2/4–Udaipur City Palace and Jagdish Temple

We start off early again, today only touring half day starting with the Jagdish Temple and impressive City Palace.  To get to the temple, we first must walk through the City Palace which is accessed up a relatively steep cobblestone lane overlooking Lake Pichola.  It’s a picturesque view across the lake from here alone – looking out over the Lake Palace, the old city and to the peninsula where our hotel is located.  Arriving at the top of the lane, we are treated to a surprise sight:  the Royal guards on horseback at the main gates (these are actually gates leading to a section of the palace that has been turned into a couple of heritage hotels – but it makes for great photos anyway!).

Walking through the inner courtyard, we get a good sense of the size and scope of the palace looming over us. It is made up entirely of granite and marble, and has been constructed and added onto by over 22 generations of rulers.  A little cafe across from the the impressive entrance gates, catches my eye –not for a morning coffee, but for the poster advertising “24K gold Pizza.”  Yeah, right – I figure it is just some reference to the palace, but no, they mean gold leaf on top of the pizza – all for a whopping $140 US.  Outrageous!  Oh, and if you wanted that coffee? You could have a gold plated coffee for a mere $28 US.We won’t be stopping here for lunch, that is a guarantee – I’d rather wear my gold than ingest it, thank you.

Carrying on, we leave the Palace grounds through the Tripolia Gate, you guessed it, a triple arched gateway built in the 1700s.  Past here is a crowded lane filled with shops and stores selling trinkets and souvenirs that leads away from the palace and into the intersecting little lanes of the city of Udaipur.  We traverse only a few hundred yards downhill to the Jagdish Temple, a multi-storey Hindu temple set atop a tall terrace.  We ascend the temple on steep, narrow marble stairs listening to Bhanu through the whisperers announce there is a dog on the stairs, wonder what the dog is doing there, then admonishing us to “ignore the dog.” (This becomes my Bhanu mantra for the foreseeable future – whenever there is anything curious, I dive right into – “look there is an X.  What is the X doing? Ignore the X.”  What can I say?)

Once atop the terrace, we remove our shoes to enter the temple – which is an artistry in hand carved marble, 3 stories tall with an 80 foot tall steeple.  The main attraction, though, is the Vishnu stature carved out of black stone.  No photos are allowed inside, so we just soak up the atmosphere and try to imprint all the beautiful stone work, statues and artistry in our minds.  Back outside, we can – and do – take photos of the carved Gods lining the outside walls of the different small shrines that surround the main temple.

After the visit, Bhanu gives us about 20 minutes to shop in the little market between the temple and the Palace.  Most of us end up congregating at the top of the hill by the Tripolia gates, waiting for the shoppers of the group, then we troop off into the Palace through a brightly colored arch with Ganesh presiding over the entrance.

The Palace complex is actually made up of 11 separate Palaces, some of which (as I mentioned earlier) have been converted into hotels.  Construction began in 1559 by the Maharana Udai Singh, and even though added on to by a series of rulers, maintains the same combination of Rajasthani and Mughal architecture throughout.  We will be visiting a series of the palaces and rooms, winding our way through narrow little passageways, up and down stairs, in a generally disorienting fashion.  I will not do this Palace justice in the explanations, because it started to become all too much to take in, but suffice it to say the grandeur and beauty of this (and everything we’ve seen) is mind blowing.

We begin in a museum type room that has a life size statue of the Maharaja Pratap’s favorite horse “Chetak.”  There is some story that goes along with the horse, they disguised the horse with an elephant trunk so the elephant’s wouldn’t attack him, and the Maharaja rode Chetak into battle.  Chetak was wounded, but managed to get the Maharaja to safety and died shortly there after.  Whether the horse died near here and that is why they built the palace, or it is just a revered animal for saving the Maharaja, I’m not sure, but nonetheless, he is prominently displayed here in the palace and just about everywhere Maharaja Pratap is memorialized (there is even a statue of the 2 of them in Jodphur). 

Following Bhanu and his whisperer (which only works so well when we are traipsing through these little granite hallways, causing us to hurry to follow him as his voice fades in and out depending on location), we visit the Manak Mahal (Ruby Palace) with its crystal figurines, the Moti Mahal (Pearl Palace where there is a throne like chair, rich red carpets and pillows strewn about, Sheeesh Mahal (Palace of mirrors) sparkling in the sunshine, then up onto a promenade overlooking the interior Peacock courtyard, then again through little passages and past opulently decorated rooms (one in green with mirrors and floral frescoes, another all white and oddly strewn with mirrors and elephant images.  All throughout there are balconies and windows that provide beautiful vistas looking out over the lake on one side, the city on the other.

Finally, we arrive at the main interior courtyard with an excellent view of the 3 story Palace, our last stop before picking moving on to our last stop of the day, the Sahelion Ki Bari gardens.

