When I went through security I was told that I got a seat upgrade (again!). I think that it may have to do with the fact that I have a points card – I checked in with Allison’s card number so that she could get my extra points...I didn’t have a card, so I figured I might just as well! However, if that is the reason that I have got these two upgrades, I am definitely going to get a BA points card for my next BA flight! J
It was a long flight home...I guess traveling half way around the world would do that, eh?!
-Allison
Sunday, March 15, 2009
March 13, 2009
Another Friday the 13th!!! Nothing too dramatic happened today, however, so that is a good thing!!
We had an amazing tour today. Probably the best we’ve had thus far, actually. Ohhh...but, to regress...the breakfast at this hotel was superb! It had huge variety of everything and even had brown bread! Anyway, back to the tour. We had this petite little lady as our guide who was a wealth of information. And, she knew that we had had enough of temples and forts, so adapted our schedule to show us other sites! It was excellent.
After the Gateway to India and the Taj hotel stop, we went past the train station that was also attacked during the November attacks. The architecture was such that it seemed as though we had changed continents and were in Europe! There is definitely a strong English past here!! The university was just as beautiful. We weren’t able to go into either of these two places, but they were probably more interesting from the outside, in any case! We then stopped at the market, and it was very interesting. It was a food market and lots of different things for sale..JPG)
Mangos are just coming into season, so mom was going nuts. Mom and dad actually bought a bunch of oranges and mangos to take with them to Goa! There were fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, candy, meat, and a pet market within the market! It made me really sad to see the cute little puppies in their little metal cages. There are so many dogs here, I don’t know how they all survive, really. They need a Bob Barker to come and start enforcing spaying and neutering their dogs!!
We headed through the city to do a drive by of the Jain temple. The highest population of Jains live in Mumbai and they own, exclusively, the diamond market in the country! They are very wealthy people! Another interesting population in the city is the Parsis. They almost all live in Mumbai (9/10 in the world) and are the individuals who believe in Zoroastrianism – the elements earth, fire, and water. Due to this, they have an interesting way of disposing of their dead. They cannot bury their dead because they worship the earth. They cannot burn their dead because they worship fire. Instead, they place their dead on a mesh covering a deep well. Then, they ring a bell and vulchers come and eat the dead bodies. When there are only bones left, the bones are disposed of into the well!! This population is also very wealthy and in India owns the TATA empire – which controls a lot of the businesses – the name is everywhere! However, because they can only marry within their religion in order to stay part of the religion, the population is quickly diminishing. We had the chance to drive by both the Parsis fire temple and the towers of silence (where the wells and vulchers are). The towers of silence are the only ones in the world!
Then we went to Churchgate Station to see the Dabawalas! It was an amazing thing to see!! The system is the following: Hot lunches that are made at home.JPG)
are picked up by one man and taken to the nearest train station on a plank with about 50 other similar tiffans. The man slides the plank into the train, where it will be picked up by another man at the central Churchgate Station. He then does this thing called “shuffling”, where they reorganize the hundreds of tiffans into regional locations depending on where the person is working. A third person then takes the plank and delivers the food to the workplace! I don’t remember the numbers of people that rely on this service DAILY, but it is an astronomical number. And, the Dabawalas, or “lunch box men” are 99.999% accurate! It is a profession that is handed down from father to son and has been in place for over 160 years! It was a phenomenal sight to be seen!
Afterwards, we headed to Gandi’s house. We had more time here than we did at the Gandi memorial in Delhi. There was an interesting diorama depicting his life over the years. I didn’t know that he wrote a letter to Hitler, right before WWII broke out – so that was my interesting piece of acquired information!
Then, we went to the Dobi men – the washing men. Another amazing sight! The laundry services are done by hand, in a generational profession, located in a slim-like area. The washing area looks like a series of cubicles that are partially.JPG)
filled with water. On the back edge, there is a stone ledge that is used for beating the clothes. Heavy-duty scrub brushes are used to get the marks out of the hems of pants and other trouble areas. I don’t really know how to describe what I saw because it was so mind boggling. Men would wet clothes in the water in the bottom of the cell/cubicle and then beat it on the stone in front of them. They would twist the clothing to wring it out before sticking it into a twisted rope to hang to dry. Another amazing system of organization exists here, as the clothes are not labelled or marked in any obvious way, yet the dobi man manages to take clothes from hundreds of homes and clean them and return them to their rightful owners with amazing precision. They have memories like elephants in this country. I did take some video of this because I just didn’t know how to describe it, so that is a bonus!
After the tour was complete, we headed back to our respective hotels to have a snack and go shopping!! We all had rupees to get rid of, so it was not stressful but fun shopping! We hit FabIndia again so that the other two girls could make their necessary purchases.
We had an amazing tour today. Probably the best we’ve had thus far, actually. Ohhh...but, to regress...the breakfast at this hotel was superb! It had huge variety of everything and even had brown bread! Anyway, back to the tour. We had this petite little lady as our guide who was a wealth of information. And, she knew that we had had enough of temples and forts, so adapted our schedule to show us other sites! It was excellent.
After the Gateway to India and the Taj hotel stop, we went past the train station that was also attacked during the November attacks. The architecture was such that it seemed as though we had changed continents and were in Europe! There is definitely a strong English past here!! The university was just as beautiful. We weren’t able to go into either of these two places, but they were probably more interesting from the outside, in any case! We then stopped at the market, and it was very interesting. It was a food market and lots of different things for sale.
.JPG)
Mangos are just coming into season, so mom was going nuts. Mom and dad actually bought a bunch of oranges and mangos to take with them to Goa! There were fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, candy, meat, and a pet market within the market! It made me really sad to see the cute little puppies in their little metal cages. There are so many dogs here, I don’t know how they all survive, really. They need a Bob Barker to come and start enforcing spaying and neutering their dogs!!We headed through the city to do a drive by of the Jain temple. The highest population of Jains live in Mumbai and they own, exclusively, the diamond market in the country! They are very wealthy people! Another interesting population in the city is the Parsis. They almost all live in Mumbai (9/10 in the world) and are the individuals who believe in Zoroastrianism – the elements earth, fire, and water. Due to this, they have an interesting way of disposing of their dead. They cannot bury their dead because they worship the earth. They cannot burn their dead because they worship fire. Instead, they place their dead on a mesh covering a deep well. Then, they ring a bell and vulchers come and eat the dead bodies. When there are only bones left, the bones are disposed of into the well!! This population is also very wealthy and in India owns the TATA empire – which controls a lot of the businesses – the name is everywhere! However, because they can only marry within their religion in order to stay part of the religion, the population is quickly diminishing. We had the chance to drive by both the Parsis fire temple and the towers of silence (where the wells and vulchers are). The towers of silence are the only ones in the world!
Then we went to Churchgate Station to see the Dabawalas! It was an amazing thing to see!! The system is the following: Hot lunches that are made at home
.JPG)
are picked up by one man and taken to the nearest train station on a plank with about 50 other similar tiffans. The man slides the plank into the train, where it will be picked up by another man at the central Churchgate Station. He then does this thing called “shuffling”, where they reorganize the hundreds of tiffans into regional locations depending on where the person is working. A third person then takes the plank and delivers the food to the workplace! I don’t remember the numbers of people that rely on this service DAILY, but it is an astronomical number. And, the Dabawalas, or “lunch box men” are 99.999% accurate! It is a profession that is handed down from father to son and has been in place for over 160 years! It was a phenomenal sight to be seen!Afterwards, we headed to Gandi’s house. We had more time here than we did at the Gandi memorial in Delhi. There was an interesting diorama depicting his life over the years. I didn’t know that he wrote a letter to Hitler, right before WWII broke out – so that was my interesting piece of acquired information!
Then, we went to the Dobi men – the washing men. Another amazing sight! The laundry services are done by hand, in a generational profession, located in a slim-like area. The washing area looks like a series of cubicles that are partially
.JPG)
filled with water. On the back edge, there is a stone ledge that is used for beating the clothes. Heavy-duty scrub brushes are used to get the marks out of the hems of pants and other trouble areas. I don’t really know how to describe what I saw because it was so mind boggling. Men would wet clothes in the water in the bottom of the cell/cubicle and then beat it on the stone in front of them. They would twist the clothing to wring it out before sticking it into a twisted rope to hang to dry. Another amazing system of organization exists here, as the clothes are not labelled or marked in any obvious way, yet the dobi man manages to take clothes from hundreds of homes and clean them and return them to their rightful owners with amazing precision. They have memories like elephants in this country. I did take some video of this because I just didn’t know how to describe it, so that is a bonus!After the tour was complete, we headed back to our respective hotels to have a snack and go shopping!! We all had rupees to get rid of, so it was not stressful but fun shopping! We hit FabIndia again so that the other two girls could make their necessary purchases.
For dinner, we went to cafe Leopold – another site that was attacked during the November attacks! You could still see the broken windows and bullet holes in the walls! It was a little much, really...but apparently it is even more popular now than it was before the attacks! Go figure!!
Well, I am now on the plane...with an annoying guy sitting next to me. I don’t have any elbow room at all because my space is being invaded! Perhaps I will get an upgrade from Heathrow to Toronto. I could totally go for that. There are still many hours of flying to come...
Night
-Allison
Well, I am now on the plane...with an annoying guy sitting next to me. I don’t have any elbow room at all because my space is being invaded! Perhaps I will get an upgrade from Heathrow to Toronto. I could totally go for that. There are still many hours of flying to come...
Night
-Allison
March 12, 2009
We had the morning to kill before our 2pm flight, so we headed back to the market because we all felt kind of ripped off from our mini visit two days ago when we had our tour. It was nice because mornings here start slowly. By the time we got into town, it was about 10am, and the vendors were just starting to unwrap their stalls and wheel in their huge carts full of veggies and bangles and spices. I like mornings here because of the slow waking-up of the city! It is also a nice way to get accustomed to the crowds and chaos because it slowly gets more intense – like boiling a frog in water; it doesn’t hop out if it is put into the pot when the water is cold initially!!
Allison was on a mission! She needed spices, pots, bangles, and tea. Caroline wanted another sari, and Scott and I were there for the ride. I ended up buying some tea – typical chai is probably a good thing to buy here! I just liked wandering around!
We took a tuc-tuc back to the hotel and got ready to hop into the van to head to the airport to go to Mumbai! We sure have a lot of baggage...and we were not quite sure what the allowance was – the “head wobble” concept confused us when we asked when we checked in at the Pune airport. In any case, we were potentially going to be over weight....my two bags totalled 27Kg...
The airports here are an interesting experience! They check boarding cards and passports about 6 times before actually making it to the airplane! Firstly, walking into the airport itself you have to show your ticket reservation or boarding card as well as your passport. Then, your checked baggage gets scanned and zip-tied – where you have to show the documents again. Afterwards, the actual check-in happens. However, instead of only putting one person’s bags on the scale at a time, they piled all four people’s bags on the scale! Here is where we lucked out big time. Because there were three girls in our group, plus Scott, the guys at the check-in desk could/would only talk to Scott! However, Scott was delayed in getting his bags zip-tied, so we had already started checking in. So, when our bags were overweight (it was a limit of 25Kg per person!), they whispered it under their breath without really looking at us girls or addressing the issue! When Scott came over, one of the guys went over to him and whispered “the limit is 25Kgs”. They didn’t say anything about us actually being overweight!! Fortunately Scott ignored the guy and we finished getting our passports back and checked in without any real problems!! ;) They check out documents three times more between security, the door out to the tarmac, and while boarding the plane! At security, the lines are segregated for men and women and they do a very thorough check of each person! The girls are screened in an enclosed area, by a female security guard and the guys are screened in the open by a male security guard. It is quite the process!!
The flight was uneventful, which is always nice, I suppose! Getting off the plane in Mumbai was like walking into a steam room! The heat and the humidity were phenomenal! I think it was only about 36°C, but that sure didn’t account for the humidity! We all got our bags and were met by the perfect travels dude with no problems.
It was quite the drive to the centre of Mumbai. The population of that city alone is approximately half of the population of Canada! Isn’t that incredible! It is really quite mind boggling! Our hotel was located about one block away from the Ga
teway to India (I believe...I get the names of the two gates in Mumbai and Delhi confused!) and the Taj Hotel that was bombed November 26, 2008. It was close to the water and very centrally located to shopping and the major sites, which was a bonus. I didn’t see mom and dad’s hotel, but it was further away from the shopping areas, so the few times that we met up to do things together, they ended up coming to our hotel and continuing on from there.
After a brief check-in and snack we headed down the waterfront from our hotel (the Faryias...I’d stay there again, if I ever get to Mumbai again!) to see the Gateway to India, the Taj and the shopping areas! The other two girls were determined to get to FabIndia for present and scarf purchases, so it was an excellent walking pace (finally) to reach our destination. Mumbai seems to be more tourist friendly than Delhi was. There were minimal touts in our faces and less people to step over. There were actual sidewalks that were being used for their actual purpose. It seemed to me that there were more beggars, but perhaps that comes with the incredible size of the city. I really do like Mumbai.
We made it to FabIndia only about 15 minutes before it closed, unfortunately. It was fine for me because I was in it for the walk more than anything!! Hopefully we’ll have time after our tour tomorrow to go again so that the other two girls can get what they need to buy. On the way back we stopped into a cafe on the shopping strip – and it was excellent! I got a bottle of water, a can of pop, and a chicken pizza for less than 5$ Cdn! Isn’t that awesome! Then, afterwards, on the walk back to the hotel, I got a MacDonald’s ice cream cone for 10 Rs – so about 25 cents!! London is going to be expensive!
Tonight is our last night in India!! Last day tomorrow...I don’t feel like I’ve really spent four weeks here! It is amazing!!
Later
-Allison
Allison was on a mission! She needed spices, pots, bangles, and tea. Caroline wanted another sari, and Scott and I were there for the ride. I ended up buying some tea – typical chai is probably a good thing to buy here! I just liked wandering around!
