India & Nepal Trip - Udaipur Hotel

Our hotel, the Mehar Haveli, was gorgeous. Beautiful decorations everywhere. Here are two peacocks on the ceiling.

More ceiling decor.

Even on the ceiling fans.

And paintings in the halls.

Of course I liked this one with the tiger. I just hope it got away.

And beautiful views from the windows.

And interesting if stiff looking furniture in the halls.

The window in the hall outside my room.

Sunset view from our hotel.

Trip to India & Nepal - Udaipur- The Camel Ride

After the boat ride around the Lake Barb decided it was time for a camel ride.

An unemployed camel.

Michael decides to join her.

The view from the camel.

The front of a small temple
Girl from a local begging family

Another fancy shop near our hotel

The Circus Comes to Panajachel

While Panajachel is a tourist destination on beautiful Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, in reality it is a tremendously poor community. The number of people living below the poverty level hovers somewhere around 70%. And that is a pretty low level of existence here. So when the Circus came to town from Mexico it obviously wasn't going to be possible for most children to be able to attend. When many families exist on tortillas and salt for food it was a luxury .

So Mayan Families... a local NGO...took matters in hand and rounded up a group of sponsors to send the children at a special rate they were able to negotiate. They quickly raised enough funds and arranged transportation to take every pre-school and many higher grades from a number of schools around the Lake. Here staff members wait with some of the children at the entrance.

Waiting patiently for the show to begin.

Lions and tigers and bears...oh my. But it was also lots of fun to interact with cartoon caracters.

After the circus it was time for a visit to the Mayan Families office for some new clothes.

And snacks of course. If you would like more information on Mayan Families and the wonderful work they do visit www.mayanfamilies.org

The Fashion Show at the GVQC Quilt Show is a Non-Event

I know a number of people who had taken my jacket classes were expecting to be able to model them in a fashion show at the GVQC Quilt Show on June 3rd. But the Folks at the Quilt Show have let me know that it is not going to occur. No...its not cancelled...its just not going to take place. The Folks at the Quilt Show said that since it was never formally announced it doesn't need to be cancelled. It just won't take place. I am sorry to hear this as I thought it would be a really fun event.

Trip to India & Nepal- Udaipur, Part 2

A family of beggars who spent a lot of time just outside our hotel.

Walking along the Lake.

The "other" island in the lake with a huge pavilion, used for dinners and parties.

We went for a boat ride around the lake on the first morning. A view of the City Palace.

That whole huge complex is the City Palace. Now there are a couple of hotels inside as well as the Museum.

The famous hotel.

A fancy boat which belongs to the hotel.

Trip to India & Nepal _ Udaipur, Part 1

Late in the afternoon after a beautiful long day we arrived in Udaipur. The view of the famous Lake Palace Hotel from my hotel window.

Another view of the Lake from my window.

The hall outside my door.

Lots of upscale shopping in the area.

Michael tries to make friends in the old section where we prefer to wander.

A shopping street in the old section.

The clock tower in the center of the market area.

A local restaurant. No, we didn't eat here.

Just a beautiful doorway in the area.

And the outside of a small local temple.

Sweet shop.

More local vegetable vendors.

One can always take time out for a bit of shopping.

The front of the Jagdish Temple near our hotel.

Holy man on the steps.

More interesting shopping in the area.

Finally....................a banana split.................in our hotel no less . With a beautiful view of the lake. They called it something else but we weren't a bit fooled.

The inside door of my hotel room.