Saturday Sauntering into the old city

Saturday Sauntering in the old city

It’s taken a week for me to get round to writing this …. Let’s just say I have been indisposed!  I am calling it the Udaipur Urge … the local variant of Delhi Belly… I’ll leave you to work out where the urge has to take you!!

Anyway no such urges for a couple of days so I am feeling its now all clear… hopefully!

Last weekend I walked into the old city again – it has been several months since I took that route and I was delighted to find that I still knew the way!  Passing familiar landmarks that now feel like friends, including one of my favourite views of the city.  

I first stopped off at a coffee house I never got round to trying last time – a bit too touristy in many ways but the frappe was excellent.  I enjoyed savouring it and the lake view as I read.  Simple pleasures!

I had a job to do though – collect my new clothes from the tailor – so the next challenge was to find it!  I still feel the old city is a bit like a labyrinth especially as my sense of direction is poor (OK non-existent!).  Hurrah!  I found it ok and collected my new outfits.

The other challenge I had set myself was to find The Courtyard – a restaurant we visited a couple of times when I was here before …. But I had never approached it from this direction… too difficult?? More by luck than judgement I found it first time!  And it seems that the restaurant part is now named “The whistling Teal”. Highly appropriate for a former employee of RSPB!

Although I don’t think the illustrations are teal at all … but never mind!  The town was extremely chaotic today (even more than usual) – apparently on the day after Holi, the police have the day off (as they have worked over the Holi holiday) … the roads were completely rammed with vehicles going wherever and in every direction… without the usual restrictions and barriers!   

 I headed home  with a sense of achievement.

Just Chillin...

Just chillin’

After a busy morning I am just chillin – although perhaps “chilling” is not the most apt word as I see the weather app on my phone says its 33° at the moment!  Looking at all the snowy pictures on facebook makes it seem even hotter!  Making a snow angel seems quite appealing just now!  There is more of a breeze today – definitely a good clothes drying day! 

To be fair though .... I can be pretty sure that every day will be a good drying day until June!

The pigeons continue to keep me company despite some determined efforts to block any space on top of the AC unit outside my room…..

 

I was helping honest! Needless to say it isn’t working very well …. 

Although how they find space beats me!  The debris on the ground tells me what they think of it…. gradually they are making the space!  

Reminds me of the gulls on my roof back in Seaton Carew! Maybe they are just helping me feel at home.....

The fans in my room have come into play at night …. But I have resisted the AC …. I know it’s time will come!

The views from around my room continue to delight – I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing the monsoon palace… even through insect mesh!

Heading into the Old city again I noticed some work going on as some of the old walls have been taken down  This has opened up some new views across Lake Pichola. 

  (I was glad to see that appropriate PPE was worn… ie working flip flops!). 

Looking forward to heading into town tomorrow.

Back again

So it is February - must be India!  Yes I am back in Udaipur, this time for a longer Indian adventure!

It is so lovely to be back - seeing many familiar faces and receiving a wonderfully warm welcome.  Warm is of course an understatement.... and quite a change from the -3 in Newcastle as I left UK last week!

As I write this in the cool evening it is a mere 25 degrees .... its been around 32 today and I have still to get used to the heat - I imagine that over the coming days I will.... it will only get hotter - Rajasthan is known as the desert state with good reason!

My view has changed from a wintery Seaton Carew to the Monson Palace - a view I don't think I will ever tire of ...

Thinking about coming back has been filled with a lot of anticipation - thinking of favourite views, walking beside the lake and watching the birds, and places in the town, not to mention the food and the atmosphere!  Now I am finally here it is also filled with anticipation as I start this new adventure!

The first few days have been surprisingly busy.  I will post more in the coming days.

Last reflections...

Writing from back in the UK, having recovered (just) from the jet lag... what would my top experiences be?

1.  Chai! - I was fortunate to drink chai every day and in lots of places - from a street vendor by Fateh Sagar, in the home of a rickshaw driver (I also had a lesson on making it here!), every morning on campus and in a thin china cup and saucer at a posh hotel.   If pushed as to the best (in my view) .... it would be the street vendor - lots of ginger and a slight smokiness.

2. Curries!  I ate curries for 2 meals a day usually - and they were so different to the ones I have eaten at my local take a way!   Such variety of vegetable dishes along with the staple Dahl, different each time.  I ate so much less meat - perhaps once /twice a week... and how much I enjoyed this.

3. Local people - meeting so many who were so hospitable, kind and thoughtful. I enjoyed walking around not just taking a rickshaw or cab... that is strange, but you do get to see a different perspective and see the same people ..... a friendly  wave and "namaste" means a lot.

