The Hotel Grace has numerous entertainments including 2 a.m. cutlery sorting on the landing, furniture dragging, a noisiest dog contest and hot and cold running trains 24 hours a day. Getting up at 5.30 is not difficult. D takes a brisk walk over to the station where the 6.30 all stops to Sheopur is just being shunted into the platform. R remains in the Hotel as she does not want to miss a moment of the restful luxury. The main booking office for both parts of the station is at the NG side and is doing a roaring trade. D secures a Rs. 5/- ticket to the second stop on the line which seems easier to pronounce than the first one. Time for a few photos but the train is filling up so D grabs a corner seat in the last coach which seems ideal for filming. The chai man comes along the platform which is very welcome as the morning is quite cool.
We get under way just a few minutes behind schedule and the coaches roll and groan as we progress between the houses. Not only the gauge of line is reminiscent of North Wales but also the misty weather and the brooding presence of the old fort above. D shifts to the open door of the coach for more filming but all too soon we are at Ghosipura. D notes the presence of autos in the station yard and gets in more filming.
The train is now very full and a few hardy souls climb up onto the roof so they can have some space. The whistle blows the train departs and D turns to get an auto. They have all vanished. Nobody on the station speaks English. Eventually a young man seems to latch on to D's charades performance of Where can I find an Auto and makes a phone call. "Auto , one minute" is his pronouncement. 
Ten minutes later there is no auto but a bigger crowd. A latecomer beckons D to follow and leads the way across the tracks and up a steep street. Wondering where this is going D follows. The man stops, opens a door and we are in a sort of porch containing a three piece suite and a motorbike. His name is Mr Yadav and he works for the Gwalior Mail newspaper. Chai is offered and delivered by Mrs Yadav along with biscuits. The conversation is a bit stymied by lack of a common language until younger son is rousted from his scratcher to interpret. Mr Yadav thinks that an auto will be very difficult this early in the day so he is going to give D a lift into town on his Honda Hero. He does and won't take a penny for fuel. What a nice man.
R has decided that we will breakfast out and we find a likely place in LP , a few minutes walk from the hotel. It is a shameful admission but until now, in all of our visits to India we have not yet visited an Indian Coffee House. We did try once in Kolkata but failed to find the place. These establishments are run by a workers cooperative and have a good reputation. The branch in Gwalior is quite busy but we find a table and a puggaree clad waiter takes our order. The service is a bit pedestrian but the food is worth waiting for and the bill warms D's heart.
Our first target today is the Gwalior Fort, a massive fortification built on top of a hill to the west of the city. The recommended way to tackle this is to walk up the east side, visit the various palaces and temples, then descend on the west side. The way up is a steep cobbled lane with several zig zags and intermediate gates. As we climb more and more of the eastern perimeter of the fort becomes visible to us. A truly spectacular building. At the top we see a ticket office where we pay 100 each for tickets admitting us to the Man Singh Palace, built with two stories above ground and two below. This has some nice carvings and decorative work including a row of yellow ducks all around the perimeter.
We move on and come to another ticket office wanting 250 per head. Part of the site is run by the ASI and part by Madhya Pradesh State. We opt for a free stroll within the precincts which are huge. There are birds for R to watch including spotted owls and a couple of Egyptian vultures. As we descend the western side of the mountain we arrive at the Jain Rock Sculptures which are huge and date back to the 15th century. R announces that seeing these has made the trek up the hill well worth the effort.
We walk back down to town and find an auto for the trip to the Scindia Palace Museum, where we start in the cafe which serves a superb cup of black tea. This museum is best known for the silver model train that was used to circluate drinks and cigars after dinner. It is still there but housed in a case that makes it difficult to get a decent photo. Also impressive was the Durbar Hall with its 3.5 ton chandeliers. Suposedly the strength of the building was tested by suspending eight elephants from the ceiling! This is a room on the first floor. The museum is also full of items from the late Maharaja's collection including railway curios, cricket ephemera and items of philatelic interest. It is well maintained and most of the signage and labelling has an English version. 
It is payback time for R. In return for bring woken up in the middle of the night she gets to go shopping for clothes. She finds a blouse to go with her skirt but it needs to be fitted and stitched. Half an hour the man says so there is just time to visit Biba for a new Salwar Kamise. They seem to have hijacked the original Biba typescript but without the laid back approach. The sales girl is very pushy but R will not be pushed and takes her time to find what she wants.
Back to the railway station for a few more NG pictures. Yesterday D had enquired on the off chance that our lost Lonely Planet had been handed in when the Bundelkhand Express terminated at Gwalior last Saturday. Today the Station Manager produced the missing item with a flourish. "All part of Indian Railways' service!" Just as D was getting to grips with Kindle.
The Hotel Grace slightly redeems itself by sending a waiter out for cold beers which we drink as we pack. We are quite tired so opt for the easy option and dine back at the Indian Coffee House. Spritely service this evening and good food. Another really good day.
Your book was handed in! Amazing! I can't wait to hear about the full NG trip tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI only asked about it because I wanted to see what a Station Manager's office looked like. Now I have to carry the thing again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for blog
ReplyDeleteSearch here for the Hotel near Airport in Gwalior