Delhi Revisited

Its funny how quickly you can become acclimatized to your conditions. Just a few short weeks ago, we were in culture shock at our surroundings in Delhi. But now as we return the night before our flight, Delhi seems so clean and hassle free compared to everywhere else we have been. Our only sight seeing this leg was the Red Fort. While massive, is not that impressive inside, especially after the British finished using it as a military barracks . We must have been in there longer than I thought judging by the beard I left with.

While it hasn't always been easy, we have learned to love India and will be leaving with more stories after 3 short weeks than we gathered in months elsewhere. Being such a massive place, we have only explored a tiny area, but the rest will have to wait for next time.

With us both suffering a mild dose of "Delhi belly", its off to Melbourne for my niece's wedding.

Udaipurfect

After a lengthy drive in a 50’s vintage Indian built taxi we skirted around the lake and cringed as our driver crammed the large car down the tiny path that led to our hotel. Had the car been any bigger or the alley any smaller, we would’ve needed a giant pot of Vaseline to get there. We were enthusiastically greeted by our German host who escorted us to our spotless and spacious room. Dumping our bags, we ventured to the rooftop café with lovely views overlooking the lake, the main ghat on the opposite shore, (with locals washing their clothes and bathing) and further down, the old palace. If you ask Jen, the view was merely a backdrop for the foamy vision of beauty that was her first real cappuccino in weeks. I guess Nescafe doesn’t quite cut it.

Refreshed and caffeinated, we ventured out to visit the town. The first thing that struck us was how much cleaner Udaipur was compared to many of the cities we had visited recently. The “touts” even seemed friendlier and less invasive. The Udaipurians seemed very proud of the fact that Octopussy was filmed here and every hotel in town had nightly screenings of the Bond flick. We opted for a traditional performance of dance, music, and marionettes instead. The performance was held in a beautiful old haveli that had originally been built to host visiting dignitaries. The courtyard was adorned with ornate stone carving and had been furnished with a plethora of colourful cushions for the audience to lounge on. We felt a little vulnerable in our “front row cushions” when a lady with 10 water pots balanced precariously on her head was dancing rather vigorously right in front of us.


Our visit to the palace, (yes… another one!) was also an exposé on how grandiose an Indian wedding can get. The aviation minister was marrying off his daughter with a party of some 4000 guests, Bollywood stars included. The celebrations, like all good Indian weddings were to last three days. The preparations saw dozens of trees dripping with flower garlands, a huge stage for the entertainment and dancing, 2 jumbotron screens, countless tables filling the various courtyards, and several small armies setting it all up…. and this was just for day 1! Apparently somebody forgot to add our names to the guest list…. Kelvin where are you when we need you?
The palace itself was as beautiful as any we had seen on the journey with many a jewelled room and courtyard. The peacock courtyard in particular carried a sad story. The Raj’s daughter had been mistakenly betrothed to different men in the neighbouring kingdoms; in order to avoid certain war, she killed herself. The heartbroken Raj commissioned a courtyard of brightly coloured peacock mosaics in her memory.
After the palace we wandered around and did some shopping. Amongst the loot: some old framed b & w photographs, a couple of skirts, and some charms for Jen’s souvenir charm bracelet. We scored the best table at a great restaurant overlooking the lake.
Bellies full, we were ushered off to sleep by the throbbing bhangra beat of a neighbouring wedding and awoke to the rhythmic wap, wap, wap, of the ladies beating their laundry down at the ghats. Another day, another palace. This time it was the Raj’s abandoned hunting lodge; “the monsoon palace”, perched atop a rugged mountain peak. There was a Bollywood crew setting up for some event, hanging neglected palace. The view of the city below and the sunset framed by the layers of the surrounding mountains was breathtaking. Flying around the bends all the way down the mountain, our autorickshaw driver was determined to avoid the brakes in an effort build up enough speed to get us as far as possible wbaubles and fabric everywhere; it actually looked pretty cool filling the shell of this abandoned andithout the engine. Much to our surprise, we actually did end up firing it up, although it seemed like he had built up enough velocity to get us back to Delhi

