Oh! Rajasthan
Namaste,
The trip continues to go well! Tomorrow marks the end of my first leg through the northern state of Rajasthan and tomorrow I'm back to Delhi. I'm meeting friends in Delhi and then we'll continue east to the Taj Mahal and onward to the holy city of Varanasi.
I had a good time in Jaipur, the city sites were very cool. Most of the anecdotes were taken care of last post.
From Jaipur, I traveled to Udaipur, Jodhpur and Pushkar. Udaipur was cool, I ran into Matt, Tracy, Mike and Emma there! We were communicating via email, so we thought we might be able to meet up, but I was walking down the street and heard, "Oh my god(read Bhudda, Brahma, Zarathrustra)!" I looked over and there they were. The movie Octopussy was filmed in Udaipur, so every restaurant shows it every night. We made plans to meet for dinner and a 7:00 showing. It was especially trippy because we watched the movie on the roof of the restaurant, and could see the buildings showcased in the movie (namely the Water and Monsoon Palaces). Crazy. Maybe in a week I'll go to Railay and watch the Bond movie that was filmed there....ouch.
On the way to Jodhpur we stopped at an amazing Jain temple. The Jains are little mentioned in history books, but this temple rivaled Angkor Wat in its beauty and detail. I can't wait to post pictures of it!
Jodhpur was interesting too. I hung out with my driver and we had egg toasts at a cart that is world famous. He reckons he cracks more than 1000 eggs per day. Strange thing is, this very question came up among friends the other day. Sophia and I were wondering how many eggs we've cracked in a lifetime. My job at McD's enabled me plenty of opportunty to get crackin', but I didn't touch 1000/day! The next day I went to a wicked fort. In fact, it's the only fort in India that was never taken. Great audio tour included in the price!
Today is Pushkar. It's a holy city and a type of haven for those seeking spiritual healing. Hippies and temples abound. Had a bit of an "Oh wait, really?" moment at one of the ceremonial ghats, or bathing staircases near the lake. I was ushered in by someone, welcomed, namaste'd and given some flower petals to drop in the lake for prayers and luck. I thanked him and headed down for some quiet reflection and a bit of spirituality seeking myself. After I had some quiet time for myself, he found me and bullied me into making a donation that I was going to make any way. Ugh. Seems to run contrary to the Hindu spirit. I guess package religion doesn't produce true solitude - get off the bus, buy a flower, pray, back on the bus.....
But, apart from that, I can say that I'm feeling it in Pushkar. I found a great shop and some cool trinkets that I hope will make people happy. I know that they made me happy!
Oh! and 2 flat tires today! and we got hit by a motorcycle. Incredible India! Put that in your brochure!
Love to all,
jc
The trip continues to go well! Tomorrow marks the end of my first leg through the northern state of Rajasthan and tomorrow I'm back to Delhi. I'm meeting friends in Delhi and then we'll continue east to the Taj Mahal and onward to the holy city of Varanasi.
I had a good time in Jaipur, the city sites were very cool. Most of the anecdotes were taken care of last post.
From Jaipur, I traveled to Udaipur, Jodhpur and Pushkar. Udaipur was cool, I ran into Matt, Tracy, Mike and Emma there! We were communicating via email, so we thought we might be able to meet up, but I was walking down the street and heard, "Oh my god(read Bhudda, Brahma, Zarathrustra)!" I looked over and there they were. The movie Octopussy was filmed in Udaipur, so every restaurant shows it every night. We made plans to meet for dinner and a 7:00 showing. It was especially trippy because we watched the movie on the roof of the restaurant, and could see the buildings showcased in the movie (namely the Water and Monsoon Palaces). Crazy. Maybe in a week I'll go to Railay and watch the Bond movie that was filmed there....ouch.
On the way to Jodhpur we stopped at an amazing Jain temple. The Jains are little mentioned in history books, but this temple rivaled Angkor Wat in its beauty and detail. I can't wait to post pictures of it!
Jodhpur was interesting too. I hung out with my driver and we had egg toasts at a cart that is world famous. He reckons he cracks more than 1000 eggs per day. Strange thing is, this very question came up among friends the other day. Sophia and I were wondering how many eggs we've cracked in a lifetime. My job at McD's enabled me plenty of opportunty to get crackin', but I didn't touch 1000/day! The next day I went to a wicked fort. In fact, it's the only fort in India that was never taken. Great audio tour included in the price!
Today is Pushkar. It's a holy city and a type of haven for those seeking spiritual healing. Hippies and temples abound. Had a bit of an "Oh wait, really?" moment at one of the ceremonial ghats, or bathing staircases near the lake. I was ushered in by someone, welcomed, namaste'd and given some flower petals to drop in the lake for prayers and luck. I thanked him and headed down for some quiet reflection and a bit of spirituality seeking myself. After I had some quiet time for myself, he found me and bullied me into making a donation that I was going to make any way. Ugh. Seems to run contrary to the Hindu spirit. I guess package religion doesn't produce true solitude - get off the bus, buy a flower, pray, back on the bus.....
But, apart from that, I can say that I'm feeling it in Pushkar. I found a great shop and some cool trinkets that I hope will make people happy. I know that they made me happy!
Oh! and 2 flat tires today! and we got hit by a motorcycle. Incredible India! Put that in your brochure!
Love to all,
jc
posted by jc at 10:25 PM
1 Comments:
I hope that the car you're driving in is BIG AND STRONG... don't want you coming back to Korea all BANGED UP! :) I'm glad you're seeing so much and I'm really excited to hear all about it!! See you soon in Koh Pipi!
Love, Sophia
P.S. Take pictures of the camels and cows for me.
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