Mera naam Laura hai

Gallery: India Photos

laurabell — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:00:00 GMT

These are the ones I took. Only a few since I deffer to Stacy and her magic with the camera!

Back to Delhi

laurabell — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:46:00 GMT

We got to the train station yesterday in Jaipur to head out on our last trek back to Delhi. The train station was a world of it's own. As Stacy took off to take tons more photos both Jess and I were surrounded by 13-14 year old girls heading to the Rajasthan State basketball tournament.

We got ready to board our train and a few women were seeing their daughter off to college in Delhi. They had amazing henna done and huge (what looked like) diamond nose rings. All I did was talk to the younger girl and tell the ladies their nose piercing were beautiful when one came over and gave me her nose stud! What the heck!? People in Jaipur are amazing!

Today we are back in Delhi. I am pretty sure at this point we are over Delhi. It’s funny we didn’t realize it, but everywhere else we have gone has been so much cleaner and nicer. We just want to get home and bathe!

Jaipur Day Two!

laurabell — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:06:00 GMT

The cool theatre turned out to be less than exciting since we had already seen the movie they were playing. Oh well! We had plenty of other things to do aside from sitting in a theatre so we were off on our way again!

We took a rickshaw to a textile place that a really amazing woman named Laura from Alaska (awesome name, eh?) told us about. She imports beads to her shop in Alaska and gets to go on work trips to Africa and Southeast Asia! Nice little work trips… I really need to figure that type of work out! (I have already been checking out all the fixtures here! Maybe I can help?)

The shop had beautiful fabrics, but I have gotten a little tired of shopping at this point. After Stacy picked out some amazing blankets we headed out into the Pink City again. Everyone kept offering us a ride in a rickshaw, but we wanted to walk. Of course that meant countless people offering us every single saree, textile, jewelery, shoe, etc and us just passing them by. It’s funny because sometimes people will ask, “why?” Cause we don’t want it maybe? It’s still fantastic to see the city this way!

We went into a miniature painting shop and I found the last few things I have been looking for! Rajasthan singer, Sheera Meeshra, and some Hindi fighting films! Oh yeah! We got some street food and met a man who was trying to write a letter to a woman he met from England. With our yummy fried street food in hand I helped him write the letter and he offered to give us something nice from his jewelry shop. We did get water and soda, but the rest was just a show of all the jewels that he had. We were done though… We said we had to go and he decided he wanted to show us the largest temple in Jaipur. (Meanwhile he hugged me from behind and told me he was my friend… Creepy! Oh well at least I had Stacy and Jess if I needed to attack!)

The temple was beautiful and dedicated to Buddha. Stacy got amazing photos as we wandered home! She has such a good eye for a great shot. We ate dinner on the rooftop again and fell asleep pretty early.

This morning we woke at 5:30 and went to a free yoga lesson in the park with our new friend, Laura! It was such a nice way to start our day. It was all locals and then us… Then we all had breakfast together. The rest of the day we spent on one of the local roads just sort of waiting out our time until the final train back to Delhi. It’s only a 5 hour trip, but we don’t leave until 5:45 so we will arrive in Delhi around 11 and make our way to the hotel. Good thing we know where everything is at this point.

We leave for Chicago tomorrow night! I can’t even believe it’s almost been 2 whole weeks already! See you all soon!

Jaipur

laurabell — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:25:00 GMT

Hello from Jaipur! We arrive yesterday morning and are staying in the nicest hotel I can imagine! Not only are there no bugs, but it's also completely devoid of mold! I tell you it's the little things that can make us happy at this point... I think we all agree that if we were to ever come back to Jaipur we would have to stay here. It's reasonable and has a really cool rooftop garden/balcony to watch the city below.

Yesterday we got into the first rickshaw and noticed the first difference between the guys here and everywhere else. They seem to think that we are whores and sexual advances are acceptable! Oh no... As soon as we realized what he was saying we got out and Stacy was yelling at him! I am surprise she didn't hit him! (but with every right!)

Finally we made it into a decent rickshaw and were off again. There is a beautiful old observatory as well as the amazing city palace! It's right in the center of the Pink City. The observatory had numerous tools for recording everything from the phases of the moon, the patch through the different astrological signs, and eclipses. It was like stepping into Alice's through the Looking Glass. The tools were immense and otherworldly. The craft work that went into the palace was amazing! From the painting to the tile work to the carpets... Everything was grand and beautiful. Even the armory was filled with huge, amazing guns and knives. I sort of wanted one of the really pretty curved knives.

