// Ancient love // Can you tell by now my love affair with #Orchha? ⠀⠀ Fusing in architectural styles of the Bundelas and Mughals, this monument was built by Raja Vir Singh Deo-1 to honour and display his solidarity towards Mughal Prince, Jahangir. Welcomed by the turquoise tiled walls and finely etched doors, the palace’s entry is marked with its Indo-Islamic influence that features large stone elephants that were symbolic for welcoming Indian Royalty. This three storey palace with over 100 rooms bears delicately carved windows and pillars on red and yellow sandstone that gives it a percy-brown color. The hanging balconies and domes overlook the square-shaped courtyard which resides in the inner compound of this palace. It is known that court performers used to entertain in this inner compound while the royals watched them through these hanging balconies and windows. ⠀⠀ This monument stands the test of time and is located in a manner that provides a magnificent view of the forest on one side and the fortified complex and Betwa stream on the other. Though this palace was built in honor of Jahangir but it is said that he stayed in this palace only for a night. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts. Right?! . . . . . #passionpassport #theculturetrip #wolderlust #wearetravelgirls #adventureculture #gltlove #incredibleindia #introwardwanderer #majapresets #thetravelintern #ipreview #traveldeeper #aerialpicz #travel360 #liveauthentic #gopro #gopromysg #lifeofadventure #wanderfolk #travelgram #tropicgrams #womenwhotravel #solotravelling #solotravel #jamiesolotravel2019 #jamietravelssolo #travellingsolo

// Hidden gem // Orchha might just be the greatest Indian town you’ve never heard of. ⠀⠀ I can distinctly remember carefully looking over our Delhi to Bangalore itinerary before departure, and having no discernable idea of where Orchha was, or why it might be worth including on an India itinerary. ⠀⠀ Of course, I knew Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi, Rishikesh, and other hotspots, but my mind just drew a blank when it came to Orchha. It’s a wonderful thing, too, because when you have no preconceptions about a place, you’re leaving the door wide open to be wowed. ⠀⠀ Orchha, as it turns out, is a very different side of India, and one that I’m very happy I became acquainted with. In many ways, Orchha was the unsung hero of the trip, as it offered an intimate look into a different pace of life with a history that was both fascinating and captivating. ⠀⠀ While I do love solo travel, I really don’t see how I would have had this experience without @indegree_voyage’s support for and connection to the local community. ⠀⠀ More than big cities like Delhi, I yearn to be back in Orchha. In many ways, Orchha is like one big outdoor museum, where you’re immersed in the town’s history and stories. 
Places like Orchha – smaller places that can sometimes get lost in the tourist fray – provide value because you don’t have a set of expectations for the town or city to live up to. You get to arrive with an open mind and heart, and simply let yourself get swept away. . . . . #passionpassport #theculturetrip #wolderlust #wearetravelgirls #adventureculture #glt #gltlove #introwardwanderer #majapresets #thetravelintern #ipreview #amazingview #tlpicks #traveldeeper #orchha #roamtheplanet #liveauthentic #gopro #gopromysg #lifeofadventure #wanderfolk #travelgram #tropicgrams #womenwhotravel #solotravelling #solotravel #jamiesolotravel2019 #jamietravelssolo #travellingsolo

// Like a river // We arrived in Orchha in the morning by train. Then Mr Surinder took us for a 20-30-minute walk to the river bank, and served us lunch. It was the best picnic ever with new friendships! ⠀⠀ While we were chilling after lunch, I thought how lovely and how strange a river is. A river is a river, always there, and yet the water flowing through it is never the same water and is never still. It’s always changing and is always on the move. And over time, the river itself changes too. It widens and deepens as it rubs and scours, gnaws and kneads, eats and bores its way through the land. Even the greatest rivers - the Ganges, the Yangtze and the Nile - have been no more than trickles and flickering streams before they grew into mighty rivers. ⠀⠀ Are people like that? I wondered. Am I like that? Always me, like the river itself, always flowing but always different, like the water flowing in the river. ⠀⠀ Do I change like a river, widening and deepening, bursting my banks sometimes when there’s too much water, too much life in me, and sometimes dried up from lack of rain? Will I grow and widen and deepen? Or will I stagnate and become an arid riverbed? ⠀⠀ Will I allow people to dam me up and confine me to wall so that I flow only where they want? Will I allow them to turn me into a canal to use for their own purposes? Or will I make sure I flow freely, coursing my way through the land and ploughing a valley of my own? ⠀⠀ Do you ever wonder...? . . . . . #passionpassport #theculturetrip #wolderlust #wearetravelgirls #adventureculture #glt #gltlove #introwardwanderer #majapresets #thetravelintern #ipreview #amazingview #tlpicks #traveldeeper #vacationwolf #roamtheplanet #liveauthentic #lifeofadventure #wanderfolk #travelgram #gopro #gopromysg #tropicgrams #womenwhotravel #solotravelling #solotravel #jamiesolotravel2019 #jamietravelssolo #travellingsolo #liveteva