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Last stop in Rajasthan: Udaipur. Rajasthan is known for its palaces, forts, and history. Udaipur is no exception. It doesn’t have a “kingdom” to speak of as Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer did, but there is a City Palace, a museum now, which happens to be the state’s largest with a façade 244 meters long and 30 meters high. The palace was begun by the city’s founder, Maharaja Udai Singh II, and completed by subsequent maharanas. There is a uniformity to the palace and it’s not terribly different from some of the others we’d seen: cupolas, courtyards, balconies, towers. All in all, it’s a nice visit and certainly a “must see” if you have a tourist checklist for this town.
The biggest difference between Udaipur and the previous cities we’d visited is the setting. In southern Rajsasthan, Udaipur (population around half million) is nestled among the Aravalli Hills and is on the eastern shore of Lake Pichola. Now, this lake was always here, but not quite at these dimensions. It was enlarged by Maharana Udai Singh II (city founder) to its current size of 4 km (north-south) by 3 km (east-west) by flooding the village of Picholi. Being manmade (or…man-enlarged), it’s shallow and can dry up completely during severe droughts.
Because of its setting, Udaipur is considered one of the most romantic spots in India and, while I haven’t seen much of India, I can certainly say that I can see how this could/would be a romantic spot. My Udaipur experience began when we arrived via overnight bus around 4:00 in the morning on Friday, October 2.
Udaipur was one of the cities where I was not able to actually reserve a guesthouse, but I did have one in mind (Lal Ghat Guesthouse) and we hopped in a tuktuk and made our way there now. Bless their souls and wonderful Indian hospitality for opening the door before the sun had come up and giving us a comfortable – though like most other places, bare necessities – room. (I’m always pleased and impressed, both in China and India, that hotels allow you to check in very early without charging an extra day.)
Needing a few hours of actual sleep, since the bus sleepers felt more like a sarcophagus than a sleeper, we got a slightly late-morning start to the day. The Lal Ghat Guesthouse is located just north of City Palace and on the shores of Lake Pichola. From our room, if you crane your neck just a little bit, you could see the lake (with some flowers in bloom) and the Lake Palace. More on that later.
For now, the first order of business was to find food. I can’t recall the name of the restaurant, but I enjoyed it so much I ate there a second time on my own. It was a few doors south of the guesthouse and, like the guesthouse, was lakeside and afforded wonderful views. Fortified by a delicious lunch of chicken biriyani and reshmi chicken, we made our way to the City Palace (and Palace Museum) and wandered around there for a while.
It’s a very nice palace, mind you, but I was beginning to become a bit anesthetized to grandiose palaces by this point, having been to Jaipur, Jaisalmer, and Jodhpur in the past seven days. Though this is the largest, it didn’t rank as my favorite. (Jaisalmer Fort was my favorite as it’s a living fort, followed by Mehrangarh in Jodhpur, then City Palace here in Udaipur; Jaipur didn’t really have a comparable palace to speak of, though it’s the capital of the state.)
Though I was starting to suffer palace fatigue, I still did enjoy myself quite a bit, though I know I was rushing a little. I was more interested in finding “unique” here, which was only with views of the lake. Other than that, it was standard fare for palace museums with the women’s quarters, various displays, and so on. However, it is a pretty building, and I’m certainly glad to have gone there.
From City Palace, we walked out the south gate to take a boat ride around Lake Pichola. This is where Udaipur comes into play in pop culture. James Bond fans may recognize the scenery around Udaipur and Lake Pichola in particular as the main setting from the movie Octopussy. (It was said to have been an Afghan palace in Octopussy.) You’d also have to be a pretty die hard 007 fan to have seen that movie, I think; it’s usually ranked among the worst of the Bond franchise. But, I digress…
There are really two islands in the middle of Lake Pichola: Jagniwas with its Lake Palace Hotel (Taj Lake Palace) and Jagmandir with its own palace. I’ll start with Jagniwas. It’s not a private island, but you can only go there if you are a guest of the hotel…with rooms that start from 40,000 rupees/night. (I don’t know the high end, but that translates to close to 4,000 RMB or over $600 USD/night for the cheapest available. I’ve seen pictures and, while beautiful, I’m not Daddy Warbucks, and don’t expect I ever will be…so will just settle for their promotional pictures on their website: www.tajhotels.com .)
Jagmandir, on the other hand, is an island you can visit, and we did. The boat left the mooring south of City Palace, went northward to give a close-up view of City Palace from the lake, along with Bagore-ki-Haveli up to the north end before veering south and around Jagniwas and docking at the north end of Jagmandir, 800 meters south of Jagniwas (and roughly in the west central part of the lake).
