Touring Rajasthan

Asia ~ India ~ Rajasthan

Well well well, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks. Have been to a million and one temples, forts, castles and mosques. We’ve been touring around the Indian state of Rajasthan, one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. We’ve seen many many beautiful Jain temples, made from marble, very cool on a hot summers day. Of course all the temples have there share of monkeys hanging around. We visited the Amber fort in Jaipur, which was quite impressive. To get to the entrance many people ride elephants (we opted not to, as we had already done the elephant thing in Thailand). Anyway, just getting to the entrance was a feat in itself, walking in between the massive elephants wandering along.

Whilst we were in Udaipur we didnt just go to the standard temples and forts, we also went to Shilpgram, a small crafts village. While there the local girls taught us to dance in traditional Indian style, and we taught them a few western moves!!! They were most impressed with my hair, just as we were impressed with their outfits!

Learning to dance

We’ve still got Krish driving us around everywhere, thank god we didnt attempt to drive ourselves!!! In a standard day we do about 250 kilometres, which takes about 5 hours, if we’re lucky. Some of the things Krish has to deal with include camels loaded with huge amounts of hay, tractors plugging along with mountains of people in the back, children running across the roads without looking twice, goats, busses with people hanging off the sides, motorbikes with entire families (we’re talking 5 or 6 people) and of course the cows. The other day we were stopped by a herd of sheep, the women (all dressed in their sarees) were pushing them along. At the back of the pack was a small group of donkeys, perhaps 10 or 12 of them. The donkeys all had saddle bags on, with 3 or 4 lambs poking their heads out of the top of each one!

Sharing the road

Prices would be really inexpensive here, if we weren’t eating at resturants every night. Krish is convinced that we’ll die or be harrassed if we step out with the general public, so its strictly hotel resturants for us. He said the other day that we might be able to go to McDonalds later. Hmmm. But to give you an idea, a bottle of pepsi costs 7 rupees, thats under 30 cents. Water is our biggest expense, we go through about 6 or 7 bottles a day (even more if the days temples involve climbing millions of steps!) Food is fantastic though, we have discovered a dish called paneer butter masala, its basically vegetarian butter chicken, with cottage cheese instead of chicken. Visiting the food markets is really interesting, so many different colours and smells, fruit and monkeys everywhere!

Something that has really surprised me is all the women wearing traditional dress. It is very uncommon to see a woman wearing western clothing, the saree has to be one of the most beautiful costumes. The women wear many many colours, often depending on what region you’re in. Bright oranges, pinks, yellows, greens, nothing is too strong! Tash and I had punjabi suits made, so we can *attempt* to fit in, they’re great, really comfy.

Well, better run, about to go sneak out of the hotel to find some real food. Hopefully our driver hasn’t got someone watching the door (he’s done it before!)

xo Bobs

Dilly Dallying in Delhi (and Rajasthan)

Asia ~ India ~ Delhi & Rajasthan

We’ve now been in India for four days, however it seems like so much longer! Everything is very fast and full on over here. Soon after arriving at our hotel, the manager talked us into going on a tour around India, wich turned out to be a great idea. More about that later though. As part of the tour, we were given a driver and a car for a day around Delhi, so we spent our first day in the hectic capital city. First stop was the Red fort, very big, with very interesting temples and arcitecture. But the squirrels – Nobody told me that there were squirrels in India! Then we wandered through the Theives Market to the magnificant Mosque in the middle of the city. After removing our shoes (we have quickly learnt not to wear lace up boots when visiting temples or mosques) we climbed up the tallest tower to the tallest room where we found … the princess. No, not really, but it was a great view of the whole city. Not that we were all that impressed, after stumbling (clawing?) our way up umpteen flights of narrow narrow steps. Maybe the photos will turn out well… We spent the rest of the day looking at all the tourist spots, including the temple that is shaped as a lotus flower (looks remarkably similar to the Sydney Opera House) and parliament house. Last stop was a textiles shop, where Tash and I tried on sari’s. I’m still trying to decide if I should get one…

The next day we started our trip around Rajasthan, ending at Agra (Taj Mahal). We have a car and driver (Krish, very funny guy) for 13 days. On our first day we covered 280 km, which took a bit over 6 hours. The roads are full on. As Krish affectionally puts it (he’s from Delhi), “Delhi drivers are very crazy”. Of course, everyone is crazy to Krish. Cows walking down the middle of the highway (we saw our first cow wandering through the international airport carpark) are skillfully dodged, not only because they are considered a sacred animal, but also because they would make a bloody big dent in the car! Likewise, goats, chickens, sheep, dogs and children are scooted around, with a loud beeping of the horn to remind them that they probably shouldn’t be in the middle of the road. Camel drivers, buses overloaded with locals, trucks even more overloaded, motorbikes, bicycles and auto rikshaws (like tuk-tuks) also have to be negotiated. On seeing our first camel, loaded up with bags and bags of produce, I scrambled for my camera, but since seeing so many of them, I just smile…

Elephants in India

Anyway, first stop was Mandawa, which was really just a chance for us to rest. The next day we stopped at Bikaner, where we saw all the compulsary temples, mosques, castles and forts. We also wandered around the markets, which were full of colours, smells and things to see. The stalls with bags and bags of chilli’s, spices and currys was amazing, you could taste the chilli’s, just from the smell. My eyes are still watering. Other stands had bags and bags of coloured powder, used in the ‘holi festival’, a festival where colour is celebrated. Even the sacred cows get smothered in colour… On our way to Jodpu, we stoped at Deshnok, to look at the ‘Karni Mata’ Temple – also known as the rat temple. Rats crawling all over our feet is an experience I’m unlikely to forget. We even saw a white rat, supposed to bring good luck. Yesterday we arrived in Jodhpur (the blue city). It is known as the blue city as, in the olden times, people painted their houses blue to signify what caste they belonged to. Nowadays everyone paints their house blue, in keeping with the old times.

