Udaipur

Udaipur is gorgeous! Beautiful hills surround a 25 foot lake that acts as the city's drinking water supply. Only a few years ago the lake was completely empty. But the monsoons were good last year and the lake is now full again. This was great news for us because our hotel was in the middle of the lake. In addition to the main palace and hindu temple, Udaipur is known for their miniature paintings. A nice evening cruise on the lake was the perfect way to take in this very Italian feeling Indian city.

Jodhpur

We toured around Jodhpur - the Blue City - and then went to visit a couple of rural villages. The Bishnois who have 29 principles of living sustainably (www.bishnoi.org). They are not Hindus but worship nature and do not kill anything including trees. We then went to a village to see an opium ceremony. My mom took the last photograph. Can you guess what I am doing in the final photo?

Jodhpur, the second largest city of Rajasthan, at the edge of the Thar desert was once the capital of the Marwar state. It was founded in 1459 A.D. by Rao Jodha-chief of the Rathore clan of Rajputs who claimed to be descendants of Rama - hero of the epic 'Ramayana'. The city dominated by the massive Mehrangarh fort on a rocky hill is charming with its wealth of historic attractions and colourful markets which specialises in antiques. It is still one of the leading centres of wool, cattle, camels and salt.

Mehrangarh Fort: The Mehrangarh Fort lies at the outskirts of Jodhpur city and is located atop a 125 m high hill. The magnificent Mehrangarh Fort (Jodhpur ka kila) is the most majestic and one of the largest forts in India. It was originally started (c.1459) by Rao Jodha, founder of Jodhpur. However, most of the extant fort dates from the period of Jaswant Singh (1638-78). The walls of the fort are up to 36 m high and 21 m wide; they enclose some exquisite structures.


Mehrangarh Fort & Jaswant ThadaThe fort museum houses an exquisite collection of palanquins, howdahs, royal cradles, miniatures, musical instruments, costumes and furniture. The ramparts of Mehrangarh Fort provide not only excellently preserved cannons but also a breath-taking view of the city.

Jaipur

We arrived in Jaipur after a 5 hour bus ride. Unlike previous bus rides and Anthony and I have taken, this was pure luxury. A huge Volvo cruiser complete with AC and a bathroom and only the 12 people that are on our tour. We stopped for a quick lunch and then hit the road to head for the Pink City. Not because of its thriving gay population but because they covered the old city pink stucco. It is actually more of a salmon color but none the less it is required that shop keepers and building owners keep their buildings painted this god awful color.

Jaipur is considered by many urbanists to be one of the best planned cities. Almost all Northern Indian towns of that period presented a chaotic picture of narrow twisting lanes, a confusion of run-down forts/temples/palaces and temporary shacks that bore no resemblance at all to the principles set out in Hindu architectural manuals, which calls for strict geometric planning. Thus, for Sawai Jai Singh II and the Bengali Guru Vidyadhar (who was a'Shaspati' - Hindu Priest Architect), the founding of Jaipur was also a ritual and a golden opportunity to plan a whole town according to the principles of Hindu architectural theory. The town of Jaipur is in fact, built in the form of a nine-part Mandala known as the 'Pithapada'.

We visted the Amber Palace where we rode an elephant to the top of the hill it is situated on and then onto the Jantar Mantar astronomy park, a sophisticated collection of early 18th century structures designed to measure the movements of the stars, sun and planets.

We were entertained by the a member of the royal family - Mr Singh and his daughter- dancers, camel rides, village artisans and a delicious dinner. A tremendous send off complete with fireworks that you can't even buy in Mexico.

Agra and the Taj

Onto Agra and the amazingly beautiful Taj Mahal. The Mughal Emperor Shāh Jahān commissioned it as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction began in 1632 and was completed in 1648. Once construction was completed the Emperor was told that it would take 6 more months to clear the construction materials (scaffolding, etc) away from the site. This was not acceptable. So a very bright woman told the Emperor that he should announce to the common people that there is free construction material available and miraculously the site was completely cleared within 2 weeks! Ingenious and a great political move.

No photograph can do justice to the beauty that is the Taj. Once you get up close you see the incredible detail work. Precious and semi-precious stones are inlaid into the white marble creating very colorful motifs.

We are staying at The Oberoi which overlooks the Taj Mahal - literally we have an uninterrupted view of the monument of love and devotion! George has decided to build a similar monument to Donna but unfortunately she has to have about 12 more children and then die so i am not encouraging this to happen. Anyway, Agra is beautiful - or at least The Oberoi hotel and the Taj Mahal are beautiful. There is actually no civic pride in Agra and the city is very dirty and poorly maintained. Given that this is the number one tourist attraction in India and maybe even the world, they are not making too much of an effort to improve roadways, public transport, waste management and other important infrastructure.

Train to Tiger Country

A few hours after the train bombing North of New Delhi that killed 165 people, we boarded a train heading south towards Ranthambore National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. Situated in Eastern Rajasthan, where the Aravali Hill ranges and the Vindhyan plateau meet, the Ranthambhore National Park was once the hunting preserve of the Maharajas of Jaipur. The rivers Chambal in the South and Banas in the North bound the Ranthambore National Park.

