Bouncing along the pothole-puckered road, our driver artfully navigated the minibus deep into the dark north Indian wilderness, tackling the country’s somewhat vague traffic laws with apparent ease.
Dodging oncoming headlights, cows, huddles of people gossiping in the middle of the street or those less active who were fast asleep on the pavement, he blared a path through the chaos with his horn.
Our destination was Luni, a tiny village of pretty painted houses on dusty yellow roads 35km south of Jodhpur in north-west Rajasthan. As we neared, a gaggle of children and stray dogs gathered to look at us - the groggy newcomers - but the perfect antidote to our nine-hour flight was just around the corner.
Fort Chanwa in Luni, Rajasthan
(Magical Indiana Jones style fort)
The nineteenth century Fort Chanwa with its magical turrets, towering red sandstone walls and gateway flanked by two camels, a line of turbaned servants and Raj drummers beating out a tribal tune, it was more akin to somewhere Indiana Jones might chance upon the Lost Ark than a mere hotel.
The current Maharajah of Jodhpur, Dalip Singh, was granted Chanwa in 1948 and is behind the stunning renovation of the neglected fort. His cousin, Vikram Singh, was our host.
It doesn’t get much more A-list than that. So much so, that when Paul McCartney whisked Heather Mills here for a pre-nuptial romantic break (room 12 for the celebrity junkies) staff at the fort weren’t entirely sure who he was.
In fact, the fort’s resident harmonia player even gave the former Beatle a few pointers when he attempted (somewhat unsuccessfully) to tinkle the ivories during a late-night jamming session on his balcony.
Relaxing at the fort you feel more family friend than paying guest. Servants sprang out of the shadows to refill my glass before it dared veer towards empty and tempted me with a never-ending conveyor belt of mouth-watering nibbles while snake dancers performed in the courtyard.
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The next day it was off on a countryside trip. We roared across the cracked earth in two battered Army jeeps and raced a group of black buck antelopes en route to see the local potter and weaver at work before enjoying a camel safari.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the 500-year-old Bishnoi “tree-hugging” tribal hamlet - their eco-friendly beliefs mean they will never fell a tree - whose cow-dung huts were cleaner than my London flat. We also chanced upon four farmers, resplendent in crisp white turbans and perfectly coifed silvery moustaches, whiling away the afternoon in their very own Opium den.
The next gem on our agenda was Jodhpur, known as the Blue City after a past maharajah ordered the “purest” Brahmans to paint their houses blue to distinguish their upper caste status.
For the most breathtaking view of this sea of blue we joined hordes of pilgrims to climb the unconquered and cannon-ball scarred Meherangarh Fort, dating from 1459, which is perched on cliffs overlooking the eastern rim of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert.
he bustling Sardar Market in the Old Town is also worth a visit. Sweet smells of saffron, cumin and turmeric tickled our tastebuds as we picked our way along a plethora of food stalls piled high with multi-coloured mountains of fruit and spices.
Bargain-hunters will find a mecca of opportunity with textile shops offering pure pashmina Hermes and Mossimo shawls - which cost £100 in the UK - from £40. From sun-soaked Jodhpur we were thrown into the thick of city life.
Mumbai - formerly Bombay - occupies a small tongue of land on the west coast, once a cluster of seven islands, and is one of India’s largest cities with a population of around 13 million. Boasting the glamour of Bollywood cinema (Mumbai outstrips Hollywood in its number of annual film productions), vibrant nightlife and the tag of India’s business and financial capital, this vast concrete jungle seemed to have stolen the heart of everyone we met.
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Mumbai - formerly Bombay - occupies a small tongue of land on the west coast, once a cluster of seven islands, and is one of India’s largest cities with a population of around 13 million. Boasting the glamour of Bollywood cinema (Mumbai outstrips Hollywood in its number of annual film productions), vibrant nightlife and the tag of India’s business and financial capital, this vast concrete jungle seemed to have stolen the heart of everyone we met.
The streets swarmed with yellow and green tuktuks - so-named because of the sound of their engines - which only set you back 10 rupees (12p) per kilometre and are driven by Michael Schumacher wannabes.
Slum towns sit proudly in the shadows of swanky five-star hotels and high-rises; TV aerials poking from the corrugated tin roofs slightly belied the impression of abject poverty in the tax-free shanties run by the local “Mafia”. Eating out here is dirt cheap.
A huge meal for six of us - including drinks - in a local fish curry restaurant cost just 3,218 rupees (£38). The next leg of our journey couldn’t have been more different as we ventured deep into the south-west state of Kerala which was christened “God’s own country” and is renowned for the warmth of its people.
Kerala is split into three strips - the lush coastal area with golden sandy beaches, coconut trees and palm-fringed backwaters; tea, spice and rubber plantations and pepper vineyards; and a hilly region with tropical forests.
The feeling that we were living a scene from Apocalypse Now intensified as we chugged along the murky green backwaters past locals spearing fish to Kovalam’s Poovar Island Resort which borders the Arabian Sea.
Guests can opt to stay in beach bungalows which float on the lagoon - the verandas are the perfect spot to chill out with a beer watching fishermen tend their nets on the beach opposite while the sun sets. If that’s not relaxing enough why not try an Ayurveda therapy at the spa?
Famous for their ancient healing qualities, treatments range from Indian scalp rubs to the more adventurous sensuous oil massage which involved perching stark naked on a stool and being basted like a pork chop from hair-to-heel.
Not for the faint-hearted. Spiritual healing continued with a spot of yoga on the beach with the surf crashing enticingly in the background.
Keralan paradise number two was a four-hour drive away in Mararikulam at the Marari Beach Resort. Luxurious stone cottages, which have open-air bathrooms so you feel like you’re showering in the middle of the jungle and a few of which have private swimming pools, are your accommodation.
Menus here are dominated by seafood, tamarind and coconut. We ate barbecued barracuda, spicy red snapper, squid in lemon, chilli and garlic butter, Kozhi chicken stew with cinnamon and ginger and an array of scrumptious curries, tangy chutneys and dal, followed by pootu (crushed rice and coconut with sweet-sour bananas).
if you fancy stealing the secrets of some of the local dishes to wow your friends back home, the resident chef offers evening cookery lessons. Houseboat cruises - from the Alleppey-Matha jetty - along the tranquil backwaters are the perfect way to take in your wider surroundings.
If you don’t fancy putting your sea legs to the test take a tour of the nearby port city of Kochi - a cultural melting pot of Hindu temples, Chinese fishing nets, Christian churches, a Dutch palace and Jewish synagogue courtesy of its trading legacies.
As far as I can make out there’s only one downside to visiting this spellbinding country... You find yourself plodding along the gloomy corridors of Heathrow back towards reality far too soon.
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TRAVELFACTS
:: Laura was a guest of Kuoni Travel (01306 747 008 or www.kuoni.co.uk) which offers tailormade and group tours of India.
:: Its seven night Real India Tour starts at £1,064 per person in 2006, with prices for the rest of 2005 available on request.
:: Package includes return international and domestic flights, accommodation (various meals) and transfers in resort. Flight upgrades can be arranged. |
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Various regional return departures include Manchester and Glasgow, both priced £117.
:: Indian tourist visas cost £30, available through the High Commission of India on 0906 8444 544.
:: For destination information, contact Indian Tourism on 020 7437 3677. |
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