My grand arrival into Pushkar on the back of a fruit/luggage cart sets the scene - my hotel comes in sight, a huge old fortress wooden door ready for war - Inn Seventh Heaven is the hotels nams. Greeted with the "No Commission" sign on the door - is this the only place in India not paying commission :)
Enterting through the doors my worries from the adventures actually getting here are long left behind. The first sight you are greeted with is a beautiful courtyard - white marble/granite with a Morroccon style waterfountain that has been thoughtfully decorated with Fuscia coloured rose petals. The receptionist Mavi greets me with what I will soon learn is his energetic self and great sense of humour. I'm promised he will return my passport later "maybe" thankfully I can tell he's joking. So a brave man lifts my backpack onto his shoulder and I am told to follow him to my room. The hotel is full for the length of most of my stay but I am offered a room in the adjoining building called Konica House. I was a little anxious at the time of booking as I really did want to stay in Seventh Heaven but I thought I would give it a couple of nights and see how I feel.
After climbing a maze of stairs up and down we arrive to my room - double bed, fan, adjoining private bathroom with a shower (hot water!!!) and my own private balcony overlooking the sidelane below - complete with a beautiful bougavillea, succulent plants and burnt orange chiffon curtains on the balcony for some privacy. I immediately liked the feel of my room - maybe it was living in that dungeon in Jaipur for a month that made me appreciate such a simple room but it was cosy and I decided mine for the next 15 nights at 450 rupee a night - bargain!
I went for a stroll to the hotel's rooftop restaurant and was greeted by guys who ended up feeling like my Indian brothers during my stay. Each of them too pranksters - offering me my muslei on the first morning with a ketchup bottle saying "here is some ketchup for your museli" - I fell for it as everyone in India appears to be ketchup mad thanks to the Brits. I politely declined and Sam insists that I try this Indian favourite - I hand him the bottle and politely decline again - he laughs and says its honey. This sense of humour amongst the staff is what makes this hotel a great place to stay. They look after you like family and their joking puts you into relax mode as you remember not everything in India is meant to be full throttle.
As I was saying the rooftop restaurant had brilliant food and reasonable prices and they even had salads which all the greens they wash in purified water so the tourists dont need to worry about Pushkar belly. This was my first salad since leaving Australia and it rocked - I have a new recipe for salads :) I even braved the Lassi's here as I figured they would be putting their yoghurt in the fridge - delicious again.
There were two resident dogs at the hotel - one who was similar to a bear and who got shaved just before I left - poor thing got the worst haircut in history. The hotel is an old haveli residence and has aroudn 3-4 floors with typical mughal style arch-ways and my all time favourite that I love and am demanding I own in this lifetime - a Indiand chair swing. Don't think of those tacky one's from your local hardware store that nan or pop owned, we are talking hand-carved wood with red velour cushioning and gold chains securing this to the ceiling. One night after dinner I was so snug reading on the swing that I feel asleep and when I woke up and grabbed my things to go to my room I left behind my Lonely Planet for India!! Someone in the hotel scored it and the next day I was eyeing anyone carrying the same edition as mine - which was everyone - dammit. So just like there is a market for stolen shoes from temples here in India, I soon discovered there is a market for 2nd hand Lonely Planets - this time I have stuck on a Shiva and Pavarti god sticker on the front and written a friendly karma reminder notice in the front cover for it's safe return if found.
I had been to Pushkar around 5 years earlier for a couple of days as part of my tour so I already had my bearings of what is where - which isn't really hard when this is a main road that has the bazaar. But last time I didnt get to explore and the lake which this town is famous for actually had water - this time it is empty as there apparently has been no rain since I left. This has completely changed the vibe of the town and hundreds of Hindu pilgrims flock here throughout the year as it has not only the Holy Lake for their early morning and evening poojas, but also India's only Bhrama temple.
One thing I discovered this time round is that Pushkar is not only a haven for foreign tourists (Israelis in particular), but Hindus from across India too. Every morning just as the sun was rising I would be woken by the pilgrim old women who were walking to the makeshift pools for their morning rituals and prayers at one of the many temples. They would be signing, talking loudly - some mornings there was even full brass bands playing. I would silently curse for my sleep deprivation than once the noisy group disappeared within a matter of minutes I was back asleep.
Everyday between 10-11am in Pushkar there is no electricity. Some tourists complain - and I certainlty wouldn't be overly happy in the middle of summer if I paid for an AC room, however the option to counter this is to have a huge noisy generator under some unlucky guests window splattering smoke and being offensively noisy just to comfort a few grumpy guests. I like that the hotel has chosen not to have this and instead puts up with the power outage. In summer apparently the power is out more than 1 hour a day - note to readers considering Pushkar don't come hear between March and Sept - tooooooo hot. Summer is just starting here but it was already getting unbearable and for a town with an empty lake and huge pipe bringing in water from a nearby dam, I wonder the environmental impact of the tourists and pilgrims in this city - but this is India they are no where at that point to care yet.
The bazaar in Pushkar is brilliant - so many hippy clothes catering to foreign tastes. If you like the Byron Bay markets in Australia then you would love Pushkar - dread-locked hippies with their barefoot children and Israeli's as far as the eye can see. As I have said to a few people I keep eaves dropping on Israeli conversations as their accent reminds me of Adam Sandler's movie "Don't mess with Zohan". It took me about a day to ask some Israelis if the Mokantakan restaurant chain they show in the movie is real and sadly no :(
I've decide that on my next trip to India I will instead of bringing clothes just come with an empty bag to Pushkar and fill up on suitable cotton clothes for the rest of my trip - too easy and for $50 you can be set! I have to say the restraint I showed to not go clothes shopping is applaudable - so I rewarded myself with jewellry shopping instead :) When travelling I seem to have 3 things thta I now like to buy from the different countries - textiles, paintings and unique jewellry pieces. In the case of Pushkar they offer a huge variety of stering silver pieces - more tribal influences and those that you find in your local Tree of Life / crystal boho shops. I really wanted a nice silver bangle but failed in finding one that I liked and would wear when I'm back in reality. So I befriended a store owner in the back alleys near my dance teachers home out of the bazaar to buy a heap of antique gypsy pieces for ridiculously cheap compared to the bazaar - I almost felt guilty that they were so cheap so decided I should buy plenty to at least help this poor guy with some business :) I bought a pair of traditional Rajisthani ankles - not super noisy but they are sterling silver and have little balls hanging with the evil eye, I bought a pair of beautiul Rajisthani toe rings and one toe ring set of 3 rings joined by chains that I have seen many of the gypsies wearing. I also bought a heap of individual necklace pieces representative and worn by the different castes. All up I think I spent $60 and walked away with wayyyy too much but something special to me.
Pushkar also has the famous old Rangi Temple that one American lady Colleena Shakti leases a room from and teaches dance classes in Odissi, Tribal and Khabelia Gypsy style dance. I had been admiring her website for months and decided to attend classes there. I enjoyed the gypsy classes which gave you a rare chance to dance with the local gypsy women and learn some of their beautiful moves that influences the Romany gypsies and hand movements that you can today see a part of Flamenco (you need to watch the movie Latcho Drum). I have one little incident to show true gypsy entrepenuership in action. My teacher at the end of my class was sitting with her sister, friend and 1 year old baby and asked if I would like to join them for a Chai, I agreed and off we went to the bazaar to one of her local friends stores. One the way she asked another store for their business card and over chai she gave this to me with her name and said if I would like to post her any clothes or anything from my country I could send them to this stores address with her name on the front. Clever I thought and obviously something that other dancers have done to date. Then a few more people joined us for chai and one gypsy yelled across at me - "madam ek chai" one chai - that's when the penny dropped - I'm paying for everyone's chai. Cultural difference #1 dont assume that when you are invitied to chai that everyone will pay their way, these are gypsies! So I agreed and learnt my lesson quick smart that they are a cheeky and crafty crew :)
Another favourite in Pushkar is the local falafel hawker stand - there are two next to each other, go to the one one your right when you are facing them. After my first visit to them everyday after, twice a day, they greet me with "Namaste madam how are you?" with the hugest smiles. For 50 rupee I had the best falafel roll I have eaten in my life along with pretty damn good hummous and labne (like Tzatiki) obviously this is a recipe thanks to some brilliant visiting Israeli. I asked one Israeli what the go is with so many of them in Pushkar - I think it looked like 80% were from Israel, to the point where signs are everywhere written in Hebrew and shopkeepers and quiet often fluent in the language too! I was told that back home if you say you are going to India, as an Israeli everyone knows to visit Manali, Pushkar and Goa as they have huge communities of Israeli tourists. I guess it's like Aussies in Phuket and Bali really.
One evening - well most - there was a brass band playing tunes for yet another religious ceremony. One particular night walking back to the hotel they were shutting the roads down and we soon discovered a Vishnu procession was to take place. Waiting patiently roadside in the bazaar the strangest scene unfolded infront of me. Aside from the ear-drum bursting terrible keyboard distortion they were calling music, these old old men were pushing HUGE generators on wheels and attached walking almost like a prisoner line ahead were what looked like the local prisoners of Pushkar carring lights on their head attached to the next guy by a electrical cord - a chain of these around 1 km long. My friend and I agreed these guys looked super scary and later learnt that most of them are street people who would have been paid 100 rupee for the night to carry these lights on there head and swallow the terrible smoke from the generators. One old guy saw me taking photos and started dancing with the light on his head - neadless to say I have captured his toothless self dancing with the light on his head all on video.
Being one to not turn down an opportunity to try something new and punish my stomach (ie. the taranchula in Cambodia) I have read about "Pan" in numerous books and decided that it was time I gave this beetle-nut and green tabacco leaf combo a try (this too will go on youtube) as I write this now I am gagging remembering the foul taste. So they have these little Pan stalls along the streets throughout India and for around 10 rupee you get a green leaf, some brown sauce (could be liquid tobacco), aniseed, cardamon, bettlenut and some other terrible ingrediants. You put it in the side of your mouth and chew - I had a bit of an audience wondering what this crazy foreign woman was doing. I decided to bite a bit and chew - f__ terrible! Just think of your toilet cleaner and that's about it. Needless to say I politely spat it into the gutter and kept gargling water to get rid of the taste. Why do I do these things to myself??
Another attraction for many of the tourists and some won't admit, but Pushkar has a serious drug problem - pot town! You often walk through clouds of the stuff and can see tourists with lovely red eyes. One restaurant we were eating at one afternoon decided that since no-one was around that they made us a special pot lassi as a "gift" Amsterdam yes - India no so I politely declined while I watched our pizza guy smoke a joint whilst making my magarihita. The thing that bothers me most with this situation in Pushkar is that it is affecting the locals. Young kids are being influenced by Westerners to smoke pot and drink beer in a Holy City that dosen't permit these. Seedy characters in an abundance surface at night once the bazaar has closed offering you pot and even opium on one night stroll. I'm told by locals that even some of the gypsies are selling (of course) and prostitution is on the increase amongst the young girls and some filthy tourists.
This was the downside to spending more than a few nights in Pushkar, the image of this pretty little town was ruined for me when I got to see what was really going on and being a small town you start to get to know everyone and who does what.
But I refuse to let it ruin Pushkar completely - its a beautiful little town and aside from this one seedy aspect I think it's a great break from the madness of the big Indian cities. I loved that every day on my way to dancing the locals would call from their shopfronts with "Namaste" "Nice salwar kameez madam" "I like this colour" some of the crazy things they say to get you to look at their shopwares. And the chai that is instantly offered when you browse their store - but just know that you really should buy something if you plan to sit chat, have chai and take up so much of their time. I saw too many tourists do it for the chai and the chat with a local experience and over time this is only going to piss them off.
Some days it was too hot and I lazed on the hotel roof or on my balcony shared with my resident gecko so fat from mosquitoes that he was the size of a baby blue tongue lizard! But that makes sense why I never gotten bitten in my room with no net or lotion on.
One little old man that has made an impression and I hope to visit next time was located on the corner next to the hotel. He sells the usual water, juice and toilet paper, but also does paintings for people. There are many of these in the main bazaar but because this guy is out of the way he is more price competitive and nicer to tourists. On the day I arrived he was doing the most beautiful Shiva and Pavarti painting and everytime I walked past I would compliment him on how good it was coming along. We had this little exchange everyday with each new painting. Then one day he said he wanted to show me something and to follow him. Normally I wouldn't walk into a building with some random but I could tell he was fine and that he had something to share. Upstairs in his small flat that he shares with his wife and son is this huge canvas stretched approx 5-6 metres wide. Some German restaurant owner has this picture of police on one side of a bridge and party goers on the otherside. They were just starting and had one day to complete this for him - painted by 3 men in total. It was amazing so over the next day he kept calling me back to check out it's progress. He loved his work and it was very special to see this being handed down to his son. I promised that next time in Pushkar I would come prepared and have some pictures for him to paint.
