Mandawa and Pushkar

We set off early from Delhi – peak hour!!  There really isn’t anything to compare it with.  Despite the volume of vechiles on the road it seems to work and keep moving.  Put that volume in Melbourne and it would be an all day gridlock.  A round about is merely a bend in the road – not only do you not give way to the right it seems you don’t even need to look right – you just merge!  The highway need not have lines – you just drive where you can.  We even saw a couple of cars do a u-turn and use the left hand lane to back back against traffic to the exit they needed!!  So we left Delhi flanked by cars, buses, tuk tuks with entire extended families inside, motorbikes with 3 or 4 riders and pedestrians.  It took some time but eventually we seemed to move off at a reasonable pace.

Mandawa was around a 5 hour drive and there was never a time not to see something fascinating.  Whether it be two trucks or buses coming toward us side by side on a single road, or beautifully dressed women walking with a gloriously shining silver pot on her head, or 10 story apartments blocks under construction one after the other as far as the eye can see – enough housing for many hundreds of thousands of people, or a pink or purple or green farmhouse – or just the many animals wandering about.  The time past quickly. 

It was a long way out of Delhi before we arrived in ‘rural’ towns – the 10 storey ‘under construction’ apartments went on for over 50 kms – it’s staggering to think of the amount of development going on in such a small space.

We arrived in Mandawa in the mid afternoon.  Only one street in the old part of town – it was bustling.  Women dancing, cows wandering, men sitting and cars, buses, motorbikes all trying to pass each other.

We spotted a few of the Havelis on our way in.   Mandawa is famous for it’s Havelis ‘Wind Houses’.  They were the houses of the merchants – a popular stopping place along the spice road.  The Havelis are ornately decorated with paintings; they reminded me (obviously in a very different way) to the aboriginal paintings we saw last year - paintings of life as it was in times gone by.

We met our guide later who took us on a 2 hour walking tour of Mandawa.  Narrow winding streets, colorfully painted houses and many Havelis.

The highlight (or lowlight) was being call ‘sir’ at a small shop – our guide put him straight and the shop owner was very apologetic.  He said it was because of my short hair – hhmmm!!

Our overnight stay in Mandawa was in the old Castle (or fort) – very grand and a bit of fun.

Another early start for a long day of driving.  Even though the distance to Pushkar, our next destination, is under 300kms it’s going to take us 6 hours to driving to get there.  Driving here is like driving through an obstacle course – or perhaps playing a computer game where you have to dodge all the on coming obstacles and trust me there are many!  Somehow two lane roads are transformed into 4 lane roads – vechiles everywhere and anywhere!!

The drive went quickly again with more things to see and before we knew it, it was mid afternoon and we’d arrive in the holy city of Pushkar.   Boasting the only Brahmas Temple, it’s a place where many pilgrims come.

We did another late afternoon walking tour of the market, temple and the Holy Lake.  We’re staying in a Palace this time overlooking the holy lake.

We found a great spot out in the town to eat – overlooking the lake.  It started out as a still warm night – perfect.  Over in the distance we could see an electrical storm – a nice bit of entertainment.  It moved very quickly and soon was right above us – a sheet of lightening let off an almighty clap and the entire town (bar a few places dotted around that must have generators) was plunged into darkness.  We stayed seated at our outside table overlooking the lake and the lights came back on about 10 minutes later.  Thinking that was the end of the fast moving electrical storm we were taken by surprise when the wind suddenly pick up – we watched only briefly before realizing a huge dust cloud was coming for us.  We moved quickly but not quick enough – grabbing our dinner and drinks and running inside – the waiters waiting for everyone to make it inside before quickly rolling the roller doors down.  Our food now covered in sandy dessert dirt was inedible – we watched and listened as the storm thundered around – rain too!!

Our walk back to the hotel, although only short, was in darkness and trying to avoid large pools of water.  An interesting night.

Day 2 in Pushkar was at our leisure.  We decided on a massage to begin with at the Homepathic Hospital.  One of best hours you’re ever likely to have for $9!!  I felt like I was gliding afterwards – or perhaps I was just sliding because of all the oil!!  Delivered by a gorgeous lady with very strong hands and a beautiful smile – heavenly.

