India is absolutely amazing. We have been tripping across Rajasthan:
Jaipur, Pushkar, Jodphur (yes, home of the baggy riding pant), eventually
ending up in Jaisalmer, a mere 100 miles from the Pakistan border. All
along the way we visited palaces, forts, and bazaars, never getting bored of
all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of India.
But arriving in Jaisalmer was amazing: it is a fort perched ever-so-nicely
on a hill, filled with hotels, resturaunts, shops and homes. We stayed at a
hotel in the fort - a haveli, actually, which is a house with really amazing
carved windows and terraces. The fort seems to operate today as it probably
did for hundreds of years (except for the electricity, but it didn't stay on
all the time anyway).
We were pretty lazy - just laid around in the 100F heat and started to do
some casual shopping. Tourism is down due to the conflict in Pakistan and
the election, so shopkeepers are like unfed pirhanas (the worst being the
rickshaw drivers at the Jaisalmer bus station - they actually grab at your
bags, and there is a police officer with a stick to swat them away). So we
let them do their best sell - invite us in, offer us chai (tea) and cold
drinks, and show us all their wares. There were lots of beatiful
embroidered bedspreads and patchwork quilts - we don't know, though, if we
have been gone so long that we have lost all perspective of what is pretty.
We will probably get home and go, "what were we thinking when we bought
that?" Eric found good sport in pitting shops against each other - " give
me your best price, and then I go and check three more shops and whoever
gives me the best price..." It drove them crazy.
So our big event in Jaisalmer was our two day / one night camel safari.
They pack you up on camels and you go out in the desert (even closer to
Pakistan) and you sleep under the stars. I hadn't really thought how tall a
camel is until I got on one - your feet dangle at least 5 or 6 feet off the
ground! But the animals know what they are doing, so it didn't seem too
scary. I was on the proud Gawdoo, while Eric got to ride the majestic Mr.
Maroo. Poor Gawdoo was only a follower, though, and insisted on riding
another camels rump the whole way - Eric thought he had control over Mr.
Maroo, but it was ovbious pretty quickly that the camel is the one who had
the reins...
We went out with a group of 5 young Koreans - they spoke a little English,
but seemed more interested in just talking to each other. We spent about two
hours on the camels when we stopped for lunch - had to hobble around for 15
minutes or so to get the feeling back in my legs. We lunched at an oasis
(no joke), and were joined by a shepherd and his flock, who were particulary
interested in our lunch. Then back on the camels for another two hours,
until we arrived at our sand dunes for the evening.
Now these sand dunes were no big deal - maybe only 6 dunes, each about 15
ft. tall. But they did set the mood, and we watched the most amazing sunset
- a big red ball setting on the far horizon. We were fortunate to be out
there only one day past the full moon - so when the moon rose it was - to
plagurize the tour book - betwitching. Looking down from our dune I could
see the camels, all sitting on their knees, munching their camel food from
burlap bags - the bells around their necks tinkling. It is an image I will
never forget. The sky seemed so unreal - almost like it was out of the
Truman Show: just a sound stage dome that we could walk to the edge and get
out. Definitely a highlight of our trip!
We spent a couple more days in Jaisalmer (our legs now were barely
functional, so we needed time to get them back), and then decided to bite
the bullet and take the overnight bus to Udaipur. The first leg back to
Jodphur was fine, but when we got on the second leg the trouble began.
Because our bus was late getting in, we had last pick of the seats - which
put us in the last row, which don't recline. That means when the row in
front of us recline, we are left with no room at all. So then when we get
on the bus, we find that the last windows (yes, next to our seats) only have
one pane of glass, instead of two, so our row and the row in front of us
have big gapping holes. As we started, it was soon apparent that it was
going to be freezing wind the whole way there - I had made a bit of an
agreement with the row in front of me that we would share the window, but on
three occasions I caught them sliding it all the way up their way. Argh!
Eric was having none of this, and quickly decided to sleep stretched out in
the aisle ( to the Indian's amusement). I fished my nephew's Christmas
present bedspread out of my bag and huddled as good as I could in the cold
wind. ON top of it the road was the bumpiest I have ever seen, and the
driver kept swerving to miss the pot holes, so we were carsick as well.
Getting off that bus was the best thing that has happened to us on this
trip!
Udaipur is a romantic city in Southern Rajastan, and is prominently featured
in the James Bond movie Octopussy. Palaces seemingly floating in the lake -
amazing paintings on the buildings - unfortunatley, though, Eric and I are
wearing a bit thin. We are now focused on getting to the beach in the south
- should be there in four days or so - to rest up and get prepared for our
journey home!
masala,
Sue and Eric
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