The Road to Udaipur

I had originally planned to fly down to Udaipur, but I was talked into going with the driver instead. Of course, this was before I knew that Abid has a death wish. So, off I went for another five hour white-knuckle drive through the countryside.

It was great fun to see the small villages and life outside of India's cities. The wonders never cease. The first thing I saw leaving Jodhpur was a huge tree in the middle of the left lane on a four-lane highway. No warning, just a large tree. Abid explained that the "Neem" tree is special to Hindu's (apparently it helps with chicken pox) and you aren't allowed to cut them down. So, I guess they just paved around it when they expanded the road. Speaking of roads, I was shocked to see women in brightly colored sari's working on road crews. No joke, they were spreading tar and swinging pick axes in pink and yellow dresses! Talk about being over dressed! Abid explained that women in the country work harder than the men.

The country side just got more and more colorful. I think Ringling Brothers got the idea for the circus from the trucks in India. Trucks say "Goods Carriers" on the front and are a riot of color and art. There is fringe hanging, tassels flying, beads swinging... And they are piled a mile high with goods. The buses look similar but say "Public Carriers" and are stuffed with people inside and then more sit on the luggage rack on top. Of course they are all brightly dressed and add to the decor! If you add in the impromptu Hindu temple processions with God's in pick-up trucks followed by dancers, it's a bit like Mardi Gras on the country roads.

We stopped at Ranakpur, one of the largest Jain Temples in India (photo above). This special Hindu temple dates back to 1439 and has well over a thousand differently carved pillars. It's easy to see why it took over fifty years to build!

From Ranakpur we headed over the mountain range that surrounds Udaipur. I told Abid that I get very car sick on the curving roads, which he took to mean the faster he climbed the mountains the better. He honked constantly to make sure that any wildlife in the sanctuary could run before we saw, or hit it. By passing on blind curves and running over anything in our path, we made it to Udaipur in record time. As we entered Udaipur I noticed that we stopped (something we NEVER do) and saw a red light. It was the first stop light I have seen in 15 hours of driving in Rajasthan!