Oh dear. I have been somewhat remiss with my blog of late, haven't I? However, I feel that I have a very good excuse seeing as I had to waste five of my precious days in India in hospital, and so since I escaped from there I have been trying to make the most of every second, let alone the multiple hours it takes to do a blog entry! Right now though I am sitting in a friend's living room in Delhi, and seeing as it is the day after Diwali and we celebrated pretty well last night, I am going to let him sleep for a bit longer before I drag him out of bed to take me sight-seeing in Delhi. The trouble is, the longer I leave updating this the longer I know it's going to take to write everything, so I can't promise that I'll be able to get up to the present day this morning. I should be able to get you slightly more up to speed with where I've been/what I've been doing/what an amazing time I have been having in this incredible country!
So, as lots of you will know, after my last post I had that train to Agra. Well that was an interesting experience! I managed to make it there, through the journey, and to a hostel the other side on a stomach completely empty apart from copious glucose tablets; not something I would recommend anyone try unless they really have to. Once I got to my hostel I went straight back to bed (as I had been doing in Varanasi the last four days) and when I woke up I realised that I really wasn't getting any better on my own, and that maybe it was time to stop being so stubborn and insistent that it was only a traveller's tummy bug and that I could deal with it myself, and instead just go to see a doctor. Thank God I did, because as soon as I arrived in the surgery he diagnosed me with a fever, acute dehydration, low blood pressure and what he described as a stomach full of nasty bacteria, and told me that I needed to be admitted to hospital immediately. I went back to the hostel, picked up my stuff (luckily I hadn't even made it as far as opening my rucksack) and went in to the hospital. To be fair, I was really impressed with the hospital. I had my own room, which was very comfortable and clean and had a TV, which I made full use of once I got past the sleeping all day and all night phase! The people who were administering to me day to day didn't really speak wonderful English, which was hard at first because I was trying to ask them what all the different pills/IV fluids that they were giving me were and each time they looked a bit confused and then just said 'oh don't worry, it's for your stomach' and mimed rubbing their stomach and smiling. That unsettled me just a tad, but after the first few doses when nothing bad had happened and I was starting to feel more like myself again I decided that if I was there I might as well be there 100% and just trust them and let them get on with it, and it worked out ok! Despite the language barrier they were very sweet to me, and were very keen to make sure I was happy with the care I was receiving and with the hospital in general, which I definitely was. The food was flippin' horrendous, but I think that's a given for hospitals, and my appetite was next to nothing anyway so it didn't really matter. Five days later then, after discovering that I had come down with a stomach full of e coli (which must have been quite bad because my doctor pulled a very entertaining 'worried face' when he told me), they decided I was well enough to be discharged and continue my travels, and although I still felt a bit battered and worn out, I completely agreed that it was time to get out of there and see some more of India. I was starting to itch to get back on the road, and feel it must be some sort of world record to be in Agra for five days and not even catch a glimpse of the Taj Mahal!
The plan was to take it easy for a few days once I had left, but as with all the best laid plans, this one was shot to hell within an hour of leaving the hospital. Luckily, I had cancelled all my on going train tickets when I was leaving Varanasi because I didn't want to feel rushed to get better, so I hadn't missed an travel arrangements. However, that also meant that I didn't have any further travel arrangements, which when you are travelling on trains in India during festival season is not a good situation to be in! I spoke to me hostel manager about getting train tickets (they may have hostel manager as their job title, but they always seem to double as travel agents) and he informed me that there was not a chance that I was going to get a seat on a train to Jodhpur (which is in Rajasthan) in the nest few days, but that he knew of a sleeper bus that was leaving the next day that he could get me a seat on. After my experience from Bodhgaya to Varanasi I was somewhat reluctant to get back on to a long distance bus...especially as this one was actually advertised to be 13 hours, but I didn't really have a choice, so signed my name on the dotted line, handed over my rupees and decided to just hope for the best. That meant, however, that I had less than twenty four hours to see Agra, so I pretty much went straight to bed, setting my alarm for 4.30 the next morning so I could make the most of the time I had.
