Bike and Camel Safari in Rajasthan

Photos from our winter trip to India, 1987

Lynn and John Salmon <>{


The trip begins in Delhi.

We are astounded by the amount of traffic.

Laxmi Narayan Temple

Qutab Minar

The first Muslim Sultan of Delhi, the slave king Qutab-ud-Din Aibak, raised the Qutab Minar. It was undergoing restoration during our visit and the pieces were being carefully numbered.

More scenes from Delhi above including Humayun's tomb, Raj Ghat: Gandhi's memorial, and the India Gate, note the air pollution. Twenty year's later, my research group conducted a study of the air pollution levels in 4 Indian cities. It was still bad.

Jantar Mantar

Sikander, the tomb of Akbar the Great


Taj Mahal

We leave New Delhi and make an excursion to Agra for a visit to the Taj Mahal. It is truly astounding, and photos do not do the place justice.


Agra Fort

Man jumping from the roof


Bicycling through Rajasthan

We embark on on 4 day cycle trip through Rajasthan. We are well equipped with Hero bikes - the world's biggest manufacturer of bicycles, founded in 1956 by the Munjal brothers of Ludhiana, Punjab, India. In 1986 they turned out 2,220,000 units while China was estimated to have only 210 million bicycles.


Jaipur, the Pink City


Amber Fort, near Jaipur

We see Amber fort sitting atop the hillside. At the entrance is an elephant taxi stand for travel up the hill.


More sights of Rajasthan.


Bharatpur and Sariska Wildlife Sanctuaries

We weren't very aware of birds back in 1987, but we managed to catch a glimpse of the rare Siberian Crane, Grus leucogeranus while visiting Bharatpur. We managed to get photos of a few other birds (using a film camera back then, so only a few snaps) which we later id'd at home. Great egret (Ardea alba), Sarus Cranes (Grus antigone), and Red avadavat (Amandava amandava).


Camel Safari across the Tharr Desert

We were in good hands under the guidance of the Singh family of the Jambha Village.


Jaisalmeer

We ended our camel safari after 4 days by pulling up to the camel parking area at our hotel in Jaisalmeer. The next day we had time to visit the fort and take in a few sites.


Lynn Salmon <>{