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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Days 138 and 139: More from wonderful Rajasthan

Day 138
Awaking to the sound of English voices outside my window I headed downstairs to meet yet another pair of travelers from old Albion (this time one was from Bath and one from Putney). We ended up getting a boat tour of the lake together, followed by an afternoon of melting in the shade of the hotel. 

That evening I met up with one of the English girls I had done the cooking class with and, after watching the sun set over the lake, we headed to a concert of traditional Rajasthani folk song and dance. The whole evening there was a constant stream of bats flying overhead in what I guess must have been a massive migration. 



The show began with a group of men acting out a fight scene. One of them then proceeded to eat red hot coals! Next a group of women danced with bowls of fire on their head accompanied by men with trumpets overhead. 



I was most impressed by the following act which featured two women covered from head to foot in cymbals, each holding a piece of string with a metal ball at the end. The women then swung the string so that the ball struck the cymbals in time to the music, creating a melody of intricate precision.


This was followed by some spinning dances and a puppet show.



The show ended with this woman who danced with an ever-increasing number of pots balanced on her head. As if this wasn't impressive enough, she then started to do minor acrobatics and walk over broken glass.


We then joined the two English girls I had met in the morning for dinner at one of Udaipur's best restaurants with an amazing view over the lake. I finally indulged myself and ordered a gin and tonic to be enjoyed on the restaurant's opulent veranda. This is the life!


Day 139
This time it wasn't English voices that woke me up, but the chaotic banging of the local monkeys taking breakfast under my window.


Joining yet another English couple (this was the one from the cooking class a few days ago) I spent the morning horse-riding through the countryside surrounding Udaipur. The ranch running the event was picture perfect and my horse was relatively well behaved. To tell the truth it was so so hot today I doubt the horse could have summoned the energy to buck me off if it had wanted to. I had to remind myself as we trotted past cacti and rocky outcrops that this was India and not the Wild West.



The highlight though was when we would get off the horses and explore the agricultural villages as we passed.

(there is a woman beneath this pile)
 (the houses all had beautiful paintings like these outside)
 (unlike the cities, the locals here were genuinely friendly and gave us an amazing welcome)

We eventually ended up at a stunning, and more importantly unpolluted, lake with a really picturesque palace on the side.


 (Looking at my skin tone in this photo it is unsurprising I get mistaken for an Indian on a daily basis)
 

That evening we all went to a restaurant to watch Octopussy (the Bond film set in Udaipur) and afterwards I boarded the overnight train to Jaipur.
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