This will likely be my last blog post about India, as I've actually been back in the States for over a week now--but I did want to leave some last thoughts about an incredible day I had there.
I have to admit that when I was preparing to go to Italy, I had all sorts of visions straight out of a Rudyard Kipling book: spice-scented air, women balancing urns on their heads while walking in saris, snake-charmers, monkeys--you get the drift.
But thus far, I hadn't really seen much of that. I saw a lot of modern buildings, a lot of poverty, a lot of fascinating things--but none of the visions from my head. Until the day we went to Rajasthan.
As part of our trek to the Taj Mahal, we planned a day in Jaipur in Rajasthan, a region of India a couple of hours away from Delhi. I was super excited for this, as I'd been promised that not only would I see elephants there, but I'd also be able to ride one! Couldn't wait. My friends had booked a hotel in Jaipur, that was supposed to be historic--an old villa that was turned into a bed and breakfast, and we were going to spend 2 nights there.
So after seeing the Taj Mahal, tired, hot, sweaty, we once again boarded the train to head over to Jaipur. I was looking forward to this, because it was a sleeper train. I love sleeper trains. I can clearly remember the first time I ever slept in a sleeper car headed to Rome from Torino with Max, the Raimondos and Grassos. It was a big thrill, and still kind of is for me today. And this sleeper car didn't disappoint--it was really similar to the sleeper cars in Italy, except that the cabins don't close off completely with a door--they have a curtain hanging to block off some light and obtain some privacy. But as soon as we boarded the train for our 4-hour trek to Jaipur, I scrambled into a top bunk, balled up a sweater as a pillow, pulled one of the provided damp sheets over me and passed out for nearly the whole trip. Sleeping through travel is the way to go!
The only small glitch in my sleeper train experience came at the very end of the journey. I'd woken up, climbed down from the top bunk, and sat down on the bench with a couple of the other girls. I had my rather large backpack on my lap, and couldn't see around it. I felt a brush on my leg, and Geetika said to me, "Sorry--I was just brushing a cockroach off you." All calmly. Like that is a totally normal thing to say. Ummm. Not so much.
"What??!!??"
I scream and jump off the bench. People are looking at me with barely disguised laughter. "Seriously??" I am now turning left and right, trying to make sure they aren't crawling all over me.
"Don't worry!" I am told. "They're just little ones." And then I see. Having sat back down on the bench, I look up to the bottom of the upper bunk above me. They're everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Crawling. And yes, they're not so large, but that's not the point, is it? "They like the dark," I'm told. "Come sit here where there's more light; they're not over here."
Oh my God. They like the dark. It was dark where I was sleeping. I bet I was literally COVERED with roaches!! Shiver goes down spine. Thank God it was the end of the train trip!
*Side note: due to my reaction to the roaches, my friends convinced me to go return trip to Delhi via airplane. And since the ticket was only $40, that's what I did!
We did survive the roach episode, though, and arrived at our incredibly beautiful hotel in Jaipur. It was so pretty. Just all decorated in painted tiles with plenty of balconies and a wonderful pool.
Here's a view of the inside of the hotel:
Pretty, right?
The next day we spent the whole day fulfilling all of my Indian dreams. And first on the list: the elephant ride. We took a cab to a fort outside Jaipur called "Amer Fort." It was another old fort & palace, that is well known for a room made of mirrors called the Sheesh Mahal. And the best way to reach it: by elephant. It's a fairly steep climb. So the first thing we did when we arrived was to book an elephant. There are a ton waiting to take you up:
Here I am on the elephant! We actually went up to the top of a high ridge, and then they brought the elephant up to it, so you just sat down in the carriage on top of it. We were sitting sideways on the elephant. And here are Smita and me, ready for the ascent:
So we went all around the fort, saw the Sheesh Mahal which was really gorgeous. It sparkled, and back in its hey-day it must have been incredible, studded with jewels and lit with candles everywhere. The Indian princesses definitely lived the good life. It was a wonderful place to visit, but the best part for me came at the end of the tour, because outside the palace, I saw a snake-charmer!!!
A real-life snake-charmer and man, did he look the part! He could have been any snake-charmer in any book or Indiana Jones movie. Check him out! The cobra he was charming was too funny, too, because when I set down some money for him, he turned to look at me as if to say, "thanks!"
