Pushkar

Posted on April 4, 2013 by hilarylust

Kelsi woke up the morning we were leaving Udaipur sick as a dog. It was painful. She skipped breakfast and slumped into the back of the car. I don’t think I heard more than four words from her the entire drive to Pushkar. I felt terrible that there was no way I could help.
When we arrived in Pushkar she immediately climbed into bed in the foetal position and fell asleep. I sat for a little while then decided I would go into town.
It was Kelsi’s birthday the next day, and I had promised, months earlier, that I would get her a cake! I had looked up the only German bakery in all of Pushkar and found it on our city map. It was at the Sunset Cafe restaurant and actually came recommended in the lonely planet guide!
Pushkar is a tiny town, but we managed to stay at the hotel on the furthest outskirts of the city center as possible. It was still only a 15 minute walk to the edge of town though, and after being cramped up in a car all day the exercise was welcome.
I found the cafe surprisingly fast. It was right along the lake with an incredible view of the sunset (thus the name of the restaurant I guess).
I walked up to the bakery section and checked out their selection. Some lemon cake, two pieces of old and crumbly looking chocolate cake and part of an apple crumble. Hmmm…
All of a sudden one of the waiters came over to me.
“Oh no! You don’t want those cakes. They are old.”
“Old!” I said, “do you have any fresh ones?”
“Yes, we have ice cream cake”
Nope, that wasn’t going to last over night.
“That’s okay, thanks anyways”
I was about to leave when the owner of the restaurant came up to me.
“Can I help you?” He asked politely.
I explained that I was looking for cake, but couldn’t quite find what I was looking for.
“Well I can help you! We can make you a cake if you’d like, what are you looking for? Chocolate? Lemon? Vanilla? We can make it for you.”
I wasn’t expecting that response. I stood there thinking for a moment.
“Can you do carrot cake?” It was Kelsi’s favourite, and yet I hadn’t seen it at all in India.
“Yes, with chocolate?”
“No no, just carrots”
He walked behind his desk. “Let me call the baker”
Before I knew it, Papu (the owner) had me sitting down in a meeting with the baker. He was a lovely, round man named Krishna who had come all the way down from the bakery to speak with me in person. His laugh ad his flamboyant nature made it hard not to like him immediately.
“A carrot cake?! Well of course! Krishna can do anything! Would you like it with chocolate?”
What is it with people and chocolate carrot cake? I’ve never even heard of that!
“No just carrot, thanks”
“What about chocolate icing?” he smiled a big grin.
“No thanks, maybe lemon? Or vanilla? Can you do that?”
“Oh, Krishna can do anything!” He said again.
And it was done. He would make me the cake and have it back at the restaurant the next day. Papu gave me his phone number, “if you can’t make it back to the restaurant, call me and I will have someone run it to your hotel for you!”
Seriously, these people could not have been any more lovely! I thanked them so much and then made the trek back to take care of poor Kelsi.
The next morning she wasn’t any better.
“Happy Birthday baby!” I told her as she woke up.
She groaned. “You know you’re getting old when you forget it’s your birthday” then she curled back up in pain.
I have to hand it to her though. She sucked it up and we made it into town for the morning. The markets in Pushkar are incredible. It is just one long road that wraps around the little lake that sells a million different things from the markets. We took about an hour to walk three blocks. We kept stopping in at different shops, looking at the jewelry and the brightly colored scarves. We had to take some time to rest along the way as well. Having not eaten in almost two days, Kelsi was exhausted. We sat in the shade on the steps by the lake and watched the world go by.
The Pushkar lake has a bunch of bathing ghats all around the edge. People, young and old, took the time to swim and bath in the waters before carrying on their way. Even a cow was seen cruising up and down the walkways with a headband on, just checking out the watering holes. People watching at its best.
For our lunch stop, we found a little restaurant that had a small garden out back. The air conditioned restaurant was busy with locals, but we decided to sit on our own in the garden. When we had finished eating Kelsi looked at the garden behind me.
“Look Hairy! A turtle!”
I turned around, and sure enough there there was a big old turtle slowly cruising along the garden. Our waiter heard us and laughed.
“There are 5 of them” he said. Then he walked around the garden in search of them. Within minutes he had come up with four of them. He stacked them all in a row for us. We spent way too long taking photos of these silly turtles. It was the highlight of the day! Our waiter just shook his head… Crazy tourists!
After lunch we had to go home for a nap. Hours out in the sun was too much for poor Kelsi, so we rested until dinner.
“Do you have a place in mind for dinner?” Kelsi asked me as we were about to head out in the evening.
“Ya I think so. I found a place yesterday that looked great for watching the sunset. We can check out the menu and see if we like it” I suggested.
“Sounds good”
We had Raju drive us to the edge of town, then walked the rest of the way to the restaurant. Kelsi was in a daze, already searching for a table and going through the menu when the young waiter from the day before spotted me.
“You! Oh! We have your cake! It is here!” He pointed to the fridge where the cake was sitting.
“Oh thank you! Is Papu around? I still have to pay him.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll get him”
I sat down with Kelsi who was still so sick that she hadn’t even heard the conversation go on.
“The menu looks good, lets eat here” she said. Perfect.
Papu showed up and I ran to go talk to him, leaving Kelsi to mull over the menu, still oblivious to her surroundings.
“I think we are going to have dinner here as well” I said
“Okay, okay! Ill bring the cake over whenever you like!” He offered.
I looked back at Kelsi. She was never going to make it through a meal and a cake.
“Better bring it over right away” I suggested, then left to go sit back at the table.
A couple minutes later our waited came over with the cake in hand. “Would you like a candle?” He asked me. Haha, well too late now! Kelsi looked confused, then it clicked that it was a birthday cake.
“Surprise!! Happy birthday!” I said as the waiter out the cake down. She started laughing.
“Oh my god! What?!”
The waiter rushed off and came back with a huge candle in hand. It was so big it wouldn’t fit in the cake, so he stood it up in front if the cake and lit it.
The whole thing was pretty ridiculous, and Kelsi was genuinely surprised. She made her wish, blew out the candle and we tried it out. It wasn’t the most spectacular tasting cake, but it wasn’t half bad for being vegan (yup, Pushkar is a completely vegetarian city, and the only bakery is purely vegan). Krishna had done an excellent job of decorating it, and the surprise was worth it!
In the end, Kelsi was too sick to eat the cake, but we gave it to the helpful staff at our hotel who seemed very appreciative. We watched the sunset as we ate dinner, and then off to bed early.
Pushkar was small, but it’s energy and laid back vibe made it my favourite town in India so far. The people are friendly, the merchants are not pushy, the views are spectacular, and if they’d sold meat and beer the place would have been perfect!
Jaipur has a lot to live up to!