We took a tuc-tuc back to the hotel and got ready to hop into the van to head to the airport to go to Mumbai! We sure have a lot of baggage...and we were not quite sure what the allowance was – the “head wobble” concept confused us when we asked when we checked in at the Pune airport. In any case, we were potentially going to be over weight....my two bags totalled 27Kg...
The airports here are an interesting experience! They check boarding cards and passports about 6 times before actually making it to the airplane! Firstly, walking into the airport itself you have to show your ticket reservation or boarding card as well as your passport. Then, your checked baggage gets scanned and zip-tied – where you have to show the documents again. Afterwards, the actual check-in happens. However, instead of only putting one person’s bags on the scale at a time, they piled all four people’s bags on the scale! Here is where we lucked out big time. Because there were three girls in our group, plus Scott, the guys at the check-in desk could/would only talk to Scott! However, Scott was delayed in getting his bags zip-tied, so we had already started checking in. So, when our bags were overweight (it was a limit of 25Kg per person!), they whispered it under their breath without really looking at us girls or addressing the issue! When Scott came over, one of the guys went over to him and whispered “the limit is 25Kgs”. They didn’t say anything about us actually being overweight!! Fortunately Scott ignored the guy and we finished getting our passports back and checked in without any real problems!! ;) They check out documents three times more between security, the door out to the tarmac, and while boarding the plane! At security, the lines are segregated for men and women and they do a very thorough check of each person! The girls are screened in an enclosed area, by a female security guard and the guys are screened in the open by a male security guard. It is quite the process!!
The flight was uneventful, which is always nice, I suppose! Getting off the plane in Mumbai was like walking into a steam room! The heat and the humidity were phenomenal! I think it was only about 36°C, but that sure didn’t account for the humidity! We all got our bags and were met by the perfect travels dude with no problems.
It was quite the drive to the centre of Mumbai. The population of that city alone is approximately half of the population of Canada! Isn’t that incredible! It is really quite mind boggling! Our hotel was located about one block away from the Ga
teway to India (I believe...I get the names of the two gates in Mumbai and Delhi confused!) and the Taj Hotel that was bombed November 26, 2008. It was close to the water and very centrally located to shopping and the major sites, which was a bonus. I didn’t see mom and dad’s hotel, but it was further away from the shopping areas, so the few times that we met up to do things together, they ended up coming to our hotel and continuing on from there.After a brief check-in and snack we headed down the waterfront from our hotel (the Faryias...I’d stay there again, if I ever get to Mumbai again!) to see the Gateway to India, the Taj and the shopping areas! The other two girls were determined to get to FabIndia for present and scarf purchases, so it was an excellent walking pace (finally) to reach our destination. Mumbai seems to be more tourist friendly than Delhi was. There were minimal touts in our faces and less people to step over. There were actual sidewalks that were being used for their actual purpose. It seemed to me that there were more beggars, but perhaps that comes with the incredible size of the city. I really do like Mumbai.
We made it to FabIndia only about 15 minutes before it closed, unfortunately. It was fine for me because I was in it for the walk more than anything!! Hopefully we’ll have time after our tour tomorrow to go again so that the other two girls can get what they need to buy. On the way back we stopped into a cafe on the shopping strip – and it was excellent! I got a bottle of water, a can of pop, and a chicken pizza for less than 5$ Cdn! Isn’t that awesome! Then, afterwards, on the walk back to the hotel, I got a MacDonald’s ice cream cone for 10 Rs – so about 25 cents!! London is going to be expensive!
Tonight is our last night in India!! Last day tomorrow...I don’t feel like I’ve really spent four weeks here! It is amazing!!
Later
-Allison
March 11, 2009
Today was the festival of Holi! It was also my birthday...which is actually kind of cool that the two fell on the same day! Because of the festival, it was highly recommended that we didn’t go out into the streets, as Holi tends to get a little out of control. It is the festival of colour. People use all different colours – red, blue, green, yellow, purple, pink – and put them on each others’ faces and clothes! I think that it was normally supposed to be dry powder, however it gets crazy and toxic paints, acid, and led are used. Even our guides told us that it is pretty much an excuse for the male population (especially) to get as publically drunk as possible and touch girls! Soooo....we decided to stay in the hotel!
All four of us in my hotel went to mom and dad’s hotel for the day because they had the amazing hotel! It was actually quite nice. We arrived there around 8:30 and the hotel had a “safe Holi” for those who wanted to participate! It turned out to only be us six plus two key staff...but then we got more staff involved as the time wore on! No other tourists wanted to participate, but it was sure fun! We were all very full of colour! It was a good excuse to ruin clothes I didn’t want to carry home anyway!
After playing Holi for a while, we attempted to play a very tame game of volleyball, however, being the athletic group that we are (not), it was rather unsuccessful! Then, the staff taught us to play cricket! The language barrier created some problems in the understanding process...but I do now have a better idea of what the game is about! It was fun to learn here, where the sport is so important!
Mom and I did work outs (in their beautiful exercise room) before relaxing by the pool with the rest of the group for a large part of the day. My family is pretty used to the sun and being by the pool, and I know how much sun I can handle – however, the other three didn’t do so well with the sun concept – Allison and Scott got pretty burned! I feel awful about it because when you’re not used to doing the pool thing it is hard to judge the sun....uggg...I hate sunburns!
Anyway...we stayed by the pool until 3pm, when we had my little birthday celebration! The hotel made me a cake and brought it out to the pool for us! And, this morning, my crew surprised me with a tub of chocolate ice cream that they bought last night when they went out! There were no candles in the hotel here (for the first time!), so they lit a match and stuck it upside down in the tub of ice cream! It was great!!! We brought the ice cream over to mom and dad’s place so we could eat it with the cake! Now, this is the kicker...the cake that the hotel made me was a PINEAPPLE cake! What are the chances?! At least I had ice cream – and, apparently, the cake was pretty good! J
The other three headed back to our hotel for a few hours before meeting us at a restaurant that was located half-way between our two hotels. Because it was a holiday, there were limited restaurant options. We went to a place called “On the Rocks”...we had a reservation for 7pm (that the hotel made), however, when we got there we were told several different things including that the restaurant wasn’t going to be open at all!! It was funny/annoying. The tendency here is to agree even though they don’t understand or know where you are talking about or speak the same language at all! It can be funny because the “head wobble” really means all of that combined...but a straight answer would be a nice change!!
We did get into the restaurant eventually...not without purchasing a couple of scarves in the shop next door in the mean time, however! I had better decide that I am going to wear scarves with everything when I get home! I have about 20 now, I think!!
The food was good,,.no complaints. I am not eating chicken and rice for a long time after I get home! ;)
Night
-Allison
P.S. Mom and dad gave me a card that everyone had signed...and in it were two pictures of what my B-Day presents were! I got a new set of BEAUTIFUL pots and pans from mom and dad and grandpa gave me an Electrolux car vacuum thing (that I am sure is in better shape than the vacuum I have in my house!
March 10, 2009
We just said goodbye to Rajish and the helper guy (perhaps his name is Mono...we never really did get his name!), and it was kind of sad! We’ve had an excellent couple of weeks with them, and it was sad to say goodbye! I guess we were lucky to get such a nice driver who also managed to speak excellent English, have great restaurant and shopping recommendations, and who knew how to navigate the crazy roads here with superb skill!
The drive today was quite speedy. The roads through the desert were strait and easy. The most we had to do was stop because there was a (very cute) donkey standing in the middle of the road! And, we also stopped to take a few pictures of camels that were eating from the trees. I really do like camels! It is so cool too look over on the side of the road and see a few camels reaching to eat the.JPG)
bottom branches of the flat trees.
We stopped on the side of the road so that dad could get some more sand for mom and my collections. Then, Allison had the brilliant idea of climbing up the sand doons! It was awesome! I had to go and put on pants before attempting the climb, but it was totally worth it. It wasn’t too big of a sand doon, but totally exhausting climb because it was pretty much two steps forward, one step back! Running down the powder-soft sand was great. It was a nice little break.
We got to Jodhpur around 2pm and dealt with check in and all that good stuff before our tour started at 3pm. We had to have the tour this afternoon because the festival of Holi is tomorrow, so everything will be closed. Apparently it is going to be too ‘dangerous’ for us to go out in the streets, as well, so we are all going to mom and dad’s hotel for our own Holi celebration instead! It will be interesting!
Firstly, we headed up to the Jaswant Thada. It was a tomb built by Maharaja Jaswant Singh II in 1899 (although that info is conflicting from what I heard today during the tour...I heard that a wife built for her diseased husband – so perhaps, it was constructed for the Maharaja). Afterwards, it became the royal crematorium. It is beautiful and has a wonderful view of the city below.
The fort is the main sight of the city. It was absolutely breathtaking. The Meherangarh is still run by the Maharaja of Jodphur. Although this man has no power since India became independent, he is well respected in the city and lives in a beautiful, domed palace that can be seen from the fort. The fort is located on top of a 125m hill and is pretty much solid red and pink sandstone. The stone work in the upper levels of the fort is carved with such detail that it looks like it is wood. It is unbelievable that it is stone. The majority of the fort is now a museum, although some of the people working in the museum actually live on the premises. The fort had fantastic views of the city, as well...the city is called the blue city because in the old parts the houses of the Brahman class were painted blue. Still, today, there is a significant portion of homes that are blue.
The clock tower and market area was the last area that we visited. Everyone was pretty tired by this point and no one wanted to be guided around to wherever the guide wanted to take us. It is aggravating because we kind of wanted to spend more time there, but because of the festival of Holi the guide and Rajish didn’t want to leave us there. I’m sure in a group we would have been fine, but I’m guessing their boss wouldn’t have liked it if they left us there. It was unfortunate, because there could have been some interesting things to see down in the market! Although, I know that the six of us can’t shop together anyway...and no one really wants to shop anymore, anyway...so, it was probably all for the best!
Now, the three others have headed out to find dinner and I am going to bed. Bed triumphs over eating any day!
Night
-Allison
The drive today was quite speedy. The roads through the desert were strait and easy. The most we had to do was stop because there was a (very cute) donkey standing in the middle of the road! And, we also stopped to take a few pictures of camels that were eating from the trees. I really do like camels! It is so cool too look over on the side of the road and see a few camels reaching to eat the
.JPG)
bottom branches of the flat trees.We stopped on the side of the road so that dad could get some more sand for mom and my collections. Then, Allison had the brilliant idea of climbing up the sand doons! It was awesome! I had to go and put on pants before attempting the climb, but it was totally worth it. It wasn’t too big of a sand doon, but totally exhausting climb because it was pretty much two steps forward, one step back! Running down the powder-soft sand was great. It was a nice little break.
We got to Jodhpur around 2pm and dealt with check in and all that good stuff before our tour started at 3pm. We had to have the tour this afternoon because the festival of Holi is tomorrow, so everything will be closed. Apparently it is going to be too ‘dangerous’ for us to go out in the streets, as well, so we are all going to mom and dad’s hotel for our own Holi celebration instead! It will be interesting!
Firstly, we headed up to the Jaswant Thada. It was a tomb built by Maharaja Jaswant Singh II in 1899 (although that info is conflicting from what I heard today during the tour...I heard that a wife built for her diseased husband – so perhaps, it was constructed for the Maharaja). Afterwards, it became the royal crematorium. It is beautiful and has a wonderful view of the city below.The fort is the main sight of the city. It was absolutely breathtaking. The Meherangarh is still run by the Maharaja of Jodphur. Although this man has no power since India became independent, he is well respected in the city and lives in a beautiful, domed palace that can be seen from the fort. The fort is located on top of a 125m hill and is pretty much solid red and pink sandstone. The stone work in the upper levels of the fort is carved with such detail that it looks like it is wood. It is unbelievable that it is stone. The majority of the fort is now a museum, although some of the people working in the museum actually live on the premises. The fort had fantastic views of the city, as well...the city is called the blue city because in the old parts the houses of the Brahman class were painted blue. Still, today, there is a significant portion of homes that are blue.
The clock tower and market area was the last area that we visited. Everyone was pretty tired by this point and no one wanted to be guided around to wherever the guide wanted to take us. It is aggravating because we kind of wanted to spend more time there, but because of the festival of Holi the guide and Rajish didn’t want to leave us there. I’m sure in a group we would have been fine, but I’m guessing their boss wouldn’t have liked it if they left us there. It was unfortunate, because there could have been some interesting things to see down in the market! Although, I know that the six of us can’t shop together anyway...and no one really wants to shop anymore, anyway...so, it was probably all for the best!
Now, the three others have headed out to find dinner and I am going to bed. Bed triumphs over eating any day!
Night
-Allison
March 9, 2009
We had a simple breakfast this morning before heading out on our tour of the city. I have started bringing my little jar of peanut butter to breakfast with me because I only have 5 days to use it up! And, the protein is a nice change from eggs. Remind me not to buy any eggs when I am doing groceries next Sunday!!
We headed to the lake first. It was interesting because the main gate into the lake was constructed by a woman – back many years ago. And, because the King let her construct the gate, he was taunted. He was going to go destroy the gate, but in the mean time, the lady changed the gate into a temple (by putting a small statue of Krishna by the gate and worshipping it all night long). This meant that the King couldn’t destroy the temple! To this day, no King has walked through the gate!! A small, secondary gate was constructed for him to access the lake.
The pond is very low right now, and because of this there is a very, very high concentration of catfish!!! It was a very weird sight to see! We got a loaf of bread to feed these catfish and they came by the hundreds – swimming right up to the shore, huge mouths open, on top of each other....ugggg....it was really weird and kind of creepy! Before the lake dries up every year, the government comes and relocates the fish. Then, after the lake fills up during the monsoon season, they put the fish back in the lake so that they will eat the mosquito larvae!
We then went up to the car park just below the main entrance to the fort. We walked up the steep ramp into the main area of the fort. It was a very nice fort, and much different than the other forts we have visited thus far because this is the first one where people actually live within the walls of the fort and it isn’t just all museum. It was nice to wander through the narrow, shady streets and see how people are living and what they are selling – much less pressure than some of the other areas we have visited. Perhaps I am just getting used to it?!
