I like to think I am a bit of a history buff and know my hometown well, but my illusions were shattered when I joined the Mudgee Heritage Walking Tour.
What wasn’t shattered was my love for my hometown, a little slice of rural NSW paradise.
Join me for a relaxed wander around the historical streets of Mudgee.
Continue readingMy love affair with doors and doorways continues. Back in 2017 I shared my fascination with Indian doors and now it is time to showcase the Italian equivalent.
Maybe I have a ‘thing’ for countries starting with the letter ‘I’?
Continue readingWe are not in Kansas anymore, Toto!
More accurately, we are not in little ol’ Mudgee anymore. Instead we are in a car driving through the depths of dusty Rajasthan, India.
Today will be day five of our Opulence of Rajasthan tour and I am struggling to put into words all that we have seen. India is such a land of contrasts – from gobsmacking beauty to heartbreaking sadness, and always an eye opener.
Our little traveling party of three women, and our patient driver, left New Delhi on Monday. We have been working our way eastwards and arrived in Jaisalmer yesterday afternoon. As we have travelled, the terrain has become increasingly desolate and now we are well and truly on the outskirts of the Thar Desert. To the point where this afternoon our plan is to pull on our johdpurs, mount up and head off on our camels out over the sand dunes.
In the meantime I will try to share a little of what we have seen so far. Even in the middle of nowhere there is something to look at, even if it just the crazy traffic.
Asif, our driver, is great company and is happy answer all our crazy questions and sometimes even he has his camera out taking photos too!
Enjoy the snaps below. I will try to be a better blogger over the next couple of weeks, but no guarantees!
Chandi Cowl market in Old Delhi
Through the streets of Jaisalmer
Sunset over Jaisalmer
Views from the car
Making new friends at Ramdevra Hindu Temple
The inhospitable countryside as we edge closer to the Thar Desert
Happy pilgrims on their way to Ramdevra
Transport in India!!
Thousands of rats at Rat temple at Phalodi
A rubbish mountain (the photo really doesn’t show its true size) at Bikaner
Beautifully painted houses at Mandawa
One of our hotels…
Road conditions are a little basic in places..
One of the main things I enjoy about walking pilgrim trails is that often the trails lead me through all manner of remote countryside and many small towns and villages that would not normally be on a tourist’s agenda.
Piacenza, in northern Italy, is one of those gems which reward a curious visitor as well as an exhausted hiker, and truly hum with the energy of local life.
Melbourne is a shopper’s Paradise.
Or a nightmare for the non-shoppers amongst us!
The one good thing about Melbourne’s shops is that often they are housed in the most stunningly elegant and historic arcades.
I have been reluctant to write this post as it means that my first Indian adventure is truly over.
Note that I used the word ‘first’, as I think I left behind a little of my heart in the elegant surrounds of the Amber Fort in Jaipur.
One day I shall return to collect it…
Before you track me down, drag me into the streets and beat me to a pulp, hear me out.
Yes, the Taj Mahal is beautiful.
Yes, it is elegant.
But where is its soul?
When was the last time a building stopped you in your tracks?
Your eyes widened trying to take it all in and your mouth fell open in awe?
Mehrangarh Fort did that to me in November 2017!
What is it about a door that so captures my imagination?
Why do doors seem to have so much personality for an inanimate object?
Is it just me? Or do doors and doorways catch your eye too?
Nothing beats a pleasant stroll in the Winter sunshine. The stroll is enough in itself, but when you have something interesting to look at, AND you learn something at the same time, more the better.
And a walk through the historic, wide Adelaide streets fits the bill nicely.