When my time drew to a close in Pushkar I was ready and happy to move on, it had been a little too long and I'm learning that I like to stay a few days and then move one. Plus after being headbutted in the gut by a cow (it was an accident on both our parts) and I have dodged enough cow crap for a life time - they say Paris is bad with dog poo - visit Pushkar and think of the poor lady who is sweeping that into her dustpan every morning.
Next stop Amritsar....
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Bus ride Jaipur to Pushkar - March 2010
Getting from Jaipur to Pushkar should have been a lot easier but this is India and you sign up for adventure and pushing the boundaries when you agree to come here. To buy intercity bus tickets in India you can get a rickshaw down to the bus station a couple of days before and you are sorted. Being the internet lover that I am, I decided there must be an easier online way of booking tickets (sometimes bargaining with the rickshaw driver then trying to work out where and how to buy your bus tickets and who to trust is all too much).
So I found one of the few online booking sites here in India that accepts international credit cards - makemytrip.com. The sight is easy to navigate around and even shows you a floor plan of the bus to let you choose which seats you want - wow! I paid my 60 rupee (under $2 for a 3 hr bus ride) for a sleeper on a non-AC bus. Non-AC seems to scare most tourists that I have met here that swear by Deluxe buses only - they charge a special "tourist price" and lump you on a bus with other foreigners so all the touts are waiting when you reach the other end. My non-AC "Indian" bus has huge what I call suicide windows, that as the bus pulls up at a stop (not sign posted of course just a random petrol station) the locals are there selling Pani (water) and pass them up through these windows so as to not slow the bus down with passengers getting off.
My sleeper was a perfect idea, it meant I could take on my painful huge backpack and have it on the end of the sleeper (a single bed) and not have to stress if anyone is in the hold of the bus rifing through my things. So my sleeper was airy with the huge windows and a curtain and sliding door that locks me out from the rest of the bus - I didn't feel the need to shut the door since I had the curtain, I invited trouble didn't I. So about 20 minutes into the trip, I'm dosing off to sleep with my Bollywood tunes on my ipod and I feel someone shove my foot out of the way and then she sits her butt on one of them anyone. I could only assume that she said she needs to sit there until they sort out her seating problem as I could see her husband arguing (or is that just talking in India?) with the conductor. So as I annoyed as I am at her tone with me and her lack of a polite excuse me expression, I decide to let her sit there for a few minutes until things get sorted.
So after about 10min she starts trying to get comfortable and pushing her way back on the seat - and further still onto my feet. I realise sh probably isn't getting off anytime soon so decide my feet will suffer to ensure that she is as uncomfortable as I am in the hope she gives up and finds her seat. I'm trying not to "sweat the small stuff" but for the next hour I can feel myself psyching up to tell her to move or pay half my ticket if she wants the seat - yes little miss principle strikes again. Just as I've worked out what I'm going to say she leaps off and with her husband and they are leaving the bus. Problem solved.
Arriving into Ajmer - which Lonely Planet says is a 13km bus ride away from the main bus station and only 10 rupees. Sounded easy enough right? What they fail to tell you is that not all buses drop you off at the "main bus station" so in my case I was dropped off randomly and am trying to haul my 27kg+ back pack off the bus - struggling down the stairs with about 20 men all screaming for my business so because no-one was either helping more nor moving out of my way, I shoved my backpack towards them - they moved :)
You know sometimes when you are trying to think and people keep talking to you and they won't stop and you have to tell them to be quiet so you can think? Well at that moment whilst I was trying to get my bearings and work out where the bus to Pushkar left that's what I needed - them to be quiet so I could look and think - yeah right! So I walked off like I knew where I was going and like my bag was only 1kg - it was all dirt so I realised I was going to have to use it as a backpack - again easier said than done. They are all crowding around me shouting, I'm saying "no thank you" and squatting with my day pack on the front as I try to gracefull put this damn curse of a backpack on without stepping on my salwar kameez top as I get up AND trying to find the strength in my thighs to get up without tipping backwards and giving these men the satisfaction that this woman is going to need our help. I did it but I felt like I nearly burst an artery in my brain.
There was a dread-locked Canadian with his backpack and guitar also looking for the bus to Pushkar so we agreed to work it out together and I was secretly thinking I have someone who can help with my bag if needed - cheeky cheeky. So everyone is telling us that there is no bus to Ajmer, instead to go with them somewhere?? I ignored them and walked off determined to find a rickshaw that would drive me to obviously another bus stand wherever on earth that was. I kept getting told 200 rupees and I would laugh and walk off - 10 rupees is what Lonely Planet said for the bus 13km away! Finally one agreed to 10 rupees each and we then realised we weren't moving until they filled this rickshaw up with locals - around 8 of us inside and 2 hanging out. The driver kept yelling at me to hold my backpack so he could fit more people - thinking of comforts sake I conveniently didn't understand what he was talking about, 8 people were more than enough. Eventually we pull up in a busy area and the driver points to a small bus and says "Pushkar" as I'm stepping off the bus a guy grabs my backpack and says "you want to go to Pushkar" - clutching my bag strap I ask him how much and which bus as I could see they were all fighting for my business - 20 rupee later and I got him to agree to carry my bag to the bus and across the road we went. The bus was a third of the council/government buses around the world so technically that should comfortably seat 20 people? Ha Ha I stopped counting at 77! They found this spot in the rear extirior of the bus and managed to squeeze my bag in there and it took 3 men to push the door closed on my bag :) and out of no where he pulls out this key the size of an A4 page saying "no worries mandam bag is safe".
It took about 30 min to go the 13km distance through the mountains to Pushkar from Ajmer. i chuckled because at one point through the sharp mountain bends I felt like we were in the Afghan mountains (yes another dream). I knew we were close when I saw my favourite (not) huge Pushkar monkies running a muck on the towns outskirts.
We pulled into a huge dirt carpark - the bus station and piled out the bus. I had read that you can get a guy with a kind of fruit cart to push your bags to your hotel - he found me and offered to push me and my bag for 20 rupees. The fruit seller ladies had a bit of a chuckle looking at this silly foreign woman sitting ontop of this cart with my bag. The guy seriously had chicken legs and sticks for arms, I have no idea how he found the strength to push me the 1km or so to my hotel. We arrived at a huge fortress gate of my hotel in Pushkar.
Next blog... Pushkar
So I found one of the few online booking sites here in India that accepts international credit cards - makemytrip.com. The sight is easy to navigate around and even shows you a floor plan of the bus to let you choose which seats you want - wow! I paid my 60 rupee (under $2 for a 3 hr bus ride) for a sleeper on a non-AC bus. Non-AC seems to scare most tourists that I have met here that swear by Deluxe buses only - they charge a special "tourist price" and lump you on a bus with other foreigners so all the touts are waiting when you reach the other end. My non-AC "Indian" bus has huge what I call suicide windows, that as the bus pulls up at a stop (not sign posted of course just a random petrol station) the locals are there selling Pani (water) and pass them up through these windows so as to not slow the bus down with passengers getting off.
My sleeper was a perfect idea, it meant I could take on my painful huge backpack and have it on the end of the sleeper (a single bed) and not have to stress if anyone is in the hold of the bus rifing through my things. So my sleeper was airy with the huge windows and a curtain and sliding door that locks me out from the rest of the bus - I didn't feel the need to shut the door since I had the curtain, I invited trouble didn't I. So about 20 minutes into the trip, I'm dosing off to sleep with my Bollywood tunes on my ipod and I feel someone shove my foot out of the way and then she sits her butt on one of them anyone. I could only assume that she said she needs to sit there until they sort out her seating problem as I could see her husband arguing (or is that just talking in India?) with the conductor. So as I annoyed as I am at her tone with me and her lack of a polite excuse me expression, I decide to let her sit there for a few minutes until things get sorted.
So after about 10min she starts trying to get comfortable and pushing her way back on the seat - and further still onto my feet. I realise sh probably isn't getting off anytime soon so decide my feet will suffer to ensure that she is as uncomfortable as I am in the hope she gives up and finds her seat. I'm trying not to "sweat the small stuff" but for the next hour I can feel myself psyching up to tell her to move or pay half my ticket if she wants the seat - yes little miss principle strikes again. Just as I've worked out what I'm going to say she leaps off and with her husband and they are leaving the bus. Problem solved.
Arriving into Ajmer - which Lonely Planet says is a 13km bus ride away from the main bus station and only 10 rupees. Sounded easy enough right? What they fail to tell you is that not all buses drop you off at the "main bus station" so in my case I was dropped off randomly and am trying to haul my 27kg+ back pack off the bus - struggling down the stairs with about 20 men all screaming for my business so because no-one was either helping more nor moving out of my way, I shoved my backpack towards them - they moved :)
You know sometimes when you are trying to think and people keep talking to you and they won't stop and you have to tell them to be quiet so you can think? Well at that moment whilst I was trying to get my bearings and work out where the bus to Pushkar left that's what I needed - them to be quiet so I could look and think - yeah right! So I walked off like I knew where I was going and like my bag was only 1kg - it was all dirt so I realised I was going to have to use it as a backpack - again easier said than done. They are all crowding around me shouting, I'm saying "no thank you" and squatting with my day pack on the front as I try to gracefull put this damn curse of a backpack on without stepping on my salwar kameez top as I get up AND trying to find the strength in my thighs to get up without tipping backwards and giving these men the satisfaction that this woman is going to need our help. I did it but I felt like I nearly burst an artery in my brain.
There was a dread-locked Canadian with his backpack and guitar also looking for the bus to Pushkar so we agreed to work it out together and I was secretly thinking I have someone who can help with my bag if needed - cheeky cheeky. So everyone is telling us that there is no bus to Ajmer, instead to go with them somewhere?? I ignored them and walked off determined to find a rickshaw that would drive me to obviously another bus stand wherever on earth that was. I kept getting told 200 rupees and I would laugh and walk off - 10 rupees is what Lonely Planet said for the bus 13km away! Finally one agreed to 10 rupees each and we then realised we weren't moving until they filled this rickshaw up with locals - around 8 of us inside and 2 hanging out. The driver kept yelling at me to hold my backpack so he could fit more people - thinking of comforts sake I conveniently didn't understand what he was talking about, 8 people were more than enough. Eventually we pull up in a busy area and the driver points to a small bus and says "Pushkar" as I'm stepping off the bus a guy grabs my backpack and says "you want to go to Pushkar" - clutching my bag strap I ask him how much and which bus as I could see they were all fighting for my business - 20 rupee later and I got him to agree to carry my bag to the bus and across the road we went. The bus was a third of the council/government buses around the world so technically that should comfortably seat 20 people? Ha Ha I stopped counting at 77! They found this spot in the rear extirior of the bus and managed to squeeze my bag in there and it took 3 men to push the door closed on my bag :) and out of no where he pulls out this key the size of an A4 page saying "no worries mandam bag is safe".
It took about 30 min to go the 13km distance through the mountains to Pushkar from Ajmer. i chuckled because at one point through the sharp mountain bends I felt like we were in the Afghan mountains (yes another dream). I knew we were close when I saw my favourite (not) huge Pushkar monkies running a muck on the towns outskirts.
We pulled into a huge dirt carpark - the bus station and piled out the bus. I had read that you can get a guy with a kind of fruit cart to push your bags to your hotel - he found me and offered to push me and my bag for 20 rupees. The fruit seller ladies had a bit of a chuckle looking at this silly foreign woman sitting ontop of this cart with my bag. The guy seriously had chicken legs and sticks for arms, I have no idea how he found the strength to push me the 1km or so to my hotel. We arrived at a huge fortress gate of my hotel in Pushkar.
Next blog... Pushkar
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Holi 2010
Holi Holi..... the most colourful festival on earth! So the day after the Elephant Fair is Holi festival, its always held at the start of summer to say bye to Winter and celebrate good harvest (again so I have been told).
In the week leading up to Holi, all the local stores have a table out the front selling either little bags of coloured Holi dust or you buy it by the grams from the pyramid of coloured dust they have made. They also sell water pistols as you not only throw coloured dust, but now the thing that the kids love to do the most is mix the coloured dust with water and spray it at people on Holi day.
