India 07

We learned a new meaning for "hot water on demand"; you get some if you ask. After 5:30am cold showers, we were ready to go out exploring at 6:30am. By breakfast time we had spotted and photographed yet another 25 or so new types of birds for us. By the late afternoon, our sightings and photographs of birds new to us since arriving in India numbered over 80, with over 70 being in the previous 24 hours at Keoladeo Ghana National Park near Bharat Pur, India.

Though Satto, our walking bird encyclopedia, was trying to suggest we stop and take a break at 7:30am, we didn't wish to miss the fresh start and kept going until 10:30am. In the afternoon, a few times Satto commented about how great we were at spotting and he was surprised at how snappy Bob was on camera.  

With us, Satto also said he saw some birds he had not seen before at Keoladeo Ghana National Park. As a special note today, again Yolanda was treated like a celebrity with bunches of children on their field trip from local schools. In particular, the young girls wanted to talk with her and she with them. That was a treat!

India 06

As we travelled in the afternoon to Bharat Pur to stay on the grounds of the Keoladeo Ghana National Park, a Unesco World Heritage bird sanctuary, we took the morning time to sort our things, eat a leisurely breakfast, walk in the organic garden, work on our blog, wash a bit of laundry (which we take wet and hang to dry as soon as we arrive at our accommodation, as what we have read says we might not have access to hot water) and reflect a bit.

We have been fortunate to have been in domestic settings arranged by Shanoo and to have met so many lovely people - this has been a highlight for us and these experiences have better enabled us to contextualize the snapshot sights we have experienced. Yolanda reflected on how interesting it is to think that the rose petals collected from a childhood neighbour's garden and squished into a small bottle for "perfume" by 6yo Yolanda might originate as a thread from Mughal times (that neighbour had a large collection of Indian hand crafts) or that a hair-style copied by Yolanda from a pal who had been in India quite a few years back might be why her comb/clip/scrunchie combo matched that of Bushra, Charisma, and Jyoti (as well as Shanoo's mother). We left Agra with Madan just after 1:00pm and arrived at the Hotel Bharatpur Ashok, The Forest Lodge on the Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary grounds around 3:00pm (later than expected due to a couple of business stops for Madan en route).

En route, Bob took a lot of photos out the car window, including one of the fly wheel sugar cane cart operation we had seen at the wholesale produce market the day previous.

Upon arrival at the National Park, and after quite a bit of confusion on our part (including a quick deal at the Sanctuary gate, that we were eventually "rescued" from) we were enticed by Satto Gurjar and did a tour of about 2 hrs to see nocturnal and exotic wetlands birds including two kinds of owls. The Park was a former duck hunting reserve for the Maharajas and serves as a major winter area for birds from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Siberia and China. Some 364 bird species have been recorded here.

We are great at spotting and photographing the birds but thought it would be okay to have Satto along to name them. We arranged to go out again with Satto at 6:30am the next day. Though we had wanted to explore on our own, Bob really found it handy to have a walking bird encyclopedia with us. At the Lodge, we were given masala tea and we sat for a couple of hours after figuring out the Wifi. We typed and listened to our ceiling fan and golden jackals in the dark beyond our balcony, with an intermission of dog howling and wild boar squealing and other sounds that made us think the jackals were close by. After a late dinner at the lodge, we rid our room of as many mosquitoes as we could and with the air conditioning and ceiling fan action we might not get bitten too much overnight. 

India 05

We started a bit later today (9:30am) and much of the day was out of doors. We visited a park, a Mughal garden, the "Baby Taj Mahal" and a wholesale produce market. The market is where gardeners bring their produce to sell in bulk to smaller vendors, restaurants and the general public. It was fantastic to see how quickly sales were happening with stalls clearing by mid-morning. Shanoo explained that most households and restaurants shop daily for what is needed that day. We missed getting a picture of the sugar cane stripper/juicer with hand cranked fly wheel, but will look out for others. Spinach, fenugreek, mint, basil, scallion, onion, garlic, ginger, beets, potatoes, red carrots, cauliflower and eggplant were the main produce in this season. People arrived with their empty sacks and poly bags and left with them laden and slung over their shoulder or on the back of their bike. It all happened so fast. There were occasional food carts, but mostly it was brisk business. And, there were cows, benefitting from free access to the trimmings.

We were treated to another view of the Taj Mahal through a tree canopy at the Agra nature walk and bird sanctuary, where we strolled for about two hours, and Bob photographed more new birds for our growing India collection. 

