Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

[lincslady]

Just done my countries visited - it is not that impressive.  There are possibly a few more but 30 I have actually spent a night or more in ashore, and 20 plus I have just visited from a ship.  (Places which belong to somewhere else don't count, like the Falkland Islands, Martinique, Madeira etc.)    Obviously did not include England, Wales etc.

 

The hardest thing is to say which is the most interesting - has to be India and China (a fairly in depth visit to real China), but for special memories it is just a cruise visit - to Antarctica, unsurprisingly. 

 

Like most of us on here, I have visited every continent.

 

Lola

 

 

 

 

[Daveywavey70]

15 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Looks quite nice DW, as does the meal.  Thanks for posting...Jaipur is a pretty warm place weather wise, correct?

Apparently every day other than today QSS. It was a bit tricky to read the sundial but made the Fort walls Very atmospheric. 

[Daveywavey70]

Well today was even more incredible than yesterdays incredible day. I'm Just back from 12 hours sightseeing so I'll have to break it up a bit.

Jaipur - S1 Ep1

The Pink City. Founded in 1727 the city was painted pink for a visit by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1876 and it's been repainted every few years since.

I Started the day with a trip to Hawa Malal, The Palace of Winds, a place Ive wanted to visit for as long as I can remember. It is, as the old saying goes as beautiful on the inside as it is on the out. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Next was a walk to Jantar Mantar, completed in 1734, it is an astrological masterpiece. It has 19 "instruments" including the worlds largest sundial, accurate to within 2 seconds. Try getting a builder these days that could manage that! Onwards to the Royal Palace and Museum, and then onto the Amer Stepwell, this amazing piece of 16th century technology is remarkable. Next was the magnificent Amber Fort, the highlight of which are the Maharajas chambers which the walls and ceilings are encrusted with Mirrors. Time for a spot of lunch and then on to the afternoons activities.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Daveywavey70
Here be Gremlins!

[lincslady]

I rest my case!!

 

Lola

[Tothesunset]

The Palace of the Winds is splendid but why did they build it next to such a busy road? 

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

…a fairly in depth visit to real China…

For those of us not in the know, what constitutes “real China”?

[Daveywavey70]

1 hour ago, Tothesunset said:

The Palace of the Winds is splendid but why did they build it next to such a busy road? 

To make it quicker for the Deliveroo drivers to get to the Palace of course. Sometimes I wonder TTS. (Rolls eyes dramatically) 

[Daveywavey70]

Jaipur S1 Ep2

So this afternoon I went on a date with a beautiful 22 year old. She was a little bit hairy but she had lovely brown eyes. Her name is Muskan which is Hindi for Smile. It certainly suited her. Trust me to get the cheeky one. Our date involved me feeding her lots of doughnuts followed by a hundredweight of sugar cane, taking her for a drink, doing a bit of body painting (I gave her a sleeve), going for a nice long walk together before rubbing her down with a scrubbing brush. I'm not sure purple is really her colour but I did my best. Ive been promised a second date but we'll have to check our schedules.

[lincslady]

DH was on a work related event which took him - and me - to a few cities and towns which would not usually be visited by foreigners (I am going back some 30 years)  so I did feel that I saw a fair bit of how the population lived in places which  the powers that be would probably not want westerners to visit.  And we had a Chinese friend who invited us to his house for dinner - a tiny flat where they cooked an amazing meal on just one hot plate.  They had just emerged from everyone wearing the same blue outfits, so it was the beginning of the sort of life we in the west already lived.

 

Travelling on an overnight train with 6 bunks to share with strangers, and the facilities being a hole in the floor was quite an experience - it was in a separate compartment thank goodness.

 

Possibly quite a few of you have done something similar, but it was not the experience of the international tourist who visits the Great Wall and stays in a western style hotel.

 

Lola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Daveywavey70]

12 minutes ago, lincslady said:

DH was on a work related event which took him - and me - to a few cities and towns which would not usually be visited by foreigners (I am going back some 30 years)  so I did feel that I saw a fair bit of how the population lived in places which  the powers that be would probably not want westerners to visit.  And we had a Chinese friend who invited us to his house for dinner - a tiny flat where they cooked an amazing meal on just one hot plate.  They had just emerged from everyone wearing the same blue outfits, so it was the beginning of the sort of life we in the west already lived.

 

Travelling on an overnight train with 6 bunks to share with strangers, and the facilities being a hole in the floor was quite an experience - it was in a separate compartment thank goodness.

 

Possibly quite a few of you have done something similar, but it was not the experience of the international tourist who visits the Great Wall and stays in a western style hotel.

