Saturday 31 March 2018

Day Eleven - Jodhpur - textile city

The 15th century Mehrangarh  Fort

At Jaswanth Thada - the memorial to Maharaja Jaswanth Singh II

Jodhur is the 'Blue City' with many walls this colour - both for coolness and to deter mosquitos

I went to India wanting to fill my suitcase with printed cotton fabrics.
Jodhpur is the place to buy textiles as apparently, anything elsewhere has been made in Jodhpur. So with much excitement I entered Maharani Textiles, a vast warehouse with floor to ceiling piles of folded fabrics.

Here was my opportunity to buy cottons, silk, even embroidered sari fabric... and they would take Barclaycard...

However before I could start to choose we were shepherded into a large room and sat down and offered a drink. The owner of this emporium wanted to personally show us his wares. First the handiwork of village women in embroidered and patchwork bedcovers. Then 'No photos please' - the Designer collection:

A Terence Conran  grey on white geometric pattern throw; a Kenzo grey silk with pale flower embroidery bed cover; an Anthropologie patchwork bedspread;  a Liberty red and gold paisley throw (my favourite). Finally the Hermes cashmere throws which he assured us would cost thousands in London but we could have today for just £140 each. Not part of their current collections apparently, these were older designs.

Many of our party bought these offerings. Especially the Hermes design which came in numerous colourways. They bought them for presents or for personal use. We were forbidden to sell them on. I wasn't tempted and waited impatiently for the chance to price some of the cottons and silk fabrics.

I got up to rummage just as the owner started to have scarves and pashminas thrown at our feet. However the owners' staff spoke no English and it was the owner who knew the prices and he was busy. I was so frustrated. If the price was right I could have bought there but the only price I succeeded in getting was the price for plain silk fabric - £25 a metre. I could get it cheaper in England so I came away very disappointed. This had been the first opportunity for me to buy fabric for the shop and I had come away empty-handed.

Then lunch at the Uttam Hotel - the best of the hotels we stayed at I thought, with steamed vegetables and mild dahls always on offer. Very comfortable beds, a powerful shower and luxurious bath.

In the afternoon we visited the impressive Mehrangarh Fort and then the cremation ground of the rulers of Jodhpr containing the white marble memorial pictured above.

Wednesday 28 March 2018

Luxury camping at Manvar

Our tent
Windows, draped walls and twin beds
I slept in the left hand bed
Running water in the separate bathroom
A shower inside the tent!

On the odd occasion that I've been in a tent, most memorably on honeymoon, when the tent blew away several times during the night, it was never like this!

This is glamping, and if it hadn't been so freezing cold during the night - the temperature plummets as it gets dark in the desert - it would have been a luxurious experience.

The image that will stay with me is that when I pulled back the bedclothes (see above) a lizard shot on to the pillow. It had been comfortably asleep until I disturbed it!

Tuesday 27 March 2018

Day 10 - Scary Jeep rides, camels and goats towards Manvar camp

A metal worker who sold us goat bells. Note how his wife's face remains covered.
Driving over sheer precipices!
Camels pulling us in carts
Standing on top of a sand dune
Boy goat herd chopping leafy branches for his goats below

Driving deeper into the Thar Desert, I noticed that many of the women we saw had covered faces. We were near the Pakistan border so the Muslim influence was strong. 

En route to Manvar Camp we stopped off at this blacksmith's home to watch him working with sheets of metal which his strong young grandson hit hard with a mallet to flatten and shape the hot metal. He sold goat bells for 100 rupees each (just over £1) and now I wish I'd bought more than one. Their sound is so evocative of the goat herds that used to pass our house when, as a child, I lived in the Middle East.

Next the jeep rides over the sand dunes to take us to the camels.
The open back jeeps took 8 people. Their drivers were competitive, macho types and I guess they scored points for making their passengers scream the loudest!

