India Tour 2017

It was tough saying goodbye to Giridhar, our companion and driver. A lovely warm human being, with whom we were comfortable and safe. Incredible India, exceeded our expectations.

It was a long day, but worth it. On reflection, we probably needed 2 days to cover today’s agenda half the time today was taken up by going from Point A to B. Woke up to a typical (so we have been told) Delhi morning with the air not conducive to taking good photos but that didn’t’ stop us from trying; followed by a fabulous breakfast. One thing about Giridhar, our driver is that he is very punctual and today was no different as he picked us up at 9am. First on the agenda was to pick up our guide for the day and that’s all we will say about him and his tip at the end of the day reflected his performance. A quick whistle-stop tour of the Secretariat and other Government Buildings ensued followed by India Gate. A lot of people were relaxing in the lovely clean parks on either side of the wide road connecting these monuments. New Delhi has a lot of greenery. Next, off to the Red Fort, which didn’t do a lot for us. It’s more impressive to look at from the outside; as there is not a l...

Not in any rush today so took it easy with breakfast; called both kids for a chat before taking cab to the airport for a 1.00pm flight to Delhi. Waiting for us on arrival at Delhi was our trusted driver, Giridhar. It would have taken him a couple of days driving from Udaipur to Delhi. God bless him, he has taken such good care of us, we were all a tad emotional farewelling him in Udaipur. Anyway, it was good to see him again. After a couple of hours rest in our very corporatised Pullman hotel, we were off again to enjoy an  Indian Musical, ZANGOORA, The Gypsy Prince. And ENJOY, we did. Didn’t understand all of the dialogue however it was a lavish Bollywood style production full of energy, colour, costumes and stage props that took our breath away. The actors were beautiful and as good if not better than what one would see in a Bollywood movie and I have seen a few (with English sub titles so I could understand the plot). Loved it.  The theatre complex, Kingdom of Dreams is...

Udaipur - city of lakes, known as the Venice of the east. A small town of approximately 500k people in a mountainous region with seven man-made lakes. Met our guide for the day; first stop was to the east bank of Lake Pichola to visit the Maharana’s Palace. (the complex is a massive series of palaces built at different times from 1559) We actually saw the Maharana who was driving out as we were driving in through the gates. The guards on the gates stood to attention with a salute; there I was thinking that it was for our benefit but alas not. The Palace uses the same model as the one in Jodhpur, divided into 3 parts, museum, hotel and the residence of the current Maharana’s family. The location was stunning, overlooking the lake on one side and the city on the other. Located opposite in the lake was the Hotel Taj Lake Palace used in the James Bond movie Octopussy. It was one of the better museums visited, interesting, well preserved art effects with lovely gardens. Next up was a...

Tough leaving our hotel today (not used to such luxury). Took the highway out of town; the turn off to Ranakpur to visit the Jain Temple took us through interesting villages. They never cease to amaze us; village life here is so different from city life. Health and Safety is non existent judging by the crews doing hard Yakka on the road. The road was a shocker but the drive was worth it, to experience the beauty of the Jain Temple (definitely worth a read in Wikipedia). We don’t have the words to describe it but that temple was one of the highlights of our trip. it was beautiful. Taken several photos including one of a cow who came in to fill up at a petrol station) and am hoping that they do it justice.The rest of the journey to Udaipur was through mountainous countryside until we got back on the highway. We made our way to our hotel, which is centrally located in Udaipur, the city of lakes. Visited our first shopping mall in India which is interconnected to our hotel. L...

Another foggy start to the day with quite a chill in the air; shame really as it doesn’t make for good photography. Met our guide (can’t recall his name) for the day who gave us an overview on the city. It’s called the sun or blue city; major industries are textile, craftwork and tourism, (refer to Wikipedia for more info). He also informed us that India has the 2nd largest army in the world, boohoo. The 3 main touris attractions in Jodhpur were the Fort (every town has one, like we have pubs/churches and/or Masonic halls), the Crematorium (it’s beautiful) and the current Royal Palace. Proceeding through unusually quiet streets, came across a field where women were using the traditional method to dry large dyed textile sheets by spreading them on the ground with a stone at each end. Let me get to the fort; one has a choice, to climb to the top or take a lift; I’ll leave it to you to guess what we did. Another magnificent monument built on a hill by the then maharajah during the ...

Woke up to a clear sky for a change. Ursi wanted to take advantage of the clarity to take more photos of Lake Gadisar in Jaisalmer and remembering that a happy wife is a happy life, duly obliged a stopover. Followed by a visit to a silver maker to buy a couple of trinkets. After the couple of detours, we finally left Jaisalmer. As was the case on our way into the city the way out had a heavy military presence with lot of army trucks on the road; along with the odd herd of camels and goats. Approaching Jodhpur, sandstone quarries are seen on both sides of the road along with a small number of villages. Once inside the city limits, scores of children in their school uniforms (a legacy of the British influence during the days of the Raj) were seen making their way home judging by the time of the day and the smiles on their faces. This town has a major military base which is openly on display with patriotic slogans. We were blown away on arrival at our hotel, WelcomeHotel (tha...