We were going to head for food, but since we have had such good experiences with the temples we happened upon a temple of Krishna and decided to check it out. It was closed, but the guy running it told us to go next door and climb onto the roof for a fantastic view of the whole pink city at sunset. It was a beautiful sight even though the monkeys were pretty scary! A man working in one of the shops scared them away for us. We found out he was actually working in a gem shaping studio! He showed us some uncut amethyst and smoky topaz! I have never held a stone that large in my hand before! It turned out that they are wholesalers to some of the places we visited in Agra. They are just WAY cheaper... I had to get something. I am pretty excited about it, but I want it to be appraised when I get home. It's an antique necklace (I love all the gaudy old stuff!) made of turquoise and bright red coral.

Our last stop was at a wholesale fabric place. It was sort of sad because we saw these small boys doing all the work too... I know that's how most "fine bead work" is done because of the small hands, but it was really awful to see! Finally around 8 we ate again! Yes I have even tried macaroni and cheese in India! (what? It's all they would cook at the hotel at this point! And it was tasty!) Today we are off to another fabric place for the ladies and then to see another movie at this theatre that looks like a wedding cake.

Ahmedabad

laurabell — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:55:00 GMT

We decided we would wander around our neighborhood on our first day in Ahmadabad. We went down the street and happened upon a Hindu Temple. All we had to do was take off our shoes and wander in. Once inside people generally bring saris, flowers, or fruit to adorn the temple. They ring a large bell as they enter and begin to pray along with the priests.

We brought nothing and felt awful as they started to give us blessings. The priest first handed us lotus flowers and we were unsure if we should accept. After that they handed us coconut and a woman told us these were their blessings and we had to take them! After that we were given bananas! I had to get out of there! I felt bad enough not having brought anything let alone having these people give us blessings from their shrine. Stacy stayed inside and they gave her a blessing of water that she was supposed to drink and then pour over her head. Since we have been pretty good at not drinking the water so far she had to pretend and then wipe the rest over her head.

After we left we shared the coconut with a few women coming out of the temple. They were happy to see that we were blessed with so much! I was floored by the feeling. Here we are just some curious travelers and they bestow all this on us. After that we gave the lotus flower and bananas to people on the street. It was nice to share after being given so much.

We stopped off at a bakery and I had really yummy egg bread while Stacy and Jess ate the spiciest/best flavored pizzas they could make!

Every morning we were woken at 5:30 am by the loud speakers saying Islamic prayers. We realized we were in a heavily Islamic neighborhood. It was really impressive to hear the prayers every few hours.

Sunday we went to Swati Snacks. They serve some pretty authentic Indian snacks and then back to our same little coffee shop for Jess' favorite sandwich. We stopped off at a shesha cafe and played cards till I felt a little sick and we had to get out into the open air again!

After another Hindu temple for Shiva we headed to the Law Garden Night Market! I love to haggle! I got a few good things and am pretty proud of my haggling skills at this point! It works to walk away and have them chase after you with even cheaper prices than you offered them to begin with! That night we made our first stop at Gandhi's old house. It's called the Green Room and they sever amazing hand churned ice cream! (saffron and anise. Sounds yucky, but it was the best ice cream I have ever had)

Today we went to our first mosque. It was amazing! It was built in 1430 with amazing architecture. Then we went to the Indian Cinema to see the worst Indian movie ever. It was modern and supposed to be funny, but in the way that falling on your butt or peeing your pants is supposed to be funny... It was entertaining to see all the boy in the audience get a kick out of it and experience real Indian cinema, but I was craving one of the cool 70's Indian movies about undercover agents!

After that we went to The Green Room again for some more Indian snacks and, for Stacy and Jess, more ice cream. Right now we are killing time at the train station waiting for our train out to Jaipur! I will talk with you again soon.

