Well,
We're still in Pushkar. It's easy to see how you could spend a month in this town. We are staying in a residential part of town which has it's own 'charms' and are the only english people in a hotel inhabited mainly by Israelis. This town is a real magnet for Israeli people. We have talked to local people as to why this is. It seems that after National Service (3 years men and now 3 years women) the young people come here to let go. And when I say let go, I mean LET GO! Hair becomes long clothes go skimpy and the cannabis is consumed in great quantities. There is a really good atmosphere and most importantly it feels very safe. People really need to kick back here after their time in the army. We forget that in Israel right now, National Service means Active Service to some extent. We also found out that there is a Synagogue here so people can worship. All vices are left at the door and the shawls and caps are put on as if people were home. The fact that this goes on this way is another testament to Indian society. Indians are very adaptable and accepting of other people.
We braved the Holi day festivities yesterday. Holi Day is the beginning of the Summer for Hindus. To celebrate, everyone throws powdered and liquid paint at each other. We put on some dark clothes and set off down the street. We saw no-one at first and I could hear Morricone music in my ears as we clung onto our water bottles. We bought some orange and red powder from a small store and mixed it with the liquid. We set off again in search of 'aggro'. We were spotted by a group of about six or seven boys stained with purple paint. They spotted how clean we were and began running for us....They squirted us with paint and rubbed dry powder into our faces. We were tussling in the straight and Jo and me were in fits of scream,s and laughter..It was hilarious and totally exhilarating. It was all over quickly and everyone shook hands and moved on saying 'Good Holi' and 'Good Colour". Jo and me re-filled the bottles and moved on toward the central market area. We were greeted by more paint and powder but it began to get a bit more boisterous. We got split up and were set upon by loads of young men, this time who used darker paint and tried to grab Jo's breasts!! A shock, but she was okay..We decided to head back to the hotel not long after and were thoroughly caked by the time we got back. The locals seemed really pleased with the way we looked and considering the way they looked, we fitted in quite well.
A memorable experience and one which we nearly didn't take part in. The paint had stained us ALL over but we scrubbed hard and it came off mostly. We have some photos of how we looked, to send home, I'll try as soon as I can.
Until the next time,
xgregx
PS. Here's a few facts that might interest you.
82 rupees to the pound right now.
1 Litre Mineral Water 10-15 rupees
1 Toilet Roll (100 Metres) 25 rupees
1 Double Room with bathroom 150 rupees a night
Monday, March 08, 2004
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Subject: Pushkar, Puja's and Pink Floyd.....
Hello folks,
greg and Jo giving you the latest news from India. We can't believe it's been a month already! We are a little wiser now, and have successfully negotiated our way around Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Mount Abu, Udaipur and are now in Pushkar. Pushkar is very relaxing compared to the rest of Rajasthan. The tourists who come here, seem to enjoy herbal comforts in the form of Bhang Lassi and cheap hash. The clothes are cheap and the sort you'd find in Camden Market circa 1969 and there are alot of people here from Israel, especially young people, here to let go and chill out to Bob Marley and Fleetwood Mac. We were lulled to sleep last night by the sound of the didgeridoo(spell.?) and the girl in the next room is learning to play the flute, she seems to like 'another brick in the wall' by Pink Floyd! The food has been great here too, the falafel and Humous is especially good.
The whole town is based around a clean and quiet lake. Unfortunately, it's quiet because there are private temples surrounding most of it. In order to go near the lake you have to negotiate priests and sadhu's who will give you a 'Puja' or blessing in the form of a piece of string around your neck or wrist. Of course, this costs; we don't know how much though, because we've avoided any contact by sneaking to the opposite side of the lake to enjoy the excellent bird-watching. We also saw massive turtles today too.
We are off now but wanted to say thanks to you all for your feedback and it's great to know you're following us around the world.
Bye for now,
xgregandjox
PS. We recently sent out some photos but peoples mailboxes seemed to be full. We'll try and send some smaller pics soon...
