Life at a campsite starts early in the morning and we were up at 5:00 a.m. to leave at 6:00 a.m. In that time we washed, brushed our teeth, had a cup of coffee/tea, took down the tent, and packed the truck. Our "wash" consisted of a "wet-wipes" wipe all over while still in our tents, and tooth brushing was accomplished in the squat position a short distance from the tent while at the same time swirling our mouth with bottled water to clear out the toothpaste. The "loo" on this trip is a hole dug in the ground and covered with a tent. If you do more than "pee", you have to cover up your deposit with earth. Toilet paper can be buried in the hole. In other open-air situations, toilet paper is either burned or carried back to the Truck and deposited in the plastic bag located in the spare tire at the back of the Truck and specially placed for that purpose. The preferred style of loo are the squat toilets which when you think about it are probably more hygenic than the sit-down toilets in that you don't have to sit on a toilet seat where hundreds of other bare bums have sat, but there are flush sit down toilets in some of the more modern hotels/restaurants, etc.
Our drive to day took us through the real India. A mixture of paved divided highways, narrow two lane roads and bumpy dirt roads. In any of these cases the lorries prevail. They are brightly coloured, Tata trucks which roll along like a caravan of camels in the desert - and there are hundreds of them. Moving precariously between and around the trucks are the motor scooters. Other highway hazzards on the country roads are the tractors and the oxen-drawn carts. There is garbage everywhere, high quantities in the towns and less in the country areas. The villages such as Songir, Shirpur, Senaburg, Jhylwanda and Phalgat, are generally anywhere from 800,000 to over 1 1/2 million people. They are an eclectic mix of one or two room brick, mud or concrete, houses with tin , tile, or thatched rooves, with or without a satellite. Cows, goats, and hens all live with their owners. India is a nation of vendors and shop-keepers and tiny 6 feet by 8 feet shops, and wooden carts line the village streets. Into all of this add the women in their colourful saris, the men in their shirts and pants, and the huge numbers of children.
The normal routine on the road is drive for 2 hours, stop for 25 minutes for chai and a wee, and depending on the day, breakfast. Today we had chipatties for breakfast. We made a lunch stop in Dhammod during which time our cook group went to the local market to buy the ingredients for the evening meal. Shortly after lunch, we had our first puncture of the trip. We stood around in 38+C temperatures with the sun blazing down, watching Dan change the tyre in record time. The sweat was pouring off him like a small stream rolling its way down the mountainside.
On our way once again, we turned off the main roads onto a small one-car lane which curved its way through a beautiful farming area, some very friendly villages, and up through a series of spectacular hair pin bends to Mandu. Although a tourist town, we only saw a handful of India families visiting and no other "westerners".
The mountain village of Mandu, population 8550, sits 634m atop a ravine-riddled plateau. It was built in the 10th Century by an Afghani king as a fortress retreat. In 1304 it was conquered by the Delhi Muslim rulers, and in 1401 the Governor of Malway set up his own kingdom there. Following a series of hostile takeovers, the last of which occurred in 1732 the city's wealth and population started to decline so that today it has the feeling of a "ghost city". There are two categories of ruins, the Royal Enclave consisting of the palaces, stables, house, shop, mosque and Turkish baths, and the Village Group consisting of the mosques, tombs, and a Jain temple which stretch over 20 sq km. I think the best way to see it, at this time of the year anyway, would be by bike. We hired a guide and took the Truck to the various spots. It is a truly beautiful area. The architecture is stunning with its many archways, tall ceilings, water and garden areas, and the hole effect is one of serenity. It was like taking a moment out of the hectic life at the bottom of the mountain, to appreciate the solitude at the top.
I never did make it to the last building. I was trying to capture a picture of the sunset over the water and when I turned around there were a couple of children around me whom I started talking to. Before I knew it, there were 20 or 30 around me, all wanting "photo". As I took the photo's and let the children see them, we walked slowly towards the Truck, but too slowly, the Truck took off up the hill to the last ruin. The next half hour I spent surrounded by children so excited to talk to white people. They jumping up and down, waving their arms around as if in some frenetic dance, shouting "photo" and gigling and cheering. It was quite a sight and the energy level was crackling in the air! After taking the picture I showed it to them and they scrutinized themselves in the picture, pointing each other out, telling me their names, and practising their limited English. I looked up to the Truck which by this time had reached the ruins and thought to myself that it would't hurt me at all not so see one more ruin, and that giving the children so much fun and an experience they wouldn't forget for a long time, was worth much more. Besides I was having fun too. So, I took off my sandals, and walked slowly up the hill amongst a chattering, excited, group of youngsters.
Afterwards, I pondered why they got so much pleasure from this. I thought it may be that they don't have mirrors in their houses like we do, and that seeing themselves in the pictures was a novelty. After all, think of the hours we spend preening ourselves in front of a mirror! Vanity....that is one thing there is not much time for on this trip.
Back at the camp site at the Malwa Resort, cook group cooked up maccaroni cheese with potato and tomato, and sliced bananas filled with melted Cadbury's chocolate for desert.
One of the fun parts of camping is the camraderie in the evening when you get to sit around a campfire, slug a few beers, and share stories with your fellow travellers.
Camped in the grounds of the Malwa Resort
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