The Jain Temples of Ranakpur

Posted on April 3, 2013 by hilarylust

On our way to Udaipur, we stopped in the lovely little village of Ranakpur. On our way there, Raju decided, out of the blue, that he was giving us new names. We had all been in silent thought for a while when Raju turned around and made his announcement.
“Your new name is Sunita!” He pointed at me. Uhh, okay Raju. “It is very famous Indian name, Sunita” Alrighty. I’ve had enough nicknames in my time, Sunita works for me. “And you… Anita!” He pointed to Kelsi. Of course we would have matching names. It doesn’t confuse people enough that we look identical to all Indians. Some of them stare at us perplexed when we say we are from different countries, trying to figure out how we could be twins and from the other side of the globe! Now we had matching names; it was going to confuse everyone. But from that point forward, we were Sunita and Anita to Raju.
“Sunita! That your home!” Raju said, pointing to a dilapidated and broken down mud shack at the edge of the town.
“Uhh, thanks Raju. It’s so lovely.” And then he giggled to himself for making such a funny joke.
While in Ranakpur, we first hiked to the top of a small hill which looked over a gorgeous lake. It was the first sign of rolling hills and small mountains that we’d seen yet in India and the view was beautiful. The green background was quite a difference from Rajasthan’s golden desert to the west.
At the foot of the hill was a small house and inside, a man who made handwoven dhurries for a living. Dhurries are like carpets, but the pattern is double-sided and the whole thing is a lot lighter. The process is fascinating! He showed us how he weaves the wool or silk or hair, through this wooden structure, and then uses a comb-like object to push all the material into place. One Dhurrie takes him 35 days, working 8 hours per day, to complete. Are you kidding me?! That’s insane. The man just sits there all day, pressing and weaving and designing beautiful looking carpets. It was amazing.
After the demonstration was the usual “please buy my stuff” speech. He had us look through his works and pick out our favourites. “Don’t worry about the price! It is very cheap!”
That’s what they all say. But we were not about to haul around massive carpets on top of our already insanely packed bags.
“I’m sorry,” I said “your work is beautiful, but I don’t have a home of my own to put one in!” I explained.
“You don’t have a home of your own?” Some guy, obviously another tourist traveling on his own, popped his head around the pillar to talk with us. “That is very sad”.
We laughed and chatted about where he had just come from. He was absolutely lovely and the first tourist we had spoken to in ages! He was so excited to hear that we were heading to Udaipur because he had just had such a wonderful time there.
“You have to stay at the hotel I was at! It’s called Ganesh Ghats! Can you remember that? Would you like me to write it down? Oh! And I went on this wonderful hike through the jungle. It was the best thing I have done in India so far! My driver has the name of the company. Please, if you would like, come and get the name from him.”
We were excited to hear about all the fun stuff to try in Udaipur. It was the first city we were visiting that we stayed in for two nights, which meant lots of time for exploring. “Ya, we’d love to get the name!” We started, then Raju cut us off.
“Okay now, Chello! We go now, in the car” he practically stepped in between us and shuffled us towards the car.
What? Wait. We’re in the middle of a conversation! We shouted apologies over Raju’s shoulder to the guy just as we were pushed into the car.
“Don’t talk to young men. They are bad. I do not like them. Do not talk to them, okay?”
No. Not okay.
“We were taking to him Raju. He was very nice!” We said.
“No! We go now” he said definitively, and we drove off.
Okay. So a few of you know that NO ONE tells Kelsi and I what to do. A couple people on this trip have learned the hard way not to treat us like children that need to be looked after. It’s not pretty. We were more than unimpressed to be told who we could or could not talk to. We were in silent fury as we drove off to the next stop…
When we arrived, Raju acted like nothing had happened. “Okay, you go into temple, and you take photo, then back to the car. Okay? It is free, so don’t bring any money, and when anyone talks to you, you say Chello!”
We got out of the car without a word and walked away. We were going to go talk to everyone we saw, just out of spite.
We stopped at the first temple which was small, but beautifully carved. It was all in white marble, with many carved pillars and unique looking designs. Ranakpur apparently is home to India’s biggest and most important Jain temple complexes: and that is what we were looking at.
When we had finished with the first temple, we carried on to the larger and more complex temple.
Sitting on a bench outside the large temple we ran across the guy we had just met at the Bhurrie factory.
“Look Kelsi! There’s that guy again!”
“Let’s go talk to him”
Just out of pure spite, he was going to be our new best friend for the afternoon. Lanz from Denmark turned out to also be one of the most genuinely nice people I’ve ever met in my life. He was one of those people who would get ripped off by everyone in India. He accepted flowers and photos and bhindis, then was asked to dole out money as needed. He did so with a big smile, not ever feeling taken advantage of. When it turned out that we needed to pay a fee for my camera as well (even though we left all our money in the car as instructed) he didn’t even blink an eye and paid for two cameras to enter. Every nice thing he did made us angrier at Raju.
The second temple was absolutely spectacular! In the same milk white marble, this temple was a massive collection of rooms and pillars. The temple has 1444 individually engraved pillars, each one more elaborately decorated than the next. It was stunning!
We must have spent 45 minutes or so just wandering around the place, looking in all the little crevasses and rooms that the place had. When we were done, we wandered back and found Lanz, with an awestruck look on his face only about half way through the temple. We thanked him for the camera and the information in Udaipur and wished him luck on his travels. Then we walked back to the car to find Raju, silently triumphant for disobeying his strict “no meeting people” rule. If it was going to be like this for the whole two weeks, we were going to have a problem.
Next stop: Udaipur.