Hello folks,
greg and Jo giving you the latest news from India. We can't believe it's been a month already! We are a little wiser now, and have successfully negotiated our way around Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Mount Abu, Udaipur and are now in Pushkar. Pushkar is very relaxing compared to the rest of Rajasthan. The tourists who come here, seem to enjoy herbal comforts in the form of Bhang Lassi and cheap hash. The clothes are cheap and the sort you'd find in Camden Market circa 1969 and there are alot of people here from Israel, especially young people, here to let go and chill out to Bob Marley and Fleetwood Mac. We were lulled to sleep last night by the sound of the didgeridoo(spell.?) and the girl in the next room is learning to play the flute, she seems to like 'another brick in the wall' by Pink Floyd! The food has been great here too, the falafel and Humous is especially good.
The whole town is based around a clean and quiet lake. Unfortunately, it's quiet because there are private temples surrounding most of it. In order to go near the lake you have to negotiate priests and sadhu's who will give you a 'Puja' or blessing in the form of a piece of string around your neck or wrist. Of course, this costs; we don't know how much though, because we've avoided any contact by sneaking to the opposite side of the lake to enjoy the excellent bird-watching. We also saw massive turtles today too.
We are off now but wanted to say thanks to you all for your feedback and it's great to know you're following us around the world.
Bye for now,
xgregandjox
PS. We recently sent out some photos but peoples mailboxes seemed to be full. We'll try and send some smaller pics soon...
Monday, March 01, 2004
Subject: Still in Udaipur....From Greg and Jo.
Hello Everybody,
Well we're still in Udaipur. We leave tomorrow night for Pushkar. We intend to stay a couple of days there to pause and order our tickets to Shimla in Himachel Pradesh(North India). It's becoming very hot already and the English contingent seem to be heading north to the hill stations, just like the English Raj would have done in years gone by. We've met a lot of people either coming from or going to Nepal so that may be a realistic possibility afterall. For now, we're staying at a wonderfully chilled guesthouse (The Panorama, Hanuman Ghat, Udaipur), where we can relax away from the persistent rickshaw drivers and art shop owners. There are a few other English people staying and so we have some drinking partners.
We've encountered some wonderful people on this trip. We've particularly enjoyed the company of a couple of radio journalists from Montreal Canada. They've been working in Afghanistan helping to set up a radio station for women to communicate to each other, post-Taliban. We're really getting an education whilst we loaf around and this is making the trip doubly valuable.
Yesterday we traveled by style in an Ambassador taxi with our Canadian friends to Ranakpur. Here we visited a Jain temple that contains 1400 individually carved pillars at about 20 feet high. I felt like I'd walked onto the set of Bladerunner or into a Frank-Lloyd Wright house. The temple was created in the 15th Century, I think, but had such a contemporary feel-(Maybe worth looking up on the web for images).
Another highlight of the day was lunch. In a sparse concrete dining hall are rows of stainless tables and chairs. You sit in a long line opposite other total strangers.(only one other westerner besides us). The temple charges 20 rupees (25 pence) for a Veg Thali. A thali is usually served on a stainless steel tray. On this tray are smaller dishes that are filled with sauces and dahl(Lentil curry). Men come along and apply portion after portion of further curries and rice to the tray and then provide loads of naan bread or japatties. They keep coming around filling your tray from metal buckets and asking if you'd like more. You can eat as much as you want and with your fingers too! The guy next to me kept nodding at me with delight and I surprised both him and me with how much I could eat, Justin from Canada carried on a good fifteen minutes after us, polishing off naan after naan(heaven knows where he put it). All the while, there were birds and chipmunks passing through the hall and the heat of the middle of the day seemed miles away in there. When we'd finished, we went outside to watch the black faced monkeys going about their business. The business off begging for food and denting the roofs of all the parked cars. A bus load of Indian cub scouts were also entranced by the monkeys and us, as it happened. It was a case of us watching you, watching them, watching us...If you get what I mean.
