It really is amazing how fast time flies when you are busy with life and work and play....i was swamped the past two weeks trying to grade 109 labs....and unfortunately they weren't that great....which leads me to believe i need to teach a bit better for this crew to truly understand what a lab is and what needs to be in it....and because i have been so busy, two months have almost passed since my trip to india and i have already been back two weeks from sri lanka....which i have to say was fantastic....if this country is not on your bucket list, you need to put it there.....but more on that place in the next update....today i need to finish the indian story.....
i posted these pictures about a month ago, but have not had time to write about what i saw during the second half of my trip with my friend lisa to india....last update ended with the taj mahal in the city of agra....this update picks up still in rajasthan, but now in the pink city of jaipur, then to the very small town of bikaner, to the stop-over in puskar & ajmer, to the backpacker/tourist city of udaipur and finally ending on the beaches of goa....on with the pictures......and there are quite a few....
Jaipur is known as the pink city, and as you can see from the shot above, of the facade of the Palace of the Winds, much of it is made from red sandstone....interestingly though, much of this city is just that, a facade....this palace actually has nothing behind this grand front....so i guess you could really call it "a front"....much of the city was put up for a visit from the biggest maharaja in the area and they wanted to to have the air of being grand....but many times when you looked behind the grand opening of a building, there was nothing behind it....it was rather crazy.... but jaipur is also know for its city palace, and three large forts just outside of town, owned by more maharajas of the mughal rulers....never-the-less, the facade is still quite beautiful, even if there is nothing behind it....
as we were exploring the many aspects of the city palace, we came across another guy setting up for "the puppet show"....the reason i say "the puppet show", is because every puppeteer in india does the same show....and i have to say, lisa and i thought it was rather freaky and scary....but when we asked kids about them, they thought they were funny....it seems like a version of punch and judy, with a lot of hitting, yelling, fighting and craziness, but no talking....just this strange mouth whistle thing and a set of drums, which you can see the guy on the left holding....definitely a bizarre method of entertainment, but i guess reality shows are too....
once in the amber fort, my favorite part was the mirror room....as you can see above....this was extremely ornate and beautifully crafted...they were also refurbishing it, so parts of it were not viewable...but what we could see was stunning....this fort was huge....and you can see a full picture of it below....it actually took us about 30 minutes to even find a way out when we were trying to leave....the nice thing was, we didn't run into too many crowds due to it being so freakin' huge....
here you can see the amber fort from down below where you park the cars and buy the crazy souvenirs....many people are selling the mahajara turbans....and the funny thing is to see all the tourists wearing them as they ride up on the elephants....we decided against this, especially when we realized we were walking up and not riding....the size of these forts and palaces are mind-boggling....and what is crazy is that they are still owned by maharajas and their families....and some of them have been converted into hotels...we stayed in one in ajmer.....these maharajas don't run the country any more, but they still have political and monetary power wherever they live.....the richer get richer and the poorer get nothing....and i have never seen this so much in my face like india....
jaipur is where we spent new years and our hotel had a "new years extravaganza"....it was with dancers, musicians, puppeteers, alcohol and a buffet dinner....it was truly bizarre...this one woman was the amazing dancer, but there was a second one who had no idea what she was doing....we think she was just trying to get a paycheck or a meal...the musicians were okay and the puppeteers were funny....they let lisa play with the puppets and explained that one of them was "michael jackson"...the one that could remove his head and was black....we didn't really get it and thought it was quite funny....later on the trip we learned that particular puppet was really called the "magician" and could remove his head as a magic trick....ah the nuances of language...you just never know if you are talking about michael jackson or the magician :) the other really weird thing about this new years party was that you were not allowed to bring alcohol into the room where you ate....so at the beginning, the only people in the drinking room literally were lisa and i....it was a bizarre, yet indian way to spend new years....i don't think we actually stayed awake for midnight....hahahahaha
from jaipur we hit the road to bikaner....for the one thing i really wanted to do...see the rat temple...i will warn you now, later on down there are rats in a picture....and if you get grossed out by lots of rats, i am giving you this fair warning now....along the road to bikaner, through rajasthan, we saw tons of trucks....and most of them were like this one....loaded down with stuff and the cabs of the trucks, if they were older, were always colorful and decorated to honor the hindu gods for protection on the highways...you can see the one above is loaded with bags of wheat or rice or corn or something....
i was quite surprised by the landscape as we drove to and from bikaner...it was desert...i have no idea why i thought there was no desert in india....but i did....i loved this picture because the trees in this particular landscape, as few as there were, reminded me of the trees in the book The Lorax, by dr, seuss...there were also tumbleweeds and tons of bushes of sage....it was a very long and tiring drive....but the payoff came two days later....woot!!!!
