There was one other non-Indian on the bus today and when we got off there was a mob of tuk-tuk drivers waiting (auto rickshaws are called tuk-tuks here, like in Thailand). He was being completely mobbed, I had picked one right away because he offered me a ride for 10 rupees. I felt sorry for him and offered to share mine, which he did. His name is Philip and he and his wife are from England but live in Australia. He's on a 2 1/2 month trip in India.
I went to the clock tower, the center of town here and then wandered around the streets. The main market starts at the clock tower but goes into mazes of streets around it. It is a lot like the winding narrow streets in Tangier, this place has a sort of Arab flavor to it anyway. I saw several women in burkas or something similar (snuck a couple of photos) and the spices and other things in the market place seemed more arabic to me. The town has old walls and it encircles the fort on a very large rock, really amazing thick walls with 5 or 6 gates. Some of the old walls have been torn down over the years, and of course the city has outgrown the walls anyway. I am going to visit the fort first thing in the morning before it heats up too much. It's 90 + and I am wearing long sleeves, pants and a scarf at all times. I could take 3 showers a day and not stay clean, but I don't have that many clothes anyway. Only 2 pairs of pants and 3 long sleeve shirts. I did pick up some shampoo today at the market and figure it can double as laundry soap.
I got totally lost going back to my hotel-another town with winding streets and no regularity to how it is laid out. I wandered a long time as it grew dark and finally resorted to asking shop keepers for directions (they seemed more likely to know english and not likely to follow me down the street). I knew as a last resort I could stop a tuk tuk, but I could just picture them charging me a ridiculous amount of money and then going around the block and stopping in front of my hotel. Turns out I was within about a block of it at one point in my meandering.
Jodhpur is the city that jodhpur pants are named from, at least according to my guide book. In case anyone wants to know, this town is on the eastern fringe of the Thar desert. The city is known as the Blue City for its many buildings painted blue. This originated from some high caste Brahmin homes mixing indigo in with whitewash when they painted their homes, as they believed it helped deter pests and kept it cooler. I guess it became a fad and there are quite a few blue buildings in town. It's lovely to look at. I'll post more pictures another day and show you. The fort was established in 1459 and it is absolutely massive from down here. I am excited to explore it tomorrow. I have no other plans other than wandering the streets some more. Love this city! I video taped a bit of the blue bldgs and the fort while the call to prayer was sounding this afternoon, hope it turns out.
Tyler, if you're reading this, I'm seeking out the perfect cricket bat for you! In this town, sidewalks exist but are for marketing or store expansions, everyone walks in the street, which is another game of chicken. Speaking of the streets, I am enjoying the game of 'cross the street'. It is really quite fun! If possible I line up down wind of some locals and just follow their lead, but lately I've been brave enough to strike out on my own, and so far have been successful! I guess if I hadn't been, you might not be reading this.
If anyone wants to know about anything in particular, please post a question in the comments, I'd love to tell you stuff you're interested in. Thanks for reading this, otherwise I'd just be talking to myself!
I'm here in Jodhpur until Monday, when I am taking a morning train to Ajmer, then hoping to catch a bus toward Bundi. One never knows how that may work out, but I'm fairly certain I'll find a place to lay my head one way or another.
Grand adventure
![Grand adventure](<table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(https://www.gstatic.com/pwa/s/v/lighthousefe_20141019.00_p1/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/117262794551578669230/TheGrandAdventure?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QFD-iUPqGjY/VB27twViKmE/AAAAAAAAGc0/p6UhZsdj3Dc/s160-c/TheGrandAdventure.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/117262794551578669230/TheGrandAdventure?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">The Grand Adventure</a></td></tr></table>)
the unknown road
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Random things
My pack is my footstool, it's getting a bit dirty.
Men hold hands with each other here, it's perfectly acceptable. Physical contact between the sexes is quite rare though.
Little children are frequently seen in public with no pants on, up to age 3 or so.
The water supply appears to primarily be in the form of public spigots, placed throughout the city, at least in Pushkar.
In the midst of being hassled by touts and hard looks from men, along the way, in passing groups of women, one will say "good morning" and it just makes me feel good.
Children love to say whatever english words they know when they see me, and it's cute!
Men hold hands with each other here, it's perfectly acceptable. Physical contact between the sexes is quite rare though.
Little children are frequently seen in public with no pants on, up to age 3 or so.
The water supply appears to primarily be in the form of public spigots, placed throughout the city, at least in Pushkar.
In the midst of being hassled by touts and hard looks from men, along the way, in passing groups of women, one will say "good morning" and it just makes me feel good.