Camel Safari in the Thar Desert

Posted on March 28, 2013 by hilarylust

We woke up early after our first night in Jaisalmer and saw some more cenotaphs. They were a peaceful escape from the city, apart from the few young boys harassing us. I don’t care what Bollywood movie star I remind you of, and no, I don’t want my photo taken from every possible angle. I just want to enjoy the serenity of the cenotaphs alone!
There was no escaping though. When we had successfully dodged a couple clingy young boys and wanted to leave, Raju had an entire photo shoot for us in mind.
“Stand by pole. Ok. And you, over by wall” *groan* There’s nothing I dislike more than an awkward photo session where every limb has it’s exact place.
When we got back in the car it was a relief. We were excited to go see inside the fort, then head off to the camel safari in the afternoon.
“Okay I get tomatoes and then after maybe we chello camel safari” said Raju as we pulled up on some street corner and he got out.
What?
“Did he just say he was going to get tomatoes?” I asked Kelsi.
“I think that’s what I heard”
“What does that mean?”
“No idea.”
Big surprise. Kelsi and I still have no idea what’s going on. We watched Raju disappear into the crowd. We waited in the scorching heat in the car. While we waited, we looked around at the busy street.
Motor bikes, bicycles, rickshaws, vendors, cows, goats, children, shoe polishers it was dizzyingly busy around us. And once again, all eyes were on the two blondes in the car. Great. I feel like I’m in a zoo: gawked at behind glass with loads of farm animals around me. What more could a girl wish for?
There was a bottle shop on the corner where Raju had left to.
“Bet he’s gone into the bottle shop” I said. We had joked that we have never seen Raju eat anything since we’ve been on the tour with him.
“No wonder he doesn’t eat!” Kelsi exclaimed, “he’s an alcoholic!”
“Or maybe he went in there to buy us a bottle of whiskey now that he thinks it’s our favourite drink!” We laughed.
“I wonder what he meant by tomatoes…”
Then just as we were pondering, Raju came back around the corner with a big green box in his hand. He walked up to the window of the car and dropped it on Kelsi’s lap. Then he turned and walked back into the crowd.
Inside the box was a big bottle of whiskey.
“Oh god, you’re kidding me. Did he just buy us a bottle of whiskey! What the hell are we going to do with a bottle of whiskey!? And where did he go?!” We had no choice but to sit there perplexed until Raju came back.
When he came back the second time he had a black bag with him. Without a word, he once again walked up to the window, dropped the bag in Kelsi’s lap, and walked away…
We opened the bag. It was full of tomatoes, cucumbers and chili peppers. Okay, what the hell is going on. What’s with the vegetables?! We were so lost. Was this some weird Indian drink we were about to make? Like a Caesar, but with fresh tomatoes? Do Indians eat vegetables while they sip on whiskey? Was this even for us?
Raju came back again with another small black bag. This one had a handful of peanuts in it.
“Eat” he said. It was the first thing he’d said since he’d left us in the car.
We were so confused as we sat in the back of the car, eating our peanuts, that we didn’t even notice we were driving in the wrong direction from the fort.
Apparently the fort wasn’t in our agenda anymore and instead, we drove straight out to the camel safari in a town called Khuri, 40km outside Jaisalmer. Lunch was also not in the program it seems. We arrived at the camel safari start point 2 and a half hours before anyone else, and just had to sit there, with the man who worked there, until everyone showed up. Plenty of time to have explored the fort and eaten food. We were cranky to say the least.
The guy that worked there was at least nice. Love was his name, and he only works the camel safari part time. Normally, he is an engineer that specializes in wind power. Sadly, engineers in India don’t get paid well, so he has to work with camels part time to pay the bills.
Love chatted to us about life in the desert.
“People just work with camels, and relax when it is hot and eat opium.”
Oh, ya. Wait, what was that last part?
“Did you say EAT opium?”
We asked.
“Yes, we eat, it clears brain! Wait, I have some in my pocket.”
Sure enough, the man pulled out a black chunk of opium from his back pocket. I don’t think I’ve ever seen opium before, so I just had to take his word for it. I have also never heard of people eating it in small chunks.
