We had a lot of fun climbing around ancient forts and palaces on this trip north, and to cap it all off we actually stayed in one. It was about halfway between Jaipur and Delhi, otherwise known as The Middle of Nowhere, or Neemrana.
The Neemrana Fort Palace is a 15th century fort that's been restored and made into a heritage hotel. The oldest part of the fort was built in the late 1400s, and sections were added over the centuries. Our suite dated to the 17th century.
Here are the kids standing at the front gate. There are spikes on the door to defend against opposing armies' elephants, and just inside the gate are fun artifacts like a huge set of keys and a couple of ancient-looking palanquins.
We had a blast exploring all the tunnels, stairways and hidden courtyards in this place. I have to admit it was a little rough on the knees, as we were constantly climbing or descending stairs or ramps (even in our room!). Here's a view from the terrace where we had lunch just after arriving at the fort.
After lunch John and Sarah and I took turns hanging out in that pool with the kids and taking a great audio tour of the fort. We discovered that our suite was part of the zenana, or the women's section of the palace.
The tour took us to 11 levels of the fort, including up staircases that hugged the outside of the fort (no handrails!) and led to rooftop courtyards. Do I need to explain why we didn't take the kids on the tour? The tour was super interesting and full of fun details about the buildings, art and artifacts. We were even shown the doors to Kate Winslet's favorite suite! Chic, no?
Here are some photos that John took during his tour.
Dinner was in the oldest part of the fort. Here's Johnny all ready to tackle the buffet.
The kids were excited about all the animals we saw, everything from miniscule frogs to camels to donkeys to hogs and the ever-present cows. We were looking out over the hills after breakfast and could hear peacocks calling. Johnny recognized the call from our time at Kabini River Lodge. I just love his nerdiness! We spotted the calling peacock in a tree not far from us and stood watching it for a long time.
Here are the kids clowning around after breakfast.
Johnny was having a difficult day, so he and Sarah and I stayed behind to pack while John took Evie and Samuel on a camel ride. I didn't mind staying behind at all, as my limited experience with camels involves not much more than haughty looks, spit and an unpleasant smell. John assures me that this camel was clean and friendly. Right.
Samuel's face in this photo just kills me. I want to draw a thought bubble over his head ... "Why on Earth is that camel eating leaves? Disgusting creature."
The camel ride takes you from the fort to a well and back, and John was thinking he was heading out to see a hole in the ground. Boring. Well, it was a hole in the ground, yes, but it was surrounded by (John's words here) "seven levels of huge, ancient awesomeness!"
Here's the hole in the ground. I'm trying not to imagine Samuel and Evie staring down this hole, as I'm sure there was nothing to keep them from tumbling to certain death.
Here they are on the return trip with the fort in the background. Evie tells me that riding the camel was really fun but kind of scary. I'm guessing the fun won her over, though, because she and Samuel have been pretending to ride camels (using pillows and couch cushions, mostly) for days now.
Here's the nameplate for our suite, the Jharokha Mahal.
And here are Evie and Samuel heading down the stairs to our room. When we first checked in and were taken to these stairs I was thinking, "You have got to be kidding me." But at the bottom of those stairs was a fantastic, three-room plus two-bathroom suite with a private balcony. Awesome! And the smell of bats in the stairwell made the whole experience that much more authentic. ahem.
This is our suite from one of the lower courtyards. The three arches are on the private balcony, and the single arch is on a tiny balcony off one of the bedrooms. Johnny loved sitting on that little balcony, which you get to through a large window over one of the beds. I only let him do it when Samuel was gone, though, as it was yet another portal to certain 2-year-old doom.
The drive back to Delhi was pretty uneventful, once we got past the water truck that was blocking traffic in all directions just at the base of Neemrana's mountain. Hello, India! While we were waiting for the driver to show up and move his truck, we watched a goat climb up and down a roof. Riveting. No, really, it was pretty exciting. We couldn't figure out how it got to the roof in the first place, or why no one seemed to care that it was there. Valid questions, don't you think?
Back on the main road, we saw pilgrims participating in the Kanwar Yatra. The pilgrims walk to holy places along the Ganges River, and then they walk back to their villages carrying holy water to use in their local Shiva temples. Our driver told us that many of the pilgrims walk for weeks. We must have seen hundreds of them walking along the highway or gathering at one of the rest tents set up every few miles.
We hit Delhi well before rush hour and so got to the airport with time to spare. A quick flight home and we all collapsed in our beds, exhausted after another fabulous adventure in India.
