Twilight of the Trip
I left Jodhpur still somewhat blue around the mustache and fingernails from Holi. It was a long and hot bus ride. The bus climbed out of the flat desert and into the scraggly hill country.
At one point we even passed this guy...
In the afternoon I arrived in the town of Udaipur, India's most romantic city... sort of.
Udaipur is set between lake and hillside and is a very beautiful city. It's also quite touristy with hotels and roof-top restaurants aplenty. I got my best-value accommodation of the trip here (except of the Marriott in Delhi, of course).
The James Bond film, Octopussy, was filmed here in Udaipur and so nearly every restaurant shows endless re-runs of the film at night. It's really funny...
Speaking of filming movies in Udaipur, after checking in to my hotel I went exploring and came across this rooftop next to the lake. A movie was being filmed!
Turns out, it was a Punjabi film. A well-heeled-looking guy in sunglasses waved me over and had me take a seat. He is Indian/Canadian and the producer of the film! I sat and we had a good conversation about Indian movies and stuff. Some of the Punjabi crew members were huddled around as well...
I met the star of the film, Akhalesh Singh (a Punjabi Jake Gyllenhaal)...
The evening views of the Udaipur Palace were stunning...
And here is the island palace where they filmed much of Octopussy. This is where Octopussy had her lair (it's now a luxury hotel)...
That night I absolutely had to catch a showing of Octopussy. I went to a rooftop restaurant, ordered some chicken curry, and enjoyed the show. All around I could hear Octopussy being shown in other the restaurants within earshot, all at different points in the film. It was really funny. As an interesting side note, Octopussy was filmed in Utah, Germany, and India: where I'm from, where I live, and where I am.
The next day I went to the palace for a tour...
Great views of the city...
And the lake....
The Maharaja's private throne (if you know what I mean)...
The old town is centered around a large Hindu temple...
Udaipur is famous for their paintings and artwork. You can buy it in souvenir shops and see it on the walls all over the city...
That evening I took a sunset boat ride with a boat-load (ha!) of other tourists. We left from one of the ghats (where women come to clean clothes in the morning)...
And sailed around the lake with its fine views...
Night on the city, I had my tripod at the ready...
Octopussy island...
More Udaipur art...
The next day I went to another little museum. This one houses the world's largest turban...
And a puppet room (Udaipur is also famous for its puppets)...
I took things at a leisurely pace and walked over to a beautiful tank near the lakeside...
And I hiked up one of the hills overlooking the city...
I had a fine time in Udaipur.
That night I took a night train (one of the few meter-gauge trains left in India) to the city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujurat.
Ahmedabad is a fairly large city divided by the Sabarmati river with the old town on one side and the new town on the other...
There isn't too much to see here. This city was to be merely a stop-over between Rajasthan and Mumbai. Still, it was a fun city to explore, I saw very few Western tourists, and it was interesting to get a feel for a different state with a different language and a different culture. Gujuratis seemed a bit more serious and a bit shier than many of the other Indians. Still, they were nice, and I met some friendly people here.
Here is the old fort, all but consumed by traffic and market stalls...
One of the city's old gates...
Gujurat has a very large Muslim population, and I saw more taqiyahs (the little caps worn by Muslim men) here than anywhere else in India. Some of India's finest mosques are here as well. I visited several...
They weren't very large and grand, but they all boasted some wonderful stonework inside and out...
Confirming my experience that in India, you just never know what to expect, I was walking down the busy streets in the middle of the big city and two men on elephants came riding by...
Another mosque: the minarets here are built to shake and wobble if there is an earthquake (like there was in 2001)...
And another...
Gujurat has some of the finest food in India. I enjoyed a wonderful chicken curry thing (with a surprising hint of oregano!). One day, however, I went to a busy eatery that did nothing but thalis. A thali is an all-you-can-eat sampler platter, usually all veg, of different dishes. Gujurati food tends to trade the normal spiciness for a bit of sweet. This was an amazing lunch...
And the waiters just kept refilling those little bowls as fast as I could empty them...
Huh?
Gujurat is the birthplace and later headquarters of Gandhi. I took an afternoon bus ride out to his ashram, where he lived for several years and worked for the independence of India. It's now a nice museum...
His walking stick and sandals...
His "audience room" where he would meet heads of state and other dignitaries that would come visit Gandhi in his humble ashram...
Kids playing soccer/cricket mixed between the houses of the ashram...
Me and "Babu"...
It was a hot afternoon and I was tired so I tucked into an air-conditioned restaurant and enjoyed an amazing black currant ice cream soda while I read my book...
It was so good I had two!
That evening I went back to the old town to wander around a bit. The narrow lanes are watched over by beautifully ornate but crumbling old windows balconies on the homes above...
I came to one mosque as the sunset...
I went inside and found evening classes in progress...
One of the worshipers came over and started talking with me. He asked if I wanted to go up one of the old minarets. Of course I did! So the imam got out his old keys and opened the creaky door, meanwhile all the boys reciting from the Quran just stared at me as I went in.
I climbed up some very narrow steps, stepping on leaves and dust and brushing past cobwebs. I came around one corner and was startled by a lizard running to one of the windows. I came to the top for a nice view...
And then went back down. (My toes are still a bit blue from Holi)...
I sat and chatted with some of the elders for a bit...
And then class was over and all the boys came out. They started getting a bit too excited as I was taking pictures...
It was time for evening prayers and so the imam shooed me and the boys out. Great experience with some great people!
I went back to my hotel to retrieve my backpack and one rickshaw journey later I was at the busy train station. I had just enough time to order a bit of food at one of the busy eateries at the station. I shared a table with a couple of young guys from another part of India. One of them asked me where I am from and I said, "America," as I usually do. He said, "I have a brother who works in Salt Lake City." I couldn't believe it, I had yet to meet an Indian who had even heard of Salt Lake or Utah (besides Church members of course). I told him that's where I am from and he explained that his brother has been working for a software firm in Farmington for the past few years. Great!
I got to my train and found out that I had been bumped from my reserved bed! ...bumped to 1st class that is! So I enjoyed a bit of 1st-class comfort on the last train journey of my Indian Adventure. I was finally coming full-circle, back to Mumbai... but that's a story for another blog...
