Category: India, 2019

“Finishing” Jodhpur,and on to Jawai.

October 29

A view from our breakfast table during our final meal at this fabulous palace.And a view of the front of our palace.Of all the many forts in Rajasthan, very few compare to majesty of the Mehrangarh Fort.  The fort is divided into three sections – the public areas, the Maharajas palaces, and the zenana, or queens’ palaces. The zenana is decorated with exquisite sandstone filigree work. Here are views of and from the fort.

Within the fort is the museum, guarded by this colorful fellow,which among its varied exhibits has an excellent collection of royal palanquins and the howdah section which has perhaps the finest collection of old ornate elephant howdahs in the world. Carol and I are blown away by the incredible color, detail and artistry of the miniature paintings.

After the fort, we visit Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park, spread over 72 hectares, nearby. The park contains ecologically restored desert and arid land vegetation. Sure nature’s the nuts, but walking around, and up and down, in heat and high humidity for more than an hour is overdoing nature, in my opinion. I use my walking sticks and, while I did okay, don’t expect to see me in the walking stick finals at the Tokyo olympics next year. There are birds, most of whom are sensible enough not to show their beaks in the heat. Here’s my best wildlife shot at the park. Carol, of course, liked the park, though she admitted that it wasn’t exactly comfortable.

After an excellent lunch, at an upscale and nicely air conditioned restaurant we head for Jawai. As we’ve jettisoned our guide, Praveen, after lunch, we are now only with our driver, Manu, who, it turns out, speaks much more English than we’d thought. We detour from the road for fifteen or twenty minutes to visit a village in which a resident (whose foot has been injured by his buffalo) demonstrates making opium tea for us. He offers us a taste and, after accepting, we begin to look like this.Here are photos of the outside and inside of our tea maker’s house.We also stop to see an excellent rug weaver nearby. Carol resists buying any, just because we have no conceivable place to use them. This decision seems to me to lack imagination, but, being the compliant husband that I am, I accede.

Here’s a scene from the back of a truck we get behind in a town not far from Jawai.And here are some folks on a motorcycle, stopped at a railroad crossing, where a crowd has gathered, because a few hours earlier, somebody had been struck and killed by a train.We stay at Hotel Jawai, in African style tents with wonderful views of the grasslands and the landscape. Here’s the backdrop for the camp.

We are transferred from our van to a Jeep to be transported to the camp, which is a Relais & Chateaux property. We’re greeted by the managers and shown to our tent, which has a separate bathroom area, hot water, electricity, air conditioning and WiFi.

The name of the WiFi network at Jawai is “Ruin my holiday.” In an ultimate irony, I learn that the WiFi is out in our condo at home by reading am email from our building manager while seated by the campfire tonight in the desert in India.

We have an excellent dinner and retire to our tent to prepare for an early safari tomorrow morning.

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