So we woke Holi morning - felt like the excitement of Xmas day and got into our "Holi clothes" that we bought especially to be ruined by the dust. At 9.30am we headed up to the roof of our homestay as we had agreed to play Holi with the family before we headed off to the project co-ordinators house to play Holi with her family and the rest of the volunteers. When we stepped out onto the rooftop we started to laugh as we saw the father and their guests all covered in yellow and orange dust and just casually sitting their eating special Holi sweets (that we made the night before). The visitors stood up and wished us a happy Holi and then took great joy in showing us this is how you celebrate - again the gentle approach with one thumb mark pulled up our forehead then a cheeky clapping of a handful of colour on both our cheeks - let the games begin!
From the safety of the roof we were able to observe the madness on the street below - neighbours coming outside with trays or bags of colour to "bless" each other. Just think of the neighbour you have always hated and use Holi as an excuse to seek the ultimate revenge and it would be considered a blessing! Kids were running mad with their huge water pistols spraying at everyone and everything in their path - including cars driving past with open windows!
Our driver came to pick us up and take us to the house we were to celebrate at and have lunch - we were told its not safe to use public transport on Holi Day and I have to say I am very happy we listened as it was madness on the roads. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw an old grandmother in full sari sitting on the back of a motorbike elegantly but covered in bright pink Holi dust along with her driver. This scene was repeated our entire trip - to the point where we pulled into one residential area and there all these men in their white kaftans and pants covered in the multi coloured dust and walking behind our car so they almost looked like zombies - I would have photographed it except that the windscreen was so dirty the camera couldn't focus.
Sitting in the car we all agreed that the rest of the volunteers were probably waiting for our arrival and hidden in the garden to attack us with colour. As we pulled up we had other concerns - a street full of kids came running towards the car waiting for us to get out so that they could get us. As the car was a van cheekily I told the girls to run out the right door and as they became the bait, I jumped out the left door and ran in through the main gates ha ha. Lucky for me the other volunteers were nowhere to be seen and were still in bed!
We met grandma and grandpa who own the homestay and grandpa was already covered in multi colours - I took a photo as it was very cute. They were getting visitors all day and the same routine would pan out - the oldies would arrive in their whites holding a tray of colour and would gently bless each other by wiping some on each other's face and then when the young one's would arrive they would start using the dust and move onto the water holi which we all concluded we hated as it was cold and the colours wouldn't leave your skin.
It was definitely agreed that dust Holi leave much nicer colours on your clothes than the dark purple/black that appears from mixing all the colours with water. When we finally got all the volunteers together we decided to try taking on the kids in the neighbourhood - I even had military precision strategy that two of us call them up the laneway and once they are all up our end, that the others come from around the back and lock them in - terrible I know!
Somehow we realised that some of the young boys were using car grease and wiping it on people's faces??!!! Suddenly water seemed so innocent.
The daughter of our co-ordinator had her male "friend" turn up and we watched our own Bollywood film unravel infront of us - all we could smirk is "friend sure he is" they were sickeningly romantic taking turns at attacking each other with dust and ignoring everyone else. I thought it was funny that that grandparents sat watching knowingly that another marriage is on the horizon soon!
Our driver was taking us back home when we were hit by a car from the rear - we all jolted forward but no one hurt- the crazy man who hit us, no doubt drunk on Holi day looked at us, smiled and drove off! In true Indian style our driver smiled and said "No problem" hopped out of the car and inspected the damage, laughed and off we drove. No number plates written down or exchange of details - you own a crap car so who cares!
So we enjoyed a delicious Indian lunch, ate even more sweets and got to take part in a crazy festival of colour that could only be compared to the tomato throwing festival in Spain. Incredible India!
In the week leading up to Holi, all the local stores have a table out the front selling either little bags of coloured Holi dust or you buy it by the grams from the pyramid of coloured dust they have made. They also sell water pistols as you not only throw coloured dust, but now the thing that the kids love to do the most is mix the coloured dust with water and spray it at people on Holi day.
So we woke Holi morning - felt like the excitement of Xmas day and got into our "Holi clothes" that we bought especially to be ruined by the dust. At 9.30am we headed up to the roof of our homestay as we had agreed to play Holi with the family before we headed off to the project co-ordinators house to play Holi with her family and the rest of the volunteers. When we stepped out onto the rooftop we started to laugh as we saw the father and their guests all covered in yellow and orange dust and just casually sitting their eating special Holi sweets (that we made the night before). The visitors stood up and wished us a happy Holi and then took great joy in showing us this is how you celebrate - again the gentle approach with one thumb mark pulled up our forehead then a cheeky clapping of a handful of colour on both our cheeks - let the games begin!
From the safety of the roof we were able to observe the madness on the street below - neighbours coming outside with trays or bags of colour to "bless" each other. Just think of the neighbour you have always hated and use Holi as an excuse to seek the ultimate revenge and it would be considered a blessing! Kids were running mad with their huge water pistols spraying at everyone and everything in their path - including cars driving past with open windows!
Our driver came to pick us up and take us to the house we were to celebrate at and have lunch - we were told its not safe to use public transport on Holi Day and I have to say I am very happy we listened as it was madness on the roads. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw an old grandmother in full sari sitting on the back of a motorbike elegantly but covered in bright pink Holi dust along with her driver. This scene was repeated our entire trip - to the point where we pulled into one residential area and there all these men in their white kaftans and pants covered in the multi coloured dust and walking behind our car so they almost looked like zombies - I would have photographed it except that the windscreen was so dirty the camera couldn't focus.
Sitting in the car we all agreed that the rest of the volunteers were probably waiting for our arrival and hidden in the garden to attack us with colour. As we pulled up we had other concerns - a street full of kids came running towards the car waiting for us to get out so that they could get us. As the car was a van cheekily I told the girls to run out the right door and as they became the bait, I jumped out the left door and ran in through the main gates ha ha. Lucky for me the other volunteers were nowhere to be seen and were still in bed!
We met grandma and grandpa who own the homestay and grandpa was already covered in multi colours - I took a photo as it was very cute. They were getting visitors all day and the same routine would pan out - the oldies would arrive in their whites holding a tray of colour and would gently bless each other by wiping some on each other's face and then when the young one's would arrive they would start using the dust and move onto the water holi which we all concluded we hated as it was cold and the colours wouldn't leave your skin.
It was definitely agreed that dust Holi leave much nicer colours on your clothes than the dark purple/black that appears from mixing all the colours with water. When we finally got all the volunteers together we decided to try taking on the kids in the neighbourhood - I even had military precision strategy that two of us call them up the laneway and once they are all up our end, that the others come from around the back and lock them in - terrible I know!
Somehow we realised that some of the young boys were using car grease and wiping it on people's faces??!!! Suddenly water seemed so innocent.
The daughter of our co-ordinator had her male "friend" turn up and we watched our own Bollywood film unravel infront of us - all we could smirk is "friend sure he is" they were sickeningly romantic taking turns at attacking each other with dust and ignoring everyone else. I thought it was funny that that grandparents sat watching knowingly that another marriage is on the horizon soon!
Our driver was taking us back home when we were hit by a car from the rear - we all jolted forward but no one hurt- the crazy man who hit us, no doubt drunk on Holi day looked at us, smiled and drove off! In true Indian style our driver smiled and said "No problem" hopped out of the car and inspected the damage, laughed and off we drove. No number plates written down or exchange of details - you own a crap car so who cares!
So we enjoyed a delicious Indian lunch, ate even more sweets and got to take part in a crazy festival of colour that could only be compared to the tomato throwing festival in Spain. Incredible India!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Elephant Fair 2010 Jaipur
When I was planning my trip to India using my trusty Lonely Planet, I tagged all the festivals that I wanted to try and attend during my stay. When I realised that the Elephant Fair was on just before Holi in Jaipur, I made sure that my volunteer project ended that weekend so that I could be free to join the festivities but still hopefully have interaction with the locals that I met during the program to experience a true Holi.
For years I have watched Bollywood movies with Holi scenes and read stories and I wondered what it's really like to be a part of? Surely throwing coloured dust can't be that exciting - well it's everything and more and I think anyone who visits India should be here for this festival.
Annually, Jaipur city hosts the Elephant Fair in one of it's many stadiums - usually held a day or two before Holi festival. To say that all the volunteers in our programme were excited about this weekend was an understatement. We had a old poster for last years festival on our bedroom wall, so all week we stared at it's photos getting excited wondering if it would be all that we hoped.
Everyone told us to ensure that we arrived at around 1.30pm to get a good seat for a 4pm start - not one for patience, we all agreed that this is India and nothing starts on time so let's arrive at 2.30pm - this turned out to be perfect timing on our part. After the rickshaw driver took us to the wrong stadium and we "phoned a friend" for some Hindi instructions, we knew we had arrived at the right stadium as we watched chalk coloured elephants stride past with their Mahouts proudly dressed ontop. Excitement grew within our group of 4 girls.
Everyone told us to ensure that we arrived at around 1.30pm to get a good seat for a 4pm start - not one for patience, we all agreed that this is India and nothing starts on time so let's arrive at 2.30pm - this turned out to be perfect timing on our part. After the rickshaw driver took us to the wrong stadium and we "phoned a friend" for some Hindi instructions, we knew we had arrived at the right stadium as we watched chalk coloured elephants stride past with their Mahouts proudly dressed ontop. Excitement grew within our group of 4 girls.
At the main entrance we were greeted with a lineup of approx 6-7 elaborately decorated elephants and their grandly dressed Mahouts aboard munching away on ice-cream - we all wanted one! There were at this point a couple of dozen tourists taking photos of the line-up's from across the street and us more "buddying photographers" getting in close on different angles for the perfect shot - them with their huge lens camera's and me with my trusty blue digital camera. The Mahouts invited us to go up and take our photos next to their elephant - now remember this is India - land of entrepreneurs.... 10 rupees per elephant :) but we saw some silly tourists pay the demanded 100 rupees that the Mahout's wanted.
We wondered through the gates and came to a building entrance that looked all rather official for guests of honour so we moved onto the next door which looked the same but had an entourage of Indian guards in their khaki green uniforms, moustache's and sticks along side 2 ladies in beautiful sari - one holding a basket of rose petals and the other a basket of Holi dust. "Please please come in" they beckoned us - we were certain we were in the wrong area but heck who were we to turn down a free blessing and the all important showering of rose petals (is it every girls dream to be showered by rose petals on a daily basis or is that just me and my past life dreaming again?!).
Once we have had the customary Holi dust blessing on our forehead - a thumb smudge line that goes up and those lovely rose petals we entered into the stadium to find row after row of chairs with white frilly seat covers and all foreign tourists sitting in them. We managed to grab the last 4 in the shade (as I said perfect timing) and we sat patiently as we watched the crowd grow in the lead up to start time. Now a few interesting things we noticed - as suspected no Indian's really showed up until 3.30pm but most well after the start time of 4pm. I'm seeing similarities in timeliness between the Greeks and Indians - it's a known fact of Greek timing means a minimum hour later and perhaps Alexander the Great influenced the Indians with our timeliness issues too!
Another thing that we noticed is that our area was completely white skin foreigners - any attempts from the local Indians to stand or sit in our area was met with the Indian guards moving them onto the "Indian area only". This was a little disappointing as it was clear we got the comfy seats, decorations, security and shade - whilst the Indians had to deal with the sun and concrete steps. But we were later told and experience that it was for our own safety and that the whole event is put on by the Rajasthan Tourism Board especially for foreigners - still we felt bad and considering the recent terrorist threat to Jaipur, I had to shake the thought that we were ducks in waiting.
Finally the parade began, 95 beautifully decorated elephants in total, along with horses, camels, ox and carts, folk dancers and more. There was a "Miss Elephant 2010" beauty pageant and elephants playing soccer - now I have seen everything.
The artwork down on the elephants bodies was amazing - some in chalk and some in paints. There was a tiger and lion painted along side the body so that the elephants eye was that of the tiger/lion and every time the animal blinked it looked like the tiger/lion was blinking. They also had beautifully layered coats of silver, mirrors, frills and traditional applique on the elephants. Yes I am obsessed with elephants so was in my element.
The security guards lost control of the crowd as the animals were coming out and a combination of Indians and foreigners ran across the field to have their photos beside the beasts and costumed dancers. We had no energy to join them so happily watched from our regal seats, but gave in towards the end of the afternoon when I decided I wanted photos of the folk dancers.