From Mumbai to Ahmedabad

laurabell — Sat, 8 Sep 2007 12:11:00 GMT

We spent the last two days in Mumbai, the metropolis of India! It's a fantastic city! Stay and Jess swear that it's incredibly similar to a nice a part of New York they visit from time to time. Had it not been for the end of the monsoons we would probably have stayed around a bit longer! We did get to go to a beautiful British train station to try dropping off our luggage. Once that didn't work out we went to a little cafe to wait out the rain and then a hookah cafe. The hookah cafe was the happening place for all the 20 somethings in Mumbai! It has been so cute to watch everyone out on dates. After that we went to a huge British Tea emporium for snacks and tea. It was so formal that after being out in the monsoon and carrying huge packs we felt a little out of place, but they were very sweet and took good care of us. We were then on our way to the train station to the city of Ahmedabad. We sat with a woman whose entire family came to say good bye to her and got to ask her all sorts of questions about different customs and what she thought we should do in Amenabad since we were not too sure ourselves.

This morning we arrived and got into a much nicer hotel on Relief Rd. We went to coffee this morning and found an advertisement for a club with all sort of DJs happening tonight. Hmm... The wheels are turning!

We were followed in Law Garden by a group of little boys that were very curious about us. Stacy finally had to tell them to go away because they would not stop following us everywhere! And I am pretty sure something was lost in the translation because one of them kept saying he wanted to "cut me" and had nail clippers out... Umm... No creepy little boy. Go to school. It's odd being a side show where ever we go. Not unsafe at all just a curiosity for people to take pictures with or ask all sorts of questions about.

We may head out this afternoon for Ghandi's Ashram. They have another tea house. For someone who doesn't regularly drink tea I sure am acquiring a taste for it! Talk to you all soon enough!

A few Days in one

laurabell — Thu, 6 Sep 2007 22:27:00 GMT

An incredible amount has happened since I have last had internet access, but we are about to head to a cafe before it gets too late so I have to keep it short!

We saw the Taj Mahal at dawn... It was amazing! I am not joking. It was literally what I have hoped for! It was massive and impressive. I could barely believe how amazing it was in person. From there we had a myriad of insanity in Agra. Our driver took us to places that were all incredibly tourist centric and geared around shopping for jewelry and expensive marble... Pretty, but you know how much I love shopping so I started getting very angry when it was one place after another. All we wanted to see was a ghost city right outside Agra. He did drop us at the most frightening market I could imagine and we were howled at my children and boys who were groping themselves. Not very pleasant...

At long last we ended up in Krishna’s birthplace to take our train to Mumbai. We had two hours left to wait, but the beggars and the cows were better company than shopping at overpriced tourist locations.

FINALLY we are in Mumbai! It's a fantastic city! I could honesty live here (not in the black mold infested hotel we are staying in), but the city is beautiful and lively! We have been to a few art museums and today we went to Elephanta Island so see these incredible rock carvings of Shiva. We hiked all around the island and were sprayed with water from the Mumbai Bay on the way back, but all in all it was very lovely to get out of a city and adventure in the wilderness.

Alright off we go into the next (smaller) Monsoon...

From Delhi to Agra

laurabell — Mon, 3 Sep 2007 22:23:00 GMT

We woke up at 4 am again mostly because we couldn't sleep anymore, but also to prepare for our journey to Agra. We took our normal spot in the darkness of the rooftop restaurant waiting to see if one of the hotel staff would miraculously be awake at 4 again... We waited and watched the street below come alive with the first vendors and cows wandering the streets while being dodged by rickshaws and backpackers. Another morning of toast and coffee while we played rummi (I won... Not to rub it in or anything.)

Around what we thought was 5:45 we checked out and began our trek to the train station only to find our driver was already downstairs waiting for us. We couldn't get train tickets so we hired a driver to make the 4-5 hour journey. Pretty amazing to have air conditioning all day long when it's about 100 degrees outside with 100% humidity (probably over exaggerating a little, but not much! We had a thunder storm last night and it didn't let up on the humidity one bit.)

We set off for Agra and saw the last bits of Delhi pass us by. All these places started to crop up even before we left the city of Delhi. The Old fort is similar to the Red Fort, but older and crumbling a little bit. Beautiful old trees and vegetation growing through the roofs and I swear these places are each their own bird sanctuary! We have seen more falcons and hawks than I have ever seen in one place before. Farther along the road we got a flat tire just as a camel caravan past. The locals were all very happy to see us! Everyone always asks where we are from and then speaks to our driver laughing!

