As I sadly left the Lallgarh Palace this morning, I knew I'd never stay anywhere this fabulous again. I wasn't thinking it in a negative way, as in a "that was the peak, it's all downhill now" kind of way, I know I have all sorts of fantastic adventures and hotels in my future, but the fact that there was an Indian movie shoot on one on side of the hotel (and inside!) and a spectacular Indian wedding on the other side
and the hotel itself was a palace....well, I can't see that happening again anytime soon.
So we drove to Mandawa, on the horrible "Indian Massage" road. It wasn't overly lengthly though, about 4.5 hours, but when you consider the fact that it was only 150 km, well, that lets you know the condition of the roads. And the traffic.
Thank goodness for lunch breaks.
Oh! I know, I wanted to talk about lunch stops. On days that we were on the road during lunch times, we always stopped at a midway, which I explained before (were you paying attention?) isn't a chain, but just the term for a restaurant/hotel/shop that's "midway" between other towns. Some were really fancy and others were just average. In some ways they were all the same....a shop with a massive variety of souvenirs; some with good prices and well displayed items, some with horrendously high prices and items covered with dust and grime, they all had pay toilets (well, the toilet was free but toilet paper had a small charge, as did paper towel), some were reasonably clean and some were "hold your breath", they all had both western toilets and squat toilets, which are no fun if you're in pants. Or if you're a clean-freak. Hand sanitizer is worth it's weight in rupees sometimes.
There were usually a bunch of mothballs in the sinks as well, if you were lucky enough to have a sink.
A lovely spot to stop for lunch.
A not so lovely spot. (Ok....joking, we didn't stop here, it was a restaurant, just not one that we stopped at.)
An average place.
A bit nicer than average.
They all had both an inside place to eat and an outside place, I sat according to the heat outside and if there was an awning, or whether or not there was air conditioning inside. Outside is always preferable, but some places had no awning and you had to sit in the direct sun. It felt like " 🎶breaking rocks in the hot sun...🎶" (remember that song?)
This fellow was doing exactly that as we sat and ate.
You know, even on days that I wasn't hungry and only had a drink, or tea, it was nothing less than...than...I can't even think of the right word....mesmerizing? Soothing? Calming? to just sit under a bright canopy and try to let these moments sink in.
Plus, these stops often had outside "entertainment"
Just taking her goats for a walk down the highway....
And the trees dropped beautiful flowers around you.
Travel days weren't so bad, really, our tour guide stopped at a lot of interesting spots along the way, including this one. This fellow was still using oxen to run his irrigation system, a method called The India Bucket or The Persian wheel. I found it really very interesting.
"The Persian wheel still exists in some parts of India especially in parts of Southern and Eastern Rajasthan, where the groundwater aquifers are still shallow. In typically poorer parts of India, where electricity has not yet reached, Persian wheels are still in use. Diesel is prohibitively expensive and hence pumps cannot be used. The Persian wheel continues to be the main lifting device for water."
The farmer was more than happy to let us come and watch him, as well as take pictures of his oxen that he obviously cares for. The horns!
His fields were beautiful and lush, so it's obviously working for him!
I got sidetracked with this post, and we still haven't arrived at the last hotel, although when we did, it was worth the drive. It was the Desert Resort, our last spot, and perhaps the most unique. To me anyhow, I've never stayed at a place made of mud, and of course I mean that in a spectacular adobe way. I wrote about it already, in the "Hotels" post, but only part of it.
Two really fun things happened here, one being a fantastic buffet dinner and since it was the birthday of one of my travel companions, our guide had arranged a birthday cake for her, and a little celebration. The staff came out with a mini-band and all sorts of drums and flags and singing and a delicious western style birthday cake. Yay!
I know it's only a cake, and hardly worth 3 pictures, but it was a fun celebration and also, notice the serious staff member bringing the cake out because I'll talk more about him in a minute.
Mmm....it was so good. My sweet tooth had been lacking in cake.
Anyhow, after dinner everyone got their luggage organized for tomorrow as it was the loooong drive back to Delhi and straight to the airport. The time for suitcase tidying is now or never.
However, soon the strains of Neil Diamond came wafting into my room and I looked out into the courtyard to see a couple of the girls playing some music, just relaxing for our final night, so I decided to join them. Tossed everything in my luggage and locked it up.
Empty courtyard.
Before long a few more of us came out and as the sun went down, the rum came out,and the music changed to Punjabi dance tunes. We quickly learned a few local dance steps and the laughter began as none of us had any rhythm or style except our tour guide who did his best to teach us.
Before much longer, a couple of the staff (one being the serious birthday cake carrier) were standing in a doorway, watching us, with what we hoped wasn't annoyance at our noise. But, nope....after a few "come on over" gestures, they were more than happy to join us and dance!
"Hmmmm....I don't know...."
"Oh...OK! Let's dance!"
It was just the most awesome way to end the trip....dancing under the stars in Mandawa.
