Goodbye India- Nick flew home last night, and Priscilla and I just arrived in Nepal. We spent the last 8 days in Rajasthan, a dry land of Maharajas, forts, palaces, and elephants. The Rajs were independent warrior kingdoms for centuries, surviving by clever friendly diplomacy with the Mughals and later the British before being incorporated into India at Independence.
Jodhpur, Graveyard of Kites (the blue city)
Seriously, from the rooftop cafe of our haveli the two nearest trees each have a dozen kites in them.
Seriously, from the rooftop cafe of our haveli the two nearest trees each have a dozen kites in them.
A great introduction to Rajasthan! The city is dominated by the massive Mehrangarh fort. We spent most of our time on rooftop cafes and restaurants looking up at it. We also hiked up for the excellent palace museum and great views of the blue-painted city below. Other major sights included Jaswant Thanda (white Marble tombs of the Royal family, plus Nick's "desert lake tour"), Sardar Market and clocktower, Umaid Bhawan (opulent Art Deco royal palace built in the 30s as a famine relief project), and wandering the narrow streets of the old city.
Waiting to board the sleeper train from Delhi we had our most dramatic monsoon experience so far. Torrential rains and windblown spray that flooded the platform, and we got drenched just boarding our car.
Jaipur, Lots of Elephants (the pink city)
Part of the Golden Triangle of tourist cities (others are Agra and Delhi). Touts more aggressive than Jodhpur and Udaipur. The buildings were painted pink for a royal visit during British rule, but the effect isn't as striking as at Jodhpur. Saw another fort (Amber Fort) and palace museum, but more impressive was the Jantar Mantar astrological observatory (i.e. for horoscopes) from the 1730s. Dozens of different types of sundials can tell the date and time, some specially tuned for each zodiac sign. The largest sundial has an accuracy measured in seconds.
Part of the Golden Triangle of tourist cities (others are Agra and Delhi). Touts more aggressive than Jodhpur and Udaipur. The buildings were painted pink for a royal visit during British rule, but the effect isn't as striking as at Jodhpur. Saw another fort (Amber Fort) and palace museum, but more impressive was the Jantar Mantar astrological observatory (i.e. for horoscopes) from the 1730s. Dozens of different types of sundials can tell the date and time, some specially tuned for each zodiac sign. The largest sundial has an accuracy measured in seconds.
Best part of our India trip though was Elefantastic, where we got to hang out with, feed, paint, ride and wash elephants! Our elephant Saku was friendly and happy, while Nick's tried to ride into the pond with him.
Udaipur, More than just James Bond (the lake city)
Our favorite of the three. Built around a series of artificial lakes, with a large lakeside palace and several more palaces out on the lake itself. Udaipur was the main filming location for the 1983 James Bond movie Octopussy, the silliest of all Bond movies. All the tourist cafes show it.
Our favorite of the three. Built around a series of artificial lakes, with a large lakeside palace and several more palaces out on the lake itself. Udaipur was the main filming location for the 1983 James Bond movie Octopussy, the silliest of all Bond movies. All the tourist cafes show it.
We took a boat tour of the lake and saw several more opulent palaces, plus a folk music/dancing show. Best though was an art class! We learned Indian miniature painting techniques and made our own artwork to take home. Came out MUCH better than we'd imagined possible.
Even though Udaipur is very touristy, we appreciated that at least the touts here have a sense of humor. "Shortcut to the city palace this way!" *gestures into his shop*
-Peter
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