Children love to say whatever english words they know when they see me, and it's cute!
Pushkar and moving on
The festival at Pushkar seems to be heating up. The music went almost all night and when I left the hotel at 5:45 am, the streets were full of people heading place, most to the ghats.
The shops in the buildings are generally very small, maybe 8' x 10' or even less sometimes. In addition there are many streetside stalls made of wood which appear to be semi permanent, the a lot of wooden rolling carts, such as the chai and food carts. Then there are the tarps laid out on the ground with goods laid out on them. Both the prices and usually quality decline as you step from the actual stores down to the tarps. The ground tarps, the carts and even some of the store fronts are homes to individuals and families at times. This morning as I walked, it was hard to tell which lumps under tarps were people and which were goods. Many people sleep in the streets, on benches, everywhere. Reminds me of Cusco on the square at night, the people all lined up. As I was passing through to the bus station this morning, I could hear a family waking up and starting their day from behind tarps hung up on their stand, it could not have been more than 6 x 8.
I took the long way to the bus station, not sure how! I had traced and backtracked the route yesterday, because the town is laid out around the lake and none of the streets are square. Some meander off and never connect to anything for a long time. So I got to see Pushkar one more time. Good thing my pack is fairly light. Some of the 'streets' are so narrow, and some with steps, so the only things you could do on them are to walk or use an animal. They are of course, quite old.
I wonder what Miss Manners would have to say about the protocol regarding encounters with cows on the street. One sort of walked into me yesterday and gently head butted me. I was afraid I had a new friend for a minute and I was pretty sure it wouldn't do to bat it on the head.
As I sat on the bus waiting to leave, there were 3 cows right outside my window (holsteins, Clay!) eating some sort of greens someone had brought to them. Mind you, this is smack dab in the middle of town. Walking down the streets lined with shops, restaurants, etc, you'd just see a cow, or a goat or monkeys hanging about.
The bus is sort of like an old school bus but was a grade higher in it's early life. On one side there are 2 seats and the other 3, all padded and upholstered with fabric, which is now old, torn, worn and dirty. The driver's area is glassed off, but has a window to the rest of the bus, through which passengers who want to sit up there can pass. In addition to the driver's seat there are a couple of benches and at one point I counted 6 people up there. When we started out the bus was only half full but that soon changed. This was not an express bus, so we stopped often. But that is partly why I chose this kind of bus for this trip, I really wanted to see the countryside and the villages, etc. I would not take this kind of bus for a trip any longer than today's, but I am glad I took it today. The driver has two assistants, one seems to be senior and he collects fares and bosses people around if necessary. The other one yells out the door announcing "Jodhpur, Jodhpur" at stops and groups of people and then gets them on the bus as fast as possible. Anyway, the trip is about 5 hours, I had water and raisins if needed, but we stopped in a couple of places where vendors came on the bus. I don't know what to call what I ate, but they were good and only 5 rupees each. Let's see, that is less than 2 cents, I think.
I am ready to leave Pushkar, it is kind of touristy in all the bad ways but does not have typical tourist services. For instance I have only seen one bank and ATM in town, there is no place to get reliable info, only touts who all have something to sell. Even your hotel staff have something to sell and I'm not sure safety is a major concern of anyone's. For sure I did not feel safe at my hotel, and I think that's a first for me.
The people working at my hotel were all men, and yesterday one who I think is a boss came out of a room near the stairwell as I was approaching it to go down. He said hello and asked how things were. I said fine, and kept going. He then said, 'I want to show you one thing' and gestured toward the room he had just walked out of. I did not break stride, just kept going and said no, thank you. Then last evening I came home about dark, and went up to the second floor to the little restaurant as I knew they had bottles of water they sell and I wanted one for the trip. No one was there just then but I was sure they'd show up and so I sat down and watched the street scene below. One employee, who seemed fairly junior, and who had been too friendly previously to me, came up and tried to interest me in an ayurvedic massage-hmmm.... Sometimes you just know something stinks. He persisted for a while and I kept refusing and finally said I just wanted to look at the people and get some water. He was overly familiar and kept touching my shoulder everytime he said something. Then the regular restaurant guy came up, he is ok, I paid for the water and massage dude left. Then another man came up, who I thought worked there as I had seen him in the lobby several times. I asked him about checking out early (I had personal knowledge that no one would be up before 7 from the morning of my arrival!) and he then told me he did not work there and I apologized. He laughed and shook my hand and wanted to know my room number. I pretended not to remember it. Then I gave up and went to my room. Well, the power in my room was out. The lights in other rooms and on the balcony were on, and my bathroom lights worked, but not the room. The worst of this was the ceiling fan didn't work. It all may have been a perfectly innocent coincidence, but I decided to put up with no power, since the bathroom light worked. It felt like maybe it would be a good excuse to get in my room. All this because I was a woman alone. But your hotel is not supposed to be like that! The one I have in Jodhpur is completely different.