I am so glad I did, because being up that early meant that I was at the Taj when it opened and got to see the sunrise there. It was absolutely stunning. I find it amazing, because I have seen (everybody has seen) so so many pictures of the Taj, in every light, from every angle, a million times over, and so I kind of thought that I would get there and it would just be everything I had seen but bigger. Somehow though, no picture, no matter how beautiful, seems able to capture its magnificence, its splendour, or its pure beauty. It really is the most awe inspiring building I have ever seen, with mind boggling symmetry at the heart of its design, a design so structured and precise that you would expect it to cause the whole thing to feel a bit stale or sterile, but somehow magnifies the essence of what the Taj is about and turns it into an experience in purity, rather than just a building. I know I am waxing lyrical a bit here, but honestly, it's hard to describe how it feels to stand in front of a building that perfect, especially when you have been imagining that moment since you were sixteen years old and started planning your gap year! By arriving before sunrise I got to see the Taj in many different lights and it changed subtly with each of them. When I first walked through the gate (which in itself was stunning) it was only just visible in the distance, with its outline sort of hazy and indistinct through the early morning haze. I headed straight for the marble platform that you see in all the photos and managed to have my picture on the Princess Diana bench (a touristy must I feel) before wandering around to get a look at it from all its different angles. As the sun started to come up, the outline became increasingly clearer, and the colour of the white marble altered through many shades of pink and orange, before settling on a mild yellow and eventually arriving at its startling white. It was beautiful to see the changing colours of the sunrise reflected on it, but I have to say I think it is at its best when the sun is properly up and you can see the unadulterated whiteness of the marble...it's quite remarkable how brightly it shines considering the amount of time it has been standing there. I read actually, that several years ago they gave it a sort of face mask made of clay from the Ganges, a face mask that Indian women used to use, and that that helped to bring it back to its original colour. Now no polluting vehicles are allowed within a certain distance of it, so it's not being damaged by smoke or exhaust fumes.
I spent about four hours there in total, just wandering and then sitting and admiring, and of course going inside to see the tomb that it was all about. I think that the reason for its existence makes it an even more special building; that this guy would spend so much money and time and effort to construct a building that is an example of perfection, just so it could house and honour his dead wife is touching. The fact that soon after he was deposed by his own son and made a prisoner in his own fort across the river, from where he could only look at his creation (and wife) from a distance, and only returned to the Taj to be buried once he had died himself makes it such a tragic place, and that history resonates when you are walking around. It's interesting because in Indian culture men have always been (and to an extent still are) very much given a position of prominence, over women, but in this case, Mumtaz's (the wife) coffin is in the very centre of the tomb in line with the entrance, the marble platform, the archway and the entrance at the south gate, so if you stand at the foot of her coffin you are in the very centre of the whole momument. Shah Jahan in contrast, is off to one side, clearly the after thought, something I haven't seen anywhere else in India. He must have loved her very much, or else he was atoning for doing something very bad to her while she was alive! I'd like to think it's the first one though.
I headed back to my hostel for breakfast because it has what Lonely Planet describes as the best view of the Taj from its roof top restaurant. It was really nice, but I think maybe more impressive before you actually visit the building itself; it's more like those postcard views again without the awe factor. As far as views go though it was a lovely one, and it's probably a sign of how many incredible things I have seen in India that I am being so blase about it! Once I'd eaten I headed to Agra fort, supposedly one of the most impressive examples of Mughal architecture in India. It was very impressive, with beautiful marble work and fabulous views of the Taj across the river. The trouble was though that there was not really very much information available around the place, and I refused to pay to have a guide who, as far as I knew, was spouting rubbish at me. I am glad I made that decision incidentally, because in Jodhpur I met a guy who had paid for a guide, who proceeded to tell him insightful things like 'this is a big red door' and 'here is a marble platform'...and I could see those things very well for myself! Not really knowing what I was looking at did mar my experience though, and I found myself sort of making up stories for different rooms/areas based on their names, which kept me entertained for a while but lost its appeal after a bit. Also, I was feeling the effects of my early morning and it was very hot, and to be fair I had been out of hospital less than twenty four hours, so I ended up just sitting under a tree inside the fort for quite a long time, reading up in Lonely Planet on where I was going next and taking in the ambience of everybody wandering round. It was a nice place to sit, but I'm not sure it was worth 250Rs to be there! Never mind though, if I hadn't gone I would have regretted it.
My journey to Jodhpur was pretty uneventful. Although the guy in my hostel had promised me that it would be so comfortable - 'like a double bed' - it was by no stretch of the imagination luxurious, but it was fine for what I needed. I had my own (smaller than single) 'bed' which could be closed off from the rest of the bus and had a window, so I pretty much went to sleep as soon as I got on and slept on and off for the whole journey. The roads were in surprisingly good condition apart from every now and then when we would go over a rough patch for about ten minutes and I would be rattled around and got thoroughly battered. It definitely wasn't as comfortable as train travel but needs must and it was an acceptable alternative. Plus, it got me from a to b which is what I needed it to do!
Jodhpur, I loved. It's a shame really that I was only there for one day (my train to Jaisalmer left the evening that I arrived into the city, so I didn't even stay there in the end...see what I mean about not taking it slow?!) but I managed to see quite a lot in that day so it's all good. I went up to the fort first, feeling a bit unsure after my Agra fort experience, but I am beyond glad I went. It's a fantastic building, right on the hill over looking the city and is a pretty formidable place! It also had the best audio guide I have ever heard...full of interesting information and the usual facts, but also with some hilarious dramatic monologues complete with sound effects, and a few interviews with real life princes and princesses of Rajasthan. It was great because I could just wander around at my own pace, listening to a bit of information when I wanted, sitting comfortably in the shade, with no hurry, no hassle and no confusion as to what I was looking at! It meant that I got a real idea of what the fort was like when it was up and running; it was so easy to picture what this charming Indian man, who was doing a very good attempt at a British accent, was telling me about and really made it come to life. They also had musicians and guards dressed in traditional Rajasthani dress all over the place and it was a really nice touch. It was one of the best places I've been for tastefully done tourist touches; they added to the experience in a good way, as opposed to making it cringy as is so often the case. I spent ages there, enjoying the fort and also the view of the city which was breathtaking. They call it the blue city and standing looking over it you can totally see why - pretty much every building has the walls facing the fort painted in different shades of blue. Apparently it began being used as the colour of the Brahmin caste (the highest caste) but now everyone can use it, and it doubles as an effective mosquito repellent!
