Rajasthan

Leaving Amritsar, post wedding proposal, I found myself in an overnight train to Jaipur. In my sleeper train I met a wonderful man, Manohar Singh, from Amritsar. He was a 65 year old Sikh man who specialized in wool fabrics with stores in Amritsar and Jaipur. We talked for hours about India, his business, the US, his disappointment in being able to name the president and Prime Minister of India (since rectified), and his family. He gave me some very explicit warnings to make sure that every person I deal with earn my trust... his warning turned out to be a very important piece of advice that I wish I had listened to more fervently.

His 'serveant' (something that I'm still getting used to) came in a set up dinner for us. I was told that I must dine with him on the train, in our cabin. We were served a wonderful meal of vegetable curry, spinach and chapathis. It was a great experience. Later that night two more older couples joined us in our cabin (three bunk beds, facing each other). I "fell asleep" to the sounds of 5 very nice, welcoming, farting, snoring and hacking Sikhs. I awoke multiple times, one of which to a man scoping my bag, clutched in my arms (everyone, including me, locks their bags while in the train; their are multiple stops during the night).

We arrived in Jaipur midmorning and I made my way to my pre-chosen guest house. I found Rajasthan to be a beautiful area. The colorful and sometimes tremendously large turbans on the men and the elgantly flowing saris on the women make for frequent head turning. I spent two nights in Jaipur and visited a few forts, the city palace as well as the world's largest sun dial (check that off the list; "wally world, dad") In general I found Jaipur to be another large Indian city. Dirty, dusty, overpowering pollution; various fragrances mixing onion and garlic, sweat, urine and incense; and masses of humanity that defy description.

I found the people to be very aggressive in attempting to sell me everything, including their opinion (I am assured hundreds of times that looking is free). I hired a taxi for 4 days to drive me around Rajasthan, as I thought this a more effective way of seeing the area. (and only slightly more expensive). My driver, Sonny, was the "cousin" of a rickshaw driver that I had head earlie and liked. Unfortunately, the liking diidn't transfer on this side of the family... I am dubious of the relation, but that aside, one of his first questions to me was "are you married?" to which I answered "no." He then asked how many girlfriends I have had... and before I even came close to registering the question, he told me he had had 65 girlfriends... He then proceeded to point out three different brothels in quick succession... Things were deteriorating quickly...

Rajasthan is beautiful desert country. It was very different from the mountains of of the Himalyas and the rolling hills in Haridwar. Riding in a 'taxi' gave me the opportunity to see the countryside much more intimately... We went from Jaipur to Pushkar that I had heard much about. I found a nice guest house and walked around for a few hours, only to be completely overwhelmed by the thousands of "HALLOW SIR!!! HALLOW MY FRIEND!!!"'s... I have found that being a man, and travelling along makes me not only a much bigger target but it also gives me a much smaller shield. The people are the most aggressive I have experienced in India... At one point I came to the conclusion that if someone was talking to me, then they were lying. I have backed off this conslusion, but only a bit. Rajasthan shas been the most difficult part of the trip thus far to the point where I have, at points, dreaded walking out on the streets, as I know I have to put up a shield of direct dimissal. While the shield helps in maintaining sanity, I know it also blocks out some experiences I would enjoy.

Pushkar is a beautiful town, though very touristy. My first night, my driver convinced me to come with him to his friend's guest house for dinner. I went and met a nice aussie named Scott and we had a couple beers and shared stories. My driver came out about 2 hours later, completely housed on rum. I told him I was going back to my room, and he grabbed me demanded that I allow him to drive me back. I told him, in no uncertain terms, no-way. He then proposed that I drive... While there was no way that I would get in the car with him, I think there is less of a chance that I would ever want to drive in India.. it scares the crap out of me... I ended up walking back to my guest house and giving my driver a stern talking to the next morning... While in Pushkar I had a 2 hour Tabla (Indian Drum) lesson (followed by a hard sell on some "very nice, pefect for me, very good price" drums, which I declined) After that I followed a trail out of town and had a nice two hour sunset hike up to a Savitri temple (Brahaman's first wife). It was a welcome respite to look down on the small town of Pushkar and clear my head. I found my experiences to be physically and spiritually debilitating.

My experiences in Rajasthan this far me to decide to skip Johdpur and Jaislameer and go straight to Uddaipur.... Uddaipur saved Rahasthan for me. It's a beautiful town on a shimmering lake with mountains on the horizon. The people are more mellow here, and the general vibe was less predatory. It's a gorgeous town with lots of forts and temples (suprise). I treated myself to a nice dinner (meaning over $5) as I gazed out at the Lake Palace hotel that my mother had stayed at 45 years earlier. Cheers, mom. Oh, and I ordered a Gin Fizz in honor of Dad.. cheers dad.

The next day was an early morning flight from Uddaipur to Mumbai (Bombay), and then on to Kochi, Kerala (southern India) for some decompression.

I have found that India completely defies description, classification and generalization. Everytime I feel I have a something nailed down, I turn around and have an experience epitomizing the exact opposite. India exhilerates, exhausts, expounds, pushes, caresses, pulls you down, breaks you and then lifts you back up, better than before; then it repeats.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. My Christmas description will come in my next post. Rama Rama Ding Ding.

-eb