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This morning, we found out that Mr. Lucky wouldn’t be able to join us on the rest of our trip. We had just begun to break him in! Anyway, his replacement, who went by either Bakshi or Raj, seemed to be a lot of fun from the start, so we weren’t too worried about anything.

Our ultimate destination for the day was Ranthambore, where we would be staying the night and trying to see a tiger in the forest the following day before continuing on to Jaipur.

The importance of water is evident here in Fatehpur Sikri—building these impressive buildings and plazas only to abandon them some short years later….

On the way to Ranthambore, we stopped at Fatephur Sikri—the abandoned city. Again, it was a good chance to see some pretty impressive architectural skill. We hired a guide again—Henny likes having one and it saves Amy from having to lug around our Lonely Planet all day—and he seemed to be a bit better than the guy we had at Ellora. This guide also had his “G-O-D” oversimplification, but in his case the definitions were slightly different. Nevertheless, it was amusing. He also had another saying which seemed to be enjoyed by Henny and Karin: “No hurry, no worry. No chicken, no curry.”

Guides in India can be a little bit of a bore, since they are almost always connected with people selling things. They try to act disinterested in whether or not you buy anything—”no pressure”—but constantly remind you that this is good quality stuff, and they know this because its their brother’s shop or their uncle’s shop or something like that. They offer you tea or coffee and want you to sit down and “just have a look.” I guess it’s fine, but it gets annoying after a while….

After Fatephur Sikri, we continued driving towards Ranthambore. Raj was quickly making friends with Henny. Henny was back in sensory overload. Field after field we passed were painted green and yellow. “What do you suppose they are growing there? That’s not rice.” “Ma-ma. That’s mustard.” “Oh? Rreeaaly? Ya. Well I guess so.” Next thing we know Raj has pulled over to pick her a bunch of mustard flowers.

The vegetation isn’t the only thing for us to see. Since arriving in Agra, a new animal has been seen wandering the streets. Now, in addition to the dogs and the cows and the elephants, we’ve got camels with their big goofy smiles chilling on the sides of the street.

This photo was taken standing on top of a mound that was probably about seven feet high. The entire mound was essentially a giant oven to fire the bricks in….

And as we drive on, several tall smokestacks start to spot the landscape.

“What do you suppose those are?” “They are making bricks there. Do you want to go see, Ma-ma?” “No no. That will take too much time.” “No, Ma-ma. Just five minutes, OK?” “Well, OK.”

Again, we just pull over quickly and get to visit a little group of people making bricks. We learn about the different quality bricks—some made with yellow clay, some with a mix of yellow and red clay, and the grade one bricks with just the red clay. As usual for Henny, she wants things quantified. “How many bricks do you suppose they make here? How long does it take to fire these bricks?” Some things, we can get the answers to; others, we just guess, make it up, or make a note to look it up on Google when we get to somewhere that we can boot up the computer….

After our brick stop, we continue on our way to tiger-central, on roads which seem to be getting worse by the minute. At times, we’re down to a single dirt lane with potholes big enough that you can comfortably curl up in them.

Just as twilight starts to turn into night, we round a corner and see a mass of fluorescent-tube-lights mounted on sticks surrounding a wheeled stage and a crowd of people.

“What is this? A parade of some sort?” “No, Ma-ma. It’s a wedding.” “Rreeaaly?” “Here. Let’s go and see, OK Ma-ma?” “Nai! We can’t do that. Well, OK.”

Another quick stop, and before I could even think to get my camera out, Henny, Amy, and Raj are in the middle of a wedding procession dancing around the groom, proudly mounted on his elaborately decorated horse.

“Nai. Can you believe that?”

Some bumpy hours later, we arrive at our fancy hotel in Ranthambore where we are promptly taken to the dining hall to get some dinner and find out about or safari tomorrow. Then we head to sleep. Tomorrow is an early cold adventure.

Here are the Fatehpur Sikri photos…