Agra
Our first and best experience with south Indian food. Our best experience with lime soda. Oh, and I guess we did go see the Taj Mahal.
First a little note about our journey. On our drive we passed through a rather incredible stretch of countryside. I managed to not be able to take any pictures, so here's a description: the land was filled with canyons, but they didn't seem like water made canyons. They were all about ten meters deep with really steep sides. Nestled into these canyons and cliffs were small huts and fields. The ground was a dull deep brown, darker than most soil we'd seen, but still with that dusty dullness that seems to permeate the country. The fields however were a deep rich green, crisp and clean with new growth. Really stunning. The whole image was really striking and may form one of my clearest images of this trip. Another interesting find was a truck stop. It was a bit different from ours... Really just an open kitchen, some rather questionable facilities, and a hose for truck cleaning. Indians really put a solid effort into keeping their vehicles clean. Mahaveer always welcomed us each morning with a positively spotless white car. Pretty incredible really.
Our arrival in Agra was interesting and sad. We said our goodbyes to Mahaveer, not realizing how much we were going to miss having him around. He was heading home, so we wished the best to him and his family and checked into our hotel. We had made a pit stop on our way into the city, we stopped at a bird sanctuary. There were a lot of storks, we rented bikes and rode a long way around the park. It was neat.
Back to Agra, we checked in then went off in search of some food. We read about a little south Indian spot, and since we were a little tired of north Indian potatoes, we decided to check it out. It's called Lakshmi Villas. It was just a bit down the road from the main bazaar, and that little bit was the darkest, sketchiest stretch of road we'd been on so far. Scary stuff. We turned back and asked for directions twice (we found out the next day that the building that filled the sketchy space in-between was in fact a government building...). This was our first introduction to Dosai. A Dosa, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is a thin rice-flour crepe, which is filled with whatever you choose (I recommend the masala, but there's onion and loads of others) and served with curd and sambar (which is kind of a soup for dipping). When we first came in to Lakshmi Villas, our helpful waiter served us the best lemon sodas in India, then gave us a suggested meal. It was amazing, we had a Masala Dosa, a Rawa Masala Dosa (made with semoline, not that we know what that is, or how to spell it...) and Rice Idlies. It was almost more than our mouths could handle, it really floored us. We went back the next day for lunch. After that lunch we wandered down the wrong road (this would not be the last time we were lead astray by the abysmal maps in the Lonely Planet) and after putting ourselves right, we witnessed a street fight. As we made ourselves scarce, we heard (far behind us don't worry) what sounded a lot like gun shots, then there were a bunch of ambulances headed in that direction. We never confirmed it, but still pretty scary stuff. Then we were at the Taj. Well, we were at the first set of gates. Loads of touts, but they all seemed to be waiting for other (probably bus) tourists, and we were mostly left alone. We strolled down through the grounds that surround the complex that the Taj is in and made our way to the ticket gates. There we found out that it would be 1500 Rupees for us to get in, three times the usual rate. Which isn't surprising, what fool goes to India and doesn't see the Taj Mahal after all? Not us, but we didn't have enough money on us, so we had a nice walk up to the bank and back. After which we discovered that we were really close to the closing time, so we mad every minute count. It really is a colossal building, all the pictures that you see of it have to be quite far away in order to get the whole thing in, so you kind of lose perspective. Other than that, it's just like it looks in pictures. The inside, which is a no photography zone, is hollow, all of it. It is a tomb, and the beauty in there is really something you have to witness for yourself if you can. Sorry to build you up for a let down like that, but that's the way it is. After that, nothing special until we left for Orccha. Except that I tried to buy some shoes, which is impossible, I'm a 45 here and no one carries anything bigger than a 44. Bummer.
So we almost missed our train. I set the alarm and forgot to turn up the volume... Oops. We only made it because the train was late. As a result, we skipped breakfast and sat on the platform hungry for about an hour... That sucked, but was I going to learn from it? No. It just happened on our last train ride too. Anyway, after a really pleasant ride through the countryside, during which we were fed and given some tea, we arrived in Jhansi. There we found a nice little man with lauren's name on a sign. He was the agent it turned out and took us to our driver. Our drive likes the simple things. He loves to drive fast and honk. In the first twenty minutes of our ride I think he easily passed the one hundred honk mark. After a hair-raising ride (he had a habit of passing on blind crest/corners) we got to Orccha. We'd been told that it was a pleasant little town, with a temple and a fort. Turns out it's a nice fort and temple with a village. The fort was massive! We never did go in it, but it dominated the view along the southeast side of the village. The temple was equally grand and sat further away from the town along the river. We spent our day there exploring, we walked up to the top of the hill to rent bikes, found out that there were none left, then strolled over to the river then up to the temple. The river was amazing. It was our first really happening body of water in India. There was a lake in Jaisalmer, but it doesn't really count, it was pretty dried up and murky. This river was doing all the things that healthy rivers love to do. It was rushing, tumbling, roaring, splashing and generally reminding us what it was like to be near to the life blood of the earth. We loved it, we sat watching it for almost an hour straight without talking much, just taking it in. The temples were neat, but we couldn't go in them as they were being cleaned up to be a proper site to visit. Our hotel was also under renovations, which wasn't very nice. It also had a mosque nearby, and the four until seven morning prayer session, was an exercise in sleeplessness.
Next up: Khajuraho
Calm. I think that that's the best description that I can give to Khajuraho. Oh, and sexy. This is the home of the erotic temples. Apparently a lot of the temples in India had erotic carvings, but the Mughals came along and tore them down. Word is that these ones were so remote that they stayed hidden for a really long time. Talk about sweet movie set ups: "there is a legend of great temples hidden in the remote jungles of India. Lost to the world for hundreds of years they no doubt hold countless treasures, but can our hero overcome the dangers of the jungles to reach them? And if he does, will he be defeated by the other, more sinister dangers, of the temples themselves?"
Well, I'm no Indiana Jones, but I made it through...
Our ride was a scary as the one before, and we happily said goodbye to our speed crazed driver and checked into our hotel. Other than the Guests Are Not Allowed To Do Laundry In Rooms sign, it was great. They even offered yoga! That turned out to be a bit of a bust, get Lauren to tell you that tale... I've got a great tale to tell though. We went for a bike ride! We borrowed bikes from our hotel, and headed out to see the eastern temples. They were neat, but as we'd been warned they pale in comparison to the western temples. Which is why we did them first. Halfway we picked up a nice little kid who showed us the way to the other temples, he was really a quick rider. He booted off before we could give him anything for helping. We turned that ride into a loop back into town for a snack. Then we decided to ride to the falls nearby. First I'd like to describe our bikes. They were easy-riders. Long handlebars that curved back to be parallel to the bike, a front wheel that was so far out in front the turning radius was a few meters, and the brakes were reversed. Oh, and most important, they were one speeds. Also, mine didn't fit me... So, after a long uphill to start things off we headed into some rolling country. Rolling hills are normally ok on a one speed, you build up speed on the downs to deal with the ups. However, these bikes aren't the most reliable and building up speed takes a bit of nerve. This workout lasted for 18km. Upon our final arrival at the falls we discovered a crucial difference between Canada and India. In Canada falls stop when they freeze, but are otherwise a year-round kind of thing. In India, there's a dry season. Yup, the "falls" were in fact just a big canyon. We took some pictures and a good long rest then headed back the long weary ride to town. On the way school was out and a bunch of kids tried to sell us pens...?
I think that's enough for this post, time for bed.
Just kidding, the temples are beautiful, but unfortunately mis-hyped. They have some naked people and general eroticism, but we think that the focus for the hype should be on the beauty and intricacy of the work. The detail of the carving all over the temple is astounding, and the naked people only take up a few panels on the temples. The rest of the carvings depict levels of karmic ascension, from gods down through the castes, to animals and beyond. I took lots of pictures. We also saw a neat bird in the complex. It was black with almost neon blue feathers on it's back and down it's tail. Fantastic.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Rajasthani pt.3
Lauren puked in the car. Mostly on herself, but a bit got on the seats. Mahaveer said it wasn't a problem, it happens most trips... I guess that explains the seat covers. When Lauren got back in the car he asked "feeling better?"
"yes"
"enjoying your dream vacation?"
I'm going to warn any of you that might be treating this as some light reading with a meal, or perhaps are thinking that you'll zip through it quickly on your way out that this is another epic entry.