My seat mates varied throughout the trip today, from a young woman with a large bundle tied up in a white cloth, to 2 young ladies on their way to school to several different men. The girls were quite interested in talking with me. I had read that people here are quite inquisitive and it's considered acceptable to ask strangers personal questions. They started with my name and where I was from, then was I married, then did I have a boyfriend. I could tell they felt sorry for me when I said no to that. The best I could tell, they are both working in some sort of hospital/medical training school. One is 17 and one is 18 (they asked me how old I was, so I asked them too). They asked for a memory of me when they were getting off, so I gave them each a business card-that was kind of funny. Then I asked to take their photos, but they declined, one said her father does not approve, so I said I understood and we parted happily.
The shops in the buildings are generally very small, maybe 8' x 10' or even less sometimes. In addition there are many streetside stalls made of wood which appear to be semi permanent, the a lot of wooden rolling carts, such as the chai and food carts. Then there are the tarps laid out on the ground with goods laid out on them. Both the prices and usually quality decline as you step from the actual stores down to the tarps. The ground tarps, the carts and even some of the store fronts are homes to individuals and families at times. This morning as I walked, it was hard to tell which lumps under tarps were people and which were goods. Many people sleep in the streets, on benches, everywhere. Reminds me of Cusco on the square at night, the people all lined up. As I was passing through to the bus station this morning, I could hear a family waking up and starting their day from behind tarps hung up on their stand, it could not have been more than 6 x 8.
I took the long way to the bus station, not sure how! I had traced and backtracked the route yesterday, because the town is laid out around the lake and none of the streets are square. Some meander off and never connect to anything for a long time. So I got to see Pushkar one more time. Good thing my pack is fairly light. Some of the 'streets' are so narrow, and some with steps, so the only things you could do on them are to walk or use an animal. They are of course, quite old.
I wonder what Miss Manners would have to say about the protocol regarding encounters with cows on the street. One sort of walked into me yesterday and gently head butted me. I was afraid I had a new friend for a minute and I was pretty sure it wouldn't do to bat it on the head.
As I sat on the bus waiting to leave, there were 3 cows right outside my window (holsteins, Clay!) eating some sort of greens someone had brought to them. Mind you, this is smack dab in the middle of town. Walking down the streets lined with shops, restaurants, etc, you'd just see a cow, or a goat or monkeys hanging about.
The bus is sort of like an old school bus but was a grade higher in it's early life. On one side there are 2 seats and the other 3, all padded and upholstered with fabric, which is now old, torn, worn and dirty. The driver's area is glassed off, but has a window to the rest of the bus, through which passengers who want to sit up there can pass. In addition to the driver's seat there are a couple of benches and at one point I counted 6 people up there. When we started out the bus was only half full but that soon changed. This was not an express bus, so we stopped often. But that is partly why I chose this kind of bus for this trip, I really wanted to see the countryside and the villages, etc. I would not take this kind of bus for a trip any longer than today's, but I am glad I took it today. The driver has two assistants, one seems to be senior and he collects fares and bosses people around if necessary. The other one yells out the door announcing "Jodhpur, Jodhpur" at stops and groups of people and then gets them on the bus as fast as possible. Anyway, the trip is about 5 hours, I had water and raisins if needed, but we stopped in a couple of places where vendors came on the bus. I don't know what to call what I ate, but they were good and only 5 rupees each. Let's see, that is less than 2 cents, I think.
I am ready to leave Pushkar, it is kind of touristy in all the bad ways but does not have typical tourist services. For instance I have only seen one bank and ATM in town, there is no place to get reliable info, only touts who all have something to sell. Even your hotel staff have something to sell and I'm not sure safety is a major concern of anyone's. For sure I did not feel safe at my hotel, and I think that's a first for me.