Our guide was rather chatty, which was nice. Personal stories always add so much to the tour! There wasn’t too much to actually explain or show us, except the Jain temple (which was very innately carved, but less spectacular to the one
we saw previously in Ranakpur. We continued to wander, stopping at a couple of stores here and there. We went into this ring store and I didn’t do so well. It was an amazing store, where the guys carved these intricate designs in silver rings. I immediately fell in love with this ring that has the seven man-made world wonders carved into it. It didn’t fit! Of course...then I got all stressed because I was holding up the tour as we waited for the brother to come with another ring...and then they worked away at it for a while to make it bigger...and I got even more stressed...and there were tears...and I hate making decisions! By that point I didn’t want the ring at all (mom had already bought the same one in her size) and I couldn’t make any decisions, so we left and continued on with the tour. I went back later in the afternoon with Allison and bought the ring, however. It is really cool. I think it could be just a touch bigger – but it is really hot here, so it will probably be the right size once I get home! Anyway, it is neat. And, I do like it. Duh.
We looked at a few more buildings and architecture stuff around the old fort and in areas of the new fort before ending the tour. Mom, dad, and Scott went back to their respective hotels and Allison and I stayed in town to look around some more. We looked at a few skirts and scarves, but didn’t end up buying anything. We stopped in at this very Western-run restaurant and had amazing apple pie and ice cream. Allison also had this mango smoothy – made purely from mangos. It looked great, but I am not really a mango fan! It was nice to take another look around the fort and get a few last pictures before heading back to the hotel. It was a fun fort to wander around in, because there was pretty much one main road, and there were hardly any tourists, or locals, for that matter. Nice and quiet.
I got my palm read by some random Indian lady here today when Allison and I were walking around the fort...it was rather interesting - apparently I am going to have a long life and won't need any surgeries or serious medical attention. I have issues making my heart and my mind agree on things. In order to rectify this problem, I need to wear rainbow colours (ie in a bracelet). In about 12-18 months a guy will find me and he will be prettier ... Read Moreand taller than I am. I will be able to have 3 children, should I so chose. And, I am supposed to drink minimally as this will interfere with my decision making processes.
We hung out at the hotel for a bit before heading off on our camel ride! The ride was rather disappointing, unfortunately. I am glad that I didn’t pay extra for it, because I would have been angry. We got on our camels outside of the hotel here and headed up the highway into town. We turned and went up another
highway-like road and stopped at the top! It was only really a 45 minute ride, which would have been fine if we hadn’t just walked on the concrete! I wanted to do some camel riding in the desert!! It was fun, however...just not as desert-y as I would have liked!
At the end point, we went into a crematorium because there were excellent sun-set pictures! I think many of the tourists in town were there to take pictures...only in India can they charge you money to walk into a cemetery-like area in order to see the sun set! (Well, I am sure there are other countries, but this was my first!) It was very pretty, but the sunset in Pushkar over the lake far outshone this sun set!
We went for dinner earlier because I think we were all tired – and I know I was hungry! We went to this little rooftop place that Rajish suggested. We tried to get him to eat with us, but he wouldn’t. He did, however come up and have a pop with us before our dinners came. They tend to eat really late here – around 9:30, 10pm! I guess that is why everything opens up just that much later in the morning as well...they have to sleep at some point! Apparently, the food was excellent at this restaurant. I guess I should specify – the Indian food was excellent. I had a grilled cheese, and I thought that was superb! I am pretty much done with Indian food, having tried all of the necessary dishes!! No complaints at all regarding my meal, however...it definitely hit the spot!
Now, back at the hotel, we have free wireless happening...so everyone is busy checking up on bills and e-mails!! It is our first (and probably last) free internet. Tomorrow is going to be a long day...and I am really tired (for doing nothing much!), so I should probably head to bed!
Night
-Allison
We headed to the lake first. It was interesting because the main gate into the lake was constructed by a woman – back many years ago. And, because the King let her construct the gate, he was taunted. He was going to go destroy the gate, but in the mean time, the lady changed the gate into a temple (by putting a small statue of Krishna by the gate and worshipping it all night long). This meant that the King couldn’t destroy the temple! To this day, no King has walked through the gate!! A small, secondary gate was constructed for him to access the lake.
The pond is very low right now, and because of this there is a very, very high concentration of catfish!!! It was a very weird sight to see! We got a loaf of bread to feed these catfish and they came by the hundreds – swimming right up to the shore, huge mouths open, on top of each other....ugggg....it was really weird and kind of creepy! Before the lake dries up every year, the government comes and relocates the fish. Then, after the lake fills up during the monsoon season, they put the fish back in the lake so that they will eat the mosquito larvae!We then went up to the car park just below the main entrance to the fort. We walked up the steep ramp into the main area of the fort. It was a very nice fort, and much different than the other forts we have visited thus far because this is the first one where people actually live within the walls of the fort and it isn’t just all museum. It was nice to wander through the narrow, shady streets and see how people are living and what they are selling – much less pressure than some of the other areas we have visited. Perhaps I am just getting used to it?!
Our guide was rather chatty, which was nice. Personal stories always add so much to the tour! There wasn’t too much to actually explain or show us, except the Jain temple (which was very innately carved, but less spectacular to the one
we saw previously in Ranakpur. We continued to wander, stopping at a couple of stores here and there. We went into this ring store and I didn’t do so well. It was an amazing store, where the guys carved these intricate designs in silver rings. I immediately fell in love with this ring that has the seven man-made world wonders carved into it. It didn’t fit! Of course...then I got all stressed because I was holding up the tour as we waited for the brother to come with another ring...and then they worked away at it for a while to make it bigger...and I got even more stressed...and there were tears...and I hate making decisions! By that point I didn’t want the ring at all (mom had already bought the same one in her size) and I couldn’t make any decisions, so we left and continued on with the tour. I went back later in the afternoon with Allison and bought the ring, however. It is really cool. I think it could be just a touch bigger – but it is really hot here, so it will probably be the right size once I get home! Anyway, it is neat. And, I do like it. Duh.We looked at a few more buildings and architecture stuff around the old fort and in areas of the new fort before ending the tour. Mom, dad, and Scott went back to their respective hotels and Allison and I stayed in town to look around some more. We looked at a few skirts and scarves, but didn’t end up buying anything. We stopped in at this very Western-run restaurant and had amazing apple pie and ice cream. Allison also had this mango smoothy – made purely from mangos. It looked great, but I am not really a mango fan! It was nice to take another look around the fort and get a few last pictures before heading back to the hotel. It was a fun fort to wander around in, because there was pretty much one main road, and there were hardly any tourists, or locals, for that matter. Nice and quiet.
I got my palm read by some random Indian lady here today when Allison and I were walking around the fort...it was rather interesting - apparently I am going to have a long life and won't need any surgeries or serious medical attention. I have issues making my heart and my mind agree on things. In order to rectify this problem, I need to wear rainbow colours (ie in a bracelet). In about 12-18 months a guy will find me and he will be prettier ... Read Moreand taller than I am. I will be able to have 3 children, should I so chose. And, I am supposed to drink minimally as this will interfere with my decision making processes.
We hung out at the hotel for a bit before heading off on our camel ride! The ride was rather disappointing, unfortunately. I am glad that I didn’t pay extra for it, because I would have been angry. We got on our camels outside of the hotel here and headed up the highway into town. We turned and went up another
highway-like road and stopped at the top! It was only really a 45 minute ride, which would have been fine if we hadn’t just walked on the concrete! I wanted to do some camel riding in the desert!! It was fun, however...just not as desert-y as I would have liked!At the end point, we went into a crematorium because there were excellent sun-set pictures! I think many of the tourists in town were there to take pictures...only in India can they charge you money to walk into a cemetery-like area in order to see the sun set! (Well, I am sure there are other countries, but this was my first!) It was very pretty, but the sunset in Pushkar over the lake far outshone this sun set!
We went for dinner earlier because I think we were all tired – and I know I was hungry! We went to this little rooftop place that Rajish suggested. We tried to get him to eat with us, but he wouldn’t. He did, however come up and have a pop with us before our dinners came. They tend to eat really late here – around 9:30, 10pm! I guess that is why everything opens up just that much later in the morning as well...they have to sleep at some point! Apparently, the food was excellent at this restaurant. I guess I should specify – the Indian food was excellent. I had a grilled cheese, and I thought that was superb! I am pretty much done with Indian food, having tried all of the necessary dishes!! No complaints at all regarding my meal, however...it definitely hit the spot!
Now, back at the hotel, we have free wireless happening...so everyone is busy checking up on bills and e-mails!! It is our first (and probably last) free internet. Tomorrow is going to be a long day...and I am really tired (for doing nothing much!), so I should probably head to bed!
Night
-Allison
March 8, 2009
We are definitely in the desert now! The drive changed the landscape dramatically and we left the hills and mountains behind and drove mostly on a straight road with flat desert surrounding us! It is very cool, actually. I’d imagined more of India to look like this, to be honest, so I am glad that I got out here to the desert to see it!
Not long after we got going, Rajish stopped to tell us that there was a good textile shop. Of course, we had to stop, and there were interesting things to see! The prices were more or less the same, and the quality was “same, same”, but interesting none the less. Mom got attached to a scarf...decided she didn’t want it. We headed back to the van, however, the guy selling the scarf followed us out to the van and started negotiating through the window! He finally came down to the price that we said was the maximum that we would pay, and mom and I got out of the (moving) van to go buy her scarf! Go figure!
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We headed along our way, and drove through the middle of this huge market – located in the middle of nowhere. People from villages and surrounding areas meet in this spot to sell wholesale supplies to others. It was a very interesting experience, and I am glad that we stopped (I think Rajish also wanted to stop because he actually did some shopping of his own). It was a nice taste of what locals buy in their markets, because there were definitely no tourists there! The quantities of chillies were the most amazing part – they were literally being sold by the truck load. There were tents and tents of chillies. The scales are pretty fantastic, as well. They are the old-fashioned kind where the two sides balance out with weights and the product being sold. Very interesting.
It seemed as though Jaisalmer popped out of the middle of nowhere. We got there much more quickly than anticipated, because the road was quite empty and very straight. Other than passing many army vehicles and tanks going back from the Pakistan boarder, there weren’t too many vehicles. Mom and dad’s hotel looks like the fort itself! It is a ways East of the city, and is built out of the yellow sandstone, as is our hotel. We are located on the opposite side of the city, with a similar looking hotel. Jaisalmer is called the Gold city because of the colour of the sandstone used everywhere in construction.
Our hotel is nice and quiet. Almost too quiet, actually. We were told that tourism is down here at the moment because of the unrest at the borders. We are only about 60Km away from Pakistan, which is pretty close when there is unrest. The city depends entirely on tourism as its source of income, as there is nothing else really happening in the desert. And, because of its proximity to Pakistan, and the problems there, no company wants to start factories or other large-scale projects here. That being said, there are wind turbines – and we all (we meaning my family) got pretty excited when we saw those out in the desert!
We spent the afternoon in the hotel, reading and sitting by the pool. Because we are located outside of the fort (which is good...because the fort is slowly disintegrating because of the numbers of people living in the fort and the strain in which this is putting on the plumbing systems), it was too far to head in for only a couple of hours. It was a nice break to just chill out and read – I am getting into my book by this point! J
We did go into town for dinner, however, as mom found a “Little Italy” in the Lonely Planet. We didn’t think it was the same one as we had visited before, and it wasn’t. However, it was excellent food, an excellent price, with an excellent view! Caroline is sick, so didn’t join us, but I think Scott had enough food to feed a few people, so he brought some back for her. Hopefully she is feeling better for the camel ride tomorrow!
We found some internet, which was nice...but the @ sign didn’t work and the typing delay was so long that it took a good five minutes to catch up with what I had said...but better than nothing, I suppose! I think there may be internet in the hotel here, but the connection isn’t fantastic either. We shall see!!
Night.
-AJ
Not long after we got going, Rajish stopped to tell us that there was a good textile shop. Of course, we had to stop, and there were interesting things to see! The prices were more or less the same, and the quality was “same, same”, but interesting none the less. Mom got attached to a scarf...decided she didn’t want it. We headed back to the van, however, the guy selling the scarf followed us out to the van and started negotiating through the window! He finally came down to the price that we said was the maximum that we would pay, and mom and I got out of the (moving) van to go buy her scarf! Go figure!
.JPG)
We headed along our way, and drove through the middle of this huge market – located in the middle of nowhere. People from villages and surrounding areas meet in this spot to sell wholesale supplies to others. It was a very interesting experience, and I am glad that we stopped (I think Rajish also wanted to stop because he actually did some shopping of his own). It was a nice taste of what locals buy in their markets, because there were definitely no tourists there! The quantities of chillies were the most amazing part – they were literally being sold by the truck load. There were tents and tents of chillies. The scales are pretty fantastic, as well. They are the old-fashioned kind where the two sides balance out with weights and the product being sold. Very interesting.It seemed as though Jaisalmer popped out of the middle of nowhere. We got there much more quickly than anticipated, because the road was quite empty and very straight. Other than passing many army vehicles and tanks going back from the Pakistan boarder, there weren’t too many vehicles. Mom and dad’s hotel looks like the fort itself! It is a ways East of the city, and is built out of the yellow sandstone, as is our hotel. We are located on the opposite side of the city, with a similar looking hotel. Jaisalmer is called the Gold city because of the colour of the sandstone used everywhere in construction.
Our hotel is nice and quiet. Almost too quiet, actually. We were told that tourism is down here at the moment because of the unrest at the borders. We are only about 60Km away from Pakistan, which is pretty close when there is unrest. The city depends entirely on tourism as its source of income, as there is nothing else really happening in the desert. And, because of its proximity to Pakistan, and the problems there, no company wants to start factories or other large-scale projects here. That being said, there are wind turbines – and we all (we meaning my family) got pretty excited when we saw those out in the desert!
