December 2007
30 December 2007
Day 1 - Do You Want to Mow
the Lawn?
The
bus came to our house at 5 am. We loaded up, and were on the road a
little before 6. With Baldev or Davender driving it has never
taken more than 4 hours to get to the Taj, but driving a bus is
different--not quite so maneuverable. We stopped for a flat tire,
which was changed on the road in the middle of scary traffic; and
for breakfast at McDonalds: no breakfast food, just a McChicken
Sandwich, Fries and a Diet Coke at 9 am. Mmmmmm. Back on
the bus to arrive at the Taj around noon. We hired our camel
cart to take us to the line, which was pretty crazy. Dave and
I can get in for 20 rupees (about $0.50) while our friends (any
foreign tourist) has to pay 750 rupees (about $20). After
looking at the line, we decided to try the "local" South Gate.
It was a fun walk through the town, and we were pleased to find a
very short line to get in. And as always, it is fun to see
other people's first reaction to the Taj itself, which was in all
it's splendor: fountains on for the first time, blue
sky--MAGNIFICENT! I'm sure by the time we leave the number of
photos I have personally taken of the Taj will number in the
thousands. Our friend B had the opportunity (for some rupees)
to actually mow the lawn there. Now how many people can say
that?
This
time through the Taj there was a door open inside that hadn't ever
been open on our other trips, so we got to walk around inside the
Taj a little more than previously. It is beautiful all around.
We also decided to tour the Guest House, which actually used to be a
place for visiting dignitaries to stay. It was stunning,
especially the contrast between the red stone and the white inlay.
It is a much more enjoyable experience to tour the Taj when it isn't
ridiculously hot outside. You might want to keep that in mind
if you are planning a visit.
J
We stopped for
lunch again at Haveli's where Dave is becoming a sort of local
celebrity. This is our third time back and we have yet to be
disappointed with either food or service. We quickly pressed
on to the Agra Fort as the hours were ticking by and it closes at
sunset. Again, the fort was awesome. The kids enjoy the
fort much more than repeat trips to the Taj, so it's kind of a
consolation prize to go afterwards. There is so much to see
and explore and run around. You can see the Taj in about a
half hour is you wanted, but could spend all day at the Fort.
It is one of our favorite places. We then hurried off to the
Yamuna View hotel for our first night on the road. The hotel
was okay, but was our least favorite of the week. Upon check
out we were hit with an extra bed charge x4, which the night before
was said would be only 2. The only way to get around this,
suggested the hotel guy, was to pay the bed charge in cash.
Hmmmm, who gets the cash? ...and will that transaction appear
on our bill or your invoices? We decided the honest thing to
do was to put the entire bill on the card, hopefully this will
discourage our friendly hotel worker from such transactions in the
future, but I doubt it... such is life in India. It was,
however, a great beginning to what turned out to be a fantastic
week. Check out our Agra pics.
29 December 2007
We're baaaaacccccckkkkk!
We
walked in the door about 45 minutes ago to the wonderful smell of a
turkey dinner in the final stages of preparation. Manjula is a
gem who anticipated our arrival and appreciated our missing
Christmas dinner. We love her! We had such a fabulous
trip and highly recommend hiring a bus for those traveling the
Golden Triangle. We hit Agra stayed overnight, headed to
Fatehpur Sikri and then on to Ranthambore for our Tiger Safari, on
again to Jaipur, stopping at the Neemrana Fort Palace last night.
I will hopefully get this blogged quickly, maybe tomorrow, however,
the biggest obstacle is sorting through all the thousands of photos
taken. Suffice it to say, we had a marvelous time. Stay
tuned...
Day 4 & 5 on the boat, and
our last day in Cochin
Waking
up on Day 4 was quite refreshing. We
were all mostly feeling better and slept great (aside from the
chanting that began at 4 am). The boat got underway and we
headed.... across the river? With no "heads up" we docked on
the other side of the river for a rope making demonstration. I
was still in my PJs but quickly donned a non-jammy shirt with my
sweats and pulled back my hair. We walked a little ways down
the retaining wall to a little hut where several men were sitting
around shooting the breeze, to a giant stack of coconut fibers where
our seemingly impromptu demonstration was to take place.
