I liked Agra, not the city, but the area around the Taj Mahal. Agra city is a typical Indian city, chaotic, big and busy. It's still chaotic around the Taj Mahal but there are some cheap hotels and cheap places to eat. You can relax on the roof top restaurants with the Taj Mahal shimmering in the background. I was staying at a hotel 1.5 km back towards the city. About 200 metres from the hotel were I was staying there was a 'Pizza Hut', I tried it and I had one of the best meals I have had in India. Their pizza's were lovely and crispy served with crisp salad and fries.
The Tuk Tuk's were out in force hassling as were the Rickshaw's, it's hard to get rid of them. I got one to the Taj and when he insisted on waiting I insisted he didn't. The Taj looked like a ghost, the effect of the sun shinning on it's white marble. It glistened in a hazy mist of pollution which gave it a mirage effect. The charge for tourists was 750 rupees for Indians it's a fraction of this price. There were a lot of souvenir sellers and guides hassling the tourists and some will even take pictures of you against the Taj background for a price of course. After the Taj I visited Agra Fort, the outside looked impressive but inside was a bit of a let down. It cost 250 rupees but if your not really into ruins, then going into the fort is a waste of time. But it was nice at the end of the day to go to a restaurant by the Taj 'Lonely Planet recommended' according to the signs and relax away from the crowds.
Getting out of Agra was hard. It was misty, smelly and big. I had to keep asking the way as I was following a secondary road to Bharatpur. Bharatpur was only 40 miles away and from what I had read has a pretty impressive bird sanctuary. On the way I passed Fatehpur Sikri, which had a very impressive looking temple but I decided against going inside. On reaching Bharatpur I found a hotel at the end of town, I was drawn to it because of it's very colourful garden. It was cheap and clean and did a good breakfast, very relaxing after the big towns. There is a main town which is quite big and busy like any other Indian town, the good thing was it was 2km away.
The bird sanctuary cost 200 rupees plus 25 rupees for the bike. The main entrance ticket was small and came from a machine. The entrance ticket for the bike was A5 size and filled in by hand, it took ten times longer to issue the bike ticket just for the extra 25 rupees. After passing the gauntlet of guides and rickshaw cycles I entered the park. A tarmac road takes you through the centre of the park for about 6km with trees and what should have been marsh land on either side. There was a lack of water due to climate change which is affecting the monsoons. As a result there was a lack of birds and a lack of tourists. Bharatpur is really struggling for tourists, it should be booked solid with bird watchers but there were none.
There were a few waders and other smaller birds, even owls and birds of prey along the banks of the few small ponds. In the ponds you could see turtles with very long necks and some ugly cat fish, but the water looked murky, like something out of Murdor, 'Lord Of The Rings', thick with mud. There were bridle tracks leading off the main tarmac road. These roads went for miles into the parks remote areas. I ended up doing about 20 miles in the park on the first day. There wasn't much more wildlife in the remote areas but I did surprise a few big lizards basking in the sun. The park had a wall going round the perimeter with a few small villages scattered along the edges. The people from the villages worked in the park clearing reeds, it seemed like the women did the work while the men sat and watched from the shade. I stayed at Bharatpur for two days and went in the park again on the second day. As I cycled up the tarmac road I could hear the rickshaw drivers/guides point out to the few tourists the same owls and same birds in distant trees, and when I looked they did look the same as the previous day. I began to think maybe they were nailed in position. At the end of the tarmac road I met another cyclist touring India, but he was going in the opposite direction, heading for Agra. He was carrying camping equipment and tried to camp where possible. He camped far from the towns and made sure there were no people around. He then went into the fields and tried to hide his position from the road. But within 15 minutes of pitching the tent a head popped inside the tent "hello how are you?". Soon after a crowd gathered and he soon found out why camping wasn't popular in India.
These two images have the class="img-framed". The next day I cycled to Jaipur. The ride was easy, very flat but I still arrived a little late, it was dark when I reached the outskirts of the city. I had looked for a hotel in Deuce a town 51km before Jaipur, but the one I looked at was very scruffy and a bit overpriced. Staying at this hotel was another cyclist, he was cycling from the east coast to the west coast. If I hadn't have spent time in Deuce I would have made Jaipur in the light and would have seen some buildings that seem to have been cut into the rock on a hilly road into the city.
