Rajastan 2

After a few days in Ahmadabad we are back on the road again, this time driving with Tulsi's parents and snacking on homemade goodies.


Our next tour of forts and palaces, much grander and older in this part of the state, starts in Udipur. Called the lake city, it is situated around two lakes with one palace in the city, one high on the overlooking hill, and one in the middle of a lake. We arrive at night, walking through a few gardens and stopping at a large traffic circle to rent a paddleboat on the manmade pond in the middle. The next morning we visit city palace, which is again divided into a museum, a hotel, and the royal family's personal residence. As we leave, our guide points out the prince (25, unmarried, and an engineer, as we've already scoped out) speaking with some men on a balcony a floor above us. Tulsi waves and he waves back. We put him on the top of the perspective husbands list.
Our next stop is Nathwara, a pilgrimage town for followers of Shree Nath Ji . I learn the story as we drive up winding roads, further into the mountains. The statue of the god is not manmade but rather was found on a mountain near Dheli so no 3-d replicas can be made. The growing group of followers keep only 2-d representations of the god come from all over to make offerings and pray to the god in this small town where the statue was moved for safety during Mogul rule. We walk through narrow streets lined with shops selling pictures of Shrinathji, sweets to offer the god, saris, toys, rajistani jewelry, and At the temple, we wait with hundreds of others for the opportunity to see the god. Once allowed in, people run to the small area where the god is housed, pushing and struggling against the press of people to have one or two minutes in front of the statue.


Back in the car, we are dodging trucks carrying huge blocks of marble, Tulsi and I jumping out of the back seat to push when we stall out on a hill. We visit Ajmer's famous mosque whose press of people has much the same feel as yesterday's holy place. We drive to Pushkar where there is the only temple to Brahma, the world's creater. It is a small town where there are thousands of temples and many foreign tourists. We continue on to Jaipur, a big city with shopping malls and movie theaters alongside ancient gates and palaces.


Jaipur's fort has the third longest surrounding wall in the world and saw most of its battle action before Mogul presence. We take an elephant ride up to the Amber Palace and bond a bit with Lukshmi, our elephant, who is 40 years old and can take your tip with her trunk. That night we go to Chokidhani an all inclusive place with all you can eat rajistani food. It turns out to be quite a ways out of town getting further away each time we stopped to ask for directions, but is worth the trip.


The next stop is Kota, where Tulsi's mother grew up. The house where the 3 generation joint family lives feels like am Indian soap opera set. Everyone is warm and welcoming. After dinner we go for a spin with Tulsi's 18 year old cousin listening to Hindi hits and Michael Jackson on the way to get crushed ice drenched in sweet syrup.The next day we pile 6 in the car to drive around Kota. We visit the palace (relatively small and rustic) and the lake and cruise past the hostels where thousands of students stay while taking test-prep classes. We return home to be stuffed full of parathas and soup before Tulsi and I get on the train to Agra.