When I talked about how comfortable this trip has become I spoke too soon.
Sunday I got sick to my stomach. Not pleasant.
The bigger problem was that I had agreed to share a car to Udaipur with a French couple, so I had an all day car ride ahead of me.
I still can't get over the driving here. The road out of Jodhpur was good, 4 lane, well paved. After an hour it became a 2 lane. Still not bad. Rajasthan is very flat, and the roads are straight.
We then turned off on a side road to Kanakpur, one of the largest Jain temples in India.
Here the road turned tricky. It was a SINGLE lane of paving, sometimes it was only a bit of aspalt connecting a lot of potholes. If traffic comes towards you, you just pull over to the dirt shoulder until you have passed. The thing that I had some difficulty is getting used to the left hand drive. As you speed towards each other I expect to move to the right. Well, here it is that you have to move left. Takes times to get used to,
The other thing is that the topography is different. Very hilly, so now the roads are curvy and bumpy. Not ideal for a queasy stomach. There are no "no passing" zones, Blind curves, villages, all is game. You just lean on the horn and go. Needless to say there are close calls.
The one nice thing was that I did get a chance to see rural India. We saw a lot of villages. Many women collecting, and carrying bundles of wood. I wondered how they balanced it, but it turns out that they have a cloth ring, doughnut shaped, which softenes the load. Still heavy, but not as painful Lots of shepherds, usually little girls. One sight was unreal. It was a farmer who was lifting water from a pond to his fields. The power came from a pair of oxen. It was just like a picture from ancient Egypt. The only difference was he used tin cans rather than reed buckets.
Also lots of buses, packed to the hilt, with people riding on top.
The temple at Kanakpur is in a remote setting, and very big. It has 20 interior rooms, divided by marble columns, each exquisitele carved. There are 1444 of these columns. I didn't count them, I took the guide book's word for it.
After that visit we took another hour to see another fort, Kumbhalgarth. Another impressive fort, on a high hill, gorgeous views, because this part of the country is hilly. To be honest I would have passed on this one, on that day anyway.
We finally arrived in Udaipur at 5:30, and I was happy that I had booked a hotel ahead. And it turned out a beauty. Nicest place I have stayed in so far. Even Sandy would stay here.
Another problem arose, when I tried to buy a plane ticket back to Delhi, on Thursday, No luck, everything was booked. So Plan B is to take an overnight bus on Wednesday, arriving in Delhi in the morning. 15 hours, but I did get a sleeper.
Tata
Sunday I got sick to my stomach. Not pleasant.
The bigger problem was that I had agreed to share a car to Udaipur with a French couple, so I had an all day car ride ahead of me.
I still can't get over the driving here. The road out of Jodhpur was good, 4 lane, well paved. After an hour it became a 2 lane. Still not bad. Rajasthan is very flat, and the roads are straight.
We then turned off on a side road to Kanakpur, one of the largest Jain temples in India.
Here the road turned tricky. It was a SINGLE lane of paving, sometimes it was only a bit of aspalt connecting a lot of potholes. If traffic comes towards you, you just pull over to the dirt shoulder until you have passed. The thing that I had some difficulty is getting used to the left hand drive. As you speed towards each other I expect to move to the right. Well, here it is that you have to move left. Takes times to get used to,
The other thing is that the topography is different. Very hilly, so now the roads are curvy and bumpy. Not ideal for a queasy stomach. There are no "no passing" zones, Blind curves, villages, all is game. You just lean on the horn and go. Needless to say there are close calls.
The one nice thing was that I did get a chance to see rural India. We saw a lot of villages. Many women collecting, and carrying bundles of wood. I wondered how they balanced it, but it turns out that they have a cloth ring, doughnut shaped, which softenes the load. Still heavy, but not as painful Lots of shepherds, usually little girls. One sight was unreal. It was a farmer who was lifting water from a pond to his fields. The power came from a pair of oxen. It was just like a picture from ancient Egypt. The only difference was he used tin cans rather than reed buckets.
Also lots of buses, packed to the hilt, with people riding on top.
The temple at Kanakpur is in a remote setting, and very big. It has 20 interior rooms, divided by marble columns, each exquisitele carved. There are 1444 of these columns. I didn't count them, I took the guide book's word for it.
After that visit we took another hour to see another fort, Kumbhalgarth. Another impressive fort, on a high hill, gorgeous views, because this part of the country is hilly. To be honest I would have passed on this one, on that day anyway.
We finally arrived in Udaipur at 5:30, and I was happy that I had booked a hotel ahead. And it turned out a beauty. Nicest place I have stayed in so far. Even Sandy would stay here.
Another problem arose, when I tried to buy a plane ticket back to Delhi, on Thursday, No luck, everything was booked. So Plan B is to take an overnight bus on Wednesday, arriving in Delhi in the morning. 15 hours, but I did get a sleeper.
Tata
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