They were very welcoming of photos and were equally as intrigued in us as we were them - kindly no rupee payment was required for photos of them or with them, as long as I showed them my camera after I took their photo. Some of them (inc. local Indians) came up and tapped me on the shoulder pointing to my camera indicating that they wanted me to take a photo of them - then I would show them and you would think I gave them 100 rupees! I put my sunglasses on one of the folk dancers with his bright orange turban and his whole "crew" thought this was hysterical and were in fits of laughter as we took photos. To return the favour one of his friends insisted I wear his turban for the photo - we all enjoyed the comical photo session.
What no-one of our "local" friends had bothered to warn us is that we should be careful at the Fair as the local's do Holi dust throwing there also - we saw a few people covered and I clearly remember jinxing myself and saying to the girls - "thank goodness they have not touched me in my new Salwar Kameez (kaftan top and pants that I bought that day) as I said JINX! So it started not long after my photos with the folk dancers, one of the volunteers recognised an elephant and it's Mahout from his project so we were having a chat. Then a young boy comes up and says "please madam for holi" - he has a bag of yellow coloured dust and I freak out at first but then see he is waiting for my permission - so I agree to just a pooja on my forehead. This then opened the flood gates and they all started asking (we realise its the excitement of not only covering us in dust but getting to touch the foreign girls face!). So I decide it's time to disappear into the crowd to observe the rest of the dancing festivities - we got suckered in when we saw the rose petal shower in the crowd behind us, so excitedly we all agreed to run under the "flower shower". Next thing we know we are surrounded by guys and there is a surge towards us of 20-30 young and old - we realise that we are not accidentally being brushed or touched so I contemplate kung fu-ing my way out of the crowd but instead look at the near by guard for help as he comes in swinging his stick and saving us. We thanked him and agreed it's time to leave as the crowds were growing more confident and we seemed to be main attraction. Just as we were walking off I spotted an old man with bags full of purple, blue and green dust - I scream at everyone to run and the best I could come up with was running to hide behind the guard that had saved us because surely this old man wouldn't have the nerve to take on the guards stick - wrong - I was covered - in my ears, mouth, hair and on my new outfit :(
Had we known and been prepared for Holi at the Fair we too could have had a brilliant time but everyone was in their best clothes so we were spewing! We took it in good spirit though and decided lets just watch from a distance at the rest of the festival - other foreigners who were more prepared than us had a brilliant time in their white outfits that were now multi-coloured and some were lucky enough to be aboard the elephants throwing Holi at the crowds - it was madness but it was hysterical. In the end I bought two bags of dust in a bid to seek revenge on that old man (he wasn't that old so don't feel too sorry for him) anyways I couldn't find him!
Our rickshaw ride home was just as eventful with half of Jaipur burning - the night before Holi they light huge bonfires in almost every street - according to some locals this must be done the day before the dust throwing as legend has it that a mother and her child sat in the fire and because of the sons spiritual beleif they did not die. So they are saying with Holi anything is possible - again this is only what I have been told and keep in mind that an Indians translation into English may not be perfect. So we got to choke on the smoke during our ride home and then battle with our rickshaw driver who was extremly lost and too busy trying to marry one of the volunteers before we then ran out of petrol in the middle of no where and sat there deciding if we should make a run for it or trust him as he walked down the street carrying a 2Lt water bottle. He came back 10 min later, us still in the auto and me giving the local directions to our home. Thank goodness I always look at landmarks as the Ramada Hotel was our saving grace and got us home from there.
This was the start of Holi - but I loved it and want to come back again better prepared for the next Elephant Fair.
They were very welcoming of photos and were equally as intrigued in us as we were them - kindly no rupee payment was required for photos of them or with them, as long as I showed them my camera after I took their photo. Some of them (inc. local Indians) came up and tapped me on the shoulder pointing to my camera indicating that they wanted me to take a photo of them - then I would show them and you would think I gave them 100 rupees! I put my sunglasses on one of the folk dancers with his bright orange turban and his whole "crew" thought this was hysterical and were in fits of laughter as we took photos. To return the favour one of his friends insisted I wear his turban for the photo - we all enjoyed the comical photo session.
What no-one of our "local" friends had bothered to warn us is that we should be careful at the Fair as the local's do Holi dust throwing there also - we saw a few people covered and I clearly remember jinxing myself and saying to the girls - "thank goodness they have not touched me in my new Salwar Kameez (kaftan top and pants that I bought that day) as I said JINX! So it started not long after my photos with the folk dancers, one of the volunteers recognised an elephant and it's Mahout from his project so we were having a chat. Then a young boy comes up and says "please madam for holi" - he has a bag of yellow coloured dust and I freak out at first but then see he is waiting for my permission - so I agree to just a pooja on my forehead. This then opened the flood gates and they all started asking (we realise its the excitement of not only covering us in dust but getting to touch the foreign girls face!). So I decide it's time to disappear into the crowd to observe the rest of the dancing festivities - we got suckered in when we saw the rose petal shower in the crowd behind us, so excitedly we all agreed to run under the "flower shower". Next thing we know we are surrounded by guys and there is a surge towards us of 20-30 young and old - we realise that we are not accidentally being brushed or touched so I contemplate kung fu-ing my way out of the crowd but instead look at the near by guard for help as he comes in swinging his stick and saving us. We thanked him and agreed it's time to leave as the crowds were growing more confident and we seemed to be main attraction. Just as we were walking off I spotted an old man with bags full of purple, blue and green dust - I scream at everyone to run and the best I could come up with was running to hide behind the guard that had saved us because surely this old man wouldn't have the nerve to take on the guards stick - wrong - I was covered - in my ears, mouth, hair and on my new outfit :(
Had we known and been prepared for Holi at the Fair we too could have had a brilliant time but everyone was in their best clothes so we were spewing! We took it in good spirit though and decided lets just watch from a distance at the rest of the festival - other foreigners who were more prepared than us had a brilliant time in their white outfits that were now multi-coloured and some were lucky enough to be aboard the elephants throwing Holi at the crowds - it was madness but it was hysterical. In the end I bought two bags of dust in a bid to seek revenge on that old man (he wasn't that old so don't feel too sorry for him) anyways I couldn't find him!
Our rickshaw ride home was just as eventful with half of Jaipur burning - the night before Holi they light huge bonfires in almost every street - according to some locals this must be done the day before the dust throwing as legend has it that a mother and her child sat in the fire and because of the sons spiritual beleif they did not die. So they are saying with Holi anything is possible - again this is only what I have been told and keep in mind that an Indians translation into English may not be perfect. So we got to choke on the smoke during our ride home and then battle with our rickshaw driver who was extremly lost and too busy trying to marry one of the volunteers before we then ran out of petrol in the middle of no where and sat there deciding if we should make a run for it or trust him as he walked down the street carrying a 2Lt water bottle. He came back 10 min later, us still in the auto and me giving the local directions to our home. Thank goodness I always look at landmarks as the Ramada Hotel was our saving grace and got us home from there.
This was the start of Holi - but I loved it and want to come back again better prepared for the next Elephant Fair.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Jaipur: Theatre & English projects
My last day of the projects here in Jaipur are now here - 3 weeks seemed like it may go forever initially but somehow suprised me this last week and I find myself trying to back track as there is so much that I didn't get to do in my time here. There are still so many tourist sights that I haven't gotten around to seeing, but with my last few days now I am not feeling too bad for not doing them as I was using my time in a more helpful way I hope.
I was lucky enough that I was able to experience two projects on this trip - 1. the theatre workshops at a public school and 2. teach English at a local slum school. Like India, both were on total opposite ends of the spectrum to compare. Without a doubt my favourite project was at the slum school - approx 40 children split into 3 groups across two rooms. They have no school desks, they sit on concrete flooring with dirty vinyl tiles and only a thin blue rug between their bottoms and the cold hard winter floor. Everyday their 3 teachers work with them to cover a detailed syllabus in order to prepare them for their upcoming district exams in the 2nd week of March, which determines if they will move up a level. Two classes are in the same room - 4 & 5 year olds then 5-7 year olds. It appears at this school it is more according to their ability rather than their age requiring them to be in a particular grade.
One thing that really I found hard (and they certainly don't complain) is that they sit there on the floor cross-legged from 8am until 1pm everyday - no desk, so when they are copying from the blackboard into their notepad they have only their bumpy school bags to lean on or some have this one A4 blackboard that I think they do math, to lean on. The older children in the 2nd room at least get to lean on these mini collapsable metal tables.
A few days into teaching at the slum school and I noticed the children had the tiniest lead pencils that they were writing with. At first I thought it was just that they couldn't afford new pencils and later I was told they start the day with a new pencil then keep sharpening it all day! I didnt beleive it until I saw it with my own eyes - I would be teaching then have a crowd of kids from the other class next to the blackboard sharpening their pencils at the "sharpener bay" as I called it. I started being the pencil nazi and checking the sharpness of their pencils before allowing them to sharpen, in a bid to save their parents pencils!
Alot of the children didn't even know their own birthdays - not that it's not celebrated in India - but I was suprised when most of the children didn't know their birthdays when I was teaching them months of the year. My older class was beautiful - so enthusiastic and excited about their Western teachers. One day we did a class on "greetings, manners and ordering" (ha ha me teaching manners!) so rather than death by black board, I decided to get them all up and pretend walking on the spot - it went something crazy like this.... OK so what do you say when you wake up in the morning? Good morning mummy, good morning daddy - then we grab our school bag and we start walking to school... we see our auntie and we say good morning auntie.... we are thirsty so let's go to the lassi wahla "good morning, I would like a banana lassi please - thank you" so we are walking again and oh we are hungry... "Good morning I would like one Kachori please (like a samosa but have like spicy risotto looking rice inside and you have mango or mint chutney with it - its popular for breakfast). So this little scenario continued for around 10-15min with the kids and I marching in class, them repeating everything I say like parrots and all of us giggling our heads off.
After we teach theatre at the public school from 9-11am each day we have our autorickshaw guy drive over to the slum which is in the city. Its surrounded by a huge concrete wall and a few main gates, Puran walks us in through the slum to the school which is a simple brick room divided into two, with a tin roof that heats up the place to a hot box even in winter by lunchtime. You can actually smell the rubbish from the slum as it obviously heats up but I got used to it and noticed the amount of flies and mosquitoes in our classrooms more than anything. I taught a few children's lymrics that I could remember from my day's in childcare and the kids loved them - especially the one about a frog and the catchy game called duck, duck, goose. One day we joined two of the groups together - the toddlers and class above them - we played duck, duck, goose and the kids loved it - the giggles were beautiful as we know that education in India is very strict and fun just does not come into it. So one tiny little girl gets up to chase her friend and her skirt is just too big for her, so she is holding it as she runs bare foot (they all take their shoes off outside the room) around the circle. So we were all having a giggle as she looked hilarious trying to run and hold onto her skirt - next thing she accidentally drops the skirt infront of everyone and is standing their starkers! The children and teaches broke into fits of laughter and we quickly ran to cover her and tried to get order back in the room, but they were too cute as one boy is lying down pounding the floor with his fist giggling and gasping for air!
The slum itself really is a maze of concrete boxes that are just one room on a dirt floor with corrugated iron sheet for a roof held down by old tyres and rocks. Some people have their doors open as you walk past so you can see that there is a family of 3/4 living - eating, sleeping in this room. Showers are by bucket either up on the side of the street or infront of their door - boys in their undies, women in their saari's etc. Toilets.... well when we arrived yesterday there was a little boy squating on the side of the road outside the slum fence finishing his number 2 right there - that was a little too confronting but their bathroom is anywhere outside the house.
There is one area that we walk past each day in the slum that has several men, women and children sorting through huge heshin sacks filled with rubbish - they are being paid jack all to sort through these piles - newspapers get uncrumpled and tied with string in piles, plastic bottles together (yes I always crush mine in every country so that they can refill them) I feel bad for them as I walk past, but I always make a point to say Namaste and their faces ligt up that someone from a different "caste" is recognising them and addressing them as human beings that they deserve.
I find it really hard to decide what to do to help - I know there are people in the world saying what can I do and as per my post in Bali, I truly beleive that every drop makes a huge impact. This project in the slum is breaking down a wall between slum children and the outside world. These children at a young impressionable age are able to see that they are worthy of an education or someone's time - that they can talk to Westener's - our classes are giving them the confidence and the language knowledge to be able to hopefully create job opportunities for them when they are older - not to mention the fact that we are giving them to right to dream about a job out of the slum - more of a chance than their elders perhaps had.