They drove innocently along until suddenly we would find ourselves on top of a sand dune with a sheer drop on one side. I inwardly pleaded with the driver not to attempt to drive down it. No use. It was terrifying and we screamed, clinging to one another for dear life. I feared the jeep would turn over but after many of these sheer drops I grew to trust our driver. 

Eventually we were dropped off near a group of camels and their owners. The more brave among us rode on top of the camels towards the tents where we were to spend the night, and the rest (me included) were pulled in camel carts (see above.)

Camels, 'ships of the desert' can apparently survive without water for as long as 14 days, storing what they need in their hump. They have a reputation for being bad tempered and for spitting. But these camels were docile and, although the head of the camel behind us loomed just inches above my head, it never spat or even dribbled. That camel ride was one of the nicest experiences of the holiday and the camels took us to our beautiful tents. (pictures soon) Definitely glamping not camping!

Monday 26 March 2018

Day Nine - Desert breakdown

Driving into the desert. I think these are acacia trees
A tyre blew miles from anywhere but the driver and trusty co-driver were able to fix it
The  impressive foyer of the Gorbandh Palace Hotel
Jaisalmer  Fort
Colour
Sunset over the city of Jaisalmer

We were heading for Jaisalmer through the great Thar Desert when the road suddenly seemed very bumpy indeed. A tyre had blown. As we stood by the side of the road waiting for the spare to be fitted, a bunch of ragged children materialised as if from nowhere. 

The oldest of them, a girl of about 12 pointed to my mouth and then to her mouth. Thinking she wanted money for food I offered her money. But no what she actually wanted was a lipstick. Preferably a lipstick and some nail varnish. I wished I had a spare to give her. Living miles from the nearest shop, perhaps miles from any other people it must be hard for a little girl growing up and trying to have something of her very own. I realised that money was no good to her; nowhere to spend it. If ever I go back to India I will take things for children. 

The 'Sun City' of Jaisalmer is dominated by the massive fort, shown above. Inside the fort's walls are little shops. I saw china decorated door knobs like the ones sold in Anthropologie shops; a man making bed covers on an ancient Singer sewing machine outside his shop; and everywhere you looked colourful embroidery on bags and cushions. 

Saturday 24 March 2018

Day Eight continued - Visiting a market


A cow 'grazing'

Cows in towns and citites are free to wander wherever they want but at night they are fed by the family that owns them. On holy days and holidays people buy cows rich green plants for them to feed on as feeding cows brings blessings.

In towns and cities we often saw cows ankle deep in squashed plastic bottles and rubbish, rooting around for something to eat. Apparently there is a real problem of cows eating food thrown away in plastic bags because they eat the whole thing and then die from the plastic inside them.

These cows are pictured in Bikaner where we visited the market after seeing the wondrous fort in that town.(see posts below.)

Somehow Anne and I got separated from our group and had to cross four lanes of non-stop traffic on our own. The memory of running for it where there is no obvious place to cross will stay with me! 

The market itself with colourful, fresh fruit and vegetables all perfectly displayed was a great place to wander. 

However we thoughtlessly wandered into a place nearby which turned out to be the mens' urinal and then we went a bit too close to a gathering of cows, one of which head butted Anne with it's horns.  We were also yelled at by a man with a stall crushing sugar cane. In our rush to get back to the safety of the coach I tripped and fell on the pavement.

 No real harm done but a reminder of why, for someone like me, a first visit to India is best done as part of a group and I admire any woman that goes there alone.

Thursday 22 March 2018

Surface decoration inside Junagarh Fort

Painted  door
Ceiling decorated like a cashmere shawl
A swing bed with ornately decorated wall
Coloured glass window
Decoration around a window

My favourite place is the Junagarh Fort in Bikaner. Every millimetre is decorated. These pictures give you a small taste of what the walls and ceilings are like.

The women who lived inside the fort very rarely went outside it because of the fear that they would be captured by the enemy. Metal rings in the ceilings were for beds to be attached to give them a change of scenery. They could look out of the mostly latticed windows but could not be seen by outsiders.

