Slowly, slowly, no worries, no hurry!!

This morning we met our guide, Ravi, who was to show us the sights of Udaipur.

Our hotel is right on the lake edge with access to it down some narrow alleyways and as we left with Ravi he started to point out the obvious – this is a power line to this house, that’s a water pipe – and I thought that this fellow is going to bore us to death!

We first walked along the lake edge and crossed via the Chand Pole Puliya foot bridge to the eastern side of Lake Pichola which is an artificial fresh water lake created in 1362 and around which the city is built.

His bathroom 

As we ventured through the old town we came to the Jagdish Temple, a(nother) Hindu temple which has been a continuous place of worship since 1651 having been built by Maharana Jagat Singh. It’s centrepiece is a statue of the deity Lord Jagannath and with smaller statues of God Vishnu and God Krishna on either side. It is another fine example of a carved marble construction.

Ravi explaining the carvings

One thing that strikes you when you are at temples is the devotion Hindus have to their religion - it’s absolute.

The Temple is very close to the City Palace or Raj Mahal. Construction began in 1553 by Maharana Udai Singh II (the city being named after him, Udai + pur (city) – the city of Udai) and with contributions over the next 400 years from several rulers of the Mewar dynasty.

Of all the forts or palaces that we have entered this one, like streets of the city, are the cleanest of any we have visited.

Leaving the palace we then ambled through the streets of the old town taking heed of Ravi’s motto “slowly, slowly, no hurry, no worry” until a latish lunch in a restaurant lakeside before bidding farewell to Ravi.

We continued our stroll through the old town until getting back to the hotel mid afternoon. As part of our package at the hotel we were entitled to a foot massage so Sherry availed herself of it on our return and I watched. There was a lot of grimacing as the “masseuse” pummelled her legs and the grimaces changed to “f… that hurts” when he bent her toes until the joints cracked.

Having finished with her he motioned me to the table and gave me a right work over, legs and feet and then had me on my stomach while he hammered my back.

Sherry went back to our room to get the camera to capture the assault! Later in the afternoon we saw a sign advertising head and face massages and you would have to hope that whoever provided those knew where the head and face ended because our guy had no idea where our feet ended!!!

We then walked to the Amba Mata carpark to meet Ashok who took us to the Saheliyon Ki Bari a garden laid out by Maharana Sangram Singh II between 1710 & 1734 for the “entertainment” of the Royal Ladies and their maids of honour. As the heat was going out of the day there was quite a crowd enjoying the tranquility of that environment and so ended another day of our Indian adventure.

Last night saw a dog in his bed

In fact in a stretch of around 20 cars 3 had dogs lying in their roofs.

Beyond the Back of Beyond

We left Jodphur and our nice haven behind to relocate to Udaipur our last stop in Northern India before saying goodbye to Ashok and flying south to Kochi in 3 days to round off our Indian adventure.

Left at 9.30 and arrived at 4.30 so another long day punctuated by three stops – morning coffee stop, visit a Jain Temple at Ranakpur and then lunch somewhere on route.

More time to engage with Ashok!

But first some “fun facts”

·      An Indian toilet roll, should there be one available, is approximately 1/3^rd the volume of a NZ one and is 1 ply

·      If we had 10 rupees for every time we saw a man urinating on the side of the road, be it in the countryside or bang in the middle of a city, our trip would be paid for.

·      In the city there are also men’s urinals completely open to public view

·      Women are absent from waiting jobs but very visible in the fields and also on construction sites

Ashok’s agricultural business 

·      His wheat field is cut by hand but the wheat is then mechanically processed

·      It takes 5 days to cut an acre with 4 workers

·      1 acre produces 50,000 kg which he can sell for 30 rs/kg

·      1 acre of mustard plant produces 25,000 kg which he can sell for 70 rs/kg

·      He has 2 acres of each

Indian Social Welfare  

·      Each household each month  is given by the Government

          5kg rice

          25kg wheat

          2l mustard oil

·      Each person has 5lakh rs per year put into a health account to cover medical expenses ($10,000)

·      Since the last election (2024) every “poor” family is entitled to have one of their members employed by the Government 

We can’t vouch 100% for the accuracy of the above but that is what we took from our discussion with Ashok

Everywhere we have driven has been on terrain that would please members of the Flat Earth Society except when we turned off the highway to visit the Jain Temple at Ranakpur where it became anything but.