We believe that the meal with the eight ???brothers may have been a touch contaminated (I was fine, but I've been having a bit of a better run of things than Lauren since then, so maybe my system's better equipped). That morning we left the hotel a little bit late so Lauren could get some more sleep. I had a dish called Upma for breakfast, which is couscous and veggies. Mahaveer was happy to leave a little later, turns out that a lot of his close buddies were driving the same loop with us and it was their last night all together. Needless to say he was a little bit haggard that morning...
The end of the pukey drive was Jodhpur. I bought some incense, then we went to the hotel and Lauren crashed. I sat on the rooftop patio and enjoyed another great fort view before strolling through the twisting lanes and alleys to the market and back. The Jodhpur fort is the tallest and biggest (there's a lot of one-upmanship in fort building) in Rajasthan. We never made it up to the fort, but I had a great night drinking with some swedes that were on a temporarily parallel run through the area. We'd seen them before, but never really worked ourselves up to introduce ourselves. Seems like swedes are like canadians in that respect, don't want to impose. They were from the same area that Lauren spent time traveling in, they found this funny because it's a tiny spot.
After Jodhpur we headed to Udaipur, and finally left the desert. The drive into the mountains was great but I forgot to charge my camera before we left. So, if you'd like an in-depth description you'll have to get me to read it to you from my book. I'm quite proud of my writings, some verge on prose if I say so myself. Mostly I'm just amazed that I've managed to record every day (I'm writing this in Nainital, and I've filled over 27 pages, and I don't think I missed a day). Regardless, the road took us through a bunch of small villages and farms on top of the mountains, and finally joined with a large four lane highway that runs out of Gujarat, which is the state that Gandi's from. The highway was neat. They kind of punched it through the hills, with little regard for geography. As a result, the the road changes each year as the monsoons cause different parts to be buried or swept away. We were passing through at a safe time, but Mahaveer mentioned that it can be a really risky ride at times.
Udaipur was lovely. It was a place for homesickness, realizations, dissapointment, and joy. The lakes are straight out of James Bond fame. Man-made, filled with stunning sunsets, and oozing wealth and garbage. This last one became a constant theme for our trip. But really, a feel of old money put to the purpose of lasting beauty.
So that's the joy taken care of, on to the disappointment: this was our first bad hotel. First off, mosquitoes. I guess we should of expected that in a lake city... However, you would think that the hotel owners would've thought of it too. No screens, and the windows didn't shut tight (In hindsight it was a great room, but we were naive). Also the restaurant made us both feel a little off in the belly region. We've learned to avoid smoky kitchens with black walls (no, really?).
Next up, realizations: I think it was here we realized that India wasn't living up to our expectations. Not in a bad way, but just that it was a far cry from the images we'd created. More on that in the final post. I feel we'll end up doing an "observations on India" post at the end. We also realized that we were really getting sick of sightseeing, it's not something that either of us do for fun on a regular basis, so it was hard for us to replace our usual pastimes with it.
Finally, homesickness: we missed North American food. We are both eaters. I feel most people reading this will know that, but for those who don't, there it is: we are lovers of food. Rajasthan (and we would find the rest of India as well) suffers from an excess of potatoes, fried foods and veggies cooked beyond all recognition. I am saddened to tell everyone that on average we ate potatoes for two and a half out of three meals a day. Lauren would like to point out that vegetable prices are at a record high in the country and our findings were north indian specific. Regardless, all that combined with our inability to trust the uncooked greens, made for hard times. The result was that we found a German bakery called Edelweiss, full of European feel and foods, and moved in. They had espresso coffee and fresh baked, whole grain, breads. In comparison India offers white flour breads and instant coffee (usually made as "milk coffee" a sweet, creamy beverage that serves more as a version of hot chocolate than the elixer that I was pining for). We loved it.
We did do a bit of touring around in Udaipur, but in a lower key fashion. No guide and we only did what we felt like doing. Again, there's some pictures and a better description if you want more.
I seem to be making good time with this entry, so I'm gonna try and push on through to the end of Rajasthan.
Next up: Pushkar.
This was to be our "expensive" night, a night to be Maharaja and Maharani, to revel in the lifestyle of the rich. Turns out that means more space and cleaner walls. An interesting side note on the indian hotel industry: When you pay more, you get EITHER a softer bed OR more space, rarely both. So, armed with this new understanding, we headed into town. We ate at a place called Sixth Sense, which is in the hotel Seventh Heaven. I'll be honest, I wish we'd stayed there, apparently you need to book well in advance, and I can understand why. It was a thing of beauty. Haveli style, rooms surrounding a courtyard, but modern enough to be clean, not drafty and bug proof. The top floor housed the restaurant and some plants that streamed over the railings and fell almost the full four floors to the ground. The kitchen was on the ground floor, so, other than your drinks, your order was thrown down in a bag on a rope and then your meal arrived by a clever pulley and box system. Just an extra touch onto an already fantastic spot. The food was really awesome, there where local organic farms paired with local cafes, which is relatively unheard of in Northern India.
The rest of Pushkar was intriguing. It's the home of the only Brahman temple. As a result it is an extremely holy spot. Which oddly enough seems to have resulted in the development of a strong resident white population. You can kind of see the evolution of the hippie as you walk the streets. From the older folks, who really gave me the vibe that they'd found what they were looking for, to the new age. All told a dirth of dreds. Also, if any of you have been to the Black Market in Halifax, you'd recognize a lot of their wares in Pushkar. At the same time as being a magnet for the hippie population of the western world, it's also a strong pilgrimage site for Hindus, although we didn't see much because we weren't there during any holy days. Lauren was still sick and I needed a break from people trying to sell me things, so we didn't go into town much.
Next up: Jaipur
This is the capital of Rajasthan. Not as clogged or as massive as Delhi, it still has that sprawling feel that you get from the non-religious cities. We had a great hotel, good breakfast and a fun time wandering the streets. We also went out to Amber fort, I did some snake charming, and we climbed a mountain instead of touring the fort. It was funny, I kinda felt like we were breaking the rules...
We also went to a spot that makes clothing, the famous "any colour, any cut" kinda thing. Some of you have the results of this trip, and I hope they fit.
Our next drive was to Ranthambore. The famous tiger reserve. On our way we came across (or rather they crossed our path, really slowing us down) an interesting creation called Johgards. Typically, but definitely not restricted to, jeep wheels, chassis and brakes combined with the steering, engine and gearbox from large trucks, these mongrels require no license, registration or insurance. As a result they are restricted to farms. Unsurprisingly I saw them passing as taxis, freight haulers and runabouts. It's a bit chaotic driving in that part of India. Fortunately the road was a strip of asphalt approximately the width of a car that dissolved on either side into the dirt, so no one was driving particularly fast.
Ranthambore. Tigers. Leopards. Deer. Peacocks in trees.
We saw them all.
There's not much going on in the town, really just the reserve and the tourist houses. Mahaveer was on vacation, rocking the sweatpants, sleeping in and not washing the car. It was great! His cousin Vinod was also at the resort, so we stayed up both nights with them, learning about Indian whiskey and laughing fit to burst. They're a funny duo.
That is the end of Rajasthan, but I guess I'll give you guys a little bit more info on the big cats.
First of all, tigers a really big, it's hard to consider what that means, but next time you're near a house cat (except Zoe, she won't really give the right mental image) imagine it's the size of the couch it's probably sleeping on. Consider if you will, the weight of an animal that size. Next, I invite you to remember that tigers, despite their size, retain all of the feline grace, speed and power. We never saw the tiger mover much, but when it did you could see what it was capable of. Truly dumbfounding. To add to the majesty that was strolling through the undergrowth, a leopard was sitting in a tree above the tiger (and as a result, above us). Now, I'll admit, I was in awe of the tiger, so I didn't really give the leopard it's full due at the time. It was further away though, and with the tiger there it wasn't going to climb down anytime soon. Apparently the leopards rule the cliffs, and the tigers rule everything else. Every now and then a leopard will push it's luck and come down into the tiger's domain. We were fortunate enough to be there for it. The stalemate would last until the sun went down, so we didn't stick around. As for the peacocks, there was one poor guy stuck in the tree with the leopard. Talk about a rough day. I don't think he could get down while the cats were aggressively pretending not to care about each other. As we continued on our merry way we saw some deer; large jungle deer, and smaller spotted deer. One looking like the offspring of the other. We also saw some Kingfishers. Not the blue ones that grace the labels of India's oh so refreshing beer, but a larger darker variety with bronze heads. We had opted for the morning tour, so it was cold. By the time we got back we were ready for a hot shower and some food. Then, our last night in Rajasthan.
