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Arrived safe and sound in the Netherlands. Last evening the driver of our former neighbor came pick us up at the hotel and brought us to the company of my former neighbor. He has his own company where he designs, makes and exports clothes for women all over the world. This was interesting to see. After that we went to a 5-star hotel to eat in one of the many restaurants. This was delicious and we had a good time. It's also strange to see your former neighbor on the other side of the world. Once back in the hotel we quickly packed out suitcases and checked out of the hotel. Because we were supposed to be picked up by our driver and brought to the airport where we had to say goodbye to him. After a short stop at Abu Dhabi we have arrived at Schiphol Airport. This time with our luggage! 🙂 So far my adventures in India, greetings from the train! On to Purmerend... Home sweet home! 🙂 Namaste! After eating the last Indian breakfast we went to the Bahai temple (also called Lotus temple, because of the shape of the building). From the outside it looks beautiful, the garden looks a bit scanty but decently. On the inside it looks very empty, but very quiet (people pray here). The silence is very pleasant, seen all the noise from the traffic outside. Once back at the hotel we had lunch at the Pizza Hut, after that we said "hey" to the Dutch couple (they were also there coincidentally when we walked in). Ofcourse we invited them to come over to Purmerend once in a while (they sometimes come to Purmerend, because some friends of them live there). After lunch we went back to the hotelroom to rest a bit and to fresh up before we're going to fly this night. In the evening we also had our appointment with our former neighbor (his driver came to pick us up at the hotel) to have dinner together in a restaurant. The last stage of the travel started today with a 2-hours walk through Mandawa. The guide showed us beautiful houses (havelli's). These are (or actually were, because most of them are impoverished) beautifully decorated with drawings on the walls, facades and balconies etc. After this tour we left for New Delhi. This is about 6 hours driving. On our way we stopped for a nice lunch. Because it is our last stage we invited our driver to come eat with us and we joined the other Dutch couple who were already sitting at the table. After the Dutch couple left we took a look in the garden of the restaurant. Here are all different kind of trees growing. From citrus trees to banana trees, unbelievable! After a scanty breakfast we went out in Bikaner. First we went to a Jain temple, this is beautifully decorated with wall- and door drawings and sculptures. After that we went to the 500 year old fortress, which is the only fortress in Rajasthan build on a flat surface (and not on top of a rock) and also never got conquered. This is because the maharaja of Bikaner was always great friends with the British and Mongolians. It's a big fortress, with once again a lot of beauty and wealth! The last maharaja of this fortress died in 2003, leaving 2 daughters behind. The princesses who now "rule" have a charity, for the poor. The guide showed us a textile shop that supports the charity. Next we drove a little less than 200 km (3 or 4 hours driving) to Mandawa. On our way we stopped at a restaurant for a nice lunch. The hotel in Mandawa is a big castle, from the outside it looks awful. But on the inside it's beautiful! Tomorrow we will do a 2-hours city walk in Mandawa and after that we'll continue driving to Delhi, where we will spend our last (long) day before going back to the Netherlands again. Today there's not much on the program, except for driving well over 300 km (about 4 to 6 hours driving) from Jaisalmer to Bikaner. But we started the day in a non-touristic souvenirshop in Jaisalmer. From the outside it looks like an ordinary house. On the inside it's a completely different story: you'll find a gigantic collection of all kind of antique objects. The owner of the shop is of Jain origin, this is a guarantee of a fair trade. The shopowners get their collection by travelling through Rajasthan and visit the local markets to buy the items for peanuts. It's clear that he has knowledge about the items, because he tells what all the items are, where it's used for and he demonstrated the use of the item. After looking around for 1,5 hours we bought some things. After the breakfast we hit the road towards Jaisalmer (the hotel is located outside of the city). Here we first went to an artificially constructed lake. This is where our guide fed the many catfishes. We also saw some burial places. This is rare in India, because Hindu's only cremate the dead bodies. Only isn't Jaisalmer a Hindu city, but a muslim city. After that we continued to the Jaisalmer fortress. This is a big and beautiful fortress, on top of a rock. So it's a nice 360° view on the area! The fortress is unique, because it's the only fortress where people still live in (about 5000 people). After seeing the fortress, we walked through the city. Our guide was friendly enough to show us the non-touristic part of the city. So we could see the real day-to-day life in the city, and not the way of life they show to the tourists. Ofcourse he also showed us the beautiful houses, some even already a few hundred years old. The houses are so beautiful beacuse of the very detailed decorations on the façades and balconies. This morning after breakfast we drove to the old city of Jodhpur. Here we visited a memorial place where maharaja's and other important persons are cremated. Their remains (bones and ashes) will be scattered on the Ganges river. This is a holy river for Hindus. At almost walking distance from the memorial place you'll find the fortress of Jodhpur. This is a big and beautiful fortress with a lot of bling-bling. There was also a museum with weapons, objects used for ceremonies, seats beloning to the maharaja's (17th, 18th and 19th century) used to sit on an elephant. This morning we left to Ranakpur after the delicious breakfast to visit a Jain temple. This was beautiful. The domes and pillars were full with all kind of details. After seeing this we continued our way to a restaurant to have some lunch. After finishing our lunch we continued to Jodhpur. On our way we stopped several times, to enjoy the view from a mountain road. But also because we encountered (a lot of) wild monkeys. We also stopped at a riverbank that we just crossed to look at the fishes swimming. Untill we saw a cobra swimming and gasping for air, unfortunately I was too late to take a photo! We also encountered a turtle crossing the road on our way. The driver picked it up to release it later at a lake. Furthermore we saw a caravan of camels (belonging to nomads) and huge herds of sheep and goats walking along the road (belonging to farmers). The day started nicely with a delicious breakfast, after breakfast the day could really start. First we went to the city palace of Udaipur. This is the second biggest mahal in India, only in the south of the country there's a bigger mahal. The mahal in Udaipur is built in the shape of a ship. In this mahal lived / lives not a maharaja ("big king"), but a maharan (sort of high king). This title is unique and only to gain when the king never surrenders to the enemy / conqueror. The king in Udaipur is (if I'm right) the only king in Rajasthan with this title. |
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