Crystal, Gardens and a Dozen Kombuchas: A Day in Udaipur

A Morning Walk

After a really good sleep, I got up early and joined Monique and Jane for a walk around the streets of Udaipur and across the bridges. There's far less traffic and fewer people in the morning, and the views over the water were beautiful. We'd spotted a coffee shop the night before, so afterwards we sat down for a cold coffee frappé and a lassi, to keep my goodbugs up. Coffee shops aren't always easy to find in India, but we've had some in Delhi and here. ☕ I also spotted a kombucha shop on the walk and made a note to come back.

A Light Breakfast

Breakfast was on the rooftop, but I kept it light with fruit. After a week of constant eating, my gut likes a rest, and the breakfasts are rarely exciting anyway.

The City Palace

We took tuk-tuks to the City Palace and paid what felt like three times to get in, only to find much of it closed while a huge wedding was prepared. Someone is spending a lot of money, but nobody could tell us who. 💍The preparation was sooo elaborate!! Fake Polystyrene marble everywhere and temporary chandeliers!

There were plenty of merchants around the palace walls, and I bought a little marble soap dish.

The Crystal Gallery

Next door, in Fateh Prakash Palace, is the Crystal Gallery, which has an interesting backstory. In 1877 the young Maharana Sajjan Singh ordered a huge collection of crystal from F&C Osler of Birmingham. He died before it arrived, the crystal was then considered cursed and the crates sat unopened for around 110 years. There are thousands of cups and saucers, plus a mansions' full of crystal chairs, tables and chandeliers.  The big chandelier hall some visitors get to walk through wasn't open this time, but the story is crazy🤪 💎 We weren't able to take photos so here is one I downloaded for the interweb

A Haveli of Shops

After lunch we explored Ganesh Handicraft Emporium, a painted three-storey haveli on City Palace Road, near the palace entrance. The walls and windows were brightly coloured, there was product everywhere, and best of all, nobody was hassling us to buy. Photos on the wall show famous visitors, including Dame Judi Dench and Julia Roberts. The price tags were high, but it was beautiful.

 I'd bought a shirt in Delhi that I love, and spotted a similar one here, so I got a couple more tops outside the emporium. My New Zealand summer wardrobe is sorted. 👚

The Garden of the Maidens

We took another hairy tuktuk ride to visit the Queen's Gardens, Saheliyon-ki-Bari, which means "Garden of the Maidens". It was built in the early 1700s by Maharana Sangram Singh II, and according to the story, it was for the queen and the 48 women attendants who came with her as part of her dowry. It has fountains, kiosks, a lotus pool and marble elephants. 

Several of the fountains were cast in England, and I'm told they run without pumps, powered by gravity.

I made a little video of many of the flowers we see in India and at the gardens. See if you can spot:

Madagascar bird of paradiseIxora
Alamander
Skyblue clustering
cockscomb
Tongue birds ear
Onion vine
Cluster bouganvillia

🌸https://www.capcut.com/tv2/ZSgUN3Cp2/

Kombucha and Dessert on the Roof

We went back to the hotel for sunset drinks and dinner. Afterwards I went back to find that kombucha shop and caught the owner just as he was closing.

 I bought a dozen bottles, as we love kombucha, and these were craftier and local.

 Then we picked up some dessert and sat on the rooftop with the lights for another hour or so of yapping, before bed. Tomorrow it's an early morning  coffee walk again, then on to Pushkar.

Jodper to Udaipur Jain Temple and the "Venice of India"

From Jodhpur to the City of Lakes: Monkeys, Marble and Dussehra FireworksThe Road to Udaipur

The drive from Jodhpur to Udaipur was very interesting. We wound along a long, bumpy ridge and passed monkeys, mining, salt plains and fascinating rock formations and some Ianian water wheels:-) I'm one of those people who falls asleep as soon as anything moves, so I slept through most of it from the back seat. What I did notice is that even out here in the desert and countryside, there are still lots of people. These are the main roads, with settlements all the way. 🐒

Ranakpur Jain Temple

We broke the trip at the Ranakpur Jain Temple, one of India's largest and most important Jain temples. It was started in the 15th century by a Jain merchant, Dharna Shah, after he dreamt of a heavenly flying palace. It's built of pale marble, with 1,444 carved pillars, and no two are alike. Ranakpur is named after the local ruler, Rana Kumbha, who backed the project. We had a free lunch there, a simple Jain meal, which is cooked without onion or garlic. 🙏

Tuk-tuks into the Old City

We couldn't drive into the hotel, so our bus stopped at the old city gate which was festivly adorned and we squeezed into tuk-tuks with all our luggage. We'll be riding a few of these over the next couple of days. 🛺

A Traditional Welcome

At the Wonder Hotel we were met with a traditional greeting: flower garlands (not leis, they're called malas), and a red dot, or tilak, on our foreheads. The dot is a blessing and a mark of welcome, applied between the eyebrows, a spot Hindus see as a centre of spiritual insight.

Sunset over the City of Lakes

We found our beautiful rooms, then went up to the rooftop restaurant for drinks and panoramic views. Udaipur is nicknamed the "Venice of the East" for its lakes and palaces, and we watched the sun go down and the lights come on. Fireworks went off and the drumming started, as Dussehra, the festival celebrating the victory of good over evil, was in full swing. It's loud, but nothing compared to Diwali, I'm told. The noise stopped at about 10, and I had a great sleep.

