Day 6 of Rajasthan Trip -- Jodhpur to Udaipur

A bigger car day, we set off after the waiter hooked the kids up w/ pancakes. We made a stop at a craftsman’s hut – a stone dwelling w/ a small bedroom/living area made from grass hut in one corner, outdoor kitchen/living area in center, another indoor living/working area on the other side.

A woman was making bread outside over the fire while the craftsman (a 50+ year old man) sat on the ground working at a frame made from sticks. He was weaving a rug and demonstrated the technique and pattern, which he said he knows from memory/practice. Apparently his father/grandfather had also been rugmakers.

His wife pulled out some rugs for a demonstration, some made from camel hair, some cotton. After bargaining we did leave with a rug – a simple cotton piece that will remind me of the people of Rajasthan. It was a much better buying experience than the polished sales pitches at some of the stores we’d visited, and putting the money directly in their hands seems better than wondering if the artists get the compensation they deserve through the more commercialized retail process.

Onward we drove, camel sighting becoming fewer and further between. More greenery was cropping up, along with more villages. We started to see hills and eventually stopped for lunch, then to the Ranakpur Jain temples for a look around.

One of the five most important pilgrimage sites of Jainism, it's located in the Aravali ranges. Also one of India's largest Jain Temples, it is exceptionally beautiful.

Ranakpur is named after Rana Kumbha whom Dharna Sah, a Jain businessman, who had a vision of the temple and asked for the land for its construction. It was built in AD 1439.

Per the Internet:

In addition to the main temple rhere are four subsidiary shrines. Altogether the complex has 1,444 columns, all intricately carved with no two alike. The artistically carved nymphs playing the flute in various dance postures at a height of 45 feet are an interesting sight. In the assembly hall, there are two big bells weighing 108 kg whose sound echoes in the entire complex. The main temple is a Chaumukh or a four-faced temple dedicated to Adinath.

OUr temple experience:

Garlands of orange flowers hung in the entryway where a guard kept yelling at anyone with a camera not to photograph those in prayer. His ascerbic (?) yells ran contrary to a prayer environment in my mind.

We circled the place left to right and found gray monkeys hanging off one side. Later one was caught eating garland inside the teample and the noisy guard came yelling after it with a broom. It (the monkey) must be used to getting in trouble, as it scampered around the pillars like it owned the place.

I got another dot on my forehead in the temple; someone was rolling something out with water (I assume), making a special paste to put on foreheads. The kids were all for me pulling out a wipe and removing the Jain temple evidence.

Outside we saw more monkeys and went into another temple, smaller and darker.
We also ran into a persistent young man with a camera phone who tried three times to take photos of the kids. The first two times I pleasantly asked him not to; the third time I yelled at him and told him he was rude. That’s the last we saw of him. Soon my photo will be in the paper for reaming the natives about photography.

The rest of our drive was very scenic, through hills with new roads, where layers of rock – pink, peach, opaque -- flanked both roadsides.

The geography gradually became steeper with wicked switchback curves. The road took us through Sarkiska National Park, a protected wildlife area where tigers, leopards, jackals, caracals (?) and jungle cats are said to reside (unfortunately we didn’t spot any).

Our driver laid on the horn before we went around every bend (narrow road, sheer drop offs, plenty of cars going too fast). Thank God for the horn; you simply couldn’t navigate the road here without it.

Incidentally, I’m becoming desensitized to a variety of things, one of those the driving styles. It no longer alarms me when we’re playing chicken w/ a bus or big truck, ducking back into our lane at the last minute. And no, this isn’t for those late teen thrills, it’s the way driving is done, at least through all roads in Rajasthan (no doubt everywhere else in India too).

En route we saw a few more gray monkeys and tossed an apple discard to one; he was on that core in a flash.

With the windows down we enjoyed the breeze, turning in and out up the hills looking for wildlife. The hills were mostly covered w/ trees, a few with hints of orange. Once out of the switchbacks the scene turned more to a rolling topography – gorgeous mountain backdrop and small patches of worked land. We saw many stone walls on the way, marking pastures and farm plots. And lots of peasant homes – huts and the like.

Here and there people worked in the fields. I really was amazed with the beauty of the land – so different from Gurgaon/Delhi and from the sandy, dry parts of Rajasthan.

Some tall green grasses shot out of irrigated areas, almost like fronds, not sure what they were – rice? Didn’t seem wet enough for that – maybe another type of grain. We pulled over to see an old-fashioned well – a big wheel being pulled by 2 white oxen, a gap-toothed, weathered, middle-aged man in white following them slowly around in a circle.

We looked into the well – deep but could see the pool of water at the bottom. Buckets on the chain brought water to the top as the oxen powered the pulley. Stones lined the interior of the well.

After checking the operation out Jai and our driver commandeered some kind of green nubby fruit from a nearby tree. Jai paid a young boy a couple pence for climbing it.

Onward we drove to Udaipur. And what a surprise it was! Really windy, narrow streets like those in Italy, the car squeezed by motorbikes, walkers, autos…approximately 10 mintues of winding – quickly – through the alley-like streets we landed at our hotel, checked in and relaxed.

We went up to the roof (the roof is the thing in Udaipur – it’s a lovely, hilly city with lake in the middle so the views are just amazing). Our hotel restaurant was up there, so we got a great view as the sun started to descend.

The kids and I then headed out to explore; we were directed to a foot bridge (though ended up on a non-foot bridge which served the purpose) which led to the market in the old city. Claire found a bangle shop – tiny space with a lovely young woman and her daughter manning it. The mom lifted Claire in for a closer look and she chose a set of 14 purple bracelets – 50 rupees.

Then we watched the sun continue its set on a Greek rooftop café overlooking all kinds of temple activity. (Apparently it was a Hindi holiday involving water; we saw many people swimming in the lake, which really didn’t hold too much appeal given the debris floating around in it…). Candles were being lit and placed in the water and many Indians were gathered on the steps near the temple in celebration.

We went down for a closer look, then did some more market browsing (I found a long, fun skirt – which I bargained with a 15 year old for. He's quite the young salesman already!).

On the subject of clothing, so far the sari piece doesn’t hold much appeal to me – not sure how I’d put it on/keep it on and not trip. Plus my white skin just doesn’t seem to fit the look. But I do like some of the skirts/gauzy shirts I’ve seen.
Later in the evening we had dinner at a very cool restaurant – Savage Garden – which I highly recommend should you end up in Udaipur. Kids were thrilled to received Cadbury chocolate bars from the waiter as a little treat on the way out. First chocolate they’d seen since Halloween.

I also highly recommend Udaipur – very romantic, lovely city!