These buildings looked impressive, even though I couldn't fully see them in the dark, and I got quite excited about Jaipur. Maybe I had come to a city that wasn't a clone of Delhi, that had these impressive old buildings. When I got to the city centre I was to be disappointed again. From the hotel, the palace and other tourist attractions were about 2km. They were interesting and a nice colour of pink and very crowded. I could have reached Sawai Madopur, Ranthambore National Park a day earlier by using the secondary road from Bharatpur. Instead from Jaipur I cycled to Tonk on the national highway.
Tonk seems to be an up and coming town with lots of building going on. I didn't see much of the town as the hotel was on the highway about 3km away. It seemed a bit weird, the hotel built on baron land with a bit of a pond next to it was very isolated. The nearest building looked to be about a kilometre away. On a stroll to the local Hero Honda shop which was on the edge of town, I learned that I could have purchased a brand new Hero Honda for 38,000 Rupee (about 500 Pounds), the same price as my bike. No wonder the Indians look at me as if I am mad, why would a westerner with supposedly lots of money want to cycle in India when an Indian with not so much money can afford a motorcycle and there are thousands of these Hero Hondas on the road.
It was another easy ride to Sawai Madopur along a quiet secondary road, with fields of various vegetables on either side. I stayed at Sawai Madopur for two days and went to see the tigers in the park on the second day. I would recommend a visit to Ranthambore National Park early in the morning 6.30 am. I paid 550 Rupees for a seat on the tourist jeep which looked like an old army wagon that seated about 15 people. The park was about 12km away, we picked up people from various isolated hotels on the way. It took about an hour to reach the park which was in the mountains. It was quite cold, we were wrapped up in blankets and I wore a fleece top for the first time since arriving in India. There were five or six tourist jeeps and a few smaller jeeps all full with people, camera ready to spot the tiger. It wasn't long before one came into view, the chase was on, all the jeeps headed for the tiger, wheels bouncing over the rough tracks trying to get the best position. The tiger although still quite far away didn't seem to mind the commotion of vehicles and carried on walking slowly and casually until it went out of view into the reed bed. Spotted deer, monkeys and many birds could be seen as the vehicles made there way through the rugged landscape searching for more tigers.
We stopped by a lake where there were plenty of birds, a couple of crocodiles could be seen, they looked like logs drifting in the water. Another tiger came into view and the chase was on again. This time the tiger was a lot closer and posed for some very good pictures. It wasn't concerned with the commotion and stayed in view walking along the edge of the reed bed. It then disappeared into the reed bed and we heard the cry of a young deer. The tiger had caught the deer and seemed to be playing with it's victim as cats do. The adult deers and the monkeys were making very loud cries as if to try and frighten the tiger into letting it's prey go. Although we couldn't see what was happening we could hear the young deer cry and the tiger growl for what seemed to go on for a long time. Even though I had seen this before on wildlife programmes seeing it live was both sad and thrilling. The safari lasted about 4 hours and was worth the money and the tip of about a 100 rupee off each person to the guides/driver. They don't guarantee a tiger sighting but if you go in the morning you stand a better chance, (they do morning and afternoon trips). I would not miss Ranthambore National Park if you're in the area.
After Ranthambore I cycled to Kota, a very easy ride. On the way I got my first puncture from a very long and hard thorn on the side of the road, left there by people collecting fire wood. I soon fixed it and not long after I rode over a snake, a long brown one. I saw it at the last minute and couldn't avoid running over it. It didn't seem to do it any harm as it continued to sliver into the grass at the side of the road. I have decided to take the train to Mumbai because the riding through the flat farm lands is getting monotonous. It would have taken me 7 or 8 days to reach Mumbia but I was tired of the scenery and I wanted to experience the Indian trains. It turned out quite an experience.
This image has the class "img-circle" The Tuk Tuk's were out in force hassling as were the Rickshaw's, it's hard to get rid of them. I got one to the Taj and when he insisted on waiting I insisted he didn't. The Taj looked like a ghost, the effect of the sun shinning on it's white marble. It glistened in a hazy mist of pollution which gave it a mirage effect. The charge for tourists was 750 rupees for Indians it's a fraction of this price.
These buildings looked impressive, even though I couldn't fully see them in the dark, and I got quite excited about Jaipur. Maybe I had come to a city that wasn't a clone of Delhi, that had these impressive old buildings. When I got to the city centre I was to be disappointed again. From the hotel, the palace and other tourist attractions were about 2km.
We stopped by a lake where there were plenty of birds, a couple of crocodiles could be seen, they looked like logs drifting in the water. Another tiger came into view and the chase was on again. This time the tiger was a lot closer and posed for some very good pictures. It wasn't concerned with the commotion and stayed in view walking along the edge of the reed bed. It then disappeared into the reed bed and we heard the cry of a young deer