04 April 2016

The Great Indian Adventure - Part 2

                                                                       Day 4

                                   The war museum as we leave Jaisalmer  the next morning.


Really nice roads to ride .

A common sight here .

Poverty everywhere .

Walking for miles is the norm .

Typical Rajasthani colours .

Today we are headed to our 2nd destination.....Jodhpur .

Indian Pharrell  :-p

At all traffic lights .

Yet another common sight .

Finally we reach .

Another old palace converted to a hotel .

Very very nice .

The best hotel of the whole trip .

Its fun when even the hotels have a story .,

Old school design .


Look at the height of the bed . Wonder how old that bed is .


Multiple courtyards .

And a modern touch .


Built in 1920, by Maharaj Ratan Singhji of Raoti, a royal from Jodhpur and one of the finest horsemen and polo players of his time, Ratan Vilas with its imposing yet delicately carved exterior and elegant interiors is a genuine heritage edifice in a sylvan setting.


Maharajah .

After a meal ,its time to tour .

Streets of Jodhpur .

Climbing up above the city .

The 2nd POI .

1st POI .

Another man made lake .


As we climb up .


We see it .


The surrounding monuments .

All overlooking the lake .

 Mausoleums .


Still in the grounds here .

There it is .

Landscaped nicely .


The Jaswant Thada is a cenotaph

I had to look up cenotaph , ha ha ha

Looking onto the current royal palace .

Mehrangarh fort in the distance .

We'll visit that after this .

The ancient city walls .

Anyway -cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere .

More cenotaphs of other royals .

The walls in the distance .

As we walk around .

And soak up the beauty .

It was built by Maharaja Sardar Singh of Jodhpur State in 1899 in memory of his father, Maharaja Jaswant Singh II,[1] and serves as the burial ground for the rulers of Marwar.[2]

Nice huh .

Ehem.....

Hindu's are cremated hence the cenotaph .

A very nice place .

Back on the car .

We head here .

The  Mehrangarh Fort

The main entrance .

A nice mural .

Huge doors. 

Look how high that is . 

The entryway .

See the blue buildings 

The blue city of Jodhpur .
It is also referred to as the "Blue City" due to the vivid blue-painted houses around the Mehrangarh Fort

I guess not everyone got the memo ?

Still nice though .

 Built around 1460 by Rao Jodha, the fort is situated 410 feet (125 m) above the city 

The cenotaph seen from the fort .

Ancient cannons .

Needs a bit of work i'd say .

Local traditional attire .

Face off   ha ha ha

The city of Jodhpur .

Nice huh .


The royal palace again .

And the cenotaph .

Time to explore .


Amazing design .

A huge courtyard .

Very nice .

India is amazing .

Such designs. 

We don't see this nowadays .

An outdoor throne .

Howdahs .

Seats on the back of the elephants .

Lots of variety .

From a convertible.....

To a limo... 

Sedan...

And SUV  ha ha ha .

Now for the palanquins...

Enclosed for the ladies .


For the men .





How do you even get into that .

Guards in the traditional attire .

How life was those days.,
he's got his smokes and sword .  = happy  ;-)


Now for the armoury  .

Gets a bit interesting here .

Nice maxi  ;-P

Old school vape .

Another courtyard as we walk along.....


Thats' a huge cannon .

How many men can you see ???

Polo ??

Art work from the epics .



Indian chain mail .

Now we go in further .

Cool huh .

How many years bad luck would you have if you did damage here ?

The throne room...

Colourful .

And gilded cellings .

Looking down on to the cenotaph .


And the rest of the city .

Pick one :-P

Those shields are made from tortoise shells.


That knife in the center opens up when you plunge it in  :-0



More boys toys .



Another throne room .

Such opulence .


Up and down .


The emperors day bed on the outside .
That must weigh a ton .

More courtyards .
See the closed up windows .


Those are the ladies quarters .

Life in those days .

Inside the ladies wing .
These are all they got to look through .


Many styles of babies cots .


Nice decor .

Courtyard no ??

Photo op  :-)

A last look.....

Time to leave .

We walked through all of those .

Amazing .....


Hand prints of the Maharaja's wives before they jumped on his funereal pyre .

See the spikes on the doors .
Its for the attacking elephants .

Narrow exit .

Traditional music  as we exit .


What a place .

Look how high it is .

So cool .


Another gate .

And ramparts in the distance .


Those circles are impact points of cannon fire .

