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 .
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 -A 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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