Across India

Today I arrived at my last stop. Somewhere to relax and rest before the last leg home. As dusk came I stepped onto the beach, listing, green palm trees, salty air and the crashing sea surrounded me. The sky a vivid blue background for clouds floating by, all edged pink and orange.

Fallen rain lay thin over the sand beneath my feet and mirrored the sky. I imagined walking high above, on an invisible pathway, through the clouds, light and free, amongst the birds. Then it darkened, the horizon began to swell; angry, bruised, purple and black. The sun became hidden, its light reflected and refracted like a distant fire shrouded in smoke. Time to head back.

Too late. The darkness, engorged, raced in on columns of water, blocking all land from sight. The rain beat me, the wind pushed me and the sea grabbed at me. I fell from the sky, and through the world enraged I stumbled back.

But then that golden light began to return. The dark monster above moved on. Slowly, the land returned to sight, released from its grip. The wind began to calm whilst the sea receded. Under me, the water stilled once more and
the sky opened, bright beneath my feet. I rose smiling; again I walked amongst its clouds.

And I wished you were here.

I spent the afternoon in Delhi's zoo yesterday (more on that in a later blog) and it struck me how many people were looking at me and taking pictures whilst they were surrounded by so many amazing animals. It was the same at Ellora. I found it so odd that they wanted to watch me just as much as the animals. And sometimes thats what you feel like, and animal in a zoo. Everyone staring and waiting for you to do something exciting. Why I thought? It can get incredibly annoying and even depressing. Sometimes you feel stripped of all personal space.

Then it struck. I do just the same. I watch them. In fact thats one of the reasons I am here. To observe their culture. Am I not being rather hippocritical?

I like to watch the people around me, the locals, watch there interactions and there day to day business. Sometimes, when I get bored, I even play a little game and try to guess what celebraties they ressemble. So far I have spotted Indian versions of Danny Devito, Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood, and possibley my favouirte; Barry from Eastenders riding down the street on a motor bike.

Then there are the other foriegners. Sometimes I find myself watching them as much as I do the locals. Or as much as the locals watch me! I try and guess where are they from, do they speak English and if so will I be able to speak to them; what are they doing here, volunteering, working, traveling? How long have they been here and how much longer do they have? Are they in group? It can be incredibly hard to work out. But when you finally speak to them and find out you are right its also very satisfying.

I think the world is like a zoo... We all have our own areas and pens. Occasionally we venture out to look into anothers. To see whats lurking there. Sometimes we even watch those doing the watching. We are fascinated by others, to learn something about them for whatever purpose we may or may not admit to. But what we dont often realise, is that they too are watching us. They also come and wander. They also look into our worlds.

Jodhpur and Jaisalmer are really quite similar. The former being a less developed version of the latter. With an amazing fort overlooking the town and long market bazaars selling colourful spices, their smell filling the air, Jodhpur was a great mid way point on the way to Jaisalmer.

Walking up to the fort you really get an idea of how horrible it must have been to have to charge up there to attack. The tall, vertical and smooth walls perfectly blending in colour with the rock of the hill it is built on. So much so, that from a distance, at first glance you only see the palace peeking over the top. Then when you look down the hill you realise the full extent of its size.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodhpur#Monuments

Of course the views from the battlements are great. You can see all of Jodhpur and have direct lines of sight of the Umaid Bhawan Palace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umaid_Bhawan_Palace and Jaswant Thada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaswant_Thada. The residents there paint the walls of the buildings blue to keep them cool in the day and to stop termites eating through them away. The effect makes me think the city should be called "The Blue City", much like Jaipur is "The Pink City". As well as this the sounds from below are carried all the way up. Individual voices, cars and animals can all be heard from the fort.

So then onto Jaisalmer, via a bus trip with a large jolly Indian whose outlook on like was to be happy first and then money and success will follow. A good way to live I thought. Jaisalmer was busier than Jodhpur, more developed. There you could wander through the old town without too much hassle, in Jailsalmer it was a little more difficult. No problem though, it was easy enough to get lost among the back streets and escape the crowds.

