Let’s Go… Jodphur - We arrived in Jodphur after a 7 hour bus ride on a local bus- we were quite frightened about what the local bus might entail but we were pleasantly surprised. They have sleeper cabins above the seats and it seemed like half of India was up there. At every bus stop more and more locals would climb out only we hadn’t seen them get on the bus- it was wildly entertaining.
Arriving at our hotel was a breath of fresh air- the hotel was a royal property and had an amazing garden court yard as well as swimming pool and our rooms were just as majestic. We settled in before heading out to the Fort.
This Fort, while no longer a living fort, it was really quite spectacular. There was an amazing audio tour that took us through life as it was in a fort for the many centuries it was occupied- through all the customs and traditions and through the artefacts and royal rooms. The Fort was designed and built to keep all intruders out and to this day as never been breached. Leading up to the main gate was a very steep hill and polished stone making it slippery and difficult for elephants to gain momentum. If they were able to make it up they were greeted by a right angle which would bring even the largest of animals to a halt. One inside there were several courtyards with views of the city and the very throne where centuries of kings had their coronation.
The next day we went on a village safari which took us just outside of town. The first village was that of a pottery-making family. Pottery is a craft handed down from generation to generation with the children starting to learn at age ten. An elderly man transformed clay mixed with sawdust into beautiful vases right before our eyes. In the span of ten minutes he had created a number of beautiful pieces before he had his grandson, who was just thirteen show us what he had learned. Formerly, this would have been the family’s only education and means for earning an income however, now the children also go to school and learn the pottery in their spare time while the elders continue to make and sell their wares. Had we not been travelling for so long there would have been a number of items that would have been mine!
From there we headed to a seven-person village where they demonstrated how their traditional opium drink is made as a sign of respect to guests who enter the village. The opium is very diluted and cannot be bought at full strength. We didn’t taste that but Stijn and some of the others were treated to a traditional smoking pipe.Stijn really looked the part as he sat on the carpet, turban and all! We also visited a village of traditional carpet makers- it was really interesting to see how much work and time goes into each of the carpets. I was quite pleased to hear about the cooperative with they had started with the villagers near-by. Their village was by far the nicest and the cleanest- so I expect they are doing quite well with it.
Tomorrow we head out early by bus to Udaipur.
Let’s Go Udaipur…sadly the bus ride was far less than enjoyable this time around- what was supposed to take five hours ended up taking us nine and a half- and every hour was pretty brutal. Our bus driver yelled the whole way- he clearly thought it was an acceptable volume for conversation. On top of that the roads were under construction and extremely bumpy the majority of the way.
By the time we arrived, Delhi belly had officially set in. I regret to report that we didn’t see much of Udaipur other than the hotel room and the pizza place across the street. We did manage to wander out one night to the market but turned back after a short while.
The rest of the of the group was treated to what sounded like a great time- a show that highlighted all of the various traditional styles of dance, a cooking class and a palace built in the middle of the lake- the one that was filmed in the James Bond Movie Octopussy (it feels very wrong to type that). We hope that the next stop in Pushkar will cure our stomach’s.
Let’s Go Pushkar… We arrived in Pushkar after taking a 6 hour train ride where 6 people are seated per cabin knee to knee in fairly tight quarters. Luckily for us, two of our group members in our cabin managed to find seating elsewhere so we were able to stretch out somewhat.
Our hotel was very nice once again and considering we booked a ‘basic’ trip we have been very spoiled with the quality of hotels that we’ve been staying in. This one, complete with spa (though I use the term loosely) and pool served as a good resting place for Stijn and I who were still trying to get over our stomach issues.
We managed to join the group for the evening orientation outing where we went to the holy lake and took part in a Hindu offering ritual. The priest provided us with plates filled with grains of rice for good food, granules of sugar for sweet life and red and orange coloring which he then marked our foreheads with. Each offering was made with a Sanskrit chant and in exchange you ask for good karma, health and happiness not only for yourself, but for your family as well.
There are three main Gods worshiped in Hinduism, the Brahman God can only be worshiped here in Pushkar making it a very auspicious town where Hindu’s travel to and wash themselves in the holy lake and go to the Brahman temple. For this reason no eggs, meat or alcohol is allowed.
The next day I decided to rest my stomach and sit by the pool and read all day while Stijn wandered the streets and markets. There is always an interesting story or two when you wander around the markets of India and this time Stijn found himself at the brunt of the story quite literally after a cow decided to try and gore him with his horns. Luckily Stijn moved out of the way but not before receiving a few pretty good bruises. Here of course, cows are holy and are pretty much everywhere. Traffic goes around them and they are able to go wherever they please. Our tour guide was telling us that if a cow hits you there is nothing you can do except say sorry and apologize for having done something bad in another life- not quite the answer Stijn was looking for but amusing none the less!
That night we went out for dinner on our own and were delighted to have some Israeli food complete with pita and hummus. We love Indian food but it is far too heavy to have every day and have been diligently seeking out other alternatives for the past few days. This definitely hit the spot.
We'll be heading out tomorrow morning to Jaipur which is a much bigger city than we've been in the past few days-there's over 4 million people and is very well know for its shopping-needless to say we are looking forward to it.
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