I made the newspaper!
Trip Start
Jul 28, 2007
1
19
90
Trip End
Nov 10, 2008
Bundi, Udaipur, Jodhpur and around,
India
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Yes, I made the newspaper! Not that anyone can recognize me! I had taken my hat off for a short while when they put a tika on my forehead so when I told the guys at the shop this morning that it was my picture they were looking at me and wondering.........until I took my hat off.
I have been lucky again and arrived here in Bundi, which I had missed last year, to find out that a festival was starting the next day. I went to the Palace in the morning where a procession would start after the Ganesh Puja! Yeah! More pictures to take! I waited for a while and for sure all the musicians, dancers, giant Rajasthani puppets and dignitaries made their apparition. They did the puja and someone put a nice flower necklace around my neck. Then one group of musicians with trumpets, a dancing horse and one dancer performed. They were leading the procession. The other performers just walk down behind them to get to the street. I took the time to visit the palace (I had already paid for the ticket and wasn't gonna come back and pay again!) and by the time I came down I still managed to catch up with the slow procession. We walked a long time all the way to a parade ground. There were a few horse and camel races there, the whole thing lasted 10 minutes!
Then they grabbed all the foreigners and we had lunch provided at one of the baori (water tank with steps, this one was for the queen and beautifully decorated and 46m deep). The dignitaries were there of course, but none of them were introduced to us. They put a tika on everyone's forehead and bangles on the ladies wrists. I have very small wrists, but I cannot get bangles to go through, so I broke 4. One man manage to force one on, which broke later as I was eating! All the guys got a big turban tied on their head! Then we had lunch sitting on the floor in a tent. One guy was giving sweets to the foreigners. You had to open your mouth and he put it in. I kept laughing as he came to me, the piece was quite big and dry........difficult to eat without water. And I didn't want to drink the water in case I got sick. That's when they took my picture for the newspaper! There is also another picture in black and white of the whole row of foreigners eating and I have my mouth full and am talking to another foreigner! Not very flattering!
After lunch, we went on a bus tour around the city. We visited a few places and went up to the fort for the sunset. That saved me the climb up the next day! In the evening I went to a dance show and had to walk all the way back home when it finished. There were no autorickshaw to be seen. A young boy got off his bike to walk with me. I though that was good, it made me feel safe. Well, it only took a minute for him to start pulling my sleeve and ask for 1 roupie and to try to take my water bottle from by bag! I told him to go to bed, it was past 11pm afterall! The door to my guesthouse was closed and I had to wake someone to be let in and told that "I was very late!"
This morning I washed with a bucket. I couldn't get the damn door to close properly so I was struggling to wash myslef and cover myself at the same time. Then the young girl came and told me to hurry because she had to get ready to go to school! Nice family guesthouse, but I am paying to stay here (SIN$3, but still.....!) I also now have a bruise on my leg from lifting the door up to close it and I had to share my breakfast with a monkey this morning. OK it wasn't smart to eat my bananas outside!
In the evening, the mother asked me if I wanted to eat a birhday dinner with her daughter and her friends. I said yes, of course! Any chance to have a local experience is always welcome. Plus the girls could speak some English and we had a little chat. The dinner was nice and I enjoyed the sweets. Turns out though, I wasn't invited, but had to pay for the dinner! It would have been cheaper to just order a meal for myself. I must have paid for everyone!
CHITTAURGARH, UDAIPUR, BIJAPUR AND RANAKPUR
The last time I was in Rajasthan I had to skip a few places because I was running out of time. So this year I managed to see them all. I went to Chittaurgarh to visit the fort. I had a guava for the first time. I kept smelling them and finally got to try one, very yummy! From there, took 2 buses to go to Bijapur to visit a castle that was turned into a beautiful hotel. Hum......wish I was in nice company and had enough money to stay here. What a lovely place! Must come back some day!
Stopped in Udaipur again and went back to the same place where I had left a suitcase in September. This time I went on a day trip to Ranakpur, a beautiful Jain temple. I saw a lot of camels by the road on the way. When I got there I had to pay to bring my camera and they wouldn't let me in with the videocamera, so I had to leave it with someone. After visiting the temple, I went to the temple restaurant where everyone was eating thali for only 20 Rs (50 cents)! When I got back to Udaipur there were a lot of fireworks, apparently a lot of people are getting married today, must be an auspicious date!
Then went to Mount Abu, a hill station famous for its lake. It was a lot busier than what I expected! A lot of Indian tourists, but no foreigners. I walked around the lake, did a short trek and visited some very beautiful Jain temples. I wasn't expecting much of the temples, but the inside was delicately carved and impressive. Apparently, the carvers were paid by the amount of dust they made while carving, no wonder! To have fun, decided to rent some Rajastani costumes and have my picture taken. The guy couldn't understand why I wanted to wear a man's outfit. I had to try on a turban at least once! I also really liked the man's top.
Last stop before transiting in Delhi again, Jodhpur. Visited the fort which is quite similar to the one in Jaisalmer. I walked around everywhere and watch the blockprinting. Jodhpur is a big city, but it lacks the charm of other places in Rajasthan.