After leaving the Fort, our afternoon was spent in all kinds of Angie-heaven. We went shopping for beautiful silk scarves, spent time lounging at our hotel pool, and even went for lunch at--guess where?
Pizza Hut. And I even got pepperoni on my pizza (pork is hard to come by in India)!
Finally, to cap off my great Indian Day, we went to a very cool, slightly Disney-like place for the evening called Chokhi Dhani. (Cho-key Dah-nee) It's a recreation of an old Rajhastani village, and man, did they deliver for me! We entered to the sound of music and drums, and the first thing that happened is that a woman painted a red bindi on my forehead (those are the red dots that Indian women decorate their foreheads with as a symbol of their strength and femininity and wisdom). I was then slapped with a turban and pulled into some dancing by some musicians playing traditional music. Much as I wanted to resist, I was no party-pooper! So here I am:
We went on to visit a traditional house. I peered in the windows, thinking there would be recreated interiors, statues of people, maybe...it was way better than that. There was an old wizened woman squatting in one corner, making traditional food over a fire, which she served to us in bowls made from molded leaves. And like any grandmother, she encouraged us to "Eat! Eat!" and to have seconds:
And there was so much more. There were camels and monkeys, palm readers and men giving massages. I even had my hands painted with henna. In fact, if you look very closely at my left palm, you can still see the remnants of my henna tattoo:
And the coolest part of the evening came at the end, when we had a traditional Rajhistani dinner. We entered the open-air restaurant, and the first thing we had to do was to remove our shoes. There was a washbin, and everyone had to wash their hands (since you'd be eating with them). We then were seated on cushions around a low table, and served water and a kind of yogurt drink. Several men served us up ladle after ladle of various soups, dals, chutneys, curries--all eaten with bread. It was so much fun! Definitely an experience.
So although I spent another 5 days in India after that, I mark that as the cherry on my Indian sundae. In one day I:
-rode an elephant
-traveled by camel
-got a henna tattoo
-had my future told by a palmist
-ate a traditional dinner on the floor
-was entertained by a snake charmer
What's left for me in this world, I ask you?
Stay tuned for that answer...I'll be blogging from Costa Rica in December. :)
Namaste.
I have to admit that when I was preparing to go to Italy, I had all sorts of visions straight out of a Rudyard Kipling book: spice-scented air, women balancing urns on their heads while walking in saris, snake-charmers, monkeys--you get the drift.
But thus far, I hadn't really seen much of that. I saw a lot of modern buildings, a lot of poverty, a lot of fascinating things--but none of the visions from my head. Until the day we went to Rajasthan.
As part of our trek to the Taj Mahal, we planned a day in Jaipur in Rajasthan, a region of India a couple of hours away from Delhi. I was super excited for this, as I'd been promised that not only would I see elephants there, but I'd also be able to ride one! Couldn't wait. My friends had booked a hotel in Jaipur, that was supposed to be historic--an old villa that was turned into a bed and breakfast, and we were going to spend 2 nights there.
So after seeing the Taj Mahal, tired, hot, sweaty, we once again boarded the train to head over to Jaipur. I was looking forward to this, because it was a sleeper train. I love sleeper trains. I can clearly remember the first time I ever slept in a sleeper car headed to Rome from Torino with Max, the Raimondos and Grassos. It was a big thrill, and still kind of is for me today. And this sleeper car didn't disappoint--it was really similar to the sleeper cars in Italy, except that the cabins don't close off completely with a door--they have a curtain hanging to block off some light and obtain some privacy. But as soon as we boarded the train for our 4-hour trek to Jaipur, I scrambled into a top bunk, balled up a sweater as a pillow, pulled one of the provided damp sheets over me and passed out for nearly the whole trip. Sleeping through travel is the way to go!
The only small glitch in my sleeper train experience came at the very end of the journey. I'd woken up, climbed down from the top bunk, and sat down on the bench with a couple of the other girls. I had my rather large backpack on my lap, and couldn't see around it. I felt a brush on my leg, and Geetika said to me, "Sorry--I was just brushing a cockroach off you." All calmly. Like that is a totally normal thing to say. Ummm. Not so much.
"What??!!??"
I scream and jump off the bench. People are looking at me with barely disguised laughter. "Seriously??" I am now turning left and right, trying to make sure they aren't crawling all over me.
