Fantastic Fort

Fantastic Fort

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006--Bidar (Cont.)

I spent the rest of the day at my hotel yesterday. Unfortunately, the cable TV has only one movie channel, so I didn't watch much TV. Instead, I read a lot in my current novel from China that I am reading.

I did go out to eat dinner at the hotel underneath my hotel. I wandered the area and didn't find anywhere better to choose. I had vegetable fried rice, and it was good with lots of peppers in it. Afterwards, I walked across the street to a juice bar and had a pineapple juice for dessert.

Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006--Bidar

I have developed a bad problem lately. It seems that I awaken in the early morning (maybe 3-4 a.m.) and my mind starts racing through plans and ideas. I have a problem going back to sleep. Fortunately, I do fall asleep again, but it is frustrating when I and lying there wanting to sleep and can't get relaxed to do so. I thought I might avoid it last night, since I only slept about 5 hours the night before. I went to bed at 10 p.m. and was very tired. But it happened again. I did fall back to sleep, however, and it was 8 a.m. before I awakened again. I felt very rested even if I did have the moment when I was awake sometime during the night.

My sightseeing this morning brought a surprise. My guidebook had recommended coming here, but it hadn't rated it as highly as it had Bijapur. Well, the old fort here is better than the ruins at Bijapur. It is a massive fort with intact walls around it. There are multiple moats and a twisting entrance that used to have a draw bridge. Once inside, there are also lots of standing buildings and ruins of others. It's quite impressive. Here are more photos.

I visited with lots of people today, too. Two brothers on bicycles befriended me and walked with me for a while. Some art students inside the fort doing water color paintings were friendly. While I was in the fort, the way I entered was closed and locked. I approached some other men who seemed to be studying and asked how to get out. They were secondary education students planning to teach mathematics. One of them took me on his motorcycle back outside the walls. And at least 2 shop owners stopped me and talked to me as I wandered through the old town which reminds me as much of Egypt as it does any place I have visited in India. That's due to all the Islamic-style architecture and all the men wearing their Muslim caps.

Another beautiful building I saw here is the Madrasa of Mahmud Gawan from 1472. It used to be covered in colorful tiles, and a few are still there--enough to give an idea of how impressive it must have been when first built.

I ate idly (thick, spongy pancakes) with sauces for lunch and had another of those lime juices that tastes like a margarita. I think I will go back to the same place for dinner, too. In the meantime, I will spend the afternoon at my hotel now. I will read the newspaper that was placed under the door this morning, watch BBC News, read from my novel, and maybe watch a film or TV program.

To those of you in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!