INDIA – Trums Travels

Clint and I (Susan) were asked a couple of years ago to do a presentation of our trip to India which we took in November 2018. Due to Covid, it was put off a few times but finally last Thursday night we were able to present in person at our local library.

So how did this start? Well, a friend of ours Lola, decided a few years back to plan what are called “Armchair Traveler Series”. She asked people to share their travel adventures with photos, stories and information on places across the Globe. So she pitched it to the library and since then Lola and Wendy (from the Library) have organized many presentations. We have seen presentations on Malta, Vietnam, Antarctica, Morocco, Africa and more.

Some have been done via Zoom and some in person. We were fortunate to have a pretty good turnout, I believe about 27 people which wasn’t bad with Covid still hanging over our heads. We did have a few friends that couldn’t make it as they were traveling themselves but we certainly appreciated our friends that showed up.

At the Belleville Library, half hour prior to the presentation

Below is the hallway where some of our photos were displayed, there were also some displayed on the walls down the other way. Our photos were all printed out by Quinte Photo Services and a wonderful job was done.

India was a fascinating country and I would love to go back one day. Some of the facts we shared that was interesting:

India has a population of 1.4 billion people, Canada has a population of 36.4 million and yet India is one third the size of Canada.

Nilgai Antelope, pictured below, are native to India and Pakistan (mostly) however in the 1930’s, some were exported to the State of Texas as game. To this day you can go to a hunting lodge, pay big money, and hunt the Nilgai which one company says “difficult to hunt but delicious to eat”. So now there are anywhere from 15,000-50,000 running loose in parts of Texas.

Nilgai Antelope, Hindu word for Blue cow

National Chambal Sanctuary is home to many endangered species and over 330 different species of birds. We were fortunate to take a river boat tour down the river.

People washing their clothes and themselves
Water Buffalo
Mugger Crocodile

Jal Mahal (Water Palace) (in the city of Jaipur) 4 floors are underwater. It was built in 1699 as a hunting lodge for the Maharaja and friends to hunt ducks. (shown below)

Below is the Taj Mahal built by Shah Jahan for his wife, his third wife who died giving birth to their 14th child.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/252/Taj Mahal

Amber Fort, built in 1592, taking over 100 years to be fully completed. It was built in the town of Amer which used to be the capital of the State of Rajasthan until they made Jaipur the capital, due to lack of water in the Amer area and a growing population.

Village of Bateshwar, known as the 101 Shiv Temple Complex. Only about 10-20 temples are utilized now. Also know as having one of the largest Cattle Fairs in northern India. It has been held here for 400 years and lasts 3 weeks every year; with the exception of 2020 when it was cancelled due to Covid. Buying, selling and trading, horses, goats, oxen, cattle, goats, donkeys is the name of the game.