Fatehpur Sikri and on to Ranthambore

9 am start to the ancient, abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri, another Moghul capital back in the day and attacked many times by the Hindu Maharajahs when the Moghul Empire was weak. Most of the buildings are now demolished but the Indian Archaeological Society work to preserve the beautiful red sandstone structures. The Moghul rulers lived in the Palace, one with a Turkish wife (his Sultana) and around 3000 concubines 😳.

We left the coach in the main car park, had to run the gauntlet of the quite agressive hawkers and maimed beggars, one of whom, a lad of about 20, had one leg where the lower half, with foot, was facing the wrong way. Whether this had been done deliberately as a child I don’t know. 😔. We then had another hair raising 5 min smaller bus ride (speedometer not working, door open, no seat belts, tyres questionable) to the archeological site, heard the history, walked the walk and returned to the bus.

Lunch was in a splendid hotel (Laxmi Villas), a popular wedding venue.
We had now travelled from the State of Uttra Pradesh to Rajastan, a very dry state. Raj gave us a few facts during the day. The cows wandering about everywhere do, in fact, have owners who feed them but often don’t have room to accommodate them all day so they are free to wander and are collected at the end of the day, similarly the goats. There is method in their madness when they sit down in the middle of the road-the hustle and bustle of the traffic keeps flies and other insects away. The cows are not so much “holy” as useful and valuable to a family.

The road ahead was very good-a toll road and we passed through several toll plazas. We then turned onto the New Delhi-Mombai Expressway, opened only last week by the Prime Minister, Mr Mondi. It has cut down that journey from 24 to 12 hours. Only fast moving vehicles are allowed on it. Users pay for the distance travelled (per km) whereas on others a fixed fee is paid. There was no one on it! Arrival at the hotel was about 6.30 pm then a quick wash and brush up before dinner.Read more