We were amazed to see several women whipping out ropes with the
greatest of ease. After watching them for several minutes I
decided that I wanted to try it. Apparently the coconut husks
are very fibrous and cling to each other easily. But, getting
the rope the right thickness without breaking it was quite difficult
and my efforts were the source of much laughter among the
professionals. After I finished half my rope I relinquished my
post and allowed them to finish my rope--which we gratefully
purchased as a souvenir. It was interesting to watch another
young boy playing with a stick in the sand making vehicle noises.
Play is universal!
We got back on the boat, I took another
cold shower and we settled in for a relatively quiet day. Most
of us read for several hours: I finished A Thousand
Splendid Suns, which I really enjoyed. We stopped later in
the afternoon at a small village to see another snake boat and a 500
year old church built by the Portuguese. The paintings were
fantastic and originally done by 2 Sri Lankan brothers. The
village was really charming on one side, but quite the tourist trap
on the other. It was the first time in India that the prices
were actually listed in US dollars. (warning...warning).
We enjoyed playing 7 card draw for much of the afternoon in which I
won $210 million dollars from Kelly, Richard and Dave (too bad it
wasn't real money). It was overcast and rainy most of the day,
but very relaxing.
Wednesday
was our last day on the boat--more accurately our last hours.
Had another cold shower, some breakfast and a short ride back to
home base. I was sad to leave the very relaxing setting of the
boat. A taxi was waiting for us, so we bid our crew adieu and
piled in for our trip back to Ft. Cochin. Our taxi driver was
have learned to drive from the Baldev school of NASCAR driving, but
with his loud rockin' music it made the trip much more exciting and
enjoyable. The drive was evidence again that I LOVE INDIA... I
love watching real people doing real life things in a way that is so
totally foreign to me, but equally fascinating. Life in India
IS fascinating to me! We arrived back at the Ballard Bungalow,
dropped of our luggage and picked up our scootys. ( I am
obsessed--can I please have a scooty Dave?) We headed
out shopping and had a great afternoon. We searched through
our Lonely Planet guide to find a suitable place for lunch and found
own that was famous for Chicken Biriyani, one of Dave's favorites,
and headed off to find the place. After several stops to ask
for directions (nothing like hunger to encourage men to ask
directions), we found the restaurant only to discover that it was
closed for 3 days for a festival. (serious?) Our
second try also failed as they were out of Biriyani already for the
day. We wandered aimlessly, until Kelly spotted the Anchor
House. SCORE! The food was delicious, and was part of a
relatively new hotel that upon further inspection seemed to be a
suitable option should we ever return to Cochin. We drove
around the rest of the afternoon, with me being mildly concerned
that we'd run out of gas again; however we did finally purchase a
dhoti for Dave.
At
6:30 we headed to the theater for a
Kathakali
performance. Hopefully in the near future, Dave will comment
on this in detail as he was just as enraptured as I was, but suffice
it to say this classical Indian dance was incredible. The
performance we attended was not a complete performance, but more of
an introduction to 6 different kinds of Indian dance. My
favorite was the
Mohiniyattam, performed by a single female performer. The
expressions of the face and the movements of the hands and eyes was
truly enchanting.
After the show, we headed back to the
Brunton Boatyard for a repeat performance of our fabulous first
night dinner. With our bellies full, and exhaustion of the
week catching up with us, we headed straight to bed. I
actually fell asleep on my knees at the foot of the bed and Dave
dragged me up to my pillow. At around 2 am we were shocked
awake by explosions outside our hotel. In my sleepy stupor I
asked Dave if we needed to worry and he rambled something
incoherent... we both went right back to sleep. In the morning
we asked what the noise was all about and were informed that it was
Bakra Eid, a
Muslim festival (maybe that's why the restaurant was closed?)
In
the morning, I had my first warm shower of the week (HOORAY!), and
we hoped right on our scootys to make the most of our last few hours
in Kerala. We were surprised by the throngs of people on the
streets, until we realized that they were Muslims going to their
place of worship on this festival day. With most of the women
in their black full body coverings called jilbab with head scarves,
I felt uncomfortably exposed in my short sleeves and capris.
We headed to the beach for awhile, and then caught up with Richard
and Kelly back at the Anchor House for breakfast. Kelly and I
stayed behind awhile and enjoyed a head massage, while the boys
enjoyed some testosterone filled scooty rides like scenes from
Mission Impossible II (which we watched on the boat). When we
returned to the hotel to beat our check out time, we received a call
from the travel agency saying our flight was pre-poned... (excuse
me?... pre-poned?) Yep, apparently our flight was taking
off an hour and a half EARLY! We quickly hired a taxi and
raced to the airport. Luckily we made it on time and had an
uneventful flight home. Davender was there waiting for us and
we came home to a warm meal and children who were mostly happy to
see us. J
It was a fabulous trip, and if we didn't
have limited time and resources, we'd definitely plan on going back.
