Feb 15 My last full day in India

I spent the day sightseeing in Udaipur. This is a lovely way to finish the trip. Udaipur is the cleanest city I have been to in India. Having said that it is also the first place where I stepped in a cow patty. There goes my record, 25 days without stepping into one of those.
Udaipur is the home of the Marahana of Mewar, the name of the local ruling family. He can trace his lineage back to the 6th century, making this the longest ruling dynasty in the world. They have done well. Over the last few years he has converted his palaces into museums and luxury hotels.
The City Palace, part of which is his residence, is huge, 250 m long, and it is very opulent. It still has a lot of the family's furnishings and art works. It is very impressive. There is a Crystal Gallery, showing his collections. There is even a bed made of crystal. The great hall has seating for a few hundred people, and has three 1000kg chandeliers.
Udaipur is located in a pretty setting, there is a 4km long lake, and it is surrounded by hills. One of the palaces takes up an entire small island, and is now a luxury hotel. Prices start at 750 dollars a night, and go up to 3000 dollars a night. Those suites have their own lotus shaped swimming pools.
It was also a setting in the James Bond Movie, Octopussy.
I had lunch at a restaurant called the "Edelweiss". Imagine an Austrian restaurant without slabs of cheese and meat. It's like a brothel without women..an oxymoron.
This is probably my last entry, so I should leave some final impressions.
-Registering in any hotel, no matter how much of a dive takes time. There is a huge ledger, 18 by 30 inches. The usual information, name, address in Canada, sex, age, passport number, Indian visa number, but also when these documents were issued, when they expire, and where they were issued. Exact  time of arrival at the hotel, what city you came from, what city you will travel to next. One place even asked for my father's first name. Once that is filled out there is another register that repeats just about everything.
-Coke and Pepsi still is served in bottles
-Stores still sell rolls of Kodak film. I wonder what the "Best to use" date is on those
-You can still buy 256M photo cards
-Even though a guide book can give you the name and street number of a hotel, it is completely useless, because there are NO street signs, and I have yet to see a street number on any building. The only way to get anyplace is to ride a tuk-tuk, and even they sometimes have to ask for directions.
-I have never seen a speed limit sign. Outside of Delhi I have yet to see a traffic light.
-Streets and public urinals are the same thing.
-You do see a lot of animals on the street; dogs, buffalo, cows, oxen, donkeys, goats, monkeys, camels, and even elephants. I know that one of the questions on the customs form when I get back to Canada is whether I have visited a farm. I can honestly say no, but I won't mention that the farm was with me the entire trip.
It will be quite an adjustment getting back to the Canadian way of life, but I have to say I am looking forward to the change.
I hope you have enjoyed my musings. It has been quite the experience.
Auf Wiedersehen

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone

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

Feb 12 still in Jodhpur

This is turning into a real holiday, very relaxed and comfortable.
I had originally planned to take a bus to Udaipur today, but my landlady told me the buses that go there are not very uncomfortable. I happen to be sitting with a French couple who were also going to Udaipur, but not till Monday. I decided to stay here another day, and we will share a car to Udaipur on Monday.
Mornings here have been lovely. At about 6 I can hear the call to prayer from a nearby mosque. A very nice melodic chant. There is a group of doves nesting outside my window, and for the next hour or so, before the traffic starts all I can hear is the gentle cooing of doves.
The weather has warmed up quite a bit. The high today was 28, the low 12. I slept without my arctic nightwear for the first time on this trip.
I have walked all over the old town, and, once you get away from the tourist spots, it is very pleasant. The stores here are quite different. There are literally hundreds of little shops. The ground floor of every building is a shop. Most are about 10 by 20 feet. The textile shops are lined floor to ceiling with bolts of materials. If you want to buy something you sit on a cushion, tea is served, and the salesman starts his pitch. There is always an assistant who brings bolts of the materials that the salesman suggests. The only stores that are similar to what we are used to are emporiums that are strictly for tourists. Every tour I have been on has stopped at one or two of these. There is usually a floor for carpets, another for textiles, then jewelry and crafts. High pressure sales all the way. I have learned not to even go in anymore.
I read on the news last year that the Indian government has denied permission for Walmart and Home Depot to open stores in India. I think a Walmart would put thousands of these little stores out of business.
I did have another "Indian" moment this morning. As we were having breakfast we looked down to the street and there was an elephant rambling down the street. What a sight!
One more night in Jodhpur, and then it's off to my last stop before returning home.
Tata