The people working at my hotel were all men, and yesterday one who I think is a boss came out of a room near the stairwell as I was approaching it to go down. He said hello and asked how things were. I said fine, and kept going. He then said, 'I want to show you one thing' and gestured toward the room he had just walked out of. I did not break stride, just kept going and said no, thank you. Then last evening I came home about dark, and went up to the second floor to the little restaurant as I knew they had bottles of water they sell and I wanted one for the trip. No one was there just then but I was sure they'd show up and so I sat down and watched the street scene below. One employee, who seemed fairly junior, and who had been too friendly previously to me, came up and tried to interest me in an ayurvedic massage-hmmm.... Sometimes you just know something stinks. He persisted for a while and I kept refusing and finally said I just wanted to look at the people and get some water. He was overly familiar and kept touching my shoulder everytime he said something. Then the regular restaurant guy came up, he is ok, I paid for the water and massage dude left. Then another man came up, who I thought worked there as I had seen him in the lobby several times. I asked him about checking out early (I had personal knowledge that no one would be up before 7 from the morning of my arrival!) and he then told me he did not work there and I apologized. He laughed and shook my hand and wanted to know my room number. I pretended not to remember it. Then I gave up and went to my room. Well, the power in my room was out. The lights in other rooms and on the balcony were on, and my bathroom lights worked, but not the room. The worst of this was the ceiling fan didn't work. It all may have been a perfectly innocent coincidence, but I decided to put up with no power, since the bathroom light worked. It felt like maybe it would be a good excuse to get in my room. All this because I was a woman alone. But your hotel is not supposed to be like that! The one I have in Jodhpur is completely different.
My seat mates varied throughout the trip today, from a young woman with a large bundle tied up in a white cloth, to 2 young ladies on their way to school to several different men. The girls were quite interested in talking with me. I had read that people here are quite inquisitive and it's considered acceptable to ask strangers personal questions. They started with my name and where I was from, then was I married, then did I have a boyfriend. I could tell they felt sorry for me when I said no to that. The best I could tell, they are both working in some sort of hospital/medical training school. One is 17 and one is 18 (they asked me how old I was, so I asked them too). They asked for a memory of me when they were getting off, so I gave them each a business card-that was kind of funny. Then I asked to take their photos, but they declined, one said her father does not approve, so I said I understood and we parted happily.
Friday, October 30, 2009
pictures
Sorry about my technical difficulties. If you copy and paste this into your browser, you should be able to see some photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=farmerrirene&target=ALBUM&id=5398323101206418897&authkey=Gv1sRgCI7zr6fO6tC9_AE&feat=email
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=farmerrirene&target=ALBUM&id=5398323101206418897&authkey=Gv1sRgCI7zr6fO6tC9_AE&feat=email
time and money
Well, I seem to have my days and nights mixed up. That nap yesterday was a mistake I never got up! Then at 12:30 am I was wide awake. Today my goal is to stay up til 8 pm. I have to get up early tomorrow anyway, I'm hoping to catch a bus that maybe leaves at 7am. When you and the person you are asking don't speak the same language, communication is iffy at best. But we both gave it our best! So I'm showing up around 7 and hoping it works out. There are other options, but I want to take the regular bus, it's not A/C and you can actually see out the windows. Since the ride will be done around 12:30 and the windows open, that seems like the best option. Otherwise I can take a 'deluxe' bus, which may or may not be deluxe, but for sure the windows won't open and I would freeze from the air conditioning. But the bus station I have to catch the bus at is a little intimidating! I went by there today, found it by accident (street signs are for wusses, they don't seem to have them here). It was sort of like walking into a biker bar in a business suit, if you get what I mean.
Since I was awake so early, I played with the settings on my camera, discovered I hadn't forgotten my sunscreen but had forgotten shampoo. This is not the sort of hotel where you can go to the front counter and ask for a complimentary bottle, so I figured soap was a worthy substitute. Besides, my hair looks like hell by 9 am anyway. I was out and down by the ghats before daylight, surprising how many people were out also. Apparently it's a popular time to come down and bathe at the lake (the ghats are concrete steps sort of like stadium rows without seats that lead down into the water). This is one of the holiest festivals in Hindu religion, and this lake is the spot for it. There are colored lights up on the foot bridge and other buildings, and in the dark they were reflecting beautifully in the water. There was a group of women singing and there was a nice breeze. And at that hour, no one was trying to insist that I take a flower to the lake as an offering.
Then I tramped out past the camels and discovered what looks like a gypsy camp-where all the folks from the desert that came to this to actually trade camels and cattle are. They were not too friendly to me, I suppose because I was a woman alone, so I did not hang out long.
For anyone who's looking for a cheap adventure, this might even beat Thailand so far. I paid about 150 rupees for food yesterday, and it takes about 45 rupees to make a dollar. Of course, I'm not eating a lot. It's too hot and I'm a little shy of the street food just yet. I haven't had any meat at all, it is not readily to be found anyway and I'm not sure it's a good idea. Lots of water, LOTS. It's in the low 90's and quite dry (we are in the desert here, just outside of town are the sand dunes) so I'm drinking more water than I ever have in my life.