I was talking with our project co-ordinator about the sheer amount of homeless people I saw sleeping on the streets coming back from Agra at 1.30am on Monday morning. I have never seen anything like it - a main road in Jaipur just lined with hundreds of people sleeping on the pavement with a lone blanket pulled up other their heads - on a freezing cold morning! I asked if the government or any charity organisations run anything like a soup kitchen or St Vincent's offereing a bed and meal etc she said that the worst thing they could do in India is to give hand outs as it will just be expected - instead one group has started offering them food at approx 9 rupees a dish to encourage them to work and earn their feed. I understand this concept and why it's important, but I just really struggle to see them sleeping in the street or children not in school begging for money at the lights instead - it's just wrong that humanity got to this point and I can't see out for them. I know that education means future and in India that is one thing that they are really placing a huge emphasis on with the children and uni students at the moment - education. I guess this is their only chance and it will be really interesting to see where India is as an economy 20 - 30 years from now with this next generation that are growing in a Westernised world. I really hope things get better for India, it has such history, culture, tradition and family values that the rest of the world could really learn from.
Sorry for making this a heavy one - the kids have really touched me and I hope to see them at the end of the year if I come back again. Namaste!
I was lucky enough that I was able to experience two projects on this trip - 1. the theatre workshops at a public school and 2. teach English at a local slum school. Like India, both were on total opposite ends of the spectrum to compare. Without a doubt my favourite project was at the slum school - approx 40 children split into 3 groups across two rooms. They have no school desks, they sit on concrete flooring with dirty vinyl tiles and only a thin blue rug between their bottoms and the cold hard winter floor. Everyday their 3 teachers work with them to cover a detailed syllabus in order to prepare them for their upcoming district exams in the 2nd week of March, which determines if they will move up a level. Two classes are in the same room - 4 & 5 year olds then 5-7 year olds. It appears at this school it is more according to their ability rather than their age requiring them to be in a particular grade.
One thing that really I found hard (and they certainly don't complain) is that they sit there on the floor cross-legged from 8am until 1pm everyday - no desk, so when they are copying from the blackboard into their notepad they have only their bumpy school bags to lean on or some have this one A4 blackboard that I think they do math, to lean on. The older children in the 2nd room at least get to lean on these mini collapsable metal tables.
A few days into teaching at the slum school and I noticed the children had the tiniest lead pencils that they were writing with. At first I thought it was just that they couldn't afford new pencils and later I was told they start the day with a new pencil then keep sharpening it all day! I didnt beleive it until I saw it with my own eyes - I would be teaching then have a crowd of kids from the other class next to the blackboard sharpening their pencils at the "sharpener bay" as I called it. I started being the pencil nazi and checking the sharpness of their pencils before allowing them to sharpen, in a bid to save their parents pencils!
Alot of the children didn't even know their own birthdays - not that it's not celebrated in India - but I was suprised when most of the children didn't know their birthdays when I was teaching them months of the year. My older class was beautiful - so enthusiastic and excited about their Western teachers. One day we did a class on "greetings, manners and ordering" (ha ha me teaching manners!) so rather than death by black board, I decided to get them all up and pretend walking on the spot - it went something crazy like this.... OK so what do you say when you wake up in the morning? Good morning mummy, good morning daddy - then we grab our school bag and we start walking to school... we see our auntie and we say good morning auntie.... we are thirsty so let's go to the lassi wahla "good morning, I would like a banana lassi please - thank you" so we are walking again and oh we are hungry... "Good morning I would like one Kachori please (like a samosa but have like spicy risotto looking rice inside and you have mango or mint chutney with it - its popular for breakfast). So this little scenario continued for around 10-15min with the kids and I marching in class, them repeating everything I say like parrots and all of us giggling our heads off.
After we teach theatre at the public school from 9-11am each day we have our autorickshaw guy drive over to the slum which is in the city. Its surrounded by a huge concrete wall and a few main gates, Puran walks us in through the slum to the school which is a simple brick room divided into two, with a tin roof that heats up the place to a hot box even in winter by lunchtime. You can actually smell the rubbish from the slum as it obviously heats up but I got used to it and noticed the amount of flies and mosquitoes in our classrooms more than anything. I taught a few children's lymrics that I could remember from my day's in childcare and the kids loved them - especially the one about a frog and the catchy game called duck, duck, goose. One day we joined two of the groups together - the toddlers and class above them - we played duck, duck, goose and the kids loved it - the giggles were beautiful as we know that education in India is very strict and fun just does not come into it. So one tiny little girl gets up to chase her friend and her skirt is just too big for her, so she is holding it as she runs bare foot (they all take their shoes off outside the room) around the circle. So we were all having a giggle as she looked hilarious trying to run and hold onto her skirt - next thing she accidentally drops the skirt infront of everyone and is standing their starkers! The children and teaches broke into fits of laughter and we quickly ran to cover her and tried to get order back in the room, but they were too cute as one boy is lying down pounding the floor with his fist giggling and gasping for air!
The slum itself really is a maze of concrete boxes that are just one room on a dirt floor with corrugated iron sheet for a roof held down by old tyres and rocks. Some people have their doors open as you walk past so you can see that there is a family of 3/4 living - eating, sleeping in this room. Showers are by bucket either up on the side of the street or infront of their door - boys in their undies, women in their saari's etc. Toilets.... well when we arrived yesterday there was a little boy squating on the side of the road outside the slum fence finishing his number 2 right there - that was a little too confronting but their bathroom is anywhere outside the house.
There is one area that we walk past each day in the slum that has several men, women and children sorting through huge heshin sacks filled with rubbish - they are being paid jack all to sort through these piles - newspapers get uncrumpled and tied with string in piles, plastic bottles together (yes I always crush mine in every country so that they can refill them) I feel bad for them as I walk past, but I always make a point to say Namaste and their faces ligt up that someone from a different "caste" is recognising them and addressing them as human beings that they deserve.
I find it really hard to decide what to do to help - I know there are people in the world saying what can I do and as per my post in Bali, I truly beleive that every drop makes a huge impact. This project in the slum is breaking down a wall between slum children and the outside world. These children at a young impressionable age are able to see that they are worthy of an education or someone's time - that they can talk to Westener's - our classes are giving them the confidence and the language knowledge to be able to hopefully create job opportunities for them when they are older - not to mention the fact that we are giving them to right to dream about a job out of the slum - more of a chance than their elders perhaps had.
I was talking with our project co-ordinator about the sheer amount of homeless people I saw sleeping on the streets coming back from Agra at 1.30am on Monday morning. I have never seen anything like it - a main road in Jaipur just lined with hundreds of people sleeping on the pavement with a lone blanket pulled up other their heads - on a freezing cold morning! I asked if the government or any charity organisations run anything like a soup kitchen or St Vincent's offereing a bed and meal etc she said that the worst thing they could do in India is to give hand outs as it will just be expected - instead one group has started offering them food at approx 9 rupees a dish to encourage them to work and earn their feed. I understand this concept and why it's important, but I just really struggle to see them sleeping in the street or children not in school begging for money at the lights instead - it's just wrong that humanity got to this point and I can't see out for them. I know that education means future and in India that is one thing that they are really placing a huge emphasis on with the children and uni students at the moment - education. I guess this is their only chance and it will be really interesting to see where India is as an economy 20 - 30 years from now with this next generation that are growing in a Westernised world. I really hope things get better for India, it has such history, culture, tradition and family values that the rest of the world could really learn from.
Sorry for making this a heavy one - the kids have really touched me and I hope to see them at the end of the year if I come back again. Namaste!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Taj Mahal, Agra: 21st Feb 2010
Boarding the train from Jaipur at 6.10 am we boarded our "Chair Class" carriage which is all you really need for a train trip that is approx 4.5 hours in India. Smooth sailing at the train station as we know understand how to read the fixed timetable for daily trains that tell you what platform your train departs. C1 was our carriage, seats 69 and 70 - sounds together but again we find ourselves apart but a bit of shifty seat swapping by yours truly and there really is no problem.
As we were leaving so early we harassed our "homestay mum" the night before to give us packed sandwhiches for the train ride - another packet of chips at 7am and I might loose my mind. So after slapping on the jam at 5am - no butter just dried bread - mmmm! we wrapped our 1.5 sandwich each in alfoil. At 6.30am all I could think about was food so stalked my travel buddy until she caved and handed my share over - gone in 30 sec. and so not satisfying. Lucky though I visited the local "convenience shack" before leaving yesterday and bought a packed of salted nuts for 5 rupees!!! (ok its part of the grains section in the food pyramid) and a super size pack of "Parle G" milk and wheat biscuits - like "Nice" back home except more addictive and only 10 rupees for a super pack. Lucky Beth woke otherwise I was cleaning that pack out myself :)
So the train ride was no probs - it was nice to travel by train during the day and enjoy the countryside scenery. One thing I saw alot of and keep forgetting to mention in this blog is cow dung patties (like mini pizzas) drying in the sun - stacked in pyramids, lining footpaths and across fields. I had an inkling when I saw them in Udaipur that they must be the cow patties that I read the less wealthy Hindu Indians use to burn their decesesed with as the oil is quiet expensive. Our rickshaw driver in Agra also informed me that they use them as fuel for fires in general - cant imagin e the smell but you have to congratulate them on using their natural / available resources. I wonder how long until in the west some crazy person packages these up as "organic wood logs" for your fireplace?! (Did I invent something?)
It was really peaceful watching the countryside fly past on the train - that was of course whilst I was eavesdropping on a conversation that I could only guess what was being said as it was all in French. Two female French tourists sat across from us and my jaw nearly hit the floor when the Indian guy infront of me decided he would swoon her with his perfect French conversation??!!! His friend also could speak fluent French - I dont know why I was so shocked but I was - I was jealous at his fluency. In Agra I saw quiet a few Indian's speaking German, Chinese and Italian - makes people like me who cant fluently speak my mother tongue of Italian and Greek be just that little bit ashamed!
Once the girls were up and ready to leave the boys were madly discussing their conversation and appeared to agree to ask for their numbers to arrange a catch-up - I was trying not to laugh as it was so lame! (hey I was bored!)
My last visit to Agra was part of a package tour, so rush in and out and we stayed at an average hotel on the outskirts that had Pizza Hut next door. All I remember was that we didnt see much around the Taj except rubbish, chaos and the food at the restaurant they took us was terrible. Lesson one: Bus tours take you restaurants that really have no resemblence of that countries nation dishes. So I prepared my travel buddy that Agra is a) dirty and as many people were telling us in the last week a "hole" "dump" etc and that you get in and out asap. I also told her to expect no excitement in food or accomodation from what I expereienced and heard from other travellers.
As we exited the train station we braced ourselves for the super pushy rickshaw drivers and numerous other touts that the city is famous for. The previous night we booked our one nights stay at the Saniya Palace Hotel - they took our booking under my name and they exchanged the usual jokes that Katrina is a famous Bollywood actress here in India in the movie Namaste London - yes yes I've heard it all before. So at the train station it should have been no suprise that the sign being held said "Ms Katrina" thankfully they contained their humerous selves from writing Kaif as well - although the drive said "Hello Ms Kaif" I can only shake my head and laugh, because for the next 24 hours I will be the entertainment for the all male staff of our hotel who found great pleasure in greeting Ms Kaif!
Our hotel had arranged a "free pick-up" normally alarm bells ring but the fact that I had asked him how much a rickshaw from the train station to the hotel would cost and he kindly told me 50 rupees, I thought it might be part of their service and it's only 50 rupees hence why they chuck it in. *scam alert* So we board our rickshaw after surviving a not too tout filled train station at all. Vikram was our drivers name and he spoke slowly, clearly and so soothingly that we both became quiet sedate *alarm bell* yes yes I know so Mr Vikram should seriously run sales training seminars and I think he should also work in the HR Dept for rickshaw driver training in India. His manner was what closed the deal - Mr Vikram's sales techniques:
Step 1: Smile politely, offer your name and ask your client their's
Step 2: Speak slowly, calming and soothingly to win the trust of your client
Step 3: To really capture the trust of your client drive slowly, calming and refrain from using your horn - this will really hook them, calm then down so you can go BANG and catch them unaware!
