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| Checking out the street life in New Delhi upon our arrival... Holy Pigs!!! |
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| Other New Delhi street life...shops, shops and more shops |
Sikh Temple - see below. we had to cover our heads,
and wash our feet before entering. All religions
are welcome here.
Kitchen in the Sheeshgang Gurudwara (Sikh Temple)
offering food and medical care to any and all who are
in need regardless of religious stripe.
Street chef where we had great "parawthe" - stuffed
almond bread with curry....amazing.
Red Fort Tour - Agra
Truly a world wonder...the Taj Mahal
Required footware at the Taj....keep the marble
clean!!!
Notice the young man just entering the slime green
pool having got the attention of wide eyed tourists
and jumped off the wall !!! He surface and climbed the
opposite wall in search of $ rewards.
Keoladeo Bird Park Tour - Nesting Storks
Birding Tour including our rickshaw drivers, guide and
Vivek our tour leader (red T-shirt).
Authentic Thali Set in downtown Jaipur
...lunchtime, hmmm, what's for supper?
Jaipur transport systems...slow but sure.
Observatory tour in Jaipur
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| This large area, observatory, was built in the 1700s and is full of various stone structures all related to astronomy. It was hard to capture their full size in some cases and even harder to understand how some were used. Kepple Croft Stone Henge in a really big way. |
India 1 – She’s working her magic
Day 7 for us. Sitting on our small balcony of the Mandawa
Haveli, looking out across the roof tops, it sounds like the Muslim prayers
have started. Mandawa is a “small” town of 25-30,000 (depending on which guide
I listen to), which also means quiet and not a lot to see, our haveli really is
the site. Haveli means highly painted house and the heritage ones are in the
order of 250-120 years old. Ours is 18th century. These incredible,
highly frescoed homes with inner and outer courtyards used to belong to wealthy
businessmen and merchants and were placed along the famed Silk Road. Of the 40,
or so, in this town, I think ours is the only one to now be functioning as a
hotel. Many have fallen into various states of disrepair due to, apparently,
absent owners. Our Mandawa Haveli has had some repairs, and paintings are being
restored. Our room is smaller but so interesting in style and design. We dined
by candlelight on the roof looking over the city. The entire building is quite
remarkable and beautiful.
India – where to start. This is a country that seems almost
to defy description. Any words I come up with all seem trite. It is a country
that presses in on you, and anyone with serious claustrophobia might be advised
to stay away. It is a country of contrasts, colour, crowds, and in its own way,
charm. Our guide, Vivek, just said to me that Indians like to do things slow,
and this may be good advice for us. I spoke to him yesterday, about feeling so
tired, and he reassured me that this is totally natural; we are seeing so much
that is new and the mind is working hard to integrate and analyze; the
experience can be a little exhausting. He often advices us to rest, ĥwhen the
opportunity presents itself, and I (for one) am more and more inclined to take
his advice, and am thinking this might be part of the charm of this great
sub-continent. Sometimes being more still presents its own gifts: for example
it is a little later in the day, and from my balcony vantage point I can see
small paper kites all across the sky. Clearly, this is what school children do
when then they get home from school! Right beside me, on the adjacent rooftop,
is a young boy working with decided concentration to coax his green kite
higher, and higher. I can’t see his kite anymore, but watching him is amazing –
I don’t think he has even noticed me. Feels like a gift, one I might have
missed if we’d been out “seeking”.
We are lucky, very lucky. We are on an Intrepid tour;
Rajasthan Adventure. A tour that would normally have up to 12 people on it. For
some reason Barry and I were the only two who signed up for this particular
departure date. As a result, we are having a private tour. Our guide is an
experienced, knowledgeable, fun and light-hearted young man of 33 years, who
has been guiding groups through India and Nepal for 10 years. Like us, he is
pleased as well; two people to watch over, coach, and plan for gives him more
freedom and even a bit of flexibility. With only the 3 of us, we also get to
know each other a bit better. Barry has started to call him brother – although
because of the age difference, technically, Barry would be considered an
“uncle”. These 2 men joke, and already Vivek has put me in my place for
interrupting him. He is direct, possibly in the same way that my friends tell
me I am direct. He slowly, but surely, is providing us with a window into
Indian culture and Hindu philosophy. Ahhh – a White-throated Kingfisher has
perched on the ledge across from me. Google an image, you won’t be
disappointed. Can you tell we’ve been to a bird sanctuary?