From the fort I headed over to the other side of the hill to a marble tomb, also built my Shah Jahan, which was like a mini Taj Mahal. It was a lovely contrast to the fort, very calm and peaceful and with a wonderful cool breeze, so I stayed there for a while relaxing and enjoying the view of the fort and city below. It's interesting, because in the distance from both fort and tomb you can see this amazing palace like building, which, it turns out, is the modern day palace of the current Prince of Jodhpur, where he and his family share their home with a very fancy hotel! It was only in the last century that Indira Gandhi took away the Rajasthani royalty's power and position in society, but to this day they are very much still treated as a royal family with a very important role to play in Rajasthani society. I really liked that about Jodhpur, because it made it feel like the history that I was seeing/hearing about was not something that was relevant only in the past, but that is important to the present as well. Rajasthani people are clearly, and rightly, very proud of their regal heritage and are very keen to keep it alive through cultural legacies like their forts, but also through their everyday lives - makes for a fascinating place to visit. My afternoon was spent wandering around the markets near the clock tower in the old town which was great fun. I ended up buying quite a few bits and pieces (my rucksack is stretched to capacity now...not sure what I'm going to do about shopping in Thailand!) like bangles and anklets, and really enjoyed the experience of chatting to people, drinking chai with them and having a good old barter. The only trouble was that they woman who wanted (very insistently) to sell me some bangles took the approach of just putting lots on me and then holding her hand over my wrist so I couldn't remove them. This would have been fine, but she chose the wrist that had had my IV in, and it was still (is still) very sore and bruised from all the liquids that they pumped in to me in hospital, so that was very painful. She must have thought it was just a bartering trick though, because there was no way she was letting go of my hand until I bought something. In stoical style however, I managed to see past the pain and still bartered her down from 400Rs to 100Rs...which I feel is a good effort! I also bought some amazing camel leather gold sparkly 'jootis', or shoes to you and me, which I am in love with (even though they are murder on my poor feet)! They were 250Rs, so about 3.50 pounds (there is no pound sign on Indian computers).
My train to Jaisalmer was again uneventful, once I had booted the army man that was sleeping on my bed out of it! I've definitely become more assertive while I've been here; there is no way on this earth that I would have had the courage to wake up a burly and somewhat scary looking man in army uniform to tell him to get out of my bed when I first arrived, but I didn't even think twice about doing it! It's good, hopefully I can hold on to this new found confidence while I'm travelling the rest of the world, although I may have to tone it down in Thailand where people are generally a lot more laid back and easy going than here.
In Jaisalmer I stayed in a hostel for 100Rs, which is about 1.50! Admittedly for this I had to share a bathroom with the men who worked in the hostel, but it was clean enough and I managed to use it to wash my clothes so for that price, I'm not complaining! I wish I could find accommodation that cheaply for the rest of my trip, but I think India is definitely going to be the cheapest place I'll visit. My first day there I went into their fort, which was completely different to any of the other forts I have seen here. It is made of sandstone and so looks like a giant sand castle plonked in the middle of the desert, which made it look almost comical from the outside. Unlike in Jodhpur, the fort is an integral part of the city (or maybe town is the right word, Jaisalmer was a lot smaller than the other places I've been), and was walking distance from my hostel which was in the centre of the market. Also, the fort is not just a historical monument, but home to about 80% of Jaisalmer's population, and so full of houses, shops and places to eat amongst the temples, palace and havelis of olden times. Apparently this method of living is causing big problems for the fort's infrastructure, but it made it a fascinating place to walk around, with old and new coexisting in a really cool way. I spent quite a lot of time in the Jain temples there, which were choc-a-bloc with idols on every surface/wall/floor...just everywhere, but decided not to pay to go in to the palace, because I felt that it wouldn't be as good as Jodhpur and so was happy to just look from the outside. Jaisalmer was really really hot, so for the afternoon I found a roof top restaurant with a fort view that had a shaded area and fans, and so I sat there on my own for about three hours, enjoying a leisurely lunch, writing in my journal (which I am much better at doing regularly than this blog!) and enjoying a bit of a rest. The manager there was very sweet and just told me to sit as long as I liked, and offered for me to have a sleep on the comfy chairs if I felt I needed to, and then he just left me to it! The fact that that surprised me so much made me realise how 'in your face' people are here generally; I think that's the first time I have gone somewhere like that and just been left alone, without having to ask to be! Was a pleasant respite I must say.