Jagmandir’s palace was built in 1620 by Maharana Karan Singh, and was expanded by his successor, Maharana Jagat Singh. Not much has changed from those days until recently when it was convereted into a small hotel (nothing like the neighboring Taj Lake Hotel). For the Bond aficionados, the Taj Lake Hotel was the main palace of Octopussy, and I believe Jagmandir’s palace is where Bond stayed in the movie. There was also some filming at the nearby Monsoon Palace, but we didn’t have the time to visit there.
Jagmandir didn’t offer much at all in the way of things to do. Once you get to the island, you’re pretty much limited to wandering around an interior palace courtyard (where you can have very, very overpriced drinks and possibly a bite to eat, though the drink prices kept me from looking further, so I’m not certain). After staying in the courtyard as long as you’d like – and the views from and in the courtyard are lovely, though don’t require too much time or effort – you can walk outside to the boat dock where there is also an outer garden that’s quite pleasing, and affords beautiful views of the wooded Aravalli Hills in the west.
After an hour or two on Jagmandir, we finally took a boat back to the mainland (a whole 10-15 minute ride, tops), and then tooled around the area near City Palace and the guesthouse. We eventually had dinner at a rooftop restaurant down the lane from where we stayed which had a nice view of the lake with its shimmering palaces (well-lit by night) and a bit of a nice view for sunset. The best sunset views, I would say, would have been from the islands, though – especially Jagniwas – as you could have an unobstructed view of the sun setting over the hills with the lake in the foreground. The food at the restaurant, like most every other restaurant we ate at, was spectacular. It was a good way to end the first day in Udaipur.
Saturday morning came along and we didn’t have much planned. I was actually glad to spend the majority of the day alone. After running a few errands, I went to Jagdish Temple. This is an “Indo-Aryan temple..built by Maharana Jagat Singh in 1651. The wonderfully carved main structure enshrines a black stone image of Vishnu as Jagannath, Lord of the Universe; there’s a brass image of the Garuda (Vishnu’s man-bird vehicle) in a shrine facing the main structure.” (Per Lonely Planet India.) This is one of the smallest temples I’ve ever been to, though the details were delightful. I was pretty impressed with how intricate the temples were both here and at Jaisalmer.
After a quick half hour at Jagdish Temple, I went back to roaming the streets of Udaipur, eventually finding my intended destination, the Bagore-ki-Haveli. This is a pretty large haveli in the Gangaur Ghat area. It was built by a Mewar prime minister and has 138 carefully restored rooms around courtyards on three levels. These days, it’s kind of a klitschy museum. There are a few rooms that have interesting exhibits of Indian musical instruments (a sitar, obviously, and many others that I don’t recall the names of), and exhibits with turbans – including the world’s biggest turban. (This, by the way, was a bit strange; don’t know why anyone would want such a huge turban. Anyway, it was in a glass case, didn’t photograph terribly well, and none of us are the worse off for that.) The nicest part about this haveli is that, like the guesthouse, it was on the water’s edge, so had a few rather pleasant views.
After finishing up here, I wandered back to the previous day’s restaurant for lunch (and would even eat dinner there on Saturday night; they were probably happy with me…). For either lunch or dinner, I had hariyali murg tikka and cheese naan. Now…I would gladly eat murg tikka (chicken pieces generally made in a tandoor) any day of the week. Hariyali…is a coriander-yogurt-mint marinade. It’s heavenly. I really need to learn how to make that one, though I don’t really have any way to make tandoori chicken.
The afternoon and early evening was spent eating very well and relaxing, and really waiting for the last thing I had planned for Udaipur: Dharohar. This is a cultural event at the Bagore-ki-Haveli that hosts Rajasthani folk dancing, singing, performance, and so on. It’s an hour long and pretty interesting, in addition to being in a nice setting.
Before bidding farewell to Udaipur, I returned for the last time to Lake Pichola to try to get a few pictures of the Lake Palace and Jagmandir by night. A few turned out alright, but not spectacularly.
All told, Rajasthan was an absolutely brilliant way to spend a week, and I was looking forward to the last few days in Uttar Pradesh, beginning with the Taj Mahal in Agra after yet another long overnight train ride across the Indian countryside.
I accidentally shot these photos in low res 4mpx mode after shooting thumbnails for a project. forgot to bring it back to 16 meg. i wonder how much difference I notice though.
