Gwalior, the Gibraltar of India

The fort at Gwalior sits atop a hill in the midst of a vast plain.  Many Western tourists say it resembles Gibraltar.  Here's the view from our hotel's roof.

Daylight detracted nothing from the hotel's charms.  For those unwilling to pay the WiFi fee, this mail box would do nicely.  Like many of the antiques in the hotel, it was still functional as well as decorative.

The sun shone inside the pool and out.  Just look at the lovely grounds.

The Taj Hotel brand loves these floating floral arrangements.

And Thom loved this stone grid, designed to keep the balconies cool in the blazing heat.  It's much older than the 120-years old and deteriorating in some spots.  I'm pretty sure Thom grabbed a hunk.

I was partial to the cobra fountain.

We were guideless when we began our ascent to the fort.  Thom and George stayed behind to enjoy the hotel's amenities and interrogation by Rakeesh.  Turns out he was hoping to score some hair product from anyone willing to give it away.

Unlike the other forts we visited in India, we had this one to ourselves.  It was more colorful, too.

Bats congregated in one dark room.

This young fellow pestered us until we hired him as a guide.  He did a pretty good job, too, for not much more than we had tipped our other guides.  I'm sure Nidhi would have disapproved as he undoubtedly lacked the proper certificate.

Look at this beautiful peacock frieze.

Hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil.

Gwalior sprawled beneath us.  According to recent press reports, it's one of the few cities in central India where you can find a female physician.

The nearby Hindu temple wasn't quite so impressive, or perhaps my mood was colored by fear of the runs which had started the night before.

However, the anatomically correct Buddhas that had been carved into the mountain by the Jains were worth a stop.  More about the Jains later.

The Rough Guide mentioned that the Jai Vilas Palace, built by a crazy member of the Scindia ruling clan in Gwalior (who collaborated with the British in the first uprising), was worth a stop for those with a taste for kitsch.  Note the external similarity to Buckingham Palace.

Inside, however, it was more like the Mad King of Bavaria.  Supposedly, these are the biggest chandeliers in Asia (a third, manufactured at the same time, hangs in Jaipur's City Palace).

Apparently the Maharajah relied on a model train to serve his guests in the enormous dining room.  If you had fallen out of favor, the train didn't stop at your setting.

I liked the cobra motifs.

These kids were on a school trip.

Rakeesh had arranged to have lunches packed in white boxes for our long trip to Orchha on a very bad road.  We found crustless sandwiches and potato chips inside.  I shared mine with the stranded French tourists we picked up along the way, more because I was afraid to eat than generous.  As soon as we got to Orchha, I took to my bed in the least comfortable hotel of the trip.