Man Singh Fort, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

A massive and imposing specimen! That bit of decorative blue tile is still the original.  It took all of what the Brits had to bring it down after the rebellion of the angry Maharani widow Lakshmi Bai, who fled here after escaping from Jhansi.

I will remember Gwalior for the excellent service we had at the Deo Bagh hotel, which was not the hotel originally planned for us by our travel agent but to which we had to go after the first one overbooked.  We are abs not sorry we had to come here, especially as the upgrade had to be paid for by the first one!  In Gwalior, we were also treated to a free dinner by above-mentioned travel agent because this is the third time we have booked an entire trip through them.  Neat, huh?  Gwalior will also be memorable because of my head cold and the fact that the footstool we were given to climb onto the rather high bed slid out from under me, causing an enormous purple bruise on my back of my thigh.  Most of all, I will think of Gwalior as the place where we were happy about all the places we visited -- all the history we took in, the friendliness of the locals, the shots I took because I finally figured out how the cam wants to be set.

I know some people might have liked more 'social' shots, for example, of the poor, the refuse and filth on the streets, the chaos, etc.  I don't think I will show shots of those, although I have taken some.  That's probably because that is not how I want to remember this place when I return home.  It can be a terrible place, but there is a beauty and passion here that's exciting to see and discover and experience.

Aside from Man Singh Fort and all the other historical structures (palaces, temples, recreational areas) within the fort complex, we also found the time to explore Jai Vilas Palace, a more modern structure.  The maharadja and his family are alive and well and belong to the wealthy and powerful Maratha clan, the same clan that rose to prominence after the Mughals (Shah Jehan & Co.) faded away but also the very same family that terrorized so many provinces and cities in its heydey that the local and smaller maharadjas had to call on the Brits to help them in their fight -- which eventually resulted in their owing the Brits so much money the Brits ended up taking over the country.  Yup, it's strange and funny how some things come about, don't you agree?

While it is close to freezing at night, it becomes quite warm the minute the sun comes out in the morning.  Meanwhile, we have heard that it has been snowing back in The Neth.

My apologies for hardly being able to comment on your journals.  It's either too cold or the WiFi isn't up to the level.  THANK YOU loads for visiting.

Btw, this is a backblip.  Updates will follow as soon as I can sort them out.  As they have learned to put on signs here, 'sorry for the inconvenience'.