Mendawa

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Leaving Bikaner, we headed northeast towards Delhi. We approached the Sekhawati region, and stopped in JunJuhnu (sp?) to have a quick look at a newish hotel that has sprung up hoping to catch the burgeoning tourist trade starting in Delhi and circling Rajasthan. All the rooms were elaborately painted in Rajput themes, very attractive. Expensive by our standards (over 30$ per night), but a good deal from Europe or North America.

We continued driving through this part of Rajasthan. I noticed that many of the trees appeared to be "pollarded", which means that all the small branches had been cut or wrenched off, instigating new growth. I am guessing that the young branches were pulled off to provide forage for camels and goats, as well as for firewood. That provides a clue to what the animals eat. There's not much growing on the ground.

The towns in this area appear to be quite poor, judging by the state of the roads, and lack of paving. But in the past, it seems to have been richer; The Shekawhati region is characterized by many havelis - ornate mansions - built by Rajputs or other rich men in the past centuries. We visited one that had been purchased by a French woman, but were put off by the entrance fee. These restored and (more commonly) unrestored edifices have extremely ornately decorated fronts, with spacious interior patios (a bit like the latinamerican haciendas). There were many in this area. However, we were somewhat "monumented out", after 12 days which included the fort towns of the desert and the Taj Mahal.

After reaching Mendawa, which we learned was the first stop on a popular tourist circuit, we checked into a lovely haveli-cum-hotel (after furious negotiations about daily rates), then proceded to walk around the small town. Despite the presence of impressive havelis and numerous friendly (but self-serving) tour-guide wannabees, we spurned the idea and strolled around haveli-less.

At one point we wandered into an open courtyard under an arch. It was a private school with perhaps 50 kids and three teachers. Pandemonium broke loose when they saw us. The teachers lost control. We gave them all pens (bought at nearbyand took their pictures, then promised to send them prints. They all shook our hands and were excited, but quite well behaved.

We visited a tailor and had several shirts, trousers, blouses made. The tailor shop was 2 m by 4 m wide and long, open to the street, with two foot powered sewing machines, a common sight in India. They gave us an estimate of the amount of material, which we duly bought at another shop up the street. I ended up with a really nice shirt, made of Ghandi material (whatever that is), for less than 3$. As everywhere, crowds formed as we negotiated the transactions.

Later on that evening, I wandered around the town by myself, peering into homes and walking past groups of youths who would call out "hello sar". Despite the lack of lighting, I felt quite safe. Many people stopped to ask where I came from, or just to chat and practice English. A few had something to sell. Very friendly atmosphere, I will never forget it.

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Comments

[Wolfram]

Who is Connie???
Hi Gordon and Jamie! Nice to follow your journey since you added these really very gooood fotos! Why can't the camel be eaten? How loveley the kids are - as all over the world I think... Have a good time, regards, Wolfram