These are really amazing. I would love to see the machine that loads dirt into this baby. I would also love to hear this fired up!
Neon sign of Video Difference, defunct and iconic video rental store at 6086 Quinpool Road in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Cape Verde has been recognized as a global hotspot for terrestrial and marine biodiversity and United Nations in Cape Verde is actively involved in promoting environmental sustainability for the people and its' future generations of Cape Verde. On the island of Maio, two projects funded by GEF Small Grants Programme, are making the difference in shaping the minds and actions of the people.
"Marine Turtles Protection" is the first turtle conservation project in the history of the island involving the active participation of local communities and fishermen to protect Loggerhead Turtles. The project enables 17 fishermen and local people to be employed to patrol the beaches from June to October for the nesting and the hatchlings of the turtles. The local youth are also taking part in the conservation project by visiting the project sites and learning about the life cycle of the turtles and the eco-system of the island. The youth also had the opportunity to share their findings by organizing a theater performance at the municipality's festivals. Theater is relatively new to Maio and the play combined traditional story-telling techniques with an emphasis of turtle conservation andthe importance of preserving the natural environment.
This is a positive change in the increased awareness of the people where before, the hunting of turtles for their meat and eggs was common practice across the islands and egg predation by humans and other predators, had almost wiped out the breeding turtle population of the island.The project is also in alignment with Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP), a national government policy priority, which is also linked to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The project is really a local-to-global contribution.
"Revitalizing the Porto Ingles Wetlands" is also a unique cooperative project,empowering 70local women working in salt extraction. Porto Ingles Wetlandsinclude the largest «salina» in Cape Verdewith a heritage of salt extraction since the late 16th century. The entire salt production process in Maio is managed and operated by local women, and these women are proud and motivated in further improving their professional skills by actively participating in a technical exchange program to increase salt production with women from similar projects in Guinea Bissau, West Africa.The UN in Cape Verde will continue work with the Government, civil society, private sector, development partners, and families to promote sustainable development. After all, the women in Porto Ingles Wetlands have definitely illustrated that by working together and sharing experiences, they are not only helping each other to enhance the quality of life for themselves, but also are contributing to the lives of the people in Cape Verde and it's neighboring countries.
In addition,the project not only promotes sustainable traditional livelihoods of these women, it also promotes biodiversity by protecting and re-vitalizing the wetlands. The wetland attracts a wide variety of birds,including endemic species, for breeding and feeding.A protected fence is scheduled to be built to preserve and to develop this area as a natural reserve to incorporate eco-tourism as a unique bird-watching site in Cape Verde. The flocks of flamingo canalso be observed when visiting the Porto Ingles Wetlands.
Both projects, while aimed at issues related to MDG7, (Ensure Environmental Sustainability), have the added benefits of addressing poverty eradication and other MDG1 targets. The UN in Cape Verde and GEF Small Grants Programme continue to be committed to promoting sustainable livelihoods of the people by protecting the environment and utilizing the natural resources.
Article writen by Masakazu Shibata / One UN Communication Officer
There are 12 hard to spot differences between this altered image and the original picture posted next to it.
No prizes for guessing correctly, just a bit of fun. :-)
Photo: Buchanan Bus Station,Glasgow, 28th March 1981.
Mercedes-Benz Citaro (BJ12 YPW) www.flickr.com/photos/138705729@N04/33716083298/in/dateta...
Mercedes-Benz Citaro (BV58 MLN) www.flickr.com/photos/138705729@N04/40627050073/in/dateta...
Ships and railway locos have long since adopted designs to reduce glare from sunlight, how come road transport is lagging behind? Town Quay, Barrow.
The Jersey Shore Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring and I were at the big-ass super duper market this afternoon to get a watermelon. Aggie Ring has an evil plan that involves watermelon and bourbon. We can’t use vodka because we saw a posting on Facebook yesterday that showed people who drink the clear alcoholic beverages have no self respect for themselves. Can’t have that. No sir, not on this Aggie Ring’s watch.
But, back to the story. We’re walking through the produce department and Aggie Ring started twirling and flashing in “Aggie Ring Emergency Alert Mode.” I thought “What the hell? Are the Japanese bombing the Alamo again?”
“Calm down.” I told the little Aggie Ring. “What is it?” I asked.
“It’s the tomatoes.” he cried out. “The JERSEY TOMATOES are here!”
I looked over and sure enough, there was a bin of locally-grown Jersey Tomatoes.
Now, some of you are probably thinking, “So what? It’s just a tomato.”