Then on to a bit of shopping, followed by lunch before a late afternoon camel safari.  2 hours of fun with 3 very young guides – all under 18.  We galloped off literally into the sunset, out in dessert.  Camels can go quite fast!!  We left the noisey chaotic centre of Pushkar headed straight for the dessert.  It was a fun 2 hours and the sunset was magnificent.

We’ll sleep well tonight – thankfully Catherine and I are getting up early for a class of yoga – we might need it after that camel race!!

After a niosey sleep – dogs, horns, music, people  - you name it we heard it!!  Pushkar is the town that never sleeps.  Catherine and I took off on foot to find the ‘yoga garden’ – a 15 minute walk out of town.  Yoga aside it was a gorgeous walk out through the fields.  We found the place and were treated to a private 90 minute class – sensational.  I learnt a few new moves and felt much better for it afterwards.

Back to hotel to meet our driver to head onto our next destination – Udiapur.

A.

Melbourne to Delhi..

Departure day is here.  It’s been a long, anxious road to get this far, but I have no doubt the next 2 weeks will be worth the stress.  Looking back no one else showed any signs at all of this trip for me being anything but normal.  But for me this is all so far from what ‘my normal’ has been for the past 12 years.  Two months ago an overseas journey was the furthest thing from my mind – children, husband, work, household – the list goes on.  But here I am embarking on what surely will be another trip of a lifetime with two of the most important women in my life.

I was worried about how the girls, Isla in particular, would be when saying goodbye.  Especially as kinder drop offs are so traumatic for her – how will she cope for 15 sleeps!!  I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing as she waved with excitement as we pulled away – looking from a distance you might have thought I was arriving home after a long time away!!  And there in the background the two older girls, ever so knowing, were sad behind their smiles.   Who would’ve thought.

So the hard bit over….let’s do this!!!

The flights were uneventful – I haven’t flown Singapore Airlines for a long time, they are still a great airline.  Except for the serving of curry at 3 am – not the preferred mealtime in anyone’s books I wouldn’t think!!!

We had two days in Delhi.  The first on our own and at our leisure.  We flew into Delhi at 6 am so it was a long day in the end!!  But we did manage to engage a driver for the afternoon and saw Akshar Dham Temple, The Red Fort, and India Gate.  The pictures tell the rest of the story….

Day 2 in Delhi was officially the first day of our 14-day tour.  A full day tour of New and Old Delhi.  It began in Old Delhi at Raj Ghat – where Ghandi was cremated and a small amount of his ashes still remain.  A large garden and courtyard have been built as a memorial – a very peaceful place in the centre of a city that is far from peaceful.

It was then on to Old Delhi – the Charwri Bazaar – just waking up at the late hour of 11 (this is my kind of start time!!).  We wandered through the bazaar marveling at both the buildings and the goods housed inside.  Tiny ancient lane ways, power cables hanging dangerously low, men with cobras springing out of baskets and every type of button, lace and fabric you could ever want or need…

After a visiting a Sikh Temple – where they serve 20,000 people a day in their food hall (what an operation – all voluntary too) – we took a Tuk Tuk ride to the spice markets.  It was different from what I had anticipated and we didn’t venture far into the 3 km long market.  We stopped and tried ‘real cinnamon’, smelt delicious mango tea and sampled some traditional chai tea – before I bought enough spice to feed over 500 people!!  YUM!!

We left Old Delhi and it’s madness and headed for Humayun's Tomb.  Built for the Great Grandfather of the man who built the Taj Mahal.  This tomb was the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.  It was a magnificent place to visit – grounds, buildings and the tomb itself – wonderful.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped for a quick look at the Presidential Palace and the Ministerial buildings – built nearly 100 years ago by the British.

Our first two days have been a fantastic introduction to India – I feel like we’ve been dropped at ground zero – straight into the madness.  Although our guide today told us ‘it’s chaos….organised chaos!”  I’m yet to see the organized part – it certainly is chaos though.  But what ever it is it works – everyone eventually gets where they need to go!!