All in all, we are beginning to relax with the trip and are beginning to understand what we are capable of out here and what we do and don't want to do. We've had some genuinely touching and worthwhile exchanges with Indian people and feel we are beginning to understand our relationship with this country and it's people a little better.
I think a Danish girl whom I met last night summed India up the best so far:(Paraphrased)
"India is exhausting because your CONSTANTLY searching for the truth. As soon as you accept that you'll never know the truth, you'll begin to enjoy your stay here".
Finally thanks for all your replies. We will try and write a few individual ones as we go on(11 months to go). We'll also attempt to send some photos ASAP. ( Digital Photography is getting big here so they'll be no problem saving our pics.)
Thanks for reading and love to you all.
xgregandjox
Hello Everybody,
Well we're still in Udaipur. We leave tomorrow night for Pushkar. We intend to stay a couple of days there to pause and order our tickets to Shimla in Himachel Pradesh(North India). It's becoming very hot already and the English contingent seem to be heading north to the hill stations, just like the English Raj would have done in years gone by. We've met a lot of people either coming from or going to Nepal so that may be a realistic possibility afterall. For now, we're staying at a wonderfully chilled guesthouse (The Panorama, Hanuman Ghat, Udaipur), where we can relax away from the persistent rickshaw drivers and art shop owners. There are a few other English people staying and so we have some drinking partners.
We've encountered some wonderful people on this trip. We've particularly enjoyed the company of a couple of radio journalists from Montreal Canada. They've been working in Afghanistan helping to set up a radio station for women to communicate to each other, post-Taliban. We're really getting an education whilst we loaf around and this is making the trip doubly valuable.
Yesterday we traveled by style in an Ambassador taxi with our Canadian friends to Ranakpur. Here we visited a Jain temple that contains 1400 individually carved pillars at about 20 feet high. I felt like I'd walked onto the set of Bladerunner or into a Frank-Lloyd Wright house. The temple was created in the 15th Century, I think, but had such a contemporary feel-(Maybe worth looking up on the web for images).
Another highlight of the day was lunch. In a sparse concrete dining hall are rows of stainless tables and chairs. You sit in a long line opposite other total strangers.(only one other westerner besides us). The temple charges 20 rupees (25 pence) for a Veg Thali. A thali is usually served on a stainless steel tray. On this tray are smaller dishes that are filled with sauces and dahl(Lentil curry). Men come along and apply portion after portion of further curries and rice to the tray and then provide loads of naan bread or japatties. They keep coming around filling your tray from metal buckets and asking if you'd like more. You can eat as much as you want and with your fingers too! The guy next to me kept nodding at me with delight and I surprised both him and me with how much I could eat, Justin from Canada carried on a good fifteen minutes after us, polishing off naan after naan(heaven knows where he put it). All the while, there were birds and chipmunks passing through the hall and the heat of the middle of the day seemed miles away in there. When we'd finished, we went outside to watch the black faced monkeys going about their business. The business off begging for food and denting the roofs of all the parked cars. A bus load of Indian cub scouts were also entranced by the monkeys and us, as it happened. It was a case of us watching you, watching them, watching us...If you get what I mean.
All in all, we are beginning to relax with the trip and are beginning to understand what we are capable of out here and what we do and don't want to do. We've had some genuinely touching and worthwhile exchanges with Indian people and feel we are beginning to understand our relationship with this country and it's people a little better.
I think a Danish girl whom I met last night summed India up the best so far:(Paraphrased)
"India is exhausting because your CONSTANTLY searching for the truth. As soon as you accept that you'll never know the truth, you'll begin to enjoy your stay here".
Finally thanks for all your replies. We will try and write a few individual ones as we go on(11 months to go). We'll also attempt to send some photos ASAP. ( Digital Photography is getting big here so they'll be no problem saving our pics.)
Thanks for reading and love to you all.
xgregandjox