We spent the afternoon in the hotel, reading and sitting by the pool. Because we are located outside of the fort (which is good...because the fort is slowly disintegrating because of the numbers of people living in the fort and the strain in which this is putting on the plumbing systems), it was too far to head in for only a couple of hours. It was a nice break to just chill out and read – I am getting into my book by this point! J
We did go into town for dinner, however, as mom found a “Little Italy” in the Lonely Planet. We didn’t think it was the same one as we had visited before, and it wasn’t. However, it was excellent food, an excellent price, with an excellent view! Caroline is sick, so didn’t join us, but I think Scott had enough food to feed a few people, so he brought some back for her. Hopefully she is feeling better for the camel ride tomorrow!
We found some internet, which was nice...but the @ sign didn’t work and the typing delay was so long that it took a good five minutes to catch up with what I had said...but better than nothing, I suppose! I think there may be internet in the hotel here, but the connection isn’t fantastic either. We shall see!!
Night.
-AJ
Sunday, March 8, 2009
March 7
Today was a lovely day...of not too much happening. Breakfast was leisurely and with lots of options all presented (even without being ordered) – and I even got hot chocolate, which makes this the best breakfast by far!
We had a half-day jeep tour today! It was quite fun and different from the other tours that we have been on, which was a nice change. We started off heading out to the middle of nowhere (which, is pretty much only about two minutes out of Luni, because it itself is so small!) and drove off into some farmer’s field to see some antelope. They had the two long (unicorn) horns...and I think they are considered special here – although I have no real basis for that assumption...a lot of animals are considered special here, however! The guide was of no particular help at all as he pretty much stood there as we took pictures and walked after these animals in the dusty field. Mom and dad think it looks like Australia...
After our time off-roading, we headed down a narrow, but paved, road to a guy’s home. Actually, Allison and Caroline got quite the shock, I think, because the guy hopped into their jeep as they were driving! We got out and were presented with a very nice opium presentation! Opium growth is regulated and controlled by the government for sales to big pharmaceutical companies. However, this one particular sect of Hinduism uses opium for spiritual purposes. He explained how they get the opium (ie from the poppy extract, and not legally) and then demonstrated how they drink it. He used this narrow wooden bowl and pestle to crush the solid opium into a powder. Then he added water to it and crushed it some more. Then, he poured it through a fabric filter into another wooden bowl. The filtering process was repeated several times. He then chanted a prayer offering the opium to Shiva, before giving it to the other guy on his palm. The drink it off of their friend’s palm in order to leave any impurities behind. We were all offered a taste, but none of us accepted!
We then headed off to a potter’s home. Here, the caste system prevails and almost the entire village belongs to the potter caste. It was really interesting because they can’t rely on electricity, so everything is done without it. The wheel used to make the pottery was a round slab of rock sitting on a pedestal. On the edge of the top surface was a small hole, where the man put a stick to move the wheel around and around to get enough speed to be able to shape the clay. It was fascinating. In no more than five minutes he had made three different vases, jars, and piggy-bank! The work was well done, and very solid (as he demonstrated by dropping one of the items he was showing us), but I didn’t think I’d have any place to put something like that at home! Allison bought a nice camel, however, and Caroline also bought something.
Our last stop was to a textile shop. It was "similar but different". I wasn’t in a shopping mood at all, which was probably a good thing. The best part was two of the guys working there spoke several languages each and I had a great conversation with them in both Spanish and French. It got complicated, however, because I already mix my French with my Spanish, and then as I was trying to change between the two – I completely lost sense of which language I was speaking! It was pretty funny! I find it almost easier to understand when people here speak in French rather than English – probably because I am used to listening more when it is French., so I don’t find it as challenging.
Our hotel was great for the afternoon. After mom and I walked into town to get her two Punjabi suits altered, we sat by the pool. It was very relaxing, and very warm!! Later, we went and tried to sort more of mom and dad’s pictures! That is a process...everyone has so many pictures, it is going to be a challenge to keep and delete!!
Tomorrow is off to Jaisalmer and the real desert!
Night
-Allison
We had a half-day jeep tour today! It was quite fun and different from the other tours that we have been on, which was a nice change. We started off heading out to the middle of nowhere (which, is pretty much only about two minutes out of Luni, because it itself is so small!) and drove off into some farmer’s field to see some antelope. They had the two long (unicorn) horns...and I think they are considered special here – although I have no real basis for that assumption...a lot of animals are considered special here, however! The guide was of no particular help at all as he pretty much stood there as we took pictures and walked after these animals in the dusty field. Mom and dad think it looks like Australia...
After our time off-roading, we headed down a narrow, but paved, road to a guy’s home. Actually, Allison and Caroline got quite the shock, I think, because the guy hopped into their jeep as they were driving! We got out and were presented with a very nice opium presentation! Opium growth is regulated and controlled by the government for sales to big pharmaceutical companies. However, this one particular sect of Hinduism uses opium for spiritual purposes. He explained how they get the opium (ie from the poppy extract, and not legally) and then demonstrated how they drink it. He used this narrow wooden bowl and pestle to crush the solid opium into a powder. Then he added water to it and crushed it some more. Then, he poured it through a fabric filter into another wooden bowl. The filtering process was repeated several times. He then chanted a prayer offering the opium to Shiva, before giving it to the other guy on his palm. The drink it off of their friend’s palm in order to leave any impurities behind. We were all offered a taste, but none of us accepted!
We then headed off to a potter’s home. Here, the caste system prevails and almost the entire village belongs to the potter caste. It was really interesting because they can’t rely on electricity, so everything is done without it. The wheel used to make the pottery was a round slab of rock sitting on a pedestal. On the edge of the top surface was a small hole, where the man put a stick to move the wheel around and around to get enough speed to be able to shape the clay. It was fascinating. In no more than five minutes he had made three different vases, jars, and piggy-bank! The work was well done, and very solid (as he demonstrated by dropping one of the items he was showing us), but I didn’t think I’d have any place to put something like that at home! Allison bought a nice camel, however, and Caroline also bought something.
Our last stop was to a textile shop. It was "similar but different". I wasn’t in a shopping mood at all, which was probably a good thing. The best part was two of the guys working there spoke several languages each and I had a great conversation with them in both Spanish and French. It got complicated, however, because I already mix my French with my Spanish, and then as I was trying to change between the two – I completely lost sense of which language I was speaking! It was pretty funny! I find it almost easier to understand when people here speak in French rather than English – probably because I am used to listening more when it is French., so I don’t find it as challenging.
Our hotel was great for the afternoon. After mom and I walked into town to get her two Punjabi suits altered, we sat by the pool. It was very relaxing, and very warm!! Later, we went and tried to sort more of mom and dad’s pictures! That is a process...everyone has so many pictures, it is going to be a challenge to keep and delete!!
Tomorrow is off to Jaisalmer and the real desert!
Night
-Allison
March 6
I can’t believe that in one week today I will be headed to the airport on the way home! It doesn’t feel like I’ve been in India for three weeks already!
We got up and battled the porters to take out own things down to the lobby and out to the van (as per the normal routine!) this morning for our 8:30 start. It was a long drive today because we were headed back up to Luni – almost Jodhpur, but not quite. The drive was long...but there were many interesting things to see along the way, so it wasn’t actually all that bad. There was a definite change of terrain as we headed more into desert territory after leaving the city of the lakes in Udaipur. We passed a couple of mountains, with crazy hills and switchbacks, some road construction, and finally into more desert-areas complete with wind and blowing sand!
Our first stop was in Ranakpur. It was a very hilly descent into the valley to see this Jain temple, but totally worth it! The main temple is called Chaumukha Mandir, which means four-faced temple and is dedicated to Adinath (I don’t know anything about that god at all). It is carved out of marble and has a total of 1444 pillars – and no two are alike! It was absolutely stunning!! I find that, typically, these historical monuments (castles, forts, mosques, temples, etc) are more beautiful from the outside than they are from the inside. This was an exception, however, as the temple was so finely carved and designed that it was breathtaking from every angle. In the centre, there was the statue of the god and no pictures were allowed of it, or in its direction! There were carved elephants among the pillars and above the four entrance ways. There were several ‘levels’ and many stairs and hallway-like areas...it would have been the perfect site for a game of hide-and-go-seek!
I made a slight fuss (as unnecessary as it was...) before getting in the temple, however! Rajish told us that we had to change out of our skirts to cover our legs, so both mom and I put wrap skirts on top of what we were wearing in order to cover down to our feet. However, that was deemed inappropriate by the guy at the ticket-wicket and we had to go back to the bus and change! I was irritated, and in the mood to argue, apparently...not because I had a problem with going to change, but rather because I wanted to know WHY! I get that covering up is a thing here, however, no wrap skirts was a first...and I wanted some history or basis as to why wrap skirts were inappropriate. Anyway, I still don’t really know why wrap skirts were a no-no, and that irritates me...
We drove for many more hours and arrived at a carpet place located only 10Km outside of Luni around 5pm. We wanted to stop there because mom noticed the flat, cotton carpets for sale near Ranakpur and thought it would be nice to see them!! Anyway, they know how to do sales here, so we were shown the loom where the family makes these carpets, and then out the carpets came, by the dozen! It was nice to be shown a product by the people that actually make it, instead of in some shop, for a change...in any case, mom bought one for AZ and I got one (that I am not 100% convinced that I want...although it would be a nice change from that awful flowered thing that I have in my front hall at the moment) and Caroline got one. The patterns are definitely bright and loud...very Arizona like!
The hotel in Luni, Fort Chanwa (sp?!) is absolutely amazing! Between the six of us, we have taken over an entire tower in the fort!! Mom and dad have this room up in a tower (about 3 flights of stairs to reach their room), and in it, there is a loft!! Then, another door opens up onto a HUGE balcony, which also has stairs leading to an upper balcony! It is fabulous! Scott and Caroline have the exactly the same room, only on the opposite side of the courtyard – so they share the outside balconies. Allison and I have a wonderful room as well...no stairs to climb, however. It is located kitty corner to mom and dad’s room, in the bottom courtyard. It is one of our biggest rooms yet, with windows everywhere. It is clean and has AC, a fridge, a desk, and a sitting area! It is pretty cool...and then there is a middle courtyard with grass and a marble stage. There is a pool and apparently there is croquet as well!!
After dropping our bags, we went for a walk around Luni! It is awesome! It is so small that even the Lonely Planet doesn’t have it listed in their book, but that is the charm! It is such a nice change from the bigger cities where people are perpetually trying to sell things, and you have to avoid the cow dung and speedy motorcycles. Here, there is pretty much one street. The kids are very excited to see us, and ask us for things – a change from selling us stuff! The people are interested in seeing us, and all of them say "hello", but no one tries to get us to take their rickshaw or get us in their store. The entire town watched us walk up and down the street, but it was as entertaining for us as it was for them.
The photo opportunities are excellent as well, because no one asks for money or gets upset when you take pictures! Well...not entirely true...but in comparison to some of the larger cities – where all of the more interesting pictures are the people looking for money for their picture – there is a difference. One guy asked for money after I took his picture, but when I said I had none, he just continued on his way. It was a refreshing change!
Dinner at the hotel was confusing!!! They really, really, really wanted us to eat at their buffet – and none of us did! The prices were so good from the menu, that we all did that. However, Allison is still not feeling well, so we tried to get them to make a box for us to take to the room for her pasta, and in stead her pasta vanished. Then, I was the only one really interested in having dessert, but when they told me it would be half an hour, I said no...and then I was told they were making it for me. Then, the bills didn’t come, so we tried to leave, but then our bills came. And later on, my apple crisp came to my room – where I put it in the fridge for lunch tomorrow! It all worked out in the end, I suppose!
Night,
-Allison
March 5
We had a very excellent half-day tour of Udaipur today. Our guide was very detailed and spoke to everyone, which is always a bonus. We started off my heading to the city palace, which is across Pichola Lake from our hotel. We walked through the gardens of the palace to visit a Jagdish Temple. It was filled with many ornate carvings, like many of the other temples! I found out that people leave grains outside of the steps as an offering to the pigeons, as they are a holey bird!
From the City Palace, we saw the two islands, Jagniwas and Jagmandir. The former is now a hotel. It used to be the royal summer palace, but was converted to a hotel in the 60s. This is where the Bond film was made. The other island, Jagmandir, has another palace called the Pleasure Palace- where the King would keep his many girlfriends! It was built starting in 1628 and has not changed much over the years. We didn’t actually visit either of the islands, but they were pretty to see from the main land.
The Palace itself was huge! 85% of the castle was the Kings and the other 15% the Queens. Although many different people added onto the palace, it looks quite seamless, which is rare. Apparently, they all agreed on the style, and it was continued from Maharaja to Maharaja!! Lots of tiny, narrow passageways, ramps and stairwells!! I quite like these huge structures!!
We then went to the gardens that were further away, but were reserved for the royal ladies. They were beautiful gardens...but more of the same!!
Mom, dad, and I headed back to the card store and went on a little tour of the painting shop- where only one guy was painting. It was interesting, but the sales get exhausting after a while!! Mom and dad bought a nice miniature on silk that represents Rajasthan well. I do like my little elephant card. I am sure I could frame that when I got home and make a nice hanging out of it!
The afternoon was spent at mom and dad’s hotel, by the pool. It was great to sit and relax – it is actually surprising how all of this touring takes energy!! The pool time wasn’t too long, however, because we wanted to go see the peacock feeding that was located in the nature reserve on the hotel property! (Just a slightly big hotel!) The peacocks were beautiful! I’ve never seen them fan up their tails like they did, so that was pretty awesome. They are very beautiful birds!
We had dinner in their hotel, and it was lovely. The servers were very worried about me not getting the buffet (because I didn’t want it...I just wanted the food I ordered) and were great about letting me have tastes off of mom and dad’s plates! And, they even gave me free chocolate ice cream for dessert! I don’t like looking so young all of the time, but I think between my free card yesterday and my free ice cream today, I did quite well!! If they only knew how old I really was!!!
Dad and I shared a rickshaw back to my hotel, in order to drop me off...and now bed!