"Don't worry!" I am told. "They're just little ones." And then I see. Having sat back down on the bench, I look up to the bottom of the upper bunk above me. They're everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Crawling. And yes, they're not so large, but that's not the point, is it? "They like the dark," I'm told. "Come sit here where there's more light; they're not over here."
Oh my God. They like the dark. It was dark where I was sleeping. I bet I was literally COVERED with roaches!! Shiver goes down spine. Thank God it was the end of the train trip!
*Side note: due to my reaction to the roaches, my friends convinced me to go return trip to Delhi via airplane. And since the ticket was only $40, that's what I did!
We did survive the roach episode, though, and arrived at our incredibly beautiful hotel in Jaipur. It was so pretty. Just all decorated in painted tiles with plenty of balconies and a wonderful pool.
Here's a view of the inside of the hotel:
Pretty, right?
The next day we spent the whole day fulfilling all of my Indian dreams. And first on the list: the elephant ride. We took a cab to a fort outside Jaipur called "Amer Fort." It was another old fort & palace, that is well known for a room made of mirrors called the Sheesh Mahal. And the best way to reach it: by elephant. It's a fairly steep climb. So the first thing we did when we arrived was to book an elephant. There are a ton waiting to take you up:
Here I am on the elephant! We actually went up to the top of a high ridge, and then they brought the elephant up to it, so you just sat down in the carriage on top of it. We were sitting sideways on the elephant. And here are Smita and me, ready for the ascent:
So we went all around the fort, saw the Sheesh Mahal which was really gorgeous. It sparkled, and back in its hey-day it must have been incredible, studded with jewels and lit with candles everywhere. The Indian princesses definitely lived the good life. It was a wonderful place to visit, but the best part for me came at the end of the tour, because outside the palace, I saw a snake-charmer!!!
A real-life snake-charmer and man, did he look the part! He could have been any snake-charmer in any book or Indiana Jones movie. Check him out! The cobra he was charming was too funny, too, because when I set down some money for him, he turned to look at me as if to say, "thanks!"
After leaving the Fort, our afternoon was spent in all kinds of Angie-heaven. We went shopping for beautiful silk scarves, spent time lounging at our hotel pool, and even went for lunch at--guess where?
Pizza Hut. And I even got pepperoni on my pizza (pork is hard to come by in India)!
Finally, to cap off my great Indian Day, we went to a very cool, slightly Disney-like place for the evening called Chokhi Dhani. (Cho-key Dah-nee) It's a recreation of an old Rajhastani village, and man, did they deliver for me! We entered to the sound of music and drums, and the first thing that happened is that a woman painted a red bindi on my forehead (those are the red dots that Indian women decorate their foreheads with as a symbol of their strength and femininity and wisdom). I was then slapped with a turban and pulled into some dancing by some musicians playing traditional music. Much as I wanted to resist, I was no party-pooper! So here I am:
We went on to visit a traditional house. I peered in the windows, thinking there would be recreated interiors, statues of people, maybe...it was way better than that. There was an old wizened woman squatting in one corner, making traditional food over a fire, which she served to us in bowls made from molded leaves. And like any grandmother, she encouraged us to "Eat! Eat!" and to have seconds:
And there was so much more. There were camels and monkeys, palm readers and men giving massages. I even had my hands painted with henna. In fact, if you look very closely at my left palm, you can still see the remnants of my henna tattoo:
And the coolest part of the evening came at the end, when we had a traditional Rajhistani dinner. We entered the open-air restaurant, and the first thing we had to do was to remove our shoes. There was a washbin, and everyone had to wash their hands (since you'd be eating with them). We then were seated on cushions around a low table, and served water and a kind of yogurt drink. Several men served us up ladle after ladle of various soups, dals, chutneys, curries--all eaten with bread. It was so much fun! Definitely an experience.
So although I spent another 5 days in India after that, I mark that as the cherry on my Indian sundae. In one day I:
-rode an elephant
-traveled by camel
-got a henna tattoo
-had my future told by a palmist
-ate a traditional dinner on the floor
-was entertained by a snake charmer
What's left for me in this world, I ask you?
Stay tuned for that answer...I'll be blogging from Costa Rica in December. :)
Namaste.