Early the next morning (I swear, I've been having early mornings this whole trip because I keep wanting to see sunrise in places!) I got up and packed and headed over to 'Trotters' for my camel safari! Trotters is run by a man named Del boy (!) who is lovely, but can't read or write, so has to ask foreigners to do all his email correspondence for him, makes it feel a very personal place! I was supposed to be doing my safari with a small group, but in the end it was just me and a middle aged Indian man from West Bengal. It was fine though, he was a nice guy and quite chatty, although he was a wildlife photographer and so spent a lot of time taking pictures. We went in a jeep for the first hour to get in to the desert proper, where we met Ramesh, our guide, and our three camels. Mine was called Lucky (I like to think he was lucky because he got me as a rider) and we got on famously...well as famously as you can get on with a camel!
Before we set off we had breakfast - chai, biscuits, toast and fruit all prepared on a small campfire that the guide had prepared from sticks he found around in the desert. It boded well for the rest of the trip I felt that I was having the best breakfast I'd had since Kolkata, and it was in the desert! We got on to the camels without any lessons or information about what to expect, and the first time mine stood up it caused me a bit of a shock! The way they sit means that their legs are folded underneath them, and so when they stand they have to sort of unfold themselves which makes for a rocky ride where they lean right back before plunging forwards. Luckily I was holding on tight though, so there wasn't a drama before we had even set off! According to Ramesh he has never had anybody fall off a camel he has been in charge of, so I guess that's reassuring! For the morning we made our way through the desert quite slowly. The camel riding was surprisingly easy, I just had to sit there and didn't really even need to hold on. It definitely wasn't the most comfortable way to travel though; it was an extremely bumpy ride and my legs got sore very quickly from being stretched over the camel's back. I tried sitting side-saddle but it felt so unstable that I decided I'd rather the aching legs than have the constant fear of falling off! It was also crazily hot - I guess I should have expected that, it being the desert and all - and so I was decked out in true desert style with a scarf tied across my head and face, covering pretty much all my skin that was on show; I looked positively ridiculous, but preferred that to getting sun stroke! The desert itself was different to how I had imagined. Instead of sand dunes everywhere, there was this sort of scrubby shrub everywhere and low growing viney sort of plants. There was also a very annoying plant that had small thorn-like things all over it, and every time I got off Lucky I managed to brush past one and get my trousers covered in these little burrs...very uncomfortable! In the distance we could see small mountains and every now and then we passed these random piles of rocks or small huts which broke up the monotony. The huts were where local farmers spent the day while they were looking after their plants/animals. I have to say though, the 'farms' were not like any farms I've ever seen, and I'm really not sure that there would be any nutritional value in the plants that were growing in them...when there were any plants growing in them! The farmers were really interesting looking characters though, with amazingly bright colourful turbans/sarees, which looked so fantastic against the browns and greens of the desert landscape.
We arrived at the spot where we were going to have lunch and sat down under a tree in the middle of a sort of field. It was 11.30 by this point and the sun was scorching, even in the shade, so I was glad of the rest! We relaxed there for about 4 hours to avoid the hottest part of the day, and in that time Ramesh cooked us a delicious lunch of chapatis, aloo ghobi and more chai. It was pretty impressive what he managed to cook over one small campfire, with very rudimentary implements and limited ingredients, but that meal was as tasty as anything else I have had in India...just goes to show that you don't need fancy ingredients or utensils to make really good food! I tried to help with the food, and was given the job of shaping the chapatis, but without a rolling pin I discovered that my chapati skills left a lot to be desired! I took so long to shape them that by the time they were nearing the right shape/size they had become horrible elasticy and lost their smooth surface, but bless Ramesh, he cooked them anyway and then just subtly left them until last so he would have to eat them! After a little sleep, Ramesh woke me with a watermelon that he had found nearby; turns out that farmers plant them all over the desert so if they find themselves stuck with no water they can open one of them to get rehydrated. It was really refreshing, and felt so authentic because he just opened it with his hands and then we picked at it any way we could to get all the goodness out...real desert living!
The Indian guy had some bad news while he was sleeping as he had heard from his wife that his baby daughter had come down with a fever so he was going to have to leave early and not stay the night. I was worried for her, but also for me, because although Ramesh had been perfectly fine thus far, I wasn't sure it was the best idea to be alone in the desert with him with no way to get away. Fortunately, we soon after had a phone call to tell us that two guys from Switzerland were joining us for the evening, so that was a relief! They were a really sweet father and son who were taking their first holiday together just the two of them. They were very friendly, and a god0send because mt camera had run out of battery (very annoying) but they were more than happy to take pictures for me and email them to me later which was obviously great. Our afternoon was spent leisurely making our way to the dunes ready for sunset...
