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After being in India for a couple of weeks, I felt like I had adjusted a bit. The surreal traffic, the children begging for money for food, the smell, the bright, beautifully colored saris on the women that glitter like jewels in the sun, the sumptuous flavors of the food that bring your mouth to life... I felt like it was all becoming a little more "normal". I was ready to venture out of Ahmedabad to see a bit of the rest of India.
Our friend, Alan, who we met on the diving trip we took at the Great Barrier Reef, was planning to come meet up with us in November. We told him that the Pushkar Fair was November 10th-14th so, if he could, he should try to make it before then. He flew in on the 7th. We left the morning of the 8th.
First, we drove to Udaipur in Rajasthan. It is about a 4 hour drive from our house in Ahmedabad. We got there about lunch time so we stopped for a thali. Technically, a thali is a big silver plate, but it is also the name of a traditional meal served on that plate. The large plate has 4 or 5 small bowls on it. Servers walk around with different containers of food and constantly fill the bowls with different dishes and supply you with fresh roti and chutneys and rice and sweets and anything else you can possibly think of. It is a bit stressful because every time you turn around, they are there to fill up those little bowls. And you have to eat everything. You can't waste food in India where you walk outside and see people starving on the street. You have to be pretty vigilant to fend off these guys who are always at the ready to give you some more subgee (vegetables). The food is so good, but it is pretty easy to overeat.
As we left the restaurant, we met a guy who offered to be our guide for the rest of that day and the following day for 150 rupees (about $3). We agreed and he took us around to some of the sites of the city. We saw the Monuments of the Kings, which are monuments to the kings and queens of Udaipur. The monuments are built on the exact location where the ruler was cremated so they are just kind of scattered around a field. Some are clumped together and some are more set apart. Each one is built by the eldest son of the man or woman the shrine is dedicated to.
We took a little detour by an art shop and then we went to the Monsoon Palace. The art studio was neat, but it is a bit impractical for us to be carrying around paintings so we left empty handed… much to the dismay of our guide. We made it to the Monsoon Palace for sunset (which was our plan). The palace was never finished so it isn’t much to see, but it is on top of a hill and affords a magnificent view for the sunset.
While touring the palace, Poppa (Jigar’s dad) decided that Alan needed an Indian name – since Poppa had decided Alan should marry an Indian girl. Alan was renamed Arvind, I became Jaya, Jigar was renamed Jay (I’m not sure why he needed a new name), and Poppa became Uncle. Any time anyone used our old names, he or she was supposed to pay Poppa $1. Meanwhile, Poppa tried to convince Irvind that it wouldn’t hurt to meet some nice Gujarati girls back in Ahmedabad… He could be married by the end of the month!
We left the palace in search of “ick cutting” (that means one cutting of tea – or about half a cup) and a hotel room. We knew the names of a few hotels we wanted to check out. We got them from Alan’s Lonely Planet. But our guide didn’t want to bring us there. He was becoming less and less cooperative by the minute! Finally, after a harrowing ride through the alleyways of the Old City which was not designed for a Honda to pass through, let alone two way traffic, Poppa found us a beautiful hotel. The rooms were spotless and really nicely decorated. Our room didn’t offer a view of the lake place, so it was Rps. 600 per night (about $12 which is pretty expensive for India). We told our “guide” not to bother coming back the next day.
In the morning, we went to the City Palace. We weren’t sure what to expect, but it ended up taking up most of the day. It was really nice. It is the ancestral home of the royal family of Udaipur. Alan and I learned a lot about the history of Rajasthan, including the story of Maharana Pratap and Chetak. Chetak was a horse who was so fiercely loyal to his owner that he jumped across an entire river to save his life. Chetak did save Maharana Pratap’s life, but, sadly, Chetak himself didn’t survive.
At one point, I finished looking at everything in the room we were in before everyone else. I wandered into the next room and found a place to sit down and wait. Soon after, I noticed a group of Indian ladies gathered nearby. They were whispering and seemed to be pointing at me. Then some of them came over and sat down next to me on the bench and others stood behind me. Then someone started taking pictures of us! This was my first brush with my Indian fame. They love white people! The Indian people just love having their pictures made with me. Alan had a similar experience when a group of young men approached him and asked to have their picture made with him. It is an interesting phenomenon to become an overnight pseudo-celebrity.