The fort is still used today, 25% of the city's population living within it's walls. As a result though, it is under threat from water erosion. Its ancient water system becoming overloaded by the people living there and, primarily, visiting tourists. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaisalmer#Jaisalmer_Fort

Our main reason for visiting however was to go on a camel safari. We decided to head out to a small village called Khuri, about 40 km south west, to do so. Situated in the middle of the Thar desert there isn't a lot there. just farm houses, a few shops and lots of guest houses which become over loaded with domestic and foriegn tourist during the peak season. As it was, we felt like we were the only ones there. Staying in small mud huts, everything was simple. You had what you needed and that was it. It kind of reminded me of the mud hut I lived in whilst volunteering in Tanzania. I became quite reminiscent and really enjoyed the short amount of time we had there.

We set out on our camels in the morning. Riding for 2 hours the temperature slowly rose. Eventually we stopped, for which I was very grateful. My stomach wasn't feeling so good, originally suffering from Delhi belly I seemed to have gone in the opposite direction. And riding on a camel wasn't helping. Plus they are not really the most comfortable animals to ride. It was a long day out in the desert. Long and hot. I have never felt any heat like that before, and in Jaisalmer it is even worse, 75% humidity also.

As the rains had just come the desert was splattered with green trees, shrubs and grasses. Every so often a lonesome, bare dune rising above everything else. There was plenty of wildlife to. I managed to see two different types of lizards, antelope, loads of dung beatles and birds of all variates; vultures, crows and eagles amongst them.

Stupidly I forgot to put suncream on my arms. I covered all of the rest of myself, even bought a hat but forgot my arms. Being pasty white they burned easily. The next day, after a fitful nights sleep, sand blown in my face every so often, my arms burned, my stomach having problems I wasn't in the best mood. I was glad to back to the guest house to wash and rest.

Then at 12 we caught the bus back to Jaisalmer. Filled to the brim inside, people hanging out of the windows, we were destined for the roof. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I been in a better mood. Or if I was able to move, not being pressed from every side with someone sat on my ankles just to make sure. I was glad it was over quickly. And at least I can now say yes when everyone asks if I rode on the roof of a bus.

That was pretty much it for the desert. Despite the impressive forts there wasn't a whole lot else. The people were friendly, the food great. Just not a whole lot going on.

Delhi next, just for a day to replace me glasses and see Katie off to Varanasi. Then I am off to Jaipur and Agra. The first time alone on the trip.

"Exploring is delightful to look forward to and back upon, but it is not comfortable at the time, unless it be of such an easy nature as not to deserve the name." - Samual Butler, Erewhon

Two weeks in India and things still seem hard. Hardly getting any sleep due to what seems like constant building work in every hotel I stay in or uncomfortable night journeys, and the lack of managing to meet and chat with hardly any other travelers. It feels like the trip keeps starting and stopping. Just two weeks in but it feels like so much longer. The overnight bus journey to Udaipur was the final straw. What should have been a simple, easy transition from one place to another turned into a personal nightmare and manifestation of one of my worst traveling fears.

Choosing to ride in a private bus I was excited by the fact that these buses actaully had beds, bunks above the seats. All was fine, and then we set off. The first problem was my lack of being able to sleep, a) because of the constant bouncing of the bus and b) my gradually swelling bladder due to the same reason as a. Finally a rest stop and reason b was quelled. Well.. at least for the next couple of hours.

Then there was the window. So stiff that I wasn't able to close it properly, leaving a small inch and a half opening at my head and the same again at my feet. After finally managing to fall into some sort of sleep I was later woken by the removal of the bags from the roof. Feeling around for my glasses I couldn't find them anywhere. I searched my entire bed, my pockets, my bag, shoes, the floor, even lifted up the mattress to search down the sides. All to no avail. I finally came to the conclusion that in my sleep I must have loosened my grip on them (why I hadnt put them down somewhere safe instead of holding on to them I have no idea) which allowed them to slip through the window. Pissed off doesnt really sum up how I felt.

