GET IT INDIA - PART I

  Jaisalmer, India
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Wow, what a week! From wandering through ancient temples and conquering sand dunes on camels to falling asleep under the stars in the desert and being so, so sick that we thought we were dying - India has been extreme.

Namaste everyone,

When we last checked in we were in Delhi, on the eve of setting off on our Rajasthan Adventure.

THE COLOURS OF INDIA

We'd already spent a couple of days taking in the incredible sights, smells, tastes and colours of India's capital. It really is as full-on as everyone says but perhaps China was good preparation as neither of us felt too overwhelmed.

PEAK HOUR IN DELHI

Sure, the city is dirty, beggars ask you for food and money, the many, many cows that meander through the streets hold up traffic and power just disappears without notice, but it's all part of the charm of India that sucks you in and makes you fall in love with it almost as soon as your plane lands.

WHERE'S WALLY?

And yes, there are hawkers hassling you to buy their wares or offering rickshaw rides for overly inflated prices, and yes, everyone stops and stares as we Westerners walk around trying to make sense of it all, but the people here are the nicest we have encountered so far.

RICKY: YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

Everyone, everywhere wants to know our names and the hawkers happily take no for an answer, preferring instead to stop and chat about Ricky Ponting and the cricket as soon as they hear our accents.Last Monday, after failing to sell us some shoes, the owner of a store near to our hotel invited us to watch the remaining overs of the second one day final with him which, thankfully for us, India won.



But while all of Delhi was celebrating the victory, we were meeting the other people in our tour group. There are only six of us all up - another young Aussie couple from Melbourne and an older couple from Norway, plus our guide, a pocket rocket Rajasthani local called Mayur.

HANGIN' AT THE MOSQUE

We spent another day in Delhi, catching a local bus to the walled area of Old Delhi to walk the narrow streets and bazaars and visit the Jama Masjid, the city's oldest mosque (82 per cent of Indians are Hindu, 12 per cent are Muslim, the rest are made up of Buddhists, Jains and Christians).

SAY CHAPATI

We also went to the Sikh Temple (Sikhism was founded after Hinduism split and branched out, first into Jainism, second into Buddhism and third into Sikhism). Donning bright orange bandanas to cover our heads we sat with the devotees while they worshipped and then visited the communal kitchen, open to anyone no matter how rich or poor, where Caroline rolled and cooked Chapatis with the women.

Despite the many hours spent piecing together the perfect travel wardrobe, Caroline also soon realised she was completely unprepared fashion-wise for India. She packed plenty of hot weather shorts and tank tops, yes, but all totally useless in a country where shoulders and knees must be covered at all times.

So, the last few hours in Delhi were spent at the underground maze that is Palika Bazaar at Connaught Place (the Imperial area) haggling her way into a few long skirts and tops.

At this point, we should mention that we'd also begun taking our ant-malarial tablets when we arrived in India, the initial dose of which didn't sit well with Chris. He spent the first few days quite sick and bedridden with aches and pains.

Caroline "iron guts" Bellinger meanwhile, was busy boasting about how she can consume anything without incident and just to prove it, carelessly used the water from the bathroom sink to brush her teeth instead of using bottled water.

THE LOCAL HOSPITAL

We're not sure whether it was that daring act, a delayed reaction to the malaria tablets or a dodgy tikka masala, but around 4am on Tuesday, Caroline entered Delhi Belly hell.

There are more than 84 million gods and goddesses in the Hindu religion. That day, Caroline prayed only to the Porcelain God. Not fun in anyone's books, particularly not ours when at 7am we had to get on a crowded, smelly and by all accounts, unroadworthy, bus for the seven-hour trip west to Mandawa.

For Caroline, it was a horrible, horrible day and one best not delved further into except to say that she is now more carefully what she wishes for, having spent the best part of the last year secretly hoping that a minor tummy bug in India might help dispose of some unwanted kilos.

OUR HAVELI BEAUTIFUL ACCOMMODATION

Our stay in Mandawa was relaxing, bunking down one of the town's havelis - lavish homes built by rich merchants around 250 years ago and adorned with exquisite frescoes.

HAVELI GOOD DAY TO YOU!

Some of these havelis - like the one we were staying in - have been painstakingly restored and converted into hotels or restaurants, though many others have been left to decay, with the later generations of the merchant families moving to bigger cities and forgetting about them which is a great shame.

GROUP SUNSET IN MANDAWA

We spent two days in Mandawa - walking the dusty, donkey lined streets to inspect other havelis, visiting Hindu temples and watching the sun go down with a cold beer on the rooftop of 250-year-old Mandawa Castle - and then we were on another bus, this time destined for Bikaner.






With Caroline now fully recovered, we spent two nights here in another, more modern haveli and ordered our first room service for the trip - chocolate milkshakes, toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches and hot chips. (Surprisingly, we were both getting a bit sick of Indian, our dream cuisine back home, and with Caroline's stomach still a bit sensitive, we opted for some more familiar comfort food).