Step 4: Pass the talkative one your little "black book" of previous happy clients who you held ransom to write recommendations of your services to other travellers from their home country. (thanks Allan from Australia for telling us "Mr Vikram is a true blue honest bloke, you can relax and he will look after you" ha ha)
Step 5: Make a presumptive close and tell your clients that you will take them to the hotel and allow them time to freshen up, check in and then you have the most delicious restaurant you can take them to before showing them the sights hassle free because as you can see "you can trust me".
Step 6: when you client asks about price calm their nerves and tell them we can talk about his later first tell me what you would like to do - make it all about them.
Step 7: Upon arriving at the hotel dont pull up out front - stop in a side alley in front of another car that blokes the passengers exit from the vehicle so that they must listen to your closing speech
Step 8: gently unfold a city map of Agra as thought it is a golden ticket or treasure map - speak gently as you show them the sights they will see
Step 9: The Investment - "normally my charges for this are 500 rupees but I will make a special discount for you both for only 400 rupee not including tip - if you feel I deserve it - tip me and leave a message in my little black book if you are happy with my services.
Step 10: Hide your excitement when these dumb tourists give in because of your so called gentle persona
Step 11: Once you collect them to start your day touring - dont worry - you have them signed up now - drive like a true Indian once again - pedal to the metal, hand on the horn Oh and make sure you get commission for taking them to the Thomas Cook currency exchange, for the film, for the chai and make sure you tell them that the sunset at the Taj is worthless lets go to the bazaar when you can buy the most precious gifts.
Ha ha Mr Vikram - we got you there - we stayed at the fort and agreed enough shenanigans we are going home - no shopping = no more commission for Mr Vikram. Granted I'm giving him a hard time he was fine and did need the rupee to send his daughters to university but yes you do get a little tired of the commission scam happening under your nose, even though we are talking only a few rupee.
So we arrived at the Saniya Palace Hotel where we checked into a Deluxe room with AC no window but hot water for 1,500 rupees for 1.5 days. The room stunk of cigarette smoke and it wasnt until I was about to have a shower that night that we realised the reason we couldnt get the AC or hot water working is that it was switched off at the main "there you go ms Katrina Kaif no problems". Our staff were definately friendly although as a female travelling along you might be a little concerned at all these young guys sleeping on the couch right outside your room door - they were harmless. It's definately not 5 star - think 2.5-3 star ie. I cleaned the toilet and wore thongs in the shower but visibly aside from the mildew stains on the wall, the room door about to fall off, the bathroom tap head ready to fly off any second and bath towels that were grey and tattered instead of white - you get what you pay for and it was generally clean, safe and the boys did their best for us to be comfortable. Up on the rooftop was what I was looking for - the perfect view of the Taj Mahal - front on. Now the ordering process at the rooftop restaurant - maybe I should change that word because you just need to picture two young guys in their casual gear in a room that's called a kitchen just whipping it together. The ordering process - you choose from the menu and write on the notepad they give you as they can't read english - only the guy on reception can so they run down to him and he tells them what to make - it's cute. Again when it came to paying for the bill I couldnt work out why it took them so long to add it up when the menu was infront of them - they cant read or add - again to reception.
One waiter Abbey - loved calling me Katrina Kaif - he would giggle himself stupid. That night we invited the other volunteers up to the rooftop for dinner as they too were in town but we had the view - OK that was until 7pm when the switched off the lights - no Taj view oops. They brought the famous Kingfisher beer after apparently their rickshaw drivers lit up when they told him they need a bottle-o - he scored a free bottle of whisky as comission! So 100 rupees each $2.50 for a longneck and they spent the night stressing about corkage - I pointed out a) this is india how expensive can it be b) this is India - I doubt they know the word corkage so stay quiet otherwise all travellers will be facing yet another "foreign fee". We decided after seeing all the meat hanging outside covered in flies today that meat was a no go zone and orderd 5 or 6 vegetarian dishes - we thought the food would be average at $2 a dish - did we score! It was the best vegetarian we have had so far - Aloo Goobi (potatoe and cauliflower curry), Dhal, Stuffed capsicum (think greek style in curry), vege korma and a few others with garlic naan - mmmmm delicious and I think wer all paid around $6 each AND no corkage :)
At the Taj we abandonded the idea of watching the sunrise as the gates only open at 6.30am which meant you missed it anyway - nice that we thought about that at 5am in the morning! grr so back to bed until 9.30am then we headed over to the West gate - the qeue was around an hour long - 2 lines - I went to buy the ticket and Beth joined the entry line. For the first time this trip I was served in 5min in the foreigner line as opposed to those poor Indian nationals in a 30 min line - ha ha. Then whilst standing in the entry line someone said there are two entry lines - one for men and one for women. Well let me tell you the great pleasure we took in parading past 800+ men who this whole trip have done my head in with the fact that they can pee anywhere and this whole country gravitates around them. Breasts finally came in useful as the ladies line was 5 min long due to the huge difference in male vs female population in India - ha ha ha THANK YOU! So after a quick security feel up by the female guard we were in - infront of the world's most beautiful natural wonder the Taj Mahal.
This is my 2nd time at the Taj and I think it was even more serene this time aside from the 1000 or so Indian's visiting as it was a Sunday. The effort these ladies go to in their dress for the family pics that they are taking there. Roaming photographers are everywhere and for 150 rupee per photo they will follow you and order you around for that perfect shot. Whilst trying to get my own photos I kept getting stalked by Indian fathers, sons, friends, girlfriends, grandmothers, sisters, babies.... for a photo with the white woman in traditional Indian Salwar Kameez - I was supposed to blend in not stand out! It got so bad that we couldnt sit down as we kept getting interrupted for "please maam just one more photo" and at one point I had a qeue of 10 or so people so I just had to walk away and say no more!
It was a beautiful day at the Taj - between random photos, me chasing Seiks for a photo, getting klucky over all the gorgeous babies I would love to bring home with me. The Taj is definately a place I will be visiting again and as for everyone saying those terrible things about Agra - look deeper it's a beautiful city you just need to get out of your comfort zone and join the locals. Importantly try the infamous Agra sweet - they cook them at the street stalls - it looks like a samosa and granted that is what I thought I bought - then it burst as I took a bite and warm honey everywhere - it was delicious! Namaste xxx
As we were leaving so early we harassed our "homestay mum" the night before to give us packed sandwhiches for the train ride - another packet of chips at 7am and I might loose my mind. So after slapping on the jam at 5am - no butter just dried bread - mmmm! we wrapped our 1.5 sandwich each in alfoil. At 6.30am all I could think about was food so stalked my travel buddy until she caved and handed my share over - gone in 30 sec. and so not satisfying. Lucky though I visited the local "convenience shack" before leaving yesterday and bought a packed of salted nuts for 5 rupees!!! (ok its part of the grains section in the food pyramid) and a super size pack of "Parle G" milk and wheat biscuits - like "Nice" back home except more addictive and only 10 rupees for a super pack. Lucky Beth woke otherwise I was cleaning that pack out myself :)
So the train ride was no probs - it was nice to travel by train during the day and enjoy the countryside scenery. One thing I saw alot of and keep forgetting to mention in this blog is cow dung patties (like mini pizzas) drying in the sun - stacked in pyramids, lining footpaths and across fields. I had an inkling when I saw them in Udaipur that they must be the cow patties that I read the less wealthy Hindu Indians use to burn their decesesed with as the oil is quiet expensive. Our rickshaw driver in Agra also informed me that they use them as fuel for fires in general - cant imagin e the smell but you have to congratulate them on using their natural / available resources. I wonder how long until in the west some crazy person packages these up as "organic wood logs" for your fireplace?! (Did I invent something?)
It was really peaceful watching the countryside fly past on the train - that was of course whilst I was eavesdropping on a conversation that I could only guess what was being said as it was all in French. Two female French tourists sat across from us and my jaw nearly hit the floor when the Indian guy infront of me decided he would swoon her with his perfect French conversation??!!! His friend also could speak fluent French - I dont know why I was so shocked but I was - I was jealous at his fluency. In Agra I saw quiet a few Indian's speaking German, Chinese and Italian - makes people like me who cant fluently speak my mother tongue of Italian and Greek be just that little bit ashamed!
Once the girls were up and ready to leave the boys were madly discussing their conversation and appeared to agree to ask for their numbers to arrange a catch-up - I was trying not to laugh as it was so lame! (hey I was bored!)
My last visit to Agra was part of a package tour, so rush in and out and we stayed at an average hotel on the outskirts that had Pizza Hut next door. All I remember was that we didnt see much around the Taj except rubbish, chaos and the food at the restaurant they took us was terrible. Lesson one: Bus tours take you restaurants that really have no resemblence of that countries nation dishes. So I prepared my travel buddy that Agra is a) dirty and as many people were telling us in the last week a "hole" "dump" etc and that you get in and out asap. I also told her to expect no excitement in food or accomodation from what I expereienced and heard from other travellers.
As we exited the train station we braced ourselves for the super pushy rickshaw drivers and numerous other touts that the city is famous for. The previous night we booked our one nights stay at the Saniya Palace Hotel - they took our booking under my name and they exchanged the usual jokes that Katrina is a famous Bollywood actress here in India in the movie Namaste London - yes yes I've heard it all before. So at the train station it should have been no suprise that the sign being held said "Ms Katrina" thankfully they contained their humerous selves from writing Kaif as well - although the drive said "Hello Ms Kaif" I can only shake my head and laugh, because for the next 24 hours I will be the entertainment for the all male staff of our hotel who found great pleasure in greeting Ms Kaif!
Our hotel had arranged a "free pick-up" normally alarm bells ring but the fact that I had asked him how much a rickshaw from the train station to the hotel would cost and he kindly told me 50 rupees, I thought it might be part of their service and it's only 50 rupees hence why they chuck it in. *scam alert* So we board our rickshaw after surviving a not too tout filled train station at all. Vikram was our drivers name and he spoke slowly, clearly and so soothingly that we both became quiet sedate *alarm bell* yes yes I know so Mr Vikram should seriously run sales training seminars and I think he should also work in the HR Dept for rickshaw driver training in India. His manner was what closed the deal - Mr Vikram's sales techniques:
Step 1: Smile politely, offer your name and ask your client their's
Step 2: Speak slowly, calming and soothingly to win the trust of your client
Step 3: To really capture the trust of your client drive slowly, calming and refrain from using your horn - this will really hook them, calm then down so you can go BANG and catch them unaware!
Step 4: Pass the talkative one your little "black book" of previous happy clients who you held ransom to write recommendations of your services to other travellers from their home country. (thanks Allan from Australia for telling us "Mr Vikram is a true blue honest bloke, you can relax and he will look after you" ha ha)
Step 5: Make a presumptive close and tell your clients that you will take them to the hotel and allow them time to freshen up, check in and then you have the most delicious restaurant you can take them to before showing them the sights hassle free because as you can see "you can trust me".
Step 6: when you client asks about price calm their nerves and tell them we can talk about his later first tell me what you would like to do - make it all about them.
Step 7: Upon arriving at the hotel dont pull up out front - stop in a side alley in front of another car that blokes the passengers exit from the vehicle so that they must listen to your closing speech
Step 8: gently unfold a city map of Agra as thought it is a golden ticket or treasure map - speak gently as you show them the sights they will see
Step 9: The Investment - "normally my charges for this are 500 rupees but I will make a special discount for you both for only 400 rupee not including tip - if you feel I deserve it - tip me and leave a message in my little black book if you are happy with my services.
Step 10: Hide your excitement when these dumb tourists give in because of your so called gentle persona
Step 11: Once you collect them to start your day touring - dont worry - you have them signed up now - drive like a true Indian once again - pedal to the metal, hand on the horn Oh and make sure you get commission for taking them to the Thomas Cook currency exchange, for the film, for the chai and make sure you tell them that the sunset at the Taj is worthless lets go to the bazaar when you can buy the most precious gifts.
Ha ha Mr Vikram - we got you there - we stayed at the fort and agreed enough shenanigans we are going home - no shopping = no more commission for Mr Vikram. Granted I'm giving him a hard time he was fine and did need the rupee to send his daughters to university but yes you do get a little tired of the commission scam happening under your nose, even though we are talking only a few rupee.
