Making preparations

Today I did chores. It sounds odd, I know, but I had to get some supplies and permits for my trek leaving tomorrow morning. I got some money out (harder than it sounds), got a permit to enter the Annapurna Conservation Area, bought a hat (which as you can see looks ridiculous but it's warm, Nepali, $2.30, and as a bonus will be entertaining for all of you to look at), bought a map, some iodine tablets to purify water, some snacks, hiking socks, and got some passport photos taken (for the permit). It was a pretty busy day walking up and down the little tourist strip here.

On the way to the permit office Dan was changing money so I took a seat on the curb while I waited. A girl approached me asking where the permit office was, so she ended up coming along. It turns out she was planning on taking the same trek at the same time (alone) so now she's coming with us. Unfortunately her name escapes me at the moment (Gali?), but she's a nice Israeli girl and she adds another to the group. Pretty soon we'll have a regular UN going.

Today and tomorrow are the biggest holidays of the year for Nepalis, called Dashain. They say it's like their Christmas; they get together with family and feast for the whole day. Unfortunately that means that buses (to get to the start of the trek) run less frequently, stores and restaurants (at least the ones run by locals) are closed, and taxis are more expensive. It's not a big deal, but it's an extra little hassle.

I'll probably be out of touch and not updating this blog for the next 8-10 days. That's how long the trek takes and I doubt there is internet available on the way. I'll be taking plenty of pictures and (get this) keeping a journal of sorts that I'll transcribe here when I get back. So don't worry, I didn't fall off a cliff or get mugged (probably), I'm just out roughing it in the mountains.

I figure before I head out I'll catch up a little with a picture of the tiny Nepali bananas (delicious), as well as a goat on a bus. I may have somehow neglected to mention this but on the bus from the Indian border to Pokhara I sat next to a goat for a few hours. Some guy brought him on like it was no big deal and tied him to a pole. I had read that people brought livestock on buses here but sitting about a foot away so was a little different than reading it in a book. It was all good fun though.

I've also put a video of traffic in India on here. I took it on a tuk tuk ride in Varanasi and thought it would be entertaining for you all. This is pretty typical traffic, not as bad as a round about, not many pedestrians, but just kind of average traffic.

Anyway, I'll be in touch if possible on the trek although it's highly unlikely, so for the next week or so you'll just have to wait and wonder. I'll be as safe as possible and I plan to come back better than ever. Namaste!

Phewa Tal

Today I woke up early to see the Himalayas. The visibility is best in the morning up until about 9am, so I was up at 7 walking to a good spot. As you can see, I found one. The snow capped peaks tower over the much closer hills, and it's crazy to think I'll be trekking through all of those mountains. The tallest looking one in the pictures is actually the shortest ("only" 7,000 meters - nearly 23,000 feet), but it's closer to town. The rest are closer to 8,000 meters.

Obviously the views were great and getting up early was well worth it. I grabbed 7 bananas for breakfast (Nepali bananas are really small) along with a nice fresh squeezed orange juice. It was a very nice breakfast for just over a dollar.

In the afternoon Dan and I headed to the lake (Phewa Tal) for some canoeing and swimming. It was a lot of fun, it was warm and the water was the perfect cool temperature to be refreshing but not at all cold.

We decided to trek together without booking a tour, and we'll be leaving Monday if everything goes to plan. The guide book recommends never trekking alone so I'm glad to have someone to go with.

I found the rafting company the Israeli guy recommended but I'll wait until I get back from the trek to do that.

This place is a fantastic spot after all the hustle and bustle of India. Everything moves more slowly, it actually feels like I'm not far from home with all the Western things available. There's everything from hand sanitizer (yes!) to steaks all along the tourist strip.

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow, but I plan to get some last minute trekking stuff like maps, thick hiking socks (to prevent the leeches from getting to my feet. Seriously), and a permit to go into the area. I may go to a bat cave (not THE bat cave, but still), but I'm not sure yet.

Pokhara

Today Dan the Brit and I went to Devi Falls and the World Peace Pagoda. We hiked to both of them, starting first with the waterfall. It was about an hour from our hotel, around the lake from where we are staying. It was a pretty cool waterfall as it just disappears underground at the bottom, so you can hear water crashing but not see it hitting the ground.

From the waterfall we hiked up a "hill" (they would call it a mountain is some places) after wandering around some rice paddies and getting some directions from local kids. It took about an hour and a half up the hill, but the views from the top were pretty good. The pagoda itself is hardly impressive, just a white tower with four Buddhas, but it really is at the very top of a lookout point. Unfortunately when we were up there the fog and clouds obscured the Annapurna range of the Himalaya, which was supposed to be beautifully reflected in Phewa Tal (the lake next to Pokhara). It was still beautiful up there, although it was a pretty hot trip.

