Bundi To Mumbai, A Tale of Two Worlds

The distance between these two cities is a overnight train but each seems to exist in a different century. India has 70% rural population with many living the same “ways of” their ancestors. If it were not for the tv dishes and motorcycles I would think I was “Alice and fell down a huge tropical hole”.

Arriving in Bundi we had a short taxi ride to our hotel. The road was scattered with hundreds of sleeping/resting cows. It seems they like to occupy the streets more so at night since the cars speeding by cause a pleasant breeze that prevents bugs from landing on them.

There are cows everywhere. Dogs, pigs and donkeys also roam free. The cows often find their nourishment in roadside garbage:

They also can be found everywhere, even on rooftops:

And beaches:

Bundi is known as “the blue city” a large number of homes are painted a light blue:

In this part of India there are stepwells. These massive structures were dug and built in the ground to catch and store rain water from the monsoons. They are not used today but were an excellent way to store water– the women would walk down the steps and fill their jugs. This one was dry the day we visited:

We took a jeep ride to visit a village in the country side. The houses are made of whatever materials were available. This one was made of mud. I love the dish on the roof:

We had a picnic by a lake. Our traditional Indian food was delivered in the stacking tin carrying cans that are used by everyone:

On the ride back we stopped for a photo opp at Richard Kipling’s lake home:

We left Bundi and had another sleeper train to Mumbai (Bombay). Twenty two million people live in this city that is the financial hub of India.

I thought I could cover Mumbai in this post but I have too much info and too many pictures so it needs and deserves it own entry.