-Allison
From the City Palace, we saw the two islands, Jagniwas and Jagmandir. The former is now a hotel. It used to be the royal summer palace, but was converted to a hotel in the 60s. This is where the Bond film was made. The other island, Jagmandir, has another palace called the Pleasure Palace- where the King would keep his many girlfriends! It was built starting in 1628 and has not changed much over the years. We didn’t actually visit either of the islands, but they were pretty to see from the main land.
The Palace itself was huge! 85% of the castle was the Kings and the other 15% the Queens. Although many different people added onto the palace, it looks quite seamless, which is rare. Apparently, they all agreed on the style, and it was continued from Maharaja to Maharaja!! Lots of tiny, narrow passageways, ramps and stairwells!! I quite like these huge structures!!
We then went to the gardens that were further away, but were reserved for the royal ladies. They were beautiful gardens...but more of the same!!
Mom, dad, and I headed back to the card store and went on a little tour of the painting shop- where only one guy was painting. It was interesting, but the sales get exhausting after a while!! Mom and dad bought a nice miniature on silk that represents Rajasthan well. I do like my little elephant card. I am sure I could frame that when I got home and make a nice hanging out of it!
The afternoon was spent at mom and dad’s hotel, by the pool. It was great to sit and relax – it is actually surprising how all of this touring takes energy!! The pool time wasn’t too long, however, because we wanted to go see the peacock feeding that was located in the nature reserve on the hotel property! (Just a slightly big hotel!) The peacocks were beautiful! I’ve never seen them fan up their tails like they did, so that was pretty awesome. They are very beautiful birds!
We had dinner in their hotel, and it was lovely. The servers were very worried about me not getting the buffet (because I didn’t want it...I just wanted the food I ordered) and were great about letting me have tastes off of mom and dad’s plates! And, they even gave me free chocolate ice cream for dessert! I don’t like looking so young all of the time, but I think between my free card yesterday and my free ice cream today, I did quite well!! If they only knew how old I really was!!!
Dad and I shared a rickshaw back to my hotel, in order to drop me off...and now bed!
-Allison
March 4
We started off today by eating our breakfast on mom and dad’s deck...the mosquitoes were quite unpleasant in the garden yesterday morning. It was a quick breakfast because we had a long drive to get to Udaipur today.
The drive was long, and definitely the craziest that we have had thus far. The highway was a two way highway, built for one direction of traffic. There were a lot of ‘narrow misses’ in our books, but that is pretty much just how they drive here! I was glad that I didn’t have to navigate the windy, narrow roads. We passed through many marble centres today, as well. The quantity of marble displayed on the side of the road is just amazing. I don’t know how the world can consume that much marble!! We actually got Rajish to stop so we could get a chunk!! The helper guy went too far away from the car to get it and got yelled at by Rajish - oops!! I now have marble from India, however (if my bags aren’t too heavy at the airport, that is!)
We got to Udaipur around 3pm, checked in, battled the porters in order to carry our own bags, and reviewed our rooms! All was well, and the view is fantastic. We have our own little balcony that overlooks Lake Pichola. There was some great people-watching off of our balcony, as two locals were washing their clothes in the lake below our rooms!
Udaipur is known as Venice of the East, and after spending some time wandering around through the narrow streets, I can understand why! The lake is slightly worse for wear, with most of it being dry and algae overgrown, but there is still some water visible, and a boat is needed in order to access the two islands in the middle (where one James Bond film was produced).
We went across the bridge and into the main part of the old city to get a look around. It was so European, and definitely could be compared to Venice. The streets were chaotic, but not un-navigable. We made our way through the pots and pans area, and through the gold and saris area. Finally, we made it to the spice market, which was great. I don’t think tourists normally go there, and it was very interesting to poke around and smell what was what. I love taking pictures of the sacks of rice, lentils, sugar, and spices. I am not really a spice person, but they are pretty to look at!!
On our way back, mom and dad bought some copper pots and Allison and Caroline bought some teas. It was really our first spice market, and I know they both had wanted to buy tea, so this was a good thing. There was a really interesting card/art/painting place that mom and dad stopped in at, as well. I didn’t get the whole story, ‘cause I walked in later, but he was selling these beautiful, hand painted cards. There was awesome art and paintings as well. We are going back tomorrow so that we can get a tour of the shop where he paints (I think!). And...I got a free card...after mom and dad bought some other cards! Made me happy!! I love free stuff!!
We went to see this Indian dancing presentation tonight before we all went back to our respective hotels. It was great. Only 60 Rs to get in, and there was a variety of dances shown. A drummer, singer, and an accordion player (I guess it was an Indian version of an accordion!) did the music, and then ladies did some dances – the Peacock dance, a dance with bowls of fire on their heads, and another lady did various tricks and food work with up to 10 jugs on her head! A man did two puppet demonstrations, which was also really interesting. Puppets are big in Rajasthan as they were used to tell stories and convey messages in the past. I think they are still used in areas...and area definitely used in shows and other more tourist-y venues!
We have a later start tomorrow, but hopefully the tour will be better than it was yesterday!
Later
-Allison
March 3
Today was a shopping day!!! We started off at 8am with a tour – that sucked. It was definitely the worst one yet, but that was kind of to be expected. There isn’t much to see in Pushkar – pretty much only the Brahma temple and the lake! We walked down to the Brahma temple with the guide, taking massive amounts of pictures en route. The morning is definitely the best time for pictures.
At the temple, we had to leave our shoes, and all of our belongings, so dad stayed outside with all of our stuff, since there was really nowhere to leave it. We got our hands washed with rose water and headed up the (left-hand side) stairs. Inside was the bell to let the Gods know that you are there and a statue of Brahma in a shrine. Brahma is the creator. He has four heads; one on the back and three on the front. He rides a swan. As the story goes, he was down at the lake to perform a yagna (self-mortification), and when his wife didn’t attend, he married another woman on a whim. This second wife is nearby the Brahma shrine. A temple dedicated to her is atop the smaller of the two hills around Pushkar. Savitri is Brahma’s first wife, and when she found out that he married another woman, was very angry and said that he would never be worshiped anywhere in the world. That is why this Brahma temple is (technically) the only one in the entire world – which makes it that much more important for Hindus.
Our tour pretty much ended there, so we said good-bye to our guide and started our shopping!! Bargaining was tough, especially the more tired I got, and I definitely just gave up a couple of times and paid them what they were asking. It gets difficult to even try when you know it is an argument over 1$ or less (that is even coming from me, where I pick up pennies and dimes!). Allison and I did some serious silver shopping (I think she could probably open up a shop now), and I bought another scarf, a bag, some presents...all good stuff! My duffle bag is starting to fill up!!
After a few hours of exhausting shopping (‘cause it definitely is here), we went back to the hotel to chill for a while. I wanted ice cream and apple pie for lunch from the cafe place next door, so we went over there to take lunch to go. However, they didn’t make the apple pie anymore, which crushed me! And, they have a difficult time with the timing of the food – so by the time dad and Allison got their food, I had completely eaten and paid for my ice cream! Oh well, it was good!!
Around 5pm, we headed out again to go back to one of the silver shops where all of us had purchased something! The guy there owned a sewing factory upstairs from the store and wanted to show us!! We climbed up the stairs (stained red in the corners from spitting their betel chew), and were in a sewing room where about 150 people worked at a time. The massive quantities of fabrics and threads was mind-boggling. The brothers/family who own the shop (and two others, plus a silver shop) make clothes for Western countries. They did both their own designs as well as the designs of designers from Western countries. The pattern that they were just finishing up with was actually being sent to Vancouver! The label was Chai Designs (www.chaidesigns.com). It was really interesting to see where a large majority of our clothes come from. They then took us to their clothing shop in town, as we had only visited their silver shop. The stuff there was definitely more western than it was Indian, and there were designers/purchasers/people from Spain in there dressing up mannequins and taking pictures of the clothes! I didn’t end up buying anything, mostly because it was just like the stuff at home!! It was definitely the highlight of the day, however. I like being able to see behind the scenes...it makes me appreciate what I have, what I use, and what I buy just that much more.
Another highlight was just before lunch when Allison and I were heading back towards the hotel. There were some monkeys on top of a building in the street that I went to go take pictures of, and there turned out to be about 50-60 monkeys! The locals were scaring them off with sticks, and the monkeys were jumping from one rooftop, across the electrical wires to the other side of the street! They were screeching and running all over the place. Some even jumped from the top of the domed roof to the street below and scampered up and over the other side...it was amazing! I was really happy that I was there to witness the craziness!!
Dinner was humorous, too. We all ordered, and only Scott’s dinner came...and then Dad’s dal came...but the rest of us, who ordered pizzas had over an hour of waiting before our dinners came! I was quite hungry by that time!!! Our waiter was great, but it was still a long time to wait for food – and the timing thing is just weird. I guess, however, that it is much better to eat the food while it is hot, rather than wait for all of them at the same time and have them cold! That would be worse.
Night
-AJ
At the temple, we had to leave our shoes, and all of our belongings, so dad stayed outside with all of our stuff, since there was really nowhere to leave it. We got our hands washed with rose water and headed up the (left-hand side) stairs. Inside was the bell to let the Gods know that you are there and a statue of Brahma in a shrine. Brahma is the creator. He has four heads; one on the back and three on the front. He rides a swan. As the story goes, he was down at the lake to perform a yagna (self-mortification), and when his wife didn’t attend, he married another woman on a whim. This second wife is nearby the Brahma shrine. A temple dedicated to her is atop the smaller of the two hills around Pushkar. Savitri is Brahma’s first wife, and when she found out that he married another woman, was very angry and said that he would never be worshiped anywhere in the world. That is why this Brahma temple is (technically) the only one in the entire world – which makes it that much more important for Hindus.
Our tour pretty much ended there, so we said good-bye to our guide and started our shopping!! Bargaining was tough, especially the more tired I got, and I definitely just gave up a couple of times and paid them what they were asking. It gets difficult to even try when you know it is an argument over 1$ or less (that is even coming from me, where I pick up pennies and dimes!). Allison and I did some serious silver shopping (I think she could probably open up a shop now), and I bought another scarf, a bag, some presents...all good stuff! My duffle bag is starting to fill up!!
After a few hours of exhausting shopping (‘cause it definitely is here), we went back to the hotel to chill for a while. I wanted ice cream and apple pie for lunch from the cafe place next door, so we went over there to take lunch to go. However, they didn’t make the apple pie anymore, which crushed me! And, they have a difficult time with the timing of the food – so by the time dad and Allison got their food, I had completely eaten and paid for my ice cream! Oh well, it was good!!
Around 5pm, we headed out again to go back to one of the silver shops where all of us had purchased something! The guy there owned a sewing factory upstairs from the store and wanted to show us!! We climbed up the stairs (stained red in the corners from spitting their betel chew), and were in a sewing room where about 150 people worked at a time. The massive quantities of fabrics and threads was mind-boggling. The brothers/family who own the shop (and two others, plus a silver shop) make clothes for Western countries. They did both their own designs as well as the designs of designers from Western countries. The pattern that they were just finishing up with was actually being sent to Vancouver! The label was Chai Designs (www.chaidesigns.com). It was really interesting to see where a large majority of our clothes come from. They then took us to their clothing shop in town, as we had only visited their silver shop. The stuff there was definitely more western than it was Indian, and there were designers/purchasers/people from Spain in there dressing up mannequins and taking pictures of the clothes! I didn’t end up buying anything, mostly because it was just like the stuff at home!! It was definitely the highlight of the day, however. I like being able to see behind the scenes...it makes me appreciate what I have, what I use, and what I buy just that much more.
Another highlight was just before lunch when Allison and I were heading back towards the hotel. There were some monkeys on top of a building in the street that I went to go take pictures of, and there turned out to be about 50-60 monkeys! The locals were scaring them off with sticks, and the monkeys were jumping from one rooftop, across the electrical wires to the other side of the street! They were screeching and running all over the place. Some even jumped from the top of the domed roof to the street below and scampered up and over the other side...it was amazing! I was really happy that I was there to witness the craziness!!
Dinner was humorous, too. We all ordered, and only Scott’s dinner came...and then Dad’s dal came...but the rest of us, who ordered pizzas had over an hour of waiting before our dinners came! I was quite hungry by that time!!! Our waiter was great, but it was still a long time to wait for food – and the timing thing is just weird. I guess, however, that it is much better to eat the food while it is hot, rather than wait for all of them at the same time and have them cold! That would be worse.
Night
-AJ
Monday, March 9, 2009
Ugg...just as I wrote that date, I realized that I have a birthday coming up...I don’t really think I need to have one of those. Doesn’t seem necessary. At least I’ll be here! My birthday is actually the same day as a huge festival called Holi, where there is lots of drinking and colourful paint being thrown around – potential groping of females – it sounds like it is kind of sketchy for tourists, especially white, female tourists. We will see...
Regarding today – it was a great day! We slept in a bit before hitting the buffet, where I swiped an extra orange for lunch. I then went over to the internet cafe that was located right near the hotels, which was nice – I was quite behind with bills, news, and blog – and I felt relieved to get that all in order! Dad, mom, and I walked down the main road outside the hotel (M.I. Road) en route to an ice cream shop for an early lunch. En route we stumbled into this great silver jewellery store!! It was really nice because it was low-key, no sales pressure, fixed prices, and good variety and quality! Mom and I both found a couple of pendants that we liked and had just finished paying when we both noticed a couple of other interesting ones! We also bought those...and then, on the way back from the ice cream shop, we stopped again and mom bought a chain! So, I got 2 silver pendants – one Pinocchio pendant that has hinged arms and legs and one that is kind of swirly with a couple of amethyst stones in it – for 10 dollars Canadian! J
We started our drive for Pushkar at about noon, as the oil in the van needed to be changed in the morning before we headed out. And, the drive was only three hours, on good roads, so it wasn’t a big deal. I actually slept the entire first half of the drive, until the rest stop, so I don’t have any interesting stories there at all! After the rest stop, however, the landscape started to change dramatically as we headed further into the desert and mountains. The green fields were spotted with ladies in bright coloured saris, there were houses with thatched roofs, and the dry, dusty hilltops. The road was a twisty, one-lane road, for two lane traffic. I was quite happy I wasn’t driving!