We had some chow mein (surprisingly good) at the top and then came back down, a much easier proposition.

On the hike we met some very helpful people. First I talked to an Israeli guy that had just returned from the rafting trip I'm planning on taking on the Kali Gandaki river. It's a three day trip and he said it was fantastic and recommended a place that provided everything and was very professional for a reasonable price. I plan to take his recommendation.

After that we met a British couple that had just gotten back from a trek I was considering taking. It goes up to the Annapurna mountain base camp (elevation 4000+ meters) and is nicknamed the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek. I was thinking I would take a guided group trek but the said it was no problem to do on their own; they completed it in just 7 days even though trekking companies generally take 8-10. They left most of their stuff at a hotel and just took the essentials, carrying their own stuff and staying in guest houses on the way. It sounds perfect, although I'll probably take it easy and take more like 10 days (they hiked 6-8 hours per day).

Tonight I had a couple of traditional Nepali foods. First I had momos, which are delicious dumplings filled with potato and cheese (they can also come with chicken or vegetables). They were right up my alley and they should really have them back home. Next I had thukpa (not sure if that's the right spelling), which is a noodle soup with vegetables, peppers and onion. It was very good as well.

Tomorrow it looks like we'll do some boating and swimming in the lake, which unlike the Ganges is nice, clean, and safe. It should be fun since it's nice and warm here during the day (but not crazy hot like parts of India).

Nepal!

So I was wrong. I know, no one is shocked. It's okay. I have some things to write about.

After my last post in Varanasi I went down to see more of the ghats. I found the cremation ghat, where they cremate people 24 hours a day. It's surrounded by huge piles of wood, which is incredibly creepy when you're walking up to it (no pictures because this computer is a solid decade old). I went to the top of the place to look down on the ceremonies and was overwhelmed not only by the smoke, but by seeing several bodies burning in front of me. I left quite quickly from there and went back to the hotel (although to be fair I stopped for a quick glass of freshly crushed pomegranate juice for 40 cents).

That night I went to McDonald's. It was pouring rain and it was the closest restaurant (plus I really wanted to see what it would be like without beef). It was located in a new mall, and I went in as the only tourist there. The place was absolutely packed; people were eating standing up and were just hanging out outside the restaurant. As soon as I came in every last person turned and stared. Usually wherever I go I get a few, but this was 100+ people staring at me. I ordered (a chicken majaraja mac, the closest thing to a big mac) and was told it would be 5 minutes. So I stood and waited while a circle formed all the way around me. They stared...and stared...and stared. A couple of the braver teenagers came up to talk to me while the rest, well they stared. I changed my order to have it to go and got the heck out of there. The sandwich (my first meat here) was fine, but not what I would expect from McDonald's. It had some curry going and was pretty good, just not at all like home.

The bus ride was interesting, just insanely long. Going through the northernmost parts of India was crowded and hot, as usual. We arrived at the border after dark, and I paid my $40 for a visa. Border security was nonexistent so it didn't take long. We then slept in a dorm room in a pretty awful hotel. Three beds, five people, no a/c and a bed that was too short (with a baseboard). I've slept better.

Today was a ride through the mountains. This place is stunningly beautiful. There are mountains covered in green, lush jungle, crashing down into gorges with winding rivers and rice paddies. The weather is cooler, just warm and not hot. The people here are very friendly and not nearly as pushy. To put it simply, it's fantastic so far. I'm in Pokhara, a tourist town right on a lake near the Annapurna range of the Himalayas. I haven't seen it in full daylight, but it looks amazing so far. Oh, and there was a goat on the bus, so that was entertaining. I also had my first taste of dal bhaat, the national dish of rice with lentil soup. I sat with the locals and ate it with only my hand during a 10 minute bus break. It was pretty good, very messy and a lot of fun to eat.

I'm staying in a hotel tonight with an Englishman by the name of Dan that I met on the bus. It's not bad for $3. Air conditioning isn't even needed so it's been great.

Okay so I promised answers, so here they are (with not many questions, I must be an amazing writer - or maybe there were other reasons).

Have you had many desserts/have you had the herb seed/sugar mixture after meals?
-Dave

I haven't had too many sweets, but I have had a couple versions of rice pudding as well as the sugar fried ball thing and a couple others in Rajasthan. They're okay, I'm acquiring a taste for them, but not my favorites. And yes, I've had the herb seed/sugar mixture after many meals, it's popular in India.

are the monkeys nice or are they mean? it would be sweet if they were sweet and friendly so you could play with them!

Also, when are you going to help scrub down the elephants?

-Annie

The monkeys tend to keep to themselves. I intend to go to a monkey temple in Nepal where there are tons of them so I'll report back after that.

If I make it to Royal Chitwan National Park here in Nepal that would be within the month, but I'm not sure if I will. I hope to because jumping on an elephant and cleaning it off sounds entertaining.

where will you go next trip? Will you go with Lisa? Do you
wish you had gone for a shorter time?