23 December 2007
I'm a slacker!
I'm a slacker...and didn't get time
today to finish the rest of our Kerala trip, and we're leaving in
the AM for our week long bus trip to Agra, Rantambore Tiger Reserve,
and Jaipur with the Littles, visiting Olmsteders from China.
Hopefully we'll get up to speed early next week. Merry
Christmas and stay tuned...
22 December 2007
"One pen?" Day 2 & 3
on the boat
I
woke up that first morning on the boat feeling great. Despite
the 2 in. mattress, I slept like a rock (after Dave settled down.)
The morning was just beautiful. The lake was like glass, and
the weather couldn't have been any better. I had another
moment of surreality as I reflected on where I was and what I was
doing. Some of the things that really struck me were how happy
and pleasant people were. In contrast to Delhi, where it is
rare, everyone here smiled; and not just in response to my smile.
Many people regardless of age or gender smiled and waved first.
It was so nice. In contrast though, and very similar to Delhi,
there was still trash everywhere. I don't understand how
people can think this beautiful place is their personal trash can or
toilet for that matter. But mostly, I noticed how simple,
peaceful and beautiful their lives were. We spend thousands or
even millions of dollars to build homes on the waterfront.
Here they have entire villages in places that could easily rival any
beach in Hawaii. Each home having it's own steps into the
water from which to bath, do laundry, or go boating. Again...
it's all about perspective, and that's what I love about India.
I love seeing people going about their lives: washing, bathing
their children, laundry, walking, fishing. It's so
fascinating. I take so many pictures of these things. I
am trying to be more discreet in doing so, as many times I/we have
been the object of others very obviously taking pictures of "the
white people". It's very awkward and even upsetting at times,
mostly in Delhi though. So, if I am in a position to, I try to
ask permission before snapping photos. No one has said "no"
yet.
This
was Sunday morning. I took a cold
shower (that's 2), ate beet/tomato/potato dosas, toast, and eggs for
breakfast, and enjoyed our morning on the deck. Dave was
feeling so much better this morning (answer to much fervent praying)
and was able to keep down some toast. We stopped at a bird
sanctuary for an hour or so. It was very peaceful, however,
there weren't very many birds to see--supposedly you need to come
very early in the morning. We walked a little more than 1 km
to the peninsula, and took a canoe ride back to our boat. That
was fun! We saw more birds on the lake then in the sanctuary.
Apparently, someone forgot to tell them they needed to stay put for
the paying customers. We saw several Kingfishers, which are a
very bright blue and yellow color, some eagles and several egrets.
We were also surprised to see a turtle and some very playful otters.
Lunch was banana curry, puffy rice, kingfish, beetroot, and some
banana custard. Dave skipped lunch again and took a nap.
We passed "C block", where the rice paddies cultivated were several
feet below the water level. Not underwater, just below river
level. They had retaining walls built on either side of the
river and even had pumps to pump water out of the fields and back
into the rivers.
Sunday
afternoon we stopped at Chavarabahvan, a 500 year old house where
Chavara was born. He later became a Saint in the Catholic
church under Pope Pius. Check out the photos for more details.
It was quite interesting as they were holding a mass at the adjacent
church all in Malayalam. The walk to and from the house was
through a small village next to a canal. It was very charming.
Richard started feeling sick that evening so he and Dave skipped
dinner (not fully recovered). That night we watched movies
that Dave and Richard bought in Alleppey for 50 rupees each.
Bourne Ultimatum was great, and even hysterical with the subtitle
translations that were so totally off. I went to bed after
that one, starting to feel a little odd myself. I woke up the
next morning still feeling sick enough that I skipped all meals that
day. I think it was something to do with the amount and type
of spices that our cook used. None of us were used to them.
