The alarm went off at 4.45am this morning, so we had a pitch dark packing up of the sleeping bags and tent for the fourth and final time. After four consecutive nights of camping, tent breakdown was quite smooth, but I am ready for some real sheets, and to feel something other than rocks below me. We only truly bush-camped once- three nights were in the grounds of various guest-houses, so we had access to toilets (you know you've been in India a while when you choose the squat toilet over the Western pedestal style). And even a couple cold showers, which made the 30-degree-plus heat slightly more bearable.
Our first stop after Udaipur was Mandu. The 15th century complex was fairly expansive and the guide showed us the Ship Palace (so named for its oblong shape and location between two lakes), the Swing Palace (for its sloping walls) and Champa Bodi (Turkish bath) in the Royal Enclave- for the sultan and his 15,000 queens (not a typo- imagine the cat fights!). There was also an auditorium with fantastic acoustics- Ida sang a beautiful version of Hallelujah in one corner of the huge theatre, while the rest of us listened in a distant enclave. Outside the Royal Enclave, we visited some of the sights in Mandu village. Baobab trees grow here (brought from Africa centuries ago), so the little chalky white seeds are sold as a snack. They are like a less chemically extreme version of a warhead- sour then sweet. I tried them as we walked around the Jama Masjid, a disused mosque and supposedly the largest example of Afghan architecture in India. As well as the main dome, there were several dozen smaller domes that functioned as "loudspeakers," so we were treated to another spectacular version of Hallelujah. I think of cloisters as a distinctly British cathedral or university thing, but this mosque had a pretty fine set. Nearby was Hoshang's Tomb. While it is probably India's oldest marble building, I confess that the tombs are starting to run together in my memory, and it's hard to be overly impressed after the Taj Mahal. Though apparently the Taj architects did come check out this tomb for some inspiration.
For most of the camping days, we were sadly without Dollie and Vincent, who were stuck in Udaipur with a violent bout of food poisoning. Though we temporarily lost those two from the truck, we gained Raffik and his son Shahid, two local cooks who provided breakfast, lunch and dinner for 4 days! It was such a welcome change to not have to think about going out to a restaurant for every meal. Their cooking was absolutely fantastic and they were really lovely- also very devoted to Dragoman. Raffik brought out his scrapbooks one night, of photos and letters from Dragoman going back to 2002. There's even a photo of him in India's Top Gear magazine, when there was a feature on Daisy.
On the 20th (happy birthday, dad!), we visited the Ajanta Caves, which are truly spectacular. The Ellora caves (visited the following day) are known for their carved sculptures, but the Ajanta caves are famous for their preserved paintings. Like Chislehurst, "caves" is a misnomer as they are not natural, but carved out of the rock gorge, starting in 200BC. And like a previous "Armshaws on Tour" destination Machu Picchu, this wonder was long ago forgotten and taken over by nature, before its accidental rediscovery by a Brit on a tiger-hunting expedition in 1819 (John Smith carved his name into a column shortly thereafter). I hope the helpful tiger survived the incident. The "caves" were used as a Buddhist monastery and many of the frescoes show events from Siddhartha's life. They are very colourful and incredibly well preserved for being 2200 years old. We laughed when we saw a Chinese woman go past in a palanquin with four bearers, but considering the horrible heat and long descent (20+ minutes just going down steps), maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad idea. We only saw a selection of the 30 caves, but had a grand view of the horseshoe arrangement from above.
Ellora - which we saw yesterday - was variously used over the course of five centuries as Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples. Like Ajanta, the caves were laboriously carved out of the mountain, but thanks to the more gentle slope of the hill, here the architects were able to carve out lovely courtyards as well. The acoustics in the first temple we visited were simply astounding; our guide chanted a Buddhist prayer, and the resonance made me feel as though, given the right note and a perfect spot, you could hum the mountain into shaking. We were taken to six temples/monasteries, but the absolute highlight was Kailash Temple, the largest single monolithic structure in the world. It consists of a large, lavishly decorated main temple with an entrance tower linked by a second floor walkway ... You know what? It's easier to look at the pictures when we post them in April. :)
After that our tour ended, but we and the cool kids (Sophie, Emily and Vincent) decided to check out the Jain Temple about 1.5 km down the road. Of course, five youngish people going off alone to check out an abandoned temple is the stuff horror movies are made of, so we started arguing about which one of us would survive, who would be the first victim, and who the killer would end up being revealed as (Emma, me and undercooked chicken, respectively). Fortunately, we all survived, and the temple was worth the hike in the blazing sun and back again, although having to immediately set up the camp within 5 minutes of schlepping back we could have done without.
That evening we found as much shade as physically possible, read, played Uno, and snacked on fresh-made pakora, courtesy of Raffik, before eating a lovely dinner. We stayed up a little, drinking rum and mango juice, talking with our fellow travellers. It really hit us all that this part of the journey is coming to an end. We'll be losing some amazing people, but Sophie has plans on meeting up with us and the notorious Kate in London in the summer, and Ida has a standing invitation to visit us anytime she feels the urge. Sarah has demanded that we visit her in Switzerland, and her offer of a couch puts that into the realm of financial possibility, while the pictures she showed us of her town make it a highly attractive one. We also get to keep Vince, Emily and Sandy, so we will have some friends with us for the next portion, even if the newbies aren't quite as great as our current crew.