Jaisalmer... Camels gone wild

We are back in the sanitized safety of Australia, but have a few more tales to tell of India as we’ve fallen behind once again. The truth is, India actually got better the longer we were there. You know how you’ve heard (or experienced) that shortly after giving birth you forget all the bad things about the process (an evolutionary tactic made to trick you into doing it all again). India’s like that… only probably a lot less painful. Are we glad we did it? Yup. Would we go back? Definitely!
So we left off on an overnight train to Jaisalmer. The trip was a surprising success (gauged by the fact that we did not get robbed, groped, or infected with scabies). We were whisked off to our hotel in the wall of the fort and wouldn’t discover it’s full glory until the sun cast some light on our spectacular view of “the golden” city. We happened to be in Jaisalmer for the annual Desert Festival which included some traditional dancing, some very obedient camels marching in formation, a turban tying competition (locals and foreigners), and the pinnacle of the festival: the “Mr. Desert Competition”. Visions of a male swimsuit competition were quickly replaced with a whole lot of facial hair twisted into oversized handlebars! That was just day one… unfortunately we missed out on the next two days of events thanks to a nasty G.I. bug and on the upside, an overnight camel safari.
We had a short ride out to the dunes on our camels Calloo and Maya. Unfortunately the nearly steady stream of flatus from their bums didn’t result in any forward propulsion but we did make it just in time to catch the sunset. The group that we met up with had been riding all day and it was apparent by the way they were hobbling over to greet us. We soon discovered that one of the camels in the group wasn’t your ordinary dromedary, she kept making a disgusting burbling noise and bubbling an enormous tongue out the side of her mouth. To see this for yourselves click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2DFJUd1YI8 Our guide assured us that it was actually quite ordinary behaviour she was “just horny”. Suddenly our musical camels didn’t seem so bad. We gathered around the fire for a home cooked meal and some Rajasthani folk songs before bundling up under the starry desert sky and falling asleep to the gentle melody of tongue burbles from the hot-to-trot she-camel nearby. We were grateful to see sunrise after a rather chilly and fitful sleep. After breakfast we were back astride our smelly steeds and before we knew it we were back in Jaisalmer, showered, and ready to see some sights.
We checked out the palace and some of the havelis- ornate sandstone mansions that had been built by wealthy merchants a couple of centuries ago. Jaisalmer’s prosperity came about from its strategic position on the trade routes between India and Asia. The intricate architectural details on many of the houses are vestiges of the wealth that has long since faded away.
The next day we went to visit one of the many Jain temples within the fort. Jainism is one of the oldest religions in the world and places a large emphasis on karma. Jains’ strong belief in non-violence carries over to their diet, where they are strict vegetarians, usually vegans, and often even refrain from eating root vegetables because that would mean taking the life of an entire plant. The temples were also very ornate and every square inch was covered in sandstone carving.
Off to the airport for our flight to Udaipur!

Painting the town blue... in Jodhpur

Our arrival in Jodhpur was not all that pleasant after travelling for over 6 hours on what we expected to be a 3 hour trip. Arriving late in the evening we ended up staying in the first hotel that had room; Govind Hotel, what a depressing place that was! No window and a good layer of grime as a floor covering! Why was this place recommended in our bible, the guide book Lonely Planet? Oh well, a bed secured, we walked to a local restaurant also in the Lonely Planet. Hmmmm, bad Indian food, served in questionably sanitary conditions and surrounded by flies. Why was this in the guide book? With no other options nearby, we forced it down and made a b-line back to the hotel stepping across the bodies of dozens of homeless people sleeping in the streets... why was this town in the guide book? Why were we even here? Oh well it was too late to do anything about it and besides, our hotel seemed so much more opulent with the lights out. We did our best to get a good night’s sleep hoping that second impressions would be a whole lot better than first.