We have seen some great sites/sights so far. Going to the
Taj Mahal (a mausoleum, just in case you did not know – I didn’t) took our
breath away just like the Himalayas did. It must be seen to be appreciated and
Vivek, after so much experience, knew to send us there late in the afternoon so
that we could stay until sunset. You’ll notice the colour of the marble in our
photos changes, as a result of the light changing over the course of our visit.
This wonder of the world was so beautiful we did exactly what we did in the
mountains; sit down for some time (in this case on the large, smooth, wrap-around
marble “deck”) where we could just breath the entire scene in, which included
the large number of people streaming by. Magical.
Forts are big on our tour agenda as well. In fact yesterday
Barry said “another fort? I might be a little “forted” by now”. However, they
consistently are incredible marvels of 16th-17th century
architecture (mostly Mughal I think). All surround, and protect, the royal
palace of some ruler and we are starting to see patterns in their design.
Separate buildings, and courtyards, for men and women; screened areas where
women could watch events without being seen, areas where commoners had access
and could bring concerns to their ruler. We’ve learned how, in the absence of
electricity, water was stored, buildings kept cool or warm, and lighting maximized.
The Royal Palace at the Amer Fort, just outside Jaipur, is the 2nd
largest mirrored palace in the world – absolutely fantastic. All of these
structures are grand in size, and grandly show off carved sandstone or marble,
beautiful inlay in some cases, or frescoes painted with natural pigment. What
appears to be simply more carved sandstone soon reveals itself to hide lavish,
gilded, incredible rooms of real opulence. In many cases, stone has come from
many kilometres away, and most have taken years (the Agra Fort took 95 years)
to complete. We’ve seen amazing Muslim mosques and a Sikh temple. These are
India’s jewels.
We’ve enjoyed some simple pleasures. I indulged in a full
body ayurvedic massage, and Barry a much needed head massage (definitely different
in India but both skillfully delivered). Yesterday we had a wonderful yoga
class with Rabindra, I’d peg at 65-70 years old. Rabindra spent more time
telling us what to do, than showing us, but he delighted us. He led us in some
simple prayers, and when we were done told us we would show our happiness. Show
it too each other, and let it out into the world. And then, he simply started
to laugh, and made us laugh too. We left feeling good in our bodies and shiny
in spirit. He reminded me of my very first yoga teacher, Gerda, another most
welcome experience.
But as we all know, India shows any traveler both sides of
her coin. Nepal was good preparation, to say the least. Garbage, rubble, and
debris is everywhere. In New Delhi the crowds were oppressive. Our very first
morning with Vivek, in preparation for riding the Metro into Old Delhi Vivek
told me: “the train (think subway) will be crowded; push and elbow your way in.
You must get on the train”. And we did. It was “can of sardines” crowded. So
crowded I did not need to hold onto anything as we were held up simply by all
the other people. We’ve walked small, darker, side streets with shops that
literally burst their commerce out onto the street. Colour abounds in fabrics,
and flowers, both worn and hanging. Between jewellery, fabrics, ribbons,
offerings, and decorations, glitter and sparkle possibly soften the impact of
all the grime. Road ways move buses, motor bikes, cars, tuk-tuks, rickshaws,
camel, elephants, and cattle carts, tractors and “goods carrier” trucks.
Crossing the road is a challenge, as streets have no street lights and cars
drive without lines – fitting themselves together like puzzle pieces, but also
in constant motion (mostly!). Often we sidle up to Indians, and cross as they
do, although Barry has become quite adept at stepping out and leading us across
4 lanes of traffic. We’ve seen what appear to be endless rows of narrow shops
piled to the ceilings with goods. While some have glass fronts, and doors, many
roll up garage-like metal doors such that their entire front is open. In front
of these shops there may be an entire other row of street vendors plying
everything from bangles, to vegetables, to track pants, to street food. There
is constant noise and motion. A barber sits directly on the road shaving the
face of his customer, tools of his trade laid out on a cloth beside him, and
not too far down may be a cobbler. So much happens in the streets.