To be continued! Arpit just surfaced and family/friends have come for day after Diwali celebrations so can't sit here on a laptop or look very rude! Don't think I will get chance to write again before I get to Thailand as I leave tomorrow night and tomorrow during the day we are going to the F1 race in Delhi! So that'll be different! But I will try to write soon after I arrive in Thailand, I promise.
Hope that everybody is well and happy and enjoying the weather there (!) Incidentally, it's over 30 degrees here and sunny, just to let you know!
Lots and lots of love,
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So, as lots of you will know, after my last post I had that train to Agra. Well that was an interesting experience! I managed to make it there, through the journey, and to a hostel the other side on a stomach completely empty apart from copious glucose tablets; not something I would recommend anyone try unless they really have to. Once I got to my hostel I went straight back to bed (as I had been doing in Varanasi the last four days) and when I woke up I realised that I really wasn't getting any better on my own, and that maybe it was time to stop being so stubborn and insistent that it was only a traveller's tummy bug and that I could deal with it myself, and instead just go to see a doctor. Thank God I did, because as soon as I arrived in the surgery he diagnosed me with a fever, acute dehydration, low blood pressure and what he described as a stomach full of nasty bacteria, and told me that I needed to be admitted to hospital immediately. I went back to the hostel, picked up my stuff (luckily I hadn't even made it as far as opening my rucksack) and went in to the hospital. To be fair, I was really impressed with the hospital. I had my own room, which was very comfortable and clean and had a TV, which I made full use of once I got past the sleeping all day and all night phase! The people who were administering to me day to day didn't really speak wonderful English, which was hard at first because I was trying to ask them what all the different pills/IV fluids that they were giving me were and each time they looked a bit confused and then just said 'oh don't worry, it's for your stomach' and mimed rubbing their stomach and smiling. That unsettled me just a tad, but after the first few doses when nothing bad had happened and I was starting to feel more like myself again I decided that if I was there I might as well be there 100% and just trust them and let them get on with it, and it worked out ok! Despite the language barrier they were very sweet to me, and were very keen to make sure I was happy with the care I was receiving and with the hospital in general, which I definitely was. The food was flippin' horrendous, but I think that's a given for hospitals, and my appetite was next to nothing anyway so it didn't really matter. Five days later then, after discovering that I had come down with a stomach full of e coli (which must have been quite bad because my doctor pulled a very entertaining 'worried face' when he told me), they decided I was well enough to be discharged and continue my travels, and although I still felt a bit battered and worn out, I completely agreed that it was time to get out of there and see some more of India. I was starting to itch to get back on the road, and feel it must be some sort of world record to be in Agra for five days and not even catch a glimpse of the Taj Mahal!
The plan was to take it easy for a few days once I had left, but as with all the best laid plans, this one was shot to hell within an hour of leaving the hospital. Luckily, I had cancelled all my on going train tickets when I was leaving Varanasi because I didn't want to feel rushed to get better, so I hadn't missed an travel arrangements. However, that also meant that I didn't have any further travel arrangements, which when you are travelling on trains in India during festival season is not a good situation to be in! I spoke to me hostel manager about getting train tickets (they may have hostel manager as their job title, but they always seem to double as travel agents) and he informed me that there was not a chance that I was going to get a seat on a train to Jodhpur (which is in Rajasthan) in the nest few days, but that he knew of a sleeper bus that was leaving the next day that he could get me a seat on. After my experience from Bodhgaya to Varanasi I was somewhat reluctant to get back on to a long distance bus...especially as this one was actually advertised to be 13 hours, but I didn't really have a choice, so signed my name on the dotted line, handed over my rupees and decided to just hope for the best. That meant, however, that I had less than twenty four hours to see Agra, so I pretty much went straight to bed, setting my alarm for 4.30 the next morning so I could make the most of the time I had.
I am so glad I did, because being up that early meant that I was at the Taj when it opened and got to see the sunrise there. It was absolutely stunning. I find it amazing, because I have seen (everybody has seen) so so many pictures of the Taj, in every light, from every angle, a million times over, and so I kind of thought that I would get there and it would just be everything I had seen but bigger. Somehow though, no picture, no matter how beautiful, seems able to capture its magnificence, its splendour, or its pure beauty. It really is the most awe inspiring building I have ever seen, with mind boggling symmetry at the heart of its design, a design so structured and precise that you would expect it to cause the whole thing to feel a bit stale or sterile, but somehow magnifies the essence of what the Taj is about and turns it into an experience in purity, rather than just a building. I know I am waxing lyrical a bit here, but honestly, it's hard to describe how it feels to stand in front of a building that perfect, especially when you have been imagining that moment since you were sixteen years old and started planning your gap year! By arriving before sunrise I got to see the Taj in many different lights and it changed subtly with each of them. When I first walked through the gate (which in itself was stunning) it was only just visible in the distance, with its outline sort of hazy and indistinct through the early morning haze. I headed straight for the marble platform that you see in all the photos and managed to have my picture on the Princess Diana bench (a touristy must I feel) before wandering around to get a look at it from all its different angles. As the sun started to come up, the outline became increasingly clearer, and the colour of the white marble altered through many shades of pink and orange, before settling on a mild yellow and eventually arriving at its startling white. It was beautiful to see the changing colours of the sunrise reflected on it, but I have to say I think it is at its best when the sun is properly up and you can see the unadulterated whiteness of the marble...it's quite remarkable how brightly it shines considering the amount of time it has been standing there. I read actually, that several years ago they gave it a sort of face mask made of clay from the Ganges, a face mask that Indian women used to use, and that that helped to bring it back to its original colour. Now no polluting vehicles are allowed within a certain distance of it, so it's not being damaged by smoke or exhaust fumes.
