The Rajasthan Holiday Ends - Part III

The holiday continues after our day 5 at Kumbalgarh:

Catching the sunrise as we left the resort on Day 5

Day 6: We had planned a day trip to Udaipur which was about 100 kilometers away. We left the resort early and also enjoyed a local breakfast of samosas, methi pakodas and faafda before reaching the city of lakes. Our driver, Devendra, belonged to the city and was raring to show us around his hometown. First stop was the Karni Mata temple that you can reach by cable car (or by walk) and provides a bird-eye view of the city and Lake Pichola. The temple also houses some white mice that are considered sacred here.

Clicked from the cable car

One of many attempted selfies on the trip ;)

The next stop was the City Palace, but we headed here only after a photo session in the local Rajasthani Garb near Lake Pichola (once again on our driver's recommendation). We realized later that this is an activity that is quite popular here as every tourist spot had a stall set up for this :).

Caution Rant ahead.. 

At the City Palace, we were a bit taken aback by the camera fee being equal to the entry fee :P. It was also a bit of an irritation that the security was at an all-time high and one of us had to leave the camera behind (we were not planning to use it as we took just one camera ticket). I guess honesty cannot be gauged by our faces, so I'm ok with our camera getting kept back but it just didn't seem to make sense in this age of technology where literally everyone can click with their phones anyway. On that day, the place was inundated by groups of schoolchildren who were doing just that when unnoticed by the guards. 

..Rant over

Well, I made the best of the camera fee and clicked a pic of EVERYTHING, don't worry I won't share it all here ;). On the whole, the place was kept very clean in spite of the crowds so it was a nice experience looking around.

My fascination with arches continues :)

The view!

One of MANY interesting windows

Beautiful doorknob - didn't I tell you I clicked everything ;)

One of the displays was the collect of silver - this included items like a present of silver hairbrushes and other grooming implements, as well as many lovely photo frames made of silver. The idol of Chetak was also decorated with tons of silver.. looked at this very keenly as I have a bit of a silver jewelry fixation ;).

Chetak in all his silver glory

After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we headed to the statue of Maharana Pratap and Chetak, where we couldn't stand around too long due to the heat being quite high at that time of day. We soon took refuge in a small museum type display of paintings and models depicting the history of the state. 

Statue of Maharana Pratap and Chetak

Battle of Haldighati

Saheliyon Ki Baadi

After a quick stop at the lovely fountain and gardens at Saheliyon ki baadi, we were quite tired, and after a spot of shopping we headed back to Kumbalgarh for the night.

Day 7: This was a day of rest, to recuperate from the hectic sightseeing of the day before and also because of there not being much to see at Kumbalgarh other than the fort. We did manage a short visit to a nearby lake, where again the profusion of catfish was amazing as fishing is not allowed and tourists feeding the fish with puffed rice and other treats is a small source of income to the locals.

Feeding the fish

Lovely view near the lake at Kelwada

We went back to the fort in the evening, where we thoroughly enjoyed the Sound and Light Show - it was an amazing way to hear of the history of the fort and the state. A beautiful experience to round off our holiday :)

A Royal Holiday at Rajasthan - Part II

All those of you who read Part I and asked for the continuation.. thank you and here goes :)

Day 4: As Jodhpur was enroute to Kumbalgarh from Jaisalmer, I had decided to stop there for a few hours and try to catch the main attractions. The highly recommended one was the Mehrangarh Fort and we managed to get here quite bright and early. It was a different experience from Jaisalmer, as it is a very tourist friendly fort - the only mixup being that as it was the start of Navratri we ended up getting into these male/female queues (all the while wondering what was going on) and then had to backtrack to get to the actual museum/entrance. On the way out, we somehow managed to walk down past the entrance and then had to trudge back uphill to get out :P - a lot more cardio than I had intended.

Nice shot by D.. with my direction of course ;)

View from the top

One of many doorways that I used to frame my photos

Next stop was the Umaid Bhawan palace where we were charmed by the grace of the personnel who act as guides. This photo was directed by the gentleman who was taking us around - he made me click multiple times with moving G and the kids until he was satisfied :).

There was also this lovely set of paintings/murals with scenes from the Ramayana but interpreted in a Greek style as that was the nationality of the artist (as told by our guide, have not substantiated it with Google ;)).

Sita and Mandodari at Ashokavana

We spent the rest of our time in Jodhpur checking out(for rather too long ;)) the local Bandhani and Lehariya work at a Handicraft emporium before finally making our way to Kumbalgarh. The roads to get there passed through some ghat areas and for kids who used to be badly car sick in their early years, both D and S were troopers and we reached there without much ado. Much thanks to G who sat in the back seat and gave them someone to hold on to, instead of me being there and getting a bit green myself!

Day 5: The main and nearly only attraction in Kumbalgarh is the Fort and it has quite a history behind it. From Umaid Singh who was saved by Panna Dhai and brought there to safety, to Maharana Pratap in later years, it has played a major role in the history of Rajasthan. It was also one of the most fascinating forts to explore, simply because it is not as crowded and we could just meander here and there trying to look at things. We went to the fort in the daytime, so it was decided (as recommended by our driver) to do the Sound and Light show on another day.

The wall of the fort seems to go on and on..  

Lovely view of the hills around

Lots of such vantage points along the climb

Could not and did not resist taking photos of all the arches ;)

Are you done with your photos? Let's go!

Please bear with me.. this is getting longer and longer so going to end with a Part III :).