-Davis relatives

I don't know where I'll go. My current leaders are: Turkey, Southeast Asia, Australia, Western Europe and Bolivia/Brazil/Argentina. I know, way to narrow it down, right? If Lisa wants to go she knows she has a standing invite! I have mixed feelings about the length of my trip. Nepal is very exciting right now and I feel like I'll be short on time here, but it is a little crazy because I feel like I've been gone a long time yet I have two thirds of my trip left. I would say I'm happy with the length of my trip at the moment.

Well I'll be around to update plenty until I head off for whitewater rafting or trekking. And hopefully next time I'll find a computer with a USB port.

Varanasi

Today I'm spending the day in Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world (it has been a fully functioning city for over 2500 years). It's split in two by the Ganges, which is the main attraction here. Hindu pilgrims come from around the world to wash away all the bad, and begin anew. They also come to die here and bodies are floated in the river or cremated at the ghats (steps down into the river for bathing, washing clothes, etc). Hindus believe this releases them from the cycle of rebirth.

So last night I took a cycle rickshaw down to the river and looked around and then this morning I came down and took a boat ride on the river ($3 for an hour ride). It was pretty cool, but the current is so strong that we couldn't go very far down the river before turning around and working our way back.

I saw my first dead bodies, which was a weird experience. There was one floating down the river, caught on a boat line, then another being cremated (in the picture). It's odd to be so close to death yet most of the people are overjoyed pilgrims having the time of their lives bathing in the river (even though it's full of heavy metals from the factories upstream, dead bodies, ashes, and who knows how much sewage. Hence me not swimming in the river).

This afternoon I plan to see some more of the city and possibly take a little trip out to an old Buddhist site nearby (although I'm still unsure if it's worth the trip or if I should see more here).

Varanasi has a whole different feel than any other place I've been. It's so old and sacred it just feels different. I don't know how else to describe it. Sometime places just have that surreal feel to them and this is one of those places. Even though the actual sites are really not that spectacular it's one of my favorite places in India so far.

Well as I said last time I'll be taking the bus to Pokhara, Nepal, a city on the lake near trekking (hiking) and whitewater rafting. So I'll be on the bus the next couple of days, with nothing much to report (hopefully) besides "that was a long boring bus ride". So, I'm thinking I'll have a little mailbag. So please email me questions at jfbloom@gmail.com or just post them in the comments section, then I'll answer them in my next blog post. I'm going to need some high participation seeing as how I can't imagine that many people are actually reading this every day. So, send in your questions now! Farewell from India, I'll be reporting soon from Nepal.

Off to Varanasi

Last night I ate at a local restaurant (as recommended by the guide book, of couse) and ended up spending about three hours at the restaurant talking to the waitress and the owner. I showed them pictures of my trip (they had only been to a couple of the places) and then they ended up driving me to Jhansi (about forty minutes away) to catch the train (they charged me, but only about half of the going rate for a taxi that far).

The train was fine, I was tired from carrying all my stuff around the jungle all day so I actually got a solid night of sleep on the 13 hour train ride. I haven't had the chance to explore the city much yet, but I can say I had a tasty lunch (after a long walk and then unnecassarily long cycle rickshaw ride to get there from a guy that spoke virtually no English) and it's even hotter and more humid here.

I have tonight and tomorrow here, then two days of buses to get to Pokhara, Nepal. I'm looking forward to Nepal, but two days of 12 hour bus rides does not sound pleasant.

Orchha

Yesterday afternoon I finished up all the temples in Khajuraho and came back to return my bike. I had tea with the people running the place and ended up going to dinner with one of them. Pretty soon I had agreed to tea with him at his shop, and there his boss tried to sell me stuff (of course).

After that I went to meet Raj, who was supposed to be in front of the hotel. I wasn't able to find him, but I started talking to an off duty taxi owner. That's how I met Ashok. We got to talking and he invited me to come try the local wine, called Mouya, made from the fruit of a locally grown flower. I accepted, so he drove us outside of town and we parked to walk across a field to his friend's house. There we filled up a water bottle from the guy's plastic jug of homemade wine to take on our way. I insisted Ashok try the wine first (I'm not crazy, you can screw that stuff up). He did, then I tried it. It tastes kind of like flowery rum. I wouldn't have guessed it was wine if he hadn't told me.

Then we went to the market, bought some coke to mix it with and went to a restaurant to have our wine and some papad (the cracker-like things they serve before a meal sometimes). We talked about the "real" India and life for him in his four room house (not four bedrooms, four total rooms), living with his brother, sister-in-law, children and nieces and nephews. Despite being in charge of six taxis, he is not a rich man by any means.