2/3–To Udaipur we go–with a stop at the Ranakpur Temple

Another long bus day today – but we will have a lunch stop today, so no little take away boxes at breakfast.  We get all loaded up and settled in our seats when, just outside the gate of the hotel, Suneel stops the bus.  Uh oh.  Flat tire.  And of course, not one of the outside tires, but an inside one.  Yikes. These poor guys!  Off the bus they go to get their equipment and change the tire.  Half of us get off the bus to stand around and watch, the other half are happy to sit on the bus (remaining in our seats and staying still as I am chastised when I got up to talk to Gretchen) and chat while the work is completed.

Half an hour later, and we are on our way.  The going is slow again, basically because we have to again retrace steps through the shifting lane construction and even the finished “highways” aren’t necessarily the quality needed to speed along.  So, per usual, we listen to Bhanu’s banter, watch the street life pour past us from the windows as people cook their morning meal on charcoal pits outside their homes, sell any number of things from fruit to meat to flowers and transport items on scooters, carts and the top of their heads (one woman had some monstrously huge bag of what could have been root vegetables or something balanced on her head).  We watch tractors chug by, their engines, as Bhanu explains, created from old water pumps that are no longer in use in the fields.  It’s like Cuba in a sense, where car bodies are maybe American or even Russian, but the parts within are Japanese or Korean or anything that can be cobbled together from whatever parts and materials can be found on hand.

Four hours after the tire incident, we pass through a village where work on a bridge has us off- roading again – this time through dirt and rocks with humorous hand written signs saying “Byepass” with an arrow.  Shortly thereafter we arrive at our luncheon spot, the beautiful Maharani Bagh Orchard Retreat.  The gardens were laid out in the 19th Century were used as a retreat for the Royal Family.  It is now a hotel resort, popular not only for the gardens and prodigious bird watching (a poster details about 150 species that have been sighted in the Orchard), but also for the proximity to the Jain temple at Ranakpur which we will be visiting after lunch.

The setting is definitely a green oasis in the middle of dry and arid land.  Trees, bushes, flowers and definitely the promised birds all make this a lovely spot to have lunch (and probably stay for a day or two).  We take tables set up under a large pagoda and have the option of a buffet or ala carte menu.  None of the 4 of us feel up to a buffet, so we each order ala carte, Ed, Richard and I sticking with Western food (a large club sandwich for Richard, and fried chicken for Ed and myself) while Maggi goes with her Spinach Paneer, which ends up as a huge, quite lemony portion (not her favorite from this trip). 

It is all too much for us to eat, even just ala carte, so as others start to drift away to walk along the various garden paths, we hang out watching Bhanu, animal lover that he is, feed our uneaten remains to the dog and the birds that are here on the grounds.  He had also paid the ladies making the Naan 500 rupees to give him all the left over bread so he could feed the monkeys from the bus as we make our way to Udaipur.

Lunch complete, we head up the road a few minutes to visit the Ranakpur Jain temple, one of the largest and most important Jain temples in the world. (Interestingly enough, there is a huge Jain temple in Pittsburgh, the largest in North America, that we drive by every time we visit, but never really thought about until today as we tour this 14th century edifice.) We all get audio guides here as well, and ascend the steep staircase up to the entry. The temple is massive, with 1444 marble pillars, none of which have the same design. covering.  The temple is dedicated to the first Tirthankar Shri Adinathji (the first of 24 Jain religion leaders, who lived millions of years ago, and taught the dharma), took 50 years to build with over 2500 people volunteering their time and skills to erect it.  Definitely a study in beliefs and dedication!

The audio guide drones on and on about the religion and the construction, and frankly it is overwhelming to me. I can look up the tenets of Jainism later (non-violence, truth, non-stealing, celibacy/chastity and non-attachment/non-possession), for now I’m much happier just wandering around, looking at the vast amount of intricately carved marble, and snapping photos of the different carvings throughout the temple.  Everything is stunning, from the heads and figures on the columns, to the huge elephant statues throughout the temple interior.  We have free reign of the place, except the main temple in the center of the interior, where, when I try to go up the stairs to enter, a guard shoos me back saying something – which Ed translated as “only for pilgrims.”  Oops, sorry!

So, we circle the “pilgrims” area, marveling at the main shrine, which is a series of graduated marble carving bands – animals on the bottom, human figures on the top bands, surrounding by more carved pillars. This may be the half completed pillar, which collapsed every time it rose over a certain height, so the builder left it half complete because he felt the Gods didn’t want it finished.

To the rear of the temple is a balcony overlooking the forest where there are great views out to the Sun Temple.  Then immediately to the side of the balcony is a fenced off area with statues of the Tirthankars – more than likely all 24 of them, but I didn’t count them at the time, just took some cool pictures (that you will hopefully see here one day). . Continuing around, we arrive at the amazing carving of Shri Parshwanathjee, which is carved from one single sheet of marble and contains the deity Parshwanathjee along with the heads of 1008 snakes.  The carving is so intricate and detailed, you can trace the snakes bodies, but you cannot find the end of the tails anywhere.  There are quite a few signs around the Parshwanathjee stature forbidding photography with the statue (because, as it is carved into the marble at the bottom the deity is very Pious and Holy.  We, being polite tourists, of course snap photos of only the statue, but all around us people (Asians) are walking up and posing next the carving, completely ignoring the warnings posted.  And they say we are the Ugly Americans!