Sure, I have contacts, but they are only dailies. I can't wear them 24 hours a day. And the only spare glasses I have are so old that the lenses in them actually hurt my eyes. Without glasses or contact lenses I am really just blind. Totally useless. And its one of the things that most scares me when traveling. Not being able to see.

Finally we arrived in Jodhpur. I was even more tired than when I started the journey. Now with no glasses to hand I was relying on Katie to get us to the hotel. And the same window that let my glasses out let all the desert dust in. I was covered head to foot, absolutely filthy. This was not what I wanted when I decided to come to India.

It wasn't until the afternoon when I had washed and rested that Katie gave me a book to read and I had a change of heart. On the first page was the above quote. And how true it is. I have had bad journeys before. I have been just as tired. Other people have been through so much worse and still coped. It was time to stop moaning and whining. It was time to realise what did have.

That evening I went to dinner with a new out look on the rest of the trip.

MY first stop on entering Rajasthan was Udaipur. The first impression I had was of calm. Nobody shouting, clean streets, smiling people and practically no vehicles on the roads. How wrong I was soon to be... At the hotel I met Katie, my second travel companion. We ventured out into the city and felt like we were walking through a small town on the cost of the Mediterranean.

We arranged for a Rickshaw driver to take us on tour of the city. He took us to some amazing stops such as the monsoon palace, situated on a high hill overlooking the now empty lake Udaipur is most famous for. As well as a small local art school that specializes in the Rajasthan art of miniature painting. Otherwise we saw the usual things really. More temples, more tombs and more palaces. Don't get me wrong, they are all beautiful and interesting places. But you know what they say, too much of a good thing...

And then there were the tourists. I have previously bemoaned the fact that we have managed to meet very few travelers. Here, however, there were package holiday tourists quite literally by the coach load. They seemed to swamp the whole town. Inside the very interesting and magnificent City Palace they made what I hoped would be a peaceful morning exploring the Palace hot, cramped and uncomfortable. I watched them angrily. "How dare they come here and ruin my time. Don't they know how long I have saved for this? They're not real travelers, just package holiday tourists. Ferried from one place to the next. Look at them all with their expensive cameras, fancy clothes and wads of cash to spend in the now, as a result of them, ridiculously overpriced stores in town. How dare they!"

Outside, that which on first impression seemed clean, calm and peaceful actually turned into a noisy trap of touts and shop owners clamoring for your attention. All looking to sell there goods to the nearest tourist. It's their fault.

And then I looked down. I looked at my brand new camera around my kneck; my nice clothes that I bought for myself; weighed my wallet in my hand with all my money that I was spending out here. What right do I have to judge? Am I not really just a tourist as well? What makes me and all the others out there so different and feel we have the right to the title of "travelers". I wonder, do the local people see any difference? Everyone is entitled to travel. And the fact that these people do so has probably done a lot of good for Udaipur, and all the other tourist hot spots within India. Bringing in much need cash and investment. It has also meant, i'm sure at least in parting, the development of the excellent Indian Tourist Management Board. It provides much information and many tours for travelers at, as far as I can tell, quite reasonable prices. The money they earn used to secure the restoration or protection of many of India's historical sites.

The last night I was still rather gloomy however. Udaipur was kind of nice, but only for so long. I never felt I had really met the people here. But there was one more surprise for me. A local festival to celebrate the birthday of one of the cities important ancestors. I never did find out who but right outside my hotel there was small shrine for him. Set up around it were fairy lights, a large stage, chai and food stalls and a very large music system. Finally I felt I had met the real citizens of Udiapur. Friendly and inviting. I sat and clapped along with them, took pictures, enjoyed the music and smiled, whilst they celebrated long into the night.

Perhaps that is the difference, a tourist takes time out from the world and people at home, a traveler makes time to see the world and people away from home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udaipur