Rajdarshan Udaipur

(view all the photos on Facebook)<br><br> It can be difficult to imagine how the great kings or Maharanas of Indian history lived in their grand palaces and vast kingdoms. However, after a visit to Udaipur in the western state of Rajasthan, I think I'm starting to get a hint of the lifestyle. However, our arrival in Udaipur did not adequately prepare us for the upcoming adventure. Although the local airport is very modern, the 30 ...

... the quarters of the last pre-Independence rana, Bhopal Singh; the Mor Chowk, originally built in 1620, but decked with glass-mosaic peacocks in 1874 by Rana Sajjan Singh, who was fond of crystals; the Zenana Mahal, with apartments for different princesses; and the galleries displaying local paintings. Some of these paintings are important ...

... of the merchants that nowadays remain in quite bad shape. It is a visit to the wild India, whithout Western frills, where one can still appreciate how days go by unaltered by tourism, and be delighted and amazed to check how the country works despite the chaos present everywhere and in every single task. But this sort of visits always ends up paying a high toll, as there are barely any tourists and one has to do like the locals, and after some hours it ...

... 8216;schools&#8217; of painting styles, very relevant to the state&#8217;s particular methodology &amp; focus). <br><br>Bajdi Indra is an amazingly modest 28 year old guy, who started painting 14 years ago. He didn&#8217;t know he would be any good; he &#8216;just seemed to be able to portray what he wanted on to the paper&#8217;. I watched him work, where incredibly, he creates his masterpieces from nothing. Bajdi now has other students he teaches, so I assumed that ...

... to lord Vishnu and contains an enormous black stone of Vishnu in the main shrine. I am willing to take my shoes off and to enter, Judith does not want to start the day with dirty socks, so I go in alone. The entrance is flanked by stone elephants and a bronze image of Garuda (the mythical bird vehicle of Vishna). Slightly suffering from temple overload I take a few pictures and return to join Judith at the base. We had noted ...

... to get closer to it. Non-guests to the Lake Palace hotel aren't allowed on the land for any reason. Kate and I realized that, given the lake's low water level, we might be able to walk over. But fearing the imposing guards we saw from a boat tour of the lake we took, we've decided against the planned scaling of the walls (also, apparently Nicole Kidman is there, and we wouldn't want the first time we meet to be while we're being dragged off.) In the ...

... and I have to say that I am much happier coming to hospital in Udaipur this time than last time, since my visit is stress free!! Deepak has arranged for me to visit some really spectacular sights including the Monsoon Palace (see the views in the photos!), and some of the little-visited lakes outside the city, where the bird life is just amazing. You all know me and my birds ...

... We've visited the enormous City Palace, constructed over 300 years beginning in 1559 and taken a boat ride around the lake at sunset to view the impressive Lake Palace, seemingly floating in the middle of the water. Another night, a wrong turn during a walk almost saw us as extras on the set of a Bollywood movie being filmed just around the corner from our hotel. Still on the topic of movies and Udaipur was the scene for the James Bond movie Octopussy ...

... were white. after the shock we all broke into a fit of giggles. Lou went off to indian cooking class, tamsin still feeling a bit ill went to se the internet. the cooking class was really fun, we learned how to make chai, and curries and roti and some others. at the end we were so full cause we had a feast of everything we had eaten! tamsin got cultural experience with slow internet and pizza pringles! classy. bags were packed, ready for the overnight train, should be an experience. byee, tamsin and lou

... rice, rose petals and burning incense. He was cremated on one of the ghats below the restaurant. David and I were multiply run over by cows there as well. They certainly run things around here. It makes walking at night difficult, I don't want to know how many times we've "slipped in something." The ladies collect the dung to burn under the hot plates to cook food for the day. The Indian FDA/Health &amp; Safety wouldn't really catch on here. Today we ...