Sherry said we were driving at the “back of beyond” whereas I thought it was “Beyond the back of beyond”

The construction of the Temple commenced in 1389 and was completed in 1436, though some accounts has it completed at least 50 years later and is carved from marble – it is one of the most significant Jain Temples in India.

A video of a walk around of part of it is here.

We then continued up through the hills, passing inquisitive monkeys on the road before stopping for lunch at the café atop the summit

The roads both up and down were narrow and atrocious and Ashok deserved every rupee of his salary manoeuvring the vehicle round, through and over potholes, putting it on to the shoulder to let others coming towards us get through or just to miss the cattle on the road- it wasn’t a pleasant part of our tripping around India! It made me look up the annual road toll for India – an average of 153,000 per year over the last 10 years!!!

We stopped at one point to take a photo of an old style water pump

We arrived at our accommodation, which is situated right in the old town and on the edge of Lake Pichola, which looks far better on the internet than it is in reality- a bit of a letdown following our superb accommodation at our last two stops.

A view from our balcony during a call to prayers is here and requires your computer to be turned on its side to view.

Doing Indian things in Jodhpur

Today we chose to spend time in and around the markets in the Clock Tower area. Ashok took us there, it’s about 3kms from the accommodation, and dropped us off at the start of the market area.

We suggested that he could have the rest of the day off as we would try and get a tuk tuk back and only call him if things when awry. He would have none of it, told us we were to ring him and he would come in 15 minutes and we weren’t to take the tuk tuk. It comes across as if he is responsible for our safety, a responsibility he takes very seriously.

On the way to the market we passed a Hindu temple where there were two long queues, one to the left for woman and the other to the right for men.

Ashok tells us that today is the Maha Shivaratri festival. Devotees visit temples, worship Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati, chant mantras and prayers, observe fasts and wish for Lord Shiva's blessings. It seems to be akin to Valentines Day.

We spent 4 or 5 hours strolling through the market area, poking around in quite a few of the shops and making the odd purchase.

It was a pleasant experience as in the main the traders are fun to banter with - they all have a very good selling patter - your daughter would like that, buy 2 as gifts, we’ve also got these which will be nice for a friend.

As the day went on it got busier and busier and hotter and hotter. We found a restaurant that served pizza which we shared at a total cost of 230rs ($4.75) and got some energy back before venturing back out in to it.

While at lunch I took a video of the intersection below us.

After another hour or so we called Ashok who duly arrived and brought us back to our haven where we quickly jumped into the pool to cool off.

Where’s the sparky?

Breakfast and then it was out to sightsee three attractions in Jodhpur with today’s guide, Nirendra.

The first was the Mehrangarh Fort a historic fort rising about 122 m above the surrounding plains and covering 1,200 acres.  Built around 1459 by Rao Jodha, though most of the existing structure is from the 17th century built by his successors. 

The fort is very well kept with over 600 employees keeping it clean and tidy.

Some very good views of the city and one aspect showed why Jodhpur is called the Blue City.

Like all forts we have visited there are some superb internal rooms full of colour and carvings and displays of clothing, weapons etc. of the time.

We then moved around 800m to visit the crematorium for the deceased Maharajas of Jodhpur where Nirendra explained to us the protocol that Hindus follow on the death of a family member – it is a three or four day process followed by 12 days of mourning before the ashes are taken to be disposed of in the Ganges.

With Ashok at the crematorium.

…and Nirendra

Finally we drove to the area around the Clock Tower known as the Sardar market. We didn’t spend too much time there as we intend to do so tomorrow but it was long enough to spend time in a spice shop learning a little about the use of spices in Indian cooking.