 

Lola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lola my lovely, I don’t think there’s any better qualification xxx

[Daveywavey70]

Jaipur S1 Ep3
So this evening was a trip to Disneysthan, sorry Chandi Chowk village, an experience of a typical Rajasthani village at night. Imagine Goofy in a turban and you’re heading in the right direction. The most authentic part of the experience was the power cuts. I Don’t mean to be unkind, I had a great time. It’s full of free “diversions” such as magicians, singers, dancers, an animatronic fella with a twitch and a stutter and a plastic dinosaur. I didn’t hang about to see what the snake girl was going to do, I Narrowly escaped a show like that once before. The “experience” (£11) includes a tradional Thali, which I’d been warned was super spicy but didn’t hold a lighter to the devils testicals of my Chinese from the night before, was lovely. It’s 20p to ride a camel or take an ox cart ride, 50p for 6 rolls of a coconut at 4 pin bowling or 50p to ride an elephant around a mini roundabout. It’s 25p to try your luck against a cob of corn which I politely recycled at the earliest opportunity. All in all it was fun. It’s clearly aimed at the residents of Jaipur as a fun family evening out. That rounds off my incredible 12 hours around Jaipur. Off to Agra in the morning and we all know what happens there!

[Daveywavey70]

I Apologise whilst not apologising to my friends in the other place for duplications. I Got Lazy, it’s been such a whirlwind that I’ve started just copying and pasting between the 2. Some of the posts on here have taken over an hour,  5/6 attempts and I’m buggered if I know what a gateway is anyway, other than this fabulous gateway below. I’m not wasting my precious moments here fighting t’internet. 

[drron29]

[Mr Luxury]

16 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

For those of us not in the know, what constitutes “real China”?

Porcelain 

[drron29]

 

 

 

 

In Australia we always talk about our councils and potholes. With many parts of the Eastern seabord flooded at various times over the last few months the potholes are deeper and more numerous than usual.

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

[lincslady]

drron - that rings a bell with most of us in the UK.  We have huge numbers of potholes in many parts of the country, some very deep.  We  have already had to have one lot of suspension fixed.  All the tax car owners pay certainly does not go back into road mending.  And it is even worse for cyclists, who often get thrown off their bikes - although they are not paying any road tax, of course.

 

This state of affairs has been going on for some years, nothing to do with the present financial woes.

[Daveywavey70]

3 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Porcelain 

Trust you. 😂

[Daveywavey70]

So a stop on the way to Agra today was at Fatehpur Sikri, a 16th century Fort built by the Moghul Emporor Akbar. I Think he was quite a politician, he had a Muslim wife, a Hindu one and a Christian one and a secret passage from his room to visit each of them. Sounds like he was a bit of a crowd Pleaser. The fort is a fascinating mixture of Muslim and Hindu styles. His Hindu wife came up with the goods though and gave him 3 sons hence her Palace was quite literally 100 times the size of the Muslim wife’s which you would be disappointed in if you were offered it as a guest room. Arrived in Agra and all I can see from the window of my Taj view room is an awful lot of fog! Off to see it close up in the morning.

[drron29]

[jillyf]

DW, thanks for posting the photos of your trip. It brings back wonderful memories of our trip in 2017. 
India is one country I would return to. I was quite worried about the crowds before I left but enjoyed every minute.
I’m not sure if you are going to Varanasi but it was one place I absolutely loved. Amazingly glimpse of the culture/ religion. 
Friends were shocked that we did a street food tour in Delhi, but it was great fun, and no Delhi belly! 

The one thing I regret is the excursion into the bush we did with the elephant. Would rather have done what you did.  

Here is our blog done for family and friends when travelling. best to click on archives first. 

http://www.thefletchers.com.au/The_Fletchers/India_2017/India_2017.html

[drron29]

[Daveywavey70]

[Daveywavey70]

7 hours ago, jillyf said:

DW, thanks for posting the photos of your trip. It brings back wonderful memories of our trip in 2017. 
India is one country I would return to. I was quite worried about the crowds before I left but enjoyed every minute.
I’m not sure if you are going to Varanasi but it was one place I absolutely loved. Amazingly glimpse of the culture/ religion. 
Friends were shocked that we did a street food tour in Delhi, but it was great fun, and no Delhi belly! 

The one thing I regret is the excursion into the bush we did with the elephant. Would rather have done what you did.  

Here is our blog done for family and friends when travelling. best to click on archives first. 

http://www.thefletchers.com.au/The_Fletchers/India_2017/India_2017.html

Thanks for that Jilly, I'll have a look when I get home. No Varanasi on this trip. We did see a body being carried through the street here yesterday though and 10 minutes later were watching a Bride arriving at her wedding. The bustle of the place isn't nearly as bemusing as it looks. This place has a way of getting into your soul.

Re the Elephants, I Did a lot of research before I came and Elefantastic was the only place in the Elephant village of Jaipur that won't let you ride them. We drove past lines of sad looking elephants all saddled up and "parked" on the roadside on the way in. I'm glad I did that research, It really was one of the highlights of my life. 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Daveywavey70