We stop for pictures at the Jambudvipa, a carving signifying the terrestrial world where the ordinary human beings reside, then onto the alcove where there is a Hindu statue with footprints, on a plinth.  I’m totally drawn to this statue for some reason, and thus have to find my inner Zen – and patience – waiting for the posing Asians to get out of the way so I can snap a good picture of it.  Sigh. Inner Zen connected, we follow our circular pattern to the end of the tour, and some wonderful carvings covered in gold and flowers in the main sanctuary area (of which we snap quick pictures before the guards can catch us!). 

As we are leaving the guards ask us for our tickets again. Huh?  We are pretty sure they are just trying to scam us though, and we just brush past them telling them they already took our tickets.  Everybody has a side hustle or their hands out in this country, there is even an admonishment on the inside of the little Jain Temple guide that says “No Tips to Staff.” Sheesh.

Safely (or relatively so) outside the temple, we collect our shoes, Ed and Richard dare to go to the bathroom (which Bhanu has dubbed not clean – thus Maggi and I stay back waiting for them), then we hit the bus again.  This time, instead of retracing our route, we head up into the mountains to cross over to Udaipur – which is why it will take us longer to get to Udaipur – but again, none of us really care because there is so much to keep our attention during our rides.  And in this case, we start with the monkeys!  Bhanu and Sanjay have collected food from the buffet and bananas from somewhere to feed to the monkeys on the side of the road.  These guys live here and are now almost trained by the buses and cars who slow down to feed them.  You can see them in packs on the side of the road, watching the bus to see if we will slow down. And when we do – here they come.  They are fascinating to watch, and we all get a great kick out of them coming for the food.  After the last banana is thrown out of the door to the monkeys, they start chasing the bus!  They are amazingly fast!  And one actually jumps on the bus and is riding along with us for a few meters before Sanjay successfully dislodges him (without harm to the monkey, I might add).

After that excitement, we settle down to watch street life – or I should really say country life - again.  We are driving through very rural areas of valleys and mountains, passing colorfully clad women, hauling wood on their backs, followed by water buffalo.  When we do pass small villages, the women are congregating in the streets for a chat, carrying water in silver bowls on their heads, in the fields, manning their stores.  And of course men - working, chatting, walking alongside the road.  As I said, it’s fascinating and captivating, making the hours fly by on our journey.

Farmers walk the road in vibrantly colored turbans.  One farmer is indelible in our minds, in stark white clothing with a blaze orange turban, leaning against a dark grey stone wall with women working behind him in the courtyard. 

We arrive fairly late at the Trident Udaipur, so once we have found our rooms, our luggage and freshened up, we hoof it down to the bar for a before dinner drink.  A lot of the group is already there, celebrating Gretchen’s birthday, adding us to the mix of the merriment.  It is also happy hour, so of course we are all “happy” about that!  While the rest of the crew stay for more drinks (and we assume pizza from the bar), the four of us retire to the dining room for a more traditional meal – Jodhpuri Tikka chicken app for me, crispy spinach paneer for Maggi, Murgh (chicken) tikka Makhani for Ed and Chicken stir fried rice for Richard.  It’s yummy and we are wishing we had more monkeys and dogs to feed our leftovers tonight.

We end our evening, as usual, with nightcaps in the bar.  Maggi is still debating another martini, but the consensus is to stick with wine until possibly Mumbai where there is a better chance of getting a truly well made martini.  We order our normal round, sitting, chatting, snacking on the great salty, spicy little tidbits that come with every drink, when suddenly the waiter comes over with the lovely little chocolate lava type brownie cake, a candle and a big happy birthday wish for me!  So sweet – so early – but so sweet!  We think they must have thought the birthday celebration earlier was for me – not Gretchen, so they brought this over.  We didn’t have the heart to tell them their mistake, so we graciously thanked him and all shared a delicious dessert.  This is just one incidence of the type of service and care we received throughout the entire trip.  We will all be thoroughly spoiled by the time we end this tour – we were so thoroughly and totally cared for every minute of every day.

2/2–Jodphur evening

Now the bus is retracing its steps, down the mountainside, through the little one lane road where we almost got stuck on the way up to the cenotaphs and fortress, then following a horse led by 2 boys – the horse not cooperating at all with their commands until they both hopped on the back of the horse (sounds like a Mulla Naseruddin story!) and off they galloped.

We follow the horse for a while until they turn off at a cross roads, and we continue on to the Rambanka hotel.  Inside the entrance gate is a lovely huge courtyard, all set up with white linen covered tables, and a walkway strewn with flower petals. It is lovely – and we are thinking it is set up for a wedding – but no – it is for us (and the other folks at the hotel who are dining there this evening).  How wonderful!