So we arrived at the Saniya Palace Hotel where we checked into a Deluxe room with AC no window but hot water for 1,500 rupees for 1.5 days. The room stunk of cigarette smoke and it wasnt until I was about to have a shower that night that we realised the reason we couldnt get the AC or hot water working is that it was switched off at the main "there you go ms Katrina Kaif no problems". Our staff were definately friendly although as a female travelling along you might be a little concerned at all these young guys sleeping on the couch right outside your room door - they were harmless. It's definately not 5 star - think 2.5-3 star ie. I cleaned the toilet and wore thongs in the shower but visibly aside from the mildew stains on the wall, the room door about to fall off, the bathroom tap head ready to fly off any second and bath towels that were grey and tattered instead of white - you get what you pay for and it was generally clean, safe and the boys did their best for us to be comfortable. Up on the rooftop was what I was looking for - the perfect view of the Taj Mahal - front on. Now the ordering process at the rooftop restaurant - maybe I should change that word because you just need to picture two young guys in their casual gear in a room that's called a kitchen just whipping it together. The ordering process - you choose from the menu and write on the notepad they give you as they can't read english - only the guy on reception can so they run down to him and he tells them what to make - it's cute. Again when it came to paying for the bill I couldnt work out why it took them so long to add it up when the menu was infront of them - they cant read or add - again to reception.
One waiter Abbey - loved calling me Katrina Kaif - he would giggle himself stupid. That night we invited the other volunteers up to the rooftop for dinner as they too were in town but we had the view - OK that was until 7pm when the switched off the lights - no Taj view oops. They brought the famous Kingfisher beer after apparently their rickshaw drivers lit up when they told him they need a bottle-o - he scored a free bottle of whisky as comission! So 100 rupees each $2.50 for a longneck and they spent the night stressing about corkage - I pointed out a) this is india how expensive can it be b) this is India - I doubt they know the word corkage so stay quiet otherwise all travellers will be facing yet another "foreign fee". We decided after seeing all the meat hanging outside covered in flies today that meat was a no go zone and orderd 5 or 6 vegetarian dishes - we thought the food would be average at $2 a dish - did we score! It was the best vegetarian we have had so far - Aloo Goobi (potatoe and cauliflower curry), Dhal, Stuffed capsicum (think greek style in curry), vege korma and a few others with garlic naan - mmmmm delicious and I think wer all paid around $6 each AND no corkage :)
At the Taj we abandonded the idea of watching the sunrise as the gates only open at 6.30am which meant you missed it anyway - nice that we thought about that at 5am in the morning! grr so back to bed until 9.30am then we headed over to the West gate - the qeue was around an hour long - 2 lines - I went to buy the ticket and Beth joined the entry line. For the first time this trip I was served in 5min in the foreigner line as opposed to those poor Indian nationals in a 30 min line - ha ha. Then whilst standing in the entry line someone said there are two entry lines - one for men and one for women. Well let me tell you the great pleasure we took in parading past 800+ men who this whole trip have done my head in with the fact that they can pee anywhere and this whole country gravitates around them. Breasts finally came in useful as the ladies line was 5 min long due to the huge difference in male vs female population in India - ha ha ha THANK YOU! So after a quick security feel up by the female guard we were in - infront of the world's most beautiful natural wonder the Taj Mahal.
This is my 2nd time at the Taj and I think it was even more serene this time aside from the 1000 or so Indian's visiting as it was a Sunday. The effort these ladies go to in their dress for the family pics that they are taking there. Roaming photographers are everywhere and for 150 rupee per photo they will follow you and order you around for that perfect shot. Whilst trying to get my own photos I kept getting stalked by Indian fathers, sons, friends, girlfriends, grandmothers, sisters, babies.... for a photo with the white woman in traditional Indian Salwar Kameez - I was supposed to blend in not stand out! It got so bad that we couldnt sit down as we kept getting interrupted for "please maam just one more photo" and at one point I had a qeue of 10 or so people so I just had to walk away and say no more!
It was a beautiful day at the Taj - between random photos, me chasing Seiks for a photo, getting klucky over all the gorgeous babies I would love to bring home with me. The Taj is definately a place I will be visiting again and as for everyone saying those terrible things about Agra - look deeper it's a beautiful city you just need to get out of your comfort zone and join the locals. Importantly try the infamous Agra sweet - they cook them at the street stalls - it looks like a samosa and granted that is what I thought I bought - then it burst as I took a bite and warm honey everywhere - it was delicious! Namaste xxx
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Udaipur for Valentine's weekend 2010
Trains are the lifeline of India and obviously aside from the fast and easy to use airline system, its my preferred method of transport in India on a budget. Although they have a dedicated website for booking your train tickets http://www.irctc.co.in/ here in India understanding all the abbreviations is like learning a whole new language! Thanks to the assistance from a combination of my Lonely Planet guide, the IRCTC website and some other sites I found through google, I managed to work out that the WL letters I keep reading every time I was trying to book our tickets to Udaipur - it means there are no seat available that can be confirmed and you are on a waitlist if someone cancels which apparently is often. I later found out that if you do book these tickets the time the train is due to depart your name will be posted on a list that is glued to the outside of your train carriage - half of which are ripped because everyone is grabbing it to find their name whilst the train is still moving.
So as you can imagine I wanted to know that if I was making the effort to pack, book a hotel and get to the train station at 10pm at night I was on that damn train! So luckily we were recommended a travel agent and told that in India money talks and if we pay them a commission of 250 rupees he would get us a confirmed seat on the trips we needed. We parted with the money and were given a ticket that has computer printing but again said WL but he had handwritten our "confirmed" seats and carriage.
So off we headed with our trusty auto driver to the train station on Thursday night for our 10.20pm train which ended up being 2.5 hours late - thank you I got the worst cold ever from sitting on that damn concrete floor :( My last trip to India I remembered the whole finding your train carriage and walking in the train station quiet daunting, so this time I was mentally preparing myself in the auto of what we had to do.
Arriving at Jaipur Central was not that bad and there was even a huge board that had the daily train timetable hand-painted in both Hindi and English. We looked for our train number, time and what platform and then headed in. As we were walking along a little boy of around 7/8 years saw my lady bettle head pillow strapped to my backpack and came to have a pat - at that moment a security guard watching screamed out at him and slammed his big stick onto the concrete, which sent the little boy running and gave me an almighty fright too! In a way we thought well thats comforting that security guards are present and clearly watching whats going on. We found our platform then sat on the floor for the next 2.5 hours observing train life in India.
A random old guy came up and started chatting so we did the mandatory we cant see you or hear you stare hoping that he would go away as he was a little scary. Some boys nearby saw and called him away from us and then he staggered their way - the boys motioned to us that he was drunk and they tried to get rid of him but he just came back our way. Then out of no where comes another security guard in his khakee coloured felt looking uniform, mandatory moustache and stick and screams at the man dragging him away and bashing him with the stick around the corner. It was all a little scary and everyone just sat and stared - minus the bashing part we were impressed the security guards seemed to be keeping an eye out for their tourists which was greatly appreciated.
Finally our train arrived and we prayed we knew what we were doing - the sign overhead change to our train number and then would alternate between this and our carriage number as per our travel agents handwriting on the ticket. We climbed aboard the mad rush and realised that our seats were apart on opposite ends of the carriage - nothing we could do so we took them and waited for someone of the ticket guy to look at our dodgy tickets and kick us off. As our tickets were for "2nd AC" the carriage was ok - each berth had 4 bunks - 2 up, 2 down. Mine was up - so up I went and made my bed - they give you two sheets and dodgy old brown blanket and a pillow (that was far more comfortable than the sack at my homestay!). So the ticket man came along with this huge dot-matrix printed list - pages of A3 size, he takes your ticket and marks you off. A huge sigh of releif as he marks us off no problem. Then the lights went out in the cabin - yes I dont think I could handle it back home, but you have no choice here - and everyone went to sleep. To be honest it was the best night's sleep we have both had since arriving, except for the generous love of the AC vent that helped make my headcold worse.
We arrived into Udaipur station at 10am and everyone departed the train - we werent sure if the hotel had sent someone to pick us up as we didnt confirm so we thought lets get a rickshaw. I chose the most trustworthy face in the crowd (hilarious - trust and rickshaw usually are not suited for the same sentence in any country) he agreed on 50 rupee and we thought great because the hotel told us 250 rupee. Then as we walked off we saw the guy from the hotel holding up a sign with my name "Ms Kat" - damn - so off we went cursing ourselves for the overcharge but not letting it bother us too much.
Udaipur - the city of love - India's most romantic city that is frequented apparently by many of the stars of Bollywood for their honeymoons - just not that weekend that I could see! So we stayed at the Krishna Sri Niwas Hotel - a family run establishment that I would highly recommend for anyone wanting a nice stay in this city at a reasonable price. The location was on Lal Ghat within walking distance of most of the towns main attractions. I saw town as in comparison to Jaipur, this is pretty. Of course you will always have deafening car horns, mad drivers etc but it's a maze of lane ways you can walk up and down the hills to the little markets, City Palace, restaurants and Ghats.
We spent much of the first day exploring around town and me not feeling so crash hot so I was trying to con as many of the juice guys on the street as possbile to do me a fresh lemon or orange with no ice. We found the lovely Papu Juice's who promised no ice or water and even had the peeled oranges in the fridge which was a true winner in comparison to everyone else. We were lucky to be in town for the long weekend of Shiva celebrations, so watched the locals come up to do their pooja's at the main temple. It was interesting to observe - we sat inside the temple beside a group of old ladies in saari singing at the top of their voices to the shrine at the front of the temple. On my right there were a huge group of men all chatting and socialising and the old ladies were scolding them I am guessing for their talking and not singing perhaps? The men seemed to get annoyed so all got up and left - I thought it reminded me of Greek church - except perhaps the old ladies too would be gossiping instead of paying attention or singing their praises.
The shopkeepers and street hawkers in Udaipur seemed to get it when you said you were just looking which is just not normal for India! All day we walked past temples watching the locals come to pay their respects. Outside the temples are ladies with baskets of garlands in white and yellow of the marigold flowers just like they use for weddings. The locals were buying them and taking them in. At the main temple in town the stair case leading up was like a gauntlet of poor ladies with their stainless steel cups or bowls with a rupee inside shaking furiously as we walk past asking for our money. There was a heap of beggers also around the temple and so many that made me think of Slum Dog Millionaire - its like they have the token beggar sterotypes pimped out everywhere here.... the ones with blindness who had their eyes burnt (that freaks me out), those missing a leg or two, the old ladies, the kids with a rent a baby - its true after a while you become desensitized which I think I am at if they are out on the street. Actually this morning in Jaipur (sorry changing location for a second - this girl of around 12 years probably had the worst ever acting skills we have seen so far, once she saw her "sad" face was falling on deaf ears, she mumbled a few disgruntled words in Hindi and stormed off!
So back to Udaipur - that night we went up to the fort nearby to see a dance and music showcase of traditional Rajistahni folk dances. I had seen it all last time but its set in such a beautiful outdoor castle in the evening that I was really happy to see it again and this time made sure that I hung back to arrange a private dance class for the next day.
After the show we went hunting for a restaurant that our Lonely Planet guide made sound ok and from what we saw the food variety was not too exciting. We found our friend Papu down at the juicebar and he gave us directions across the bridge to the restaurant - everything was all light up with coloured fairy lights across the bridge, krisha chants blaring out of temples and one that we walked past even had a DJ and lighting system going off out the front!
Eventually we found the restaurant and it blew us away - what a gorgeous, super romantic, cosy and picturesque restaurant - one of my best in India so far. It's called Ambria and is situation at the back of the heritage hotel called Amet Haveli on the waters edge with spectacular views of the Lake Palace and opposite fort. The food ranged in price from 100 - 250 rupees per dish ($2.50 - $6 approx) and was to die for. I haven't eaten meat since arriving in India this trip so thought now is the time as it had a huge list of delicious Rajistani curries. We orderd a mutton Rajistani curry and a chicken curry, basmati rice and garlic naan along with a fresh lime soda. They had alchohol here but I'm not really a fan when I travel alone - even though I do like India's Kingfisher beer on a hot day. The ambience of the restaurant was fantastic - its all outdoors set under one massive old tree with candles on every table, a waiting area complete with a fire pit and live tabla and sitar musician - I was in heaven just needed my date instead of my female volunteer colleague! We rolled out of there very content from an amazing night that cost us $25!!!!
Next day we visited the city palace which was amazing - not to mention the massive stage they were setting up for a wedding this week with an expected 1500 + guests. There was one courtyard in particular that I just loved - it was made from sandstone and had trees and was surrounded by India's beautiful Mughal style archways that I would kill to have at home, plus what used to be a pool in the middle of the courtyard with lots of Lotus flowers chiseled into the sandstone. I really beleive that Royal families of today are getting ripped off when you see castles like this!