The end....

After just over 21,000 kms and under the cover of darkness we made our way through peak hour traffic (what a welcome) home!!

It had been a day of mixed feelings.  The girls were beside themselves with excitement about arriving home.  They were looking forward to their beds, iPods, friends, couch, TV - the modern world.

Andrew and I were excited about home too, well some of the things about home.  Bed, shower, oven, family, friends - perhaps we too were looking forward to a bit of the modern world.  But all that aside we were so keenly aware of what 'coming home' symblised.  The end of our precious family time, the end of this adventure, the end of endless days of following our instincts - no clock or schedule to speak of.

We both realise that we have been so fortunate to have had the time away, we really did check out on our former lives, this adventure was truly a once in a life time opportunity for our family.  A time that will be one of the most important parts of all our lives.

So that's it...thanks for reading...I hope you enjoyed the journey too!!

A.

Rounding off the lap.....

We left Ayers Rock Resort saying goodbye to Uluru and headed east for the Stuart Highway.  Within a couple of hours we were at the boarder, saying goodbye to the Territory and hello to South Australia.  To our surprise the terrain surrounding the highway grew more and more desolate with each kilometre, until there was almost nothing.  I’d been surprised at the amount of growth on the ground further north in the Territory – I had expected it to be like the type of scenery we were witnessing now.

We made it as far as Marla and set up behind the Marla Roadhouse – a surprisingly well appointed overnight stop.  Almost the best showers we’ve had in 4 months.  However the niceness stopped there – the overnight temperature dropped to minus 1.  It was a long cold night – at one point I thought we might wake up and the girls would just be four frozen sticks (imagine my horror when they all said they were hot overnight!!!).  The pack up early in the morning was tough too – you might say it was the straw that broke the camels back!  Thank goodness we’re sleeping underground for the next two nights.  We didn't know it at the time but Marla was our last campsite...

When we checked in and went deep underground (6.5 metres) the girls couldn’t believe it.  They couldn’t contain their excitement.  We’d been reserved a large room in the backpackers section – the only part that had it’s own door.  We had 10 sets of bunks to choose from – everyone could have a top bunk!!!

Cooper Pedy township was a bit depressing, tourism must be dying off a bit probably due to the decline in popularity of the Opal (nothing like it was 30 years ago).  Shopkeepers were turning on the lights as we walked in and off again even before we’d left.

We visited (on recommendation) the Serbian Church which was a small well carved underground church.  Followed by some ‘noodling’ (fossiking) for opals before doing a mine tour.  The girls enjoying weaving through the tunnels and walking through the underground house.

The highlight of the area was our drive out through the Breakaways Conservation Park and along the dog fence.  Some very interesting scenery. We also enjoyed reading about the dog fence and driving alongside it for a while.  The colours in the landscape were amazing.

The following morning we readied ourselves early and headed out to the car, to find the camper trailer and windscreen with a reasonably thick slice of ice on top.  The overnight temperature dropped to near 0c – but not in the cave!!!  The cave is a constant 23 – 25c year round.

We got away early with 850 kms to cover to reach Adelaide.  With our arrival into Port Augusta we realised ‘Our Lap’ was complete.  We’d passed this 3 way intersection 15 weeks ago – I can’t believe it’s finished, sadness has hit!!

140 kms south of Port Augusta the speedo ticked over to 20,000kms!!  All of a sudden we were back in civilisation – heavy (for us) traffic going both ways.  We also realised that it was the last day of school holidays in South Australia and we hoped it didn’t mean lots of traffic.

We were headed for my cousins house again to enjoy two more nights of cousin fun.  We’ll finish off the trip how we started it.  Perfect.  We had one full day in Adelaide - the sun shone beautifully but it was cold.  We had a picnic in Glenelg followed by a milkshake.  Once again the girls had a ball playing together.

We were treated to a gorgeous sunset and spectacular sunrise before we set off on the final leg of our journey......homeward bound.

A.