It’s late by now (its been a full day for sure), and we all rush to our rooms, get cleaned up then meet down in the bar next to the courtyard.  It has a real “royal” feel, set up with sultry deep cushioned red settees and dark wood furniture.  A beer and wine here is just the ticket after our long day on the road and touring.  Then dinner is called, and we grab our traditional 4 spots at one end of our long 19 spot table, watching the waiters as they throw kerosene (or something) onto the wood fire pits that will keep us warm.  The food is excellent, as has all the food been on this trip.  The entertainment, local dancing and music, is also very nice (and at the opposite end of our table, so no as annoying as it could have been).

After a thoroughly filling dinner, we go inside to the bar again, but first a turban wrapping demonstration!  Two of the waiters show us how it is done – 9 meters of cloth, wrapped around their head every day!  It looks so simple, but we bet it isn’t!  After the demonstration, all the guys get to try one on for size, and we have great pictures (which hopefully will be posted here or elsewhere one day) of our own Maharajas!

On to the night cap, then on to the room for a snooze and tomorrow – onto Udaipur.

2/2–On our way to Jodphur, Jaswant Thada and Mehrangarh Fort

It’s another bus day.  And I think today is the worst construction day.  While I mentioned before about the shifting back and forth between lanes – for only 100 meters or so – I think today was the day that the road was like that for kilometers.  And it was so bumpy there was no way to try to compose on the computer.  I was trying to blog for a while but ended up with so many errors and icons moved around to different places on the screen because I got jostled and moved something, that I just ended up giving up and enjoying whatever Mulla Naseruddin story Bhanu tells us while watching the world pass by us outside out the bus windows.

There is always something to look at- whether it is a horde of pigeons attacking the wheat bags on top of a jeep at the toll booth (seriously, it looks like The Birds out there), or the various cows that are meandering everywhere, standing next to all the men sitting outside of a coffee place, crossing the road causing everyone to suddenly slam on their brakes and honk, standing peacefully in the middle of the barriers that separate oncoming traffic – you name a situation, there is a cow in it.  There there are also the turban clad men with their brilliant white or fashionable pinkish red turbans who stand out in contrast to the beige sand background as they walk beside the road.  There is also, as Maggi points out, turban clad scarecrows in the fields.  Seriously, virtually every scarecrow has a turban, which we guess is to mimic a farmer in the field, because, of course, the farmer would wear a turban. 

On we roll, stopping briefly at our comfort stop where Bhanu plays with the resident dog the entire time, reinforcing his love for animals (he has 3 dogs and I don’t know how many cats at home).  We on the other hand stretch our legs and wander about in the sunshine, before boarding the bus again to continue our journey.  Today our journey is so long, that we are eating on the bus.  Bhanu arranged for little boxes for us at breakfast to fill with items from the buffet, so after our comfort stop, we all dig into what ever delicacies we coaxed from the buffet.  It is mostly all carb heavy (I mean what else will survive a few hours on the bus besides muffins and bread?) except for boiled eggs (which Ed, Maggi and Richard will eat).  But really, after a full breakfast, we don’t really need much to keep us content for the rest of the day.

More miles roll past, another comfort stop is taken, and at last we arrive at the Jaswant Thada, a cenotaph (or tomb) for the royal family of Marwar.  The grounds are beautiful, set up high on a small ridge overlooking the city of Jodphur.  There is a lovely little lake at the entrance, and a nice view of the fortifications and walls built in the 17th and 18th century to protect the original settlement.  The main tomb of brilliant white marble sits atop a red sandstone plinth and is surrounding by smaller carved gazebos that are also tombs, all identical in shape and size.  None of these tombs hold sarcophagi, all the royals were cremated, so the cenotaphs hold photos of the deceased as a remembrance. 

Entering into the main tomb, we get a close up look of the intricately carved polished marble sheets that make up the building.  We an also view the photographs of the Maharajas of Jodphur.  In the center of the mausoleum, there is a throne like structure with photos of who we assume are the Maharaja Jaswant Singh, and the Majaraja Sardar Singh, the former’s son who built the mausoleum in honor of his father. 

Our next stop is right up the hill at the huge, red stone Mehrangarh fort.  Only a few minutes drive up to the top of the mountain ridge, this fort is one of the largest in India, presiding over the city from a perch 400 feet high.  It is massive, and definitely dominates the skyline from our viewpoint as we emerge from the bus.  The fort has been turned into a massive museum, and as such we all get audio guides to use while we are touring through.  There are 33 stops on the guide and we only have a little over an hour to complete the tour, so we have to get crackin’.

We start off walking up the long ramp that leads into the fort.  Its a good 10 minute hike up, but nice to be out and exercising after the bus ride.  We also stop a few times to listen as the audio guide explains the fortress, the seven gates protecting the interior, how Rao Jodha decided to build up here and the strategic position the fort commands.  Just inside the innermost gate, the “Iron Gate” with its elephant killer spikes designed to keep elephants from battering the gate in, there are 15 hand prints, left by the Maharaja Man Singh’s wives as they left the fort for the last time.  At the time of the tour, I thought it was just a symbol as they left the palace after the Maharaja’s death – but turns out, the prints, known as sati marks, were placed there before the wives immolated themselves on the Maharaja’s funeral pyre. This was supposedly in 1843, btw..  Yikes.  Cultural traditions!