4. Birds!  So many were new to me .... from the hoopoe that  landed on the school field on the first day I was teaching to the black kites that circled overhead all the time.  It will take some time for me to look through my photos and identify them.

5. Lake Pichola and sunsets!  So beautiful.


These are all very homely things - I was fortunate to have 4 weeks in Udaipur and because of that I think the homely things are what I will really remember..... and miss!

Till next time...

Is it really that spectacular...

What can I be talking about?  Yes you have guessed - that Taj Mahal!

My overnight trip to Agra was not what I had originally planned (my trip to Shimla by train wasn't possible.... I have a slight doubt about whether this was actually true but it is what I was told!).  However, Agra Fort , and the Baby Taj were well worth visiting - and that's before the Taj itself. 

The fort is immense...

I particularly enjoyed the space in the garden...

...the  inlaid marble work is incredible...

The baby taj is so called because it is similar in some ways - but at a much smaller scale... in many ways I prefered this because of this .... and so much quieter so much easier to to relax and enjoy it.

The detail is phenomenal...

But onto the Taj Mahal itself.... we are so familiar with what it looks like so I think I was expecting it to be a bit of an anticlimax....it wasnt.  Even on a very murky and misty day and with thousands of other visitors, it was still spectacular.

And of course the view we all know.... I wasn't able to have the view without anyone else!!  As my cousin June commented - other members of my family have stood here ..... going back over many many years.  I thought about them (especially my mum and aunt) many times.

Once again the inlaid marble work is amazing.

The grounds are also lovely.   I would recommend visiting if you get the chance.

On to Delhi... Red Fort

My last week in India and I'm spending most of it in Delhi.  A chance to look at some of the main tourist sights (there are lots)  see some of the bazaars (and try not to get ripped off!) and generally experience India's huge capital - Old and New!

To start with it felt totally overwhelming!  With a population of 27.5 million, to Udaipur's 450,000 it is mega... and you feel it!  There really is no comparison between the 2.  I thought that having got used to Udaipur, I would not experience that feeling - how wrong can you get!  It certainly never seems to sleep!  My hotel is in Parhaganj a popular tourist area on the edge of old delhi and right by New Delhi railway station - and it comes to live around 3am every morning - having gone to sleep around 1am!  It feels loud  and incredibly chaotic - although the main bazaar didn't feel too scary once I braved it (it took me a couple of days!)

I tackled the red fort first and once inside ( foreigners pay extra everywhere!) it does feel much calmer and you can sneak off into quieter parts (Salimgarh is worth the time - just over the ring road)

The main gate is where the indian flag was raised for the first time - 15 August 1947.

The fort is a strange mixture, with a palace, mosque as well as old barracks that the British used (still there, now decaying) and there is still an Indian army contingent there.  The museum has a lot to say about the struggle for independence from the british - I found it interesting and uncomfortable to see things from an Indian perspective.... In fact this has been true throughout my time - its always good to be taken out o your own culture - it helps you see a different view and illuminates some cultural blindspots.

There are some very beautiful details - inlaid marble, and what would have been beautiful fountains.

In its time there would have been an artificial stream running through the whole complex - now all that remains is the dry channels...

  

... sad reminders of what it once was. Well worth a visit.

Lost in translation.... 2 worlds collide!

No photos for this one (so feel free to stop reading now!) - just a few things that have struck me.... mainly to do with driving and roads.

English is still a language that is widely used in India, however some words just do not translate in the same way...

Give Way --- absolutely never under any circumstances (barring a collision in the next millisecond) do you ever let someone else in!  However always give way to a cow / buffalo / camel / donkey/horse / elephant and probably even a goat or a dog - I've seen them all and they do seem to take priority.

Wait till there is a space - nope!  Just go.... this includes pedestrians so crossing the road is really interesting without the aid of a convenient cow to follow!

No entry /exit - why would you obey that? If going in the exit or out of the entry is the shortest way then go right ahead..

One Way - see above.... even when this involves crossing a busy dual carriageway and heading along facing all the oncoming traffic for some distance..... this is fine!  (If alarming especially on your first day in India, in an autorickshaw and jet lagged!) ... I got used to it as it happens all the time.

Drive on the left hand side - well technically .... but it certainly works differently in India - especially at roundabouts (circles here)


And always remember " Over speeding invites prosecution"  - Over speeding?  Surely speeding is speeding and overspeeding is ... perhaps the Indian equivalent of too fast to be offered a speed awareness course!

Hartlepool beware when I resume driving - I will try not to be too Indian!