rangoli

Decorative designs made of clean swept floors of 

living rooms or courtyards during Hindu festivals

a white outline of the design is marked out with

chalk or rice flour, which is then filled with

coloured powders or flowers.

decorating a freshly made cow dung courtyard

a doorstep in Udaipur

a modern approach, household paint!

Teachers from the village school at Pachewar invited us in

 to see the rangoli designed by children in three different classes.

It is a competition, and I am very glad we didn't get asked

to be the judges.   All beautifully done - who could choose?!!

little diya lights complete the design of this rangoli

back streets of Udaipur

Oh, we do like a little wander.

Life goes on, much as it has always done.   A world away from
the tourist areas of Udaipur, where you are constantly being
invited to 'just come in and look'.   

In this small street we are greeted with genuine smiles, 
and no hassle.  

Blue house, blue  cart, with scales.   Later it will be trundled 
through the lanes, perhaps with vegetables for sale.

A goldsmith with his crucible balanced on a metal plate.
He is sitting on the steps outside his home.   
Such concentration.                                                        

k

The Musician.   Diwali.  A very simple melody!  Everyone happy
give a few rupees.          I had bought a box of delicious Indian
sweeties to share, they went down well!              

k

The Potter.  There were an amazing amount of small potteries.  Beautiful water
pots.  I would love to bring one home.   Would it survive the journey?  Perhaps I 
should at least try next time!    
                                         
k

Decorating the water pots.  Behind a mound of diya dishes.   Much in demand for
Diwali.   The little oil filled diya decorate the houses, in windows and along walls 
and roofs.     
                            
k

A young mother with her child, and a 'friend'.     As Mark Tully says "you are never
alone in India".  The baby is well wrapped up, despite the temperature being 
around 28c.    Doesn't she look happy?   

the big blip

Hello, namaste - we're back!     When we left Udaipur on 15 November, 
for roads less travelled in Gujarat, there was a distinct lack of Internet access, 
in fact, none at all. Even at the end of the trip in Mumbai, there was a short 
burst of wifi, like ten minutes!   Apparently trouble with the satellite.    Well, 
we just had to accept  that information.

This was a good thing!   After twitchy fingers, and needing to know what was
going on in the world, the laptop also had a holiday.

This year was a difficult one, for many reasons.   We really needed down time
to let the brain empty, file and/or delete.   It took about a week to recuperate,
then just to relax and enjoy the journey.  

A bit of a shock landing at Heathrow.   Not only pouring rain, a temperature
drop of 30c, followed by a cold frosty spell.  Hibernation time!    Out with the
Blue Moon quilt   Spent a few days quilting, which was great.  No stitching
for a whole month!!!!

brrrr ..............

I started this blog in 2008 as a journal of my Indian travels mainly for 
family and friends, and Keith who joined me two weeks later, just
so they knew where I was and what I was up to.  I had an invitation to 
a Mela in Bhuj, which I could not refuse.   Previously I had sent group
e mails. Time for techno Tig to join the 21st century.  That was a huge 
learning curve, especially since I only set up the blog days before
my departure!

That's almost five years ago!  The blog goes on.  Thank you friends and 
followers for visiting, and for your comments which are always welcomed.

So I have a lot of catching up to do!

When in India you have to expect the unexpected around every corner.
You also experience 'breakdown' with everyday objects.   Take my new
sandals for instance 

very comfortable for wandering around Udaipur

and then the glue on the straps failed to do it's job.   Step up the street cobbler.

What a good job!   Glue applied to both shoe straps, and for added stability, 

saddle stitching to the sole.    You might notice they are a light cherry red.

Oops, to late.  They were polished within an inch of their life, very nice and

smart, however, I've lost the red and now have a sort of military brown!

Keith's binoculars went wonky, I lost mine!   I also think I need a new camera!

I am 'borrowing' some of Keith's photos for my blog which I will mark as his.

For a real treat, do visit his website.   He is still in the process of sorting his

pix.   They are brilliant.

shrines

Some of the little wayside shrines in Udaipur 

we are on the road again this morning

off to Gujarat to small villages, then to 

Sasan Gir where the Asian lions roams

there might be a little blip in blogging

to Udiapur

After a couple of days in Pachewar we made our way slowly back
to Udaipur.    To break the journey we called in to Todger, for an
overnight stay at a friends' new haveli, The Hill Valley Resort.   Set
high in the Aravali hills the air was clean and fresh, a nice change
from the craziness of the traffic  We still have oh and ah moments
when travelling.   The cars manage to weave in and out of lanes,
never the correct ones, and then there is usually one car/lorry 
going the wrong way.   A traffic inspector's nightmare.

We stayed here a couple of years ago, and there were no front or back doors,
the swimming pool was under constructions and ladies were planting the 
lawn grass plant by grass plant.  

On to Ankola to see the block printers.  Along the country lanes we caught up 
with a camel train on the way to a holy festival and then Pushkar camel fair.

leader of the pack

the middle

bringing up the back, baby camels

the camels carry all the household equipment,

beds, pots and pans, and, of course, the

small children and babies

And so to Ankona.    Block printed cloth bought and some fine white Indian cotton.

The necessary cups of chai and chat.    The 'showroom' was in a bit of a mess, as

everywhere people are tidying up for Diwali, but that didn't matter I had a fine time

among the piles of fabric!

One of the ladies of the family showing her

skill at shibori/bhandani.   Very impressive.

a pile of cloth ready for dyeing - they are all large

pieces, about 5 mts, folded into four for tying and

no markings of a pattern are made, it's just

done by eye.   Amazing.

Pachewar

This is catch up time!     We set off on our wanderings through Rajasthan
a week ago.   We were will off the beaten track so no chance to blog.

A long journey made even longer with traffic jams and road works.  The
countryside is beautiful, I just love the Aravali Hills.   Stops for chai were
interesting diversions.   We could watch the lorries whizzing by and be
entertained by passing musicians, such as the two man band with one
drum and a cymbal between them.  No music as such, just a minute of
what could best be described as NOISE.

We arrived, somewhat dusty, in Pachewar after eight hours on the road.
Driving through the small village to the fort we encountered 'major' road
works.   A huge trench, which we later discovered had been by the owner
of the house, so he could find and connect to the main water pipe.   The
car had to reverse through very narrow lanes, eventually arriving at the
fort, we were the only guests, very exclusive!

A glimpse within

The fort taken from the original outer wall

our front door - with ventilation!

the interior shabby chic

The village was lovely, so clean.    People going about their daily business; the potter,

the shopkeeper, school children, and those just sitting and chatting.

The village was situated by a lake.   We had walks around, talking to ladies 
doing the washing, the men taking the buffalo for morning walks, children just
being cheeky.   Then there was the bird watching.  Ha, ha, you try to find a
green pigeon the same colour as the leaves on the tree.   Our friend Samshu
spotted loads, and we felt like idiots not seeing one!   Well, we did eventually.

 the lake at sunset

Happy Diwali

We're back in Udaipur after five days without internet access, and today 
is Diwali.  Local time 11pm, the fireworks have been going on continuously
for five hours.   Totally amazing, it sounds like a battlefield out there.

From Lake Pichola Hotel we look across the lake to the town, the sky is
alight with fireworks and whizz pop bangs.

The day was spent meeting friends, drinking chai and eating too many
delicious Indian sweeties!   A fabulous atmosphere.   Feeling tired but can't
imagine actually getting much sleep with all the din outside!

Good night!