This particular spice shop is said to be the best in Jodhpur and it’s name is mimicked by others to try and get a better share of the trade. It was started by a gent who has passed and on his passing it was kept running by his widow and now by his 7 daughters who have been given the nickname The Spice Girls of Jodhpur. Currently there is a documentary being made about the girls which they hope will end up on Netflix but there is a trailer available on YouTube here

.

 Priya was the daughter who served us and she insisted on a photo and also sent us a 38 page recipe book which we are happy to forward to anyone who wants it.

In the afternoon we went for another walk in the area and took some interest in the local arborists. When we went out in the morning workers were pruning some trees in the centre “divider” of the street just 200m from our accommodation. When we walked past in the afternoon (7 hours later) there were some power lines dangling from an out of aligned pole and no sign of any workers. When we came back around an hour later there was some chaos – the pole was now down, lines dangling everywhere, the road now blocked on one side of the road and workers standing around holding onto the downed lines.

As Sherry said they needed a sparky and as luck would have it there was one advertising just across the street. We didn’t hang around to see how they were going to get things sorted as there didn’t seem to be anyone in charge!

This evening we went to a rooftop restaurant in the old town. It was quite an experience getting there, an elderly gent gave us “bad” directions but you can always rely on the kids on the street who knew exactly where we needed to go.

Entered the (not too impressive) building, climbed 3 flights of stairs and was greeted by a nice chap who showed us to a table another two flights up on the very roof top of the building almost directly below the fort.

At 6.37 the Muslim call to pray rang out loudly around the city, there being two mosques in relatively close proximity and not long after there was a significant display of fireworks which we later found out to be for a wedding ceremony- when I say significant think New Years Eve display on the Auckland Sky Tower so many rs went up in smoke tonight.

When the light started to fade the fort was lit and looked quite magical high above us as did some of the blue painted buildings.

Another rooftop restaurant 

The meal was very nice, though we might be getting spiced out, eating almost in the dark apart from the light of a very weak table lamp.

It was an enjoyable experience, made better by the restaurant staff, however finding our way back to the Clock Tower, the centre of the old town, was slightly nerve wracking but was successfully achieved from where we rang Ashok and he was there in 5 minutes to take us back to the comfort of Ratan Vilas.

Living like and with Royalty

Was woken early this morning by fellow guest's loud chatter out in front of the restaurant as they waited for their breakfast before loading up their bus and away.

During the day the desert is extremely hot but overnight the temperature drops significantly and whether it is the difference in temperature or in fact it is cool jumping out of bed to a warm shower is something to look forward to, except in our “luxury” tent there was no hot water!

We left the camp at 9.00 and have travelled around 280kms to Jodhpur arriving here at approximately 2.30 with one stop of around 30 minutes for a coffee. With an average speed of around 55 kmph it gives some idea of the state of some of the roads. On one stretch it was so rough we were only able to travel at around 15 kmph and it looked like the steering wheel was being ripped out of Ashok’s hands.

I’ve mentioned before the military presence in the Western India area and as we drove  out of Jaisalmer a military area was continuous for 13 kms along the highway.

One of the cities we drove through was Pokhran the site for India’s  first underground nuclear weapon test in 1996

There was time during the drive to get some more information from Ashok:

·      Having seen a scooter carrying two large cans we learnt that that is the door to door milk delivery service 

·      Cow’s milk sells for 50 rupees (rs) per litre ($1)

·      Buffalo milk sells for 70 rs per litre

·      Diesel sells for 91 rs per litre

·      There are 6 companies selling fuel in India 

·      Ashok is from the Yadav caste

The caste system has intrigued us and is something we have tried to get an understanding of.

There are 4 castes in India, Brahmins (priestly class), Kshatriyas (rulers, administrators and warriors), Vaishyas (artisans, merchants, tradesman and agricultural) and Shudras (labouring class) and then there are the Dalits (untouchables) a group who sit outside the caste system.

However within those 4 castes there are upwards of 30,000 subclasses and Yadav seems to be a subclass of the Vaishyas.

We have exceptional accommodation at Ratan Vilas which was once the private home of Maharaj Ratan Singh and his great-grandson and family who reside in part of the building have turned it into an exceptional heritage hotel – our suite is spacious and superbly appointed.