It makes me think about how lucky we women are today. Until fairly recently in history, women everywhere spent most of their life inside their homes; but now, where there is the opportunity for women to go to school, they have choices.

 There are still places in the world where women are not offered the chance to be educated and have a career. And of course, women should have the exact same opportunities as men. But I think that some women in the west have become trapped in a different way:

 They get a mortgage based on their salary as a successful career woman, coupled with their partners salary and then they are obliged to go back to work soon after having a baby in order to pay that mortgage. They don't have the choice.

 Most women don't want to hand their baby over to a stranger to look after, most women would prefer to look after their baby themselves.They have to return to work to help support the family and, unless granny is prepared to step in (but that is a whole different story) they must pay a nursery to look after their child. 

Visiting India is very thought-provoking!

Day Eight - Junagarh Fort, Bikaner

Inside the fort. The Queen and her attendants could look out through the latticed windows but no-one could see them except for the King
An example of the stunning ceiling decoration inside Junagarh Fort
Spikes high on the doors of the fort to repel elephants
Hands representing all the women who died to avoid being captured


This place almost overwhelmed me with its beauty. The paintings on ceilings and walls, mosaic tiles, gold patterns and mirrors - enough surface decoration to inspire an artist for a life time!!  (The next post will show more.)

While we were in India a controversial film about this fort was causing furious rioting. The film appears to depict the Queen who lived here, Padmavati, a beautiful lady revered by Hindus for hundreds of years, in a way that displeased the locals. 

The film was based on a poem, 'Padmaavat' which was written 200 years after the alleged events took place. 

Historically the King had to leave his Queen to fight to defend his realm and was killed. To avoid being captured by the enemy approaching the fort, Padmavati and all her attendant females, burned themselves to death.

 Some Hindus believed that the film implied that this did not happen until after the enemy had taken the Queen. So you can see why there were calls for the film to be banned. However a compromise was reached where the film's title has been changed from Padmavati to Padmaavat ie the name of the poem it is based on.

Monday 19 March 2018

Day Seven - Bikaner

Outdoors, seated round the fire at Bikaner

Wish I'd bought this dress printed with gold giraffes for my three year old grandaughter

The landscape changed completely as we drove from Jaipur to Bikaner. It reminded me of my childhood in the middle east - semi-desert scrubland, with its scratchy, dry plants becoming more and more arid until it was just sandy desert. Noticeably hotter too.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that had had no electricity for two days. But they still managed to give us a wonderful meal under a bright yellow canopy in the garden. A consomme soup with slivers of fresh vegetables in it followed by a potato cutlet, rice and vegetables, potatoes in caraway seeds and hot naan bread. This is what I had, as nearly every meal was a serve yourself buffet, other people chose different things but I avoided curry when I could. We always drank whatever water in jugs we were given and suffered no ill effects, but it was a treat to have a bottled water called Bismeli - recommended if you ever have a choice.

Strolling round the beautifully kept garden after lunch we noticed a fire burning with a billy can of water on it. The gardener's clothes hung over a fence. He lived in the garden we guessed.

After a long drive we came to the Heritage Resort at Bikaner. This hotel in the middle of the desert has two person bungalows near an open air swimming pool. During the black sky night the temperature plummets and fires are lit outside. It was seriously cold and the little electric bar fire in our bungalow stayed on all night. 

I forgot to mention the dress, pictured above. I loved that dress, seen in Jaipur, but money had become an issue, with every cash machine we spotted being out of action up until now. As India has a 'closed economy' you cannot get rupees until you are actually in India. My bank had persuaded me to use a Barclaycard. Big mistake. Our own sterling currency changed  for rupees locally is the best option.