We move onward from the sati marks, entering into the interior courtyard and the different palaces making up the fort.  There are tons of displays here, none of which I will be able to do justice. Somehow we’ve missed some audio segments and start out in the Elephant Howdah section which has an excellent display of all the different howdah’s the royals used to ride their elephants.  Then it is on to the Palanquins, which were how the ladies of the royal court were transported.  Back outside in the courtyard we sort of catch up with the audio guide, as we read about the coronation seat and the story of the last ruler, Maharaja Gaz Singh, II, who ascended the throne at the age of 4 when his father died in a plane crash.  Yes, 4 years old.  There is a story posted by his coronation throne that tells of all the relations and other who came to the ceremony bestowing gifts on the new Maharaja.    Instead of taking the gifts, Gaj Singh would hand each gift received to the next person in the receiving line – the true meaning of “paying it forward.” Pretty amazing.  Also amazing is that the Maharaja grew up going to school in England, and didn’t really return to India until about the same time that Gandhi stripped all royal families of their titles and allowances that had been given to royalty at the time of independence.  Having no way to support his family’s lifestyle, Singh took a page out of European royalty’s playbook and opened up the royal properties to guests and visitors for a fee, thereby underwriting the cost to maintain the family legacy, gaining a reputation for for preserving much of royal Rajasthan.

What follows the coronation courtyard are room after room filled with relics, art and artifacts from the ruling families.  There are paintings and art, rooms with teak wood throne pagodas and an armory gallery that displays all sorts of swords and weapons from throughout the ages.  There is the ladies area, all decorated in mirrors and sparkling tile designs, a “tent” room where a display explains how the material for tents is made, and then how to construct a tent and many balconies, balustrades and promenades that allow us to take in the exterior of the fort, along with the incredible scenery stretching out below us (including the cenotaphs where we were previously). One of the final areas we visit is the Moti Mahal, the room for private audiences, which is all decked out in royal red with beautiful stained glass windows that shine multi-colored sunlight into the room. 

Wow – it’s a lot to take in, and honestly, the first time on this whole tour where I would have liked to have more time to soak up the information streaming into my ears.  Walking through with a time schedule seemed a little rushed – but it is what we had, so we managed it.  Rather rushed, than not there at all, for sure.  As we are handing in our audio guides, we look up to find more odd looking nests attached to the ceiling.  We had seen them earlier at the Iron gate, and figured they were possibly wasp nests.  But here, we can see they look more like feathers or down, all clumped together with individual little openings.  In the courtyard, we find a placard explaining that these are Swifts nesting.   Wow – how cool!  And there must be hundreds – because these nests are all over the place.  Sadly we don’t see any of the actual birds, at least not that we know of, but it is a real treat to see how they nest like that.

Retracing our steps down the long steep walkway, we all rendezvous at our appointed spot right on time and make our way further down hill to the bus awaiting to take us to the hotel for our one night Jodphur stay.

2/1–Jaipur Market and Skyfall dinner

The rickshaw driver, of course, takes us to his favorite shop – one we don’t go in, so he doesn’t get his commission.  But we do end up wandering in a little bit different area and manage to find some of the breath cleanser after dinner treats that are ubiquitous here in India.  It’s a mixture of anise, rosemary and other candies and spices that are used as a sort of after meal mint. While we shop, Maggi stops to have a cigarette, making sure she is well outside the covered portico, so as not to bother anyone.  She tells us later that as she is taking her smoke break, and old Indian woman is sitting in the street cooking (or selling something, I can’t quite remember what she is doing), and she looks Maggi up and down, then turns her nose up, shakes her head and looks away.  Then she turns back, and does it again.  Welcome to India! Where the men do what they want and the women, well the women are hardly seen, and certainly not seen smoking a cigarette in public.  The shame!

Onward we go on our shopping spree, stopping to try to bargain for pashminas, only to be foiled in one store over 50 rupees (which in hindsight we should have just bought, but in the heat of the negotiations, our pride won out).  We found another store, actually one where the guy recognized from the day before – this time for real, we remembered him, because Ed was chatting with him as we walked by yesterday – and managed to successfully negotiate for two more expensive pashminas.  Oh, and we negotiated in Spanish. Yep, totally in Spanish, and afterward the guy says I need to learn better Spanish – which I do! But come on!  I obviously have no knack for language, and he (or they coz another guy in the store was just as fluent as our guy) do – and they learned it from Duo Lingo too.  Sigh…I was so devastated.

We trekked around for a bit more, until we decided we had had enough and waved down a tuk tuk to take us back to the hotel.  Ed tells the guy the Holiday Inn City Centre, by the McDonalds, and off we go.  But, soon, we realize he’s going in a different direction, and the next thing we know, we are outside the Raj Mandir theatre – which is next to a McDonalds!  Ay yi yi.  Wrong McDonalds.  We negotiate with him, and get him turned in the right direction, paying him an extra 50 rupees when he finally gets us to the right McDonalds!