Karni Mata Temple

Today we visited the Mehrangarh Fort, set on the hill, overlooking the city. It was amazing. We were given little walkmans which gave us an audio tour of the fort, wic was founded in the 15th century. Apparently, when the fort was taken over from the original people, a curse was put on the place. They were threated with a lack of water, which is a big deal in this area (we’re surrounded by desert). The king asked his advisors what to do, and they told him that the only way to lift the curse was to give a human sacrifice. A brave man came forward (?? was pushed) and offered himself. There is a plaque where the man was buried alive in the walls of the fort. After the fort we looked around at some of the other sights of the city, including the city gardens, where monkeys roam around (really big, scary looking monkeys….) We also visited the local markets, which was fun, being the pedestrian trying to dodge all the ‘crazy’ drivers, cows and children!

Audio Guide at the Mehrangarh Fort

Right now I’m contemplating dinner – the Indian food is great. Butter chicken or palak paneer – whatever we have theres sure to be heaps. They dont seem to believe in small portions here, we havent been able to finish a meal! Hope everyone is having a great time as we try and survive on the crazy Indian roads!!!

xo Bobs

Chiang Mai

Asia ~ Thailand ~ Chiang Mai

Hey everyone, how is life treating you?! Life is fantastic over here, just went to dinner with my cousin and my aunt, and it cost us 200 baht (nearly $7) for 3 meals and 3 beers. We spent the day on a tour, first we went to the butterfly and orchid farm, a little boring because I’m not really into the flowers. From there we went to an elephant dung recycling factory. Yep, you read right. They recycle elephant dung into paper and use it all across the world. That lovely handmade paper you’re using might actually be made from elephant dung… Then we went up into the Thai mountains, to visit the hill tribes. We visited the ‘long neck’ tribe and the ‘big ear’ tribes. You’ve probably seen pictures of them… Extremely interesting, they roll coils of brass around their necks by heating the brass up over a fire and then wrapping it around the neck. The first put the brass on at about the age of 5 and change it a few times through-out their lives. Apparently, legend has it that many many years ago, whilst all the men were out hunting, a tiger came into the village and bit a woman on the neck, causing death. As a result, the men put gold rings around their wives necks to protect them. Eventually it became a thing of beauty, to have a long neck. Nowadays the rings are made from brass, as gold is so expensive. If the women take the rings off their necks have no support, so if they move too quickly, they snap they’re necks and die.

We also went to the Elephant Camp just out of Lampang. Very full on, Tasha and I caught the bus to the park, trying to communicate in English, Thai and sign language can be very frustrating, i wish I understood thai!!! the elephant park was amazing. It is the only place in thailand where elephants are actually trained, there are lots of parks around thailand, but they are just show cases for tourists. We saw a show on what the elephants are trained to do, mainly to do with logging. Nowadays they aren’t used for much, as legal logging no longer exsts in thailand. After the show, Tash and I went on an elephant ride, very bumpy!!! Trying to get back to our guest house was tricky. We waited and waited and waited for the bus, but it never came… eventually, the girl who we were waiting with called her boyfriend or husband or something, and he came to pick her up, and they offered us a ride. so imagine us two ausssies in the cab of the pickup truck, with about 6 or 7 guys in millitary uniform, carrying rifles in the back of the truck. they got out halfway home, and our host let us off at the bus station. Tash and i have decided they were park rangers. for our own peace of mind…

We also went and spent some of the day at Wat Phrathat Lampang Luang, the most spectatular temple in Northern Thailand. Very beautiful, not sure i understood everything though. it was surrounded by walls, standard practice around here. there were about 7 seperate temples in the ground, with many images of buddha. One of the temples, the biggest and most famous one, is sort of like a tomb which apparently enshrines ashes from the neck of budha…. In any case, the area was beautiful, very peaceful and quiet.

Last night we stayed at the ‘riverside’ guesthouse, it was beautiful. Made from old teak, our room looked onto the river. We had a little verandah that overlooked the river, complete with couches to lounge around on. It was owned by a farang (foriegner), possibly Dutch, we’re not sure. Transport has been fun. Bangkok was taxis – it costs about $3 AUD to get everywhere. Chiang Mai was tuk-tuk, very different experience! And Lampang, where we are right now, is little pick up trucks with two rows of seats in the back (I cant remember the name of them). People just pile into these things, its amazing. Travelling with our packs can be interesting, Mine has gained about 4 kilo, Tasha’s has gained even more.

We’re about to head off for the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, very different from here. I am not looking forward to the 10 hour train, but oh well, everthing is an experience!

luv and kisses… bobbi!!!

p.s. if anyone can suggest places they’ve been, or have heard about in Southern Thailand, India or China, let me know so i can work it into the itinerary. Also, if u want to meet up with us somewhere, please let me know!!!