“Is opium illegal here?” We asked.
“Yes, but in the desert no one checks, so everyone eats it here.” So weird. Turns out the man carries hashish and marijuana in his pockets too. I had to laugh about how absurd it was that he just walked around with all sorts of drugs in his pockets and didn’t seem phased by it at all. Only in India.
Soon enough the other tourists arrived and we set out on camels for the sunset. It was deathly hot, and we still had four hours of trekking round the desert until sunset. Plus we were starving. Nonetheless, we were excited to head out in the desert and finally meet some other tourists!
The camels we jumped on were massive! I thought the camels in Africa were large, but these ones are insane. I bet some of the larger ones reached 10 feet high with their heads up! I felt like I was sitting on top of the world on my camel, Kaloo.
Turns out, it didn’t really matter that Kelsi and I had waited two hours for the rest of the group. Three minutes into the ride, our two guides split off from the group and we went our separate ways. So much for making friends!
We walked for a while in the sun, then decided to take a break in the shade for a few minutes. Kelsi and my guides could not have been more different. Kelsi’s guide was a young boy at the age of ELEVEN! Yup, eleven years old and working hard. My guide Luna, on the other hand, could have passed for one hundred and eleven. Either way, they were both very nice, and seemed to get along great with each other as well.
In the shade of the tree is when Kelsi and I realized how funny looking camels are. They chew out of the side of their mouths, which looks hilarious in photos, and although they apparently don’t spit, they do bite! Kelsi’s was a mean little camel and tried to nip at her when she stuck her face close. Mine was older and a little less temperamental, but both camels left us entertained for a good half hour as we took stupid photos of them. When we turned around from the camels, we saw that both our guides were asleep. What a great tour. So we went back to the camels.
“Let’s just take them and escape to Pakistan!” We said. We were only about 30 kilometers or so from the Pakistani border. It would be easy! I grabbed the reins of my camel and pretended to run. But Kaloo wasn’t having any of it and just sat there with a stupid look on his face.
It’s hard to believe it, but eventually we got bored taking photos of the same two camels over and over again. Unfortunately, our guides were still passed out. So we decided to go for an adventure. We ran around the desert (literally running. The sand was so hot on our bare feet we could hardly stand it) searching for more fun. We climbed up hills and sand dunes, got tangled in some prickle bushes and finally we found the goat.
There were a number of black goats roaming around the desert, but this goat was our target.
“Let’s see if we can get it” we said.
He was a sneaky goat, that’s for sure! He saw us coming and immediately went skidding away in the other direction. There were so many prickles on the ground at this point that we were at a disadvantage with our bare feet. I chased him around one bush and then got very close as I hid behind a shrub before creeping up behind him. Then a lizard skittered by me and I got distracted. The goat saw me and ran off again. Foiled again!
Kelsi tried next, running round and round this big bush. The goat outsmarted her too and just climbed into the depth of the prickles to get away. Damn you goat!
We give up… Back to the camels.
The camels were sprawled out on the sand and scratching themselves when we got back. Kaloo swung his legs around and flung a goat pellet, hitting me straight in the chest with a thud. Excuse me! Kelsi burst out laughing.
We’d been stopped in the shade for an hour and a half before our guides woke up. Hi. Remember us? You are our TOUR GUIDES and we are supposed to be riding camels! They seemed unphased.
We hopped back on the camels and towards our sunset viewpoint. Kaloo was apparently still tired, because he stumbled his way up the hill and got stuck trying to walk over a huge bush. Kelsi broke out into fits of laughter once again as I struggled to stay on. When Luna freed my camel from the tangle of the bushes, we carried onward up the dunes.