CAMELS ARE HOT

Here, we checked out Junagarh Fort (built between 1588 and 1593 to protect 37 palaces and temples, it's never been conquered and is still the property of the maharajas) and a camel breeding farm where we played with baby camels and narrowly avoided being trampled by an entire herd of adults returning to their pens after a day grazing.

YOU DIRTY RAT

We also visited Karni Mata Temple, otherwise known as the Rat Temple, a 600-year-old resort for rodents. The goddess Karni Mata built the temple after making a deal with the god of death to save her nephew. Now, locals believe the rats that live there are reincarnated relatives and bring them daily offerings of milk and sweets. There are thousands of rats running everywhere and it's supposed to be good luck if one of them runs across your bare feet. Caroline was fortunate (or unfortunate?) enough to have one scurry across her toes so we guess that means her future looks bright.

HOT INDIAN NIGHT

Our last night in Bikaner - which also happened to be our leader Mayur's birthday - was spent on a local farm celebrating with lots of delicious food, drinks and traditional dancing and singing. Yes, we were made to dress up in these rather gay costumes but it wasn't so bad after a couple of double vodkas.

CAMEL TOE INSPECTOR

An early start on Sunday morning and we were on another bus, continuing our path west with a six-hour trip to Jaisalmer. Here we dumped our overweight packs, threw a few things in our day packs and headed out to the Thar Desert where we were acquainted with our next mode of transport - camels.

CHRIS' POOR STEED

We were to take a trusty steed on a trek through the blistering heat to set up camp in the middle of nowhere (though quite close, we were later told, to the Indian/Pakistani border - which in hindsight should have been apparent from the stealth fighters occasionally soaring overhead). The trek was slow, but steady, and while largely without incident, we were alarmed when, during a rest stop, Chris' ride briefly collapsed in the sand and Chris was left wondering whether he should have reconsidered the extra helping of tandoori chicken at lunch.

CAROLINE STILL SEARCHING FOR THE DESSERT

Another night of food, drink, music, dancing and storytelling around the campfire before we drifted off to sleep staring at the stars and listening to the distant grunts of snoring camels.

WAKING UP IN THE SAND

Quite a pleasant way to doze off, though the same can't be said for the sudden awakening the following morning, with two grinning, turban-clad men hovering over us holding steaming cups of masala chai. It was a lovely gesture but rather frightening in those first few moments of awakeness, when you aren't quite sure why there are sand dunes - or indeed turban-clad men - in your bedroom. After a hearty Indian breakfast of banana porridge, we were on our way again, making like Lawrence of Arabia across the dusty plains.




We have two more nights in Jaisalmer, before making the six-hour journey to Jodhpur (yes, the place were the horse-riding pants were invented) early on Wednesday morning for two nights, followed by a stay in a small village in Bhenswara before heading to Udaipur on Sunday.

SOMEONE PASS THE CHUTNEY

In between our pit stops, we've been feasting on pakoras, sipping banana lassis, Kingfisher beer and fresh lime sodas to quench our thirst and trying to make sense of Bollywood movies.

CHRIS INTRODUCES A LOCAL TO SILVERCHAIR

And the long bus trips, though not the most luxurious (or safest) way of getting around, are giving us a chance to see the country's vast and differing landscapes and practice our Hindi on the locals who are so curious about us, we're starting to feel like celebrities.

Despite all the quirkiness - or perhaps because of it - we have fallen in love with India. it's nowhere near as hard as we expected and while it's probably not everyone's cup of chai, we thoroughly recommend it as a destination at least once in your lifetime.

It's eye-opening to say the least.

Until next time,
Chris and Caroline xx


P.S.
Laura: Happy Birthday dude. Sorry we can't be there to share it with you but we'll be seeing you in seven weeks.
Soph: They're advertising applications for Amazing Race Asia here. Whaddaya reckon - should we give it a crack?
Thanks to everyone for your emails and updates from home - we love hearing from you and we'll do our best to get back to you as soon as we can find somewhere where the power stays on long enough to send an email.

MMMM, INDIA FRESH...

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
After our brief visits to the dark side, we are both now in excellent health, except for some minor sunburn sustained on the camel trek in the desert. It's hard to believe we've already been gone for more than a month - time is passing much quicker than we would like. We are finding ourselves more relaxed and more accepting of everything this unpredictable lifestyle is throwing us. We don't even mind that our feet are constantly black, there's always dirt under our fingernails and there's always a film of sand and dust sticking to our insect-repellent smeared, citronella-smelling bodies.

MILLIONAIRES FOR A MINUTE

THUMBS UP:
1. Imodium - 'nuf said
2. Feeling like a millionaire - 40,000 Rupees sounds so much better than $1000
3. The Milky Way

THUMBS DOWN:
1. Tanya Zaetta - you have a lot to answer for
2. Random cow pats in dark alleyways at night
3. Smells. The unpleasant kinds

CAROLINE MEETS A LOCAL