India 6, Bharatpur

In the morning my girlfriend and I awoke early, grabbed a quick breakfast then headed down to the local bus stand for our onward journey to Bharatpur, home of a tranquil little bird sanctuary. The bus we caught was a Agra->Jaipur bus so we had to have cat like reflexes and jump off when our stop came close. Thankfully the driver saw we were tourists with big bags and stopped the bus to let us out. If he hadn't stopped we would have had to employ the tuck and roll strategy that so many Indians apply when involuntarily exiting overcrowded trains. We stayed at Hotel Spoonbill (http://www.hotelspoonbill.com/), which is closer to a bed and breakfast than a hotel. You get a nice self contained room inside what looks like the owners house. It is a large place though, with about 4 or 5 guest rooms plus area for the owners family. It has a very cosy feel and the family is very friendly. Any food ordered there is home cooked and prepared fresh by the lady running the place. I think her husband runs the place down the road Hotel NEW Spoonbill, or vice versa I can't remember which is which now.

The hotel was a short walk from the bus stop which was nice, we were due to head onward to Jaipur the next day so only had that evening to check out the bird sanctuary (http://www.indianwildlifeportal.com/wildlife-sanctuaries/bharatpur-wildlife-sanctuary.html). So after dropping off bags my girlfriend and I headed back out, the sanctuary wasn't too far from the hotel. It was so nice to be going to look at some natural beauty instead of more buildings, trees and lakes and a bit of peace and quiet were the perfect change after all the tourist spots and touts of Delhi and Agra. While walking there we came across a cycle rickshaw-wallah who offered to ride us around through the bird park, he was also very knowledgeable in bird species so was willing to act as our guide as well. We took him up on the offer and hopped in his cycle rickshaw. The bird park was a beautiful mix of marshy swampland and large open plains, thousands of birds were flocking around us. I don't remember all the names now, but the rickshaw driver had very keen eyes and pointed out several species of birds as we rode through the park. It was getting late in the day and we had the pleasure of relaxing and enjoying the sunset there. He cycled us around for about 3 hours and then dropped us back at the entry gate. According to his official rate which was around Rs150 per hour the fare should have been Rs450, I decided to give him a Rs200 tip. The cheeky guy asked for another 100 on top, how could I refuse. While we were sitting comfortable he was sweating it out in the heat. On top of that, there weren’t that many tourists in the park, I doubt he would get a fare every day. The extra 100 gave him a great smile which was worth it, the whole outing cost around $20, which wasn't too bad.

I finally got hold of a mobile phone that night. It was a really cheap no frills phone which cost around $30 brand new, the Indian sim card I had worked perfectly in it. I was finally able to call my parents and grandparents and let them know how things were going. On the way back from buying the phone I lost my way a little and spent about 1/2 an hour walking up and down the wrong street looking for the hotel. Somehow even though I look Indian the locals knew I was from out of town and were watching me closely. I backtracked to the main road and was finally able to retrace my steps back to the hotel.