About 20 minutes later we came to our viewing point and back off the camels to sit in the shade. Kelsi and I entertained ourselves by playing xhonu in the sand and taking photos of a camel who’s lower lip was flipped outward and stuck. I was in stitches laughing at this camel, until we found out that his lip is probably permanently stuck that way. Then we felt a little bad for making fun of it.
The sunset was incredibly disappointing. Even in the middle of the desert, the sun hit a layer of smog long before it touched the horizon. We didn’t even stay for the whole thing. We were so hungry at this point, having not eaten more than half a handful of peanuts in 12 hours.
When we got back to camp, we were greeted by Raju.
“Look! I made you a treat!” He said with a smile. He pointed into the back of the car. It was a salad of sliced tomatoes and cucumber and chili peppers. Next to it was three glasses and a bottle of whiskey. My stomach churned. What a surprise!
“Now you go eat your dinner. But drinks, they maybe are too expensive, and many tourists, so no talking to them. Then when your dinner over, maybe we drink whiskey and eat the tomato!”
What? First of all, don’t talk to the tourists?! Kelsi and I have been craving ANY conversation with someone who speaks English for about a week now! Also, do we want to eat a salad after we’ve already eaten a four course meal? Probably not. And I really don’t want to drink a bottle of whiskey right before bed. But Raju looked so excited and had prepared everything for us, so we politely said we would join him after dinner.
Turns out we sat next to Italians and French at dinner, so our excitement to speak English was shot down anyways. Dinner was lovely, and came with wonderful dancing and fire breathing entertainment. When dinner was over, Love came around asking if we would like to sleep in cabins or in the desert.
“Desert, please!” We said.
“Okay, we leave in ten minutes then”
Oh no, we hadn’t even seen Raju. We rushed out to the car to tell him we couldn’t join him, but he said “no problem” and filled our glasses with whiskey. “Eat” he said and pointed to the salad.
Oh my god, I was so full. I couldn’t eat a salad now! But we had a few bites to be polite. When it had been a minute since we’d touched the food he repeated “you, eat”. No!!! I don’t want to. But our polite ‘no thank yous’ were brushed away with another “yes, you eat”.
Meanwhile, we had a cup of whiskey to drink. Why oh why did I mention the whiskey yesterday! To be honest, the whiskey wasn’t bad. It was very smooth and reminded me of drinking Sangsom back in Thailand. When we drained our glasses he filled them up. “Oh, no thank you” we said.
“It’s okay, it’s okay” and he poured in more.
This was weird. We were sitting in the desert, in the back of our car, eating slices of cucumber and tomato and drinking back shots of whiskey like they were water. ‘I just want to be sitting inside meeting people’ I thought.
We downed our second cup and jumped out of the car before he could fill it up a third time.
“See you in the morning” said Raju “be very safe, and no talking to anyone!”
We hopped on the back of a camel drawn cart and rolled out into the desert, feeling a little tipsy.
It was pitch black out there. We couldn’t see a thing as we rolled along the sand dunes and into the night. All you could hear was the grunting, growling, snoring sounds that were coming from the camels.
We slept apart from the group with two girls from Italy. We had no choice in the matter, that’s just where they put us. But our guide set up little cots for us, and full bed rolls and lots of blankets. It was the most comfortable I’d been in weeks!
Kelsi and I watched the stars for a little while, then I fell asleep quite quickly. I was woken a couple times in the middle of the night with the sounds of singing and drumming coming from somewhere way off in the distance. It could have been the small village, or perhaps it was somewhere in Pakistan. Apparently you can hear the village on the other side of the border when the wind is right. Then finally it was morning. The sunlight looked incredible over the sand dunes. It was the first time we saw where we had been sleeping and it was beautiful. Kelsi and I hiked up a small dune to see the sun rise, but really it just came out of a black cloud just like the sunsets.
Just after daybreak we were back in town, having breakfast. Then we were herded back to the car.
“You sleep good in the desert?” Asked Raju.
“Yup!” We both said. Then Kelsi looked down at the back of her seat with a horrified gaze.
“Look” she nudged me.
It was another bottle of whiskey….
Kill. Me. Now.