Having booked in and a very late lunch in the restaurant we took to the streets around the hotel to get some exercise after the journey. The surrounding area is very typical of Indian towns but nevertheless we enjoyed a 4km out and back stroll arriving back hot and sweaty so it was into the pool to refresh.

Following a dinner in the restaurant it was back to the room to write this post and watch the remainder of the cricket NZ v Bangladesh (NZ currently 178/3 needing another 59 from 89 balls with Ravindra just completing his 4th ICC competition century)

Desert Camp

Some photos from our desert experience but first 

A dung pile in Jaisalmer which is used as fuel

The creature on the hotel wall

The desert camp

The luxury tent

Camels waiting to take guests to the dunes

Sherry with Virender and Lucky

After the welcome 

A video of the cultural show is here

Brochures can be deceiving

Coming out of our room to go to breakfast Sherry pointed out the outline of a small gecko like carving on the stairwell wall which we admired as it was the same colour of the wall and complemented the surroundings. I said that I hadn’t noticed it before and that was not surprising as it scurried behind a picture – it wasn’t a carving after all. When we returned from breakfast it’s head was poking out from behind the picture frame and I got a photo of it.

AJ had been our waiter at both dinner and breakfast over the last couple of days – not sure of his age but he is married with a 4 year old daughter. His home and family is in Agra though he has a brother with family in Jaisalmer. From what we can gather he works 7 days a week at the hotel for 9 months and returns home in the summer when the temperatures are such (upward of 50 degrees) that there are no tourists and hotels close.

When we arrived the “boss man” made a point of telling us that there was no need to tip individuals during our stay as they had a policy of guests providing a tip at the end of their stay which was then shared with all staff this being something we approve of as there are many non-customer facing personnel who otherwise would miss out on some extra.

As we were finishing breakfast AJ leant over and said that if you have enjoyed my service then we can tip him as if we give the tip suggested by the “boss man” it is never shared.

This created a dilemma – who was conning who, AJ or the “boss man”? Given that AJ had  treated us very well and was “fun” to have around we left something for him to supplement his 10000 rupee a month salary.

As we were leaving our hotel to travel out to the Rajwada Desert Camp a couple were lounging by the pool and we struck up a conversation.

They were an American couple from the Mid-West of USA (Michigan) from a town of 12 people (not  sure whether that was a slight exaggeration or not) and they tell us they have visited NZ twice, the first time just as TV2 first came to air.

They recounted fondly their experiences and places visited and said they tell all their friends (perhaps the other 10 inhabitants of the town) that NZ is the place to visit.

They asked whether we had been to the US and I bit the bullet and said that we hadn’t and wouldn’t be going in the next 4 years. There was immediate recognition of what I was saying and (luckily) they weren’t supporters of their new “dictator” and apologised that 51% of Americans voted the wrong way.

Have to say that they were not like other Americans one runs into on travels as they didn’t have that arrogance that is usually displayed.

Arrived at Rajwada Desert Camp around 11.30 and booked in. It was said to be a Luxury Desert Camp but that is some hyperbole, but it was adequate. It was hot even sitting in the tent with the air con going.

It is around 1km off the road, via a very bumpy track, and consists of 20 large tents each equipped with aircon (perhaps that is the luxury portion) containing a double bed, side cabinets, a couple of chairs and an attached “private” bathroom and toilet. The tents sit on a concrete base and are fitted with carpet.

After lunch, arranged especially for us, we went to the sand dunes being a 15-20 minute walk from the camp.

The “boss man” saw us walking off so came over to give instructions and made sure that we had his phone number in case we got lost. He obviously didn’t realise that Sherry was a girl guide in her younger days (at least for a short time) and learnt all about survival!

It was hot. It was extremely hot but he instructed us to follow the track which jeeps had travelled over, after about 15 minutes the path forks so from there follow the camel footprints (forgot to tell us what they looked like) and you’ll end at the dunes.

We did & we did!

