Rob and Anna's travel adventure

Udaipur and Mt. Abu, India

Anna's entry:

Udaipur was our first stop in Jajastan region of India. We stayed with a local family there. Anila, the mother of the family, is a professor at a local university, and she is nationally famous for production of mushrooms (the ones to eat, not the other kind). Anyway, Anila was a pioneer in India for cultivating mushrooms for Indian diet. It was her research lab that introduced this notion to Indians. Anila makes the best ginger masala chai, I could still taste it, it was so good!

Udaipur is a truly interesting place, just by walking around you cuold spend hours people gazing, cow gazing, donkey gazing, goat dazing, dog gazing, pig gazing, etc. The center piece of the city is the floating Lake Palace, part of Jame Bond movie "Octopussy" were filmed here. And, I just read in the local papers that American pop-star Madonna came here with her family for the New Year. Oh, boy, I sure hope she has a good sense of humor, or she will be up for a surprise what Udaipur streets are like. Also, I read that she is bringing lots of secret service in cars with her. How are the cars going to be moving around?? The streets are narrow, cows are laying right in the middle of the streets, donkeys and goats are stalling all the traffic, and I am not even mentioning the numerous auto-rickshaws... But, I am sure, she will figure this out, maybe a helicopter would be an option here. But, the city itself is very interesting. Palaces, colorful processions, incredible cultural experience, that's for sure!


The city view from the top of the hill


The magnificent City Palace, built in 1600


The cityscape, with the City Palace in the center


Lake Palace, where James Bond movie was shot


With our host Anila and her family


On the way to the Sunset Point


I was told that this is how I should properly sit in India


Rob still doesn't want to pose, but I made him


Udaipur is extremely photogenic


Colorful religious procession


Cows are given the yield of right anywhere here


Women of Udaipur


Strong and beautiful


Just another day in Udaipur...


The handsome old fellow


Women washing clothes


Camel ride in Udaipur




Mt. Abu

Mt. Abu is located about five hours by bus from Udaipur. It rises above southern Rajastan, cool on the hills of the baking dessert plains. It's a welcome hill station retreat, slow pace, and quite, especially compared to Udaipur. We spent over a week there, and were able to catch our breath, literally... The cities of India are very polluted, combined with the dessert air (with sand in the air), it was somewhat difficult to breath at times... But, Mt.Abu was a different story - the mountain air was fresh, and a lack of touts was a nice change. In addition, Mt. Abu has the finest carved temples in India, built in the 11th century, called Dilwara temples. Photography was not allowed, so I will try to describe them. Temples are entirely made of marble, and they are completely hand carved. About 2,500 workers worked on these temples, and it took them about 15 years to complete them. In places, the work is so fine, that the marble becomes almost transparent.

Another thing that we enjoyed in Mt. Abu was just a very common every-day-kind-of-thing occurrence. We really liked the market scene - we went there for breakfast to get a plate of pakoras and chai from a local stall. We became regulars there, so the stall owner would always throw some fresh pakora for us in the boiling oil. They were very tasty. While having our breakfast at a stall. we would frequently observe a funny scene - stray goats would always try to steal something from an unobservant seller. Sometimes it would be radishes, or carrots, or spinach, or anything green for that matter. When a seller would notice what was going on, he would start chasing a goat away, and in the meanwhile, another one would run to his cart, and make a helping to whatever was laying there. They are mischievous, those stray goats!

We also did a little hiking up the hill to watch the sunset, and just walked around the hills to get away from people, which is possible, but not for too long... We continued to receive numerous requests from locals for a photo of us or with them, so "paparazziness" continued. But, people were very sweet, so we did not refuse anyone a photo. By now we have got used to it. :)

Local love birds over Nakki Lake
(by the way, it was an arranged marriage couple)


Cows and temples, of course, why not?


Toad Rock over the Nakki Lake
(Former Maharaja (king) Palace on the background


Rob is looking cool
(He still refuses to pose for pictures,
so he is mocking my attempts)


At the Sunset Point


Ahhh... Finally away from people, for how long though?


Mt. Abu Market


Streets of Mt. Abu village


Cows, horses, goats, monkeys, people, business as usual


Anna feeding stray goat with orange peels, yamm....


Local kids playing


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posted by Rob and Anna @ 5:29 PM