Monday
was a beautiful morning with a very nice breeze. I took a nap
on deck, we played some cards, and watched a serious fishing
undertaking (see photo page day 3). We stopped shortly after
lunch to see an 18th century Buddha statue. There were dozens
of school kids taking their lunch break who eagerly asked us for
"one pen?" which seemed to be the theme of this trip. I guess
there are not enough supplies to go around and kids don't have
anything to write with at school. Sounds like a good service
project to me. There was a Hindu temple nearby that we walked
to and were promptly chastised for not taking our shoes off. I
felt really bad about that, but apparently the line to remove shoes
wasn't the temple steps, but the gravel 20 yards out front. (my
bad--can't read Malayalam) We stopped a little later at a
memorial and library/school dedicated to a famous local poet.
Interestingly there were no books in the library, so I'm not sure
what criteria they were using to name it.
My
favorite stop of all was going to the beach on the Arabian Sea.
We walked through another village to get there, with very colorful
characters. One older guy with evident mental challenges, put
up his fists to Richard and was yelling at him in Malayalam with
very wild eyes. Even more humorous was the badge he made for
himself that said "police" in English with numbers after it.
He followed us a little ways down the road, but didn't keep up with
us for long. We arrived on the beach and passed a graveyard of
flip-flops and sandals. If you are missing one, I know where
it is... they have all washed up on this beach. There were
several men shore fishing, and a very happy group of young men
playing cricket on the beach. Kelly and I hiked up our pants
and waded in. It was awesome and peaceful and beautiful.
That is until we look about 50 yards down the beach and saw a guy
hike up his dhoti (2 meters of fabric tied and tucked around his
waist) squat down and take a dump right there on the beautiful
beach. Awwwww, man! That's gross! Upon finishing
his business he waded into the water, rinsed off his hand and
continued down the beach with his "skirt" hiked up to "air dry".
The beach lost a little magic then. We walked back through the
village, bought some Appy Fizz and chocolate and realized that in
the bustle of the evening in town...we were the main
attraction. Every single eye (several hundred in fact) was
staring at us. Had I not already determined how pleasant and
friendly they were (with the exception of our self-appointed
sheriff), I would have been a little alarmed. Further on
through the village we were overtaken by some young boys asking for
"one pen" again. One very cute little boy seemed disabled,
which was verified by our steward/guide that he was indeed
"handicraft" (excuse me... handicapped?) "Yes,
handicraft." Oh, I see. (giggle) We made it
back to the boat for our dinner.
I have failed to
mention previously about the chanting that went on via extremely
loud speakers each morning and evening for several hours. This
was "temple festival" season, which upon further inquiry we
discovered lasts 8 months. Each morning beginning at around 4
am some lovely gentleman would start "singing" stories from the
Ramayana or Mahabharata which would last several hours. Each
of our stops presented different performers in varying degrees of
talents, all of which eventually began to sound like a herd of sick
cows. It was also presented in similar fashion each evening
for several more hours. At some of the stops we were treated
to some great Bollywood songs in addition to the chanting, but it
was always a relief when it ended.
21 December 2007
Hurry up and wait...
Our
trip started out early on the 14th... 5am for a 7:20 departure... or
so we thought. As is usual in Indian air travel (well just
about Indian everything) being on time is a rarity. We
navigated the domestic terminal at the airport for the first time
and checked in for our flight, learning that it was delayed an hour
for "fog" -- which is Hindi for atrocious
pollution-smog-haze-so-thick-you-can-taste-it, and causes the
dreaded BBS (black booger syndrome) which lasts until March. I
don't know what the cause was, but I began feeling quite queasy
waiting to board, and as we boarded the bus to take us to the plane
I had to rush to the open door as we drove--luckily it was only dry
heaves (yeah, I know... thanks for sharing). I popped
some Dramamine when we got on the plane, which put me to sleep
pretty fast. Lucky for me, because we then sat on the tarmac
for another 4 hours before taking off. I woke up shortly after
take off and was feeling much better.
Excuse me, while a
take a moment to tangicide: there is phenomenon in India concerning
airport luggage carts which defies understanding. I am
wondering if there is a law that states you can't enter the airport
without one, but I have yet to be arrested because of it.
Anyway, no matter the size or type of luggage, everyone has a cart.
I've seen people with one small piece of luggage with wheels put it
on a cart 3 times the size of the actual suitcase and wheel that
around the airport. Even small carry-ons require a cart.
I believe that the cart is the excuse people use for all the pushing
that goes on in line. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone who
ever visits an airport in India didn't sport several bruises on the
back of their ankles.
