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.

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.