On Wed the 27th we left for Jaipur, Rajasthan. We had a pretty good trip there except for the hour delay with something wrong with the car. After a few phone calls, some checking under the hood and driving about 20 min without A/C. We stopped in a town and got a mechanic to fix the car. After lunch in Jaipur, we did some sightseeing. We visited Jantar Mantar(calculation device). The largest sundial in the world is here and there were various other instruments to tell time, day and date. It was pretty amazing to see these things that were built so long ago. We then drove to Palace of the Winds and then headed back to our hotel.
In the morning we left for Rathanbore national park and after an very nice ride arrived about 4.5 hours later. It is only 180 km but 20 km of it is the bumpiest road I have ever been on. It took us an hour to go 20 km. That's 12.4 miles. We checked into our hotel, the Tiger Moon Resort, and rested for about an 1.5 hours before our safari. An 8 person open air jeep came to pick us up and off we went. Sajel absolutely enjoyed the trip. She loved seeing the monkey's, deer and many other animals. About 30 min into our Safari, we got to see a Tiger!!! What an amazing sight and an even more amazing roar!!! He was down by a river, which was about 100 yards away but the roar was so loud it seemed like he was right next to us. Let me mention that we were VERY lucky to see a tiger on our first safari. Some people had been on 6 and still hadn't seen one. It was very exciting to see all the animals so close in their natural habitat. On the bumpy ride back to our hotel, Sajel fell asleep! It's amazing how this little girl can be tossed around in a car and sleep so soundly. We had a nice dinner and went to bed early being quite exhausted and our next safari was at 6am!
WE JUST FOUND OUT SAJEL'S PASSPORT IS READY!!!!! Thursday evening!!
Our second safari was a success as well. We had 2 tiger sightings, although one was VERY far away and we waited around for about 1-2 hours(seemed like 12), hoping he would move, but he didn't. Then we raced off to see another one which was hanging out in some water. We were able to see this one much better.
We had a great time on our two safari's and were ready to head back to Jaipur. We arrived early evening and just rested at our hotel.
Sat morning we went to Amber Fort and took an elephant ride up to the fort. We all enjoyed this very much and Sajel seemed very comfortable riding the elephant! This fort was incredible. It was built around the same time as the Taj Mahal. Above the Fort was another fort which housed the army of about 7000 and around the entire compound was a wall that spanned 17 km! Wait till you see my pictures!!
After the fort we went to the City Palace. We were supposed to go here on wed but it was closed due to the coronation of a new King! It was pretty cool to be there for the end of it and hear all the cannons going off. The City Palace is still in use by the Royal Family and was quite beautiful. We couldn't go up to the living area because they were there but I would have loved to have seen it. Maybe next time we go they will be out of town! LOL! We finished our sightseeing around 1130am and went to have lunch. We ate at great restaurant called Hotel Glitz Jaipur Rajmahal Restaurant. Don't worry, i have cards!!! Now the 5 hour trip back to Delhi.
Sunday morning I flew to Orissa and picked up Sajel's passport and flew back to Delhi in the same day. Got back around 11:00pm very tired. Monday we took it easy and in the afternoon had to get some passport pictures taken of Sajel for her medical appt on Tuesday.
Well our medical appt didn't go as planned.....They would not accept the TB test we had done in Bangalore and have to do their own. In addition, Sajel had to have 6 more vaccines!!! This did not go well. Our Visa appt is wed morning and now we are going to have to try to change it to Thurs afternoon and HOPE they will process the Visa right away. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 4am Friday morning. I really hope I don't have to change it again. I had a big problem finding seats on this flight. Keep your fingers crossed that the US Embassy will help us out and get us home on the Friday flight. Otherwise, I don't know how long we are going to be here.......
Talk to you soon,
Marcus
In the morning we left for Rathanbore national park and after an very nice ride arrived about 4.5 hours later. It is only 180 km but 20 km of it is the bumpiest road I have ever been on. It took us an hour to go 20 km. That's 12.4 miles. We checked into our hotel, the Tiger Moon Resort, and rested for about an 1.5 hours before our safari. An 8 person open air jeep came to pick us up and off we went. Sajel absolutely enjoyed the trip. She loved seeing the monkey's, deer and many other animals. About 30 min into our Safari, we got to see a Tiger!!! What an amazing sight and an even more amazing roar!!! He was down by a river, which was about 100 yards away but the roar was so loud it seemed like he was right next to us. Let me mention that we were VERY lucky to see a tiger on our first safari. Some people had been on 6 and still hadn't seen one. It was very exciting to see all the animals so close in their natural habitat. On the bumpy ride back to our hotel, Sajel fell asleep! It's amazing how this little girl can be tossed around in a car and sleep so soundly. We had a nice dinner and went to bed early being quite exhausted and our next safari was at 6am!
WE JUST FOUND OUT SAJEL'S PASSPORT IS READY!!!!! Thursday evening!!
Our second safari was a success as well. We had 2 tiger sightings, although one was VERY far away and we waited around for about 1-2 hours(seemed like 12), hoping he would move, but he didn't. Then we raced off to see another one which was hanging out in some water. We were able to see this one much better.
We had a great time on our two safari's and were ready to head back to Jaipur. We arrived early evening and just rested at our hotel.
Sat morning we went to Amber Fort and took an elephant ride up to the fort. We all enjoyed this very much and Sajel seemed very comfortable riding the elephant! This fort was incredible. It was built around the same time as the Taj Mahal. Above the Fort was another fort which housed the army of about 7000 and around the entire compound was a wall that spanned 17 km! Wait till you see my pictures!!
After the fort we went to the City Palace. We were supposed to go here on wed but it was closed due to the coronation of a new King! It was pretty cool to be there for the end of it and hear all the cannons going off. The City Palace is still in use by the Royal Family and was quite beautiful. We couldn't go up to the living area because they were there but I would have loved to have seen it. Maybe next time we go they will be out of town! LOL! We finished our sightseeing around 1130am and went to have lunch. We ate at great restaurant called Hotel Glitz Jaipur Rajmahal Restaurant. Don't worry, i have cards!!! Now the 5 hour trip back to Delhi.
Sunday morning I flew to Orissa and picked up Sajel's passport and flew back to Delhi in the same day. Got back around 11:00pm very tired. Monday we took it easy and in the afternoon had to get some passport pictures taken of Sajel for her medical appt on Tuesday.
Well our medical appt didn't go as planned.....They would not accept the TB test we had done in Bangalore and have to do their own. In addition, Sajel had to have 6 more vaccines!!! This did not go well. Our Visa appt is wed morning and now we are going to have to try to change it to Thurs afternoon and HOPE they will process the Visa right away. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 4am Friday morning. I really hope I don't have to change it again. I had a big problem finding seats on this flight. Keep your fingers crossed that the US Embassy will help us out and get us home on the Friday flight. Otherwise, I don't know how long we are going to be here.......
Talk to you soon,
Marcus
Marcus it was great to hear your narration @ Jaipur and all the fun you guys had with Sajel. US Embassy will be very smooth. Based on ours and a few others whose experience has been nothing but smooth. We know you will board that plane without further delays on Friday. Have a Safe trip back home. Raj & Kamala.
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