"yes"
"enjoying your dream vacation?"
I'm going to warn any of you that might be treating this as some light reading with a meal, or perhaps are thinking that you'll zip through it quickly on your way out that this is another epic entry.
We believe that the meal with the eight ???brothers may have been a touch contaminated (I was fine, but I've been having a bit of a better run of things than Lauren since then, so maybe my system's better equipped). That morning we left the hotel a little bit late so Lauren could get some more sleep. I had a dish called Upma for breakfast, which is couscous and veggies. Mahaveer was happy to leave a little later, turns out that a lot of his close buddies were driving the same loop with us and it was their last night all together. Needless to say he was a little bit haggard that morning...
The end of the pukey drive was Jodhpur. I bought some incense, then we went to the hotel and Lauren crashed. I sat on the rooftop patio and enjoyed another great fort view before strolling through the twisting lanes and alleys to the market and back. The Jodhpur fort is the tallest and biggest (there's a lot of one-upmanship in fort building) in Rajasthan. We never made it up to the fort, but I had a great night drinking with some swedes that were on a temporarily parallel run through the area. We'd seen them before, but never really worked ourselves up to introduce ourselves. Seems like swedes are like canadians in that respect, don't want to impose. They were from the same area that Lauren spent time traveling in, they found this funny because it's a tiny spot.
After Jodhpur we headed to Udaipur, and finally left the desert. The drive into the mountains was great but I forgot to charge my camera before we left. So, if you'd like an in-depth description you'll have to get me to read it to you from my book. I'm quite proud of my writings, some verge on prose if I say so myself. Mostly I'm just amazed that I've managed to record every day (I'm writing this in Nainital, and I've filled over 27 pages, and I don't think I missed a day). Regardless, the road took us through a bunch of small villages and farms on top of the mountains, and finally joined with a large four lane highway that runs out of Gujarat, which is the state that Gandi's from. The highway was neat. They kind of punched it through the hills, with little regard for geography. As a result, the the road changes each year as the monsoons cause different parts to be buried or swept away. We were passing through at a safe time, but Mahaveer mentioned that it can be a really risky ride at times.
Udaipur was lovely. It was a place for homesickness, realizations, dissapointment, and joy. The lakes are straight out of James Bond fame. Man-made, filled with stunning sunsets, and oozing wealth and garbage. This last one became a constant theme for our trip. But really, a feel of old money put to the purpose of lasting beauty.
So that's the joy taken care of, on to the disappointment: this was our first bad hotel. First off, mosquitoes. I guess we should of expected that in a lake city... However, you would think that the hotel owners would've thought of it too. No screens, and the windows didn't shut tight (In hindsight it was a great room, but we were naive). Also the restaurant made us both feel a little off in the belly region. We've learned to avoid smoky kitchens with black walls (no, really?).
Next up, realizations: I think it was here we realized that India wasn't living up to our expectations. Not in a bad way, but just that it was a far cry from the images we'd created. More on that in the final post. I feel we'll end up doing an "observations on India" post at the end. We also realized that we were really getting sick of sightseeing, it's not something that either of us do for fun on a regular basis, so it was hard for us to replace our usual pastimes with it.
Finally, homesickness: we missed North American food. We are both eaters. I feel most people reading this will know that, but for those who don't, there it is: we are lovers of food. Rajasthan (and we would find the rest of India as well) suffers from an excess of potatoes, fried foods and veggies cooked beyond all recognition. I am saddened to tell everyone that on average we ate potatoes for two and a half out of three meals a day. Lauren would like to point out that vegetable prices are at a record high in the country and our findings were north indian specific. Regardless, all that combined with our inability to trust the uncooked greens, made for hard times. The result was that we found a German bakery called Edelweiss, full of European feel and foods, and moved in. They had espresso coffee and fresh baked, whole grain, breads. In comparison India offers white flour breads and instant coffee (usually made as "milk coffee" a sweet, creamy beverage that serves more as a version of hot chocolate than the elixer that I was pining for). We loved it.
We did do a bit of touring around in Udaipur, but in a lower key fashion. No guide and we only did what we felt like doing. Again, there's some pictures and a better description if you want more.
I seem to be making good time with this entry, so I'm gonna try and push on through to the end of Rajasthan.
Next up: Pushkar.
This was to be our "expensive" night, a night to be Maharaja and Maharani, to revel in the lifestyle of the rich. Turns out that means more space and cleaner walls. An interesting side note on the indian hotel industry: When you pay more, you get EITHER a softer bed OR more space, rarely both. So, armed with this new understanding, we headed into town. We ate at a place called Sixth Sense, which is in the hotel Seventh Heaven. I'll be honest, I wish we'd stayed there, apparently you need to book well in advance, and I can understand why. It was a thing of beauty. Haveli style, rooms surrounding a courtyard, but modern enough to be clean, not drafty and bug proof. The top floor housed the restaurant and some plants that streamed over the railings and fell almost the full four floors to the ground. The kitchen was on the ground floor, so, other than your drinks, your order was thrown down in a bag on a rope and then your meal arrived by a clever pulley and box system. Just an extra touch onto an already fantastic spot. The food was really awesome, there where local organic farms paired with local cafes, which is relatively unheard of in Northern India.
The rest of Pushkar was intriguing. It's the home of the only Brahman temple. As a result it is an extremely holy spot. Which oddly enough seems to have resulted in the development of a strong resident white population. You can kind of see the evolution of the hippie as you walk the streets. From the older folks, who really gave me the vibe that they'd found what they were looking for, to the new age. All told a dirth of dreds. Also, if any of you have been to the Black Market in Halifax, you'd recognize a lot of their wares in Pushkar. At the same time as being a magnet for the hippie population of the western world, it's also a strong pilgrimage site for Hindus, although we didn't see much because we weren't there during any holy days. Lauren was still sick and I needed a break from people trying to sell me things, so we didn't go into town much.
Next up: Jaipur
This is the capital of Rajasthan. Not as clogged or as massive as Delhi, it still has that sprawling feel that you get from the non-religious cities. We had a great hotel, good breakfast and a fun time wandering the streets. We also went out to Amber fort, I did some snake charming, and we climbed a mountain instead of touring the fort. It was funny, I kinda felt like we were breaking the rules...
We also went to a spot that makes clothing, the famous "any colour, any cut" kinda thing. Some of you have the results of this trip, and I hope they fit.
Our next drive was to Ranthambore. The famous tiger reserve. On our way we came across (or rather they crossed our path, really slowing us down) an interesting creation called Johgards. Typically, but definitely not restricted to, jeep wheels, chassis and brakes combined with the steering, engine and gearbox from large trucks, these mongrels require no license, registration or insurance. As a result they are restricted to farms. Unsurprisingly I saw them passing as taxis, freight haulers and runabouts. It's a bit chaotic driving in that part of India. Fortunately the road was a strip of asphalt approximately the width of a car that dissolved on either side into the dirt, so no one was driving particularly fast.
Ranthambore. Tigers. Leopards. Deer. Peacocks in trees.
We saw them all.
There's not much going on in the town, really just the reserve and the tourist houses. Mahaveer was on vacation, rocking the sweatpants, sleeping in and not washing the car. It was great! His cousin Vinod was also at the resort, so we stayed up both nights with them, learning about Indian whiskey and laughing fit to burst. They're a funny duo.
That is the end of Rajasthan, but I guess I'll give you guys a little bit more info on the big cats.