I spent about four hours there in total, just wandering and then sitting and admiring, and of course going inside to see the tomb that it was all about. I think that the reason for its existence makes it an even more special building; that this guy would spend so much money and time and effort to construct a building that is an example of perfection, just so it could house and honour his dead wife is touching. The fact that soon after he was deposed by his own son and made a prisoner in his own fort across the river, from where he could only look at his creation (and wife) from a distance, and only returned to the Taj to be buried once he had died himself makes it such a tragic place, and that history resonates when you are walking around. It's interesting because in Indian culture men have always been (and to an extent still are) very much given a position of prominence, over women, but in this case, Mumtaz's (the wife) coffin is in the very centre of the tomb in line with the entrance, the marble platform, the archway and the entrance at the south gate, so if you stand at the foot of her coffin you are in the very centre of the whole momument. Shah Jahan in contrast, is off to one side, clearly the after thought, something I haven't seen anywhere else in India. He must have loved her very much, or else he was atoning for doing something very bad to her while she was alive! I'd like to think it's the first one though.
I headed back to my hostel for breakfast because it has what Lonely Planet describes as the best view of the Taj from its roof top restaurant. It was really nice, but I think maybe more impressive before you actually visit the building itself; it's more like those postcard views again without the awe factor. As far as views go though it was a lovely one, and it's probably a sign of how many incredible things I have seen in India that I am being so blase about it! Once I'd eaten I headed to Agra fort, supposedly one of the most impressive examples of Mughal architecture in India. It was very impressive, with beautiful marble work and fabulous views of the Taj across the river. The trouble was though that there was not really very much information available around the place, and I refused to pay to have a guide who, as far as I knew, was spouting rubbish at me. I am glad I made that decision incidentally, because in Jodhpur I met a guy who had paid for a guide, who proceeded to tell him insightful things like 'this is a big red door' and 'here is a marble platform'...and I could see those things very well for myself! Not really knowing what I was looking at did mar my experience though, and I found myself sort of making up stories for different rooms/areas based on their names, which kept me entertained for a while but lost its appeal after a bit. Also, I was feeling the effects of my early morning and it was very hot, and to be fair I had been out of hospital less than twenty four hours, so I ended up just sitting under a tree inside the fort for quite a long time, reading up in Lonely Planet on where I was going next and taking in the ambience of everybody wandering round. It was a nice place to sit, but I'm not sure it was worth 250Rs to be there! Never mind though, if I hadn't gone I would have regretted it.
My journey to Jodhpur was pretty uneventful. Although the guy in my hostel had promised me that it would be so comfortable - 'like a double bed' - it was by no stretch of the imagination luxurious, but it was fine for what I needed. I had my own (smaller than single) 'bed' which could be closed off from the rest of the bus and had a window, so I pretty much went to sleep as soon as I got on and slept on and off for the whole journey. The roads were in surprisingly good condition apart from every now and then when we would go over a rough patch for about ten minutes and I would be rattled around and got thoroughly battered. It definitely wasn't as comfortable as train travel but needs must and it was an acceptable alternative. Plus, it got me from a to b which is what I needed it to do!
Jodhpur, I loved. It's a shame really that I was only there for one day (my train to Jaisalmer left the evening that I arrived into the city, so I didn't even stay there in the end...see what I mean about not taking it slow?!) but I managed to see quite a lot in that day so it's all good. I went up to the fort first, feeling a bit unsure after my Agra fort experience, but I am beyond glad I went. It's a fantastic building, right on the hill over looking the city and is a pretty formidable place! It also had the best audio guide I have ever heard...full of interesting information and the usual facts, but also with some hilarious dramatic monologues complete with sound effects, and a few interviews with real life princes and princesses of Rajasthan. It was great because I could just wander around at my own pace, listening to a bit of information when I wanted, sitting comfortably in the shade, with no hurry, no hassle and no confusion as to what I was looking at! It meant that I got a real idea of what the fort was like when it was up and running; it was so easy to picture what this charming Indian man, who was doing a very good attempt at a British accent, was telling me about and really made it come to life. They also had musicians and guards dressed in traditional Rajasthani dress all over the place and it was a really nice touch. It was one of the best places I've been for tastefully done tourist touches; they added to the experience in a good way, as opposed to making it cringy as is so often the case. I spent ages there, enjoying the fort and also the view of the city which was breathtaking. They call it the blue city and standing looking over it you can totally see why - pretty much every building has the walls facing the fort painted in different shades of blue. Apparently it began being used as the colour of the Brahmin caste (the highest caste) but now everyone can use it, and it doubles as an effective mosquito repellent!
