Empty Lake
Trip Start
Mar 06, 2005
1
22
34
Trip End
??? ??, 2006
Udaipur,
India
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
The drive out of the valley from Ranakpur early in the morning was great we climbed gradually winding our way to the main road which leads to Udaipur. The roadside consisted of dry dark brown earth formed into fields these were broken by large boulders and rocky outcrops. It surprised us to find numerous farming communities spaced along our entire route. A Large number of wells had been sunk and these could be identified from a distance because of the large 'headstocks' constructed above them in order to draw the water and irrigate the surrounding fields. These ranged from simple wooden counter-weighted booms to giant wooden 'gears' with water wheels attached, driven by Oxen. (see photo)
The route gave us splendid views across the hills and down into the valley although any really long distances were obscured by the haze which hangs in the air at this time of year
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.After about 2 hours we started to decend passing an incredible number of Marble factories, literally hundreds of small forecourts filled with marble of every colour shape and size. The roads were choked with massive lorries carrying gigantic cubes of 'uncut' Marble on its way to be made into tiles, pavers, statuary, etc. We drove over one stretch of road that was shimmering in the bright sunlight covered in brilliant white marble 'crystals'.
Jane soon fell asleep in the back of the car as the motion of rounding the continual sharp bends made her feel sick, and so I moved to sit in the front with Happy for the remainder of the relatively short drive to Udaipur. We had quickly become accustomed to 6-8 hours of driving a day, and to be honest the journeys seemed to pass quickly, probably because there was always plenty to see en-route.
For some unknown reason on this morning Happy seemed to be driving like a man possessed which was out of character for him (usually very steady). We had several cars 'scream' past only to dive infront of us due to oncomming traffic. I noticed that Happy was chanting under his breath (some kind of Sikkh prayer?)and then the madness really began.
We were part of a 5 car convoy trailing a bus and two lorries laden with Marble blocks. The decent was narrow, steep and winding. We started at the front of the line of cars and within 2 minutes we were at the back. The cars constantly jockeyed for the prime position directly behind the bus in readiness to overtake the lorries as soon as half an chance presented itself
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.We were approaching a blind bend when Happy just pulled out, and started to overtake the entire convoy! We didnt flash past them, it couldn't even be called a brisk manouvre, we just slowly cruised past, he sat close to the wheel eyes fixed on the road ahead. It was as if he was certain that nothing was going to come the other way. Well he might have been sure but I certainly wasn't! I gripped the edge of my seat and half looked the other way as we rounded the corner. We managed to draw level with the front lorry when we were confronted by a bus heading straight towards us AND two cows were standing in the middle of the road.
I held my breath as the lorry swerved in, towards the hillside, the bus out, towards the valley below, and we (only god knows how) squeezed between the two stationary cows...our wing mirror clipping one cows ribs!
We'd survived a 'very close shave' (just) and all happy could do was to casually look across at me, and say quietly "OH... MY... GOD!" whilst flashing a big smile. Meanwhile oblivious to our near death experience, Jane was fast asleep on the back seat and didn't wake until everyone started sounding their horns as we disappeared up the road, leaving two bewildered cows and a bunch of angry drivers behind us.
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This had been one (the worst) example of what we came to call 'religious' overtaking. It was as if Indian drivers believe that their immediate fate, (especially whilst overtaking) is in the hands of God, rather than down to their own driving skills.We saw many examples where others had not been so lucky, burned out lorries, cars and buses that had crashed, usually head-on, and usually at night.
We arrived well before lunchtime and checked in to our rather nice 'lakeside' hotel. That is to say, it would be at the side of the lake had there been one. All that remained was a very large, shallow depression of dry ground and patchy grass where Lake Pichola should have been. Udaipur hasn't had sufficient rain to fill the lake for over 7 years! Yet all the brochures and guidebook photos we had seen depict a town almost surrounded by a beautiful lake some 4km long and 3km wide.
That morning we decided to make the short trip into the town centre and visit the 'City Palace' the largest palace complex in Rajisthan. The complex has been continually added to by each successive Maharaja which has left it with a 'mixed bag' of arcitechtural styles, although this isn't apparent at first glance. You enter through the Tripolia (1725) a huge marble gateway and into the outer courtyard once used for staging 'elephant fights' to entertain the Maharajas.
There are many inner courtyards surrounded by screened balconies from where the women would watch a range of entertainments or covertly inspect visitors. Some courtyards were segregated soley for use by the Maharajas womenfolk, and would be heavily guarded to ensure that the 'Purdah' was observed, (the religious law which meant that women should not be seen by male strangers..