First of all, tigers a really big, it's hard to consider what that means, but next time you're near a house cat (except Zoe, she won't really give the right mental image) imagine it's the size of the couch it's probably sleeping on. Consider if you will, the weight of an animal that size. Next, I invite you to remember that tigers, despite their size, retain all of the feline grace, speed and power. We never saw the tiger mover much, but when it did you could see what it was capable of. Truly dumbfounding. To add to the majesty that was strolling through the undergrowth, a leopard was sitting in a tree above the tiger (and as a result, above us). Now, I'll admit, I was in awe of the tiger, so I didn't really give the leopard it's full due at the time. It was further away though, and with the tiger there it wasn't going to climb down anytime soon. Apparently the leopards rule the cliffs, and the tigers rule everything else. Every now and then a leopard will push it's luck and come down into the tiger's domain. We were fortunate enough to be there for it. The stalemate would last until the sun went down, so we didn't stick around. As for the peacocks, there was one poor guy stuck in the tree with the leopard. Talk about a rough day. I don't think he could get down while the cats were aggressively pretending not to care about each other. As we continued on our merry way we saw some deer; large jungle deer, and smaller spotted deer. One looking like the offspring of the other. We also saw some Kingfishers. Not the blue ones that grace the labels of India's oh so refreshing beer, but a larger darker variety with bronze heads. We had opted for the morning tour, so it was cold. By the time we got back we were ready for a hot shower and some food. Then, our last night in Rajasthan.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Rajasthani pt. 2
Jaisalmer:
This is an interesting spot, hovering on the edge of India, only 150km from the Pakistan border. This is another fine example of a desert fort city: big Castle/Fort on a hill with a city sprawling down the slopes around it. We stayed in a rather nice spot on the eastern side of the city. I had an average breakfast and watched the rising sun light the butter-yellow walls of the fort from the restaurant on the roof. Roof top restaurants are a big thing here in India, most hotels either have them, or wish they did. We only had one full day in Jaisalmer, so we decided to make the most of it. To be frank, we did have a half day when we arrived, but neither of us had slept well the night before, so we had massages on our arrival and then crashed early. Mahaveer offered to take our laundry for us because the hotels charge too much, that was great. Our massages gave us both headaches, so we didn't go out for supper. Right, so, back to our full day. We slept in a bit to start things off, then after breakfast we had a tour of the city and the fort. This didn't take too long, but long enough for us to be pretty hungry. The tour had ended at another "my father/uncle/brother/friend's shop". We decided not to take any more tours. Everything we visit is in our guidebook anyway... We went to the Desert Boy's Ranch for lunch, that was pretty great, I had a lovely masala dish and some naan. Our waiter (I think he was the owner) was really helpful, and we ran into him a few more times, and he helped us find our way. The restaurant was built outside around and under a giant tree. There was a rather clever crow (very similar to our crows, just with gray head and shoulders) and a little squirrel (looks like a chipmunk with a squirrel's tail, really adorable). They seemed to have the run of the place and spent lots of time watching us eat... After that we headed back to the bazaar. It's set up within the first gate of the fort and spreads down into the surrounding area. There's also a pretty solid bazaar within the fort (there's a bit of a town build up inside the walls). I was halfheartedly looking for a watch still (really just wishing I'd bought that old pocket watch in the Khan Market in Delhi) and Lauren was looking for a ring shop she'd heard about. Turns out the ring shop was on top of the fort wall, and right next to the best spot to watch the sun set. We managed to just miss it... While we stood there looking forlorn, a nice gent started chatting to us about coming back tomorrow to watch it. This was the beginning of a rather magical evening for us. He invited us into his shop, which was of course the very shop we'd been looking for. We came it and were immediately awed by the quality of the craftsmanship that was represented there. The brother's father, Hari (after whom the shop is named) was revered by India as the finest silver worked in the country. He has carved the image of Vishnu on the side of a piece of hair. That's a pretty good example of the finesse of his work. I think that Lauren had been thinking of getting a ring from them. however, after looking at some of the examples and meeting Roop (one of the two current artists), we both decided that we would need to spend a little more time with these brothers and commission our own rings. We sat talking with them about art, karma and the Indian society for long enough that they invited us to their house (where the workshop was) for supper. As we sat and talked about designs with Roop, we learned that the 8 brothers all live together in that house with two dogs and a parrot. They had recently been forced to move by a rich man who wanted the Haveli they lived in before. Apparently the man payed off some official to make it seem like they were living there illegally. This was very sad, as the bothers are truly some of the most beautiful people I've ever met. They're very interested in karma as well, and are strict vegans. Which they told us when supper arrived. Interestingly the food was the same kind of thalis that we'd been eating in other places.
As for the rings, before we ate, we finalized the designs and Roop began working.
The dilemma was that we couldn't be there for the whole process, as we'd be leaving the next day. They never mail the rings, and wouldn't accept full payment until they were finished anyway. So now we were in a tricky spot. So, they offered to deliver the rings to us later in our trip. For us there was no doubt in our minds that we could trust them, however, Mahaveer wasn't impressed...
So, that settled, Roop began making the rings:
First he got a general idea of our sizes, then cut strips of silver and joined them into hoops. There are photos of a lot of this procedure, I'll let those explain the technique:
Then he did the final sizing, using a neat little cube with dimples in it to round out the hoops. Finally, we had our rings. I have to say that they fit perfectly. Now came the tricky bit. The designs have to be etched into the silver, then they cut holes through the rings to emphasize parts of the design. So, before we left Roop had done a light etching so we could see what the final layout would be. He had to add small parts to the design for structure, but he's got a great eye for it. He never made a suggestion we didn't love. Here's some photos showing the rings in their completion:
Above
Artsy inside shot
I hope the detail is visible. I'm particularly pleased with how the music-bird-ocean came out on mine. There's Sanskrit versions of our names, apparently my name either is Blue or Green. I'm still trying to get someone to tell me definitively... (I think it might be a version of aquamarine, always a tricky one to label)
Lauren's has the hand mudras as well as her own design. We both love the lily on hers, it was the first time Roop had done a flower.
I guess that's a big enough entry for one city. After we sorted out the delivery, we headed back to the hotel (the brothers walked us) and headed to bed, early day tomorrow.
This is an interesting spot, hovering on the edge of India, only 150km from the Pakistan border. This is another fine example of a desert fort city: big Castle/Fort on a hill with a city sprawling down the slopes around it. We stayed in a rather nice spot on the eastern side of the city. I had an average breakfast and watched the rising sun light the butter-yellow walls of the fort from the restaurant on the roof. Roof top restaurants are a big thing here in India, most hotels either have them, or wish they did. We only had one full day in Jaisalmer, so we decided to make the most of it. To be frank, we did have a half day when we arrived, but neither of us had slept well the night before, so we had massages on our arrival and then crashed early. Mahaveer offered to take our laundry for us because the hotels charge too much, that was great. Our massages gave us both headaches, so we didn't go out for supper. Right, so, back to our full day. We slept in a bit to start things off, then after breakfast we had a tour of the city and the fort. This didn't take too long, but long enough for us to be pretty hungry. The tour had ended at another "my father/uncle/brother/friend's shop". We decided not to take any more tours. Everything we visit is in our guidebook anyway... We went to the Desert Boy's Ranch for lunch, that was pretty great, I had a lovely masala dish and some naan. Our waiter (I think he was the owner) was really helpful, and we ran into him a few more times, and he helped us find our way. The restaurant was built outside around and under a giant tree. There was a rather clever crow (very similar to our crows, just with gray head and shoulders) and a little squirrel (looks like a chipmunk with a squirrel's tail, really adorable). They seemed to have the run of the place and spent lots of time watching us eat... After that we headed back to the bazaar. It's set up within the first gate of the fort and spreads down into the surrounding area. There's also a pretty solid bazaar within the fort (there's a bit of a town build up inside the walls). I was halfheartedly looking for a watch still (really just wishing I'd bought that old pocket watch in the Khan Market in Delhi) and Lauren was looking for a ring shop she'd heard about. Turns out the ring shop was on top of the fort wall, and right next to the best spot to watch the sun set. We managed to just miss it... While we stood there looking forlorn, a nice gent started chatting to us about coming back tomorrow to watch it. This was the beginning of a rather magical evening for us. He invited us into his shop, which was of course the very shop we'd been looking for. We came it and were immediately awed by the quality of the craftsmanship that was represented there. The brother's father, Hari (after whom the shop is named) was revered by India as the finest silver worked in the country. He has carved the image of Vishnu on the side of a piece of hair. That's a pretty good example of the finesse of his work. I think that Lauren had been thinking of getting a ring from them. however, after looking at some of the examples and meeting Roop (one of the two current artists), we both decided that we would need to spend a little more time with these brothers and commission our own rings. We sat talking with them about art, karma and the Indian society for long enough that they invited us to their house (where the workshop was) for supper. As we sat and talked about designs with Roop, we learned that the 8 brothers all live together in that house with two dogs and a parrot. They had recently been forced to move by a rich man who wanted the Haveli they lived in before. Apparently the man payed off some official to make it seem like they were living there illegally. This was very sad, as the bothers are truly some of the most beautiful people I've ever met. They're very interested in karma as well, and are strict vegans. Which they told us when supper arrived. Interestingly the food was the same kind of thalis that we'd been eating in other places.