Ohhh!! One of the driving highlights was passing through this town...I don’t remember the name, but it definitely was a marble town! There were trucks and trucks full of marble. On the sides of the road there were slabs, large and small, of many different colours and shapes of marble. It was amazing. I wanted to stop and get one shipped home – because there would definitely be only minimal mark-up at the source! It was marble like I’ve never seen marble before. (apart from the Taj Mahal, of course, but that was marble used in a structure, not in its raw form like this was!)
We got to our hotel in Pushkar, and were greeted with the expected ‘frosty reception’ (Lonely Planet!). It is an older building (a palace, in its previous life, I think), but the rooms are clean and have all of the necessities. The view is to die for! Our room opens up onto a balcony that overlooks Pushkar lake and the sunset tonight was breathtaking.
I think Pushkar is my favourite city up to date. It feels like I stepped back into the sixties (even though I wasn`t there in the sixties to know what it would be like...but I`d imagine it felt like this!). It is a city of only 15000 people, which is tiny!!! It was created (as per the legends) when Brahma dropped a lotus flower here, and is where Hindus come to pray at least once in their life. There are hundreds of temples in the city and little ghats line the water edge. The Hindus make their way here to bathe themselves in the ghats. (I hope I’ll learn more about this on the walking tour tomorrow morning) In the city, women must definitely be covered, shoes are not allowed within 30 feet of the waters’ edge, meat, eggs, and kissing (or PDAs) are not allowed!
Walking around the main street was awesome! Although the LP says to be careful of your belongings, it was a relief compared to Agra, Delhi, and Jaipur! Although people called out from the shops to buy things and come in and look, they were not aggressive and not overly pushy. We were mainly looking around today, and they actually accepted the answer "I’ll come back tomorrow"! There were no auto-rickshaws either, which was a welcome change. The motorcycles are deadly, however, and I think I bike almost ran dad over!
The numbers of Caucasian people wandering around is also interesting. A few of them look like they’re ‘stuck’ here, and I definitely don’t have enough dreadlocks or piercings to fit in easily! It is a low-key, happy-go-lucky feeling. I like it. Perhaps it is just the dramatic difference from the major cities that we have been in to date that makes me appreciate this so much more, but I really do like this place.
Sitting on the balcony watching the sunset was awesome! I think I already mentioned that, but it was just so picturesque. ....there are a tonne of mosquitoes – which is to be expected – I mean, really, there is a lake of stagnant water in the centre of town! Looking out into the water, I noticed there were things coming to the surface for air! I know that one of us read that the crocodiles that used to be here have all been relocated, and the pollution in the lake can’t really be conducive to fish or other aquatic life. And, besides, aquatic life doesn’t have to breathe on the surface! We kind of concluded that it could be rats or mongoose or something! I will ask our guide tomorrow, because it is kind of interesting!
And dinner was great. Another LP recommendation – and just the next hotel over. Food was excellent, the waiter was entertaining, the entire balcony was from Canada, and it was dirt cheap. My dinner cost a grand total of 110 Rs – so about 3$ Cdn! And, I couldn’t even finish it all! I think we’ll be going there for lunch and dinner tomorrow as well.
Night!
-AJ
Regarding today – it was a great day! We slept in a bit before hitting the buffet, where I swiped an extra orange for lunch. I then went over to the internet cafe that was located right near the hotels, which was nice – I was quite behind with bills, news, and blog – and I felt relieved to get that all in order! Dad, mom, and I walked down the main road outside the hotel (M.I. Road) en route to an ice cream shop for an early lunch. En route we stumbled into this great silver jewellery store!! It was really nice because it was low-key, no sales pressure, fixed prices, and good variety and quality! Mom and I both found a couple of pendants that we liked and had just finished paying when we both noticed a couple of other interesting ones! We also bought those...and then, on the way back from the ice cream shop, we stopped again and mom bought a chain! So, I got 2 silver pendants – one Pinocchio pendant that has hinged arms and legs and one that is kind of swirly with a couple of amethyst stones in it – for 10 dollars Canadian! J
We started our drive for Pushkar at about noon, as the oil in the van needed to be changed in the morning before we headed out. And, the drive was only three hours, on good roads, so it wasn’t a big deal. I actually slept the entire first half of the drive, until the rest stop, so I don’t have any interesting stories there at all! After the rest stop, however, the landscape started to change dramatically as we headed further into the desert and mountains. The green fields were spotted with ladies in bright coloured saris, there were houses with thatched roofs, and the dry, dusty hilltops. The road was a twisty, one-lane road, for two lane traffic. I was quite happy I wasn’t driving!
Ohhh!! One of the driving highlights was passing through this town...I don’t remember the name, but it definitely was a marble town! There were trucks and trucks full of marble. On the sides of the road there were slabs, large and small, of many different colours and shapes of marble. It was amazing. I wanted to stop and get one shipped home – because there would definitely be only minimal mark-up at the source! It was marble like I’ve never seen marble before. (apart from the Taj Mahal, of course, but that was marble used in a structure, not in its raw form like this was!)
We got to our hotel in Pushkar, and were greeted with the expected ‘frosty reception’ (Lonely Planet!). It is an older building (a palace, in its previous life, I think), but the rooms are clean and have all of the necessities. The view is to die for! Our room opens up onto a balcony that overlooks Pushkar lake and the sunset tonight was breathtaking.
I think Pushkar is my favourite city up to date. It feels like I stepped back into the sixties (even though I wasn`t there in the sixties to know what it would be like...but I`d imagine it felt like this!). It is a city of only 15000 people, which is tiny!!! It was created (as per the legends) when Brahma dropped a lotus flower here, and is where Hindus come to pray at least once in their life. There are hundreds of temples in the city and little ghats line the water edge. The Hindus make their way here to bathe themselves in the ghats. (I hope I’ll learn more about this on the walking tour tomorrow morning) In the city, women must definitely be covered, shoes are not allowed within 30 feet of the waters’ edge, meat, eggs, and kissing (or PDAs) are not allowed!
Walking around the main street was awesome! Although the LP says to be careful of your belongings, it was a relief compared to Agra, Delhi, and Jaipur! Although people called out from the shops to buy things and come in and look, they were not aggressive and not overly pushy. We were mainly looking around today, and they actually accepted the answer "I’ll come back tomorrow"! There were no auto-rickshaws either, which was a welcome change. The motorcycles are deadly, however, and I think I bike almost ran dad over!
The numbers of Caucasian people wandering around is also interesting. A few of them look like they’re ‘stuck’ here, and I definitely don’t have enough dreadlocks or piercings to fit in easily! It is a low-key, happy-go-lucky feeling. I like it. Perhaps it is just the dramatic difference from the major cities that we have been in to date that makes me appreciate this so much more, but I really do like this place.
Sitting on the balcony watching the sunset was awesome! I think I already mentioned that, but it was just so picturesque. ....there are a tonne of mosquitoes – which is to be expected – I mean, really, there is a lake of stagnant water in the centre of town! Looking out into the water, I noticed there were things coming to the surface for air! I know that one of us read that the crocodiles that used to be here have all been relocated, and the pollution in the lake can’t really be conducive to fish or other aquatic life. And, besides, aquatic life doesn’t have to breathe on the surface! We kind of concluded that it could be rats or mongoose or something! I will ask our guide tomorrow, because it is kind of interesting!
And dinner was great. Another LP recommendation – and just the next hotel over. Food was excellent, the waiter was entertaining, the entire balcony was from Canada, and it was dirt cheap. My dinner cost a grand total of 110 Rs – so about 3$ Cdn! And, I couldn’t even finish it all! I think we’ll be going there for lunch and dinner tomorrow as well.
Night!
-AJ
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sun, March 1
I woke up this morning feeling much better!! Neocitron really is an amazing thing!! I think I’ll take one more tonight, just so I sleep unconsciously for another night to help with this nutty cold! At least I only have a psycho cold now, and not that painful sore throat thing! Ahhhh....to be able to breathe! J/K
A good breakfast, yet again. Even real brown bread...which was awesome! Apparently the honey is much better than the jam, so I’ll have to try that on my bread tomorrow!
We started off by heading back to central Jaipur to see Hawa Mahal or the Palace of the Winds.
It is one of the most famous buildings in Jaipur because of its pink colour (Jaipur is known as the Pink city...they used to regularly “white wash” the city pink because it was economical). The many windows in the façade enabled the ladies to watch the processions that took place in the city palace across the street and the events in the street without being seen. It was quite nice with the morning sun shining.
After that brief stop, we headed off to see the main attraction of the area, the Amber Fort. It was mind boggling. It was immense and the walls covering the hilltops were never ending (I can’t even imagine the Great Wall of China!). The palace once belonged to the same King as the one that owns the city palace. I think it was important in the Mughal rulers because of its strategic location high on the hills. It was built from yellowish-pink stone and brick and was very well maintained. And the views from the fort itself were phenomenal!
I felt awful, however, because it is a huge tourist site and they use elephants to get the tourists up to the top of the fort. Those elephants are not well cared for, don’t have the water they need, and walk all day in the heat. I wouldn’t have gone if it wasn’t all organized ahead of time – but it is difficult in a group like this to make a big scene. We did all walk down the hill from up top, however. But – the poor animals! Just to play devil’s advocate, however – the humans using the elephants are also in dire need of the monetary support and depend on the income. It is a very difficult position. In any case, I didn’t really enjoy the elephant ride because of these issues. It isn’t fair to the elephants. Ugggg....
After we returned to the bottom (and dad purchased a couple of the pictures that he really shouldn’t have of him and mom on the elephant), we were dropped off not too far away from the hotel in a great shopping area and we all did some serious damage! I bought an amazing pair of shoes, a scarf, and a lot of paper and books of paper. Some excellent presents. It was great to have the chance to wonder and poke around a bit. It was great bargaining, as well!! Allison and I bought three scarves between us, at the same shop. He originally wanted 3600 Rs for three and I got him down to 1100 Rs for three scarves! That is about the price that they should be!! As soon as they see tourists, they jack their prices up so high, that I don’t feel so bad about negotiating. And, I really do love to do it!!
Mom, dad, and I headed back earlier than the other three because we were all a little tired of the crowds and shopping and I had only about 20Rs left! After a few hours of chilling in each of our hotels, we got together again to look for some rum! It was an interesting experience, actually. The first place that dad and I went to wanted to charge 2.5 times the price that was listed on the bottle. He blamed it on ‘taxes’. Dad and I left! I know perfectly well that the taxes are already included in the listed price, so that was rather aggravating. After going back to the hotel and getting instructions on a better place to go, we went back out again – and didn’t find another liquor store. The third time we went out (with mom, for a little walk) we located a more established liquor store and dad negotiated his bottle of rum (bigger than the first bottle...) from 300 Rs down to 200Rs! Interesting concept to be able to bargain for booze!!
Our walk wasn’t too successful, but we did determine that the ice cream place that Caroline and Allison went to today for lunch isn’t really too far away, and that we will probably go there tomorrow for lunch before we head out on the bus to go to Pushkar.
For dinner, we went to this Italian restaurant called “Little Italy”! It was absolutely amazing. The pizza was to die for! Not a soul in the entire restaurant, but the prices were good and the food was very palatable! J Happy girl!
I think I’ll go deal with my neocitron now, and crash!
Night
-AJ
A good breakfast, yet again. Even real brown bread...which was awesome! Apparently the honey is much better than the jam, so I’ll have to try that on my bread tomorrow!
We started off by heading back to central Jaipur to see Hawa Mahal or the Palace of the Winds.
It is one of the most famous buildings in Jaipur because of its pink colour (Jaipur is known as the Pink city...they used to regularly “white wash” the city pink because it was economical). The many windows in the façade enabled the ladies to watch the processions that took place in the city palace across the street and the events in the street without being seen. It was quite nice with the morning sun shining.After that brief stop, we headed off to see the main attraction of the area, the Amber Fort. It was mind boggling. It was immense and the walls covering the hilltops were never ending (I can’t even imagine the Great Wall of China!). The palace once belonged to the same King as the one that owns the city palace. I think it was important in the Mughal rulers because of its strategic location high on the hills. It was built from yellowish-pink stone and brick and was very well maintained. And the views from the fort itself were phenomenal!
I felt awful, however, because it is a huge tourist site and they use elephants to get the tourists up to the top of the fort. Those elephants are not well cared for, don’t have the water they need, and walk all day in the heat. I wouldn’t have gone if it wasn’t all organized ahead of time – but it is difficult in a group like this to make a big scene. We did all walk down the hill from up top, however. But – the poor animals! Just to play devil’s advocate, however – the humans using the elephants are also in dire need of the monetary support and depend on the income. It is a very difficult position. In any case, I didn’t really enjoy the elephant ride because of these issues. It isn’t fair to the elephants. Ugggg....
After we returned to the bottom (and dad purchased a couple of the pictures that he really shouldn’t have of him and mom on the elephant), we were dropped off not too far away from the hotel in a great shopping area and we all did some serious damage! I bought an amazing pair of shoes, a scarf, and a lot of paper and books of paper. Some excellent presents. It was great to have the chance to wonder and poke around a bit. It was great bargaining, as well!! Allison and I bought three scarves between us, at the same shop. He originally wanted 3600 Rs for three and I got him down to 1100 Rs for three scarves! That is about the price that they should be!! As soon as they see tourists, they jack their prices up so high, that I don’t feel so bad about negotiating. And, I really do love to do it!!
Mom, dad, and I headed back earlier than the other three because we were all a little tired of the crowds and shopping and I had only about 20Rs left! After a few hours of chilling in each of our hotels, we got together again to look for some rum! It was an interesting experience, actually. The first place that dad and I went to wanted to charge 2.5 times the price that was listed on the bottle. He blamed it on ‘taxes’. Dad and I left! I know perfectly well that the taxes are already included in the listed price, so that was rather aggravating. After going back to the hotel and getting instructions on a better place to go, we went back out again – and didn’t find another liquor store. The third time we went out (with mom, for a little walk) we located a more established liquor store and dad negotiated his bottle of rum (bigger than the first bottle...) from 300 Rs down to 200Rs! Interesting concept to be able to bargain for booze!!Our walk wasn’t too successful, but we did determine that the ice cream place that Caroline and Allison went to today for lunch isn’t really too far away, and that we will probably go there tomorrow for lunch before we head out on the bus to go to Pushkar.
