[MX6]

When was the last time we went on a holiday? No. not the ones in which I drove for most of the time. Not the ones where we had lot's of relatives to catch up with. Not the ones where we had to hunt around for budget hotels to spend the night, landmarks to see and cover, stringent timelines to keep up with.
When I posed this question to my wife, we were amazed to find out that in the last 60000 kms of travel, we couldn't call anything as a holiday actually.

Ok. What do we do now? Let's get away from the city. Let's book a nice resort that's kind of elegant and worth spending once in a while (not those other end of spectrum expensive kind). Let's just go in search of art, music and culture and unwind. Most importantly, let's get out of noisy cities especially during diwali. We decided to go to Rajasthan.

Why Rajasthan? It has been over 11 years since I'd been to Rajasthan. Not counting that 2 day trip in 2005 which was more of personal reasons. And let's go over to one place in Rajasthan that I've always missed out on. Udaipur. I spoke in length about Rajasthan to my wife and she too was intrigued as one of our ex-neighbour was from there and had shared loads of stories too.

Shopping? Yes. Neither has my wife asked me for anything, nor have I indulged till then. So this time, let's look at those as well. But strictly artwork as it was mutually agreed. And when I was planning on the trip, I wanted to cover the Sun temple at Modhera too.

Finally the photography part. I'd decided to dust my camera and really go out and shoot pics than just go driving alone as in other trips. This trip for me was going back to my early passion of photography. I ended up with 1735 clicks in all! That too in 3 days. This was against a total of 7000 photos in the last 7 years!

But here's an apology. I used batch processing to reduce them from over 3 mb to a few kb, so the reduction in quality is stark. It is too cumbersome for me to skim through, select, edit, compress and upload. So request people to bear with me. And there's going to be loads of photos coming up in this log, because it's primarily a photolog with minimal information.

And finally, to re-iterate, this trip was done in Diwali. Been too lazy to even look at the photos. I'm yet to see what my wife has clicked from her point and shoot. The 1735 was purely from my DSLR. But then, as the old adage goes, better late than never.

Thanks to Ramkya for letting me know about a hidden gem nearby in a sleepy town called Patan, which was a stone's throw from Modhera. Soon I added that to my itinerary.

In short, this was what it was. A diwali trip photologue. And a log from my side in this forum after a long time.
Day 1: Oct 26 - Mumbai to Mehsana. Stay at Mehsana and drive to Modhera.
Day 2: Oct 27 - Modhera sun temple, Rani Ka vav at Patan and drive to Udaipur.
Day 3: Oct 28 - Udaipur
Day 4: Oct 29 - Udaipur to Ahmedabad - stay at Ahmedabad
Day 5: Ahmedabad to Mumbai

Here are some teaser pictures to start with.

The elephants of Modhera


Reflections of a glorious past


The glory of Modhera


Every pillar has a tale to tell


The lotus that blooms when Surya wakes up


Rani Ka vav - A monument in a waitlist


Patterns


Sculptures


More Sculptures


The grand stepwell. A symbol of love this time from a Queen in the memory of her dead husband.


Patolas


And the knowhow behind them


A self portrait


The festivities


The Courtyard, where we stayed


Now they have a pool as well!


This one's a known face in the wall


Homecoming of the princess


The royal courtyard


Car park and a cluttered city


Vehicle of a bygone era


A bigger courtyard


Actually a photograph of an octagonal marble block with intricate carvings and paintings. Folks. please concentrate.


Music to soothe the tired


Yama from the folklore


A lovely sunset on a lovely lake


The famed puppet show


The dance of the Bawai


Mobile number as the vehicle registration!


The second largest palace in India


More TEASER pics will unfold tomorrow.

[hvkumar]

Truly a stunning set of photographs. Modera and Patan are surely places least visited - am sure that will now change

As the pictures unfold, please do brief us on the drive, facilities en route, hotels where you stayed in and other drive-related issues.

[venki.bala]

wow... Back after a long time with a bang.thanks for the pictures.truly awesome. Awaiting the travelogue with loads of details.

[aargee]

MX6 - Did you visit the Govt Museum? They were showcasing puppet show & it would've been awesome for both of you & a great amusement for your little one.

[paragsachania]

So finally a much awaited blog on your trip MX6. Wonderful start to the thread and am glued to this for the rest of the pics.

[Jignesh]

Hello MX6,

Hope you had a great trip.

I am going to drive from Mumbai to Udaipur & then in other parts of Rajasthan from 14 to 24 January 2012 as detailed in this thread: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...012-query.html

I coming I will be following your thread the most for all the details & Photos of Udaipur.

Thanks,

[MX6]

Wow! Just for the teaser pics I have got ratings as well. And it seems like someone had higher expectations from me over a teaser pic which probably I didn't live up to earning probably a 1 or a 2 star rating!

Anyway putting that aside, thanks for the response guys. Here's the second set of teaser pics. But before that, let me take time to respond to all those who were kind enough to post on my thread.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Truly a stunning set of photographs. Modera and Patan are surely places least visited - am sure that will now change

As the pictures unfold, please do brief us on the drive, facilities en route, hotels where you stayed in and other drive-related issues.