Fast forward… next day…. time to find a better hotel. After some research, pounding the pavement and checking out a few places in the neighbourhood, (during which I, Adam was mistaken for a guide book author …. that changes attitudes!) we stumbled across an oasis called Rattan Villas. Quiet garden, large clean room AND internet. Ahhh, with the luxury of it all we didn’t want to leave; but curiosity got the better of us and we ventured forth to figure out why Jodhpur was on our itinerary. Forty rupees ($1) in the autorickshaw had us in the bustle of the old city market. From there we strolled through the ancient narrow streets, past countless stalls, and a maze of blue houses (painted to denote social status) up the hill to the entrance to the Maharaja’s fortress. The setting sun was throwing a golden glow across this blue washed town. Admittedly, we were starting to warm a little to this place. We had also heard that they serve an excellent dinner within the fortress and decided to try our luck. We strolled through the fort gates where the security guard was happy to escort us to the ramparts and ensure we had a table. A great sunset and a romantic candle lit dinner on the ramparts of an 800 year old fortress…. all is forgiven.

Jodhpur. Yes, that is where those baggy thighed riding pants got their name, and they can still be seen on well dressed men about town. Like all the towns of Rajasthan, Jodhpur was home to fiercely proud Rajput warriors who built fortresses atop craggy hills and waged wars against each other, the British, and anyone else that crossed them. So proud in fact, that they refused to lose a battle and live. The fortress even bears the handprints of the Maharaja’s wives who committed suicide on the evening before an un-winnable battle was fought. The fortress is built of intricately carved stone and follows strict designs to keep the Maharaja’s wives out of view of any other men (besides the guarding eunuchs). During a trip to England some 50 years ago, the media snapped a picture of an ankle as one of the wives stepped from her curtained chariot into her awaiting car. So outraged was the Indian government, that all copies of the publication were purchased to keep her honour intact.

Another sunset at the fort gates and a wander through the narrow streets, playing with the children allowed us to ease back into the honking and noise of the city below.

The following day we decided to take a trip into the country and visit some villages. Our first stop was a small house of farmers that have recently received electricity and an electric sewing machine from the government to supplement their income by making textiles. There are many pedal powered sewing machines still in use here, not to mention the several coal fired irons that we’ve seen as well.
It’s a little awkward walking into a home this way. We soon discovered, however, that the curiosity of strangers goes both ways and we were really the ones on display. The grandmother cooked us a fresh chapati, and as is customary offered some opium which our guide kindly consumed on our behalf. The rest of the trip was a combination of, “See the village where they make carpets, want to buy one? See the village where they make pottery, want to buy some”. Not necessarily authentic, but it was fun trying to make our own pots on a stone wheel spun by hand!

Our time done in Jodhpur, we needed to catch an overnight train to Jaisalmer but there was some confusion with our seating. Off we went to the station to (unsuccessfully) sort this out. It seems that just because you pay for 2 seats, doesn’t mean you will actually get two. And forget a refund. “We must all make compromises” was the station master’s reply. The station looked like a refugee camp with people sleeping / living / passed out everywhere. It was also a popular hang out for the rats that scampered about with impunity.

Finally on the train, the conductor sorted out our seats and we attempted to get a few hours sleep. The only noteworthy part of this train journey, (besides the lack of cockroaches) was Adam being woken abruptly at 3am by a man yelling at him. After a rather lengthy and incomprehensible exchange, it turned out it the man was just trying to sell Adam a cup of tea.

Here are a couple videos of the train station. In case you are wondering the second one was a creative endeavour we call "rat cam" in honour of the large vermin population at the station.

Not so pushy Pushkar

Pushkar, allegedly sprung up from a lotus flower that Brahma dropped here. It is an important destination for Hindus, where they come to visit one of the world’s few Brahaman temples and bathe in the holy waters of the lake.

Despite the magical description, we arrived prepared to deal with scam artists. We had heard a few too many stories about the “priests” that lure tourists down to the lake to make a holy offering and then try to charge them a fortune for the deed. We arrived by train after dark and sharing a taxi with a British couple that we met on the train, saw our first car accident in India. I don’t know how we haven’t seen or been in one up to this point. After paying a mandatory “tourist tax” to a rather unofficial looking man (probably the taxi driver’s cousin) that was stationed at an equally unofficial looking card table at the side of the main road we arrived at Hotel New Park.

