I don't really even remember what my original plan was going to be in Rajasthan.. I think I was going to go to Jodhpur for one night, Udaipur for two, Ahmedabad for one, and then take a magic train that not only flies but reverses time to Margao so that I could arrive on the 22nd. Everything takes longer here, and nothing is what you've been led to expect, and I guess I forgot that somewhere along the line between last year and this year... Anyway. Scratch the one night in Jodphur and make it three, scratch the two nights in Udaipur and make it one, scratch Ahmedabad altogether, scratch all those night time train or bus rides in between each place, and throw in a daytime bus and a flight to Mumbai... and you're close to what I have in place now (I hope). Tickets are purchased, so at least it's past the "maybe" stage and in to the "booked" stage; now getting to airports and train stations and finding lodging in between are the only crapshoots. At least til Christmas.
Sooo
... Long day yesterday, at the end of which I thought I'd be be getting on a sleeper bus to get to Udaipur.. No... But since, in the interim, I thought I had all day yesterday to find something to do, I decided to hop on that touristy jeep ride through villages outside Jodhpur. It turned out to be far less "commercial" than I'd feared, and the two British girls that were also along turned out to be cool. We had a good day together- went to a few family homes (obviously getting paid for this occasional interruption) as well as a pot-maker's village, block printing, and rug weaving. It was kind of nice that thngs weren't immediately for sale, so there wasn't that Disneyland shoot-you-through-the-gift-shop effect. We ate, drank, and made it back to the hotel in one piece... I have some photos from that tour that I'll post here.
Upon our return, I found out that I had to book my Ahmedabad - Goa ticket train ticket in person, so I went to the station to book... Sunday. The advance bookings desk closed just as I arrived
. Got back to the hotel after a bit of a struggle through the market area, which was fine- just tiring, and found out that the bus ticket that I thought I'd booked was not booked. So. Hedged my bet for a while, but decided not to chance it to just show up there with my bag and see if I could get on.. Stayed another night in Jodhpur, and Sam and Flora (I don't know if that's how you spell her name.. Accent is misleading) happened to be on the bus for the next day, so I ended up tagging along with them.. Which leads me to where I am right now, on the balcony of a very pretty and very touristy hotel in Udaipur. So. We are sharing a room, since it's only one night and then I take off first thing in the morning for the airport, and it'll save some money... They are taking a boat ride right now and I think I'm going to steal a shower. Til later, then, when I will upload photos and hopefully feel a bit chattier, but the sun's setting, and the few hours I have in Udaipur are waning with the sun's warmth...!
Re-inventing Rajasthan
Monday, December 21, 2009
Udaipur, Rājasthān, India
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2025-02-15