We then stopped quickly at the hotel to freshen up for our cook class at 12:30. This class was traditional Mughal cooking in the house of Iqbal and Bushra, and their extended family, including their boy Ismail-3 (November 18, 2013, same as our little friend Francis!) and his little brother born February 1st; Iqbal's brother and Bushra's sister, who were also a couple; and the parents of the men. The food was incredible and plentiful. We were welcomed with a cane sugar and rose water cool beverage and a tour of the house. We were also introduced to the house philosophy of cooking and sharing, and to some Mughal regional history and cooking. Their mutton rogan josh magic ingredients were a pair of pastes, one of caramelized onion with yogurt; the other ginger and garlic. Of course, there was also the crushed "dry spices", this time nutmeg pod, cinnamon bark, cardamon pod, cumin seed, whole cloves, pepper corn, coconut meat, poppy seed and bay leaf; and the powder "masala spice" of packaged garam masala plus extra coriander and sweet chili powder; and, of course, salt. There was also mutton biryani; cucumger, carrot, daicon and tomato salad with yoghurt dressing seasoned with mint, fennel & oregano; and a dhal of yellow lentils. Thus far, and including today's, all the dhals have been similar to a soup rather than a dip. The breads have also varied, but more so in thickness and cooking method than ingredients. Bob has been enjoying a rice/lentil South Indian "handkerchief" dosa for breakfast many mornings, sometimes filled with potato and cumin and always accompanied by two or three dips (mint, coconut and chili pepper) and the alixer sambhar (sometimes spelt sambhal). Sometimes breads are filled with paneer and sometimes they are fried in ghee (clarified butter). Dessert was a honey and milk vermicelli with chopped almonds on top. 

After lunch we visited two sites, including "BabyTaj", I'timād-ud-Daulah, which predates the Taj Mahal and was then the most famous Mughal building. The marble inlay is exquisite and covers most of the building surface. Inside are similar designs, crudely frescoed. The second story marble walls are like lace.

Our last stop of the day and of our time with Shanoo was the formal Mughal terraced water gardens of Ram Bagh Park. It was pleasant, but without the water coursing, it was less exciting than it would have been in the bygone past. Bob and Shanoo walked out to the Yamuna river and Yolanda watched the people pass and boys & men chase monkeys with poles. A mother dog came over to sleep in the shade of the bench on which Yolanda was laying. Four groups of young people stopped by to have their photo taken with Yolanda and one young mother asked her to hold the baby for the photo. Shanoo later explained that it was a curiosity for young people to be photographed with foreigners to show to their friends later, similar to how we might (and, indeed have been) photograph Indians.

We are parting company with Shanoo sooner than expected, but a non-active day Thursday, March 2nd should enable us to get some of our blogs posted! Shanoo is also associated with Kaimur Holidays and India By Locals . We did some writing and picture editing in the evening until our i-pad quit (and would not recover) and then went for a dinner at the hotel (happily the i-pod was okay when we returned to our room). This was a great meal and we tried some Indian white spiced wine, and watched the bread making in the "live" dining room kitchen - the most interesting was the making of the "handkerchiefs" and the spinach (palak) roti. 

India 04

We arrived just as the sun rose at the Taj Mahal, and for half an hour were in a long queue (actually two of four queues, as there is one for men, one for women, and one for each  of men and women with Indian citizenship). Yolanda's queue was slowest, so Bob and Shanoo waited for her and then everyone proceeded to the main gate together. We both welled up at our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal in the rising sun. It was wonderful to be there together and we passed a very nice morning wandering the grounds and then walking on the terraces and in the mausoleum.

On the way out, we stopped with Shanoo at a marble inlay factory and although the works were magnificent, we were not swayed to purchase any. Having risen early, we then took a break at the hotel until 2:00pm working on our blog site. At one point, we went out to get cash, and were offered several rides, but did not accept, as we wished to walk. The ATM that was very close was not functioning, as the tuk-tuk driver had said. So we wove across the street to another, which also did not work.

When Shanoo and driver Madan arrived, we asked to first go to an ATM and then to the Mughal Agra Fort, which was an amazing spread of structures in many styles. Shanoo told us interesting stories about those who lived at the palaces within the fort.

Our second to last stop of the day was to see the Taj Mahal at sunset from the Mehtab Bagh park across the Yamuna. It was beautiful and a lovely end to a great day. But, it was not the last activity of the day, as earlier in the day Shanoo invited us to dinner with his family at his house. His wife Charisma was lovely and his daugther-4, Rhyma was a lot of fun. Also at the house were Suphia-2, Ahmed-2mo, brother Samir and Shanoo's mother and father. The cooking was done by Shanoo's mother and wife and it was a delicious and generous treat.