FUN-travel: Unbelievable Udaipur
November 14, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Unbelievable Udaipur
- It’s called the “City of Lakes”…and the home of lavish royal residences…filled with magical marble mosaics… that include the City Palace…the Summer Palace…the Lake Garden Palace …and the Monsoon Palace.
- Towering over Lake Pichola… the Magnificent City Palace… is a monumental complex of 11 palaces… courtyards and gardens… famed for its intricate peacock mosaics…which you don’t see because once again they wanted to charge exorbitant camera fees!
- Built on an island… on Lake Pichola… The Jag Mandir… called the ‘Lake Garden Palace’… was the kings summer resort… and his “Party Palace.”
- And it was this particular palace…that had such an impact on Emperor Shah Jahan…it went on to become the inspiration…for the Taj Mahal!
FUN-fact – The distance from the Jain Temple to Udaipur is 91 km or 54 miles. The narrow, twisty, single lane road through the mountains made for very interesting driving, especially when tour buses met head on. And the drive took 2 and a half hours!
FUN-travel: Commanding Kumbhalgarh Fort & Jain Temple Treat!
November 12, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Commanding Kumbhalgarh Fort & Jain Temple Treat!
- Wonderful World Heritage Site… this impressive fort…and the second largest fort in Rajasthan …is a towering presence… at over 3300 ft above sea level…with a massive wall that stretches some 36 km’s… and wide enough to take eight horses abreast…makes it the second largest wall in the world… after the Great Wall of China.
- Built in the 15th century…then renovated in the 19th century…the surrounding hostile landscape… …coupled with 13 mountain peaks… 7 huge gates…and immense watchtowers…made it impenetrable.
- There are a total of 360 temples inside the fort complex…300 being Jain…and 60 being Hindu.
FUN-fact – We would have never seen either of these if it weren’t for Marsha who was in the Galapagos with us back in 2012. She recommended we see the Jain Temple plus the tour company, Easy Tours of India. The fort was a huge surprise and getting to see it lit up at night was pretty spectacular!
- Jain Temple…over 1444 marble pillars… with every inch intricately carved in exquisite detail… fill the temple…and all different… with no two pillars the same… all statues face one or the other statue.
FUN-fact – Incredible India is as fabulous as a 3rd world country can be.
Not so FF – And who takes advantage of tourists by charging camera fees! We find it offensive that tourists have to pay an entrance fee plus a camera fee. And at some sites bags are searched for cameras. And movie cameras are triple. Seriously? Every camera and phone takes video! Welcome to the 20th century.
- This picture was taken on the outside of the “mini Jain temple” because we were only willing to pay for one camera out of principle!
FUN-travel: Pushkar Camel Fair
November 12, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Pushkar Camel Fair
- Camels…
…cattle…
Our First Camel Cart Ride
…cotton candy…
…carousel rides…
…a fair is a fair…
…no matter where you are in the world.
- And Pushkar is a county fair…
…of epic proportions…
…as each November…
…more than 300,000 people…
…and thousands of animals…
…convene in this dusty desert town in Rajasthan…
…for one of India’s…
…most spectacular festivals.
- Virtually a week long livestock auction…
…of camels, cattle, & horses…
…with vendors…
…snake charmers…
Snack Salesman
…dancers…
…magicians and musicians…
…thrown into the mix.
FUN-fact – India has entered the 20th Century.
Not so FF – only 2500 camels this year… down from 40,000 a decade ago… due to the drop in demand. Tractors are one on the main causes.
FUN-travel: Jaipur Palaces
November 10, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Jaipur Palaces
- City Palace…Dancing Courtyard Doors…
…4 in total…
…each depicting a season…
…and also the only time they were used…
…each intricately painted…
…from the top to bottom.
- Palace of Winds…
…a high screen wall…
…built so women of the royal household…
…could observe street festivals…
…while unseen from the outside…
- Voyeuristic?
…apparently not…
…since they had to obey strict “purdah” (face cover).
- Built in 1799…
…this unique five-story exterior…
…is akin to the honeycomb of a beehive…
…with 953 small windows…
…decorated with intricate latticework…
…which allowed cool air to pass through…
…creating air conditioning during the high temperatures in summers.
FUN-fact – on driving – Why have 3 lanes when 5 cars will fit? The lines mean nothing!
FUN-travel: Jiggled in Jaipur
November 8, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Jiggled in Jaipur
- Ely the Elephant…
…slowly plodded up the stone path…
…zig-zagging back and forth…
…before depositing us…
…at the foot of the Amber Fort…
…sitting high atop the hill…
…protected by the “mini wall of China” …
…as locals refer to it.
- Sheesh Mahal – the Mirror Palace…
…exquisitely embellished…
…with mirror mosaics…
…of glass inlaid panels and ceilings…
…in a convex shape…
…designed with colored foil and paint…
…created a “glittering jewel box…
…in flickering candle light”…
…or basically a disco ball by today’s standard.
FUN-fact – So far we have had one elephant, two horse carts, and three rickshaw rides.