Sure Kumar saar. I will try to put in details. But this is more like a photologue. So no big stories. But yes, as and when the photolog unfolds, I will definitely try to put something about the drive, facilities and hotels where I stayed. Would help a lot of people who want to do a heritage run.

Originally Posted by venki.bala

wow... Back after a long time with a bang.thanks for the pictures.truly awesome. Awaiting the travelogue with loads of details.

Thanks for the warm welcome venki.bala. Not sure about the loads of details. This is a trip of a lifetime where every minute was cherished. I'll try to keep it concise and help with a lot of photos that will motivate people to do this part of the globe.

Originally Posted by aargee

MX6 - Did you visit the Govt Museum? They were showcasing puppet show & it would've been awesome for both of you & a great amusement for your little one.

Aargee. The whole trip was aimed at art, craft, music, culture and photography. Yes, the two pics in earlier set of the puppet show (with the ring master and 4 elephants) and the dance of the Bawai is from the Lok Kala Mandal. We spent a lot of time there not just enjoying the show, but also learning about various puppets from various parts of the globe!

Originally Posted by paragsachania

So finally a much awaited blog on your trip MX6. Wonderful start to the thread and am glued to this for the rest of the pics.

Thanks Paragsachania. More pics will unfold. Let me select a few from my total of 1735. But as mentioned, they'd be highly compressed. If you want to see them in full quality, come home during your next Mumbai visit. They look amazing in my LCD tv!

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Hello MX6,

Hope you had a great trip.

I am going to drive from Mumbai to Udaipur & then in other parts of Rajasthan from 14 to 24 January 2012 as detailed in this thread: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...012-query.html

I coming I will be following your thread the most for all the details & Photos of Udaipur.

Thanks,

Hope I manage to finish this before you leave so that it leaves you options for last minute additions and deletions. Thanks for the interest shown.

And before loading the second set of teaser pics, here's my second thanks to Aargee. I'd planned a trip to Dwarka, Pirotan, Gir and Somnath during this time and was almost planning to meet up with Parag who was also touring Gujarat that time. But Aargee's trip to Jaisalmer on a bike all the way from Chennai made me move from Dwarka circuit to Rajasthan. And this compelling call couldn't have been ignored! It was like a second mother calling me back!

Here's continuation of the teaser pics!

Magnificent artwork. It is the entrance to a toilet!


Can someone name this flower please?


We are all mere puppets on a string. The hand that holds the string, thankfully doesn't let it go.


The road to the palace.


Amazing views on a warm sunny day with a cool breeze.


It is all about War!


And Love!


And salutation to what was once a mighty empire


Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the naughtiest of them all?


The family tree. Now all 'shelved'.


Secret passages. Hidden stories.


Serene waters and a white floating palace.


Now this white palace was where we stayed.


From the exotic to downright bizzare. They had it all and are adding to it!


Here's my try at HDR. Slightly larger photo but compressed from 5 mb to 500 kb.


Again, thanks for the people who have viewed, commented and rated as well. Watch this space for more photos as it unfolds.

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by MX6

When was the last time we went on a holiday? No. not the ones in which I drove for most of the time. Not the ones where we ..................
Thanks to Ramkya for letting me know about a hidden gem nearby in a sleepy town called Patan, which was a stone's throw from Modhera. Soon I added that to my itinerary.
........................
More TEASER pics will unfold tomorrow.

Great to see you had a nice time during holidays. The photos tell a graphic story, very nice start.

In fact, I recommend Modhera, Rani Ka Vav and Patola to all who come to Ahmedabd, many people don't even know about these places, one day dedicated for this circuit is well worth the time. I am happy you went to all the 3 places and discovered it too.

Recently another TBHpn from MP took my guidance and completed the circuit, was also very happy to discover these hidden treasures.

Waiting for the log to unfold...

--Ramky
=======

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by MX6

Now this white palace was where we stayed.

Interesting place, what was the name of palace?

[laluks]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Interesting place, what was the name of palace?

Yes I too am curious about the same.

When were you in Udaipur? I was there just a few days back for New year

The Lake Palace with that fancy boat is a beautiful capture

[BolBolero]

MX6 Sir,

Nice start to your photologue and lovely captures on your DSLR. Am looking forward to all the details of the trip and many more fantastic snaps too!
Just goes to show that India in its vastness has so much to offer for the discerning traveler!
BTW how many Patolas did you pick up for the ladies of the house?? (just curious)

[Nitrous Power]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Interesting place, what was the name of palace?

It is Lake Palace. One of the most beautiful palace-converted to Hotel.

[deky]

Originally Posted by Nitrous Power

It is Lake Palace. One of the most beautiful palace-converted to Hotel.

I think they meant the Haveli where MX6 stayed. Looks like Jaiwana Haveli to me!!

Some lovely photographs MX6. Its nice to see the Lake full of water. When we went there 3 yrs back it was a big cricket field.

The single HDR of the Darbar Hall in the palace is awesome. Were they going to have some banquet function there as its all lit up?

Did you see the crystal Gallery and the sound and light show?

I think the Udaipur Palace is one of the best kept palaces as its managed by the trust and not by ASI

Regards

[arindamray]

So many places to see, so little time :(

Mani, the pictures have come really nice, loved the perspective of elephant saluting... will wait for the story to unfold...

[VLOCT]

Real nice travelogue, MX6. Pretty cool pics. Regards.