tractor cosy

Lorries, tractors, tuktuks, bicycles, any vehicle in fact, are often highly decorated but I’ve never seen a tractor in a coat before.  Special stalls with the tinselly and gaudy decorations place themselves on the outskirts of little market towns hoping to sell to drivers passing by.  We hammered on the door of the fort in Bhopal this morning, rather in frustration at finding it closed.  And opened up it did, two guards had slept wrapped in quilts just inside and they showed us around.  It is only 200 years old and was built for the Nawab Shah Jahan’s Begum (wife) as her pleasure palace for the hot days of summer.   It stands on the opposite side of a huge water tank from the massive mosque with its beautiful white domes.  Sadly when partition happened there was no male heir to claim the fort so it was left to decay until now when it has been taken over by the archaeological department.  Lots of the roof has fallen in but they are trying to keep what they can and some mirror work has been restored also the lovely pillared pavilion in the main courtyard that had a central fountain.  Under the arched arcades sprinklers sprayed those that walked there with a fine mist of cooling water.
 
Then it was on to Sanchi, crossing over the Tropic of Cancer line, but we got waylaid by an archaeological sign that pointed up a track to a site of a C3rd Buddhist stupa.  Foolishly we took it and 11 very rough Kilometers later we were lost with no sign of ruins.  Then miraculously a man on a motorbike appeared who was the guard/guide and he led us up through trees, over volcanic boulders, up and up to the plateau where there were 4 enormous stupa and a block of the same but shaped volcanic stones.  Nothing much to see really so we stumbled down the boulders again and back along the track.  At Sanchi I decided that another Buddhist ruin was not for me.  The entry charges to all tourist sites for foreigners was quadrupled or more in mid January and I see enough Buddhist monasteries in Nepal so we made for Orchha and arrived in the dark so nothing to tell till tomorrow.  Wifi is too poor here to lift picasa so it will have to wait.