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Udaipur, Kumbalgarh and Ranukpur
First and admission. We were very much Flashpackers throughout Rajasthan as we hired our own driver to take us across the state and between cities. Our first stop in the Land of Kings was the Venice of India, or Udaipur as it is normally called.
It was here that we met Jamil who picked us up from the airport. Jamil runs a business of drivers catering for tourists in Rajasthan and after chatting with him in the car from the airport to the hotel Cadge and I decided that it might be a good idea to get a driver to take us all over Rajasthan. It is obviously a lot more expensive than getting buses or trains across the state but in truth it wasnt a huge sum of money that we were paying for a driver for a week to take us to half a dozen destinations at our own leisure and then providing us with a tour of each of the cities that we were staying in. On reflection, I do think that this was the best way to see the state considering the size of Rajasthan and the time that we had in the country which is not that long. So Flashpacking it was to be.
But first Udaipr. Like I say, the city is named the Venice of the East due to the numerous lakes that it contains and the white washed buildings which line the edges. Other than that, I dont think there is much else the city has in common. Take nothing away from it though, Udaipur is a beautiful city, I mean, the majority of Octop**** was filmed here and James Bond doesnt normally visit dull places does he? To compliment the lakes, some of which are man made, the city has a number of hills surrounding it, each of which provides glorious views across the city and the surrounds. Atop one of the these hills is a monument to Maharana Pratap and his horse. He is considered one of the greatest heroes of not only Rajasthani history but all India as he stood his ground against the might of the Moghul empire advancing from Delhi numerous times, the greatest battle being fought at Haldighati. A bit like a Robert the Bruce story but for Indians.
Jamil was taking us around the city in his Tuk Tuk to enable us to see as much of the city as was possible as we were only staying there one night. Tuk Tuk is probably the best way to see Indian cities as pretty much none of them are suited to taking a stroll around. The Tuk Tuk is good fun too, weaving in and out of traffic, missing people cows and other animals by the narrowest of margins. We visited the cemetary in the middle of the city created by one of the early Maharana's and now filled with over 300 of his ancestors. Some of the masouleums are very grand, large, temple like structures. I guess if you were a king then thats the kind of place you expect to be buried. After, we paid visits to the Princesses Garden with its fountains and the market with its multitude of colours of spices, curries and chilli's as well as carts covered in blocks of honey, bees swarming all over.
Udaipur is also famed for its palace overlooking the largest of the lakes in the city. Its a fabulous building with nice stone and woodwork throughout and when lit up at night it provides a great backdrop to the lake.
After a day exploring Udaipur with Jamil, we were to set off on our road trip with our driver Ganesh, again the bringer of good luck. Ganesh turned out to be a great driver and I really enjoyed having him show us round the cities of Rajasthan and drive us in between them. Believe this too if you will, but the madman even thought it safe to allow me to drive parts of the journey. As if my driving record wasnt bad enough, add in meandering cows, buffalo, goats, dogs, deer even people and surely you are merely creating a death trap for yourself. But as I am writing this now, both Cadge and I survived without so much as a minor fright.
From Udaipur, heading to Jodhpur we stopped first at the the fort at Kumalgarh and then in at the temple of Ranakpur. The fort at Kumbalgarh was to be the first of many that we were to vist in the state but it may be my favourite of those that we visited. Sitting high up on the top of a mountain in the range on the outskirts of Udaipur, it commands not only a great view of the surrounds but also what I am sure will have been a powerful stronghold on the area it oversaw. The walls themselves stretch some 12km down from the fort around the valley below. Its where Maharana Pratap was born and its an impressive structure. Its also where we saw our first monkeys up close. Large white monkeys with charcoal black faces. That was pretty cool.
The road down through the mountains from Kumbalgarh to Ranakpur is fun and provides some stunning scenary and as for Ranakpur itself, well I dont think there can be a more decorated temple in all of India. The stonemasonry is wonderful and it definitely sits alongside the Blue Mosque and the La Compana de Jesus in Quito as one of the most beautiful religious buildings that I have visited. Each of the numerous pillars has been sculpted differently from the other and they say that no matter how many times you count them, you will always end up with a different number. Its a quite fantastic feat of human design, imagination and skill. The only thing that perhaps lets the temple down are the monks who appear to be there to provide tours and are keen to have you blessed in return for cash of course. We fortunately managed to avoid this nonsense and made our own guided tour of the temple. As well as the main temple at Ranakpur, there is a smaller temple the other side of the square. This is just as impressive in regards to the carvings and images sculpted on the walls of the temple.
I enjoyed visiting these three places. The fort at Kumbalgarh and the temple at Ranakpur remain the best of their kind that we visited in India and Cadge feels that Udaipur was probably his favourite city. So there you go, wasnt really much point in going anywhere else after here. But there was. There was camels to ride, Taj's to see and the worlds mankiest river swim in.
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