Are we there yet?
Trip Start
Oct 09, 2007
1
26
42
Trip End
Nov 16, 2007
Udaipur,
India
Thursday, October 25, 2007
We were part of a traffic jam that involved ... wait for this ... at least 400 trucks! Yes, you read that right, 400 BIG TRUCKS that moved very very SLOOOWLLLY!! We eventually over took most of them before veering off thru beautiful country-side. The villages were clean and serene looking, and children waved at us as we drove past. The village women were amazing, I love the way they go about their work clad in the most striking coloured georgettes and wearing bangles up to their armpits, practically. Doing heavy work like carrying large pots or bundles of firewood on their heads, or axes and pitchforks on their shoulders ... despite this, many smiled at me from behind their veils. It was so lovely. If you could just see the grace with which they move. It's like they float and their hips are almost hypnotic in their sway.
Unfortunately we had to stop at a crappy overpriced lunch place, which did have the cleanest public toilets I've seen in India so far. I guess we paid for the cleanliness. Five minutes away was the largest Jain Temple in all of India. Within it was over 1400 pillars - each of them differently carved out of marble, all symetrical and intricate.
We had the good fortune to meet the high priest, who is the 17th generation of high-priests. He was too good looking and young to be a high-priest and at first I thought, is this guy for real? But then we met his mother and sister, who was also very good looking and it was obvious he was in charge as the people around had great respect for him. His father was dead and so the role had been handed down to him. He took us on a tour. How lucky are we? I know we both said that Khajuraho had the best temples. True. But this single temple had an interior that surpassed anything we've ever seen. And we have seen many, many temples. There was so much natural light. It was cool inspite of the heat outside and it was massive - with many levels. It had 4 altars facing NSEW. It had a carving of the 5 elements represented by a figure with one head and 5 bodies. It sounds grotesque but really it worked! There was also a carving of a single cobra that just went on and on and on in twists and turns around the whole carving - the patterns it made was very much like the Buddhist Endless Knot. And of course the various deities, elephants etc.
Then ... we went thru a winding gorgeous mountain pass. Ai-yooohhh! It was worth driving just for the views. It was breath taking, considering we had not too long b4 passed semi arid plains and now there was all this cool green.
But wait, there's more ... we then went thru a whole pass that was being blasted. Using detonators and explosives! Alan explained that surely they would stop traffic b4 they blew things up - if they remembered! Ahhhh, India is such a blast. You should have seen the loose boulders piled along the steep slopes, they looked like they could come down on us at any time.
The last hour of our journey was difficult and I was rather ill in the car. The ride was bumpy and windy. But Udaipur ... the thought of it kept me going.
Wait till tomorrow ... we will tell you about this beautiful city! We are in love with it! Just had dinner like bloody royalty in such a romantic setting. And it was cheaper than that stupid place we had to stop at for lunch that had the clean toilets. ARGHHHHH!!! Plus it's the full moon tonight and they even had fireworks ... for us!
Comments
Slow trucks
Ah....remember the days when dad used to say, 'Alamak, another timber lorry!' and he will try to overtake them back in the early 1970s in West Malaysia?
Another thing dad used to say was: 'Hmmmmmm......wind up your screens, terrible smell!'.
Reading your story reminded me of those days.