Jaisalmer

Posted on March 28, 2013 by hilarylust

Driving towards the bustling city of Jaisalmer was like driving into a desert fairy tale. I felt like I was in the movie Aladdin and we were emerging from the desert into the chaos of street vendors and palaces. (Yes, Disney movies obviously had a significant impact on my life. In Africa I continuously thought I was in The Lion King, and in India I can’t stop humming every Aladdin song I can remember).
The city is huge. It stretches its way across the desert in urban sprawl. The real spectacle, however, is the fort.
The Jaisalmer fort sits high above the city, looming over the expanse of buildings below. It is a fortified and imposing looking sandstone structure that is surprisingly beautiful. The Jaisalmer fort is also one of the few living forts that still exists. Three thousand people live within its walls. The narrow windy passages are filled with guesthouses and shop fronts that cater to tourist and local needs. At night, the fort is lit up from below, creating a magical spectacle for the rest of the city to admire. It is simply stunning.
It was a long drive from Bikaner to Jaisalmer. We were quietly reading and staring out at the world for most of the way, until Raju decided he was going to open up and make friends with us.
“You student, or working?” He asked. “How many peoples in your family?” it was nice that he was trying to get to know us. We would be with him for two full weeks after all. We told him that we both worked in bars back home and that is how we had met in Canada.
“Oh! Bars, lots of drinks: beers, whiskey.”
“Yup” we agreed. Then, I remembered that I was supposed to keep my eyes open for a whiskey called Amrut Fusion. It had apparently won lots of awards here in India.
“I hear you guys have excellent whiskeys here in India” I said to Raju.
“Oh yes, you like whiskey?”
“Ya.” We said half heartedly. I enjoy a whiskey every now and then, but I’m definitely not a connoisseur and it’s definitely not my drink of choice. But we were polite and nodded and smiled at each whiskey Raju rattled on about after that. And before we knew it, we had arrived at the city.
After an afternoons rest, playing xhonu by the pool and sipping on banana milkshakes, we began our short city tour.
We started out at the Tilon-ki-Pol gateway down by the lake. The lake was beautiful. It had a couple little islands with temples on them, and an area to boat around. The lake used to be used as a watering tank once upon a time. The story goes, that a famous prostitute had offered to pay to build a gateway around the water. The maharawal refused, saying that it would be unfit for him to pass under a gate built by a courtesan. However, while he was away from the city, she built the gate anyways, then she had a temple to Krishna erected on top of it so the king could not tear it down. The gateway is stunning!
When we’d finished at the lake, we drove to the outskirts of the city for sunset. Just outside the hustle and bustle of Jaisalmer are a number of beautifully carved sandstone cenotaphs. We were dropped off at the gate, not knowing what was going on or where we were.
“Just go in and watch sunset” said Raju, “inside, lots of peoples maybe says ‘buy this, and buy that’ but you say ‘NO!’ And keep walking. You know Hindi word for ‘go’? It Chello! So when people say maybe ‘you need this guide?’ Or maybe ‘you buy post card’ you say ‘Chello!'” We laughed, it was very nice of him to look out for us like we were first time travelers, even though we were fully capable of fending ourselves from a couple of vendors. And I guess it’s always nice to learn a little Hindi while we’re here.
So we thanked Raju and walked off towards the cenotaphs.
They were gorgeous in the setting sun. Beautiful carved pillars in a light sandstone colour with the city as a backdrop. The Jaisalmer fort was all lit up and sparkling in the background as the sun gleamed across the front of it. The whole thing was incredible.
So we found a quiet place to sit while the tourists came flowing in by the bus loads to watch the sun set. We were there for over an hour waiting for the sun to go down.
“Do you think it’s weird we were dropped off an hour and a half early for sunset shots?” Kelsi asked.
“Yup, a little” but we sat there anyways.
The one downfall I have realized about India is how much smog there is in the country. I guess, with a population of 1.6 billion, there has got to be some pollution in the air. But this is crazy. I have never seen a country that, even in the middle of a desert, with no city around, the horizon is nearly impossible to see because of the smog. It’s everywhere! Sitting at the cenotaphs, watching the sun set, was our first real experience of this. The sun, instead of setting behind the horizon, fell behind a layer of smog and disappeared, long before reaching the earth. It was disappointing after waiting for so long. We had just come from Africa, where there are the most spectacular sunsets each and every night. India’s setting sun was a little depressing. I’m hoping this is not a country wide trend.
When the sun had fallen behind the smog, we beat the crowds and found Raju back at the car. Home time!
Back to the hotel for a lovely rooftop dinner with some local musicians and a stunning view of the Jasailmer Fort. What an incredible city!

