I’m lying in bed feeling very sorry for myself (IBS + cold, not Delhi belly before you
ask!) but I still have a sense of contentment and wonder. We have just made it
to Jaipur after spending not quite 24 hours in the amazing little village Tordi
Garh.
We took a not too shabby public bus (it actually had more leg room than
our buses) although the seats made our butts numb within half an hour. Along
the way I saw 48 stray dogs, 14 monkeys, 91 cows, 16 goats, 2 rats, 4 donkeys,
6 pigs and 2 mongoose. In the first hour. After that I snoozed for a lot of the
way.
After stopping for a very spicy lunch we boarded jeeps for 3.5 hours for
an incredible albeit rocky trip. The roads are only built for one car, so when
passing or overtaking another vehicle one or both have to go offroad. Now this
isn’t too strange, it’s just their timing. They wait until you’re about to
scream because they’re going to hit each other, THEN they swerve. It’s better
just to close your eyes!
However, closing eyes is not an option, because there is so much to
marvel out. We passed glorious fields of bright yellow mustard, the crop of
choice at the moment. Apparently they also do wheat and lentils, and some
seasons even cotton. We crossed a railway line where the boom-gates are
hand-manoeuvred (not by us thankfully) and occasionally through small towns
where we wove through cars, cyclists, pedestrians, sleeping dogs (in the middle
of the road), cows, goats, tiny puppies, kids, vendors and huge trucks. There
are colourful saris peppering the main run, carrying water jugs and other
things on their heads, or pumping water amidst the dust.
Our tour leader Paddy drove the second half, taking over from a kid who
looked about 15, but we were astonished to discover that he was 23 with a kid!
Paddy was a little less crazy behind the wheel, but we still felt like we were
going very fast. The speedo said only 50km/h, but it felt more like 100km/h.
Not sure whether the speedo was broken or it was measuring in miles or the poor
condition of the road made it feel that way. I’m optimistically going to go for
the poor condition. So at these apparent speeds you can’t help but breathe in
when we pass the aforementioned trucks hurtling at you.
A few times we came across animals crossing the road, but none so adorable
as a pack of donkeys. Upon closer inspection we realised the cargo that the
donkeys were carrying was sacks of baby goats, their heads poking out and
looking around with curiosity at these jeeps full of gawking tourists.
We finally arrived at Tordi Garh and the palace that we were staying at.
The prince owner is a direct descendant of the feudal lord who built the palace
in the 16th century. He greeted us upon arrival and we all received
the traditional greeting of receiving a bindi and a necklace of beautiful
yellow flowers. Everybody was so lovely and seemed genuinely happy to have us
there. Everywhere you walked throughout the palace; Hello, Thankyou, Namaste.
After being taken to our rooms, we were allowed to wander around the palace to
our hearts content. It was just spectacular. Each room had its own ambience
with varying furniture and art and there were so many views out the windows and
numerous balconies. Mostly we looked down upon the ramshackle village;
dilapidated buildings topped with goats and kids flying kites. Any kids that
could see us waved earnestly, excited to see the strange-looking tourists. In
the distance was a fort atop a huge hill that apparently only took an hour to
hike, but considering how sick I was feeling I didn’t take it up.
Sunset was beautiful – the sun turned a gorgeous bright red as it set
across the village and soon it was time for dinner. Making our way down I even
bumped into the prince’s dog – a boxer no less! Woot! Anyway…dinner was
magnificent – light but filling, and we had these amazing sweets that looked
like potatoes (they very well could have been) but were amazingly sweet –
filled with sugary syrup. Mmmmmm. After dinner we sat around fires with another
Gecko’s group and chatted for a few hours. Up one end our group was having a
very interesting conversation with Paddy about castes, in the middle I was
talking to two of the princes just about the local area and then up the other
end the other group was talking about <insert topic here>.
I retired early because I wasn’t feeling well and I was pleased to
discover that we had hot water. Well, at least for 2 minutes anyway! The next
day was a big day, because we were going to walk around the village….
Tordi Garh photos