Getting back on the road we saw monkeys with their babies hanging out in the trees and stopped off at a really touristy hotel where a boy, about 15, was sitting out front with a baby python and a cobra for us to hold and play with! Jess even got to play the little flute to hypnotize it a bit. Onward to a the tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daulah, a Moghal ruler, right outside of Agra. It was an actual animal sanctuary with more monkeys, birds, deer, and antelope! We were stopped by several families and groups to take pictures with them! I have never felt sillier, but it was great fun! Finally we got to see the tomb itself and the building was the first of it's kind to be made out of marble with honeycomb designs carved in and intricate paintings.

Finally we hit the city of Agra and stopped off at the baby Taj, a tomb for the same family that built the Taj Mahal. It was beautiful, but also infested by scary looking red assed monkeys! Our final stop before the hotel was a lookout spot across the river from the actual Taj Mahal! I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful and massive that place is! On top of the view of the Taj Mahal we saw a cremation ceremony, tons more ruins, and the Agra Fort.

Finally we make it to this really touristy hotel (it was complementary with the driver) had a quick wash and had our first proper meal of the day... All I know is once we came home we are not even going to try to go back out today! This has been overwhelming enough and with the heat and tummy rumblings beginning we decided to take it easy in the hotel room tonight. (aka pass out, watch Indian TV or read. all I know is the soap operas and music videos here are worth the TV alone!)

That's all for day two. I can't believe it's only been 2 days! I have been loosing track of any sense of time or place! I feel like I have already been here for at least a week! Off to the Taj Mahal tomorrow then an overnight train to Mumbai.

First Day in Delhi

laurabell — Mon, 3 Sep 2007 01:40:00 GMT

So we made it! We stepped off the plane into a dark, but still rather warm (89 degrees at 8 pm) Delhi Airport. After our driver from the hotel forgot to pick us up only one scary rikshaw driver tried to con us into getting in with him before the police stopped him. He was apparently a "bad man!" We followed the police offer to the pre-paid taxi station and were on our way.

We stopped off for our first beverage in the country, a fresh coconut, hacked open by one of the dwellings that are all along the sides of the roads. Following that pleasant experience we were told the hotel was not a good place, but finally after insisting that we wanted to be dropped at the New Delhi station we found out way through Main Bazaar to the Viveck hotel.

Today was our first proper day in India. It was a mix of insanity and amazement! We woke around 4 and had deliciously sweet coffee and toast that tasted like it had cheese inside while watching the sun rise to wake the people sleeping on the rooftops across the way. Setting out for our day around 6 or so the streets were empty. We wandered our way up to the Red Fort. (actually took the subway which was very nice and air conditioned!) Stacy and Jess said it was far better than the one in NY.

The Red Fort was deserted when we reached there at 7:30 and we (by we I mean Stacy) took tons of amazing shots of the buildings and, as people streamed in, all the beautiful saris! We met a lady from Australia who is here for work. She took us, in her hired car, to a few bazaars, the gate of India, and dropped us off at the train station to get home. A very pleasant surprise since we wanted to get some traditional clothing!

Finally we had our first real India meal on the rooftop restaurant of the hotel. Chicken butter masala and curry chicken with plenty of water... (I don't know if I have ever poured sweat like I have today.)

Our final excursion led us back to the train station to see if we could secure tickets for the 6am train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal... Since the tourist office was closed we were taken to the local Delhi tourist office where we found out the train we wanted to take was full. We are trying to figure out another way because we are all pretty determined to stay on track with the plan.

Packing up!

laurabell — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:03:00 GMT

I just finished packing the few things actually appropriate for India. Taken care of the last few loose ends. I may be a little over prepared, but like a boyscout you must "Always be prepared." Yes the list of things to check on as soon as I get home has already been made up! What can I say? I don't wake up at 4 am thinking about everything and nothing without reason...

Tomorrow I head to Portland to say good byes and drop off my kitty with Kelly and Sean.

All I know is I can't wait to see Stacy and Jess in Chicago! Together we can deal with anything. Until then I just read and read and read. Pretending to be prepared, but nervous that something is slipping out of my hands... Remember to pick up the pepto bismol!

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/preparing_for_your_trip_to_india.htm