Safe and sound, we put our bags through the scanner, walk through the metal detector and retire to our rooms for a little bit of rest and relaxation before heading out again to our roof top dinner at Skyfall, the restaurant suggested by Bhanu because his friend works there. It’s a quick jaunt over to the restaurant in an Uber, where he lets us out in a parking lot – and the only thing we see is a sign for Skyfall valet parking..  It looks like a parking deck to us, but the valet sort of waves us in, and shows us the elevator – oh – ok – up we go!  We walk out into this great open air space, with wood fired heaters and  three levels towering above us on 3 sides.  We have the option of sitting outside or inside for dinner, and we opt for inside – even though its apparent, the outside venue is the place to be.  But it is way too cold to sit out there and eat, our food would be ice before we finish it! 

So we settle inside, next to the heater, and ask our server if Sonny was working, but he didn’t seem to know who Sonny was – and said he wasn’t there..  On hindsight, we should have asked the maitre’d when we walked in, because we later find out the guy is the owner (Bhanu initially just said Sonny was his friend, and may have mentioned he was the general manager) but, whatever.  We’re here now, the menu looks good and the beer and wine are fine – so we aren’t complaining! 

All of us meat eaters ordered Chicken – I had the Chicken Afghani, which is now one of my favs, Ed had the Malai Tikka and Richard the Chicken Pudina.  Maggi had Hary ali Kabab, which was some sort of pressed vegetable Kabab that was quite good and filling.  All with those damned onions!  Bhanu told us they liked onions in this region, and boy, was he right!  If only I could eat them and help my digestion as he alleges they do…but no…not happening.  Although the rest of the intrepid group dug in – so their tummies will be good to go!

After dinner, we migrated outside to a table as close to the heater as we could get, listening to a good singer – once he began singing that is!  It took him forever to do sound checks and guitar checks – and we were all silently (and not so silently) praying he would get on with it so we could at least enjoy a little bit of music before we froze to death.  Finally he did start singing, and we did stay for a while to enjoy the night, the atmosphere and the music.  But our frostbite got the best of us, and we soon found our way back out to the little garage elevator, down to the street and into a waiting Uber to whisk us back to the hotel.

A night cap in the now hopping Roadhouse bar, and we were done for the day. Tomorrow – another long bus ride to Jodphur – our single night stop over before Udaipur.

2/1–Jaipur Rug Factory, City Palace & Jantar Mantar

Back on the bus, we play the Price is Right, then head back down the mountain toward Jaipur, on the way stopping quickly to take pictures of the Jal Mahal, or water palace. Originally by Sawai Pratap Singh as a summer resort and duck hunting lodge, his grandson, Maharaja Jai Singh II renovated and  enlarged it to become a palace in the 18th century.  It looks like it only has one floor, but in fact there are 4 floors submerged under the lake water. The structure itself holds back millions of gallons of water with specially designed lime mortar to prevent seepage.  The palace wasn’t kept in good shape over the years, and the government brokered deals with individual companies that want to develop the lakefront to help renovate and improve the condition of the Jal Mahal.  has been renovating and spent years and It is an excellent example of Rajput architecture, which is common in Rajasthan.  We aren’t visiting, which is made possible via ferry, but at least we get a chance to see it sitting rather royally in the middle of the lake.

And now its time for shopping!  Real shopping.  Jaipur is known for it’s hand knotted rugs, so we are going to a rug factory for a tour.  This and the marble factory are the only 2 sales pushes on the tour, so we really can’t complain.  Our tour guide at the factory is what Maggi calls “A Dandy.”  And she hits it right on the nose!  He’s a cross between snake oil salesman and P.T. Barnum, not to say he’s not knowledgeable and entertaining – he’s just, well, a Dandy. We start out in a little outside alcove watching this older fellow block print an elephant design.  The technique of overlaying blocks of different colors is a dying breed, and this guy doesn’t want to give it up.  (The Dandy also says its because he wants to get out of the house and keep his wife happy.)  It is fascinating work, and such eye for detail, I’d never be able to line everything up so well. What’s even cooler is when the stamping is done, they throw it right into this water solution which permanently sets the ink and changes the color. Fascinating.

Next we watch rugs being woven on traditional looms. Then we see how they are trimmed, by hand, to make an even pile and make the design stand out.  Then finally we see how they actually burn off any hanging threads or imperfections on the back of the rug also help it stay in place and not slip.  Pretty cool demonstrations actually.

Next comes the sales pitch.  We are led upstairs to the showroom, where we are fed (Nice!  Food – we’ll take a little snack and drinks to go with it, including rum and coke – thanks!) and given the pitch. They actually have some lovely rugs in a variety of materials from wool to camel to silk – all at varying levels of pricing as well.  And pretty reasonable actually.  There are some gorgeous rugs that we would buy in a heartbeat – if we had more wood floors, that is!  But we don’t, so we aren’t in the market.  Maggi and Richard are though, since they’ve just completed renovation on the hoffice, and what better time and place?  They end up selecting two beautiful camel hair rugs in traditional patterns for the dining room and living room.  Very exciting!  We can’t wait to see them in the house, they are going to look great! 