For dinner, we went to this Italian restaurant called “Little Italy”! It was absolutely amazing. The pizza was to die for! Not a soul in the entire restaurant, but the prices were good and the food was very palatable! J Happy girl!
I think I’ll go deal with my neocitron now, and crash!
Night
-AJ
Sat, Feb 28
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This morning was an earlier morning. We were on the road by 8am because we had another tomb to visit just outside of Agra before we really hit the road to go to Jaipur. It was a very interesting drive, with lots to see and a million “National Geographic” pictures – most of which were impossible to capture because of being in the car. It doesn’t get boring, though, which is a definite bonus.
We visited Fatehpur Sikri , which Emporer Akbar also built. He lived there only a short time (moving the capital from Agra to here), however, because there was a water shortage. It was quite magnificent. There was this one room where there was a second floor, but not really...it was only a middle pedestal with four walkways leading out to it! It amazes me what they were able to do using stone!
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The drive was rather long, and I was dying because I have this awful cold happening at the moment. Not enough vitamins, I think!! In any case, we did eventually get to Jaipur, and picked up our guide. His English was excellent and told very good stories. He was really into astrology and explained horoscopes and stars quite well. I’m going to have to look up astrology when I get home – because of its importance in many of the traditions here, such as weddings, building, auspicious signs, etc... Our guide was excellent at providing personal insight into these traditions, which definitely added to the overall understanding of what we were seeing.
With this guide, we went and saw the Jantar Mantar, which means ‘funny things’ in English. They are amazingly detailed contraptions that were used to study astrology long ago. It is currently still a 6 year university program, even though it is not believed by all. Their sundials were detailed enough to be exact to 20 seconds! It was amazing. They also had individual dials for each astrological sign that could help to determine the nature of people being born, when they should marry, who they should marry, what they are missing, what they need, etc. As I said, because he was really into the astrology thing, he gave excellent explanations!
We then visited the city palace – right next to the Jantar Mantar/Observatory. The palace is not going to be open tomorrow for the first time since independence (when the King of Jaipur was no more in power and the grounds were opened to the public), and the community is in uproar. Apparently, the ‘king’ gets a tax right-off because his estate is open for the pubic to see. However, because he is getting paid privately for this wedding tomorrow, and won’t have the palace open, the guide – among others – is going to complain about the injustice of him having the tax benefits! It was actually kind of cool to see the palace in the process of getting all ready for the wedding. There were hundreds of flowers being organized (although mom and Allison thought it looked more like a funeral than a wedding!), and carpets were being laid out in the courtyard. The most amazing thing for me is the architecture and the incredibly intricate designs everywhere. There were really beautiful brass doors as well.
On the way out we saw a snake charmer and got some excellent pictures. Apparently the snakes don’t actually respond to the music. It is something I have never really thought about before, so I don’t know much about it, and our guide wasn’t clear in explaining what the snake actually responds to when it moves like that, but it was quite cool either way!
We then went to two ‘commissioned’ shops that the guide wanted to take us to! It is a big deal here, but at least this guide was honest about saying that he got a portion of the sales, if there were any. And, actually, they weren’t nearly as pushy as some of the other places had been. We first went to a jewellery store where they had semi-precious stones and silver. There wasn’t really anything unique enough to make me excited at all. I should probably get something that is silver while I am here, because it is cheap workmanship and is typically well done. I’d have to find something quite interesting, however. The second shop was another textile/carpet shop. Here, however they showed us how they did their block printing and we actually got a free hand-stamped elephant! It was the most exciting because it was free!! He eventually wanted a tip, but.JPG)
we only gave 10 Rs for all four of us...which in a way makes me sad...but when they are so pushy all of the time, it gets to you anyway! It is tough no matter which way you look at it. None of us bought anything at the store, which was also nice – less stress and decision making!
I went to bed instead of going out for dinner, and it was absolutely wonderful! A good Neocitron later, I pretty much had the best sleep since I came to India.
-AJ
We visited Fatehpur Sikri , which Emporer Akbar also built. He lived there only a short time (moving the capital from Agra to here), however, because there was a water shortage. It was quite magnificent. There was this one room where there was a second floor, but not really...it was only a middle pedestal with four walkways leading out to it! It amazes me what they were able to do using stone!
.JPG)
The drive was rather long, and I was dying because I have this awful cold happening at the moment. Not enough vitamins, I think!! In any case, we did eventually get to Jaipur, and picked up our guide. His English was excellent and told very good stories. He was really into astrology and explained horoscopes and stars quite well. I’m going to have to look up astrology when I get home – because of its importance in many of the traditions here, such as weddings, building, auspicious signs, etc... Our guide was excellent at providing personal insight into these traditions, which definitely added to the overall understanding of what we were seeing.With this guide, we went and saw the Jantar Mantar, which means ‘funny things’ in English. They are amazingly detailed contraptions that were used to study astrology long ago. It is currently still a 6 year university program, even though it is not believed by all. Their sundials were detailed enough to be exact to 20 seconds! It was amazing. They also had individual dials for each astrological sign that could help to determine the nature of people being born, when they should marry, who they should marry, what they are missing, what they need, etc. As I said, because he was really into the astrology thing, he gave excellent explanations!
We then visited the city palace – right next to the Jantar Mantar/Observatory. The palace is not going to be open tomorrow for the first time since independence (when the King of Jaipur was no more in power and the grounds were opened to the public), and the community is in uproar. Apparently, the ‘king’ gets a tax right-off because his estate is open for the pubic to see. However, because he is getting paid privately for this wedding tomorrow, and won’t have the palace open, the guide – among others – is going to complain about the injustice of him having the tax benefits! It was actually kind of cool to see the palace in the process of getting all ready for the wedding. There were hundreds of flowers being organized (although mom and Allison thought it looked more like a funeral than a wedding!), and carpets were being laid out in the courtyard. The most amazing thing for me is the architecture and the incredibly intricate designs everywhere. There were really beautiful brass doors as well.
On the way out we saw a snake charmer and got some excellent pictures. Apparently the snakes don’t actually respond to the music. It is something I have never really thought about before, so I don’t know much about it, and our guide wasn’t clear in explaining what the snake actually responds to when it moves like that, but it was quite cool either way!
We then went to two ‘commissioned’ shops that the guide wanted to take us to! It is a big deal here, but at least this guide was honest about saying that he got a portion of the sales, if there were any. And, actually, they weren’t nearly as pushy as some of the other places had been. We first went to a jewellery store where they had semi-precious stones and silver. There wasn’t really anything unique enough to make me excited at all. I should probably get something that is silver while I am here, because it is cheap workmanship and is typically well done. I’d have to find something quite interesting, however. The second shop was another textile/carpet shop. Here, however they showed us how they did their block printing and we actually got a free hand-stamped elephant! It was the most exciting because it was free!! He eventually wanted a tip, but
.JPG)
we only gave 10 Rs for all four of us...which in a way makes me sad...but when they are so pushy all of the time, it gets to you anyway! It is tough no matter which way you look at it. None of us bought anything at the store, which was also nice – less stress and decision making!I went to bed instead of going out for dinner, and it was absolutely wonderful! A good Neocitron later, I pretty much had the best sleep since I came to India.
-AJ
Fri, Feb 27
The breakfast was excellent at the hotel this morning. There was even something that resembled brown bread! I managed to snag a bun-like thing for lunch as well! Gotta love those buffet breakfasts!
We started off the day by heading to Agra Fort. It looked a lot like the Red fort in Delhi – the red sandstone is pretty common around here! Our guide was the same as yesterday, and I am definitely not a fan of him. He was pretty knowledgeable and spoke English quite fluently, however, only Scott and Dad actually existed. He talked right through us girls, which really frustrated us. It really made me appreciate home, where females exist and actually are capable of thinking and making monetary decisions. Mom and I were joking around as we went through the fort about things we could get away with before he would notice us! I decided I could probably jump over of one of the balconies and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash.
In any case...The fort was pretty spectacular. It, again, was constructed by Emperor Akbar in 1565 as a military fort. He really seemed to get around and not stay in one place too long! His grandson, Shah Jahan (the man who built the Taj Mahal), later turned it into a palace by adding on marble rooms. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in his own palace by his youngest son (the son killed his older two brothers in order to inherit his father’s wealth) for the last eight years of his life.
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The intricate carvings in the red sandstone and the inlay work in the marble are absolutely fascinating. It completely baffles me to think that it was all done by hand (and still is here) and it was done to such scale. There was a table in one of the rooms that is the largest piece of black onyx in the world. During some battle, a cannon ball few up and hit the table. The cannonball ricocheted and went through a wall. The reverberations caused the overhanging canopy to fall and break the piece of onyx in two pieces. It is sill beautiful!
We were done with the guide (thankfully) after the fort and with our handy bus driver, Rajish, we headed over to a shopping mall and “bazzar” for groceries! It was slightly stressful because six people shopping never seems to work. I found a nice scarf for 200 Rs (on sale) and mom bought two Punjabi suits. We bought some groceries and raced around there – Allison managed to find peanut butter when I didn’t, but I think she is going to sell it to me because she likes the Indian food more than I do!!!
I went over to mom and dad’s hotel for the remainder of the day. They were staying in the most magnificent hotel that I have ever seen. All of the staff greeted us with “Namaste” and put their hands together every single time we saw them. There were candies at the front door and rose water on the desks. The floors and walls were marble and there were incense burning in the hallways. There was the most amazing and enormous crystal chandelier hanging in the sitting area in the lobby. There was an astrologer, 2 pools, a relaxation room, a look-out for the Taj Mahal, at least 4 restaurants and acres of gardens and flowers. It was spectacular.
We hung out by the pool for most of the afternoon. It was the perfect temperature and there was no one around. I saw a mongoose! I’d never seen one before, but mom and dad had seen them this morning and the staff told them what they were! They look like a mixture between a ferret and a weasel.
We walked down the road for an excellent picture opportunity and India came to us! I think if we stood there for one hour we could have captured the essence of India! There were children playing on the corrugated aluminum rooftops, clothes drying on lines between houses, open sewage running down the sides of the road, men squatting on top of narrow railings, women carrying bundles of sticks and clothes on their heads...And, at the end of the road stood the Taj Mahal.
We found an internet cafe, so dad and I went to do that for half an hour. In the mean time, mom tried on the two Punjabi suits we bought earlier today only to discover that they were both too small! By the time dad and I got back, mom was quite stressed about it all! It just proves that you can’t shop with six people because mom and I never buy anything that we don’t try on!! Must have been a random blond moment! Anyway, we called up Rajish and he drove us back to the mall, where we tried, in vain, to return the two suits! It didn’t work at all, and both mom and I were quite frustrated about the entire thing.
Back at the hotel, we managed to calm down enough to have a very nice (but very spicy) dinner at this fancy restaurant. It was such good quality, that I actually liked the dal for the first time! Always a bonus when you are paying 700Rs + for the meal!
Mom came up with a brilliant idea to get rid of her outfits! We are in the land of bargaining and negotiating...we should be able to work a deal with someone, somewhere to trade us these very nice (pricier) outfits for scarves, fabric, or an outfit that fits! We decided to start with the scarf store in the hotel. We’d found some nice silk scarves earlier and he had said that he was willing to negotiate, so I decided to take him up on that. I found 4 scarves that I wanted (originally 300 Rs each) and told him my situation. He was very sympathetic, but said that he couldn’t re-sell my outfits because it wasn’t the style that he normally carried! Then, him and the other 3 salesmen proceeded to give us instructions on how we should have gone about returning the outfits! They got very involved in the entire thing and were disgraced that we weren’t able to return them – we should have threatened to call the police and threw our items on the floor and demanded our money – it was almost worth having the sizes too small just to have experienced the outrage of these salesmen! Because of “my” losses, he was more lenient in reducing the prices and I managed to get my 4 scarves for 850 Rs instead of paying the 1200! I was quite happy (thanks to mom’s loss...)!
Rajish came back to pick me up from mom and dad’s hotel and drive me back to mine. We weren’t too far away, but I kind of felt bad that he had to drive me. I guess, he assumes that we will add it onto his tip at the end, which I am sure we will do – and it is better than taking a rickshaw at night, anyway!!
Night
We started off the day by heading to Agra Fort. It looked a lot like the Red fort in Delhi – the red sandstone is pretty common around here! Our guide was the same as yesterday, and I am definitely not a fan of him. He was pretty knowledgeable and spoke English quite fluently, however, only Scott and Dad actually existed. He talked right through us girls, which really frustrated us. It really made me appreciate home, where females exist and actually are capable of thinking and making monetary decisions. Mom and I were joking around as we went through the fort about things we could get away with before he would notice us! I decided I could probably jump over of one of the balconies and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash.
In any case...The fort was pretty spectacular. It, again, was constructed by Emperor Akbar in 1565 as a military fort. He really seemed to get around and not stay in one place too long! His grandson, Shah Jahan (the man who built the Taj Mahal), later turned it into a palace by adding on marble rooms. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in his own palace by his youngest son (the son killed his older two brothers in order to inherit his father’s wealth) for the last eight years of his life.
.JPG)
The intricate carvings in the red sandstone and the inlay work in the marble are absolutely fascinating. It completely baffles me to think that it was all done by hand (and still is here) and it was done to such scale. There was a table in one of the rooms that is the largest piece of black onyx in the world. During some battle, a cannon ball few up and hit the table. The cannonball ricocheted and went through a wall. The reverberations caused the overhanging canopy to fall and break the piece of onyx in two pieces. It is sill beautiful!We were done with the guide (thankfully) after the fort and with our handy bus driver, Rajish, we headed over to a shopping mall and “bazzar” for groceries! It was slightly stressful because six people shopping never seems to work. I found a nice scarf for 200 Rs (on sale) and mom bought two Punjabi suits. We bought some groceries and raced around there – Allison managed to find peanut butter when I didn’t, but I think she is going to sell it to me because she likes the Indian food more than I do!!!
