Saturday 22nd – Monday 24th February 2025

Before we left Agra we were able to visit a couple of interesting places, the first was a small artisan carpet making business. Here the company employ skilled craftspeople to hand make stunning Kashmiri and Indian wool & silk carpets it can take many many years to learn the art of hand knotting carpets and families pass the skills down through the generations. It is such intricate and detailed work, and it can take many months to create the designs on the looms, the more complex the pattern or the more colours used the longer it takes. Some families or individuals can specialise in particular patterns. 

Once woven the carpets are brushed and trimmed, trimming can be done more than once, this is a very skilled process, then someone has to go over the entire carpet redefining the pattern, one knot at a time almost! Once that’s done the carpet is washed and then it’s finished. 

It is a remarkable process and the end results are stunning. Many of the patterns we saw were inspired by the shapes, colours and design of the Taj Mahal. 

I was so impressed that I decided to buy one! This was a random decision especially as I currently have no home to put it in! 😳😬 

I dithered about for ages trying to make the decision, but I’m very pleased I did. I chose the pattern called Taj Mahal in beautiful colours. (See pictures!) It is the same design as the couple we watched were making, and in fact they are going to be the same people who will make my carpet. 😍 It will take 5 months to make and then they will ship it out to me. 

I’m happy that my purchase will continue to support local artisans and their families. The company have just completed a school for the children of the families that work with them. 

After Agra our next stop is Alipura. 

Alipura is a small village in Uttar Pradesh, to get there we are taking a train to Jhansi then picking up another bus/coach. 

It’s another early start as the train leaves at 8am. The journey is pretty good, the stations aren’t too busy. It takes around 3.5 hours to get from Agra to Jhansi. We are given breakfast of sorts on the train, a slice of bread, juice and a cup Chai. I just take the Chai. 

The place we are staying at in Alipura is fabulous. It’s an old palace, part of which is now used as a hotel. It’s really lovely. My room is big, cool, clean and comfortable! 😍 there are lots of terraces with wonderful views. We have a little bit of down time before taking a walk through the village. 

Village life is very different to the sites you see in the big cities. You see so much more of the real India, life being lived, people going about their daily lives. It’s fascinating and incredibly interesting. All the kids want to say hello! 😍 in this village it is mainly Hindu but with a smaller group of Muslims living side by side. The only discernible difference is that there are cows wandering around on the Hindu side and lots of goats on the Muslim side! The animal situation is bonkers, cows are everywhere, dogs are everywhere, goats are everywhere! Then you throw in a few Water Buffalo! Crazy. After our walk we all have dinner at the hotel and then join the staff and Vikram to watch a bit of the India/Pakistan Cricket Match. 😍 Pleased to say that India won, this resulted in lots of fireworks during the night. Luckily I missed them and had a much needed uninterrupted sleep. 💤  In fact I was up in time to see the beautiful sunrise! 🌅 

We leave at around 9 for a visit to another group of temples, in Khajuraho, these are famous for their Kamasutra carvings. 

The site of the temples is gorgeous, lots of greenery, flowers and trees, the temples themselves are beautiful with fascinating carvings. The carvings on the outside of the temples depict all aspects of mortal life, battles, dancing, singing, sex. The carvings inside depict spiritual life. 

The carvings are meant to be educational. 

It was a great visit, the guide wasn’t my favourite and I was feeling a little ‘Over the whole temple thing’ 😬 Which was a shame. However once we were allowed to explore on our own I felt a little more chilled. 

There are so many steps, steep ones as well, at every place we visit. My knees are not loving it. 😁 

We had lunch in a very pleasant restaurant, in the shade of a beautiful tree overlooking the temples. Lush. 

After lunch it was time for a very exciting adventure!

So, we were supposed to be going on a Safari but a few days ago Vikram told us that it was going to be cancelled. The reason for the cancellation was because the park, Panna, was hosting Safaris for Prime Minister, Modi, President, Droupadi Murmu and several ministers over the coming days. Therefore all other bookings were cancelled. 

Our lovely Vikram, who is a man not to be trifled with decided that this wasn’t good enough. He called his cousin on his sister in laws side, Chattrashan Singh Judeo, who just happens to be the Maharajah or King of the whole province which includes Panna who very kindly organised 3 jeeps for us and decided to accompany us on our Safari! He is a really lovely young man of just 18. I felt very lucky, and very pleased. 

It was a bit of a drive to Panna, up through the jungle. This was terrifying. The roads are really narrow, we were in a taxi, which insisted on overtaking Lorrie’s and trucks on tight bends with long drops to the side. 😟😳

I glad to say we all made it in one piece. 

We climbed aboard our allotted Jeeps, and off we went.

The Jungle we are visiting was the inspiration for Rudyard Kiplings Jungle Book, and I’m sure during the rainy season it is lush and green, luckily for us it’s the dry season therefore more chance of seeing a Tiger. Although we had been told that the part of the park open to us was only a small area, so seeing a Tiger would be very lucky. 

Our guide had seen one the day before. 

The jungle was wonderful, full of deer, monkeys, birds and also lots of huge Griffin Vultures, that at one point almost became extinct. There are also some Elephants. 

It was a great drive, much less bumpy than the safari in Sri Lanka.

We stopped at a huge Gorge to view more vultures, as we were leaving the guide got a message that tigers had been heard growling on the other side of the park. So we set off at a fair pace to get there. 

We stopped at a small river area with deer feeding beside it. The guide explained that there was possibly a male tiger somewhere on our left and a female on our right. 

All the jeeps eventually joined us and spread out along the road to cover a larger area. We then turned off engines to listen out for the alarm calls from the Samba Deer. They sound the alarm when the Tigers are on the move. 

The time was moving on, the sun was getting lower and lower. We heard a couple of alarm calls from the left, then more from the right. Then you’d see the fallow deer all stop feeding and look around, and you’d get all excited. Then it would go quiet again. We stayed like this, in a heightened state of anticipation for over an hour. Then another alarm call from the right, and the jeep driver up ahead started signalling and as if by magic from the tree line you see a faint white face then as we got a little nearer she appears! 

The most beautiful, stunning, majestic creature ambling her way out of the jungle! 

What a sight, my hands were shaking, the jeeps are moving forwards, trying to get into a good position, she is just strolling along. 

Then she is there in front of me, just a few feet away. She is unbelievably beautiful, the sun is setting and making her glow. She pauses momentarily, turns, looks at us then continues on her way, it’s not long before she is completely hidden by the grasses. 

I’m in tears, I feel so emotional. The whole experience is something I will never ever forget. The build up, the anticipation then to finally see her. Wow, just wow. 

I managed to get a half decent video. But I got a spectacular photo as she turned. It’s golden and gorgeous. 🧡🐅 

We all are blown away. The journey back in the cold and dark is definitely worth it! OMG. Hayley, I was channeling you and lots of ABR. 

I think it worked! 💜

I think that’s it for now! 

I’m feeling tired but very happy. 

Books read.

Not sure, I’ve lost track! Tigers on my brain. 😂🐅😂🐅

I’m still behind on the blogs, but trying to catch up! 

Have a great Thursday.

Sending my love to everyone.

🧡🇮🇳🐅🧡🇮🇳🐅🧡🇮🇳🐅