New Years at Orchha

When we arrived in Delhi we made the fortuitous choice to stay at a bed and breakfast. The place is called the Tree Tops ( the website I created for them), and is run by gracious Tannie and Murad Baig. Tannie and Murad have been so kind, helping us get established in our apartment, and inviting us along with them on an exciting New Years trip.

We headed out with the final destination of Orchha. On the way down, we made a stop at Agra, home of the Taj.





The Taj was magnificent, as always.

What was much more memorable, however, was our stay with one of Tannie and Murad's friends who lives in Agra. It was a great experience; she had a dinner party and we got to meet some more really interesting folks. One of the most interesting parts of the night was getting a tour of some of the families amazing heirlooms.

Pictured below are Murad and Sam pretending to sword fight with the families' 16th century swords.




Me taking aim at a tiger shot on 1950s hunting trip with a 15th century rifle...



and a closeup of the amazing carvings on the rifle.



Why all the war related antiques? The family is of Rajput descent, i.e. of the warrior class; hence the swords, rifles, and tiger heads....

Next morning we headed on towards Orchha. It was a long long ride on horrible roads, but there were beautiful views of blooming mustard fields



Finally, we arrived at Orchha.

This is taken directly from wikipedia:
On a seasonal island on the bank of the Betwa River, which has been surrounded by a battlement wall, stands a huge palace-fort. The fort consists of several connected buildings erected at different times, the most noteworthy of which are the Rajmandir and the Jahangir Mahal.

Numerous cenotaphs or chhatris dot the vicinity of the fort and the Betwa river. Elsewhere about the town there is an unusual variety of temples and tombs, including the Chaturbhuj temple, which is built on a vast platform of stone. The more unguarded and neglected of these buildings are popular hangouts for tropical bees, wasps, and other such excitable stingy creatures.

Much more historical info can be found on wiki. But here are a few photos of the cenotaphs.





New Year's itself was relatively uneventful; we had a lovely dinner with Tannie and Murad, and we're in bed early (after having to change hotel rooms as the whole room vibrated due to the dance party on the roof).

The next morning I spotted a movie star on top of the hotel. Can you guess who it is?



We had a lovely day in Orchha, complete with renting bikes (2 bikes, 2 hours, 75 cents!) and exploring a lovely nature preserve.



And those are some highlights of our New Year's trip. Next adventure coming soon....