It’s been awhile so will try to capture as much as possible on what’s been happening over the past few days. We travelled by train from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur, arrived at 10 pm at night and were directed onto a 3 wheeled motor rickshaw. The rickshaw then took us down some dark alleyways and we were wondering what the heck was going on! But we arrived at Singhvi’s Haveli where we immediately taken up to our room at the top (many stairs… many steep stairs!). We were tired but decided to venture out onto the rooftop and were amazed to see the Meherangarh Fort directly behind us! It is difficult to describe the vastness of the fort and high up it is situated! Even more incomprehensible how such a fort could have been constructed! It was amazing at that time of night to view, as well as all the lights around the city.
The next day we went back up to view the city in the daylight and were amazed the blue houses all around the city! It was better than Davey and I thought… the Lonely Planet and other travel logs have not done justice to Jodhpur, we were impressed by the quiet dignity and gentleness of the people, of the city life during the day and night as well the extremely well done presentation of the fort. We paid an admission price for which we were able to get a headphone tour of the fort. We saw some exquisite armory and elephant rides and palanquins as well as incredible architecture and beautifully carved jalis. At the end we decided to take the flying fox over the fort for a bit of fun! We met Raj and Ravi who were our instructors. We made friends with Raj and he invited us to have dinner with him at the famous Omelette Shop. We had the best tasting omelette ever! I wish we could have a shop like that on the Gold Coast… it does a roaring business over the here, the main guy cracks over a thousand eggs a day! We went by rickshaw and walked a few times through that alleyway that had us a little concerned and as we were more relaxed found it contained a beautiful sample of life here in india! Peoples lives played out in the streets, kiddies playing cricket, badminton and other games. Wives and husbands taking a break on the streets and waving and saying greetings to us, grandfathers playing with their baby grandchildren, houses getting cleaned out, people worshipping at the many altars around, and many other facets of people living. India is definaterly more family and people oriented. They have so much to say to each other, while we are relatively quiet in comparison.
The next day we decided to skip out on seeing Jaipur and went to Udaipur instead by car, the Venice of India! We stopped at a Jain temple along the way at Ranakpur, the marble carvings were so intricate from top to bottom in this vast place, yet all so different. We stayed at the Hibiscus Guesthouse in Udaipur which is run by Carol from England. It was recommended by Mariana and Francisco of Uruguay whom we met at Singhvi’s. Mariana said to me that the moment she stepped into the Hibiscus it was the first sigh of relief she’s had since coming to India…. I knew exactly what she meant when we arrived! It was definitely relaxing and Carol is such a genuine gem of a lady who took such good care of us… we had lovely fluffy white towels, a view of the palace on the lake and beautiful furnishings, everything was done with care.
Udaipur was very relaxing! Very much a tourist place, which wasn’t such a bad thing, and it was a lot less pushy than other places. The waterways are very romantic. I ignored a beggar the night before I realized too late that he was asking for food! So the next day (to my glee!) I saw him again! So I asked if he wanted “kana” which is food and he said yes. I was going to buy him a samosa from a neighbouring stand when he motioned to me to say he was sick of samosas as that was usually what people bought him being so handy. He asked us to buy him some fried rice across the way. So back Davey and I go, order him some rice, and drop it off for him. We bought a couple of treats at the german bakery earlier and decided to buy some more, it was so yummy! So I bought an apple crumble for our journey back to Delhi, I was debating whther to give it to the beggar or not when he automatically stuck his hand out for it! I reckon this guy is on a pretty good wicket, he didn’t look malnourished and also has the pick of his foods. It is really hard to see the poverty around us, though, beggars are out on the street everywhere around the roundabouts, throughout the railway stations. I feel kind of callous seeing it, like a hardening of the heart because I know that there’s nothing that mankind can do to stop it. It is everywhere, it’s right in your face every day and you know that you are fortunate not to be in their place. Is that selfishness? I don’t know, I wish there could be something that could be done to relieve their suffering now… right now. Our hope for the future is what keeps us going, and we know that it’s not a permanent state of affairs.
Anyway, back to Udaipur, we bought some Marawar paintings from Sanjeev of some beautiful Indian scenery. Had the best vegetarian curry since being here bindi (okra or sometimes called ladyfingers) as well as baigan (eggplant) and potato curry, very comforting… We also got a massage as well, although I think that the masseurs back home definitely leave me feeling more battered and bruised (hey, no pain, no gain!) so that’s one thing that I’m putting on the “things I’ll get done when I get home” checklist…. give me the pain factor anyday!
We then headed back to Delhi (groan) by sleeper bus, which really wasn't too bad! We were jostled through the night and quite a lot of bouncing was done, but we'd do it again! Once we arrived somewhere in Delhi we couldn’t get anything through the Lonely Planet so I decided to look through Wotif and got a midrange hotel. Bad decision, Devina, very bad decision! We ended up in something that Davey and I imagined. The dining room was a deranged kind of pink sateen nightmare of a place. And that’s where Davey and I got the legendary Delhi belly. I ordered a dish of green vegetables fried up in garlic sauce to be served with fried rice…. Got the fried rice (which was yummy) but they served up veggies and cheese (paneer) in a butter chicken kind of sauce. That should have sent off warning bells but we ate and I started to get a little iffy later on. This was on Memorial night. Our driver was meant to be early so that we would be early at the Kingdom Hall in Delhi to meet our brothers. The driver was late and stopped to pick up gum along the way as well, then he headed in several different directions as he had no idea where to go! So we ended up nearly ten minutes into the memorial talk. That’s when the dreaded Delhi Belly (DB) hit me… I was so sick I couldn’t meet the brothers and sisters at the end and rushed to the car. Davey got to meet them which was good that at least one of us could! We then headed back to our hotel where Davey then started getting down with the DB too. We missed our train the Agra to see the great Taj Mahal the next day and ended up sick in bed today as well, but we’re getting better! Today was the first day we could start getting around and after a good night’s sleep, I’m sure we’ll be set for our trip to Nepal tomorrow, where I’m told that the food will be kinder on our tummies! (yay!). I’ve been hitting Sou’s homeopathy heavily which has really helped! (thanks Sou! I’ve been sending thanks from my DB bed here in Delhi for you!) Jeet and Kirsty, also wish you were for the trip that starts tomorrow from Nepal onwards! This would have been part of your trip too so I’ll make sure we capture as much as we can. Jeet, the green curry sounds a little too rich for me at the moment! More banana…. More toast… more water for me…. What can I say!
Not sure if we’ll be able to find many internet places along the way once we begin in Nepal so it could be further in between updates. Must go (chalo chalo!), and catch up soon!