Six man made lakes are the central focus of the park and many perennial streams criss-cross the entire park. The Ranthambore National Park has internal drainage and has no link up with any river system, even though two rivers bound the Park in it’s north and south side.

We rode a tiger and went looking for elephants in Rathambore - no wait, i got that wrong - we rode an elephant and went looking for tigers. Here is a riddle for you - if you want to get the height of an elephant you measure the circumference of its foot and multiply by a factor - what is that factor?

We actually saw a tiger! It was towards the end of the day so we were lined up with about 20 other jeeps and once it came into sight all of the drivers and guides started to freak out to try to get the best position for taking photos. All of the commotion did not seem to bother the tiger until people started to use flash. Then it scrambled up the hill. It did not take long for it to amble down back towards us looking for a place to cross the road. We decided to remove ourselves from the great hunt and returned to our tents for a little r&r.

New Delhi - Feb 17th

Our tour started today in the morning - we visited India Gate, Humayan's Tomb (built by the Mughals in the 16th century), Quitb Minar and Jama Masjid (The Masjid-i-Jahan Numa, commonly known as Jama Masjid of Delhi is the principal mosque of Old Delhi in India. Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and completed in the year 1656 AD, it is the largest and best known mosque in India. The Mughals had a tremendous influence in India. Under the Mughals, India was the heart of a great Islamic empire and a prolific center of Islamic culture and learning. According to historian Gavin Hambly, the Mughals provided the setting for a brilliant court and a vigorous cultural life which was equal to Isfahan under the Safavid Shahs or Istanbul under the Ottoman Sultans. The Mughals lived and reigned in India from 1526 to 1858 AD. Their dynasty was the greatest, richest and longest-lasting Muslim dynasty to rule India. This dynasty produced the finest and most elegant arts and architecture in the history of Muslim dynasties


We then took a bicycle rickshaw around Old Delhi which was a blast! Old Delhi is the exact opposite of New Delhi. It is very unplanned - much more vibrant and active - filled with "the people" vs "the diplomats". It is really nice to experience both. You get a nice sense of cultural and architectural history along with a feel for daily living of those that are struggling to survive in the big city. Unlike the wide boulevards of New Delhi, Old Delhi has winding chaotic streets with lots of people milling about buying fruits and vegetables, chickens, clothing and other goods.

We met up with Susie in the afternoon and were able to tap into her 14 years of living in India to find some of the best shopping areas. After over two months of traveling, Anthony and I were in much need of some clean clothes, so we hit the local markets to update our wardrobes. The shopping in India is amazing! Incredible fabrics, lots of gold sparklies and color! We did some damage - thanks to Susie we did not get ripped off and were able to find some great items at very very very reasonable prices. By the end of the day we needed to buy another suitcase - we probably paid more for that than all of the stuff we bought. I don't mean to sound like a shallow consumerist - and fortunately things don't really work that way in India. So many people, generally local artisans who receive their training from previous generations are employed - there are very few machines in India besides airplanes and computers. All of goods are at a very small local scale.

Of course the caste system is alive and well and although at first i really felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing - it seems to provide a structure that allows everyone to feel valued for their various skills. Of course this could be heavily debated - and IS heavily debated - it is an important part of Indian culture.

New Delhi - Feb 16th

Our first day in Delhi we had a nice car tour of the city. It is sprawling and feels very planned. The British planned New Delhi with lots of roundabouts, wide boulevards and buildings that are kind of Neoclassical meets Moghul. It reminded us a lot of Washington DC which makes sense because it is the capital city of India. We stopped at a Hindu temple - Birla Temple - to give our "puja" to Lakshmi the goddess of wealth and prosperity. It was a much more modern temple and because there was a big Shiva festival going on there were many Hindus out and about. One interesting architectural element is the Swastika - an ancient symbol for good fortune that was reversed, usurped and misused by Hitler and his cohorts.

After giving thanks to the goddess of prosperity we went to Kahn Market to scout out the shopping scene. Everything is hidden away up a dark set of stairs in alleyways that are filled with merchants. Once you ascend the stairways there are amazing boutiques with vibrant fabrics that are used to create more modern cut skirts, shirts and pants. We knew we were meeting up with Susie the next day so we kept our rupees in our pocket and headed back to the hotel. Then off to dinner at a nice Thai restaurant - The Spice Route - in the Imperial Hotel - as our nephew Will likes to say about his chocolate ice cream...yummmmyyy.

Greetings to Mamaji and Pataji

So we met up with Donna and George in New Delhi. After a few snafaus with our airport transfer we decided to go out to the airport to greet them - Indian Style! Complete with garlands of marigolds, roses and jasmine and a sparkly bindi for Donna. We almost missed them because they were waiting inside the baggage claim area and we were waiting outside with a hundred other greeters with signs. They finally emerged and we jumped out to surprise them. A long drive back to the hotel for a little late night snack, then off to bed to rest up for our big day with Susie (Anthony's mother who lives in Delhi).