Bundi (5 nights) - Blog 2

Hmmn, 5 nights and 6 days is a long time and I did so much that I cannot possibly tell you about it all, so I wont try. Instead I will just try and give you an idea of the place and the people I met.

So, Bundi is in Rajasthan, the 'desert state', yet all of the surrounding countryside is lush green. I was lucky enough to go an visit a waterfall about 30km away (sharing a taxi with 4 women) and we drove past field after field of green. The waterfall itself was suprisingly impressive, considering the season, thanks to a nearby dam, and I had a little bit of a swim in the pool at the bottom.

The town itself is dominated by an imposing palace, hanging down from the hillside. Beneath the palace sprawls the very typically Rajisthani town, with so many of the building painted in 'Brahmin blue' it is a wonder that Jodhpur aquired the name of 'blue city' and not here. If you can convince your eyes to look beyond the palace, a ruined fort sits atop the hill.

When I arrived I had a look at 2 or 3 guesthouses, trapsing up the narrow and steep stairwells with my pack on only to find a dissapointing room with shabby shared bathroom. I reluctantly accepted an offer to have a look at a guesthouse I was approaching from the overly enthusiastic owner outside. Normally I avoid the ones that are hassling me before I even get through the door, but I was getting desperate. His rooms were lovely, but his price a little too high. He agreed to give me one of his better rooms for the price of the lesser ones, on the premise that I would move into one of those the following day when a guest checked out. However, to my delight, nobody checked out and so I ended up staying in the nicest room I have had in my entire trip for 3 nights at a bargain price! Furthermore, the atmosphere in guesthouse was fantastic. The people running it were so relaxed and informal that you ended up feeling like part of the family, the food was great, and the other guests made good company.

I must have been in Bundi two days before I ventured from where I was staying toward the centre, but when I did I discovered the most amazing market place. There were clothes shops, pots and pans shops, spice shops, shops selling cooking oils, tea, stuff that glittered, flowers, locks, and at one end a huge vegetable market. This was my favourite part, with a central area with stalls where the vendors sat surrounded by, alost buried by, fruit and veg with a little hand-held scale to price up your purchase. Not held by the stalls the market spilled out onto the neighboring streets where the sellers all had a stick in hand to beat away the cheeky goats. A chap staying in my guesthouse decided to make himself a stir-fry one night, so bought a couple of bell peppers, half a dozen spring onions, a few chilis, some tomatos etc etc. It cost him all of Rs45 (about 70 pence)!!

I met Faalix and Tim and we took bicycles out of town, past the lake, past the palace 'where Rudyatd Kipling wrote some of Kim' (he stayed for 2 days!), via a deserted local holy place full of cenotaphs, to a village where we stopped for water and nibbles and turned back. On the return journey we came across a temple. The buliding itself was nothing out of the ordinary (for India), but somebody had left a few piles of veg out in front and the local monkeys were having a feast! It was all rather surreal and made me wonder if it was here that Kipling had found his inspiration for the Jungle Book. After the monkeys threatned to turn nasty ('This is MY cauliflower!') we peddled on by a dog eating a cow carcass, followed by a school where the kids all broke out and chased us along the road, clinging on to our bikes. It was a strange and wonderful day.

Another day I saw the streets filled with music and dancing as a wedding procession passed by. Another time I saw a group of French tourists have their breakfast rudely interrupted by a monkey with a craving for toast. Another day I rambled through the mysterious fort and its grounds. Another day I saw a huge and ornately decorated step-well.

My stay in Bundi was one of my highlights of India and my trip so far. I was sad to leave, but there was so much more to see. I took my first Indian sleeper bus to Udaipur.