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South Asia Trip (Sept - Dec 2002) Week #8 Update |
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Hello
people, It
has now been 2 months and I have a month to go and am so happy about it.
My trip is getting better and better each day. I
am in Udaipur now and just got back from a 3-hour walk around the lake and
hills. Rickshaw guys find it odd that I would want to walk when 50
cents will get me to where I want to go.
So, I think I left off when I was in Delhi.
Since then I have been to Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Pushkar.
Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan so I was a big hustle bustle
kind of city. Walked around
myself the first day and met a British guy (Chris) and walked around with
him for an hour or two. The
next day I joined an organized tour on a bus with 40 people (Indians
mostly) and it was a Jaisalmer
was awesome and a beautiful town. Much
smaller so it was cleaner, friendlier and homey.
Plus people actually still live in the fort area so we got a room
each in a guesthouse for $2 a night.
Hung around the first day and roamed around the small town. Everyone thought Evan was my wife and since she looks Israeli,
that means I am Israeli. The
guy at the Internet café said Shalom and I started in Hindi and he almost
fell over! Evan and I
went on a camel For
those of you that are up on world affairs will have realized that Pushkar
is the place that the Americans and British believed that some sort of
terrorist act would occur. So
the fair this year was good but not as busy as in previous years as the
locals and tourists were a bit afraid of this rumour or suspicion.
Of course I found out about the warning after I got there.
The rickshaw guy from Ajmer train station to bus stand was so nice
and he helped me get on the bus and arrange the ticket and refused to take
any extra money. When you
meet genuine people like that on your trip, it is the best feeling.
As soon as I got off the bus in Pushkar, I bumped into Thom and he
took me to the guesthouse he was at.
A family runs it and they have tents on their roof so I got a
single tent on the roof for $2. There
were over 10 of us living in tents on the roof so things were very social.
And coincidentally, Chris also ended up at the same place.
The camel fair itself was amazing and it was basically an Indian
carnival and exhibition. Imagine replacing everything at the PNE (for those in
Vancouver) with Indian people, Indian food, Indian livestock and that is
what the fair in Pushkar was. And of course tones of shops along the main
road selling everything and anything.
Met another Ismaili British guy traveling around and spend one
night with him and the people he had met at his hotel which included and
Indian girl and her British boyfriend, an Indian guy from northern India (nepali
looking) and a British girl. So
we had a good time walking around the fair at night and then the Indian
girl ran into two old classmates who were taking pictures for a well-known
Indian magazine. So all in all, it was an Indian group of friends and we had
such a good time joking in Hindi and eating the Indian snacks and what
not. Fortunately I got to
experience the fair with non-Hindi speaking people and Hindi speaking
people. In the former case,
everyone hassles you to buy stuff, in the later case, you hassle the
hawkers for a bargain, even the guys running the Ferris wheel!
Three relaxing days in Pushkar is what I needed to relax after the
sightseeing of Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and safari in Jaisalmer. So here I am in Udaipur now and I love the city.
It is so quaint and just has a different feeling than any other
city so far. Especially
the old part of Udaipur. The
people are so friendly and I have met more strangers here than else where.
It could also be attributed to the fact that I am alone here and
can easily just stop and do what ever I want.
The hotel I am staying at is very nice and is $3.50 a night for a Next
stop is Ahmedabad and then back to Mumbai so I can freshen up and begin my
trip to the south of India. Thanks
again to all those that wrote personal messages. Till
the next time, Sameer |