As for the rings, before we ate, we finalized the designs and Roop began working.
The dilemma was that we couldn't be there for the whole process, as we'd be leaving the next day. They never mail the rings, and wouldn't accept full payment until they were finished anyway. So now we were in a tricky spot. So, they offered to deliver the rings to us later in our trip. For us there was no doubt in our minds that we could trust them, however, Mahaveer wasn't impressed...
So, that settled, Roop began making the rings:
First he got a general idea of our sizes, then cut strips of silver and joined them into hoops. There are photos of a lot of this procedure, I'll let those explain the technique:
Then he did the final sizing, using a neat little cube with dimples in it to round out the hoops. Finally, we had our rings. I have to say that they fit perfectly. Now came the tricky bit. The designs have to be etched into the silver, then they cut holes through the rings to emphasize parts of the design. So, before we left Roop had done a light etching so we could see what the final layout would be. He had to add small parts to the design for structure, but he's got a great eye for it. He never made a suggestion we didn't love. Here's some photos showing the rings in their completion:
Above
Artsy inside shot
I hope the detail is visible. I'm particularly pleased with how the music-bird-ocean came out on mine. There's Sanskrit versions of our names, apparently my name either is Blue or Green. I'm still trying to get someone to tell me definitively... (I think it might be a version of aquamarine, always a tricky one to label)
Lauren's has the hand mudras as well as her own design. We both love the lily on hers, it was the first time Roop had done a flower.
I guess that's a big enough entry for one city. After we sorted out the delivery, we headed back to the hotel (the brothers walked us) and headed to bed, early day tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Rajasthani Pt. 1
Well, here goes. This is going to be a bit of a point form exercise.
There's a lot to write. At lease I'm on a good keyboard this time.
Starting off:
We left Delhi at 8:15am, so rush hour, which is a whole new beast here in India. It's two-way for one and it's got a density that you just can't find in North America. Imagine if you will a 6 Lane highway at a standstill. Now fill any leftover space with motorcycles. That's how this place does mornings...
All of the major industries are outside of Delhi, so many factory workers live inside and commute out. All of the offices are in Delhi, but most of those guys live on the outskirts (about a 25min drive without traffic). You can see now what's going on. The pollution gets worse before it gets better, and it was beyond hazy as we left the city. We started to see camels though, that was neat. They're big animals, really big. Our driver Mahaveer Singh told us that the new buses and all of the TukTuks run on natural gas in Delhi, neato.
We were in for a long drive on our first day, but it was good to get away from Delhi. Once we got out of rush hour traffic, the driving was much nicer. Along with the traffic there had been construction, so really a lot of sitting. Almost as soon as we got really going we saw a jeep that had a broken load. Interesting techniques here, the jeeps are a sort of truck hybrid, they stick four poles out of each
corner of the back, then cloth is used like a giant bag to hold in the grains. Big mess when it fails. Shortly after that there was a truck that seemed to have lost its front wheels while going rather quickly...
There's more cows now too, they just wander through the road, not a care in the world. We saw one that looked like a miniature pony :)
Mandawa:
This was our first stop, and it's a lovely one. Only just big enough to be called a town instead of a village. It was a stop for the caravans during the silk trade. As a result there are big Havelis (literally windy houses). These are the classic rooms off of a courtyard design and a trademark of Rajesthan. We had our first run in with the collaborative duping that is a well practiced skill here. Our hotel owner told us that we shouldn't eat until 6:30-7, so we should go on a tour instead.
They've got some kids at the front gate that'll take you around to some Havelis. A large percentage of the Havelis are owned by people that live in Colcutta and Mumbai and are looked after by locals that live in them. Our guide was a member of a family in one. He took us on a great tour of the town, then he took us to "his Father's" shop (no resemblance at all). There we were invited in and asked to sit
while we were shown lots of patchworks (another trademark of Rajesthan). At first we were hesitant, then, as they started telling us about how hard life was and that they relied on the tourism solely for income, we realized that we were getting a bit of a shakedown. They were guilting us into buying! Outrageous! Then he put down a runner that floored us, it was too beautiful for words. They are handmade out of old saris. We ended up getting two different ones. feeling a little worked-over we headed back for supper. Later we would go to a factory where these are made in bulk (still by hand, just lots of ladies working) and the prices we were told would be less. There we discovered that we had gotten an unmatchable deal! We had a great
(if a little pricey) meal then went to bed. This was our first night under the mosquito net, and we felt like royalty. I guess the room helped too, it was a beautiful spot. Next morning it was an early breakfast then on the road.
Bikaner:
Beers, music, candlelight, writing, and reading. Later that list would include Gatte Masala for me and some Naan, I don't remember what Lauren had.
Sounds pretty good eh?
That was our evening on top of our Haveli in Bikaner. We had visited the fort earlier and it was a really amazing example of opulence, everything was painted. The guy we bought the patchworks from in Mandawa was a silk painter, really impressive stuff. The whole fort was better. Our Haveli's got the same kind of thing going on. Lauren and I spent the whole evening grinning at each other like we were
getting away with something.
Bikaner's a big spot, but it really reminded me of St. John's I felt safe in the streets and everyone was friendly without being pushy. In the fort the guards kept letting us into restricted areas. That picture of the stained glass is from an area that they never let Indians into. We've even got a picture of us on the Maharani's throne! The Maharanis had a rough life, they weren't allowed to be seen, so their
apartments have lattice over all the windows and they never went outside. We also went to the market, standard kinda thing. Except that the train runs right through the middle of town, we had to stop and wait while it went by. Afterward Mahaveer picked us up and took us back to the hotel. Next night: Camels!
Camels!
They smell bad, and they fart a lot. Those are separate, so you can imagine the final result...
On our way to the "safari" we passed some trucks carrying a windmill. Three parts. They were huge. The landscape at this end of the desert is littered with windmills. I've got some pictures, but they don't really show how many there were.
The safari was in a small town that's sole income was the safaris and the tourists they brought. This was kinda sad, but we knew we'd have to get over it because that's the case for the majority of Rajesthan. The safari itself was kind lame, we were led by a camel man and his son at what can only be described as a stroll out along a well-worn path to a picturesque village, where they stopped for us to take pictures. Then they took us up onto the dunes. I should make a quick note here. Desert in Rajesthan isn't sandy dunes, it's a sort of cruddy scrubland. There were a few dunes near the village that get populated by tourists, partying locals and kids selling cold beer every night. Our camel man was nice enough to lead us away from the party to a quieter section and we sat and waited for the sunset. It was beautiful. The picture of us that we posted is from that evening. I bought that scarf in Bikaner, and it's camel wool (only neck wool, which I discovered is the least smelly part of a camel).
That night we were treated to a local dinner and got to watch/try some local dancing. Next day we had a short jaunt into Jaisalmer.
I'm afraid that I'm pretty tired of typing, there's so much to say. I'm leaving lots out and it's obviously still going to be a massive post. More tomorrow I think.
There's a lot to write. At lease I'm on a good keyboard this time.
Starting off:
We left Delhi at 8:15am, so rush hour, which is a whole new beast here in India. It's two-way for one and it's got a density that you just can't find in North America. Imagine if you will a 6 Lane highway at a standstill. Now fill any leftover space with motorcycles. That's how this place does mornings...
All of the major industries are outside of Delhi, so many factory workers live inside and commute out. All of the offices are in Delhi, but most of those guys live on the outskirts (about a 25min drive without traffic). You can see now what's going on. The pollution gets worse before it gets better, and it was beyond hazy as we left the city. We started to see camels though, that was neat. They're big animals, really big. Our driver Mahaveer Singh told us that the new buses and all of the TukTuks run on natural gas in Delhi, neato.
We were in for a long drive on our first day, but it was good to get away from Delhi. Once we got out of rush hour traffic, the driving was much nicer. Along with the traffic there had been construction, so really a lot of sitting. Almost as soon as we got really going we saw a jeep that had a broken load. Interesting techniques here, the jeeps are a sort of truck hybrid, they stick four poles out of each
corner of the back, then cloth is used like a giant bag to hold in the grains. Big mess when it fails. Shortly after that there was a truck that seemed to have lost its front wheels while going rather quickly...