The palace was a fun day. Especially since Jigar remembered going there as a child. In the early afternoon we headed out for Pushkar. The camel fair awaited us!
Our friend, Alan, who we met on the diving trip we took at the Great Barrier Reef, was planning to come meet up with us in November. We told him that the Pushkar Fair was November 10th-14th so, if he could, he should try to make it before then. He flew in on the 7th. We left the morning of the 8th.
First, we drove to Udaipur in Rajasthan. It is about a 4 hour drive from our house in Ahmedabad. We got there about lunch time so we stopped for a thali. Technically, a thali is a big silver plate, but it is also the name of a traditional meal served on that plate. The large plate has 4 or 5 small bowls on it. Servers walk around with different containers of food and constantly fill the bowls with different dishes and supply you with fresh roti and chutneys and rice and sweets and anything else you can possibly think of. It is a bit stressful because every time you turn around, they are there to fill up those little bowls. And you have to eat everything. You can't waste food in India where you walk outside and see people starving on the street. You have to be pretty vigilant to fend off these guys who are always at the ready to give you some more subgee (vegetables). The food is so good, but it is pretty easy to overeat.
As we left the restaurant, we met a guy who offered to be our guide for the rest of that day and the following day for 150 rupees (about $3). We agreed and he took us around to some of the sites of the city. We saw the Monuments of the Kings, which are monuments to the kings and queens of Udaipur. The monuments are built on the exact location where the ruler was cremated so they are just kind of scattered around a field. Some are clumped together and some are more set apart. Each one is built by the eldest son of the man or woman the shrine is dedicated to.
We took a little detour by an art shop and then we went to the Monsoon Palace. The art studio was neat, but it is a bit impractical for us to be carrying around paintings so we left empty handed… much to the dismay of our guide. We made it to the Monsoon Palace for sunset (which was our plan). The palace was never finished so it isn’t much to see, but it is on top of a hill and affords a magnificent view for the sunset.
While touring the palace, Poppa (Jigar’s dad) decided that Alan needed an Indian name – since Poppa had decided Alan should marry an Indian girl. Alan was renamed Arvind, I became Jaya, Jigar was renamed Jay (I’m not sure why he needed a new name), and Poppa became Uncle. Any time anyone used our old names, he or she was supposed to pay Poppa $1. Meanwhile, Poppa tried to convince Irvind that it wouldn’t hurt to meet some nice Gujarati girls back in Ahmedabad… He could be married by the end of the month!
We left the palace in search of “ick cutting” (that means one cutting of tea – or about half a cup) and a hotel room. We knew the names of a few hotels we wanted to check out. We got them from Alan’s Lonely Planet. But our guide didn’t want to bring us there. He was becoming less and less cooperative by the minute! Finally, after a harrowing ride through the alleyways of the Old City which was not designed for a Honda to pass through, let alone two way traffic, Poppa found us a beautiful hotel. The rooms were spotless and really nicely decorated. Our room didn’t offer a view of the lake place, so it was Rps. 600 per night (about $12 which is pretty expensive for India). We told our “guide” not to bother coming back the next day.
In the morning, we went to the City Palace. We weren’t sure what to expect, but it ended up taking up most of the day. It was really nice. It is the ancestral home of the royal family of Udaipur. Alan and I learned a lot about the history of Rajasthan, including the story of Maharana Pratap and Chetak. Chetak was a horse who was so fiercely loyal to his owner that he jumped across an entire river to save his life. Chetak did save Maharana Pratap’s life, but, sadly, Chetak himself didn’t survive.
At one point, I finished looking at everything in the room we were in before everyone else. I wandered into the next room and found a place to sit down and wait. Soon after, I noticed a group of Indian ladies gathered nearby. They were whispering and seemed to be pointing at me. Then some of them came over and sat down next to me on the bench and others stood behind me. Then someone started taking pictures of us! This was my first brush with my Indian fame. They love white people! The Indian people just love having their pictures made with me. Alan had a similar experience when a group of young men approached him and asked to have their picture made with him. It is an interesting phenomenon to become an overnight pseudo-celebrity.
The palace was a fun day. Especially since Jigar remembered going there as a child. In the early afternoon we headed out for Pushkar. The camel fair awaited us!
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