Heritage stay

The accommodation we stayed in last night was called Polo Heritage. We got to see it in daylight this morning and it really is a beautiful modern version of what I imagine an old Colonial polo club might have been like . . . . lush grass, large covered verandahs, spacious rooms with plenty of artefacts including pictures of successful polo teams.

Following breakfast we set off towards our next night's stay at a heritage building in a village in the Aravali Mountains.

We took lunch along the way at the Jain temple. They serve everyone who visits the temple and would like food - a small but tasty meal consisting of about 6 different dishes. There would have been seating space for 500-odd people and when we arrived it was humming with activity. Mental note - remember the rice with coconut, butter and ginger. Absolutely delicious!

After lunch we headed to tour the ancient Jain Temple. It's hard to say that this was the most impressive temple we've been to yet, but it's right up there. Built during the 14th and 15th centuries it is very small compared to other places we've been to. Its impressiveness is in the craftsmanship within it. It boasts over 1400 20-foot-plus marble pillars which have been individually carved with no 2 pillars being identical. The structure itself is symmetrical with 4 50-foot high domes all intricately carved with icons from the faith and the era. This shot is from within the temple as one of the many priests moves through the temple.

Back on the bus and off to find our Heritage stay accommodation. It's nice to be in a more rural setting - a small village in the mountains . . . . few honking horns, no street sellers, just regular people going about their regular daily lives. The kids wave to us - we're obvioulsy tourists and kids and adults alike are all very welcoming.

The Heritage hotel we're staying in is a 400-year-old palace whose prince still lives here. We met him tonight - generations of his family have lived in this palace and he told us some of the history. The palace itself is a mixture of styles that have developed over the years. Large, airy rooms, steep steps, lots of nooks and crannies, roof-top space, small courtyards, a large dining room where we had dinner this evening (after watching the prince's chef prepare some of our dishes in his very small and hot kitchen). The upkeep of this property (and other similar ones) is the sole responsibility of the owner. There is no state or national assistance as there would be in England for instance hence they have turned to tourism to help to maintain it. As I sit here writing this in my dimly-lit but spacious room with high ceiling, whitewashed walls, balcony windodws, teak furniture and stone-tiled floor, the strains of the village festival rising on the warm air from the streets below, I can almost imagine what life could have been like here 400 years ago . . . .

(NB The tagged location may not be accurate. This mapping system - or maybe the Indian mapping system - doesn't provide enough detail or place names to locate it accuarately!)