There's more cows now too, they just wander through the road, not a care in the world. We saw one that looked like a miniature pony :)
Mandawa:
This was our first stop, and it's a lovely one. Only just big enough to be called a town instead of a village. It was a stop for the caravans during the silk trade. As a result there are big Havelis (literally windy houses). These are the classic rooms off of a courtyard design and a trademark of Rajesthan. We had our first run in with the collaborative duping that is a well practiced skill here. Our hotel owner told us that we shouldn't eat until 6:30-7, so we should go on a tour instead.
They've got some kids at the front gate that'll take you around to some Havelis. A large percentage of the Havelis are owned by people that live in Colcutta and Mumbai and are looked after by locals that live in them. Our guide was a member of a family in one. He took us on a great tour of the town, then he took us to "his Father's" shop (no resemblance at all). There we were invited in and asked to sit
while we were shown lots of patchworks (another trademark of Rajesthan). At first we were hesitant, then, as they started telling us about how hard life was and that they relied on the tourism solely for income, we realized that we were getting a bit of a shakedown. They were guilting us into buying! Outrageous! Then he put down a runner that floored us, it was too beautiful for words. They are handmade out of old saris. We ended up getting two different ones. feeling a little worked-over we headed back for supper. Later we would go to a factory where these are made in bulk (still by hand, just lots of ladies working) and the prices we were told would be less. There we discovered that we had gotten an unmatchable deal! We had a great
(if a little pricey) meal then went to bed. This was our first night under the mosquito net, and we felt like royalty. I guess the room helped too, it was a beautiful spot. Next morning it was an early breakfast then on the road.
Bikaner:
Beers, music, candlelight, writing, and reading. Later that list would include Gatte Masala for me and some Naan, I don't remember what Lauren had.
Sounds pretty good eh?
That was our evening on top of our Haveli in Bikaner. We had visited the fort earlier and it was a really amazing example of opulence, everything was painted. The guy we bought the patchworks from in Mandawa was a silk painter, really impressive stuff. The whole fort was better. Our Haveli's got the same kind of thing going on. Lauren and I spent the whole evening grinning at each other like we were
getting away with something.
Bikaner's a big spot, but it really reminded me of St. John's I felt safe in the streets and everyone was friendly without being pushy. In the fort the guards kept letting us into restricted areas. That picture of the stained glass is from an area that they never let Indians into. We've even got a picture of us on the Maharani's throne! The Maharanis had a rough life, they weren't allowed to be seen, so their
apartments have lattice over all the windows and they never went outside. We also went to the market, standard kinda thing. Except that the train runs right through the middle of town, we had to stop and wait while it went by. Afterward Mahaveer picked us up and took us back to the hotel. Next night: Camels!
Camels!
They smell bad, and they fart a lot. Those are separate, so you can imagine the final result...
On our way to the "safari" we passed some trucks carrying a windmill. Three parts. They were huge. The landscape at this end of the desert is littered with windmills. I've got some pictures, but they don't really show how many there were.
The safari was in a small town that's sole income was the safaris and the tourists they brought. This was kinda sad, but we knew we'd have to get over it because that's the case for the majority of Rajesthan. The safari itself was kind lame, we were led by a camel man and his son at what can only be described as a stroll out along a well-worn path to a picturesque village, where they stopped for us to take pictures. Then they took us up onto the dunes. I should make a quick note here. Desert in Rajesthan isn't sandy dunes, it's a sort of cruddy scrubland. There were a few dunes near the village that get populated by tourists, partying locals and kids selling cold beer every night. Our camel man was nice enough to lead us away from the party to a quieter section and we sat and waited for the sunset. It was beautiful. The picture of us that we posted is from that evening. I bought that scarf in Bikaner, and it's camel wool (only neck wool, which I discovered is the least smelly part of a camel).
That night we were treated to a local dinner and got to watch/try some local dancing. Next day we had a short jaunt into Jaisalmer.
I'm afraid that I'm pretty tired of typing, there's so much to say. I'm leaving lots out and it's obviously still going to be a massive post. More tomorrow I think.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Pictures!
Amber Fort just outside Jaipur
James Bond's Udaipur
Jaisalmer Architecture
Us!
Fort in Bikaner, Belgian Stained Glass
Humayun's Tomb
Lotus Temple
Delhi, the rest of it.
Well, it's been a little while hasn't it...
We're going to pay the price for that on this and the next entry, especially because today's keyboard has the action of a typewriter. So here goes, massive entry no. 2.
Lauren wrote this and I'm typing it up.
-N
According to my to my journal entries it was a bumpy start. The second day in Delhi came bright and early at 2am. After four hours of reading, I woke up to Neal rushing down for a ten am breakie. Even after 3 big meals we are still starving in the mornings! I remember thinking that this was going to be a good day. My loving brother Matthew was sending us to a small swanky hotel in the quiet "suburb" of Friends Colony West. Part of New Delhi and South of busier Old Delhi, this area of town was built by the British and did it ever look it. Space for wide, wide streets and much green space surrounding government house. Clearly Matt knew something I didn't, as per Neal's first post - I was finding Delhi overwhelming and moving south to a quieter area was just what we needed.
(A side note, there are currently 6 typos from this keyboard, I'll go back after)
After an hour long TukTuk ride we arrived and did not re-enter the outside world until the next day. Delicious food, quiet, bathrobes, ayurvedic massages and the end and beginning of two good books, we felt ready to face Delhi again.
Comparing Old Delhi (from the first day) and New Delhi's Friends Colony, Karol Bagh, where we spent the rest of our Delhi nights, was looking quite quaint. With "less" traffic and noise, and a little market to wander through we felt almost like it was home. I was supremely happy we weren't staying in Paharganj, which is the main backpacker's haunt. We found out Saturday it was a place best visited for food and potential shopping. We would sleep elsewhere for now.
(the typo count is now at 10)
My friend Rachel recommended a restaurant to us which we attempted to find on Saturday after our move back to Wood Castle. With our search came a valuable lesson: Never decide to leave your guide book at home even "just this once"... What we thought would be an afternoon of delicious food turned into 9 hours without food or water and 2 lost Canadians wandering around Haus Khaz asking people if thy knew where the restaurant Gunpowder was. Not only did we not have the guide, but we also lost the restaurant's address... Finally, to top off our great day, we learned that at 4:30pm most of the restaurants close before the evening mealtime.
Also, asking to find something in Delhi by name alone is akin to asking someone in Halifax where a perfect stranger lives. Add in the language barrier and you get confused stares aplenty.
(typos now at 18)
We did find the restaurant Sunday and it turned out to be something of a double celebration. Earlier in the day we decided we would tour Rajasthan by hired car. In fact, it was a great day all-round. We visited the Lotus Temple (check it out online, designed by a Persian-Canadian) and watched while the sun set behind it. Happy and full of delicious food (Neal had something he described as Balls of Mutton... and FIRE) we headed back "home" and slept.
(24, and my fingers hurt)
Monday we made our way to the official Indian tourism office, which is a hidden gem. It's tricky to find because there are lots of helpful gents who send you to the "real" office. Which, of course, isn't. Fortunately, both our helpers sent us in the right direction and we shook them off along the way. The agent we talked to in the office was great, he gave us maps and hints on everything we were interested in. He sent us to Destination India Travel Station, a tiny father/son operation next door. The son helped us work out the best way to get what we were looking for, while his father boomed helpful advice over the proceedings and offering delicious tea. At first we wanted to do a lot of the hotel booking ourselves, and tried to just hire a car. He pointed out however, that they use the Lonely Planet as well (our main resource) and have up to date info from their other customers. So, happily convinced we planned it out. Our trip would start in Mandawa, take us to Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Johdpur, Ranakpur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jaipur, Ranthambore, Agra then by train to Khajuraho and finally by overnight train to Varanasi. As for hotels, we'd be staying in mid-range spots for budget prices, pretty sweet! We'll post about all that when we get to Agra.