Okay,
back to the trip... we arrived at the Cochin Airport in the mid
afternoon and immediately noticed how beautiful, green and humid it
was. Palm trees were everywhere. We found a pre-paid
taxi stand and set off in our totally decked out Ambassador taxi.
The ceiling and walls were padded with some velour-looking material.
It was schnazzy! It took about 45 minutes to get to Ft.
Cochin, where our hotel was, and a little longer than that to
actually find it.
Ballard Bungalow was a great little place to stay. We did
not, however, have hot water for our shower the next morning, which
prepared me for the rest of the week.
We
rented scooters for the day (scootys, as they are called here) and
enjoyed seeing Ft. Cochin in style. I even drove one myself.
We explored the beach, checked out the Chinese fishing nets (see
photo), did some shopping, and ran out of gas... yep, neither
scooty's fuel gauge worked. I received several looks of
astonishment from locals surprised to see a "gora" girl driving one,
so you can imagine the looks I got pushing it when it ran out of
gas. We got back to the hotel and went across the street to
the
Brunton Boatyard hotel for dinner. Dinner was FABULOUS!
And the Brunton Daiquiri mocktail is highly recommended--a sweet
lime soda cocktail. After dinner, we headed straight to bed
for another early morning departure to Alleppey to begin our 4 night
houseboat stay. Check out the photos.
On the
road to Alleppey
We
woke up early, under the impression that we needed to be in Alleppey
for a 9 am boat departure. Hmmmm. In reality it was a 12
pm departure time, so we arrived in Alleppey with plenty of time to
kill. It was a great drive down, about 90 minutes. We
saw so many things that make India so fascinating. People and
vehicles carrying things well beyond their capacity, and 3 gigantic
elephants. As we neared Alleppey, I started a minor freak out.
I had heard 3rd or even 4th hand of some negative experiences people
have had doing the backwater cruises and was concerned about the
conditions we would be in for 5 days. When we got to the
Rainbow Cruise offices, across from the little river, I was even
more concerned, as the boats along that river were not what I had
envisioned we'd be staying in. In an effort to kill time, we
set off to explore the town a bit. It was early enough that
most places weren't open yet, but we found this great street that
was arched over with what looked like tinsel. It was quite
festive. We saw a really old church--Kerala is 20%
Christian--and bought some "high quality" DVDs to watch on the boat.
(NOT!) Dave braved a really dingy local market and bought a
Danish for breakfast... it ended up being really good so we bought
more. (As of this writing, we are now wondering if these
were the cause of the "excitement" that followed for Dave that
night, as he was the primary Danish consumer)
We
finally made it out to our boat, via tuc-tuc through some very back
roads. I was very pleasantly surprised by our boat. It
was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath (with toilet and shower), had a kitchen,
living/dining area and deck. It was manned by a crew of 3:
a driver, a steward, and a cook, all with varying degrees of
speaking and understanding English. We were given a lei or
jasmine and marigold, a coconut with a straw in it and bid bon
voyage. We were underway by 1 pm and set out on a beautiful
lake of glass, covered in thousands of floating water lilies.
It was breathtaking! By 2 we had lunch prepared:
pearlspot fish, rice, some veg and some yummy pasta-like pudding.
Shortly after lunch, Dave started feeling a little sick.
Kelly, Dave and I read books all afternoon, in between taking
pictures. All told, Dave and I took over 1000 photos over the
course of the week. Our first stop was at an island in the
middle of the lake. We were
unsure
of the wildlife native to Southern India, and asked whether there
were crocodiles in the lake, our driver and cook really enjoyed
pulling our legs, and as we trekked through the island delighted in
teasing us about tigers and other intimidating creatures. We
did find many fantastic spiders. We hiked all the way across
the island and started to explore a little more when we happened
upon a rather large recently shed snake skin. Can you say
COBRA? Needless to say, our return to the boat took much less
time than our hike inland. As the sun started
to
set, the bugs started to come out, they put out some mosquito coils,
we doused ourselves in repellent and the boys stopped at a town with
our cook to stock up on some vegetables. Kelly and I read
until the light faded--I finished Crime and Punishment! Dave
skipped dinner, which was delicious: chicken, rice, veg,
curry, and chapattis. It became evident very quickly after
that, that Dave wasn't very happy. If anyone has been around
him when he's been sick to his stomach before you will understand
the gravity of it all when I say that he was sick all night long.
He came very close to calling it quits and finding a hospital.
