Part 15 – February 21, 2015.   Cliff Notes: New train station, new challenges.

Thursday morning train from Jaipur to Udaipur, six hours.  Jaipur station is in full hustle bustle mode.  Must find platform, train, car, and seats.  Sign overhead on platform 1 says train is on platform D2. Hike to 2, look for D.  No D section, wrong train too.  Hike back to Enquiry desk on platform 1.  No Enquiry desk but Station Master’s office is open.  We’re told it’s simple, walk to the far end of platform 1, go down a ramp to the tracks, cross them, take a right and find platform A2.   A2?  Where did A2 come from?  We check again, now the overhead sign says D A2.  It did not say that before.  And what’s the D mean?

Beyond the end of platform 1 we find A2 and our train in the dark and out of what appears to be the station.  We find our car, chair car C1, and seats, 39 and 40.  39 and 40 are not together, we sit next to each other in 40 and 41 and pray we can negotiate for 41.  But first somebody comes in and sits in 39.  His seat is really 17.  A family of three takes seats 42, 43, and 44 and gives us 40.  People are very accommodating.

Comfortable seats, very old car, AC on full blast for the entire journey, cold.  2 tickets, 350 km, 700 rupees total, less than $12.

On our first afternoon and evening in Udaipur we walked to the Jagdish Mandir (temple) right down the street from our lovely 6 room homestay..  Later we took a cable car ride to the top of a hill south of city center..At night we went to the Museum, also very close, for an hour of traditional dance.

The next day, Friday, we hired a car and driver to take us on a day trip to Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh fort some three hours north of Udaipur through dry but interesting territory and villages.  We left at 9:30 and were back by 6:30.  Kumbhalgarh is huge and sits on a mountain top surrounded by a 36 km long wall.  Ranakpur is the home of famous Jain temples.  A great day.

Saturday was spent touring the Udaipur City Palace, taking a leisurely walk through the old city, and taking a short boat ride on Lake Pichola.  It’s HOT here

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Terry and Sandy