence the invite.
Indian weddings are still mostly arranged affairs, the parents picking appropriate mates for their children. I personally believe that marriage for love is better, but the Indians are happy with their system and it seems to fairly work well for them. Marriages in India are as stable as those anywhere in the world.
We arrived at the rented venue, part of a total of about 250 people ultimately attending. We were invited to …
“Pic of the Week”, December 4, 2020: Monkey getting a Drink, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is home to several exquisite and fascinating historic sites, one of which is the medieval city of Polonnaruwa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There’s a river not that far from the ruins, but this toque monkey was innovative, deciding instead of having to scamper a mile or more for a drink, she would simply drink from water trapped in rounded stone holes (probably where logs had been inserted centuries ago).
Simple, but effective and thirst-quenching.
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Dec 3, 2020
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“Pic of the Week”, October 30, 2020: St. Clair Falls and Tea Plantation, Sri Lanka
A traditional stop when driving the road from Colombo to Nuwara Eliya is to see St. Clair’s Falls, one of the widest waterfalls in Sri Lanka. It was misty and cool in the mountains here at nearly a mile above sea level, as it often is.
The cascade of the Kotmale Oya river through the St. Clair tea plantation (from which the falls derive their name) is a pretty sight. I’d previously visited these falls about 20 years earlier and recalled a lot more water literally filling the river and pouring rather than trickling down the mountain. I asked my driver whether the water was so low because of dry weather? No that was not the case — apparently the flow …
Oct 29, 2020
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