A view of Udaipur from the lake
Cheeky cow stealing a nibble - the cook doesn't mind sharing
Sikh temple in Pushkar
A typical Indian family outing
Rajasthan - once the land of royalty!
Namaste! and I should say Merry Christmas!! (Sorry, not sure how to say it in Hindi)
Rajasthan was absolutely one of the best places in India we have visited! When the British left India Rajasthan was one of the poorest areas of India. It seems the Rajput clans kept all the money to themselves. Although, looking around it does kind of still seem to be the case. I hate to say it, but it seems at least 1/3 of India's people are homeless barely surviving and 1/3 live in poverty, and let me tell you the other 1/3 is NOT rich (only a very small <1%) Maybe to give you an analogy, possibly half of India's people live worst than your cat or dog. They do not have regular food, clean water, or shelter. Many parts of the major cities, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata (the three biggest) have what look like refuge camps all over; along with the rural areas on the sides of roads and especially along train stations. I can tell you from seeing this hundreds of times, it looks like the commercials showing poor Africa asking for donations. Sorry to dampen your Christmas spirit - I should have started this blog much more positive as Marina tells me from time to time :) - does the smile help?
One funny thing about India possibly relates to the duality of man theory; or should I say the duality of countries.
Hear me out;
India - People never tan and extensively use whitening creams, its advertised on all TV commercial breaks
America/England - Most people tan or at least want to be a bit darker skinned.
India - Being overweight is almost a kind of status symbol as the poor homeless are very thin; I think I mentioned this a few blogs ago
America/England - People spend a lot of money in gyms and diet programs to be thin.
India - As adults, people are encouraged to live with their parents even when they are married.
America/England - This is considered a bit strange and we are encouraged to move out
India - Traditions are ahead of progress
America/England - Progress is ahead of tradition
I'll stop philosophizing for a minute and get back to the funny stuff. Some advice if traveling in India - be VERY careful when you wash your clothes. If I told you that clothes/bed sheets/towels are often washed in rivers or lakes you might not think too much of it picturing the Colorado river or Mark Twain Lake. In many rivers in India the river is so heavily polluted in areas that the water is actually septic - no oxygen exists. I'm not sure if I mentioned in an earlier post, the way people dispose of the dead in India is not by burial, its by burning the body on a funeral pyre by the river and pushing the ashes and remaining parts in the water. Many families do not have the money to do this and just push the body in the water for animals to eat. Along with massive amounts of raw sewage being pumped in rivers and lakes; the Ganges for example, is filthier than any natural disaster the west has seen. I would much rather bath in the oil spill in Alaska or the Caribbean than the Ganges. So back to the point, if you do laundry, its often washed in this water. We met a few English travelers who had their clothes washed in Varinassi (a holy city on the Ganges) and after getting the clothes back had to throw them away... So you may ask, how do we do our laundry; well, remember the story about the bucket in the bathroom...
So what have we been doing during this festive holiday week;
Udaipur > Pushkar > Ajmer > Delhi
Sunday - Udaipur's Sunset: We arrived in Udaipur and met a few friends from Nepal (Dennis & Pilar) and went to see the big palace. That night we enjoyed a few beers, watching one of the best sunsets in India over the gorgeous old town of Udaipur which surrounds Lake Pichola.
Monday - Kumbalgargh fort and Ranakpur Jain Temple: Possibly two highlights of our trip, one because they were almost diserted, but also because they are utterly amazing. We hired a taxi to drive us about two hours to a rural area where Kumbalgargh fort is hidden away. It has dozens of kilometers of walls protecting the palace it was in great condition and remarkable to see. Our next stop was Ranakpur; an intricately carved white marble temple. This Jain temple has 1444 marble pillars all carved differently. The place is amazing. Both sites are however under threat. The local monkeys own the territory and demand food as you drive by, sometimes jumping on the cars. Possibly dangerous, but they are very cute! :D
Tuesday - Pichola Lake Cruise: On Tuesday we met up with our friends from Varkela, Kerala; Anthony and Cara. We had a great cruise over to Jagmandir island and endulged in a few drinks just on the water with the city of Udaipur as our view! Again we enjoyed the gorgeous sunset on a rooftop restaurant.
Wednesday - Pushkar the Brahman city; in Pushkar there is no meat, eggs or alcohol, hmm you may ask, what do you do in Pushkar, well to answer it perfectly, not much.... We expected Pushkar to be this fantastically beautiful place as it sits on a lake like Udaipur. As its a Braham (type of holy city) there are about 10 times more cows on the street than anywhere else in India - let me tell you that's a lot! And what happens where there are lots of cows, there are lots of cow pies, and what happens where there are lots of cow pies, lots of flys.... We didn't stay long :(
Thursday - Climbing to Targagh Fort: We spent today in Ajmer which had quite a few excellent sites. However it wasn't the easiest city to see. Around the Sufi Mosque it was pretty crazy. Lots of people pushing/pulling/selling - it was not the easiest place to visit. As we climbed up the small mountain to Targagh Fort - only about 90 minutes to get up; we must have had 200+ people hassle us. From people stepping in front of your deliberately, to getting grabbed, to pretend beggars to even a kid swinging a hammer at me, but I keep telling myself, this is India, be patient! We nearly ran down to avoid the problems, but given you don't walk too much in India, we really enjoyed the exercise.
Friday - Relaxation: Simply after the draining day before, we just relaxed. We had our train to Delhi at 3:50pm on which I unfortunately became a bit ill - not Delhi Belly, but more like flu symptoms. I hung in there and we made it to our hotel in Delhi before midnight (Christmas)!
Saturday - Christmas: We had planned to go to a Catholic Church, but I couldn't get out of bed. We did manage to get out and have some Italian food for dinner and then rushed back home - the good news is Marina was fine and I am doing well now.
So whats next: Agra, Fatipur Sikri and back to Delhi. Then London for New Years Eve!!
More news to be heard very soon,
Namaste,
Daniel and Marina
No comments:
Post a Comment