NO. I assure you. These are not ordinary tomatoes. They’re Jersey Tomatoes. There’s a difference. There’s a difference. I have food allergies and I’m not supposed to eat any fruits or vegetables from the Deadly Nightshade Family like the tomato. But, who want’s to live forever.
New Jersey is the damn “Garden State.” We grow incredible things like these tomatoes, sweet corn that tastes like candy which you can eat raw, cranberries, peaches and a whole lot of other good stuff. There are orchards all around me where you can go and pick your own stuff. The watermelons here aren’t that great. I’d give anything for a Hemstead, Texas mellon. The ones with the seeds. Seedless watermelons don’t taste as good as the seeded ones.
The Jersey Shore Aggie Ring and I stood there and shamelessly fondled the tomatoes until we found a nice pair. One was just a little bigger than the other. “So firm!” cried out Aggie Ring as he squeezed the tomatoes. “So firm!”
Now, I was never the biggest fan of the tomato. Sure, I’d eat them, but they were never special to me and Aggie Ring until we got stationed in New Jersey and had our first Jersey Tomatoes in a Parkway Diner. We don’t eat potatoes so they’d substitute tomatoes. They pan fry them. Not deep fried like the green tomatoes we ate in Alabama or Georgia, but just pan fried. Maybe almost just grilled.
As we were driving home, Aggie Ring told me, “I’m going to get out the 14” cast iron skillet. I’m going to heat it up with some lard or bacon grease in it. Then, I’m going to slice one of those delicious tomatoes into 1/4” slices. I’ll blot them dry so they won’t splatter when I put them into the skillet. I’m going to make up a mix of salt, fresh ground black pepper, and maybe some cayenne to put on them before they go into the fat.
There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing the sizzle of something being dropped into the fat covering the bottom of a real cast iron skillet when it’s hot and shimmering. Aggie Ring says that the texas university grads can use the teflon or other non-stick skillets.
“The road goes on forever and the party never ends!”
I'm now subtracting 3 in the 3rd position from the left. This is done in 2 steps: subtract 5, add 2. In this step I add 2.
I read about Charles Babbage's Difference Engine as a child.
To see a working version in the flesh was a great thrill for me.
This was inside a glass case, I put the camera on timer, jammed the lens against the glass and held it as steady as I could - seemed to work.
On Friday, I went to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest for the third time this summer, this time with some photo friends from work. These guys are on the Discovery trail in Schulmann Grove. I tried light-painting them too, but I liked this better.
I'm now subtracting 8 in the 8th position from the left. This is done in 2 steps: subtract 10, add 2. In this step I subtract 10 by subtracting 1 in the 7th position from the left.
First bunny was knit shortly after I started to learn last May. Purple one was knit about 3 weeks ago--huge difference in how I knit and my gauge. Both were done with the same size needles and yarns.
Tema della settimana #9: difference.
Questa settimana la genesi della foto è stata davvero particolare, in quanto sto lavorando all'artwork per un album di un gruppo musicale...e siccome il tempo è sempre così poco, mi sono detto: "perchè non ideare qualcosa che unisca i due intenti?"
E così è nata questa foto, che in una versione diversa ed insanguinata costituirà la cover dell'album.
In questa versione, ho eliminato tutti i fronzoli (ad esempio i macabri schizzi di sangue ahuahauh) per sottolineare l'essenza dello scatto, cioè la differenza, l'antitesi, tra il fiore (per antonomasia dolce, soffice, gentile) ed il filo spinato che lo avvolge (cruento, doloroso e fatale)
Spero vi piaccia! =)
Pop quiz #1 We do know this is a 1948 Massey Harris, but something is a wee bit different...
Another trek to Pioneer Acres for their annual showcase weekend, lots of fun as always... www.pioneeracres.ab.ca/
Difference in the length of wheelbase.
TS005 is only for one block longer than TS003.
I got advice from " Tommy ñ " (Thanks for " Tommy ñ ")
Today's update is end. I wanted to take a in-depth photo, but there was no time. Soon, a picture is added again. (next week??)
MARINA, Calif. - Volunteers from POM and DLIFLC come together on Make A Difference Day to perform yard work and maintenance at the Marina home of widow Amelia Dow. Make A Difference Day is national day of community service sponsored by USA WEEKEND magazine and HandsOn Network that is held annually on the fourth Saturday in October.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
2008-02-16, Forellenhof
VI K 99 1715 and IV k 99 1568 rolling downgrade with their short freight towards Steinbach.
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