Fortunately, we made it through the night and things were much
better the next morning. As for sleeping, the A/C on the boats
was run from 9 pm until about 7 am which made it very comfortable,
despite the 2 inch mattresses which I believe were made out of
crushed rocks (no, not really). There was mosquito
netting over the beds, but we didn't use them that night and by the
next morning I only had 4 bites from the day before. Photos
are here.
20 December 2007
Krazy about Kerala!
We're
home! What a fabulous week... we are relaxed, refreshed, and
recovering. We've got 4 days to get ready for our next trip,
but I will really try to get this trip posted in it's entirety
before we leave. This teaser photo is of the sunrise the first
morning on the kettuvallom. It was so peaceful, and incredibly
beautiful. We spent the first day in Cochin, spent the
night there. The next morning we took a taxi to Alleppey to
begin our 4 night house boat stay. Yesterday we headed back to
Cochin and enjoyed a day checking out the city. Today we came
home. Now, I'm exhausted and ready to sleep on a real mattress
that is more than 2 inches thick. Stay tuned...
13 December 2007
In Kerala on a kettuvallom
with no kids
Tomorrow
Dave & I (and Richard & Kelly) are off to warmer temps (stop
laughing) and a much needed R & R for the "growed ups". Kerala
is located on the South Western edge of India. It is tropical
in climate and boasts to be home to 1/4 of India's 10,000 plant
species. There are many rivers, hills, and tea plantations.
Kerala is also said to have the highest gender equality and literacy
rates in India. We will spend most of our time around Alleppey
in the famous backwaters on a kettuvallom. Check out our digs
here.
The kids will be hanging out at home with Manjula. Tomorrow is
their last day of school before Christmas break and should have a
great time without Mom or Dad getting in their way. What would
it be like to be a kid with a cook and driver at your disposal?
Hmmmm. Sounds a little dangerous to me! Well, wish us
luck and safe travels. Oh, and check out Dave's blog
(finally!)
10 December 2007
Happy Birthday B! (a week
early)
B
had a slumber party last Friday night, very low-key to celebrate her
birthday. She invited three friends over and had planned to do
karaoke, but after B disregarded parental counsel and plugged the
karaoke machine directly into the 220 outlet, and the smoke
dissipated, they ended up spending hours in front of the TV doing
Twister Dance moves. I had forgotten how much noise a group of
young girls can make.
In other news,
remember the water damage to our walls? Well, it still isn't
repaired yet...they are still working on it.
J
Now, the girls' tub is leaking and the
maintenance guys have been drilling into their bathroom wall, from
the outside for two days now. It sounds like someone is
running a jackhammer in my brain. We are all struggling with
the "Delhi hack," as pollution here is actually visible. We
have been assured by the doctor that studies so far show no "long
term" effects for temporary exposure (meaning our stint here).
Dave is finished with finals (HOORAY!) and the kids get out of
school on Friday. We are hoping to have a fun filled Christmas
break.
Oh, and another
important point of business. Please don't ask me to send you
anything substantial. We've just mailed out our family gifts
to the States, and the postage almost gave me a heart attack.
I am more than happy to purchase things for you, I'll just be
bringing them back with me in two years and then mail them. Or
better yet, you can come here and pick them up yourselves!!!!
I like that idea!
8 December 2007
Mom & Me: The
Fastest 2 Weeks of my Life
Last
night, or more correctly this morning, my mom left after a two week
visit to India. It was so great to have her here and it was
difficult to let her go, knowing that I won't see her again for a
year. We did a lot of shopping: she braved INA Market,
Dilli Haat, Khan Market, Tibet Market and other shops on Janpath,
Cottage Industries, and Sarojini. We tackled taxis and
tuc-tucs. We enjoyed manicures & pedicures and Choco-La
lunches. We ventured to Old Delhi on the Metro and tour the
Jama Masjid, and shopped in Chandni Chowk, even eating lunch at the
fabulous Karem's. We enjoyed the Qtub Minar on a gorgeous day.
And Thursday we journeyed to Agra for the requisite Taj Mahal visit.