I went over to mom and dad’s hotel for the remainder of the day. They were staying in the most magnificent hotel that I have ever seen. All of the staff greeted us with “Namaste” and put their hands together every single time we saw them. There were candies at the front door and rose water on the desks. The floors and walls were marble and there were incense burning in the hallways. There was the most amazing and enormous crystal chandelier hanging in the sitting area in the lobby. There was an astrologer, 2 pools, a relaxation room, a look-out for the Taj Mahal, at least 4 restaurants and acres of gardens and flowers. It was spectacular.
We hung out by the pool for most of the afternoon. It was the perfect temperature and there was no one around. I saw a mongoose! I’d never seen one before, but mom and dad had seen them this morning and the staff told them what they were! They look like a mixture between a ferret and a weasel.
We walked down the road for an excellent picture opportunity and India came to us! I think if we stood there for one hour we could have captured the essence of India! There were children playing on the corrugated aluminum rooftops, clothes drying on lines between houses, open sewage running down the sides of the road, men squatting on top of narrow railings, women carrying bundles of sticks and clothes on their heads...And, at the end of the road stood the Taj Mahal.
We found an internet cafe, so dad and I went to do that for half an hour. In the mean time, mom tried on the two Punjabi suits we bought earlier today only to discover that they were both too small! By the time dad and I got back, mom was quite stressed about it all! It just proves that you can’t shop with six people because mom and I never buy anything that we don’t try on!! Must have been a random blond moment! Anyway, we called up Rajish and he drove us back to the mall, where we tried, in vain, to return the two suits! It didn’t work at all, and both mom and I were quite frustrated about the entire thing.
Back at the hotel, we managed to calm down enough to have a very nice (but very spicy) dinner at this fancy restaurant. It was such good quality, that I actually liked the dal for the first time! Always a bonus when you are paying 700Rs + for the meal!
Mom came up with a brilliant idea to get rid of her outfits! We are in the land of bargaining and negotiating...we should be able to work a deal with someone, somewhere to trade us these very nice (pricier) outfits for scarves, fabric, or an outfit that fits! We decided to start with the scarf store in the hotel. We’d found some nice silk scarves earlier and he had said that he was willing to negotiate, so I decided to take him up on that. I found 4 scarves that I wanted (originally 300 Rs each) and told him my situation. He was very sympathetic, but said that he couldn’t re-sell my outfits because it wasn’t the style that he normally carried! Then, him and the other 3 salesmen proceeded to give us instructions on how we should have gone about returning the outfits! They got very involved in the entire thing and were disgraced that we weren’t able to return them – we should have threatened to call the police and threw our items on the floor and demanded our money – it was almost worth having the sizes too small just to have experienced the outrage of these salesmen! Because of “my” losses, he was more lenient in reducing the prices and I managed to get my 4 scarves for 850 Rs instead of paying the 1200! I was quite happy (thanks to mom’s loss...)!
Rajish came back to pick me up from mom and dad’s hotel and drive me back to mine. We weren’t too far away, but I kind of felt bad that he had to drive me. I guess, he assumes that we will add it onto his tip at the end, which I am sure we will do – and it is better than taking a rickshaw at night, anyway!!
Night
Thurs, Feb 26
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We got up this morning and packed up all of our junk...I have now expanded into my duffle bag that I brought along, which definitely makes my backpack more manageable – even though I am now not able to really walk anywhere without help because of my extra stuff everywhere! Uggg...
I was slightly annoyed with our host at checkout because the water was not included in the price of the room, so we ended up paying 500 Rs extra to cover all of that...not a huge expense, but I was hoping that at least one bottle of water a day was covered because we can’t drink the water out of the tap...in any case, as I said, not a big deal.
The drive from Delhi to Agra was very interesting. It wasn’t nearly as painful as anticipated, but I am definitely restricting my amount of liquid consumption so that I don’t have to go to the bathroom en route – they aren’t exactly plentiful!! We saw many different towns along the way and the road conditions and sites varied accordingly. Mom was absolutely nutty with the pictures, which is legit – but it is tricky to do from the moving bus!
We saw many goats and cows and water buffalo. Many women in colourful saris with metal bowls of dung or bundles of sticks on their heads were spotted – and never quite caught on camera! The sites are really quite indescribable. The colours and contrasts are fantastic. The poverty is widespread and it is hard to not let it become overwhelming at times. I just try to think about the fact that the population is huge – and change takes just that much longer to happen. And according to dad, a lot has improved in the last 15 years.
We got to Sikandra around 1:30 and it was an excellent temperature. It was a beautiful tomb surrounded by over 100 acres! Inside there were gazelles (I think...I forget what they are...they are the ones with the two long horns – that we used to call unicorns, ‘cause when you look at them from the side you can only see one horn!), and monkeys, and eagles. It was very peaceful. There were hardly any people there either, which was a nice break from the perpetual crowds! Inside the tomb there was an amazing echo that a man did for us...and whom dad tipped. I am sure that the Indian people are always happy to see dad come! He is generous, and it is hard to not be, but it also creates problems because it supports the begging. I get it, though.
We drove from Sikandra to our hotel. It is a very beautiful place, where they are a little too helpful with all of the bags, and opening up the doors, and cleaning the toilet seat of the bathroom in the lobby, etc! But, it was quite nice to end up there! I was too stressed about getting to the Taj Mahal on time that I didn’t want to eat, but the other three really wanted to. They ended up going down to one of the restaurants in the hotel while I ate a can of tuna in the room. I really do like bringing my own food when I travel – just for times like that, when there is no time!
We finished that and headed back on the bus with our guide over to the Taj Mahal. I had to bring in this pink owl that one of my sparks gave me and it definitely caused huge issues! We weren’t allowed to bring in anything like water or sweaters or books...there was no list of anything saying that I couldn’t bring in a stuffed animal. Soooo....when the security laughed at me and said that I definitely couldn’t bring in this pink owl, I was in trouble! I tried giving it to the guide, but he couldn’t bring it in either, so the owl made it only to security outside of the Taj Mahal!
In any case, we eventually made it through security and into the gated area around the Taj. The main gate has 22 small domes on the top, which represent the 22 years it took to build the entire structure! It took 17 years to build the Taj Mahal and 5 years to build the gates and walls surrounding the tomb of the wife of Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan is the man who built the Taj Mahal!
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The Taj Mahal was absolutely spectacular. It was more awe-inspiring than anticipated, actually. It is a completely symmetrical structure with the two pillars on either side. Also, on either side is a mosque – kind of. Mosques have to be facing West to face Mecca, so on the East there is a random building that looks like the actual mosque on the West side, but isn’t actually a mosque.
Looking at the Taj from the entrance gate, it was immense, white marble. The dome on the top is a double dome, so it sits higher on the top of the building and can remain seen no matter how close or far you are standing. There is a channel of water leading up to the Tomb, where a perfect reflection of the building can be seen. Half way between the gate and the Taj is a platform with a large fountain and bench where Lady Diana had her picture taken when she was there.
Because the main building of the Taj Mahal is sitting on a platform of white marble, it looks as if it is floating in the air. There are no buildings behind it at all, only blue sky, and the contrast of the white marble against the sky was quite stunning. Up close, it was just as splendid. There were semi-precious stones inlayed in the white marble in various flowered designs. Inside, at the actual tombs, there was originally a screen surrounding the public tombs (the actual bodies are.JPG)
underneath in the crypt and were only allowed to be viewed by family) that was made from silver and real stones. It was later replaced by a marble screen inlayed with semi-precious stones. Now, there is actually an extra barrier around even that so that people don’t steal those stones.
Other than that, there isn`t really too much to say – a picture says a thousand words...because it was really indescribable.
He he he...I took one of those fun pictures of me pinching the tip of the Taj Mahal! I think I took at least one hundred pictures, but I may only ever be here once! It was definitely awesome.
Afterwards, we headed out a different gate and that darn pink owl caused issues! Because the guide had to leave it at another gate, he had to go back to the first gate and then meet us at the gate where we exited from. Then, there was huge miscommunication between the six of us, and we didn’t wait where he wanted us to wait. By the time the guide caught up with us, I think he was pretty frustrated – I know I would have been!! It didn’t stop him from taking us to another emporium, however! This one was kind of different, which was nice. It was based on the marble that was everywhere in this area and they actually showed a movie demonstrating how the marble was obtained and polished and how the inlay work was completed. It was rather interesting, actually. The marble was really pricy, and the concept of getting it home was also a challenge, so none of us bought anything.
By this point, we were all pretty tired, in any case, so we headed back to the hotel. I actually forget what we did for dinner...so I guess it wasn’t all that exiting!!
Later!
I was slightly annoyed with our host at checkout because the water was not included in the price of the room, so we ended up paying 500 Rs extra to cover all of that...not a huge expense, but I was hoping that at least one bottle of water a day was covered because we can’t drink the water out of the tap...in any case, as I said, not a big deal.
The drive from Delhi to Agra was very interesting. It wasn’t nearly as painful as anticipated, but I am definitely restricting my amount of liquid consumption so that I don’t have to go to the bathroom en route – they aren’t exactly plentiful!! We saw many different towns along the way and the road conditions and sites varied accordingly. Mom was absolutely nutty with the pictures, which is legit – but it is tricky to do from the moving bus!
We saw many goats and cows and water buffalo. Many women in colourful saris with metal bowls of dung or bundles of sticks on their heads were spotted – and never quite caught on camera! The sites are really quite indescribable. The colours and contrasts are fantastic. The poverty is widespread and it is hard to not let it become overwhelming at times. I just try to think about the fact that the population is huge – and change takes just that much longer to happen. And according to dad, a lot has improved in the last 15 years.
We got to Sikandra around 1:30 and it was an excellent temperature. It was a beautiful tomb surrounded by over 100 acres! Inside there were gazelles (I think...I forget what they are...they are the ones with the two long horns – that we used to call unicorns, ‘cause when you look at them from the side you can only see one horn!), and monkeys, and eagles. It was very peaceful. There were hardly any people there either, which was a nice break from the perpetual crowds! Inside the tomb there was an amazing echo that a man did for us...and whom dad tipped. I am sure that the Indian people are always happy to see dad come! He is generous, and it is hard to not be, but it also creates problems because it supports the begging. I get it, though.
We drove from Sikandra to our hotel. It is a very beautiful place, where they are a little too helpful with all of the bags, and opening up the doors, and cleaning the toilet seat of the bathroom in the lobby, etc! But, it was quite nice to end up there! I was too stressed about getting to the Taj Mahal on time that I didn’t want to eat, but the other three really wanted to. They ended up going down to one of the restaurants in the hotel while I ate a can of tuna in the room. I really do like bringing my own food when I travel – just for times like that, when there is no time!
We finished that and headed back on the bus with our guide over to the Taj Mahal. I had to bring in this pink owl that one of my sparks gave me and it definitely caused huge issues! We weren’t allowed to bring in anything like water or sweaters or books...there was no list of anything saying that I couldn’t bring in a stuffed animal. Soooo....when the security laughed at me and said that I definitely couldn’t bring in this pink owl, I was in trouble! I tried giving it to the guide, but he couldn’t bring it in either, so the owl made it only to security outside of the Taj Mahal!
In any case, we eventually made it through security and into the gated area around the Taj. The main gate has 22 small domes on the top, which represent the 22 years it took to build the entire structure! It took 17 years to build the Taj Mahal and 5 years to build the gates and walls surrounding the tomb of the wife of Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan is the man who built the Taj Mahal!
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The Taj Mahal was absolutely spectacular. It was more awe-inspiring than anticipated, actually. It is a completely symmetrical structure with the two pillars on either side. Also, on either side is a mosque – kind of. Mosques have to be facing West to face Mecca, so on the East there is a random building that looks like the actual mosque on the West side, but isn’t actually a mosque.Looking at the Taj from the entrance gate, it was immense, white marble. The dome on the top is a double dome, so it sits higher on the top of the building and can remain seen no matter how close or far you are standing. There is a channel of water leading up to the Tomb, where a perfect reflection of the building can be seen. Half way between the gate and the Taj is a platform with a large fountain and bench where Lady Diana had her picture taken when she was there.
Because the main building of the Taj Mahal is sitting on a platform of white marble, it looks as if it is floating in the air. There are no buildings behind it at all, only blue sky, and the contrast of the white marble against the sky was quite stunning. Up close, it was just as splendid. There were semi-precious stones inlayed in the white marble in various flowered designs. Inside, at the actual tombs, there was originally a screen surrounding the public tombs (the actual bodies are
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underneath in the crypt and were only allowed to be viewed by family) that was made from silver and real stones. It was later replaced by a marble screen inlayed with semi-precious stones. Now, there is actually an extra barrier around even that so that people don’t steal those stones.Other than that, there isn`t really too much to say – a picture says a thousand words...because it was really indescribable.
He he he...I took one of those fun pictures of me pinching the tip of the Taj Mahal! I think I took at least one hundred pictures, but I may only ever be here once! It was definitely awesome.
Afterwards, we headed out a different gate and that darn pink owl caused issues! Because the guide had to leave it at another gate, he had to go back to the first gate and then meet us at the gate where we exited from. Then, there was huge miscommunication between the six of us, and we didn’t wait where he wanted us to wait. By the time the guide caught up with us, I think he was pretty frustrated – I know I would have been!! It didn’t stop him from taking us to another emporium, however! This one was kind of different, which was nice. It was based on the marble that was everywhere in this area and they actually showed a movie demonstrating how the marble was obtained and polished and how the inlay work was completed. It was rather interesting, actually. The marble was really pricy, and the concept of getting it home was also a challenge, so none of us bought anything.
By this point, we were all pretty tired, in any case, so we headed back to the hotel. I actually forget what we did for dinner...so I guess it wasn’t all that exiting!!
Later!
-AJ
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