From there he invited me for dinner. I accepted even though I had eaten already. We went to his house by scooter after he parked his taxi at the garage. There I met his wife and all the children of the house. Ashok and I ate as they all watched, Ashok sitting on the floor and eating, me next to him in a chair (of course I looked immensely uncomfortable on the floor so they offered me a chair). We had potato curry with chapati (bread), cucumbers, tomato, and some sort of flavorless root all on the side. It was tasty and the company was good.

After dinner he took me back to the hotel, then this morning he picked me up and took me to the bus station. He did all of this just to be a good host in his home city, and he never once asked for money or even implied that he needed it. It was a refreshing change of pace and a fantastic evening I won't soon forget.

Today I took a much nicer bus back toward Jhansi. I got off a little early to go to Orchha, a short ways away and an old city in the jungle. I met some Europeans and rode into town with them, but I soon had an appreciation for traveling alone. They went very slowly everywhere and wanted to shop and talk to every passerby. I had all day so it was fine, but travelling alone does have its advantages.

Regardless of that, this place is pretty cool, a sort of half ruined city in the sweltering heat of the jungle. As usual there is a palace and temples, although I opted not to go in this time as the main attraction is really just the outside anyway.

Now I'll be heading back to Jhansi to catch my overnight train to Varanasi, a huge city and my last stop in Northern India.

Khajuraho

Last night I went to the Kiwi birthday party, which just turned out to be a guy from New Zealand and a bunch of Indians drinking on a roof (I don't know what I expected). Indian beer is terrible. That's pretty much all I can take from that. Then this morning I went to breakfast with Raj and we had chai and some potato filled chapati (bread). It was pretty good.

After my breakfast I went to see the famous temples of Khajuraho. There are a cluster of them you have to pay to see right next to town (like the ones in the pictures in this post) and then some farther away, as much as 5km in any direction, which are free. I followed the guide book's advise and rented a bicycle for $1.

It turned out to be great advise. I cruised around the town and saw all the temples this morning, without have to hoof it all over the place. The temples are all in this town of about 17,000 people, which used to be the capital of a kingdom in the jungle about 1,000 years ago.

Basically no one is completely sure why they made them erotic, but they did (as you can tell from the pictures. If you want to skip the details just don't click on them). The current theory is that they tell the story of a wedding of gods, but no one is really that sure. They're cool temples and there are lots of them, so it was an action packed morning. Then I went across the street and ate lunch basically in a tree house. It's part of a restaurant overlooking the main set of temples so it was a good way to top off my temple filled morning.

I'm not sure what I'll do this afternoon but there's talk of a waterfall, although it's apparently pretty far away. Tomorrow back to Jhansi, then a night train to Varanasi, my last city in Northern India. So sad.

The Journey to Khajuraho

NOTE: This post is from last night, I typed it up but the internet was so bad I couldn't post it, so this was written September 18 at about 10pm local time. I ended up saving it to the hard drive and coming back.

I don't think I have pink eye. I'm pretty confident about it at this point. I don't know what was with my eyelid, but it was swollen, and now it isn't. I didn't get any of the other symptoms. It's weird, but something was up and now it seems to be just fine, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

This morning I woke at 7am, catching the 8:27am train from Agra to Jhansi. I arrived at Jhansi (basically nothing to tourists except a transit hub) at around 11am. I caught a tuk tuk to the bus station, and on the way was harassed by the driver to hire his friend as a taxi driver instead of taking the bus. He told me all about how the nice bus had just left, so I'd have to take a crowded hot public bus and that his taxi had a/c and everything. I basically told him I'd pay the bus fare for a taxi ride (it was going to cost an extra $10) and he finally understood to give up. Well I caught the public bus, which I had to wait for until 1pm.

I immediately regretted my decision. I had to sit in the one seat at the back which didn't have a seat in front of it (again, my height comes in anything but handy). This led to a family of five on my right and a family of four on my left, all on a bench seat. I literally had five people continuously touching me, two of which were children sleeping on me and one of which was a middle aged man using me as an armrest and an object to stare at. I felt a little claustrophobic. And insanely hot. This bus ride was 6 hours through the jungle, so all the body heat on me and the heat from outside was basically crushing my will.

This continued for a couple hours. It was pretty much awful and I spent the whole time day dreaming about a cramped taxi ride. I eventually made it to this place just before 7pm and thought, "well I"m glad I didn't pay extra. That would have been a waste". My mind is weird.

Well I'm in the jungle. As I type I have bugs all over me. They're not mosquitoes (I have repellent), but enormous grasshoppers, flies, and miscellaneous bugs which I didn't know existed or which I cannot identify.

I had chai with some random Indian guy I met on the bus named Raj, and now he invited me to a New Zealander's birthday party, so I must bid you all adieu for the night. Pictures tomorrow, I promise.