As always, the drive itself is an adventure and a cornucopia of
sights and smells, and the Taj didn't disappoint, despite the haze
of pollution (or fog as Davender calls it). It somehow seemed
even more ethereal--if that's even possible. We enjoyed our
camel cart rides to and from the Taj gate; after Pushkar, I find I
have a partiality for camels. It was a fabulous two weeks that
passed entirely too fast. And while I really enjoy living here
in India, I sure miss my family. Two years is a really long
time, and it seems even more challenging as the rest of the
community here seems to be planning their summer "home leave"
already. However, we are extremely grateful for this
opportunity and look forward to planning our own summer travels, not
to mention our upcoming trips to Kerala and Rajasthan this month.
4 December 2007
Happy
Hepatitis Day!
3 December 2007
Pushkar Day 3: Baby
Camels, Bells & Busses
Another
early morning for Dave and Z. They left the tent around 4:30
am to begin their climb to the top of the "temple mountain."
Don't know what it's really called, but whatever. (Eventually,
Dave will blog about this adventure, and hopefully Thailand too, but
until then, I'll give whatever details I know.) They made good
time and arrived at the top while it was still dark. They took
some great pictures from up there of the town, our camp, the
sunrise, and several monkey families. Check out the photos
from Day 3. Meanwhile, back at the
ranch, we had a relaxing morning: sleeping in a little, have
some breakfast, playing with friends, bucket bathing... and when the
boys finally returned and got cleaned up, we were ready to head back
to town. Richard, Kelly & M joined Dave and I on our final
shopping excursion. M and I wanted to ride a camel, so we both
climbed up. Unfortunately, this camel was only about a year
old and extremely skittish. Ever noise, just about made him
jump out of his skin... not good for me. Not to mention that
his saddle was not secure and leaned a little too far to the left.
M and I were holding on for dear life the entire time. A
motorcycle came up behind us at one point and totally freaked out
the camel. M and I were very happy
to
dismount when we finally reached town. Which reminds me, on
the way to town each time, we passed a spot where the smell was
overwhelming and just plain awful. We finally figured out it
was dead horse (some say camel) half buried in the sand,
decomposing. Mmmmmm--I won't forget that smell anytime soon.
Anyway, we reached the town and began our hunt for a walking stick
and a bell. First stop, was the stick shop. Dave and
Richard spent some serious time deciding and negotiating while Kelly
and I took pictures of just about everything. There was this
adorable little boy who loved having his picture taken. He
must have been 3 or so, and would put his hands together in "namaste"
while we took his picture. Oh, I forgot to mention that having
M with us posed a specific challenge in that she is young and
beautiful and blonde. With the insanity of the crowds, eve
teasing was problem. So, we "formed ranks" around her to
protect her innocence. I will admit I was quite aggressive in
my defense of her and threw a few elbows. It was interesting
to catch the startled looks on the guys who were "caught."
Luckily, M was spared. The whole premise of it makes me so
angry, that after I was "teased" a few times, I was just daring
anyone to touch me. (Go ahead... make my day!)
Aside from that unpleasantry, Dave and Richard secured their walking
sticks, which came in handy for crowd control the rest of the
morning. We found our giant camel bell, and a belt of "jingle
bells", both perfect for Christmas.
We
then headed back to find some camels for the ride home. We all
could have fit on a camel cart, but I selfishly chose to ride
another camel home--this time making sure he was "of age" for
riders. I don't know why I love riding camels so much, but it
is amazing. When we arrived back at camp, we finished packing
our bags, eating our last meal, and getting ready for departure.
We were all a little sad to leave such an incredible adventure.
The bus ride back to the train station took quite a bit longer.
I think we took a different route to avoid all the traffic of the
rest of the people leaving the Camel Fair. This was it's last
day. We saw bus after bus loaded to the gills with people,
inside and out. We saw one guy holding the reins on what
seemed to be 20 camels walking along the road. People travel
from all over India for this fair to buy and sell livestock.
It was quite a sight. We made it back to the train and started
the long ride back to Delhi. I spent a good deal of time at
the door again, enjoying the scenery and the fresh(er) air. I
took quite a few pictures on that trip
and was sad that I couldn't get more because of the speed of the
train. What was very interesting to me, is that at the rural
train stations, you have guys standing there with red and green
flags, being the signal for the train. As we neared the bigger
cities, there were electronic signals. As is the case with
most things in India, you can have the most expensive and outlandish
thing, but right next to it can be the poorest and simplest.
Joan Robinson, a renowned economist said it best:
"Whatever you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also
true."
Honestly... that is
true! Well, we arrived at around 11 pm back in Delhi and home
around midnight. We were thoroughly exhausted, but grateful
for a fabulous trip.