At the hotel restaurant we ordered a homesick meal of spaghetti (the town is entirely meat and egg-free) and a Kingfisher beer to wash it down with. We later found out that the town is also “alcohol-free” which is obviously a technicality since our beer arrived wrapped in a newspaper with instructions to drink it in our room- I guess Brahma won’t find out that way. Oh yeah, by the way, Indians do Indian food much better than they do Italian… we should’ve known.

The next morning it was time to make the small trek into town. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of people that said hello to us without trying to sell us on something or another. The main street of town is really like a giant bazaar which winds its way around part of the lake. You wouldn’t even know there is a lake there if it wasn’t for the occasional break in the buildings allowing for the gates that lead down to the ghats (bathing areas). We chose not to visit the main ghats, as we were a little unfamiliar with the expected code of conduct and because it seemed a little voyeuristic to go watch other people bathing as part of a holy ritual. Instead, we found a great café on the other side of the lake where we could check out the rituals at a respectable distance. Our day only got lazier as we walked the rest of the way around the lake and found a nice sunny spot to sit and soak in the atmosphere. We met a chatty little girl selling anklets on the shore. She had a quick visit and showed us her impressive printing skills on the back of a postcard that we had given her. Before moving on, she peeled the sparkly bindi off her forehead and carefully stuck it on mine, leaning back to admire her work.

Amongst the faithful that flock to Pushkar, there are also a large number of resident hippies. It was almost like 80% of the residents of Hornby Island had been transplanted into this little town in the middle of Rajasthan. Later that evening we were to find more Hornby-isms as we were offered Bhang (hash) Lassi’s during our stroll to dinner. I wondered if they too were served in a paper bag to be consumed away from the watchful gaze of Brahma.

The next day saw us breaking a sweat as we climbed a nearby “mountain” to the temple of Brahma’s angry wife Savitri (For details on the Brahma drama click here). The temple was a little anticlimactic but the views were great. Dodging monkeys on the way down, we found an interesting way home through a very poor village with some happy kids to talk with. While we tend to remember the good aspects of the journey, we are often reminded of the realities of life in this region. Today, a few dead animals on the side of the road had become dinner for the hungry dog population including one of their own.

On that pleasant note… time to move on! Jodhpur, we come!

Seeing Jaipur through a third eye

Our train journey to our next destination found us with a few hours back in Jaipur. Thrust back into the noise, we decided to cling to a few last threads of serenity by going for an ayurvedic massage. We rang up a place that was recommended in the Lonely Planet and made our appointments. An hour later we were dropped off at an unsuspecting looking apartment building. Ushered into a ground floor entrance in the side of the building we were given our options, the ultimate being a full massage finishing with 2 ½ litres of warm oil being slowly drizzled onto your forehead (into your third eye). I opted out of that one, knowing that all that oil would probably produce a blemish resembling a third eye on my forehead. We both elected for the one hour full body massage. I’m not quite sure what we were expecting for what amounted to $16, but apparently dignity wasn’t part of the package.

We were brought into a dimly lit room with new age sitar music playing… so far so good. A curtain dividing the room hung from a rod that had been jammed into the drywall… well, I haven’t seen a Home Depot or an Ikea here, so I could overlook the dismal décor and shoddy workmanship. The male masseur took Adam to one side of the curtain and I was left with my masseuse on the other side. “Everything off” she said as she stood there and watched me disrobe. Oh not to worry, she then helped me assemble a pair of disposable undies onto my body (yes, I later corroborated stories with Adam and the exact same thing was happening on his side). We’re not really sure exactly what the point of these was as we both ended up in the buff anyways. At this point I could’ve just thrown my modesty aside and enjoyed the massage if it wasn’t for the chill of the room. This was really making the Turkish bath experience seem blissful! All but a scant few square inches of my body was drenched in oil and rubbed down, I felt like I was about to be stuffed, trussed and stuck in a roaster like a Thanksgiving turkey. A rolling blackout punctuated the midway point of the massage... saved by the bell? I think not, everyone here has generators as the blackouts occur at least once a day. Finally the excess oil was mopped off of me and I was once again returned to the dignity and warmth of my clothes. We were certainly more than ready to embrace the chaos now! Obviously no pics of this one so we have added a random selection of India so far.

