January 20 – 10:05AM – Driving.
January 20 – 7:30PM – Jodhpur.
I’ve got many things to write about so I’ll get started with last nights evening in Udaipur. We started off watching the sunset over the lake from our hotel balcony and chatted with some women that we had met earlier, two British girls named Liv and Laura and a girl from Holland named Rose.
As I mentioned, the James Bond Movie Octopussy (ahem) was shot in town, so many of the restaurants play the movie at night. We wandered next door to our hotel where the film was playing and sat in front of an old TV and a DVD player that skipped so much that it condensed the entire film down to about 45 minutes. It was all good because we saw the parts that were shot in town anyways. The scenes were comprised of a pretty awesome tuk tuk chase through the narrow city streets, with ridiculous jumps, knife fights, fire walking and explosions. There were also several scenes shot in the palace where James Bond of course used his 007 techniques to easily seduce several enemy women. Oh James! We sat around for awhile after the movie, finishing off some beers and chatting with the ladies. My 007 techniques are slightly lower in skill level than Bond’s.
We woke up early the next day (today) and caught a rented car to see the fort and temple in the Indian countryside and then move on to Jodhpur. The drive was very windy, through hills and down bumpy roads but very cool because we got to see what the life of rural farmers in India is like. While the surrounding hills were dry and rocky the small valleys were fertile with trees and terraced crops fed by intricate waterways that seemed to do the job well as far as I can tell from the greenness of the crops. The whole system is dependent on water wheels turned by cows and oxen walking in circles, nudged along by men sitting on their backs with a small stick. We quickly buzzed through the rock walled countryside, goat herds and one-street towns populated by traditionally dressed men in bright pink turbans and women dressed in electric pink, red, and orange saris carrying large baskets of goods on their heads.
Our first stop was at a fort perched high on a very defendable mountain rock outcropping called Kumbalgarh. It was constructed in the 1400’s. This thing was pretty cool, with massive sandstone walls surrounding it. Over the hundreds of years that the fort was functioning as a home to its inhabitants it was only overtaken once by a warrior general named Akbar. He was successful by poisoning the water supply. We climbed a steep cobblestone path leading up to the main palace which had absolutely breathtaking views of the flat desert plains fifty or so miles below. Very cool and worth the drive if you can handle the long trip to get there. With the next stop that we would make included, the total trip time was about ten hours between hotels.
After the fort we made a quick stop at a Jain temple… what is Jain? Mmmm, all I know is that Jains don’t eat garlic and I that it is a religion older than Buddhism. The temple we stopped at was carved from white marble and was made up of several wings supported by hundreds of columns with small intricate carvings on them of elephants and gods and the like. It was very peaceful inside.
After hanging out at the temple for a bit we descended out of the forested and monkey laden hills and hit the flat dry planes of the Thar Desert. This area of India can best and most accurately be described with one perfect word, dusty. The ride became semi brutal at this point with the dust from the large and brightly decorated Indian versions of semi trucks kicking up dirt and sand, most of which went straight into our un-air-conditioned car windows and is still crunching between my teeth as I sit here and eat naan and chicken masala for dinner.
It is worth describing a pit stop we made at a truck stop/garbage dump/roadside-pee-area (minus the actual bathroom)/town where our driver took a break to get a chai tea. This place was completely destroyed with garbage strewn everywhere, cows eating the garbage, all types of excrement and the smells to go with it, as well as the ever present dust from passing trucks and exhaust in your face. If you have ever been appalled by Tijuana or a similar place then multiply that by about at least three or four, no kidding.
That’s about it up until now. Like I said we are in Jodhpur which is called the blue city because its buildings are painted light blue to repel the desert heat and also because the blue color somehow repels mosquitoes.
Kevin is definitely sick. As I stopped by the room to wash my hands before diner he was having a good puke in the toilet. I’ll try to get him a banana from the street market when I take a look around town this evening. Leaving for Jaisalmer by car tomorrow at 8:00AM.
January 22 – 10:45AM – Jaisalmer.
Alright, been busy so I didn’t get a journal entry in yesterday, but I’ll pick up where I left off. We cut out early in the morning from Jodhpur by car yesterday to head northwest to Jaisalmer, a desert town about two hours from the Pakistani border. The town of Jaisalmer is cool. It is built around a very old fort made from honey colored sandstone. The fort is the only historical fort in India that still has people living within its actual walls. This is a cool thing to see, but because the fort was not originally built with a drainage system and because now modern pipelines pump water to people’s sinks and taps in their homes and businesses, waste water is eroding the clay foundation that the fort is built upon. During ancient times families in the fort would live off of a pot of water a day. Now tourists take long showers in the guesthouses inside the fort and this adds to the erosion. There are several relief organizations trying to save the fort by getting people to move out but this obviously poses a problem to those who make their living inside or who own guesthouses on the prime real-estate and whose businesses would disappear.