Taj Mahal

I woke up this morning at about 5:30am, and a single thought came to my mind; "I have pink eye". I went into the bathroom and examined my swollen right eyelid, coming to the conclusion that I don't know if I have pink eye, but my eye lid is definitely not quite right. Well this took some time, so I was a little late walking to the gate of the Taj Mahal for opening at 6. I waited in the security line and got in by 6:15 or so.

Basically the Taj Mahal is famous for a reason. It's an amazing building. Maybe my favorite building ever. Everything is so perfect, so symmetrical, so pristine. Well everything except for that added on tomb of the emperor himself, which mucks up the whole inside. It's a little bigger than hers and decidedly not in the middle, clearly over some designs on the tile. He really shouldn't be there. But besides that (and a little wear and tear), it's perfect. The light reflects off the marble differently throughout the day (supposedly to imply the presence of Allah, since he cannot be pictured), which makes it kind of like a living thing. Very cool.

I looked at pretty much from every possible angle, including plenty you never see in pictures, but that are impressive in their own right. Then I sat down on a bench here and there and just kind of stared at it. There were some green parrots to listen to, and the whole thing was quite a sight.

After the Taj I went back, took a nap, then headed out to Agra Fort as well as a nearby bazaar and a restaurant recommended by the guide book. The restaurant was great, a little shop apparently on its fifth generation of owners, serving a thali (a whole meal) starting at about 40 cents (all you can eat). I opted for the fancy one with rice and stuff (the lesser meal comes with two curries and bread), then got a dessert afterward, all for about 60 cents. Good stuff, then handshakes from father and son on the way out.

I negotiated my way through the bazaar after lunch, and was met with very little hassle. It is known as a place for locals so they didn't try to get the tourist with their usual ferocity. I rather enjoyed it.

Then I went to Agra fort. It was okay, nothing special after seeing so many forts. I guess the highlight was some gold roofed buildings, but the gold was so tarnished it wasn't much of a highlight. I guess they can't all be winners.

Tomorrow on to Jhansi to transfer to a bus to Khajuraho, famous for its temples adorned with erotic carvings. I won't forget pictures, don't worry.

Plus, news on my possible case of pink eye!

A taste of the Taj

Tonight I went just before sunset down to the Taj Mahal. The whole thing is behind a wall, but I followed the guide book's advise and went down sort of behind it to a river. From there you can get a decent look at the back of it without paying the steep admission price. I got there just a few minutes before sunset and I have to say the view was pretty spectacular.

It was built as a monument to the emperor's favorite wife. She had 14 of his children, and when she died he built her the Taj Mahal as her tomb. It took 21 years to build, and it's built entirely out of marble (he was later buried next to her; the whole building is symmetrical except for his tomb since hers is placed exactly in the middle of the building.

Well like I said I'll be visiting and actually going inside tomorrow morning as sunrise. I'm excited (and if you're lucky you might get some more Taj Mahal fun facts!).

Agra

Yesterday afternoon I wandered through Jaipur, mostly the more modern part, which was rather uneventful. Don't get me wrong, it's actually one of the nicest areas I've seen in India so far, very affluent for Indian standards. It just wasn't big on cool sites.

I did get to see a group of guys nearly accidentally steal a motorcycle. There were some guys in a pick up truck, with one motorcycle already in the bed and they stopped right in front of me. The guys hopped out of the back, grabbed a motorcycle, put it in the bed of the truck and were about to drive away when some guy from one of the shops nearby saw them and came yelling at them. They all looked embarrassed as they put the motorcycle back and took the nearly identical one next to it. I laughed along with quite a few other spectators.

This morning I got up at around 5 to catch my 6:10am train. I had the hotel arrange a tuk tuk to pick me up, which turned out to be a good move because at 5:20, when we were on the way, we were the only ones on the road. It was a little pricier (it was about $1.60 for a 10 minute ride) but it was worth it.

I arrived in Agra today at about noon. It's still farther inland and away from the desert. It's not quite as hot I don't think, but the humidity is far worse so it feels hotter. I plan on checking out the outside of the Taj Mahal tonight at around sunset, then going in and paying the fee (at about $15 it's the most expensive entrance fee in India) tomorrow morning at sunrise. There are some other sites, most notably Agra Fort, but you get a discount if you go the same day as the Taj Mahal, so I play to go tomorrow afternoon.

Jaipur

Today I'm spending the day in Jaipur, known as the Pink City. It's a large city, about 2.5 million people, and one of the most popular with tourists. For a rather quick trip to India many people see the "Golden Triangle" of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra, because they're fairly close together and you get to see a decent range of things. Jaipur is a hub for commerce now, popular for textiles, jewelry, and probably a bunch of other things (like the flower market in the picture).