when we got to bikaner, a small military town of about 2 million, we realized there was nothing to do, so we went for a walk in the neighborhood surrounding the hotel....i took one of my favorite shots while there of this woman reading to herself....i love the colors and her intense concentration on what she is reading....
bikaner is still in rajasthan, so of course there are more palaces and forts and buildings owned by maharajas...this is the jungargarh fort....which is of course beautiful inside...as you can see from the picture below....it is also huge and you get a guided tour with your entrance ticket so you can know what you are looking at....
once inside the fort we were on a tour with only indians....so the guide spoke to them in one language and us in english....he had a hard time pronouncing my name, so he called me "jani"....and everywhere we went, he kept saying this is "jani's throne room" or this is "jani's bedroom" or this is "jani's set of weapons"...it really was bizarre...and quite a few people on the tour needed to have their family picture taken with me or lisa or both of us....maybe they had never seen westerners before...that actually happened quite a bit on this trip....at times it was funny, but other times it became annoying...it all kind of depends on who asked for the picture and what they really wanted....unfortunately, many times when guys asked, it just felt creepy....it was one of the things that bothered me about india....many of the men were creepy....and it was interesting how many women were traveling alone there....i know this is one place i would not do that....
the other thing bikaner is famous for is the one and only camel breeding farm in india...we got there just as it opened and therefore missed all of the tourists....and were able to have some camel milk too....lisa had tea, i had milk, but the only flavor they had was "rose"....kind of gross....but i had some anyway....we walked around a visited the different camels and really enjoyed the "chill" atmosphere here....bikaner was actually quite cold and the nights we were there it got down to zero degrees celsius....32 degrees F....and the thing to remember is that no where, and i mean no where, in india do they have heat....so really, it was cold!!!!! THE RAT TEMPLE IS NEXT!!!!
so one of the most important things i wanted to see in india was the rat temple - karni mata - and it was located outside of bikaner....this was why we drove so far....and let me tell you, it did not disappoint...i was kind of sad we did not see a white rat, there are only four of them at the temple, and if you see them, they are supposed to bring you a year of good luck and help you reach enlightenment....oh well...the picture above is the entrance to this temple....and just like every temple in india, you have to go in bare or sock feet....and let me tell you, it was cold marble we were walking on...with all of those rats....
inside of this temple they worship rats and there are approximately 20,000 of them and they are everywhere....i thought this was cool, lisa had a much harder time with it....our driver moti, a hindu, said it was just a normal temple....ahhhhh, the different views of one place....the rats here are sacred and given protection, as well as food and milk....which they drink as you can see above....this temple was erected to honor a hindu sage named karni mata, which means "miraculous mother"....this temple protects rats because one of the sons of this sage died and she implored a god to revive him....he would not do that, but he stated that her son would be reincarnated as a rat....so this temple is protecting karni mata's sons...what i also learned is that if one of the rats is killed, it must be replaced by a solid gold rat by the killer....crazy that...i have to say, i didn't see any solid gold rats while there....but we did see people place some of this milk in their hair as a blessing and even one guy drank it....i loved this temple....but drew the line at the milk....but this stop definitely was a highlight for me for the whole trip....
from bikaner we drove south to pushkar....a very famous town in rajasthan....for a camel market....we were about a month and a half late....but the camels were still dressed up and giving tourists a ride....as you can see from the one above....in this town there is also the only temple for the hindu lord brahma....god of the holy men in india and the highest caste....the brahmin....it was a pretty amazing temple and there were students inside who gave tourists free guided tours just so we could understand what was going on....it was really cool....
we stayed just south of pushkar, in ajmer, in a maharaja's fort converted into a hotel....it was fun being a princess for the night, but i had enough of people, so really i never left the building....lisa went for a walk however, and got this great picture of a kingfisher....this bird is everywhere in india and they have named the country's main beer after it, as well as a local airline in the country....i love the blue, wing feathers of this bird....and the beer isn't so bad either....
from ajmer we went to udaipur....and this was a slice of heaven....this was about two weeks into the trip and we were getting tired of the driving and the staring and the crowds of people and the closeness of everyone....so this was the perfect place to come....udaipur is a backpackers/tourist haven...and has been set up to make the tourists feel safe and comfortable, i think....this picture is of the place we stopped by the river to have a beer....which they had to go buy from the local store...no alcohol??? but one of the main reasons i love this picture is for the two groups of men in the middle and to the right side of the picture....these men were playing a card game....and when we asked the guys at the restaurant about them, they told us they came every afternoon to play that game, in those spots, for the past 40 years....the restaurant can't set up tables there because of this....it was great!