Wednesday 14 March 2018

Crafts in Jaipur

Block printing on cotton fabric
The dye bath the printing block is dipped into
A carpet weaver at his loom
Hand finsihing the rugs
A colourful example of a large finished rug

Jaipur is known for manufacturing or more accurately hand making lots of different things.
We visited a fabric printing workshop first. I've tried printing from those wooden Indian printing blocks in the past and not mastered the technique. 

It was fascinating to watch the skill with which the printer applied one block, let it dry, and then applied another colour with another block on top of it, gradually building up more detail in the fabric design. He had a dye bath with what looked like a fitted piece of blanket in the top of the container. And his expert hands printed the fabric with no smudges or drips.

Equally fascinating to me was the fact that there were people under his printing table hidden by the long cloths around it. I fondly imagined his wife and children hiding, just waiting for those pesky tourists to go away!

The next workshop we visited was where rugs were being made. The rugs are hand-made from start to finish with the loose ends being knotted into fringe by the women sitting in a row pictured above. As we watched the gorgeous printed rugs being thrown down in front of us I thought of my interior designer friend and of how she would have enjoyed seeing, and maybe even buying, some of those rugs.

Finally we visited a jewellery workshop where giant blocks of semi-precious stone were cut, sanded and polished into smaller stones to be set in gold or silver jewellery pieces.

Tuesday 13 March 2018

Day Six - The Amber Fort, Jaipur, by elephant

Elephant waiting in the rain to take two passengers up the hill to the Fort
Elephants taking people up the steep hill . You can just see another coming down.
The beauiful Amber Fort at Jaipur
Love this wall decoration in the Mirror Palace
Ceiling decoration

Our elephant was called 'Muskang' or Smile and riding him was like being on a slow-motion rocking horse. The only way up and down the hill to the spectacular Amber Fort is by jeep or elephant and the experience will be a lasting happy memory.

I particularly loved the mirrored walls. The pieces of 'mirror' are curved and probably not mirror at all. Our guide thought it was 'calcium silicate'. Apparently one of the Queens asked if she could sleep under the stars and so these mirrored walls and ceilings were made especially for her. 

The beautiful painting on walls and ceiling was achieved with wet plaster which lasted much longer than painting onto dry walls. The colours were made by crushing and mixing lapis lazuli for blue, malachite for green, turquoise and real gold. You'll see a lot more painted walls later in this blog diary.


Monday 12 March 2018

Day Five - Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur Sikri - a World Heritage site

Red stone pillars with detailed carving
A gardener's paradise - where seedlings are nurtured
Can you see what this lorry is transporting?

En route to the pink city of Jaipur we stopped at the former residence of the Emperor Akbar - Fatehpur Sikri (pronounced Fatty-purr-sickry). Akbar moved here from the Red Fort in Delhi, and used the same craftsmen to build the palace from the local red sandstone.
The gardens were completely weed-free and we were invited through a padlocked gate to admire the seedling beds - so neat and perfect. The elderly gardener hoped we had some English coins for his children who collected them he said. And actually we British were made to feel so welcome that I can imagine Indian children wanted to collect our coins - even the copper ones. 

Many Indians are grateful to the British for re-designing the country after it had been under Muslim rule for many years. The British initiated the railways and condensed over 500 states into just 29 and, by the example of English wives, encouraged women to come out of their homes and become better educated. Although there is still a way to go with more boys being educated than girls, especially in the villages, our guide felt that things were generally improving for females in Indian society.

Continuing the drive to Jaipur we saw this lorry pictured above. Can you see the elephant in the back? It is being taken home after attending a wedding.

We stopped for lunch at 'Lake View Hotel'. No lake, but a perfect meal under a vast canopy in the garden.Rice and dhal with mixed plain vegetables and hot naan bread. 

The attached shop was where I selected three silver rings with stones for just £3 each. I was mighty pleased with these and it was the first thing I bought in India. I would have liked to buy a string of square cube lapis-lazuli beads but I didn't ask the price and as usual, it's the things you don't buy that you regret!!