Are they spectacular? If you’ve been to the dunes at Bethels’s Beach then perhaps no, as they only stretched in a narrowish area across a ridge how far into the distance being difficult to see,

Did I say it was hot? It was sappingly so, so after surveying what was in front of us for 5 minutes or so we turned and trudged our way back to the camp. Survival techniques long since forgotten were not needed as the large footprints we had left were all the clues we required  to solve the puzzle.

Sat in the tent very close to the aircon on our return.

A bus load of tourists arrived around 4pm which filled up the camp (we were the only ones in residence until then) the newbies all being Indian.

Late in the afternoon we rode on a camel out into the dunes – we rode Lucky who was attended by Virender.

Virender and Lucky gave us quite a ride through the dunes, it not being easy to sit comfortably on these animals.

We intended to hang  around to see the sunset but came back to the camp before it had set, however we got a nice view of it from a hill at the back of the camp

We were then given an “official” welcome – 2 musicians and a lady dressed in traditional outfit – the red spot being placed on our foreheads and the tray carrying the red colouring held so that you could see a 200 rupee note sitting on it which meant only one thing – time to put your hand in your pocket again, son!

If there is one thing about India that rankles is that everyone expects to be tipped for anything and everything no matter how insignificant their “service” was.

After everyone had returned from the dunes a cultural show commenced, the same group as gave the welcome, and we sat with the other guests enjoying the performance until we took our leave for a late meal.

As I post this, 9.15pm, the entertainment is still echoing across the desert.

Using mobile data I have uploaded this post but not able to post photos which I will do at our next stop

 

 

A hat trick and they all wished they wore a hat!

Today was another day where we had an english speaking guide, Rupinder or as he said call me Rupee for short.

Some Indians when speaking in English speak 240 to the dozen and Rupee was no exception which made it difficult to pick up all that he was saying as we visited the fort.

Jaisalmer fort is the only fort in India which is more than just a monument as there are over 4000 people living permanently within the walls which to a certain extent makes it just like visiting an old town with the hustle and bustle of shops of all description, motorcycles and Tuk tuks using the narrow roads and people going about their daily business - it creates atmosphere.

Numerous buildings have inscriptions like the following painted near the entrance which if we understood Rupee correctly signifies the day in which the occupants married

In this case 4 Feb 2025

A feature of the fort is that it contains seven Jain temples and we visited two of them - internally they are quite spectacular with the many figures and columns carved from marble.

From a rooftop cafe there was a wonderful view of the city of Jaisalmer which though it appears to be of size is said to have a population of 90,000. The view certainly gives strength to the notion that Jaisalmer is the golden city.

The video I took of the view is  here

The city is close to the Pakistani border, we have been told two different distances 60 km and 160 km, and as a result there is a significant army contingent stationed in the area and if the sound of military aircraft blazing overhead is any indication then there is air force personnel somewhere handy - India seems to take the threat that alleged Pakistani terrorists present seriously, though we have seen nothing to suggest that we are in an unsafe part of India.

On the hills around the city there are many wind turbines linking into the national grid but according to Rupee they still experience “electricity problems” in Jaisalmer.

One of the attractions of the fort are the havelis within the fort and one we visited was the home of the first prime minister of the Rajasthan State and is still inhabited by his descendants.

The Government approves one bhang cafe in each city and here is the one in Jaisalmer

One other “attraction” in Jaisalmer is the man made lake, Gadisar Lake, which was constructed in 1156. Currently it is fed by the India Gandhi Canal but we understand previously relied on monsoon rain to fill it. The lake continues thousands of catfish and not unsurprisingly are another revered species in Hinduism.

There are pigeons perched on ledges and rooftops throughout the city and in the fort and if they leave their mark on you it is said to be good luck – like the two others seen wiping clean their hair, Sherry wished she had been wearing a hat!

With the temperature approaching 30 degrees we retired to the hotel mid afternoon and took to the pool – we couldn’t see the ice cubes in it but I swear there must have been some as the water was cold but refreshing.

Tomorrow we move out into the desert for a night glamping so don’t expect we will have wifi and therefore we might be off grid for a day until we arrive in Jodhpur on Monday.