I'm trying to upload some photos while I'm typing this. At 20 rupees an hour, I can afford the computer time, and it's hot outside right now. If I am successful, I'll let you know.
Since I was awake so early, I played with the settings on my camera, discovered I hadn't forgotten my sunscreen but had forgotten shampoo. This is not the sort of hotel where you can go to the front counter and ask for a complimentary bottle, so I figured soap was a worthy substitute. Besides, my hair looks like hell by 9 am anyway. I was out and down by the ghats before daylight, surprising how many people were out also. Apparently it's a popular time to come down and bathe at the lake (the ghats are concrete steps sort of like stadium rows without seats that lead down into the water). This is one of the holiest festivals in Hindu religion, and this lake is the spot for it. There are colored lights up on the foot bridge and other buildings, and in the dark they were reflecting beautifully in the water. There was a group of women singing and there was a nice breeze. And at that hour, no one was trying to insist that I take a flower to the lake as an offering.
Then I tramped out past the camels and discovered what looks like a gypsy camp-where all the folks from the desert that came to this to actually trade camels and cattle are. They were not too friendly to me, I suppose because I was a woman alone, so I did not hang out long.
For anyone who's looking for a cheap adventure, this might even beat Thailand so far. I paid about 150 rupees for food yesterday, and it takes about 45 rupees to make a dollar. Of course, I'm not eating a lot. It's too hot and I'm a little shy of the street food just yet. I haven't had any meat at all, it is not readily to be found anyway and I'm not sure it's a good idea. Lots of water, LOTS. It's in the low 90's and quite dry (we are in the desert here, just outside of town are the sand dunes) so I'm drinking more water than I ever have in my life.
I'm trying to upload some photos while I'm typing this. At 20 rupees an hour, I can afford the computer time, and it's hot outside right now. If I am successful, I'll let you know.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Ajmer and Pushkar
It is Thursday and I'm in Pushkar now. I can't stop taking photos, the colors and scenes are so amazing! I only know a little about the different religions here, and then there are so many subsects of each. I can at least tell if someone is Hindi or Muslim, but who knew there were so many ways to wrap a turban! And the women's clothes are just insanely colorful and elaborate.
I got to Ajmer about 3 am. Arriving at that hour and alone was a little intimidating. You know the saying about faking it til you make it, that's what I did. I had one of those illuminating conversations with the train car attendant, wherein I said as we were standing by the door of the train waiting for it to stop, "taxi?" He could not understand me and I had given up after trying 3 times to say 'taxi' in some recognizable way when he said all of a sudden "Taxi!" Sounded the same to me, but apparently not to him. Anyway he used a few english words and some hand gestures to explain that I should walk to the end of the platform and then go right, up the stairs. So I walked the guantlet down the platform as if I arrived there all the time and knew what the hell I was doing. So many people awake at that early hour. When I got to the top of the stairs, I could see the station building, and that was a relief. I figured if I had to, I could hang out there for a few hours. But as I came in the door, a man came up and said "taxi?". I looked at him and wondered if he would take me to Pushkar or rob me blind. Turns out he was a good guy and even walked me down the street after the police would not let him drive into town when we got to Pushkar. As we were walking down the dark street, I could hear praying in a mosque and then praying of another sort in another building, I can only guess it was a Hindi prayer. There is also a famous Brahmin temple here but I did not know that last night. As we walked, it occured to me the taxi driver might be thinking he would get a commission from the hotel for bringing me (this is common in many countries). So I bravely ventured forth on another conversation wherein neither of us understood each other at all. I gave up, and he ended up stopping as soon as we came in sight of the hotel anyway. He was just a nice person! The scene at the hotel was a little different. The door was slightly ajar, so I stepped in. It was pretty dark but I could just see 3 separate forms on the floor sleeping. I also saw steps up to some sort of open air place, so I tiptoed past them and went up the stairs. There I found it was a sort of courtyard, with the 4 levels of rooms on 3 sides and an open air restaurant on the street side. There is also a pool in the middle, but not one that I will be swimming in. However, by the moonlight it all looked very nice, and clean too. So i found a chair and proceeded to doze off and on for 3 hours. they never knew I was there.
Keep in mind that at this point I had not had a shower or changed my clothes since Monday and I was pretty ripe by then. so the first thing I did when I got my room is take a shower and put on some clean clothes. Not the pants though. These have so many wonderful pockets, with zippers, and given how dirty I was going to get today, I put the dirty ones back on.