we stayed in a great botique hotel here in udaipur and the first night we had an amazing dinner of indian food (of course) on the roof overlooking the river and the city palace....as you can see, i decided to have a blue dink to celebrate....it was warmer her, there were more people here and it was an easy place to come....india is definitely full on and in your face constantly....and in udaipur we just didn't feel like that was happening as frequently....it was a good respite....and we loved it....
this is a view of the city palace from our hotel's roof....it was a stunning view and the city palace itself was quite amazing...it was the first one we had been too that used a lot of stained glass....i haven't included a picture here because i was not allowed to bring my camera in....and it was CRAZY CROWDED with school kids on a field trip....we are talking hundreds of them....
but i did like the artwork above the elephant gate of this palace...as you can see above...i also loved that they had an "ohm" symbol above the entrance as well....these palaces were amazing architecturally speaking and so ornate....most of them were overwhelming in size and stunning to look at, and this one was no exception.....
we had lunch down by the river in udaipur, and it was a saturday....which meant bathing and laundry day....you can see the guy on the far left is getting all soaped up before plunging in....the men were on one side and the women were in a different place.....kind of reminded lisa and i of the ganges all over again....
udaipur is known as a place to study art and take art lessons and as an artists haven....as we were walking along the first night in the town....i saw this guy making this painting....i asked him what it was called and he pointed to small, pencil writing on the piece that said "There are no words"....i loved it....the next morning though, i was just tired of traveling and in a bad mood, so i didn't really want to try and find him and see if he finished the piece....BUT lisa did...and worked out this plan, that as we walked past his store front we would go in and he would present me with the finished piece....how awesome is that???? so here i am with the artist and my new painting that lisa bought for me to remember india and our travels.....a perfect gift, from my great travel partner...
the picture above is one of my favorites....this is moti....he was our driver, guide and protector for 8 days of our trip...he was an excellent driver, spoke very good english and protected us when we needed it, from some creepy guys at one of the hotels we stayed at....he was like having your dad along for the trip....moti has four kids of his own and is trying to make sure all of them go to college....if you go to rajasthan and are looking for a driver....let me know....moti is a rockstar....and you would be helping make sure his kids go to school....this was the three of us, the only ones at this restaurant outside, freezing, on our last night toghether, before moti took us to the airport in udaipur, so we could go to goa and he could drive two days back to agra....he was incredible....and one of the main reasons we had such an amazing trip....
and then we went to the beach in goa.....and no, it was not this empty, i just positioned the camera correctly....the beach and the water where we were....as well as the om shack we hung by, were clean and comfortable....the water was incredible....the indian ocean by the way, and i loved being in the ocean again....it had been too long....we had tasty lunches at the beach and relaxed as much as we could....just like many beaches around the world...there were hawkers selling things...and yes, they could become annoying, because even if you pretended to be asleep, they wouldn't leave you alone....but the water and the sand and the woman who ran the shack we hung at, were all great....
i decided i needed to include one last "store" picture from india....look at the fun things you can buy...but one of the funniest things is the sign to the right....if you look at the bottom, you can *xerox*std*isd*fax things....what the heck does it mean to "std" things???? hmmmmmmm...but you can buy anything in india....you just have to know how to bargain :)
the picture above is from the last night in mumbai (bombay)....we were there for less than 12 hours....but had some of the most tasty food....and the biggest roti we had seen....unfortunately i can't remember what this roti is called....but it was bigger than lisa's head, as you can see from the picture....and man, was it tasty....it was perfect way to say goodbye to india with one more incredible meal....and our luck held throughout the entire trip....neither of us got sick or experienced the very famous "delhi belly" from food in india...most people were amazed by that....we think it had lots to do with having moti as our protector....but overall, the food in india....magnificent!!!!!!
i decided the last picture from india needed to be me at the rat temple....i know, no rats or a beer in the picture, but i do think you can tell how happy i am to be there from this shot...really, it was a mind-blowing place....actually all of india was...and yes, it was stressful, and crowded and dirty and gross and trying and annoying, but at the same time it was amazing, stunning, beautiful, outstanding, mind-blowing and simply fantastic.....the commercial really is correct...it's incredible india....would i go there again???? yes....but i really want to experience the south of india....it is supposedly more laid back and chill....so i will go back someday....i just don't know when....
i hope you enjoyed this update, as well as part 1 from india....i sure had a great time having the experiences on this trip....i also just traveled to sri lanka for february break....and i have to say it was quite possibly was one of the top ten of my travels ever....what a place....the next update will be about there....sorry you have to wait :) i hope all of you are well and feel free to drop a line and say hi when you can....ask questions if you have them as well....wishing you all a good start to march...and for those in the northern hemisphere, this means spring is just around the corner...woot!!!!
peace out and have a fab day :)
dani