While everyone is shopping (a few people in addition to Maggi and Richard are buying), we wander outside to snap some pictures of the statuary placed around the entrance, with Sunny riding elephants and horses.  We also get another tiger sighting!  LOL.  As we are meandering around by the bus, the block printing guy motions Ed to come over to his little work area, sort of on the sly, and offers him the Elephant he made during the demonstration.  Ed slips him some rupees, and I quickly hide the the thing in my backpack, because it seemed like maybe he was doing this behind the Dandy’s back.  We’re all hush hush and excited that we got the sample, when we notice he’s doing the same thing to everyone who comes out of the rug factory.  Sheesh!  India, man, everyone has their hand out! But still, it is a really cool looking piece of printed material, and even better, Parvinder bought one and didn’t want his, so he gave it to us.  So we have two we can frame when we get home. 

Purchases complete, our next stop is the City Palace, the home of the past and present Royal families.  The Palace, built by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1732 when he moved the capital from Amer, is located in the old city and is so large that it comprises 15% of the old city area. Two large courtyards with surrounding buildings and residences make up the interior of the palace, of which we have free roam. Bhanu sets us free with a time to meet, pointing out the restaurant and coffee shop where we can purchase snacks.  Our first priority is food (and drink – but that part will have to wait!).  We decide against the restaurant as we aren’t all that hungry since we just had heavy snacks at the rug factory, and end up with little sandwiches and chicken rolls from the coffee place.  They are nice and light (if you ignore the bread), and it’s a lovely day for us to sit on benches in the courtyard, eating our sandwiches staring at the Diwan-i-Khas (hall of private audiences) which is being fitted out for some obviously over the top wedding. 

Once we finish the food, we head off to the museum, located in one of the public areas of the palace.  Here we find a photo history of Jaipur, and the English rule, plus many relics from former ruling empires, including a golden throne used by the maharaja when he was in public.  Circling around the courtyard, we find the Pritam Chowk (courtyard of the beloved) which provides access to the Chandra Mahal, where the royal family resides.  It too is being set up for the wedding, with a stage, and what will eventually be the bar area.  In the meantime, though, if we manage to maneuver our way around the workers, we can get a good look at the four doors in the courtyard, each decorated to reflect a season.  That is, if we can also maneuver our way around the Asian couple taking up all the space in many of the doorways with their posing pictures.  Sigh. You aren’t a celebrity now, and you won’t be one later, so move it out of the doorways chickadee!

Anyway, rant over, there is the Peacock door, for autumn,  beautifully designed in blues, greens and gold with peacocks preening overhead; the Lotus gate for summer with repeating flower and petal patterns; the Green gate with a design like waves that is for spring; and finally the Rose gate with flower patterns in vibrant reds and blues to depict winter.  The detail and design are so intricate and incredible – after a while it just becomes overwhelming to think of all the work, manhours and money that has gone into all these palaces and forts and temples.  Wow.

Crossing the Diwan-i-Khas courtyard, we stop to inspect the silver urns on the side of the hall, which hold the Guinness World Record as the largest sterling silver vessels.  They are each 5 feet tall, weight 750 pounds and have a capacity of 4000 liters – and they were made, without soldering, from 14,000 melted silver coins.The guys can’t believe this, particularly because there are handles attached to each of the urns..  But eventually they decide the handles are screwed in place, not soldered, so there will be no need to challenge to the world record today.

Continuing our touring, we pass through the Rajendra gate (pol),a 2 story structure of red sandstone, currently being outfitted with flowers for the upcoming nuptials.  We round the corner, heading upstairs for the Arms museum, located in the Maharani palace, and number 1 on the list for Richard to visit.  Here there are a dizzying array of scary looking weapons – the tiger claws in particular, metal claws that are used similar to brass knuckles, to slice your opponent.  Oh, and what I will call the eviscerators – a nasty looking blade with a switch in the handle that when pulled, yanks the blade apart, like a pair of scissors, and protrudes another sharper saber in the middle.  Ew, Ick.  

Scary, nasty, but fascinating nonetheless.  As we are walking through, an Indian gentleman who is standing on the side of one of the displays says “look up.” So we do, and find a beautiful ceiling covered in frescoes with jewels and mirrors.  He starts chatting with us, but we sort of move away, only because we are no expecting him to hold out his hand and ask for a tip!  Turns out he never does, and we thank him for the free heads up advice, because we would never think to look up at the ceiling!  On our way out, we notice that above the door, they have spelled out “Goodby” with weapons – and when we turn – we see on the opposing wall above an arched door, “Hello” in weapons as well.  A completely memorable marketing tactic – even without a photo, I remember it clearly and thinking how clever it was for them to create that messaging.

Emerging into the sunshine, we all stop at the restroom before walking over to the Mubarak Mahal, the “Welcome Palace” where an interesting textile museum is now located.  There are costumes and clothing from the royals, including the polo uniform worn by Raja Man Singh II.  It is worth the 10 minutes or so it takes to wander through, and then we are outside again, waiting for our appointed meeting time – watching as visitors take a horse and buggy ride around the courtyard and chit chatting with our other group members.

