Hello lovely people ….. no. 2

Upfront confession: the reflections of Mandawa  in this post may already be benefitting from hindsight as we are now at our second Rajasthani location but I was thwarted by technology so am only now putting fingers to keypad

An indolent day after our arrival saw us enjoying the Castle hotel garden and pool with brief forays into town by Alison and Roberto for supplies – water, apertif necessities (why waste our private courtyard?), and then enjoying a picturesque sunset and planning a trip out the following day.

Sunset no. 1
Mandawa sunset no. 2
Aperitivi in the Tower Room courtyard

Planning the trip was achieved by asking the waiter at the restaurant we ate at for the second night if he knew someone who could drive us to Fatehpur and back, the purpose of the visit being to tour the restored haweli Nadine le Prince. The outcome: of course the waiter knew someone and were we really staying in Mandawa three nights? It appears most visits are one night or an absolute maximum of two . . . 

We set off the next morning for the 21k drive to Fatehpur. It took an hour, probably 18k of road under construction! We were entertained by the landscape and those we shared the road with:  trucks, cars, motor bikes, scooters, dogs, goats, donkeys, cows and camels. The landscape is pretty green as we are only a few weeks after the monsoon

On the road to Fatehpur no. 1
On the road to Fatehpur no. 2

The haweli (merchant house) Nadine le Prince was a fascinating visit. Named after the French artist who bought it in 1998 and continues to own it, the wreck it must have been is being restored by Nadine and a small army of local and visiting artists and artisans who are in part learning the appropriate techniques as they work. It also operates as a guest house. The architecture, materials and paintings are so interesting and it gave us a much better idea of what the Mandawa hawelis would have been like. Well worth a visit if you are in the area!

N l P decorations no. 1
N l P decorations no. 2






N l P decorations no. 2
N l P decorations no. 3
N l P decorations no. 4 – an English woman with her dog
N l P decorations no. 5 – an English officer with his alcohol bottle
At haweli Nadine le Prince

And then back to Mandawa, the journey seemed quicker on the return, the town much smaller, brighter and less full of rubbish than Fatehpur (although it has its share!!) and with colourful food stalls and animals working, wandering and foraging. Perhaps we are becoming acclimatised

Colourful Mandawa high street no. 1


colourful Mandawa high street no. 2
colourful Mandawa high street no. 3
colourful Mandawa high street no. 4

Next stop Bikaner. Until then, Namaste 

Alison 

25 thoughts on “Hello lovely people ….. no. 2”

  1. Loving the colours, the artwork and The Sun. looks like you are thoroughly enjoying your Indian adventures. Debx

  2. Loving the colours, artwork and the sun, you are all looking like you are thoroughly enjoying yourselves on your adventures. Debx

    1. Hi Deb. We are indeed. All the rubbish everywhere is a constant shock but there is so much vibrancy too. Thanks for commenting. Love to you and Chris xx

  3. Well Done Alison lovely description, and good on me, I was able to read it in Instagram hehehe

    1. Absolutely and has only been retired today in need of a wash!! I am wearing it in the picture of the four of us at Nadine le Prince . . .its lovely xx

  6. Hi Alison
    We are reading this in France so seems to be working! It all looks amazing and great fun to join you on your travels. Keep it up. Much love to you both and cheers from Nick and I with a lovely glass of chilled rose. 🤗xxx

    1. Aaah, a glass of chilled rose sounds delicious!! All going well so far. Enjoy that autumnal sunshine xx

  7. How wonderful! Keep dem blogs coming – it fills my head with sunshine. Love to you all xxx

    1. Thanks hunny. Hope shoulder and nose ell and not troubling you. Looking forward to hearing all about Crete too . . . All send love right back at you xxx

  8. Looks like you’re making the most of it out there (I wouldn’t expect anything less). Look forward to keeping up to date with your adventures x x x

    1. Thank you. All good so far. Glad you can access it. We are all sending love to you and Steve xxx

    1. Hi Jos. Hope you and Ib are well. We are having a good time so far . .. . Glad you can access blog. Love to you both xxx

  12. So happy you got it working Alison posts are lovely and sunny full of colour! Following all your posts avidly. Xxx

    1. Thank you sweetie. I am enjoying the writing but getting the photos to upload to the blog is a bit of a chore to say the least. Alison M gets her photos on FB much quicker!! Lots of love xxx

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