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. thereby preventing lustful male thoughts).The Mewar dynasty spawned the Maharajas which ruled the region and is thought to be one of the oldest in the world spanning 76 generations! The granduer of the Palace reflects this with massive halls and impressive displays of 'royal' regalia. There is even a massive 'tiger catching' cage stood in a courtyard near the current stables, (we saw some extreemly fine looking horses being washed as we passed through).
The views from the top of the palace are impressive although the addition of a wet rather than a drylake would have improved it. Overall we felt that we had seen better Palaces on our travels and although we enjoyed our visit it left us relatively unimpressed, (have we just been spoilt by all our prior experiences?)
The towns centre radiates out from the clocktower down the hill from the Palace and is a great place to explore on foot (so far one of our favourite places to just wander around). Being made up of tiny backstreets and alleyways created by old shops and tiny houses crammed side by side. The ubiquitous 'Indian cattle' wander around along with the everpresent mangy dogs sprawled in doorways...very atmospheric. The aspect that makes wandering here better than say, somewhere like Jodhpur is that the shops sell clothes, trinkets, and jewellery as opposed to the groceries, hardwear and machine parts found there. Udaipur is supposedly the 'most romantic city in india', I don't think I would agree with that, but it is a good place to mooch around and chill out.
The following morning we decided to take a trip out into the lake
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. We could see an island near its middle which looked to have a park on it (we could see palm trees and grass) and landing stages where boats would normally moor. So off we plodded out across the featureless lake-bed. By the time we got half way across the heat had become incredible. The Sun felt as if it were a few inches above us. We stopped to slap on some more factor 47 suncream (like Dulux white emulsion) and surveyed our surroundings. In the extreem distance were a group of men trying to strain the last few fish from a large puddle (remains of the lake) and a group of women were digging down through the dry mud in search of... something. Cattle were grazing on the patches of quite lush grass that had so far survived the drought and some children were collecting their dried 'patts' from the ground.We reached the island and thankfully accepted the shade created by the Palms. Obviously the park was still well tended and watered regularly as large lawns with flower borders stretched out into the distance. We layed down on a nearby bench and just watched the world go by...very peaceful as no one else had been daft enough to walk out there, (the following days papers declared that it had been the hottest day in Udaipur for 30 years!).
That evening we heard a loud racket comming from the street below our room and discovered a wedding procession passsing by we dashed down armed with our cameras and followed it as it wound its way through the nearby streets
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. The groom was sat on a large white horse fringed by tassles and 'decked out' in a white suit, turban and draped with red and gold sashes. The procession lay infront of him and consisted of about 50 people ringed by a chain of bright white electric lights (like inverted chandaleirs) run off a generator carried in a wheelbarrow at the rear.At the front of it all were the 'Masta Band' dressed like a quasi military jazz band, complete with peaked caps and white gloves! Every few minutes the procession would stop, everyone would dance as the 'band' struck up, blowing into their trumpets, tubas, and trombones for all they were worth....volume was obviously the goal rather than any kind of descernable tune. What a fantastic sight!
After a while the Groom noticed us following them and asked (through his relatives) if we wanted to come to the wedding celebrations. At first we declined but they continued to insist. What the hell, we thought lets go and have a quick look. We eventually stopped outside a big hotel at the side of the lake and after a few formalities we were introduced to the grooms family who (much to their credit) welcomed us like long lost relatives. We were ushered into the rear garden expecting to see about 50 or so guests we were flabbergasted to be confronted by a thousand guests (the groom later confirmed the number) all dressed in their finest silk Saris' and maharaja suits...incredible
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. It was like a scene from a movie, stalls groaned under the weight of the food layed out, every imaginable type of curry, sweet and savoury breads, sweets, dips and drinks. People were stood on pedestles dressed as greek statues and an army of waiters milled around handing out drinks.It was just like a scene from a Bollywood movie.There we stood in shorts and teeshirts feeling ever-so slightly under dressed. We certainly drew some curious glances and numerous questions from other guests wanting to know who we were etc. Luckily the younger brother of the groom accompanied us for the first 30 mins fetching us food and drink and generally making us feel welcome, (this also stopped anyone from thinking we were gatecrashers!). A while later after touring round the site and trying as many different foods as possible we made our excuses and left, (the parents of the couple even que'd up to shake our hands and thank us for comming). What a fantastic experience, and how generous that they would invite AND welcome total strangers to their wedding! Something we'll certainly never forget!
Being pigs we decided to have a quick coffee and a snack before retiring to bed, this was something Jane was to regret as yet again about three o'clock that morning she began throwing up. As we drove off the following morning I had to hold a carrier bag open for her to vommit into. Later in the journey things calmed down, but she didn't look well at all!
We decided that if she was no better when we reached Pushkar we'd resort to using the Antibiotics we'd brought from home.
So next stop pushkar...hippie hangout, healing waters and home of the famous camel fair (In case you were wondering...my groin is STILL numb from my last encounter with a camel!).
