The Colors of Rajasthan-Bundi (Day 8)

Tuesday January 21—Day 8 (Bundi)

On our second day in Bundi, we woke up to pouring rain. India’s monsoon season doesn’t start until June-July, so it was pretty unusual for it to be raining. We were supposed to go to a few different sites around Bundi but decided to hold off a few hours to see if the rain let up. A few hours later, it let up only for enough time for us to think that it was going to stop so we decided to chance it and head out into the world.

Our first stop was to a stepwell. Similar to a well or a water tank, a stepwell holds water for the community. There are descending steps going down into the well though so people can access the water more easily. Bundi and other parts of Rajasthan are known for their gorgeous architectural stepwells. The one we went to had different stone carvings depicting Hindu gods.

By the time we were finished visiting the stepwell, the rain was coming down even harder than before. Luckily the guy who drove the jeep I went in was smart enough to deck the jeep out in bubble wrap. He covered the roof and the seats in bubble wrap. Who knew this plastic amusement of children could be so useful?

We then visited a cenotaph, where there is a memorial to the royal family members. Each king has a separate gazebo shaped memorial and their wife/wives are buried beside them. Centuries ago, it wasn’t uncommon for kings to have multiple wives. But the scary thing is, when the husband died, the wife/wives would jump onto the fire/pyre with his body and died too. It’s great that the women were committed to their marriage and their husbands, but man am I happy it doesn’t happen today!

Next up we went to Rudyard Kipling’s house that he had in Bundi. The place was so beautiful that he was inspired to write Kim there. It’s funny how life just brings you full circle sometimes…and this was one of my moments because Kipling also had a house in Brattleboro, VT where I go to graduate school! Kipling loved India and I can understand why. The grounds of his house in Bundi were so pretty, even in the rain.

Before we were soaked to the bone, we drove to the 84 pillars, a monument that you guessed it, has 84 pillars. Once we got back to our rooms, we were so cold and wet that not even the hair dryers they gave us did much good. This was one of those moments that I was so glad I brought my thermal underwear!

The Colors of Rajasthan-Bundi (Day 7)

Monday January 20—Day 7 (Bundi)

This morning when I woke up, I came down with a stomach bug for the first time since living in New Delhi. I don’t know if it’s luck or not, but after studying abroad in Mumbai during college, I’ve come to have some tools of the trade in regards to the traveler’s bug. It also helped knowing that one of the people in our group was a doctor. So I loaded up with prescription drugs, yogurt and bananas and hoped for the best….because this morning, we were going to be stuck in a passenger van/bus for a five hour drive to Bundi.

I tried to sleep it off during our drive, but all the bumps and car horns made it pretty difficult. Every so often when I peeked my eyes open, I saw some green fields, colorfully decked out trucks and some cars decorated for the bride and groom after their wedding. Wedding season is in full swing here in India since the temperatures are finally at a bearable temperature…unlike the 40 degrees Celsius that they get in the summer.

Once we got into Bundi, we dropped our stuff off at our heritage stay and headed out to visit the Bundi Palace. Even though I wasn’t feeling that great, I knew seeing Rajasthan was a once in a lifetime trip and still wanted to make the most of my time here. Plus all the monkeys we saw in the palace made it all the more enjoyable! The palace was covered in wall to wall murals, depicting different scenes of life in India. Since the majority of the palace is still owned by a family and not the government, restoration work hasn’t really been done at all. It was sad to see all the gorgeous paintings knowing that they might not be there in 5-10 years. While walking around the palace, I couldn’t help but think of how the U.S. government would have treated this same historical place so that this gorgeous art could be preserved.

After leaving the palace, instead of taking a rickshaw back to our heritage stay, we decided to walk throughout the town and back to our housing.

We finished the night with dinner around the campfire. Luckily my stomach and I were in good hands that night because I had a delicious honey and banana pancake and an omelet for dinner. Nothing like breakfast for dinner to make yourself feel better!