When we arrived at our guesthouse, the Shahi Palace outside the fort, we went for a walk to explore town. We came upon a business that rented motorcycles and, good idea, bad idea, whatever, we did it and drove around out in the desert as the sunset turned the yellow sand deep gold. It was definitely scary with the crazy Indian drivers and the whole wrong side of the road thing but it was an epic time.
After cruising around for a few hours we got into another crazy but cool experience when we returned the motorcycles. The owner of the motorcycle shop, Hemant, also sold textiles and offered to show us some of his goods. We said no at first but then Hemant said okay fine, just sit with me for a while and we can just chat about life and the world and everything. We said no thank you again but Indians are very hard to say no to. We ended up sitting on the floor, as is Indian custom, in the back room of the shop drinking chai. The chai drinking soon turned to whiskey drinking courtesy of our host Hemant. The whiskey was an Indian brand and was actually pretty good.After a few drinks with the boss Hemant, and his second in command, Al Pacino (why do they always give themselves these names, we met Tony Montana in Brazil?) I actually ended up with a few blankets which I needed anyways for my bed. I don’t know if the whiskey thing was an actual selling tactic but it worked and I do believe that Hemant did just truly want to chat. If he sold some stuff while he was at it that was a bonus for him. We had some great conversation about world views and everything else that comes up because of whiskey so it was all worth it. Hemant even invited us back the next day to drink whiskey again with him. Maybe we’ll stop by.
Just a follow up on Kevin’s health. He is back to 100%. I however have my traditional traveling runny nose that leaks like a faucet but I am powering through. Today we might just kick back, walk around, drink a beer or two and enjoy life.
January 22 – 5:45PM – Shahi Palace, Jaisalmer.
A day of epic proportions to rival all days and I think I have found true happiness. It is sitting on a motorcycle doing 55 through the desert, wind in your hair and a big smile on your face that not even a bug in your teeth can fade. Kevin and I rented motorcycles again but this time went on a longer mission and drove west out of town for an hour and a half to some sand dunes, miles and miles of sand dunes. The dunes themselves were alright and not extremely stand outtish in the grand scheme of the trip but riding the motorcycle itself was a joyous experience. We rode through the dunes, drove by about 50 guys trying to sell us camel rides which we passed on because the thought of sitting on a slow moving animal when we had motorcycles just wasn’t that appealing. We just rode and when we asked someone they told us we were about 30KM from the Pakistani border.
We were in the middle of nowhere, nothing around but the road in front of us, weaving through goat herds in our path, farmers waving at us with huge smiles on their faces, amused to see two white dudes with the balls to drive on their crazy roads and miles and miles of sand in every direction. I can say that it definitely wasn’t the safest way to spend the day but worth it over and over. Thank (G/g)od(s) we survived.
Quick side note that I should have brought up earlier: there were a bunch of small tent stalls in the desert along with the camel salesmen and Kevin bought a water from one of them. And while we always try to make sure that the water that we buy is sealed, the one Kevin bought was somehow rigged and after he took a good long chug he noticed definite white floaties in it. He made himself puke (number 3) because he was sketched out. I have pictures.
We are planning on taking the motorcycles back to Hemant a little later tonight and most likely doing the whiskey thing again, this time on us.
January 23 – 4:45PM – Train to Agra.
On the move again on a night train from Jaisalmer to Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal. Today in Jaisalmer was a mellow day. We figured that we should probably take a tour inside Jaisalmer’s palace within the fort so we did. We listened to an audio tour which was well put together and learned some history. All that I can remember at the moment from the tour is that the fort was built in 1156 as an important stop on trade routes with Asia and Africa and that some of the attacks and sieges that the fort defended itself against lasted for 12 years at a time. For lunch we ate at a restaurant I found in the guide book which was very good called Natraj. It had the same name as the Anthony Bourdain place in Udaipur but was not the same restaurant. This one served a lot of meat curries, meat being more common up here and the traditional food of the Mughals who were a group of imperial rulers who controlled a huge chunk of India and Rajasthan from around 1525 to 1850. I bought a few more souvenirs and some silver bracelets after lunch and I am getting pretty good at haggling which is a regular part of business in India. It gets tiring to argue over like 75 cents but it’s just part of the game.
