a jolly day out

We planned to stay in Udaipur for a couple of day before heading off to Gujarat.   By a wonderful coincidence my friend Nancy and her husband Michael arrived in Udaipur for a short stay.   They were staying in the same hotel, in fact, three rooms down from us.

We had supper on the roof, exchanging news, breakfast together in the morning when we put together a plan for a little excursion to Akola to visit the block printers.

a fellow traveller - you might just be able to see his turban matches the bullocks' horns

we had a slight diversion due to road works, and came upon a lovely village 

Nancy and me standing in front of this

an old haveli in much need of a little care and attention

but still beautiful in a shabby chic sort of way

detail

blue door

repairing the roof

After the delightful stopover, legs stretched, we set off on the road to Akola.    Not so far from our destination, Nancy spotted activity behind a hedge!    We stopped to find rinsing of block printed cloth going on.

obviously indigo cloth!  the gentleman was giving it a good

old bash, and if you look closely you will see he has only

half his right leg   quite amazing

the rinsing water is channelled away through the fields, watched by a goat

in case you are wondering, I throw my exhausted vat over the garden

and my plants are quite happy!

leaning over the well this old wheel set in a forked 

piece of wood  - used for threading the rope through

to pull up the water

Akola and the block printers

a pot of turmeric ready for printing

boy sieving mud for dhabu paste, whilst checking his phone

the entrance to Mr. Pintoo and Rakesh

Bherulai Chhipa (chhipa - member of the block

printing community)

Oops, Keith managed to catch me coming of

the showroom clutching a bag!

A perfect day in good company.

Notes:   I haven't included pix ofblock printed fabric this time, but if you are interested in the process, together with tie dyeing,  Keith has put together a series of photos taken at various block printers and dyers we've spent time with in Rajasthan.

For the eagle eyed.   One reader has already asked the question - why the sock?!!

Well, we had a little accident in the jeep when leaving the bogged down car.   No mention made until we told the boys on our return home.    The steering rod broke and we ended up in a ditch.    Sitting in the front, I had a few bruises and put my back out, which is a mere nothing compared with Keith.  He slid along the back seat and came in contact with the roll bar.   We were with the head man's son so help arrived quickly.   Keith was taken to hospital and had thirty-six stitches in his ear.   All fine now.   We were very lucky.

The turban swap photo had to be photoshopped to remove any sign of bandage.   Blast, I forgot about my sock!