I walked from the hotel about halway to the old city before I was able to catch a tuk tuk. It doesn't look that far on a map, but this city is fairly spread out. The old city is surrounded by a wall and nearly all the buildings inside are painted pink. It's not a bright pink, as you can see to the right, but kind of a dull reddish pink. Apparently this was done to disguise the poor building materials used when it was constructed in the 1700's.

After walking around the crowded streets for a while I went to the Jantar Mantar, an observatory built to accurately predict horoscopes of all things. Astrology is huge here, nearly all people have a family astrologer that tells them when to get married as well as their futures and all that. It was a pretty cool place, kind of like a sculpture garden for astronomers and astrologers. The one pictured is a sundial built to tell the time within 20 seconds. It's a pretty cool "little" sundial.

After that I headed to the Hawa Mahal, the most famous landmark in Jaipur. It's basically a large set of balconies with very little building behind it, built so women of the day could watch the goings on in the street without being seen. Now it's just a cool looking tourist trap. On my way there I had a minor brush with a bull.

I'm not sure if gore is the right word, cause he didn't break the skin, but it might be and it sounds cool, so I'm going with it. I was gored by a bull. I was walking along the street and apparently got a little too close to a bull (they're everywhere) when he surprised me by swinging his head (and sizeable horns) into my right thigh. I got a brush of the tip of the horn, then the side of the horn and after that his big old head. It's been sore for the few hours since then, but I don't think it's anything more than a bruise. I was pretty startled though. You don't expect them to attack since there are people everywhere around them all the time, but I guess it happens. I'll be okay.

Tomorrow, off to Agra for the Taj Mahal. I'm excited.

This computer seems to hate blogger, so if the formatting is really weird I apologize.

Pushkar to Jaipur

I ended up spending yesterday entirely in Pushkar, forgoing my plans to head to Ajmer. In Pushkar the main thing I did was the religious pilgrimage thing. I went to Brahma Temple, an important religious site for Hindus, basically it's the one place they worship Brahma, one of the three main gods. So it was a very busy and complicated place. I left my shoes at the front, checked my bag (no bags of any kind are allowed in the temple) and was given flowers. They frisked everyone as they headed in, this time very serious about no cameras allowed.

As I headed in, undoubtedly looking extremely confused, a student of the head guru there (I think) offered to show me how to do everything. I told him I didn't want a guide, but he said it was his duty and he did not want a tip or payment. So I said okay and he showed me how to do everything. First I had to go to the main altar for Brahma, toss some of my flowers in there, and receive several pieces of sugar. Then I went from altar to altar for different gods and incarnations and deposited a piece of sugar at each. After I had made my way around the temple (along with scores of Hindu pilgrims) the student showed me down to a ghat, and to the lake.

Pushkar lake is sacred, and this ritual was one of the main reasons to visit Pushkar. I went down the marble steps and sat with a holy man. He then performed a whole ceremony, with flowers, sugar, spices, and a coconut. Basically it was an extended prayer for everything, good family, good life, good wife, good job, good children, etc (his words, except the "etc" part). I think he threw in "good life" three times, but I can't blame him. Anyway, he then put the flowers, sugar and spices in my hands and sprinkled lake water over me and the offering. I put the offering on a dish, and he put a red mark of spices mixed with holy lake water (and a few grains of rice) on my forehead. I tossed the offering into the lake, and he tied basically a friendship bracelet to my wrist.

After that I headed up, gave a proper donation (virtually required), and went on my way. It was a very interesting experience, one which I won't soon forget and which you can't quite get anywhere else (and by the way family they had me make a wish for each of you so if life suddenly gets better that was totally all me). It was worth visiting Pushkar simply for that.

I left Pushkar this morning for Ajmer, then took the train from there to Jaipur, where I am at the moment. I've only just recently arrived so I'll hold off on my comments for tomorrow.

(By the way if the pictures are too small to see you should be able to click on them for the full size version)

Packing List

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/4-killed-in-Srinagar-blast/articleshow/5003539.cms

I almost decided to go to that very city, but decided against it due to the fact that, you know, it's Kashmir. I feel pretty good about that choice now.

Besides that nothing new to report but I thought I would let everyone know what I packed, for your own entertainment:

4 Shirts (3 long sleeve)
2 Pants (1 zips off into shorts)
3 Pairs of underwear
2 Pairs of socks
1 Pair hiking shoes
1 Pair sandals
Hat, sunglasses
Toiletries
Medicine (antibiotics, anti-malaria, etc)
iPod, cell phone, camera, chargers
Locks
Backpack
"Satchel"
Money, Passport
Nepal and India Guidebooks

That'll last me for 3 months, right?

EDIT: I forgot a few things I packed: a fleece, a light rain jacket, a mosquito net, and 2 travel towels (they fold up really small). I probably missed some things, but nothing else major (I think).