From the fort I headed over to the other side of the hill to a marble tomb, also built my Shah Jahan, which was like a mini Taj Mahal. It was a lovely contrast to the fort, very calm and peaceful and with a wonderful cool breeze, so I stayed there for a while relaxing and enjoying the view of the fort and city below. It's interesting, because in the distance from both fort and tomb you can see this amazing palace like building, which, it turns out, is the modern day palace of the current Prince of Jodhpur, where he and his family share their home with a very fancy hotel! It was only in the last century that Indira Gandhi took away the Rajasthani royalty's power and position in society, but to this day they are very much still treated as a royal family with a very important role to play in Rajasthani society. I really liked that about Jodhpur, because it made it feel like the history that I was seeing/hearing about was not something that was relevant only in the past, but that is important to the present as well. Rajasthani people are clearly, and rightly, very proud of their regal heritage and are very keen to keep it alive through cultural legacies like their forts, but also through their everyday lives - makes for a fascinating place to visit. My afternoon was spent wandering around the markets near the clock tower in the old town which was great fun. I ended up buying quite a few bits and pieces (my rucksack is stretched to capacity now...not sure what I'm going to do about shopping in Thailand!) like bangles and anklets, and really enjoyed the experience of chatting to people, drinking chai with them and having a good old barter. The only trouble was that they woman who wanted (very insistently) to sell me some bangles took the approach of just putting lots on me and then holding her hand over my wrist so I couldn't remove them. This would have been fine, but she chose the wrist that had had my IV in, and it was still (is still) very sore and bruised from all the liquids that they pumped in to me in hospital, so that was very painful. She must have thought it was just a bartering trick though, because there was no way she was letting go of my hand until I bought something. In stoical style however, I managed to see past the pain and still bartered her down from 400Rs to 100Rs...which I feel is a good effort! I also bought some amazing camel leather gold sparkly 'jootis', or shoes to you and me, which I am in love with (even though they are murder on my poor feet)! They were 250Rs, so about 3.50 pounds (there is no pound sign on Indian computers).
My train to Jaisalmer was again uneventful, once I had booted the army man that was sleeping on my bed out of it! I've definitely become more assertive while I've been here; there is no way on this earth that I would have had the courage to wake up a burly and somewhat scary looking man in army uniform to tell him to get out of my bed when I first arrived, but I didn't even think twice about doing it! It's good, hopefully I can hold on to this new found confidence while I'm travelling the rest of the world, although I may have to tone it down in Thailand where people are generally a lot more laid back and easy going than here.
In Jaisalmer I stayed in a hostel for 100Rs, which is about 1.50! Admittedly for this I had to share a bathroom with the men who worked in the hostel, but it was clean enough and I managed to use it to wash my clothes so for that price, I'm not complaining! I wish I could find accommodation that cheaply for the rest of my trip, but I think India is definitely going to be the cheapest place I'll visit. My first day there I went into their fort, which was completely different to any of the other forts I have seen here. It is made of sandstone and so looks like a giant sand castle plonked in the middle of the desert, which made it look almost comical from the outside. Unlike in Jodhpur, the fort is an integral part of the city (or maybe town is the right word, Jaisalmer was a lot smaller than the other places I've been), and was walking distance from my hostel which was in the centre of the market. Also, the fort is not just a historical monument, but home to about 80% of Jaisalmer's population, and so full of houses, shops and places to eat amongst the temples, palace and havelis of olden times. Apparently this method of living is causing big problems for the fort's infrastructure, but it made it a fascinating place to walk around, with old and new coexisting in a really cool way. I spent quite a lot of time in the Jain temples there, which were choc-a-bloc with idols on every surface/wall/floor...just everywhere, but decided not to pay to go in to the palace, because I felt that it wouldn't be as good as Jodhpur and so was happy to just look from the outside. Jaisalmer was really really hot, so for the afternoon I found a roof top restaurant with a fort view that had a shaded area and fans, and so I sat there on my own for about three hours, enjoying a leisurely lunch, writing in my journal (which I am much better at doing regularly than this blog!) and enjoying a bit of a rest. The manager there was very sweet and just told me to sit as long as I liked, and offered for me to have a sleep on the comfy chairs if I felt I needed to, and then he just left me to it! The fact that that surprised me so much made me realise how 'in your face' people are here generally; I think that's the first time I have gone somewhere like that and just been left alone, without having to ask to be! Was a pleasant respite I must say.
