Today our adventures took us to a small village within India. Boarding the public bus which resembled more of a coach than a double-decker bus you would find in the London, I managed to sleep the majority of the way as the exhaustion had definitely set in days ago. When I woke up from the coach we got another mini bus to the Palace, which was going to be our residence for that evening. The scenery surrounding the palace was completely different to what we had previously seen travelling through India. The small roads leading through a quiet little village had rows of little houses some painted colourfully to show the marriages that had happened within the village and symbolised the invitations of the weddings. There were many farming fields and greenery that when compared to the madness of New Delhi created a calming feeling for us all. When our minibus arrived at the Palace, Tordi Garh heritage site, we were welcomed by the hotel staff placing Bindis on our foreheads, a circle for a girl and a circle and a line for a boy. This is mainly done to represent their appreciation for guests and how closely they place guests towards the God like status. This building dated back to the 18th century and also had a series of turrets all around the structure that were used during battles back when this building was the main place to which the Royal Family oversaw the ongoing within their towns and underwent their business. Across from the main building there is also a little stables which homed horses, chicken and goats. Once we were all cleared up and felt a bit fresher than post shower we had the option of a Jeep Safari around the little village which obviously was straightaway a definite rather than an option. Our first stop on the Jeep safari was a well made of stone. These used to be the water source for the village. The ancient step well, not only acts as a beautiful structure, but also gave us a glimpse of what life would have been like before water pumps and running taps. Once we had finished capturing the angles of the ancient step well and looked through the fields that were home to Two large tombs and a lot of lentil plants we continued on in Jeeps. We stop along this long bridge that allowed us an amazing view of the Tordi river and reservoir. At first glance over this river the one thing you would have noticed was the sun shinning. Although, once you had a second to actually take in the landscape of the river you could see that there was a break in the weather. Half the sky was covered in clouds and quite obviously the monsoon rain had hit there, whereas the other half of the sky was taken up by the incredibly bright setting sun. After soaking up the views from the side of the bridge we raced along to chase the sun set and the sun altogether rather than being caught up in the clouds that threatened to overtake us. We soon reached the point the Jeep Safari had been leading up to, the sand dunes. We reached the top of one of the sand dunes thinking we would be witnessing a desert like landscape where in fact, we over looked half sand but mostly green trees representing a forest spanning out for miles. As we sat at the top of this sand dune we got to witness the sun setting over the calm forest towns, with a cup of Chai tea in hand and a biscuit of course. After the sun had set once again in India, we headed back to Tordi Garh to freshen up before dinner where the descendant of the prince-line that had once ruled over these villages was to join us. We had the ability to also have a few drinks on the terrace without the overpowering sounds of horns that could always be heard within the previous cities.
That evening we also had the honour of meeting a couple of girls from the village who came to do some henna for us. Both Alex and I got some mostly in an attempt to give back to the community in some sense of the form. (Considering the age of the girls which couldn't have been more that 15/16 their ability to create amazing patterns through such fine work was incredible.) When looking for a peaceful break within the great, but mad, India little villages such as these allow you to see the culture of India at a much calming pace and the heritage site we were situated in allowed for us to see the older architecture as well.
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Photo used under Creative Commons from SdosRemedios