Yes, we’ve seen beggars and persistent hawkers. An Intrepid
rep who met us on our first evening in New Delhi counselled us simply to walk
away and say nothing (which we are getting better at). The general philosophy
among the tour providers we’ve met is to donate to a cause if you really want
to have an impact (a longer discussion for sure). We’ve seen cripples (sorry if
politically incorrect) and disfigured people, mangy dogs and wild pigs rolling
in the mud ½ a block from our very nice New Delhi hotel. We watched a man hand-crank a small, rusted
ferris wheel maybe 8 feet tall on the side of the road for a cluster of dirty,
grubby children, and we’ve seen people and animals defecate in the street.
Thanks to Vivek, (and Giri from the Himalayas) even though our skin has had to
toughen a bit to be here, we’re also learning to soften and be a little humble.
Vivek has reminded us that soon we will leave and return to comfort, while
everyone we see will remain here, so in his words – it is in our hands to be
happy. He reminds us to tip everyone who serves us, and is very clear that what
is considered an acceptable tip really amounts to very little in our terms and
a great deal to those employed to serve us. The other day, on our way to the
bird sanctuary (awesome painted story nesting colonies by the way) both Barry
and I suggested maybe we could walk, instead of going on a rickshaw. Vivek
flatly refused to even consider this request. Why? Because the rickshaw drivers
are poor, and we can hire them for 2 hours and they make some money. Our driver
had been sitting outside our hotel, The Birder’s Inn, for 6 days with no work
before our fare came along. When we mistakenly agreed to a guide at the bird
sanctuary, who turned out to be not so good, Vivek also had something to say.
He asked us if we had noticed the guide’s shoes (which I had). “He is a poor
man, and you gave him some money. That is good kharma”. When we toured the Amer
Fort outside Jaipur, Vivek asked me if I would like to get some mendhi – henna
tattoo. My first response – no. However, when he explained that very few women
work selling or serving tourists, and the mendi was done by a woman that he
always tries to support, my answer changed to “yes” and now my left hand looks
beautiful thanks to a small bit of money and the fast, steady hand of the
mendhi artist. Or the young girl, maybe 11, who stood inside the door of the
toilet at a small bus rest stop. When I entered – “please, please” and she gave
me some tissue. “Please’ please” and she checked the toilet to make sure it was
flushed. “Please, please” and she turned on the water tap for me to wash my
hands when done. A young girl doing a job I don’t really need done for me, but
working and in need of money (plus, she convinced me to take my hair out of my
bun and show her, which delighted me greatly). We are learning to share our
wealth, in what may be a meagre fashion. It is easy to feel guilty traveling in
a country like this and maybe the best alternative is simply to be gracious.
Next day:
We have driven further into the tawny coloured desert, into
the town of Bikaner. We will walk through town shortly and visit another fort.
We drove 4 hours on a bus, luckily finding a seat in the very front, right up
with the driver and 8 other people. We were the only tourists on the bus.
Barry, ever social and keen to talk, is not at all daunted by the language
differences and eagerly engages others in conversation. His attempts at
communication are so well received, and even though it appears that there are
gaps in understanding smiles erupt all around. Before too long on the bus, we
had a photograph of us with Charlie and Ruby being passed around amongst our fellow
travelers. I am far shyer, in these situations, and quite happy to let Barry
take the lead. His desire to connect, in whatever way he can, is so strong and
genuine it is a delight to watch him in action.
Our accommodations, have far surpassed our expectations.
After camping, budget US motels, and Nepal we really feel like we are living
the high-life. Our current room has a king-sized bed, large bathroom, 2 lovely
bay, window seats, a lovely painted floor and ceiling. There are numerous
patios, terraces and open air dining. We travel on local transport for the most
part which is exciting, interesting, and yes bumpy, dusty, and sometimes hot,
but we are loving this experience and this journey deeper into the desert.
I think I’ll close with something Vivek said to us early on.
Expect nothing, and be open to surprises. Smart words for a relatively young guy. XOXO D