Last night we went to return our motorcycles and then hung out with Hemant. We sat on the floor again and drank Signature whiskey. Signature is made by the UB Company which also makes the most ubiquitous beer in India, Kingfisher. We talked for two hours or so about everything, why sacred cows are sacred, something to do with cows being with Krishna when he first came around, whether or not everyone does arranged marriages in India, pretty much yes, what Hemant thought about Americans, he likes ‘em and he is also a Bush admirer because of Bush’s his role in the disempowerment of Afghanistan’s Taliban government in the 1990’s. We also got a very good history lesson of India including how the partition of Pakistan worked and all about the fighting in Kashmir. Yes, Hemant did make some good money off of us by selling a few blankets and renting motorcycles but we had some good honest conversation, got an awesome inside look at the Indian way of life and the friendliness of Indian people and also made a good friend while we were at it. Hemant also invited us over the next day (today) for mutton (big in Rajasthan and I love it) that he was going to cook. We didn’t make it because we felt like just relaxing and also because I am a little tweaked out from the cold medicine that I am taking. We sort of felt bad but have learned that there is an attitude in India that you can do whatever you want if it doesn’t hurt other people. They aren’t all uppity about things like San Franciscans and when we ask if we can do certain things they say, “Of course, no problem. Everything is possible in India.” You hear the latter phrase a lot. It is a very relaxed attitude and I guess you have to be tolerant of others when you live so closely to so many people. Hemant said come by at 11:30 if we wanted and if not that's cool too.Oh, and I also just remembered that Hemant and Al Pacino exposed Kevin and I to the three people on a motorcycle thing that we have been seeing on the streets. Hemant offered us a ride back to our hotel and when we went outside he got on his motorcycle and said, “Get on.” Kevin and I looked at each other, a little confused, but then Hemant said, “Get on.” again and we said, “Both of us?” and Hemant said, “Of course.” Definitely not cool to be straddling Kevin, but again, another of those “not in the US experiences” that we have been having so often.
Jaisalmer is a great place to visit, not exactly clean by American standards, but nice by Indian ones. There are still loads of sacred cows dropping sacred loads on the streets and feral pigs rooting through the open gutters and sleeping in trash piles, but it’s still awesome. It’s an enchanting place with great history and an overall mystical feeling seeping out of the 900 year old sandstone buildings.
When it came time to leave Jaisalmer we hopped a tuk tuk to the train station and found our compartment on the train. As we were sitting in our seats waiting for the train to get moving who shows up at the train door but Hemant and his man Al. Sort of trippy but they just wanted to say goodbye and wish us luck. It may seem a little strange that they found us but I just think that there are truly good hearted people in India and there isn’t a whole lot else to do in these smaller towns other than cultivate relationships and have conversation with the people around you so they are really good at it. Alright, our train is moving along nicely now. There are about a thousand people sitting outside on top of the train and I can hear them stomping around and see them when the train turns. So crazy because this thing gets going pretty fast and the tops aren’t even flat up there, they’re arched. Next stop Agra… and the Taj.
January 24 – 2:10PM – Somewhere between Jaipur and Agra, hopefully very near Agra.
I fortunately grabbed/pointed to some cookies on a train station cart a few stops back called Bourbon Snacks, which fortunately don’t taste anything like bourbon, and also some pineapple cream filled cookies. While not being the most nourishing breakfast (pineapple cream, vitamin C?), I am still doing better than Kevin who hasn’t eaten since lunch about 24 hours ago. We were planning on seeing sunset at the Taj today, but will probably have to put that off for sunrise tomorrow, which is supposed to be better anyways.I really want a shower.
Life in India
And while it may seem cutthroat here, seeing the poor ignored, being pushed out of the way in line, being stared at for way too long or being crammed into a train car, I think that it is exactly this crowded and difficult way of life that makes people actually more connected to those around them, they are comfortable to stare, they’re interested in others because in India you can’t cut yourself off from those around you, humanity is always right in your face. You have no choice but to embrace the magnitudes of people... otherwise you’ll go crazy. Indians care about those around them and are interested in them. They say hello, they ask questions. When you are at all times three inches from another person this connection may come easier, but I think it is both something more complex yet less complicated happening together at the same time. It helps them survive. This street level humanitarianism is just the way the culture is, it is a paradigm that has been working for these people for thousands of years and one that helps them to get through the daily battle of survival every day. It is necessary here more than anywhere else.
This is, at the simplest level, why I travel, to find these new perspectives and ways of life that I can perhaps imagine but would never imagine that I could actually see. I think the concern and interest in others here is definitely a good thing, but would I want to live as the Indians do? Could I if I even wanted to? It’s hard to say and I’ll probably lean towards probably not, but I have definitely learned something from the connection between individuals in the masses of India. It is something that I take and will hopefully make a part of who I am.
January 24 – 10:05PM – Agra.
Sitting on the balcony of the rooftop just staring at the Taj, I started to think about the past when I was so broke and so hungry that I had to ration my supply of cheap bread and crappy peanut butter and went to bed hungry some nights. I was happy back then, but it really puts a contrast to and makes me think about how lucky I am to have the opportunity to travel the world, to Europe, to Thailand, to Brazil and now to have the chance to sit and watch the sunset on the Taj Mahal. Wow.As you can tell from my description, while the Taj is epic beautiful, the area around it is pretty crap. Not much to say except that it has barely standing feel and the town is thousands of miles below in comparison to the Taj with its dusty dirt streets and brown function-over-any-thought-of-form buildings. The street hawkers are ruthless here but not a problem if you know how to deal with them. Our guesthouse is the worst we have stayed in so far in India. I won’t even say its name because I don’t want to hate on it and its owners. Haven’t showered yet either so pretty dirty right now, but even with all of this complaining and criticism, would I want to be anywhere else right now? No.
We’ll wake up early tomorrow and tour the Taj.
Dirt