This part has gone by so fast - it's crazy to think that our trip to Peru would have been ending about now, while ours has really only just begun! Signing off from the rocky road to Mumbai.
Em and Pat
Our first stop after Udaipur was Mandu. The 15th century complex was fairly expansive and the guide showed us the Ship Palace (so named for its oblong shape and location between two lakes), the Swing Palace (for its sloping walls) and Champa Bodi (Turkish bath) in the Royal Enclave- for the sultan and his 15,000 queens (not a typo- imagine the cat fights!). There was also an auditorium with fantastic acoustics- Ida sang a beautiful version of Hallelujah in one corner of the huge theatre, while the rest of us listened in a distant enclave. Outside the Royal Enclave, we visited some of the sights in Mandu village. Baobab trees grow here (brought from Africa centuries ago), so the little chalky white seeds are sold as a snack. They are like a less chemically extreme version of a warhead- sour then sweet. I tried them as we walked around the Jama Masjid, a disused mosque and supposedly the largest example of Afghan architecture in India. As well as the main dome, there were several dozen smaller domes that functioned as "loudspeakers," so we were treated to another spectacular version of Hallelujah. I think of cloisters as a distinctly British cathedral or university thing, but this mosque had a pretty fine set. Nearby was Hoshang's Tomb. While it is probably India's oldest marble building, I confess that the tombs are starting to run together in my memory, and it's hard to be overly impressed after the Taj Mahal. Though apparently the Taj architects did come check out this tomb for some inspiration.
For most of the camping days, we were sadly without Dollie and Vincent, who were stuck in Udaipur with a violent bout of food poisoning. Though we temporarily lost those two from the truck, we gained Raffik and his son Shahid, two local cooks who provided breakfast, lunch and dinner for 4 days! It was such a welcome change to not have to think about going out to a restaurant for every meal. Their cooking was absolutely fantastic and they were really lovely- also very devoted to Dragoman. Raffik brought out his scrapbooks one night, of photos and letters from Dragoman going back to 2002. There's even a photo of him in India's Top Gear magazine, when there was a feature on Daisy.
On the 20th (happy birthday, dad!), we visited the Ajanta Caves, which are truly spectacular. The Ellora caves (visited the following day) are known for their carved sculptures, but the Ajanta caves are famous for their preserved paintings. Like Chislehurst, "caves" is a misnomer as they are not natural, but carved out of the rock gorge, starting in 200BC. And like a previous "Armshaws on Tour" destination Machu Picchu, this wonder was long ago forgotten and taken over by nature, before its accidental rediscovery by a Brit on a tiger-hunting expedition in 1819 (John Smith carved his name into a column shortly thereafter). I hope the helpful tiger survived the incident. The "caves" were used as a Buddhist monastery and many of the frescoes show events from Siddhartha's life. They are very colourful and incredibly well preserved for being 2200 years old. We laughed when we saw a Chinese woman go past in a palanquin with four bearers, but considering the horrible heat and long descent (20+ minutes just going down steps), maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad idea. We only saw a selection of the 30 caves, but had a grand view of the horseshoe arrangement from above.
Ellora - which we saw yesterday - was variously used over the course of five centuries as Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples. Like Ajanta, the caves were laboriously carved out of the mountain, but thanks to the more gentle slope of the hill, here the architects were able to carve out lovely courtyards as well. The acoustics in the first temple we visited were simply astounding; our guide chanted a Buddhist prayer, and the resonance made me feel as though, given the right note and a perfect spot, you could hum the mountain into shaking. We were taken to six temples/monasteries, but the absolute highlight was Kailash Temple, the largest single monolithic structure in the world. It consists of a large, lavishly decorated main temple with an entrance tower linked by a second floor walkway ... You know what? It's easier to look at the pictures when we post them in April. :)
After that our tour ended, but we and the cool kids (Sophie, Emily and Vincent) decided to check out the Jain Temple about 1.5 km down the road. Of course, five youngish people going off alone to check out an abandoned temple is the stuff horror movies are made of, so we started arguing about which one of us would survive, who would be the first victim, and who the killer would end up being revealed as (Emma, me and undercooked chicken, respectively). Fortunately, we all survived, and the temple was worth the hike in the blazing sun and back again, although having to immediately set up the camp within 5 minutes of schlepping back we could have done without.
That evening we found as much shade as physically possible, read, played Uno, and snacked on fresh-made pakora, courtesy of Raffik, before eating a lovely dinner. We stayed up a little, drinking rum and mango juice, talking with our fellow travellers. It really hit us all that this part of the journey is coming to an end. We'll be losing some amazing people, but Sophie has plans on meeting up with us and the notorious Kate in London in the summer, and Ida has a standing invitation to visit us anytime she feels the urge. Sarah has demanded that we visit her in Switzerland, and her offer of a couch puts that into the realm of financial possibility, while the pictures she showed us of her town make it a highly attractive one. We also get to keep Vince, Emily and Sandy, so we will have some friends with us for the next portion, even if the newbies aren't quite as great as our current crew.
This part has gone by so fast - it's crazy to think that our trip to Peru would have been ending about now, while ours has really only just begun! Signing off from the rocky road to Mumbai.
Em and Pat
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