Then I headed out into stimulation overload. I struck out in the general direction of the lake, and saw camels all decorated for the festival, many many kinds of clothing, beautiful saris on beautiful women, prayers and music cascading into the streets, beggars, stalls and roadside tables with vendors, and of course, the touts who tried very hard to push flowers into my hands. I knew if I took the flower they would then try to take me down to the ghats and have me 'bathe' in the lake and then charge me for the experience. So I refused and kept going. I did go down to the ghats, but on my own. And I really didn't want to do the flower thing, as I am woefully ignorant of what it means. I think I'd just be insulting devout believers. The people watching was great. I figured out if I followed a group of women I got hassled less, so when a group went by on their way around the lake, I fell in and followed them. We ended up in a narrow lane with more exotic sights. Then I meandered on and came to the market, which was just getting busy. I had lost track of time, and then again, time is a bit mushy right now anyway, so when i saw a restaurant that looked easy, I went in. Turned out it was up on the rooftop and I could sit right by the street, under a shade cloth. it was great for watching and for taking pictures. There were a couple of different processions that came through as I sat there. They did not look up and see me so I could stare and snap photos with abandon. And I ate too...it was only 9am, go figure!
Then I found the camels themselves, and made use of my scarf to shade from the sun. I forgot my sunscreen! Yikes, I will have to keep on the lookout for some. No luck so far. I hear there were a lot more earlier in the week, but there are still a lot here. A lot of them have what I'd call tattoos, like the mark of a sun, or other designs. Some are clearly recalcitrant and have the marks to show it.
I think a nap is likely for today, I really need to catch up on my sleep! Besides, it's warm in the sun, and I don't want to turn bright red. I'm here all day tomorrow and leaving on Saturday. I have no idea where I'm leaving to though, so I need to do some research. I'll keep you posted!
I got to Ajmer about 3 am. Arriving at that hour and alone was a little intimidating. You know the saying about faking it til you make it, that's what I did. I had one of those illuminating conversations with the train car attendant, wherein I said as we were standing by the door of the train waiting for it to stop, "taxi?" He could not understand me and I had given up after trying 3 times to say 'taxi' in some recognizable way when he said all of a sudden "Taxi!" Sounded the same to me, but apparently not to him. Anyway he used a few english words and some hand gestures to explain that I should walk to the end of the platform and then go right, up the stairs. So I walked the guantlet down the platform as if I arrived there all the time and knew what the hell I was doing. So many people awake at that early hour. When I got to the top of the stairs, I could see the station building, and that was a relief. I figured if I had to, I could hang out there for a few hours. But as I came in the door, a man came up and said "taxi?". I looked at him and wondered if he would take me to Pushkar or rob me blind. Turns out he was a good guy and even walked me down the street after the police would not let him drive into town when we got to Pushkar. As we were walking down the dark street, I could hear praying in a mosque and then praying of another sort in another building, I can only guess it was a Hindi prayer. There is also a famous Brahmin temple here but I did not know that last night. As we walked, it occured to me the taxi driver might be thinking he would get a commission from the hotel for bringing me (this is common in many countries). So I bravely ventured forth on another conversation wherein neither of us understood each other at all. I gave up, and he ended up stopping as soon as we came in sight of the hotel anyway. He was just a nice person! The scene at the hotel was a little different. The door was slightly ajar, so I stepped in. It was pretty dark but I could just see 3 separate forms on the floor sleeping. I also saw steps up to some sort of open air place, so I tiptoed past them and went up the stairs. There I found it was a sort of courtyard, with the 4 levels of rooms on 3 sides and an open air restaurant on the street side. There is also a pool in the middle, but not one that I will be swimming in. However, by the moonlight it all looked very nice, and clean too. So i found a chair and proceeded to doze off and on for 3 hours. they never knew I was there.
Keep in mind that at this point I had not had a shower or changed my clothes since Monday and I was pretty ripe by then. so the first thing I did when I got my room is take a shower and put on some clean clothes. Not the pants though. These have so many wonderful pockets, with zippers, and given how dirty I was going to get today, I put the dirty ones back on.
