Visit to India, in October/November 2005. 
 
 I wanted to visit India for two important reasons. In the first place I would love to see at least once in my life the tiger in its natural surroundings and secondly because India has the name to be one of the most important places for bird watchers in the world. Of course, if someone visits India for the first time one has to visit some, at least the most important, historical monuments too. And for every destination goes that to see something of the daily life is very interesting.

It is wellknown that India is one of those countries with a booming economy and a fast development of the prosperity of its inhabitants.  Although I have been in India to short (almost one month) to be able to really judge the situation I got the strong impression that reality is quite different. Cities give the impression of being neglected. The scene looks messy and uncontrolled. It is true that there are several historical monuments which are worth to visit, very interesting and beautiful  indeed, but as far as I could see, the daily Indian life does not show anything of prosperity yet. Maybe that is why the contrast is so big, and really shocked me.

Personally I was very happy that my aim was to visit Nature Reserves, and that part of my trip I enjoyed very much.  
 
The trip was tailor made for me by  Nature Safari India, a relatively small travel organisation, with an exceptional good service. I have met the owner, Sharad Vats, personally in New Delhi, and he stayed in contact during the whole period.
Small complains were resolved immediately without any problem. All together a very good choice. 
 
On the 27th of October I arrived in Delhi. During the 4 weeks of my stay in India I travelled around in the provinces of Delhi, Rajastan, Utter and Madhya Pradesh. In this area I have visited five different nature reserves.

• Rhantambhore. Gives a very good chance to see the tiger, and also a lot of other mammals. A disadvantage is the fact that the reserve can be very crowded and that there is a kind of competition between several guiding organisations to show their clients the best sightings.
• Bharatpur. A bird sanctuary of great importance for bird migration. This year they had very good rainy periods and their was a lot of water in all places. extremely interesting place for every bird lover.
• Bandhavgarh. Also in this reserve very good opportunities to see the tiger. Beautiful scenery inside but also outside the reserve in the adjoining areas. Also very good for bird watching.
• Kanha. Good chances to see the tiger. Also very interesting for bird watching.
• Pench. The chance to see the tiger in this reserve are relatively small. This reserve has been opened to the public only a few years ago. In other reserves generations of tigers have had the opportunity to get used to Jeeps and visitors. That is still not the case in this reserve. On the other hand it is very good for birdwatchers and to see other game, especially because it is less crowded than other reserves. 

Click on next to go to - Delhi

"Old Delhi" is really very old. An important monument is "Jama Mashid" an enormous ancient mosque        
 

The entrance to the mosque                                               Image of the central square

Looking down from the mosque gives good views over Old  Delhi. An image of people everywhere, old buildings with shops and houses, narrow streets all in a complete disorder. The electric wiring of houses and small firms looks gruesome unreliable and unsafe. At the moment of my visit almost all the shops had been changed in selling points for firework.  This has been done on the occasion of a very important festival on the first of November. The festival of light, Dewali. Everybody wants to buy firework.

"The surveillants" armed with a wooden stick have to supervise if everybody complies with the general order of "no smoking"

 Click on the photos below to get a bigger image.

Just a bite in the street sounds tempting, but I wonder if it is really a good idea

New Delhi has to offer some interesting monuments too, like the Qutab minar. This tower was build in the 12th century to celebrate the victory of Mohammed Ghori. It was meant to function as a minar.

Click on next to go to - Jaipur

Jaipur, the Pink City

The City has been repainted in 1876 during the visit of the Prince of Wales.
 

Jaipur is barely 260 km from Delhi, and possesses many places of  interest. Thousands of tourists are visiting Jaipur every year.
 

The Jantar Mantar is one of the five observatories built by Sawai Jai Singh. The fairly accurate information to the time of the day is surprising

The City Palace complex is the official residence of the Royal family of Jaipur, one of the 520 Royal families of India, and is certainly worth a visit. 

 
But one of the most important attractions of Jaipur is the "Amber Fort". Situated on a strategic point up on a hills with free views to all sides is this fort really worth a visit.

Click on next to go to - Agra

 Agra, de Taj Mahal

 

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built entirely of white marble, quarried  nearby Agra, by a Muslim, Emperor Shah Jahan (died 1666 C.E.) in the memory of his dear wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal

His eldest son Aurangzeb put his father under house arrest in Agra Fort tended only by his eldest daughter Jahanara Begum. The conditions of Shah Jahan's five years detention are the subject of disagreement and legend

One Legend tells that Shah Jahan wanted to build a black Taj Mahal, to match the white one. It is also rumoured that Shah Jahan died in Muasamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony with an excellent view of the Taj Mahal.

Fatehpur Sikri (photo below) is a 16th-century capital city built by the Mughal emperor Akbar, the father of Shah Jahan on a rocky outcrop at 37 km distance of the city of Agra. The city took many years to build, but was abandoned only a few years after occupation because of lack of fresh water, Being as it is on high, rocky ground. 

Going to, and being in Agra I made some photos. Some images to show more about the daily life in India.