Bikaner

Posted on March 23, 2013 by hilarylust

Bikaner was our next destination. Slightly larger than the quiet streets of Mandawa, Bikaner hosts many bustling, four lane streets and crazed markets. It also is home to Jungarh Fort, which was home to many royals of the past.
Our first mission was food. We were hungry and needed some lunch. Even by day two, Kelsi and I were tired of being carted around to various tourist driven restaurants. I didn’t come to India to sit safely in a plush restaurant with a bunch of whiteys and eat food that caters to European tastes. I want to sit in a dingy hole in the wall, with a bunch of locals and have a menu that is entirely in Hindi. I want to pay dirt cheap prices, have to sit on an overturned pail as a chair, and eat food that is both killer spicy and will probably give me food poisoning for a week. Yes. To many people that sounds insane, but that’s the kind of India I want to experience.
“Are there any local restaurants in the area that serve great Indian food?” We asked the man at the front desk.
“Yes, we have a wonderful restaurant here at the hotel”
Ya… And at 10 times the price we can get anywhere else. But trying not to offend, we said we wanted to have dinner at the hotel but try a new place for lunch.
“Okay!” He said, “try the hotel next door. It very nice”
*sigh* we were too hungry to explain any further. We walked out the gates and realized there was nothing around but a long dirt road of hotels. Across the street was a little restaurant with a sign that read “great Indian food”. In a small act of defiance, we decided to forego the other hotel and cross the street to the little restaurant.
The place was very quiet, with only one Indian family sitting in the corner. Well at least the locals eat here, we thought. We sat down and ordered some food.
“Look at us Hairy! We crossed the street all on our own!”
When the food came out it was delicious! Some tomato curry with cheese in it and stuffed potatoes. Just delicious.
Actually, I’ve been enjoying ALL the food I’ve tried here in India so far. I have been keeping a strict food diary for Kelsi and I.
First I write down the item that I ordered. Then, I describe a little what is in it and how it tastes. Then I rate it. Not on a 1-10 scale or anything. It’s much more subjective, like “oh my god this is incredible” or ” holy cow, I can’t believe I’m actually eating this”. Unfortunately, after so many incredible foods, I’m running out of creatives ways of saying its amazing.
Kelsi’s food log is a little different. For those of you that don’t know, Kelsi is allergic to capsicum: all kinds of capsicum. That means no green peppers, no red peppers, no chilli peppers, no jalapeños, no paprika, and pretty much nothing that gives an Indian curry it’s spiciness. So Kelsi’s food log goes like this: we write down the name of what she orders. Then we wait 4 hours. If she throws up, it gets an X. If she’s still okay, it gets a tick.
For the first week the only ticks she had were plain naan bread and vegetable kofta… Then a couple days ago we had to change the vegetable kofta to an X again. Sad day. Looks like Kelsi is going to have a rough couple months eating naan!
When lunch was over we applauded ourselves for going somewhere other than the hotel. It wasn’t far, but it was baby steps. The food was still pricier than we wanted, but at least the locals ate there! Then, as we were leaving, a huge French tour bus unloaded and everyone piled into the restaurant. Fabulous. We hadn’t succeeded at all… So back to the hotel for a rest. Next time we’re anywhere NEAR the vicinity of some local eateries we will go there.
When our rest was over, we drove out to Jungarh Fort. Raju dropped us off and shuffled us towards the front gate. We didn’t even know where we were. We were told we were driving 40km out of the city to the Karni Mata temple that we wanted to see. Instead, we drove a couple blocks away and stood outside this massive fort. Okay, whatever: we never have any idea what’s going on these days.
So we paid our fee and walked in. The fort was lovely, and had a tonne of beautiful passages and ornate rooms. Apparently this is where all the royals of the past had lived. But we didn’t have a guide, and all the tour groups around us were French so we couldn’t even eavesdrop. (So many French tourists here in India! Wasn’t expecting that). We moved from room to room, and courtyard to courtyard taking photos then back out to the car. This isn’t where we wanted to be! We were so excited about the Karni Mata temple we just wanted to get there.
“That was so fast!” Said Raju when we came out of the fort less than 20 minutes later.
“Yup! Let’s go!” We said and we drove off to our intended destination: Deshnok’s Rat Temple.