Then I headed out into stimulation overload. I struck out in the general direction of the lake, and saw camels all decorated for the festival, many many kinds of clothing, beautiful saris on beautiful women, prayers and music cascading into the streets, beggars, stalls and roadside tables with vendors, and of course, the touts who tried very hard to push flowers into my hands. I knew if I took the flower they would then try to take me down to the ghats and have me 'bathe' in the lake and then charge me for the experience. So I refused and kept going. I did go down to the ghats, but on my own. And I really didn't want to do the flower thing, as I am woefully ignorant of what it means. I think I'd just be insulting devout believers. The people watching was great. I figured out if I followed a group of women I got hassled less, so when a group went by on their way around the lake, I fell in and followed them. We ended up in a narrow lane with more exotic sights. Then I meandered on and came to the market, which was just getting busy. I had lost track of time, and then again, time is a bit mushy right now anyway, so when i saw a restaurant that looked easy, I went in. Turned out it was up on the rooftop and I could sit right by the street, under a shade cloth. it was great for watching and for taking pictures. There were a couple of different processions that came through as I sat there. They did not look up and see me so I could stare and snap photos with abandon. And I ate too...it was only 9am, go figure!
Then I found the camels themselves, and made use of my scarf to shade from the sun. I forgot my sunscreen! Yikes, I will have to keep on the lookout for some. No luck so far. I hear there were a lot more earlier in the week, but there are still a lot here. A lot of them have what I'd call tattoos, like the mark of a sun, or other designs. Some are clearly recalcitrant and have the marks to show it.
I think a nap is likely for today, I really need to catch up on my sleep! Besides, it's warm in the sun, and I don't want to turn bright red. I'm here all day tomorrow and leaving on Saturday. I have no idea where I'm leaving to though, so I need to do some research. I'll keep you posted!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The train ride to Ajmer
When I got out to the platform, I could not see anyone official to ask, so I asked a police officer. I knew he was not there for that, but figured he would at least point me in the right direction, which he did. It turns out there was some sort of protest that day and the train I was supposed to take had been sort of ambushed and a bunch of windows broken out. This I heard from an Indian who spoke english I could understand and he and his wife helped me figure out where to catch my train.
The berth is a 4 bed sleeper, and I shared it with a married couple, whose sons were in the 2 bed sleeper directly across from us, and another man who felt free to pass gas and make strange noises. They all spoke something that I can only guess is Hindi. Fortunately the teenage son spoke a little english, so with much pantomiming, I got across that I was very tired and even though I was supposed to have the bottom bunk, I would take the top one so they could stay up and I could sleep. Other than that it was a lot of awkward silence or they just carried on a conversation on their own. But they did help me tell the car attendant that I needed to get off in Ajmer which we were getting to at 2:30 am. Then I passed out! I had not slept more than a few hours since Sunday night and boy was I feeling it by then! I got about 5 hours which kept me sane, at least.
The berth is a 4 bed sleeper, and I shared it with a married couple, whose sons were in the 2 bed sleeper directly across from us, and another man who felt free to pass gas and make strange noises. They all spoke something that I can only guess is Hindi. Fortunately the teenage son spoke a little english, so with much pantomiming, I got across that I was very tired and even though I was supposed to have the bottom bunk, I would take the top one so they could stay up and I could sleep. Other than that it was a lot of awkward silence or they just carried on a conversation on their own. But they did help me tell the car attendant that I needed to get off in Ajmer which we were getting to at 2:30 am. Then I passed out! I had not slept more than a few hours since Sunday night and boy was I feeling it by then! I got about 5 hours which kept me sane, at least.
The adventure begins
First things first: I arrived safely. I was not able to get to internet until today, so I have some catching up to do.
Second, I think I need to start with a disclaimer. I'm going to be sharing my experience here, and having been in India for a whole day or something, I'm not claiming to be an expert. However, I am going to share what I am seeing and thinking, whether it's accurate or not is up to you to decide.
The trip here was long-14 hours to Taipei and then another 6 to Delhi. It was sort of like we chased the sun and finally caught up with it as we landed in Taipei. Teri M took me to the airport and i was feeling a little foolish about getting there so early until we got to the checkin line. At 9pm there was already a line and shortly after we got there, the line got really long. Because we were near the front of the line, I got an exit row seat which is priceless on such long trips. I held a baby and met a new friend in the course of the 20 hours, and got a little sleep. I could not sleep for long at a time on the plane. I think I told a few folks that I particularly wanted to fly on a non-US airline, both because they feed you better (and for free) and are generally nicer. That proved true again. Two meals on the 14 hour flight and one meal and a snack on the 6 hour flight, and the attendants were very nice. They dealt with lots of babies, a sick drunk and various other issues with grace and discretion.
Wednesday: The new friend was also going to the train station from the airport so we shared a cab. The train station was a hoot. I knew there would be crowds and really bad touts (and they were) but had read that the Left Luggage service was safe. It definitely did not feel safe, but I left my backpack anyway and then David (the new friend) and I went to see the Red Fort to kill time. We took an auto rickshaw over. If I get organized, I'll try to video the ride in one of those, it would be a hoot. It reminds me of the time I drove a rental car in Acapulco, or maybe Bangkok traffic, with even less regard for niceties like lanes and right of way.
