|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:21:35 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:21:52 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:22:18 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:23:00 GMT
I didn’t take a lot of photos today, it was more a travelling day as I had quite a long way to go between Jaisalmer and Udaipur. The quickest way would have been to backtrack some distance but I didn’t want to do that, so I had to go the longer way round. Before I get to that though there is one oddity to mention. At least it’s a bit odd to me - hotel check in and out times. Normally I’ve experienced check in to be 2pm and check out to be 12 noon, or there abouts. The hotel in Jaisalmer had a check in time of 10am and a check out the same, 10am. This didn’t affect me as I wanted to set off early, but I did notice when I’ve been looking in the internet that it happens quite often in the last few places I’ve gone to. The only problem I had this morning was that at 6.30am, for some reason, a group of tourists turned up at the hotel and made a lot of noise sorting things out. It seemed that they were all just waiting around inside the hotel. Unfortunately they decided to head for the restaurant, just as I did for my breakfast. I could foresee a very long wait (there was about twenty of them) so I gave up and got in my car, hitting the road at 7am. It was still only just getting light but I drove out of the town and caught a couple of shots of the sunrise –
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:23:19 GMT
I initially stopped off for a cup of chai at one of the truckstops but wasn’t actually hungry enough for something to eat. But I had a plan. I knew today would be a long and winding road so I thought I’d miss out on an organised lunch as such and just grab some street food type stuff as I went through the villages. There is a wealth of food available but as always I seem to be attracted by the unhealthy deep fried stuff. First off was a handful (actually one and then went back and got another) of pakora. The only thing I could taste in them was chilli, boy, they were hot – This was the cart I bought them from and the ‘head chef’ –
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:23:49 GMT
A little later I decided to stop and have some crisps (chips, to some nationalities). These were really good but I admit I don’t really know what the white lumps were on the cart, maybe sugar – A while later I bought a couple of other things just to keep me going. The first ones are a batter surrounding a potato/veg curry with a large chilli inside, probably the chilli was actually stuffed with the potato but I’m not sure. The other more round item is like a dough stuffed with lentil curry and deep fried. Whatever they were, they were filling – Anyway, to finish off just a couple of shots of how the roads have deteriorated and how the scenery has changed over the miles – I’m in two minds tomorrow whether to have a mooch around locally and stay in the same place, or continue on. First I’ll have a meal and think about it.
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:24:47 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:25:20 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:27:05 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:27:24 GMT
Saw a few more mates –
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:27:50 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:28:07 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:29:03 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:29:34 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:29:52 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:30:20 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:30:55 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:33:04 GMT
I needed to get up to a place called the Monsoon Palace. Usually it’s a hot spot for the sunset but the times I’ve been there before it was packed out at the viewpoints and you couldn’t see the city nor the sunset, unless you pushed your way through. So I thought I’d slip up when it was quieter as we’ve seen plenty of sunsets anyway. The sun doesn’t actually set at this time of year over the lakes anyway, so it’s a bit of a wasted effort in any case. However, just as I stopped (in the car) to get my bearings (I do have a SatNav but the free routable map I installed for India is pretty crap and is only good for the main roads), I had to decide to go straight on or right over the small bridge. The decision was made for me when I saw the following coming towards me –
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:33:24 GMT
So I waited – But then I realised the streets were too narrow to pass it for a while. Never mind – Eventually I slipped past it and had a view of where I was going in the distance –
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:34:11 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:34:28 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:36:34 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:37:07 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:37:24 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:38:20 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:38:43 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:39:18 GMT
I took this today. A short idea of what some of the roads are like. Bear in mind this is one of the national highways, thus equivalent to a 'A' road in the UK. The most I could do without shaking the car apart was 50km/hr and I've been hours and hours on these. Some of them are better, some worse. The more minor roads are mostly a lot worse, usually 1st and 2nd gear stuff.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3y_ABdBd_o&feature=youtu.be [/youtube]
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:39:42 GMT
Eventually arrived at the place I want to be and checked in to the hotel. I had a quick freshen up and went for a walk to visit the following site. When I returned I hung around the reception because I needed the password to log in to the internet. No one appeared. So I went outside where some men were sitting and gave my impression of being hopelessly lost. One man asked if he could help me. The following conversation took place. Me – “I need the internet password for the hotel but there’s nobody there.” Him – “Well the boss isn’t there, he has it.” “When will he come back?” “Sometime tonight” “Are you telling me nobody has the password apart from the boss?” “Internet is difficult here, he has it.” “When will he come?” “Anytime tonight.” “Can you phone him up then, or better still, give me his number and I’ll ring him.” “Where are you from?” I pause for a second and say, “Germany” I get a grunt in reply. Me – “I’ll ring him then ok?” Him – “I’ll do it.” A short telephone conversation takes place as we walk back inside. When he finishes I notice he hasn’t written anything down. Must be a simple password methinks. Him - “You don’t sound German.” “No, I’m not. I’m English but I’ve been living in Germany” “Getting money out the bastards ah?” “Something like that.” “I have a house in Nice on the Cote d’Azur, a girlfriend who is a fashion model in England, I have a diamond shop in Antwerp and many businesses all over the world. I am the boss of the hotel. I hate them, they are fucking lying cheating bastards.” “You don’t like them then?” “No. The fucking thieving bastards robbed me out of a lot of money. A million Euros.” “If you’re the boss then can I have the password then?” He then wrote it down and I left.
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:41:32 GMT
First off, another couple of shots of the countryside before I got to the hotel. The first couple of hours drive were horrendous again, first gear stuff. Then I took a more minor road towards my destination – Khajaraho. This road was peaceful, quiet and scenic –
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Feb 23, 2013 10:42:09 GMT
As I don’t have a lot of time to fill out all the details at the moment I’ll put a link here to read more if it is of interest. However – “The Khajuraho Group of Monuments in Khajuraho, a town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, located in Chhatarpur District, about 620 kilometres (385 mi) southeast of New Delhi, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous for their erotic sculptures by chandale kings . The Khajuraho temples were built over a span of 200 years, from 950 to 1150. There were originally over 80 Hindu temples, of which only 25 now stand in a reasonable state of preservation, scattered over an area of about 20 square kilometres (8 sq mi). The erotic sculptures were crafted by Chandella artisans. Today, the temples serve as fine examples of Indian architectural styles that have gained popularity due to their explicit depiction of sexual life during medieval times.”en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khajuraho_Group_of_Monuments
|
|