Alert: not posting photos because the wifi is too slow (everybody is on at once)
Anna has been posting on Facebook and Instagram
6 January
On the hwy from Ahmedabad to Udaipur. Our driver, Ravi, called Udaipur a "tourist city". We'll do our best not to succumb.
The countryside since north of Mumbai has been pretty flat and mostly green. On this road we have been passion many farm-cultivated areas as well as herds of cows and even one flock of sheep. Some industrial off in the distance (mills? gins?) off and on. Parts of it remind me of south Alabama landscape wise. And then, a temple will pop up, or that concrete construction with the rebar sticking out the top, or the road signs in Sanskrit script -- and you definitely realize you are in India!
I don't know what I expected-- but I certainly did not expect to love and enjoy it so much.
Also - by every indication I should have been severely car/motion sick several times -- I mean, really, I get queasy riding in the passenger seat between Ukiah and Cloverdale -- but the happy report is that I seem to be able to do all manner of things (knit, read, write this) in the back seat without harmful results. Small blessings.
Just saw our first monkey scamper across the highway. 😃
Crossing the border into Rajastan the terrain changes. Which makes perfect sense, doesn't it? It's turned hilly, rocky, and dry. Trees are pretty much something we left back in Gujarat. You can tell there is some irrigation in places and there is a cactus-like plant that is being used as fencing. The driver says that most of the people who live in this area are very very poor, live in very small houses (he used the word "huts") on the hills, and depend on agriculture, or sending someone in the family to sell things at places like the night market in Ahmedabad. We are 83k from Udaipur.
Later... Hotel is one requested by Anna-- the Karohi Haveli, a heritage hotel on the quieter side of the lake. Gorgeous! Definitely not "modern" but very comfortable. Pics on Facebook (Anna's page).
We had arranged with Ravi to pick us up after settling in so that we could shop at this fair trade store in the guidebook. Our guide for tomorrow showed up with him-- an unexpected gesture-- and he also insisted on taking us to another shop run by his "friend". (Pretty big operation - pushy and expensive. Nice stuff. Too pushy. Too expensive. Bought one simple cotton tunic and he tried to switch prices etc.). So already we are not liking this guide as well as the others we have had so far. However, the store we wanted (Sadhna, which is essentially a fair trade women's cooperative and foundation) had great things at fixed price. We really enjoyed our hour there. We were also able to acquire a box and packing tape so that we can parcel the wedding clothes and other items back to the states, lightening our load especially on the trains and Air India. And -- we have made it clear to the guide that we do not have the extra money to spend in overpriced stores.
We are currently sitting on the top terrace of the restaurant "Millets of Mewar" which bills itself as a healthy Indian fusion restaurant. Delicious food!!! They use locally sourced millet as their main grain and less oil in general. Beautiful lake view.
Tomorrow we tour Udaipur, including the palace, and have a boat ride on the lake. And maybe get the box posted. We are hoping to ditch the guide decently early and do a little poking around on our own before dark.
