Udaipur the city of lakes

Driving into the rising Sun is a wonderful experience and the additional advantage is that the roads are empty.

The highlight is stopping for breakfast especially when it is hot and freshly made. I enjoyed this kantha poha (flattened rice)

We drove down from Surat to Udaipur and it was a pleasant ride as the roads were good.

We reached Udaipur in time to see the sunset at Lake Pichola.

We were lucky to get a good guide (Mr Kanwar Keer) who gave us some concise information about the place.

Like, I did not know about Jag Mandir where Shah Jehan stayed (during his rebellion with his father) and was inspired to build the Taj Mahal later.

The video gives more information about the place as I have left the guide's voice as it is. It is interesting to know how the Dhood talai got its name. Here is a picture of Dhoodh Talai.

I clicked one more picture of the same place but before clicking I increased the contrast extensively by which it gives a night time effect.

The actual difference between both the above pictures is just 15 seconds. A good example of how to play with the light using your camera.
In the next blog, I hope to write about the trip from Pune to Surat where we had a stopover at Udwada.

When in Manipal

When in Manipal, you can have a relaxed cruise in the backwaters and witness the confluence of the Suvarna river joining the Arabial sea.

Or witness a mythological skit in action

But one must not miss the Hasta Shilpa Heritage Village Museum. This is not an ordinary museum but are houses that have been transplanted from various parts of the country.

It is not only the houses but artefacts too have also been moved.

A guide will accompany you explaining each and every item with some interesting stories.
For example here is a stone on which history was written, but then it is interesting to know how the stone had a transformation in between. You can hear it from the guide himself in the video.

Here is a table with chairs for the zamindar and the praja. It is worth noticing that the zamindar's chair is higher than the praja's chair

A cradle designed for twins

One of the oldest Harmonium where pedals helped in pushing the wind. I noticed that it is a folding type where it will fit into that box.

When you enter the Mudhol Palace Durbar hall, don't miss the water trough to wash your feet before entering the durbar hall courtyard.

The Deccani Nawab Mahal had a cast iron spiral staircase too.

I noticed that there was music playing in each house, but it was not piped music centrally played and common for all. The Mangalore Christian house had English music, whereas some other houses had carnatic music.

The Kunjur Chowkimane was built in the architectural style of Kerala based from the 15th century. The plan of the structure follows a Mandala. The basic house module is Nalukettu. (Nalu is 4 and kettu is Wings)
Noticed an old projector hanging on a wall in one of the houses, probably worked with a petromax.

Some houses had ergonomically designed seats that ventilate as well as ensure privacy on the first floor.

Trellis of windows were designed with a purpose

The dead body carrier for muslims is also preserved

We got a lot of information from our guide Mr Sushanth who was patient enough to explain everything in detail. I was also happy to see many school children visiting the place. This is the right time for them to learn history with the objects/houses in front of them.

This tree must have witnessed many changes that have happened in this museum during the course of time.

When watching the video, turn on the subtitles to understand better.

Bush Telegraph

It is very rare that you get to see a leopard with her kill and her young one on the very first trip you make to Africa, thanks to Option.

Option is the name of the tour guide who was with us for the last three days of our tour of Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Option was not only knowledgeable about wildlife, he had a sound knowledge about the history and geography of everything. He has this habit of exchanging information with his counterparts and he calls it "bush telegraph"

His grasp on the geological background of the terrain was admirable. When we camped at Savuti, during the campfire, he explained about the stars and I was stunned at his knowledge of constellations.

We were at the edge of our seat listening to one of the strategy executed by the lions of how they managed to feed on Elephants. When the waters receded all the animals migrated to other areas whereby there was nothing for the lions to feed on. They decided to feed on the mighty elephants. As they could not constrict and choke them (their usual strategy) they managed to bleed the elephants to death by cutting open their main artery, a process which took three to four days. There were casualties on the lion’s side too, but the pride managed to feed and sustain themselves.
In Option’s words “ When we think we know everything, Nature manages to rewrite history”

The additional advantage that he had was his great sense of humour and a good grasp of the language. You can hear from him in the video. Those of you who would like to engage him can contact him directly on Whatsapp +267 7241 7407 or mail at optionmooketsi@rocketmail.com
Coming back to our main story, as usual Option kept collecting information from his bush telegram and when we told him that we spotted a jackal he said "forget the Jackal for the time being, I will show you something that you will never forget" He drove us directly to the spot where the leopard was resting after having her first fill of the Steenbok. It was later that we noticed that she had a cub too. (The leopard spots really help in the blending in.)

The leopard decided to move to a quieter place, so she picked up her kill and moved to the interior with her cub in tow. It was our luck that she walked right in front of our vehicle, so I could capture her movements in the video.
In another instance, we saw a leopard stalking and crouching waiting for the charge. He was waiting to see if he could reduce the distance between the prey and him. The waiting game went on for a long time and we had to leave before some action took place.