Pushkar

Since I last posted, I had been in Udaipur, a nice, green place (with monkeys!). That night I went out to get some dinner, and who do I see, but the same British couple that keeps popping up (at this point I should mention their names are Elden and Sally). We decided to go to dinner again, and at the same place. We all got the stuffed eggplant, which was very good (although it took about an hour to cook it), and then we went our separate ways, I suspect this time for good (travel safely!).

This morning I had a 7am train from Udaipur to Ajmer. I set my alarm for 5:45, but for whatever reason it didn't go off. Luckily I randomly woke up at 6:15 and had everything packed. I was still freaking out because the train station was pretty far away, and tuk tuks are hard to come by that early in the morning. I walked for about 10 minutes, and started to really worry. I didn't truly know where I was going, just the general direction, and I hadn't seen a single taxi or tuk tuk to that point (occupied or not). Luckily for me, a car pulled up and asked if I was going to the rail station. I said yes and he gave me a price. I got in. Ten minutes later I was there, in plenty of time. Close call, I thought. Of course the train left really late so I ended up being there an hour early! Oh well.

The train eventually arrived in Ajmer, 15km away from Pushkar (an 18 cent bus ride). I grabbed a tuk tuk to the bus station and hopped a bus to Pushkar. The hotel is nice, once again, all marble and such.

The city (or the lake, to be more precise) is a little disappointing, to be honest. It's a holy city, the only in India where they worship Brahma, the Creator. There are ghats (bath houses leading into the lake) and 500 temples surrounding the lake. It sounds cool enough, the problem is India is in the midst of their biggest drought in 80 years, so the lake is virtually empty. That means the lake ringed by temples and whitewashed ghats is partially farmland with a small, nasty pond here and there. It's not exactly the spiritual, serene place the guidebook says it is. Bummer.

I tried my first lassi today, a yogurt curd drink mixed with fruit juice (I got pineapple). It was odd. The curd tastes cheesy, like a nutty hard white cheese, and then it's mixed with fruit flavors and has a texture resembling whole milk. Not my thing.

I ordered my meal and instead of the traditional American saying of "would you like fries with that", I got the apparently traditional Pushkar saying of "would you like marijuana with that?" I politely declined. In this city all meat and eggs are banned, as well as all drugs, except marijuana, which is not only legal, but pretty much encouraged.

Tomorrow I'll be in Pushkar and I think I may take a trip to Ajmer, which has the holiest Muslim place in India (it is believed seven trips there equals one to Mecca). I wasn't planning on it, but with Pushkar not exactly drawing all my interest, I might as well.

Sometimes it bothers me to be counted among all the other tourists here. I went to Jagdish Temple today, a Hindu temple to Lord Jagganath, an aspect of Vishnu. It's a popular tourist site here, and with good reason. It's ornately carved, located in the center of town, and even had a service going on with the locals singing and clapping along.

The reason I hate being among the tourists is that there is a rule that you may never take pictures inside a Hindu temple, and a sign right outside the temple reinforces this. Yet when I went in there were a couple of tourists, discretely snapping away. So basically they came from someplace far away to experience this new, different place, but they don't respect it enough to follow a basic rule. They consider that photo more important. It's such a slap in the face, and I with they would toss them down the stairs in the front (pictured to the left) as an example. Well that's all I have to say about that.

I also went today to the City Palace, actually eleven different palaces built at different times, but all right next to each other in a single complex. It was mildly interesting, but the doors in there were insanely small so I spent the majority of the time just trying not to hit my head. It felt like I was climbing through a McDonald's play structure, like it was built for children but I was in there anyways. From there I got a good picture of the Lake Palace. As you can see to the right it really does look like it's just floating there. I considered going out for dinner there, except it's $75 per person! What!?

Today for lunch I splurged (well not compared to Lake Palace) on a fancy Italian place for some pasta with pesto sauce. Wow. After all Indian food, a good Italian meal was amazing (although it cost me upwards of $3! Sacrilege, I know).

I took a walk around after that, rather accidentally, and ended up near the hotel, next to a smaller lake (pictured at the right). And due to popular demand, I will also say my digestive system is in fine working order, so thanks for asking.

Udaipur

Well I've officially left camel country (at the moment) and entered...monkey territory! I left Jodhpur by bus this morning, traveling into the mountains and down the other side to a lake side city called Udaipur. As we came into the forest (and out of the desert) I spotted 4 or 5 monkeys, sitting next to each other, each on their own rock, watching us go by. It was way too quick and I thought I may have missed my chance to get a good monkey picture, but once I got into town I was pleasantly surprised.

As I walked through town I saw a group of monkeys cross the street, knock over a motorcycle and climb into a tree and on a pole (the tree one is pictured above). I was giddy. The locals didn't seem to notice (except for the owner of the motorcycle, who rushed over, yelling at them).