Later that afternoon I had my private lesson with the leading lady of the show we had seen the previous night. I arrived at 5pm outside the fort and was told to hop on the scooter with this young boy of around 15 who was driving me to her house - yes I sat Indian style with my legs both to the left even though they expected me to sit foreign style - it's just not pretty!
I met my teacher - in her 50's and unmarried - is this a professional dancers curse? Every successful dancer I know is unmarried or failed marriage - I know success comes at a price but really???? So she taught me a traditional folk dance all about the costumes you put on a camel - sounds odd but it was beautiful. If I can work out I will post it to my blog as I did video it. She was so sweet she even dressed me in a traditional costume when I danced it for the last time so I could feel like the real deal. I loved how each move I did correlated to the words and the tiniest hand actions meant things like sewing pearls, the ocean, my camel etc. I discussed the idea of coming back in Sept or Oct and studying with her to learn the balance the pot dances on your head and also the symbols dance - lets just survive this India trip first!
We had dinner at another hotel on Saturday night but it just didnt compare to our first night there so we promised that since the next night was our last and also Valentine's Day we were going back to Ambrai's! Sunday morning I had arranged with the owner of our gorgeous hotel to have a cooking lesson as she has made a purpose built kitchen where she conducts lessons - now this is my second "cooking lesson" when I travel and I think I have a new addiction - eating was always there but I really love learning how to cook different style foods and she gave us a great lesson on Indian spices. Its been creeping into my head that I would love to be able to own a little hotel with such a set up of course including dance classes for the guests! I'll have to perfect some dishes though! :) in class I made my first Chapati, Aloo Gobi (cauliflower and potatoe mild curry), Masala Chai and Paneer Masala. Then after our class we got to enjoy our cooked meals up on the hotels beautiful rooftop overlooking the Lake Palace - there was 5 of us in the class.
For the first time on this trip I went shopping and bought two gorgeous paintings in Udaipur as the city really does have some talented artists. So I bought one painting of an old Rajisthani man in traditional turban with his big moustache - it's very cool and the other one of the traditional miniture Maharajah style paintings with the scene of the prince going to the palace with his guardsmen.
All up we had a fantastic time in Udaipur both loving our hotel, the city, the food and people - we really didnt want to come back to our homestay but know its all part of the experience.
Another update coming soon about how the projects are going and our trip to the Taj Mahal this weekend! Namaste!
So as you can imagine I wanted to know that if I was making the effort to pack, book a hotel and get to the train station at 10pm at night I was on that damn train! So luckily we were recommended a travel agent and told that in India money talks and if we pay them a commission of 250 rupees he would get us a confirmed seat on the trips we needed. We parted with the money and were given a ticket that has computer printing but again said WL but he had handwritten our "confirmed" seats and carriage.
So off we headed with our trusty auto driver to the train station on Thursday night for our 10.20pm train which ended up being 2.5 hours late - thank you I got the worst cold ever from sitting on that damn concrete floor :( My last trip to India I remembered the whole finding your train carriage and walking in the train station quiet daunting, so this time I was mentally preparing myself in the auto of what we had to do.
Arriving at Jaipur Central was not that bad and there was even a huge board that had the daily train timetable hand-painted in both Hindi and English. We looked for our train number, time and what platform and then headed in. As we were walking along a little boy of around 7/8 years saw my lady bettle head pillow strapped to my backpack and came to have a pat - at that moment a security guard watching screamed out at him and slammed his big stick onto the concrete, which sent the little boy running and gave me an almighty fright too! In a way we thought well thats comforting that security guards are present and clearly watching whats going on. We found our platform then sat on the floor for the next 2.5 hours observing train life in India.
A random old guy came up and started chatting so we did the mandatory we cant see you or hear you stare hoping that he would go away as he was a little scary. Some boys nearby saw and called him away from us and then he staggered their way - the boys motioned to us that he was drunk and they tried to get rid of him but he just came back our way. Then out of no where comes another security guard in his khakee coloured felt looking uniform, mandatory moustache and stick and screams at the man dragging him away and bashing him with the stick around the corner. It was all a little scary and everyone just sat and stared - minus the bashing part we were impressed the security guards seemed to be keeping an eye out for their tourists which was greatly appreciated.
Finally our train arrived and we prayed we knew what we were doing - the sign overhead change to our train number and then would alternate between this and our carriage number as per our travel agents handwriting on the ticket. We climbed aboard the mad rush and realised that our seats were apart on opposite ends of the carriage - nothing we could do so we took them and waited for someone of the ticket guy to look at our dodgy tickets and kick us off. As our tickets were for "2nd AC" the carriage was ok - each berth had 4 bunks - 2 up, 2 down. Mine was up - so up I went and made my bed - they give you two sheets and dodgy old brown blanket and a pillow (that was far more comfortable than the sack at my homestay!). So the ticket man came along with this huge dot-matrix printed list - pages of A3 size, he takes your ticket and marks you off. A huge sigh of releif as he marks us off no problem. Then the lights went out in the cabin - yes I dont think I could handle it back home, but you have no choice here - and everyone went to sleep. To be honest it was the best night's sleep we have both had since arriving, except for the generous love of the AC vent that helped make my headcold worse.
We arrived into Udaipur station at 10am and everyone departed the train - we werent sure if the hotel had sent someone to pick us up as we didnt confirm so we thought lets get a rickshaw. I chose the most trustworthy face in the crowd (hilarious - trust and rickshaw usually are not suited for the same sentence in any country) he agreed on 50 rupee and we thought great because the hotel told us 250 rupee. Then as we walked off we saw the guy from the hotel holding up a sign with my name "Ms Kat" - damn - so off we went cursing ourselves for the overcharge but not letting it bother us too much.
Udaipur - the city of love - India's most romantic city that is frequented apparently by many of the stars of Bollywood for their honeymoons - just not that weekend that I could see! So we stayed at the Krishna Sri Niwas Hotel - a family run establishment that I would highly recommend for anyone wanting a nice stay in this city at a reasonable price. The location was on Lal Ghat within walking distance of most of the towns main attractions. I saw town as in comparison to Jaipur, this is pretty. Of course you will always have deafening car horns, mad drivers etc but it's a maze of lane ways you can walk up and down the hills to the little markets, City Palace, restaurants and Ghats.
We spent much of the first day exploring around town and me not feeling so crash hot so I was trying to con as many of the juice guys on the street as possbile to do me a fresh lemon or orange with no ice. We found the lovely Papu Juice's who promised no ice or water and even had the peeled oranges in the fridge which was a true winner in comparison to everyone else. We were lucky to be in town for the long weekend of Shiva celebrations, so watched the locals come up to do their pooja's at the main temple. It was interesting to observe - we sat inside the temple beside a group of old ladies in saari singing at the top of their voices to the shrine at the front of the temple. On my right there were a huge group of men all chatting and socialising and the old ladies were scolding them I am guessing for their talking and not singing perhaps? The men seemed to get annoyed so all got up and left - I thought it reminded me of Greek church - except perhaps the old ladies too would be gossiping instead of paying attention or singing their praises.
The shopkeepers and street hawkers in Udaipur seemed to get it when you said you were just looking which is just not normal for India! All day we walked past temples watching the locals come to pay their respects. Outside the temples are ladies with baskets of garlands in white and yellow of the marigold flowers just like they use for weddings. The locals were buying them and taking them in. At the main temple in town the stair case leading up was like a gauntlet of poor ladies with their stainless steel cups or bowls with a rupee inside shaking furiously as we walk past asking for our money. There was a heap of beggers also around the temple and so many that made me think of Slum Dog Millionaire - its like they have the token beggar sterotypes pimped out everywhere here.... the ones with blindness who had their eyes burnt (that freaks me out), those missing a leg or two, the old ladies, the kids with a rent a baby - its true after a while you become desensitized which I think I am at if they are out on the street. Actually this morning in Jaipur (sorry changing location for a second - this girl of around 12 years probably had the worst ever acting skills we have seen so far, once she saw her "sad" face was falling on deaf ears, she mumbled a few disgruntled words in Hindi and stormed off!
So back to Udaipur - that night we went up to the fort nearby to see a dance and music showcase of traditional Rajistahni folk dances. I had seen it all last time but its set in such a beautiful outdoor castle in the evening that I was really happy to see it again and this time made sure that I hung back to arrange a private dance class for the next day.
After the show we went hunting for a restaurant that our Lonely Planet guide made sound ok and from what we saw the food variety was not too exciting. We found our friend Papu down at the juicebar and he gave us directions across the bridge to the restaurant - everything was all light up with coloured fairy lights across the bridge, krisha chants blaring out of temples and one that we walked past even had a DJ and lighting system going off out the front!
Eventually we found the restaurant and it blew us away - what a gorgeous, super romantic, cosy and picturesque restaurant - one of my best in India so far. It's called Ambria and is situation at the back of the heritage hotel called Amet Haveli on the waters edge with spectacular views of the Lake Palace and opposite fort. The food ranged in price from 100 - 250 rupees per dish ($2.50 - $6 approx) and was to die for. I haven't eaten meat since arriving in India this trip so thought now is the time as it had a huge list of delicious Rajistani curries. We orderd a mutton Rajistani curry and a chicken curry, basmati rice and garlic naan along with a fresh lime soda. They had alchohol here but I'm not really a fan when I travel alone - even though I do like India's Kingfisher beer on a hot day. The ambience of the restaurant was fantastic - its all outdoors set under one massive old tree with candles on every table, a waiting area complete with a fire pit and live tabla and sitar musician - I was in heaven just needed my date instead of my female volunteer colleague! We rolled out of there very content from an amazing night that cost us $25!!!!
Next day we visited the city palace which was amazing - not to mention the massive stage they were setting up for a wedding this week with an expected 1500 + guests. There was one courtyard in particular that I just loved - it was made from sandstone and had trees and was surrounded by India's beautiful Mughal style archways that I would kill to have at home, plus what used to be a pool in the middle of the courtyard with lots of Lotus flowers chiseled into the sandstone. I really beleive that Royal families of today are getting ripped off when you see castles like this!
Later that afternoon I had my private lesson with the leading lady of the show we had seen the previous night. I arrived at 5pm outside the fort and was told to hop on the scooter with this young boy of around 15 who was driving me to her house - yes I sat Indian style with my legs both to the left even though they expected me to sit foreign style - it's just not pretty!
I met my teacher - in her 50's and unmarried - is this a professional dancers curse? Every successful dancer I know is unmarried or failed marriage - I know success comes at a price but really???? So she taught me a traditional folk dance all about the costumes you put on a camel - sounds odd but it was beautiful. If I can work out I will post it to my blog as I did video it. She was so sweet she even dressed me in a traditional costume when I danced it for the last time so I could feel like the real deal. I loved how each move I did correlated to the words and the tiniest hand actions meant things like sewing pearls, the ocean, my camel etc. I discussed the idea of coming back in Sept or Oct and studying with her to learn the balance the pot dances on your head and also the symbols dance - lets just survive this India trip first!
We had dinner at another hotel on Saturday night but it just didnt compare to our first night there so we promised that since the next night was our last and also Valentine's Day we were going back to Ambrai's! Sunday morning I had arranged with the owner of our gorgeous hotel to have a cooking lesson as she has made a purpose built kitchen where she conducts lessons - now this is my second "cooking lesson" when I travel and I think I have a new addiction - eating was always there but I really love learning how to cook different style foods and she gave us a great lesson on Indian spices. Its been creeping into my head that I would love to be able to own a little hotel with such a set up of course including dance classes for the guests! I'll have to perfect some dishes though! :) in class I made my first Chapati, Aloo Gobi (cauliflower and potatoe mild curry), Masala Chai and Paneer Masala. Then after our class we got to enjoy our cooked meals up on the hotels beautiful rooftop overlooking the Lake Palace - there was 5 of us in the class.
For the first time on this trip I went shopping and bought two gorgeous paintings in Udaipur as the city really does have some talented artists. So I bought one painting of an old Rajisthani man in traditional turban with his big moustache - it's very cool and the other one of the traditional miniture Maharajah style paintings with the scene of the prince going to the palace with his guardsmen.
All up we had a fantastic time in Udaipur both loving our hotel, the city, the food and people - we really didnt want to come back to our homestay but know its all part of the experience.
Another update coming soon about how the projects are going and our trip to the Taj Mahal this weekend! Namaste!
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