1 post tagged “desert”

It's a little tiny town in the midst of Rajasthan. The entire 'gaon' is riddled - yes practically riddled with Havelli's. Tiny, dilapidated, grand, beautiful, ugly....all kinds! When the guide takes you into havellis where people are actually living and you get that awkward feeling of intruding on someone else's home...you realise how much the tourism dollar actually means in their lives - for them to let just anyone passing by enter their homes. And how much of ancient architecture, traditions and culture are woven into the very being of india.

The drive out is a sigh for a sore mind...mustard flowers...rambling desert...the sunshine creates dusty fingers from between dried old tree limbs. The dust particles swirl into a million designs made by god...

The mandawa palace resort is an elegant old style building. Where the grandeur of old furniture and architecture collides with the absence of luxuries like carpeting, air-conditioners, TVs etc. But you have to taste it to believe it. A couple of my friends thought it would fit right into a horror movie!

The desert resort is a re-built oasis with the sands and shrubbery licking at it's heels. Feels like an island of inhabitation in the middle of nowhere...But it tries to hard to behave like Rajasthan...or the vision of what Rajasthan is in touristy brochures. None-the-less its an experience not to be missed!