Potters, Weavers and a Farmhouse Ceremony: Rural Jodhpur

Today was a late start and early finish but we packed a lot in! After a few huge days of eating, I skipped breakfast and yoga and slept in. At about 10 we picked up our guide from the Sambhali Trust and headed out to the countryside.

The Potter's Wheel

Our first stop was a potter, who showed us a traditional hand-spun wheel. Electric ones exist, but this is the old way, and a couple of us had a go. Those unglazed water jugs we keep seeing work because water seeps through the clay and evaporates in the desert wind, which cools what's inside by several degrees. I touched one, and the water really is cool. I've got my eye on a yoghurt pot that works the same way, but I doubt I'd get it back to NZ in one piece and I'd prefer it tested for lead etc.

A Traditional Opium Ceremony

At a farmhouse, we saw an amal, a ceremony where opium is shared, an old Rajput custom for weddings and other occasions. It's drunk mixed with water, not smoked, and we watched our host prepare a little. It's almost  illegal now, and addiction is a real problem, especially among older people. It's also not grown here, so it must come from licensed farms in other regions.

Turbans and Saris

Our host showed us how he ties his turban, and Bhooi showed us his own way, which is different, so styles vary between regions and communities. We also dressed up in saris for photos. 

Farm Life and Dung

The farmhouse was very typical, with animals in stables, an outdoor kitchen and a water tank filled by a tanker. 

The dung piles are everywhere, and they have many uses. Dried cakes of it are fuel, and in some parts of India it's turned into biogas for cooking. Ahead of Diwali, it's mixed into a slurry and plastered over outdoor floors, where it hardens like concrete and can be painted and decorated. It's a bad farming season, as Bhooi told us, so families look for extra income, like milking animals and selling the milk in town.

Women on the Roads

We passed women in beautiful saris eating lunch beside roadworks. It's likely part of a government rural work scheme, which guarantees days of paid work to rural households,  the pay is low - less than NZ$10/day but may also include food

The Weavers

Next was a beautiful guest house in a village known for weaving. The whole village is involved. Families split the tasks, from collecting camel hair to dyeing the yarn, and our host family does an interlocking weave, which is strong and reversible. A rug of about 90 by 150 cm takes around two months. Our group bought three rugs, and mine is a heavy camel and coconut husk one for our deck. It's backbreaking work, and I can see why young people don't want it, but buying a rug supports a whole village. 📍 

Back in Jodhpur

We collected our tie-dye from the Sambhali Trust, which had been turned into pillow covers for us.

Fortress of the Sun, and an Afternoon at Sambhali Trust

This is a second attempt at publishing! The internet like electricity and hotwater is like a box of chocolates in India....

PART 1: MEHRANGARH FORT

First Impressions

We started the morning at Mehrangarh Fort, which towers about 400 feet above Jodhpur. I was impressed before we even got inside. The modern steel walkways and security checkpoints have been painted the same colour as the fort's stone, so nothing looks garish or official. 

Walls Carved From the Cliff

Rao Jodha began the fort in 1459, though most of it dates from the 1600s. The walls are up to 36 metres high and 21 metres thick, and they rise straight out of the rock they were cut from. We climbed through a series of gates, one still scarred by cannonballs.

At the last, the Loha Pol, small red handprints mark the royal widows who committed Sati on on Maharaja Man Singh's funeral pyre in 1843, a sobering moment. Sati had already been outlawed for 14 and presumably they were drugged out of their minds and NOT in serenely calm 📷 [gates, walls]

Our Own Pace

We were given headphones for an audio tour, which let us stop where we liked and take as long as we wanted. We spent a couple of hours. Mehrangarh means "Fort of the Sun", after the sun god the ruling family claim descent from, and it's still owned by the royal family. The current maharaja, Gaj Singh II, took the throne in 1952 at the age of four.

Palanquins and Women's Quarters

The museum is full of royal treasures, including the gilded palanquins (palki) used to carry royalty. We also got a glimpse of women's life in the fort, with its screened windows. Restoration is ongoing, and it's great to see.

PART 2: THE SAMBHALI TRUST

What It Is

Then it was off to the Sambhali Trust, the charity behind so many of our activities. It was founded in 2007 by Govind Singh Rathore, who began with 16 women under the thatched roof of his own house. Today it runs empowerment centres in Jodhpur, Setrawa and Jaisalmer, and has reached tens of thousands of women and children.

How It Works

Women usually spend about a year learning skills, and children get scholarships, so some stay with the Trust for many years, learning to read and write. They get opportunities they might otherwise have not.

Our Afternoon

Our visit was a paid activity, which is a good way for guests to help. We tried tie-dye, which in Rajasthan is called bandhani, where tiny knots in the cloth resist the dye and leave patterns.

We watched a cooking demonstration, enjoyed local musicians and dancers,

 ate far more food, and had henna painted on our hands. 

We were especially impressed with the Khartal playing -  an ancient Indian percussion instrument made of a pair of flat, rectangular wooden sticks often referred to as Indian castanets. Players produce sharp, high-speed rhythmic clacking by holding both blocks in one hand and snapping them together using a thumb and finger technique. Most prominently featured in Rajasthani folk music and devotional bhajan singing, 

The Shop and the Foundation

The women and children make crafts, which are sold in the shop, and I came away with a few pieces. The Sambhali Development Foundation, started in 2024, also runs a café and guided walks to help the Trust support itself.

Volunteer If You Can

There seem to be fewer volunteers this year, and it's something I'd recommend to any traveller wanting to make a difference. I'm glad we could contribute as tourists. ❤️