After the bookings we met our driver, Mahaveer Singh. He also ran us around for the rest of the day. Utilizing our new accomplice, we went to the state house for Andhra Pradesh (another suggestion by the lovely Rachel). There's a great canteen, where we had a delicious luncheon. After, we went to Humayun's Tomb, then on to Lodi Garden. Great spots, we were photographed by an entire boy's school while in the garden. It started with just two boys who asked, but in about three startled blinks the whole gang was there. After extricating ourselves from them we had tea and went home. Tomorrow after all was going to be a big day!
All our love, hope you enjoyed the pictures,
Lauren and Neal
PS final count: 39 ...ridiclous, and that makes 40
We're going to pay the price for that on this and the next entry, especially because today's keyboard has the action of a typewriter. So here goes, massive entry no. 2.
Lauren wrote this and I'm typing it up.
-N
According to my to my journal entries it was a bumpy start. The second day in Delhi came bright and early at 2am. After four hours of reading, I woke up to Neal rushing down for a ten am breakie. Even after 3 big meals we are still starving in the mornings! I remember thinking that this was going to be a good day. My loving brother Matthew was sending us to a small swanky hotel in the quiet "suburb" of Friends Colony West. Part of New Delhi and South of busier Old Delhi, this area of town was built by the British and did it ever look it. Space for wide, wide streets and much green space surrounding government house. Clearly Matt knew something I didn't, as per Neal's first post - I was finding Delhi overwhelming and moving south to a quieter area was just what we needed.
(A side note, there are currently 6 typos from this keyboard, I'll go back after)
After an hour long TukTuk ride we arrived and did not re-enter the outside world until the next day. Delicious food, quiet, bathrobes, ayurvedic massages and the end and beginning of two good books, we felt ready to face Delhi again.
Comparing Old Delhi (from the first day) and New Delhi's Friends Colony, Karol Bagh, where we spent the rest of our Delhi nights, was looking quite quaint. With "less" traffic and noise, and a little market to wander through we felt almost like it was home. I was supremely happy we weren't staying in Paharganj, which is the main backpacker's haunt. We found out Saturday it was a place best visited for food and potential shopping. We would sleep elsewhere for now.
(the typo count is now at 10)
My friend Rachel recommended a restaurant to us which we attempted to find on Saturday after our move back to Wood Castle. With our search came a valuable lesson: Never decide to leave your guide book at home even "just this once"... What we thought would be an afternoon of delicious food turned into 9 hours without food or water and 2 lost Canadians wandering around Haus Khaz asking people if thy knew where the restaurant Gunpowder was. Not only did we not have the guide, but we also lost the restaurant's address... Finally, to top off our great day, we learned that at 4:30pm most of the restaurants close before the evening mealtime.
Also, asking to find something in Delhi by name alone is akin to asking someone in Halifax where a perfect stranger lives. Add in the language barrier and you get confused stares aplenty.
(typos now at 18)
We did find the restaurant Sunday and it turned out to be something of a double celebration. Earlier in the day we decided we would tour Rajasthan by hired car. In fact, it was a great day all-round. We visited the Lotus Temple (check it out online, designed by a Persian-Canadian) and watched while the sun set behind it. Happy and full of delicious food (Neal had something he described as Balls of Mutton... and FIRE) we headed back "home" and slept.
(24, and my fingers hurt)
Monday we made our way to the official Indian tourism office, which is a hidden gem. It's tricky to find because there are lots of helpful gents who send you to the "real" office. Which, of course, isn't. Fortunately, both our helpers sent us in the right direction and we shook them off along the way. The agent we talked to in the office was great, he gave us maps and hints on everything we were interested in. He sent us to Destination India Travel Station, a tiny father/son operation next door. The son helped us work out the best way to get what we were looking for, while his father boomed helpful advice over the proceedings and offering delicious tea. At first we wanted to do a lot of the hotel booking ourselves, and tried to just hire a car. He pointed out however, that they use the Lonely Planet as well (our main resource) and have up to date info from their other customers. So, happily convinced we planned it out. Our trip would start in Mandawa, take us to Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Johdpur, Ranakpur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jaipur, Ranthambore, Agra then by train to Khajuraho and finally by overnight train to Varanasi. As for hotels, we'd be staying in mid-range spots for budget prices, pretty sweet! We'll post about all that when we get to Agra.
After the bookings we met our driver, Mahaveer Singh. He also ran us around for the rest of the day. Utilizing our new accomplice, we went to the state house for Andhra Pradesh (another suggestion by the lovely Rachel). There's a great canteen, where we had a delicious luncheon. After, we went to Humayun's Tomb, then on to Lodi Garden. Great spots, we were photographed by an entire boy's school while in the garden. It started with just two boys who asked, but in about three startled blinks the whole gang was there. After extricating ourselves from them we had tea and went home. Tomorrow after all was going to be a big day!
All our love, hope you enjoyed the pictures,
Lauren and Neal
PS final count: 39 ...ridiclous, and that makes 40
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Delhi, typed but not read
Well, here we are.
I guess I'll just give a quick rundown of the flights: they sucked mostly.
Now for the good stuff:
We arrived in the New Delhi Airport at the lovely hour of 1:30am. We wandered up to customs, and after a bit of a wait in line we sailed on through and grabbed my bag (Lauren carried her's on). After a bit of wandering we went to go grab some Rupees, it was a little harder than we expected. The stalls were all money changers, so no cards, only cash. Then a nice gent pointed out that we could just get some Rupees out of the ATM...duh We sheepishly went over and checked it out. Our first attempt was fruitless (apparently you have to enter an amount), however our second attempt was a great success! Now 2500iR richer we went looking for the car the hotel was supposed to send for us. We'd looked briefly during the money hunt, without a sign (pun intended). This time there was a sign for wood castle, but the name was wrong... after a brief chat and a call back to base we headed out into the night.
Delhi's a crazy place, even at 2am.
Getting out of the airport was fine, but the ride into the city was a real eyeopener. We'd been warned that there was lots of honking, but what we hadn't understood was that honking replaces indicating, as well as letting car/trucks know that you're around/passing them. I felt surprisingly safe all things considered. I feel that might've been the sleep exhaustion though.
My first impressions of India was the contrasts. Major construction projects had small tent cities starting up in them, the side of the highway was scattered with makeshift dwellings and there were strips where the tour bus drivers would park to sleep. The infrastructure was magnificent, sweeping train and road overpasses and fairly new highways.
We took an alley to get to the hotel, which is on what can only be described as a small alley off of a larger alley's round-a-bout. Yeah, the alleys have round-a-bouts. There are dogs everywhere, all basically the same kind of dog, and best left alone. Not that they'd bite you or anything, they haven't got the energy. mostly just that they're probably sleeping on the dirtiest part of the street.
Just a quick note on dirt: it's everywhere, literally everywhere. I was amazed by the thoroughness of the job a cleaner was doing until I realized that that was how it had to be done, and probably all day.
The hotel, wood castle, is a nice little spot. It's a five or six story building wedged in between all the others in the area. the rooms are clean, and they've got ice cold sealed bottled water available for 15Ri (by the way, the conversion is about 2.25$CAN to 100Ri). Basically everything we needed. I'll put some pictures of it up in the next post, I forgot to bring my camera down. We didn't really sleep, we were still so whacked from the flight. After a bit of a nap we got up for some breakfast (not the best, but included in the room). Then it was planning time.
One of the managers (I'm still not entirely sure who's in charge... there always seems to be at least three people hanging out in the office) took us into the back office and gave us a rundown. First off, he suggested we leave. No joke. We're booked in Delhi until Monday. He said that we can do everything worthwhile in about a day and a half. Then he gave us a few Delhi suggestions and a possible route for the rest of India. He was immensely helpful. Now it was time to get to it.
Our plan for the first day, since we were so tired was to head to Old Delhi. It's a little quieter and laid back than the rest of the city. Lies. It's nuts. Once we'd gotten there on the Metro, which is a great way to get around, we started to wander towards the Red Fort. I forgot to take pictures of the streets, but I'll take some somewhere else, and it'll be the same. There's not real order to anything. There are lights, but only at major intersections. Oh, and most people just kind of sneak through them. Crossing the street was fun once we got the hang of it, kind of a "dance with death" sort of thing (probably the last thing our mothers want to hear...) I guess it wasn't that bad, Death was dancing a very slow polka and we got to improvise. Plus, there are lots of large concrete things to hide around/on.
