India 4 - Jodhpur

I got the train to Jodhpur and arrived 2h late at the station at 10pm. Bit of a horror as the hotel hadn’t sent the taxi I phoned for and I got surrounded by a large group of men who behaved like extras out of Night of the Living Dead. Anyway, I’ve been staying at Ratan Vilas which is a lovely old hotel, the only problem is the weather, which is so cold at night, I am freezing!!

Took a trip to have a look round the Meherangarh’s palace within the fabulous fort. The place is full of sandstone lattice work which has been carved so you can see out but nobody can see in and apparently the Maharaja’s wife spent all her time using strategically positioned mirrors to view all the courtyards and eavesdrop on everyone… see what happens when you have too much time on your hands??? The original Big Brother I suppose. I have too much time on my hands at night when I am in solitary confinement and have been obsessively folding my clothes.

The landscape from the fort is beautiful, white cenotaph of members of the royal family called Jaswant Thanda one side, sprawling city below and the Umaid Bhawan Palace in the distance.

The cubist blue buildings on the hillside is the old town is where all the Brahmins live, looks lovely but the tiny, busy streets you can’t see are choked with grime, motorbikes and fumes - a real shopping experience!

A couple of Pushkar stories

The hotel was an empty, overpriced marble pile, I would get a room in Pushkar if I came back, lots of atmosphere. I had a laugh at a couple of stories I heard - there are signs all over the ghats with rules about not embracing/no nudity/ no shoes/& more. A few years ago, a couple of Israelis thought it would be romantic to get married on a ghat and arranged for one of the priests to marry them. At the end of the ceremony they kissed and it caused so much of a commotion, some of the priests complained to the authorities and the couple were arrested and after a 2 day trial were sent to prison for 5 days and fined 20k rupees.

Which is nothing compared to the Scandinavian woman who while on a ghat at sunrise was told by a priest that bathing in the lake would lessen her karma. She promptly stripped naked and caused such a massive crowd that she couldn’t get to her clothes and streaked through the streets back to her hotel… 5 days trial, 10 days in jail and a 40k rupee fine… Mr Kumar has been phoning to see if I am ok and asked if I’d been on the hashish! I said ‘certainly not’ in my most uppity English accent.

India 3 - Pushkar

Well so much for that! No music, chanting or drum beating tonight… just a quiet dinner by my lonesome in a rooftop restaurant overlooking the lake.

Earlier today I climbed the hill to go to one of Brahma’s wives’ temples. Great view from the top and a nice cup of masala chai and some pretty birds to watch.

I also visited the Brahma Temple, over 1,000 years old and quite frankly made me feel a bit creepy. Don’t know why, just that there were so many little rooms with statues and the main one - with a statue of Brahma had huge, glassy dark eyes.

I finally caved into the street kids this morning and bought them a gourmet burger breakfast.


On to Jodhpur tomorrow for a couple of days, to see the ‘Blue City and possibly Osian, which has the earliest group of Jain and Hindu temples.

India 2 - Pushkar, Rajasthan

3rd Feb - I left early morning to start my 2 weeks touring Rajasthan to catch the 7hr train to Ajmer and got a taxi to Pushkar. This a place where Brahma created a lake and the only place with a temple dedicated to Brahma (plus two hill temples dedicated to his two wives) there are something like 500 temples around the lake. The ashes of Gandhi, Neheru and Shri Lai Bahadur Shstri were sprinkled into the lake and Brahma himself is said to have worshipped here.

The town is surrounded by troops of large monkeys and overrun with cows. I’m staying at the Niwaas Palace overlooking the lake, which is very spacious and grand and I am pretty sure I am the only guest! The town below is alive with fake hippies who, according to the manager, (we had chai and chat while I waited for the taxi driver to come back with the phone I dropped in his cab) come here to hang out and grow their hair long and then tidy themselves up as soon as they go home. Tonight the sound of music, chanting and loud drum beating is floating up to my palace… I’ll go and experience it tomorrow after a good rest.

About the weather - it is nice and warm during the day, very cold at night... naturally I forgot to bring socks and can't find any anywhere!

Sitting here typing my blog, I started with Krishna, Ram music blaring outside which has not turned into Bob Marley... get the picture?

India 1 - Delhi

As I flew into Delhi on 29 Jan, it looked like a light fog was hanging over the city, it was 4pm local time and when we landed the airport was full of smoke which appeared to be due to some kind of insect fumigation, there was one guy up a ladder pumping thick smoke into the ventilator and about 20 officials in yellow hats watching below leaving us to choke our way through customs and past all the no-smoking signs. Raju was there to pick me up in the car and I realised almost immediately that the ‘fog’ I saw from the plane was in fact dust - which is everywhere - all the trees have a white powder over the leaves -everything seems to be dust coloured. I think that’s the most visual impact Delhi had for me - the dust!

But the combined energy of the people it contains is something else all together. It looks like chaos, but is 100% human communication, networking and marketing. I think the British Army must have chosen officers with the most OCD to try and control her, what a spectacular failure that must have been…

I’ve been staying at the Orchid Retreat, a bed & breakfast/guesthouse in the Defence Colony (South Delhi) area which is run by Mr Kumar and Anjelica. They made me feel so welcome and arranged for Raju to take me out in the morning to Fab India clothes shop to buy Indian clothes. I have now discarded the clothes I bought with me in favour of the truly wonderful outfits I purchased… I have a number of different trousers, baggy cotton and some tight leggings which are hilarious to look at… like a sink at the top with drainpipe legs (the drawstring waist sorts everything out!). I have not had any hassle, older men have complimented me on my outfits and a couple of younger men in shops were slightly petulant - as if I have spoiled their game (ha ha!). (I'll upload some pics of my outfits)

I love the Auto Rickshaws, a real fair ground ride through the traffic and have been out to have a haggle in a couple of the markets. I did a sightseeing tour, the Red Fort which is a bit of a ruin but you can still see the beauty from the layout, structures and what's left of the art.

Gandhi’s Memorial (time for bare feet) and a place I really liked, the very beautiful Humayun’s Tomb which is a garden paradise and a mini Taj Mahal, built by his wife, Bega. Plus visited a new temple complex which opened in November, 2005 called Akshardham, it's difficult to describe it as it has been built to inspire personal gowth by showcasing the essence of India’s ancient architecture, traditions and spiritual messages - no camera's allowed! (I'll get a pic from somewhere)

I can’t describe how fantastic Kumar and Anjelica have been, they have helped me with everything, giving me tips/pointers and really supporting me to the point of booking an entire trip through Rajasthan which took Anjelica days to organise. Kumar runs his guesthouse so that everyone is welcomed as family and has been great company in the evenings when we’ve had our philosophical discussions! Anjelica even took me on a shopping expedition with her mother to choose a sari and jewellery for her brother’s wedding in February. (I'll ask for some pics when I get back end of Feb).