Indian schoolchildren
India 2017
Day 8: January 26
Mandu-Maheshwar
India 2017
Itinerary
Today we had planned to go to the neighboring town of Maheshwar, but for that we needed a moped. Despite the fact that Maheshwar is only 60 km from Mandu, it is very difficult to get there by bus — you have to make two transfers and travel on three different buses!
We got up very, very early; by 8 a.m. we were already in the center of the village. Mandu was just waking up. Yesterday we had asked at one of the little restaurants about renting a moped, and they offered us a motorcycle. But at such an early hour there was no one in the restaurant, so we sat down in the main square to drink masala tea and think about what to do. Sitting near us was a very nice couple — a man and a woman — about 50 years old. The woman had brightly painted lips, and for some reason I decided they were some wealthy tourists who had come here on a tour. But they behaved so casually that it became clear they had already been in India for a long time. It turned out they were from Belgium. They have been traveling around India for five months already, on their own bicycles! Simply fantastic. You meet so many amazing people on the road…
In short, while we were drinking tea and talking with the Belgians, an Indian man who had offered us a motorcycle yesterday came into the restaurant. However, as soon as he learned that we were planning to go to Maheshwar on the motorcycle, the rental price doubled (yesterday he wanted $10 a day, and today he wanted $20). We were not really prepared for such a turn of events, and the Indian was not at all willing to уступать. We decided to think it over.
Just yesterday I had chatted with the owner of one of the kiosks; he had a moped parked there, and I asked whether he would like to lend it to us. The little man was a bit flustered, but seemed not to mind. So we went to him. When we said we were going to Maheshwar, the seller got a little worried. He spoke with his wife, and they thought for a very, very long time; Volchiy was already ready to leave — saying there was no need to torment poor people. But in the end the Indian agreed to give us the moped for a day and a half — tomorrow we promised to bring it back around 2 p.m. Then the poor man called us every two hours and asked how we were doing, apparently very worried about his moped.
And so, hooray! We have a moped, and we are going to Maheshwar! As always, the first ride on a moped brings euphoria — I am simply overflowing with joy that we are riding and all around us are wheat fields, houses, people, cows.
We passed through very small villages. In one of them the children put on a performance, and we stopped to take photos. A guy and a little man came up to us; they asked us to take a photo with them.
The Wolf and the Villagers
And so we are in Maheshwar. As it turned out later, today is a national holiday in India, which is probably why the first hotel was completely full, and at the second only expensive rooms were left, which looked somehow utterly dreary… On the plus side, thanks to that we found a hotel with a view of the river, with a balcony and, as it turned out later, a 1-minute walk from the palace!
Finally had breakfast with the Indian sweets and bananas we bought. Indian sweets are generally tasty, very sweet, and somewhat remind me of condensed milk or our Korovka candies.
Indian sweets
And after breakfast we went to the palace… What I saw there struck me to the very core.
I always get upset when I look back at the photos — they don’t convey the beauty of that place at all… In the pictures everything looks quite ordinary, but there, in the palace, it was simply magnificent. Of course, all of this is very individual; apparently it just so happened that this particular place impressed me. I must have been in the “right” mood, and everything came together in such a fortunate way.. And expectations — they always ruin everything! Here I had absolutely none. And so the sudden beauty of this place came crashing down on me like a brief downpour on a hot July day...
This is how I saw the palace when we entered through the gate
I don’t even know what impressed me the most — the little balconies, or the turrets, or the carved walls with intricate patterns, the view of the river, the steps, the arches, the fact that it all could be seen somehow from above, and… I was so overwhelmed by this beauty that for several minutes I just stood there, turning my head from side to side and trying somehow to take it all in…
View from the palace onto the embankment
Beauty
Me and the arches. Catching the moment while no one’s around.
There were so many people. Everyone wanted to take photos with us. As soon as we took a picture with one person, a crowd would gather — with us too, with us too! The people here are so nice, so kind. They were so genuinely happy that we were taking photos with them. Of course, it was tiring, and we just wanted to walk around and admire this beauty… But the Indians looked at us with such sincere interest that it even became a little awkward. There is such beauty here, and they are looking at us.
Everyone wanted us to take photos together, so we ourselves have almost no photos with Indians, but we still managed to capture a few things.
Volchyi and a group of stylish Indian “guys.” All wearing glasses.
Me :)
Already on the streets of Maheshwar. The wolf and the residents of Maheshwar.
After the palace, we walked around Maheshwar a bit; there’s not much to do or see in the town itself.
Houses in Maheshwar
In the evening we rode a moped to eat at a little restaurant on the outskirts of town, because surprisingly there was nowhere to eat in the town itself. They specially brought out a table and chairs for us onto the green lawn — it was very nice. The portion was huge, and we just couldn’t finish it.
Dinner on the lawn
While we were eating, it had already grown completely dark. We returned to the hotel, parked the moped, and went to see how the embankment and the palace looked in the evening. The palace was not lit at all. There were a couple of bright lamps on the embankment. People were sending candles down the river in little boats. We thought the darkness would hide us from the Indians’ eyes and that we would be able to sit quietly and watch… But no, some guys ran up and started asking to take photos with us. So we escaped to the hotel, to admire the river from our balcony.