Anyway, my train was leaving before David's so back I went to the station. About that point I was so tired, I felt nauseas. So I kept myself awake waiting for my train by writing down what I was going to post here.
Turns out even though a large portion of the population speaks english here, it's quite different than American english, or even British english. I was riding back to the station in an autorickshaw, which is open on both sides. The driver was trying to ask me a question as he drove, and between the traffic noise, and him speaking ahead and me trying to listen behind him, and his accent, he had to ask 3 times before I guessed that he was asking what country I was from. After that, I just smiled and agreed with anything he said, there was no way we were going to understand each other.
So far, India is as dirty or dirtier than Ecuador. Really dirty, everywhere. I'm getting stared at a lot because of the blond hair. My response depends on who is staring. If it is women, I smile and say hello. If men, I ignore them and put my scarf on my head or something to make it clear I'm not inviting attention. No real problems so far. Lots of touts in certain areas, but I have experienced that before, so while it gets annoying, I can get rid of them generally. If this were my first trip to a less developed country, I'd probably be hiding out in my hotel room wondering what the hell I was doing here. I do sort of wonder that, but I'm not hiding!
By the time I got on the train, I was so smelly I was bothering myself. But that would have to wait, the train bathrooms are like the european stoop toilets, just a hole in the floor. At the station, a bunch of people who weren't going on the train rushed on and used the toilets, then got off. Compared to the rail station bathrooms, they are better. On to the train...
Second, I think I need to start with a disclaimer. I'm going to be sharing my experience here, and having been in India for a whole day or something, I'm not claiming to be an expert. However, I am going to share what I am seeing and thinking, whether it's accurate or not is up to you to decide.
The trip here was long-14 hours to Taipei and then another 6 to Delhi. It was sort of like we chased the sun and finally caught up with it as we landed in Taipei. Teri M took me to the airport and i was feeling a little foolish about getting there so early until we got to the checkin line. At 9pm there was already a line and shortly after we got there, the line got really long. Because we were near the front of the line, I got an exit row seat which is priceless on such long trips. I held a baby and met a new friend in the course of the 20 hours, and got a little sleep. I could not sleep for long at a time on the plane. I think I told a few folks that I particularly wanted to fly on a non-US airline, both because they feed you better (and for free) and are generally nicer. That proved true again. Two meals on the 14 hour flight and one meal and a snack on the 6 hour flight, and the attendants were very nice. They dealt with lots of babies, a sick drunk and various other issues with grace and discretion.
Wednesday: The new friend was also going to the train station from the airport so we shared a cab. The train station was a hoot. I knew there would be crowds and really bad touts (and they were) but had read that the Left Luggage service was safe. It definitely did not feel safe, but I left my backpack anyway and then David (the new friend) and I went to see the Red Fort to kill time. We took an auto rickshaw over. If I get organized, I'll try to video the ride in one of those, it would be a hoot. It reminds me of the time I drove a rental car in Acapulco, or maybe Bangkok traffic, with even less regard for niceties like lanes and right of way.
Anyway, my train was leaving before David's so back I went to the station. About that point I was so tired, I felt nauseas. So I kept myself awake waiting for my train by writing down what I was going to post here.
Turns out even though a large portion of the population speaks english here, it's quite different than American english, or even British english. I was riding back to the station in an autorickshaw, which is open on both sides. The driver was trying to ask me a question as he drove, and between the traffic noise, and him speaking ahead and me trying to listen behind him, and his accent, he had to ask 3 times before I guessed that he was asking what country I was from. After that, I just smiled and agreed with anything he said, there was no way we were going to understand each other.
So far, India is as dirty or dirtier than Ecuador. Really dirty, everywhere. I'm getting stared at a lot because of the blond hair. My response depends on who is staring. If it is women, I smile and say hello. If men, I ignore them and put my scarf on my head or something to make it clear I'm not inviting attention. No real problems so far. Lots of touts in certain areas, but I have experienced that before, so while it gets annoying, I can get rid of them generally. If this were my first trip to a less developed country, I'd probably be hiding out in my hotel room wondering what the hell I was doing here. I do sort of wonder that, but I'm not hiding!
By the time I got on the train, I was so smelly I was bothering myself. But that would have to wait, the train bathrooms are like the european stoop toilets, just a hole in the floor. At the station, a bunch of people who weren't going on the train rushed on and used the toilets, then got off. Compared to the rail station bathrooms, they are better. On to the train...
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