Early the next morning (I swear, I've been having early mornings this whole trip because I keep wanting to see sunrise in places!) I got up and packed and headed over to 'Trotters' for my camel safari! Trotters is run by a man named Del boy (!) who is lovely, but can't read or write, so has to ask foreigners to do all his email correspondence for him, makes it feel a very personal place! I was supposed to be doing my safari with a small group, but in the end it was just me and a middle aged Indian man from West Bengal. It was fine though, he was a nice guy and quite chatty, although he was a wildlife photographer and so spent a lot of time taking pictures. We went in a jeep for the first hour to get in to the desert proper, where we met Ramesh, our guide, and our three camels. Mine was called Lucky (I like to think he was lucky because he got me as a rider) and we got on famously...well as famously as you can get on with a camel!
Before we set off we had breakfast - chai, biscuits, toast and fruit all prepared on a small campfire that the guide had prepared from sticks he found around in the desert. It boded well for the rest of the trip I felt that I was having the best breakfast I'd had since Kolkata, and it was in the desert! We got on to the camels without any lessons or information about what to expect, and the first time mine stood up it caused me a bit of a shock! The way they sit means that their legs are folded underneath them, and so when they stand they have to sort of unfold themselves which makes for a rocky ride where they lean right back before plunging forwards. Luckily I was holding on tight though, so there wasn't a drama before we had even set off! According to Ramesh he has never had anybody fall off a camel he has been in charge of, so I guess that's reassuring! For the morning we made our way through the desert quite slowly. The camel riding was surprisingly easy, I just had to sit there and didn't really even need to hold on. It definitely wasn't the most comfortable way to travel though; it was an extremely bumpy ride and my legs got sore very quickly from being stretched over the camel's back. I tried sitting side-saddle but it felt so unstable that I decided I'd rather the aching legs than have the constant fear of falling off! It was also crazily hot - I guess I should have expected that, it being the desert and all - and so I was decked out in true desert style with a scarf tied across my head and face, covering pretty much all my skin that was on show; I looked positively ridiculous, but preferred that to getting sun stroke! The desert itself was different to how I had imagined. Instead of sand dunes everywhere, there was this sort of scrubby shrub everywhere and low growing viney sort of plants. There was also a very annoying plant that had small thorn-like things all over it, and every time I got off Lucky I managed to brush past one and get my trousers covered in these little burrs...very uncomfortable! In the distance we could see small mountains and every now and then we passed these random piles of rocks or small huts which broke up the monotony. The huts were where local farmers spent the day while they were looking after their plants/animals. I have to say though, the 'farms' were not like any farms I've ever seen, and I'm really not sure that there would be any nutritional value in the plants that were growing in them...when there were any plants growing in them! The farmers were really interesting looking characters though, with amazingly bright colourful turbans/sarees, which looked so fantastic against the browns and greens of the desert landscape.
We arrived at the spot where we were going to have lunch and sat down under a tree in the middle of a sort of field. It was 11.30 by this point and the sun was scorching, even in the shade, so I was glad of the rest! We relaxed there for about 4 hours to avoid the hottest part of the day, and in that time Ramesh cooked us a delicious lunch of chapatis, aloo ghobi and more chai. It was pretty impressive what he managed to cook over one small campfire, with very rudimentary implements and limited ingredients, but that meal was as tasty as anything else I have had in India...just goes to show that you don't need fancy ingredients or utensils to make really good food! I tried to help with the food, and was given the job of shaping the chapatis, but without a rolling pin I discovered that my chapati skills left a lot to be desired! I took so long to shape them that by the time they were nearing the right shape/size they had become horrible elasticy and lost their smooth surface, but bless Ramesh, he cooked them anyway and then just subtly left them until last so he would have to eat them! After a little sleep, Ramesh woke me with a watermelon that he had found nearby; turns out that farmers plant them all over the desert so if they find themselves stuck with no water they can open one of them to get rehydrated. It was really refreshing, and felt so authentic because he just opened it with his hands and then we picked at it any way we could to get all the goodness out...real desert living!
The Indian guy had some bad news while he was sleeping as he had heard from his wife that his baby daughter had come down with a fever so he was going to have to leave early and not stay the night. I was worried for her, but also for me, because although Ramesh had been perfectly fine thus far, I wasn't sure it was the best idea to be alone in the desert with him with no way to get away. Fortunately, we soon after had a phone call to tell us that two guys from Switzerland were joining us for the evening, so that was a relief! They were a really sweet father and son who were taking their first holiday together just the two of them. They were very friendly, and a god0send because mt camera had run out of battery (very annoying) but they were more than happy to take pictures for me and email them to me later which was obviously great. Our afternoon was spent leisurely making our way to the dunes ready for sunset...
To be continued! Arpit just surfaced and family/friends have come for day after Diwali celebrations so can't sit here on a laptop or look very rude! Don't think I will get chance to write again before I get to Thailand as I leave tomorrow night and tomorrow during the day we are going to the F1 race in Delhi! So that'll be different! But I will try to write soon after I arrive in Thailand, I promise.
Hope that everybody is well and happy and enjoying the weather there (!) Incidentally, it's over 30 degrees here and sunny, just to let you know!
Lots and lots of love,
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