The Great Gujarat Road
Odyssey – Day 19: Udaipur and Sajjangarh
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| Country Roads Take Me Home |
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| Fateh Sagar Lake in Udaipur |
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| Monsoon Palace or Sajjangarh Palace in Udaipur |
This
is your second time in Udaipur. Things are already looking cleaner and there is
no dust flying. The march back home has begun and you don’t have the motivation
to go into the city. You will come back to walk the lanes of the old city this
time. You remember the perfunctory boat ride on the Pichola last time you were
here. But the scenes from ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ make you want to come back and
do the town again. The plan is to spend some moments at the other lake of the
town, Fateh Sagar and see if the setting of the Monsoon Palace does something to
make you drive up the hill.
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| Bye Bye Gujarat |
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| Hello Rajasthan |
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| Yes Rajasthan is sparkling clean |
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| Udaipur: The Dreamy Fateh Sagar Lake |
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| The pavilions provide the perfect spots to take in the beauty of the Fateh Sagar Lake |
Rajasthan
knows how to keep its tourist spots squeaky clean; okay, maybe not all. You remember being shocked how littered and scribbled the UNESCO Ranthambhore Fort was. The nice devotees always perform their duty faithfully. The banks of the Fateh Sagar
lake gleam even as a battery of workers sweep the lakefront. You still don’t understand
how just a simple change of political border changes things so drastically. Everything here
looks well maintained and cared for and the pristine water reflects the blue of
the skies. Pretty pavilions on the promenade provide perfect spots to sit and
watch hours go. Dholka women will kill to be able to wash their laundry here.
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| The Udaipur Solar Observatory in the middle of Fateh Sagar Lake in Udaipur, Rajasthan |
In
the middle of the lake there is a structure that apparently looks like a solar
observatory. This is Udaipur’s modern equivalent of Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar. The
view sitting in one of these pavilions is both soothing and thrilling. Gentle
hills are walking into the misty horizon. On one of these hills, sits a white fort
with a tall gateway. This is Sajjangarh or the Monsoon Fort. Yes, you will have
to go up and see it for yourself, if not for the fort, the views should be interesting.
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| On the way up to Sajjangarh in Udaipur |
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| View of Fateh Sagar Lake from Sajjangarh |
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| Welcome to Sajjangarh, The Monsoon Palace |
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| Sajjangarh provides awesome views of the lakes and hills of Udaipur |
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| A View to Die For |
Water Harvesting & Conservation in the Monsoon Palace
The Monsoon Palace was not just a place high on the hill to enjoy
the breeze, rain and the views; it was an innovative rainwater harvesting
machine. The fort built in 1884 could teach today's cities, planners and
architects. Every storey of the palace has in-built tanks in the roof where
water flows in to meet the needs of the occupants of that floor. Excess water
drains through water pipes embedded in the masonry walls of the palace into the
underground tanks that can store upto 200,000 litres of fresh rainwater that
can used for drinking and other purposes. Down there, the runoff water from the
hills flow into the various lakes that provide drinking water to the towns and
charge the groundwater which in turn helps agriculture.
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| Sajjangarh Palace in Udaipur |
A
narrow, sharply winding track takes you up to the Monsoon Palace or Sajjan Garh
built atop the Bansdara peak of Aravallis at a height of 3100 feet. The palace
is entered through a tall gate with three storeyed projecting balconies high
above. You are here for the views and they are out of the world. The landscape
with the lakes and the hills is what makes Udaipur such a lovely place. Now
only if they don’t dig out the hills.
You
are sure in monsoon, the palace would be the ideal place to come to see the
rain-bearing clouds rolling in and the hills are a bright emerald colour.
Sajjan Garh offers some scintillating sunsets when you could actually see the
lakes down there turn crimson and pink. It will have to wait for some other
time.
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| So many choices |
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| Rajsamund: Love that Sign |
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| Every hill has a story in Rajasthan |
It
is noon and you are back on the highway. Rajasthan highways in some ways are
better than Gujarat roads. Delhi is about 700 kms away. You have never driven
this far in one day. You will shoot for Ajmer and then take it from there. The
scenic roads go through the Aravallis and you are going at a steady clip
thought the intermittent toll booths keep slowing you down. Rajsamund, Deogarh,
Bhim, Beawer are already in your rear-view mirror. Do you really want to stay
in another hotel for the night. You have already slept in 16 hotel rooms on the
trip in 18 days.
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| Highways are themselves picturesque frames |
Ajmer
is already behind. 400 kms more to go. You stop and stretch a little.
Ajmer-Jaipur highway is a breeze. Let’s decide once you reach Jaipur. It is
dark. Sun has quietly settled below the horizon behind you. You have a good
feeling going. This is what a road trip is all about. Open roads and you at the
wheel. You are crossing the several light signals on the highway as it crosses
Jaipur. Do you want to spend an hour looking for a hotel this close to home?
Let’s cross the city and have dinner and then think about it.
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| Will climb the hill someday to check the fort out |
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| Marble for your apartments |
It
is a cold night and you don’t feel tired though you have been driving for nine
hours now. You make up your mind. You are going to go for it – about 300 kms
more. You are in this zone. It is like you have hit triple century and now you
think you can get to the 400 mark.
With
the radio playing colloquial local AM stations, you are making your way through
this thicket of trucks on NH 48. The Jaipur-Delhi highway always sees a huge
rush of trucks speeding to the capital to douse the desire frenzy. You never go beyond 90 and make steady progress on the still
under construction highway which has been going on for years. It is 2 am when you find yourself in Gurgaon.
You
feel triumphant as you drive through the final lap. The road-trip had not taken
a huge build-up and planning. It was almost on a whim and about doing something that you always wanted to do before the chances run out. You had a rough idea what to see and and it was mostly about keeping a schedule and keeping on moving and not
falling for a place. The only thing that you could have done different was to
stay a day longer in pretty Diu.
Will
you do another road trip to Gujarat? Oh yes, in a heartbeat. And you already
have some idea what you are going to see this time! Only thing that will stay
same is that you will again go around in Jan around Uttarayan time! Another road trip idea is to start from Bangalore and do a circuit of Vijaynagar sites in TN, AP and Karnataka and which will of course include a long stopover in Hampi.
The journeys
will continue!
Day's
Stats
- Route
Taken – Udaipur to Rajsamund to Deogarh to Bhim, Beawer, Ajmer, Jaipur to
Delhi and home
- Distance
covered today – 704 kms
- Total
Distance covered so far - 4806 kms
References
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