More UNESCO sites and palaces
From Mumbai we headed north to
Vadodara and the following day we visited Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, about an hour's drive away. The site includes the remains of the 16th century capital of the state of Gujarat. What we weren't expecting to see were people still living there behind the walls of the fort. Their dwellings spoilt the actual site, however, it added to the historic and living culture of the area with buildings dated from 8th to 14th centuries. Conditions haven't improved that much. Apparently there is still a large area of unexcavated properties which include prehistoric sites.
The next day we opted for a bit of sightseeing around the city.
Lakshmi Palace was very nice but no photos were allowed inside and nor was a walk around the grounds. Considering we have seen many palaces around the country, this was nothing special although the guards definitely had delusions of self importance.
Next on to the Sevasi stepwell. This was built in 1549 dedicated to a spiritual saint from the nearby village
Continuing our journey north took us to the UNESCO city of Ahmedabad. For the first time since arriving in India we experienced a dry heat which made a nice change, even if it was 36C+. The quote "mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" applied to us and after about 45 minutes of walking we decided to get a tuk tuk then rest of the way to Mahatma Gandhi's ashram. He lived here from 1918 to 1930 and the museum had so much information and was very interesting.
Walking around the city the following morning we saw a number of old buildings, including Jami Masjid. The mosque was built in 1424 and I could only take photos of the outside as women were not allowed inside.
The afternoon saw us on another train this time heading to Udaipur, the City of Lakes. We arrived in the evening and into the chaos of a local festival. Our tuk tuk from the station couldn't take us all the way to our hotel in the middle of the old town, so we had to walk the last 300m, which for us wasn't a big deal. The hotel manager told us if it had been an Indian couple, they would have complained so much about having to walk that distance with their bags.
The next morning we started out fairly early to avoid the heat, only to be told the City Palace gates didn't open until 9am. We found a small 'hole in the wall' to have a couple of stuffed parathas for breakfast then on to the palace.
The palace was very beautiful and construction began in 1553. It was added to over a period of nearly 400 years and there are several palaces within the complex.
A walk around the town followed and across the bridge to Ambrai Ghat to look back across the lake to the palace. We also had a good view of the floating palace which is now part hotel, the Taj Lake Palace on Pichola lake, and the hills beyond.
Back to the hotel for a swim and siesta during the heat of the day before venturing out again.
That evening we found a great rooftop restaurant, saw the sunset behind the mountain topped with the Monsoon Palace and all the lights of the city come on. It was magical and so good that we repeated it the following evening.
After breakfast at the same hole in the wall, we got a tuk tuk to the ticket office of the Sajjan Garth Palace also known as the Monsoon Palace. We then needed to take one of their vehicles up the hill to the palace. Given that the palace is 1000ft above the lake, I think a tuk tuk would have struggled getting up the winding road and I wouldn't trust any of their brakes to make it down safely.
The palace was built in 1884 mainly to watch the monsoon clouds hence the name. The views from the top of the surrounding hills and lakes were beautiful.
Next stop, Jaipur.
No comments:
Post a Comment