The Neemrana Fort Palace is a 15th century fort that's been restored and made into a heritage hotel. The oldest part of the fort was built in the late 1400s, and sections were added over the centuries. Our suite dated to the 17th century.
Here are the kids standing at the front gate. There are spikes on the door to defend against opposing armies' elephants, and just inside the gate are fun artifacts like a huge set of keys and a couple of ancient-looking palanquins.
We had a blast exploring all the tunnels, stairways and hidden courtyards in this place. I have to admit it was a little rough on the knees, as we were constantly climbing or descending stairs or ramps (even in our room!). Here's a view from the terrace where we had lunch just after arriving at the fort.
After lunch John and Sarah and I took turns hanging out in that pool with the kids and taking a great audio tour of the fort. We discovered that our suite was part of the zenana, or the women's section of the palace.
The tour took us to 11 levels of the fort, including up staircases that hugged the outside of the fort (no handrails!) and led to rooftop courtyards. Do I need to explain why we didn't take the kids on the tour? The tour was super interesting and full of fun details about the buildings, art and artifacts. We were even shown the doors to Kate Winslet's favorite suite! Chic, no?
Here are some photos that John took during his tour.
And here are some views from our balcony.
Dinner was in the oldest part of the fort. Here's Johnny all ready to tackle the buffet.
The kids were excited about all the animals we saw, everything from miniscule frogs to camels to donkeys to hogs and the ever-present cows. We were looking out over the hills after breakfast and could hear peacocks calling. Johnny recognized the call from our time at Kabini River Lodge. I just love his nerdiness! We spotted the calling peacock in a tree not far from us and stood watching it for a long time.
Here are the kids clowning around after breakfast.
Johnny was having a difficult day, so he and Sarah and I stayed behind to pack while John took Evie and Samuel on a camel ride. I didn't mind staying behind at all, as my limited experience with camels involves not much more than haughty looks, spit and an unpleasant smell. John assures me that this camel was clean and friendly. Right.
Samuel's face in this photo just kills me. I want to draw a thought bubble over his head ... "Why on Earth is that camel eating leaves? Disgusting creature."
The camel ride takes you from the fort to a well and back, and John was thinking he was heading out to see a hole in the ground. Boring. Well, it was a hole in the ground, yes, but it was surrounded by (John's words here) "seven levels of huge, ancient awesomeness!"
Here's the hole in the ground. I'm trying not to imagine Samuel and Evie staring down this hole, as I'm sure there was nothing to keep them from tumbling to certain death.
Here they are on the return trip with the fort in the background. Evie tells me that riding the camel was really fun but kind of scary. I'm guessing the fun won her over, though, because she and Samuel have been pretending to ride camels (using pillows and couch cushions, mostly) for days now.
We checked out just after lunch to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the Delhi airport before our evening flight. The kids did some last-minute exploring and found this great stairway leading out of our suite's courtyard.
Here's the nameplate for our suite, the Jharokha Mahal.
And here are Evie and Samuel heading down the stairs to our room. When we first checked in and were taken to these stairs I was thinking, "You have got to be kidding me." But at the bottom of those stairs was a fantastic, three-room plus two-bathroom suite with a private balcony. Awesome! And the smell of bats in the stairwell made the whole experience that much more authentic. ahem.
This is our suite from one of the lower courtyards. The three arches are on the private balcony, and the single arch is on a tiny balcony off one of the bedrooms. Johnny loved sitting on that little balcony, which you get to through a large window over one of the beds. I only let him do it when Samuel was gone, though, as it was yet another portal to certain 2-year-old doom.
The drive back to Delhi was pretty uneventful, once we got past the water truck that was blocking traffic in all directions just at the base of Neemrana's mountain. Hello, India! While we were waiting for the driver to show up and move his truck, we watched a goat climb up and down a roof. Riveting. No, really, it was pretty exciting. We couldn't figure out how it got to the roof in the first place, or why no one seemed to care that it was there. Valid questions, don't you think?
Back on the main road, we saw pilgrims participating in the Kanwar Yatra. The pilgrims walk to holy places along the Ganges River, and then they walk back to their villages carrying holy water to use in their local Shiva temples. Our driver told us that many of the pilgrims walk for weeks. We must have seen hundreds of them walking along the highway or gathering at one of the rest tents set up every few miles.
We hit Delhi well before rush hour and so got to the airport with time to spare. A quick flight home and we all collapsed in our beds, exhausted after another fabulous adventure in India.
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