We eventually got to the Red Fort, after lots of "help" from touts. I've discovered that they give up sooner when I'm wearing my sunglasses. We wandered around the fort a little bit on the outside, then Lauren and I hit a bit of a wall. The heat, combined with the exhaustion and the probable dehydration, finally made us cool it. Which was great. The crowds outside of the red fort grounds (in the main streets) were intense, and the smell is indescribable. It's only a bad smell if you're near a homeless hideout. Other than that it has a richness, especially in the fort where there was some digging going on. We took a little break in the shade by the wall, then headed back to the mess to find water.
We decided that the best bet would be McDonald's. The glorious golden arches. The menu was an interesting collection, but we were only looking for water. I ordered two, which Lauren promptly raised to five. It cost us a whopping 85iR! Oh wait...
After downing three of them we were feeling more human. Lauren needed some sunscreen (we'd dropped the ball and left ours in our room), so we went to the chemist's and picked up a tube. Next step, the fort!
We snagged our tickets and joined the line. It was here that Lauren pointed out something that I'd really missed. The ratio of men to women. There are probably 2-3 women for every hundred men. However, this pays off in interesting ways for Lauren. First off there are cars on all of the metro runs that are exclusively for women, and so mostly empty. It wasn't ever really necessary for her to ride on one, but it would be great for a solo lady traveler. This also paid off in the line for the fort. I was stuck behind fifty or so other gents in the sun, while she was ushered (yup, they came and got her) up to the front to be checked through security.
Now's a good time for a note on police and security and the military. The military and the police are effectively the same, but the military carry bigger guns around.
The fort is still actually an active fort (hence the military), so there were some restricted areas. It is also immense. Really really big. I also cannot do it justice with words, so I'll post as many photos as I can get away with.
As for personal security, I've felt perfectly comfortable even in the crushing mass of humanity that is the city streets.
After the fort we decided it was time for some food and a nap (or an early bedtime?) so we headed to the metro. We hailed a bicycle rickshaw, and headed out. Almost immediately into a traffic jam. So our driver hopped off, got someone to watch his bike and walked us the rest of the way. Which was good, because he took a different route then we had. Great guy, all smiles, strong as an ox and an absolute wizard at finding holes in traffic.
So now I'm here, belly grumbling away as I write this now epic novella for you on our first couple of days. I think I'll start writing in my journal and give you guys a little less detail. Lauren's upstairs, she wanted to "just close her eyes" for a bit(in her nightgown). So I'll find out about supper and haul her off.
No sickness yet,
All our love,
Neal and Lauren
PS pictures soon
I guess I'll just give a quick rundown of the flights: they sucked mostly.
Now for the good stuff:
We arrived in the New Delhi Airport at the lovely hour of 1:30am. We wandered up to customs, and after a bit of a wait in line we sailed on through and grabbed my bag (Lauren carried her's on). After a bit of wandering we went to go grab some Rupees, it was a little harder than we expected. The stalls were all money changers, so no cards, only cash. Then a nice gent pointed out that we could just get some Rupees out of the ATM...duh We sheepishly went over and checked it out. Our first attempt was fruitless (apparently you have to enter an amount), however our second attempt was a great success! Now 2500iR richer we went looking for the car the hotel was supposed to send for us. We'd looked briefly during the money hunt, without a sign (pun intended). This time there was a sign for wood castle, but the name was wrong... after a brief chat and a call back to base we headed out into the night.
Delhi's a crazy place, even at 2am.
Getting out of the airport was fine, but the ride into the city was a real eyeopener. We'd been warned that there was lots of honking, but what we hadn't understood was that honking replaces indicating, as well as letting car/trucks know that you're around/passing them. I felt surprisingly safe all things considered. I feel that might've been the sleep exhaustion though.
My first impressions of India was the contrasts. Major construction projects had small tent cities starting up in them, the side of the highway was scattered with makeshift dwellings and there were strips where the tour bus drivers would park to sleep. The infrastructure was magnificent, sweeping train and road overpasses and fairly new highways.
We took an alley to get to the hotel, which is on what can only be described as a small alley off of a larger alley's round-a-bout. Yeah, the alleys have round-a-bouts. There are dogs everywhere, all basically the same kind of dog, and best left alone. Not that they'd bite you or anything, they haven't got the energy. mostly just that they're probably sleeping on the dirtiest part of the street.
Just a quick note on dirt: it's everywhere, literally everywhere. I was amazed by the thoroughness of the job a cleaner was doing until I realized that that was how it had to be done, and probably all day.
The hotel, wood castle, is a nice little spot. It's a five or six story building wedged in between all the others in the area. the rooms are clean, and they've got ice cold sealed bottled water available for 15Ri (by the way, the conversion is about 2.25$CAN to 100Ri). Basically everything we needed. I'll put some pictures of it up in the next post, I forgot to bring my camera down. We didn't really sleep, we were still so whacked from the flight. After a bit of a nap we got up for some breakfast (not the best, but included in the room). Then it was planning time.
One of the managers (I'm still not entirely sure who's in charge... there always seems to be at least three people hanging out in the office) took us into the back office and gave us a rundown. First off, he suggested we leave. No joke. We're booked in Delhi until Monday. He said that we can do everything worthwhile in about a day and a half. Then he gave us a few Delhi suggestions and a possible route for the rest of India. He was immensely helpful. Now it was time to get to it.
Our plan for the first day, since we were so tired was to head to Old Delhi. It's a little quieter and laid back than the rest of the city. Lies. It's nuts. Once we'd gotten there on the Metro, which is a great way to get around, we started to wander towards the Red Fort. I forgot to take pictures of the streets, but I'll take some somewhere else, and it'll be the same. There's not real order to anything. There are lights, but only at major intersections. Oh, and most people just kind of sneak through them. Crossing the street was fun once we got the hang of it, kind of a "dance with death" sort of thing (probably the last thing our mothers want to hear...) I guess it wasn't that bad, Death was dancing a very slow polka and we got to improvise. Plus, there are lots of large concrete things to hide around/on.
We eventually got to the Red Fort, after lots of "help" from touts. I've discovered that they give up sooner when I'm wearing my sunglasses. We wandered around the fort a little bit on the outside, then Lauren and I hit a bit of a wall. The heat, combined with the exhaustion and the probable dehydration, finally made us cool it. Which was great. The crowds outside of the red fort grounds (in the main streets) were intense, and the smell is indescribable. It's only a bad smell if you're near a homeless hideout. Other than that it has a richness, especially in the fort where there was some digging going on. We took a little break in the shade by the wall, then headed back to the mess to find water.
We decided that the best bet would be McDonald's. The glorious golden arches. The menu was an interesting collection, but we were only looking for water. I ordered two, which Lauren promptly raised to five. It cost us a whopping 85iR! Oh wait...
After downing three of them we were feeling more human. Lauren needed some sunscreen (we'd dropped the ball and left ours in our room), so we went to the chemist's and picked up a tube. Next step, the fort!
We snagged our tickets and joined the line. It was here that Lauren pointed out something that I'd really missed. The ratio of men to women. There are probably 2-3 women for every hundred men. However, this pays off in interesting ways for Lauren. First off there are cars on all of the metro runs that are exclusively for women, and so mostly empty. It wasn't ever really necessary for her to ride on one, but it would be great for a solo lady traveler. This also paid off in the line for the fort. I was stuck behind fifty or so other gents in the sun, while she was ushered (yup, they came and got her) up to the front to be checked through security.
Now's a good time for a note on police and security and the military. The military and the police are effectively the same, but the military carry bigger guns around.
The fort is still actually an active fort (hence the military), so there were some restricted areas. It is also immense. Really really big. I also cannot do it justice with words, so I'll post as many photos as I can get away with.
As for personal security, I've felt perfectly comfortable even in the crushing mass of humanity that is the city streets.
After the fort we decided it was time for some food and a nap (or an early bedtime?) so we headed to the metro. We hailed a bicycle rickshaw, and headed out. Almost immediately into a traffic jam. So our driver hopped off, got someone to watch his bike and walked us the rest of the way. Which was good, because he took a different route then we had. Great guy, all smiles, strong as an ox and an absolute wizard at finding holes in traffic.
So now I'm here, belly grumbling away as I write this now epic novella for you on our first couple of days. I think I'll start writing in my journal and give you guys a little less detail. Lauren's upstairs, she wanted to "just close her eyes" for a bit(in her nightgown). So I'll find out about supper and haul her off.
No sickness yet,
All our love,
Neal and Lauren
PS pictures soon
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