The first picture is a palace built so the Maharani's could gaze upon the city through the beautiful stone latticework, and not be seen themselves. The second is an example of the multitude of street-side barber shops that are everywhere. You rarely see anyone here with a 5 o'clock shadow.

Ranthambhore Retreat

Having heard there is not much to do in Sawai Madhopur aside from the twice daily tiger safaris we knew we would be spending more time that usual at our hotel. This in mind we decided to “splash out” a little on a nicer hotel. You know.. running hot water, heat, all the luxuries that we have been living without for the last week. It turns out that forking over about the same sum that you would spend on a room at the Super 8 in North America, finds you living in luxury in India. Great staff, clean room, hot water, heat, swimming pool, nightly bonfires, and provided meals(although unfortunately the spices were tamed down a little for the whitey tour bus guests that frequented the place). Despite all the extras, we were most appreciative of the comfortable beds and the peace! The silence was almost deafening at times. Even when the Indian wedding started up next door, the blaring bhangra was tranquil compared to the barking dogs, beeping cars, and general street noise that had been our lullaby for the past week.

We only had one day (two 4 hr safaris) to spot one of the park’s thirty-odd tigers. We figured our chances were pretty slim given the fact that the park is 1300 square km of bush, tall grass, and mountains. Setting out early, I was just looking forward to enjoying the scenery and perhaps seeing a few other native animals and maybe a glimpse of a distant tiger from our spot in the back of an open jeep.

The park is divided up into zones and to prevent the tigers from being overexposed to humans, each group is given a zone by lottery. Zone 5 here we come! We bounced along down a dirt road stopping every once in awhile to check for tracks. We saw deer, peacocks, kingfishers, tracks from a sloth bear and even some tiger paw prints. Finally we rounded a bed to see three other safari vehicles stopped in front of us. We jammed ourselves in between a couple of them, and there they were… two tigers lying right at the side of the road. It turned out that the two we saw were brother and sister cubs, although at two years old they looked almost fully grown. Just on the other side of the road was an adult male. There was definitely some aggression between the siblings and the other male, and a supersized cat fight almost broke out in right front of us. The tigers lay there for several minutes, completely nonplussed even though the vehicles were only about 15 feet away. Eventually, they became a little more active and I became a little more nervous. The female was especially curious, she came around and stood there staring at us over the leaves as we snapped some pictures of her. Of course, as with most tourist outings, somebody had to do something stupid. The passengers that pulled up behind us kept whining and complaining that they wanted to get closer to the tigers (apparently 20 feet just wouldn’t cut it). Finally, one older gentleman, who should’ve known better jumped out of the vehicle to walk closer for a photo. Fortunately for him his guide quickly snatched him back in before he got too far away. We watched the tigers for as long as we were allowed (more park rules on tiger/human exposure), then headed back to our hotel for brekkie and a nice poolside bask in the sun. First time wearing shorts in India- even if only for an hour!

We ended up in the same zone for our afternoon safari which was less fruitful. Enroute our guide stopped at a roadside stand and treated us to some fresh guavas before picking up the others in our group. This time we had a few more people in the vehicle. One couple was a lot of fun, but the other younger couple were annoyingly high maintenance. Apparently they thought travelling with two other tourists in the first class carriage of an Indian train was a bit more culture shock than they had bargained for. They plan on spending the rest of their journey in a chauffeured car and five star hotels, safely insulated from the culture of the country they chose to visit. Coated in dust, we returned to our hotel and made the most of our hot water supply, doing a load of laundry in the tub. It was amazing how much dust we collected over the course of the day!