The weather here is relatively mild, maybe 28 degrees Celsius and a little balmy. It's very forested, unlike the places I've been so far. The smells here are better, the forest smells exotic and a little sweet.

Udaipur is famous for it's lake and their palaces (one is to the right), that are built on tiny islands so they almost look like they're floating. It's a gorgeous place. My hotel is nice, the location is pretty good, and did I mention there's monkeys here?

For dinner I met up with the British couple I met in Jaisalmer (randomly on the street here) and we went to this home style place (the family actually lives there, so it's a little more than home style, it's actually their home). We had a tasty dinner, finished off with a nice glass of chai.

Apparently the James Bond movie Octopussy was partially filmed here, so they have showings around the city. I may see one tomorrow night. I'm here all of tomorrow and then leave the next day for Pushkar, which should be plenty of time to soak it all in.

Jodhpur

I arrived in Jodhpur late last night. The train was once again about an hour late, although it left on time (and had a/c). I basically spent the last hour worrying every stop was Jodhpur and I had missed my stop. These places aren't well marked at all so it seemed possible. Of course it turns out that Jodhpur has about 1 million residents, so the train station is rather large and obvious, with probably about two thirds of the people on the train getting off here. I guess my worry was unfounded.

This morning I went to Meherangarh Fort, which is huge, and overlooks the whole city. I showed up right before they opened the gates, and sat to watch the other tourists. There were four Spanish girls waiting as well, and they were soon swarmed by a group of men with cell phone cameras. They all took turns taking pictures with the girls, who smiled and laughed along. I got a picture of the whole scene (to the right) and I was happy that for a moment I wasn't the attraction. Of course as they filed away from the girls and into the now open gate, one man broke away from the pack and stood about a meter away from me to snap a cell phone picture of me (and I was sitting down!), so I guess in the weird tourist hierarchy, four girls trumps alone white guy. Anyway, the audio guide was excellent and it was a good tour to an impressive fort.

After the fort I went down to the Sardar Market, known for it's spices. In fact, that's where I am right now. It's pretty cool, with huge piles of spices to be scooped and weighed for sale alonside the usual fruits, vegetables, and handicrafts.

Jodhpur is known as the blue city, from the indigo stained buildings it contains. Supposedly it helps keep the buildings cool and insect free, although if that were the case I'm not sure why pretty much every building in every city is stained indigo blue. At one point it was just the highest caste here that had the blue houses, but now it's everyone, although I'm told the city is still largely split into neighborhoods based on caste.

My visit here is short, as I leave for Udaipur by bus tomorrow morning (there isn't a train), so now I'm off to make the most of it.

I'm not the only one

So I wrote this entire blog post and added pictures and everything, only to have the computer crash on me. It was probably the best thing I've ever written, but now I just want to have this thing done so it will probably be awful. Enjoy!

Yesterday afternoon I finished wandering the fort. I wandered so much, in fact, that the shopkeepers started saying "Namaste, again" (basically hello again) and smiling like I must be a moron lost tourist. I totally wasn't lost though.

For lunch I ate at a rooftop restaurant, which is where I took the picture above. The bill came to 80 rupees, or $1.62 (approximately). I gave the guy a 500 rupee note (a little more than $10) and he wouldn't take it. It's extremely common here that no one wants to make change for a 500 rupee note, so anytime I can break one I try. In this particular case the guy really wouldn't take it. Besides that I only had 15 rupees, so I offered to pay that and come back later with the rest. He told me to just come back later with the rest, so I walked out (or rather nearly crawled out. The doors were about 4 feet tall and there were 4 of them) without paying a dime. I eventually broke a 500 and came back and paid. It was weird, and very trusting.

Later I got what I hoped would be a relatively bland dinner of vegetable biryani, an Indian rice dish. It was hardly bland. I love spicy food and all, but eating it for every meal is turning out to be a bit much. Sometimes I just want some calories, not a burning mouth to go with the crazy hot weather.

I came back to the hotel through what I would describe as a mild sandstorm. In reality it was just windy and this place is full of sand, so it was a little unpleasant, but just a few kilometers (almost forgot that time) away in the sand dunes people were on camel safaris with high wind and sand everywhere. I think I made a good choice (actually I know I did).

Back at the hotel the power was out once again. It's a routine thing here, unfortunately. It turned out to be a good thing because I just started talking to some other tourists out in front of the hotel. When the power came back we moved up to the roof of the hotel, where I took the picture to the right of Jaisalmer Fort. We talked about our hatred of Delhi and how India was growing on all of us. It was nice to talk to people without the expectation of money changing hands at the end of the conversation. We chatted into the night, and it turns out one of the couples is coming to California at the end of their 9 month worldwide trip, so I may see them again.

This evening I'm taking a train to Jodhpur, a 4 hour number set to arrive around 9. I'll be bringing plenty of water.