An amazing place .


The full layout .

From splendour to squalor .


This is India .

Streets of Jodhpur .

Now we visit the main bazaar .

This is the Ghantaghar (Clock Tower) area, undoubtedly Jodhpur's busiest and largest marketplace.


The clock tower .

With the fort in the background .


Narrow alley ways and streets .

Same scene for thousands of years .

And same products .

The red sandstone everywhere .


The noise and smells can be very interesting .

This is how women buy clothes here . 

Pumping water manually .

Local streets  :-P

A stop for some souvenirs .

With the inevitable welcoming committee .

Quite large inside .


And highly overpriced .

So back to our little palace....

Where dinner is again next to the fire  . Its winter afterall .


What a day :-)

This is the only city we spent 1 day .All the rest were 2 or 3 days . 




Day 5

Back on the road .

Still can add more  :-p

Nice roads in Rajasthan .

R&R - not for madam .

Typical attire .

Today we're headed to the most beautiful location .

On the way we'll stop at a famous Jain temple .

The Ranakpur temple .

Look at the mudguards .

ha ha ha ha

Love the colour .


A small town along the way .

Look.....

Now look closer  :-)

Village life .

These are the 'C' roads to the temple .


Finally we reach .


The Jain temple of Ranakpur .

''The temple is an astounding creation of architectural splendour with 29 halls and 1,444 pillars all distinctly carved, no two pillars being alike. ''

Built in the 15th century .

Time to check out the interior .

Pillars everywhere .

Like so .

And the celling is not left out ..


Neither is the roof .

All done in white marble .

And apparently all different .

There are a lot of carvings .

And dark  corridors ...

Devotees .


No leather is allowed in .


Nice huh .

A last look...

Then time to leave .

Waiting for a bus  :-P


The interior of Rajasthan .

Sights along the way .


Water is collected everywhere .

So are goats  ha ha ha

An interesting sight .

A well with rusty tins as buckets .

My driver .

Nice and cool in the AC

While i go up...

The tins are rotated by the bulls...

With the herder sitting behind . 

Like so..... and you get irrigation .Simple huh .

Restaurant.....if you want cholera that is.


See the black things hanging . Bats .

Nice scenery .

This guys job is to push and pull the stop gate for each vehicle .
Manual auto gate  :-p

More sights along the way .

A small fort on a hillock .

Zoom

Finally we reach our destination .

Its one of the most beautiful places in India .

Donkey ,say it like Shrek  :-P

My digs up the hill..
An old havelli .

Old style room .


The bay window is all important .


For that .

Lake Pichola .
Welcome to Udaipur .

My rooms furniture .

Old school corridors .

Time to explore the Havelli .

The family's coat of arms .

A modern touch .

The rear of the havelli .

See that  on the hill...more later .

The central courtyard .

Nice drawing rooms. With pics of the fore- fathers .


The main door. Nice huh .

And the main part .

Guardians...

ha ha ha ha

A nice havelli .

The all important view .

My digs . 

This is from the rooftop dining area .

The city of Udaipur .
The royal palace is at the far end .

Would you like a stotch ?

The royal palace .

Nice huh .


And the rear .

The royal palace is huge .

We will be crossing soon .

See how big the lake is....

Its an artificial fresh water lake, created in the year 1362 AD

But first.....

A drink and a view .

In the evening we walked across...


The banks on either side .

Nice huh . See the tiny island ?

       Mohan Mandir, from where the king would watch the annual Gangaur festival celebration.

We're headed there .

The city gates .

Another lake palace which is converted into a hotel .
Looks familiar ?
Think Bond  !!

Today street food ,tomorrow dysentery . Smart girls .

Streets of Udaipur .In the inner city .


Peddlers ...

Now we are on the opposite bank .

As the sun sets over the city .

Lake Pichola .

That hotel is superb . But closed to visitors .. 

Behind it is another palace island .We'll visit tomorrow .

We saw that there was a traditional show .


So lets check it out .

From dances with flaming pots...


He looks so bored  :-P


To stories from the Indian epics .

Look at the tiger .
Junior actor ha ha ha

To more dances....


Extremely colourful .


Like so .


This puppeteer was the best of all .
Interesting show .

Night view of the lake .


We went for dinner at a roof top with a fantastic view .

The lake and 3 of the 4 islands .

Nice huh .

And the palace .

What a day . Tomorrow we explore Udaipur .


** To be continued .


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