Changing Continents

Posted on March 21, 2013 by hilarylust

We had two flights and 17 hours before we got to New Delhi. When I first booked the flight I thought to myself, “Why does it take so long?!” Oh, because South Africa and India are on TWO SEPARATE CONTINENTS! That’s why! Okay, maybe fitting in two continents in one trip was a silly idea. But I have no regrets! I couldn’t decide between the two places, might as well do both!
Our first flight was about 10 hours from Cape Town to Dubai. As we loaded the plane, Kelsi was told to go to the right, while I walked down the farther lane on the other side of the aircraft.
“Race you!” She said, and took off down the aisle.
My line moved at a glacial pace. One man couldn’t decide where he wanted to put his luggage and was trying to fight his way back the other direction. A family was trying to gather their children and pack all their toys, books and bags into one overhead compartment.
When I travel I usually have pretty good luck… Until the airports. Airports are where all my luck goes out the window and I’m left in utter agony for the majority of the time. I’ve been in the screaming children’s section of a 9 hour flight from London. The parents decided to leave all their wailing youngsters next to me while they quietly conversed at the back of the plane: I called it the “ball pit section” and the screeching went great with my hangover. I had an old drunk man pass out on my shoulder during my flight to Greece: a wonderful 10 hours of my life. I missed my connecting flight in Houston because of my terrible choice of security lines: much to Adam’s amusement. And we all remember the chaos of my flight to Argentina when the airport had no power: why do I travel…
Standing in the longer line in this plane was peanuts compared to the airport disasters I’ve had before. It was at least 5 minutes later than Kelsi when I stuck my head into our plane compartment and saw her sitting in her seat laughing at me. I gave her my best Adrienne impression of “I’m stuck behind a bunch if people on the stairs” look and she laughed even harder. I was still slowly working my way towards her in line when I realized she couldn’t stop laughing at me.
Okay, it was funny that I was stuck in line, but not THAT funny. Then she looked to her right, then back at me and then laughed again. I peeked my head around the line to see what she was looking at.
Kelsi and I were in the middle two seats in the middle section of the plane. On the far right was a man on his own, then Kelsi, then me, then the LARGEST man I’ve ever seen on an airplane!
I don’t want to make fun of him, he was a lovely man, but he DID take up all of his seat, and half of mine. The flight attendant ACTUALLY had to give him an extra seatbelt to clip on to the first one so that he could be strapped in. Of course I would get that seat.
Then, about five minutes into the flight, the seat in front of me flew back, crushing me in even further. Kelsi found this hilarious. If I’d had room to move my arms, I would have slapped her.
This flight is where I realized that I have difficulty doing normal things in cramped spaces. Taking off a sweater? Not a chance! I wriggled and squirmed for about five minutes before I squeezed myself out of it. I dropped every one of my utensils on the ground, but couldn’t contort my body enough to pick it up again. So I sat, straight as an arrow in the left half of my little airplane seat, and watched a movie… For 10 hours.
During the flight Kelsi watched Twilight 4 times. Yup, that’s right, FOUR times. Apparently she still doesn’t know what it’s about (and I thought MY flight experience was bad).
Well it was excruciating, but we did land in the Dubai airport. We had a couple hours layover and were total zombies the entire time. All I wanted to do was go to sleep! Kelsi Skyped her parents on the wifi while I struggled to hold myself together. It was one of those “I’ve never been so tired and haggard in my life” moments. I couldn’t wait to get on ANOTHER flight.
Our second flight was much quicker, but I can’t exactly tell you what happened. I was in a state of limbo: half awake and half asleep. I don’t remember watching a movie, but I didn’t sleep either. I just stared off into oblivion like the undead and waited for the plane to land.
Eventually it did land. Thank goodness. And we stumbled our way into India…