Bhanu comes to claim us, and we walk across the street from the palace to see the Jantar Mantar. This is one of 5 open air astronomical observatories created by the astronomer king, Jai Singh II, in the early 1700’s.  He was obsessed with astronomy and managed to create some of the most sophisticated instruments of his time.  Besides the accuracy, and the intelligence it took to create them, the size of the instruments is incredible.  They are massive and walking through the entire complex is incredibly overwhelming.  How did he come up with all this in the 1700’s?   We see the giant sundial, the instrument used to track the sun and the polar stars, then seek out our horoscope sign instruments and generally just walk around in awe of the scientific accomplishment Jantar Mantar is.  I’m sorry we missed the one in Delhi, but the Jaipur observatory is supposed to be the biggest and the best, so this visit mollifies me.

This is the end of our “official” tour, and Bhanu has given us the option to return to the hotel, or take a pre-arrange electric rickshaw to the market.  We of course choose the rickshaw, and are whisked away through the city in our own private little ride. 

2/1–Jaipur–Amber Fort in the morning

The Amber (or Amer) fort is a massive structure encompassing 4 square miles and located on top of craggy hills 11 KM from Jaipur.  It is said to be named for Ambikashwara, the local name for the lord god Shiva, with construction beginning in 967.  Over the years the palace has been enhanced and renovated – through the 1700s – and now stands as one of the largest intact forts in India.  The approach to the Fort is great for photos as the majestically fort appears to our left, perched on the hillside with cattle grazing below. 

After a quick long shot, we also get to stop for a true Indian tradition:  Snake Charmers!   A bunch of us get off the bus, but I stay behind, safely inside the bus and still get some great shots through the windshield – yep, just call me chicken.

Ok, enough with the snakes!  Time to move on up the hill to where most of us hop on a jeep to ride up the long steep hill to the Fort entrance, but a few opt to take an Elephant ride up.  Ok, so we won’t go into our rant, and we know for many people it is quite an experience, but, you know….we aren’t fans from an ethics perspective.  And besides, to us, the jeep ride is much more fun!  It’s a raggedly old jeep with six of us squeezed into seats bolted into the back rumbling up these little teeny, narrow alley/roads to the top of the fort.  Yeah, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!

After gathering near the entrance gate, we troop into the the huge exterior courtyard, called Jaleb Chowk (Arabic for where soldiers assembled) to wait for the elephant riders.  We are immediately swarmed by vendors, who we just shake off, knowing the Price is Right will come back on the bus.  As the elephant people arrive, we start up the stairs to the main entrance to the palaces, through a large gate with monkeys playing on the walls and rails as we ascend the stairs. 

Now we are in the 2nd large courtyard, in the main palace grounds, which contains the Diwan-I-Aam, the Hall of Public Audience, where royalty met with officials and his subjects.  It is a large area, filled with carved columns depicting elephants and vines.  Toward the back of the structure is a narrow colonnaded area called “27 Kachehris,” or 27 offices, which are no more than archways where the Government Secretariat administered the the state.  All made of red sandstone, it’s a grand structure, with lots of good views out over the hills and to what looks like the great wall of India (obviously fortresses built onto a wall around the Fort) in the distance.

Before entering the main Palace area, we first explore the Turkish baths, which are huge tub areas made completely out of marble. They are gorgeous, even for current times – and we all agree we’d take our baths here right now!

After waiting in the courtyard for a while, watching everyone pose and take their pictures at the Ganesh gate, we finally pass through the monstrous ornate gate to enter the Palace proper.

This area is where the Maharaja and his family lived, as indicated by the difference in the architecture and decorations inside.   After a brief explanation of the layout, we head upstairs to the upper promenade to get a bird’s eye view of the palace area, complete with the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) and the across the beautifully landscaped gardens, the summer palace all in white with cool (literally) blue ornamentation designed to be cooler in the summer months.

On the other side of the promenade, we get an awesome view of the exterior courtyard with the Diwan-I-Aam (and the courtyard now filling up with people!) as well as views out over the mountainsides and ridges, providing us with an good understanding of why they built this fort up here and how its location makes it so much easier to protect. 

Back on the ground level, we go explore the Sheesh Mahal in more detail (well, as much detail as we can from outside, we aren’t allowed inside the palace. Talk about a study in excess! It is stunning in its design, but mirrors, mirrors everywhere!  I must admit though, the mosaic work and intricate patterns of the design do tend to leave you breathless.  I mean, this is from the 16th century!  Incredible!   

Across the courtyard, the summer palace is a welcome cool contrast to the overwrought, but beautiful, Sheesh Mahal. 

With a ton of free time still on our hands, we meander around the gardens and then into the final section of the palace area where the Zenana, or Royal women, lived.  Here also is a Baradari (a pavilion like structure, all open air) that was used as a meeting place for the queens of the royal family, and in past times was curtained off for privacy.

Bhanu is waiting here for us (you can see him at the right of the last picture!), waiting to corral his little group of travelers to take us back down the hill in our jeeps and off on the rest of our morning tour journey.  Next up:  The rug factory!