Weather Blues

Day 423

My plan for Manali had been to go white water rafting or zorbing. It was just way too cold to do anything that was slightly related to water. As it was I had bought leg warmers (yes, leg warmers) to get myself through the night. Instead I decided to spend the day writing and wandering around Old Manali.

After breakfast and chatting with a Tibetian refugee who had never met an America before I headed up to a small temple. The temple wasn't much, but the walk was nice. The view was also quite good, there was snow on the mountains.

When my walk was over I went to an internet cafe to work on the blog, but ended up just chatting with the people who worked there instead. On the way down I suddenly decided that I needed to have some sort of yarn thing in my hair. This took about 20 mintues and then I was on my way again.

Before I knew it it was time for me to head to the bus station. I tried to tell the tuk tuk driver that I needed the public bus station but he insisted on taking me to the private bus station. It wasn't until we got there that he realized his mistake. When we back tracked to the public bus station he had the gull to ask me for more money! I had told him where to go from the begining and he almost made me late, I didn't even want to give him what I owed him.

I had the row to myself but the road was terrible and I felt terrible. I couldn't fall asleep no matter how much I tried. When the road finally was straighter another person got on and sat next to me. His elbows borred into my side and he snored very loud. No amount of pushing could get his elbows out of my rib cage or wake him up. I didn't sleep much on this ride.

Freezin'

Day 422
A night bus ought to mean that you arrive in the morning, when its light out not at 4:30 am, especially when its freezing cold!

I had little choice but to go with a tout. I couldn't even argue on the price. There wasn't heat in the room but there was hot water. At least the hotel was in the area I had wanted to stay in. When go to the room I was so cold that I went to sleep with my clothes on.

When I woke up it was still early, around 9 am. I had to go to Manali to get my bus ticket for the next night. On the way down I stopped for breakfast.

It was really a nice walk. I found a place that sold chicken so fresh that they were in cages beneath the sign. Soon I had my ticket and just sorta wandered around the town. It wasn't all that interesting and I didn't like being pulled into the shops. I did find a few magic shops though. That was kinda different.

It was getting colder and I was tired. I picked up a half bottle of apple wine from India and some dried fruit. The area is known for it. I took the wrong road getting back though and it took me some time to find my hotel. I was really happy to get inside and get warm again.

I had the bottle and watched a bit of tv on my ipod, but it made me really tired and I was soon asleep in leg warmers and all.

Freebies

Day 421
Over breakfast I met a really nice Spanish girl and we spent some time chatting. In fact we talked for so long that it was almost lunch. I had to rush back to my hotel to pack and put my things in storage.

Afterwards I headed back to Bhagsu to pick up the rest of the things that I had ordered the day before. Getting clothing made here is ridiculously cheap. I did have to sit there for some time for some alterations.

I back to McLeod Granj and spent some time online. I then stopped by to visit Moshe. He was fun to chat with and he had offered make me a necklace. I didn't have much time but it didn't take him very long. It was quite a pretty smokey quartz necklace.

Afterwards I had to get a cab up the hill to the bus station because I had way too much stuff to carry at this point. The night bus was mostly empty but it was cold. I ended up having the porter open up the back to get all of my warm clothing and I could just about fall asleep.

Shower Tap

Day 420
Since my trekking dreams were dashed I decided to walk to I decided to walk to Bhagsu, about two kilometers away, after breakfast. On the way there I met a guy named Moshe who wanted to walk with me. I said ok but soon realized that I had forgotten my camera and had to head back for it.

Take two. I decided to go all the way to the waterfall. I think that most hotel showers gush more water, it was really quite bad. I never thought that a waterfall could be so boring.

After a snack it began to pour. I popped into a shop I had looked at something before and was about to buy it but the guy yelled at me for dripping a bit and I left. I ended up waiting out the rain with some other travelers over a chai.

When it stopped raining I headed to upper Bhagsu (up the big hill) I found a place that would make me a similar jacket for less money in the colors that I wanted. I killed the time waiting by checking my email.

After picking up my jacket I headed back to McLeod Granj. I was pretty tired and ended up just grabbing some food and heading back to my hotel to read and sleep.

Spinning

Day 419
It was the cold that woke me up. I wasn't dressed for morning in the mountains. When I got off the bus I trudged up the hill to McLeod Ganj. The hotel I wanted was full so I ended up having to follow a tout and stay at his place. He said that there was hot water but there wasn't. It was back to the shower hokey pokey.

After breakfast and writing for a bit I went off to find a trek for the next day. None of the places would do anything less than a 36 km round trip. There was no way that I wanted to do that so I decided to pass.

I then found a temple and watched as people turned the prayer wheels. This was just a small temple thoug hadn I headed to the Dali Lama's compound. According to a sign the actual Dali Lama is in Chinese custody and his location is unknown. He is 19. I don't know anything about the Tibet and Chinese problem and won't know anything as the museum was closed.

Instead I headed upstairs to the main temple. The scenery was far more interesting though. I stayed there for some time taking pictures. I also watched as people rolled the gold colored prayer wheels.

After exploring the town a bit more and doing some shopping for some warmer clothes I picked up some dinner and headed back to my hotel. One of my purchases was a really warm shawl. It was a good purchase.

Delhi, Again

Day 418
I got to Delhi early and went right to a place where I could book a ticket for a night bus to McLeod Ganj. I only had 10 hours before my bus so I decided to no get a hotel for the night.

I went to a restaurant for some food and sat there for a while writing in my journal. When the bookstore across the street opened I went and bought both Chinese and Mongolian guidebooks. I really needed to do some planning for the next few countries.

I then went to a tea shop and worked on a my itinerary for some time before grabbing some more food and heading to the office for the bus.

They told me to wait for quite some time and by the time that they put me into a cyclo I really thought that I would be late. They had also made a point that I should not pay the cyclo driver as they had already. On the way the driver stopped and chatted with his friends for a bit. I was about to lose it. When we got to the place that the bus would come to he asked for a tip. I about flipped out on him.

When the bus came they charged us all extra to put our luggage in the trunk. This really shouldn't happen when you take a private bus and it really irritated a lot of the westerners including me. I didn't like the way the things were being handled and I decided to stand outside and wait until they had shut the door. This irritated one the guy who was meant to get everyone in their seats. He was actually yelling at me and telling me that this was just the Indian way. I I tried to explain that it had nothing to do with India but that I always watched until things were locked. He told me that he would leave it unlocked and opened for the entire trip.

I wasn't the only person who was uncomfortable and watching, I was just the one he picked on. I had been chatting with an American couple before the bus had arrived and the male counter part was watching as well. I went ahead and got on the bus.

The nasty man then told me to sit in the seat that was next to his girlfriend, it took some convincing for me to get another seat. He wasn't actually letting any of us sit in the seats we were assigned. I complained that I had reserved a window seat and he made another person move, telling him that he was in the wrong seat. He didn't want to move but did in the end.

Then an Israili couple sitting in the back got upset that their seats didn't recline and that they were not the seats that they had booked. This prompted the guy next to me to get angry. He didn't speak English well though and they told him that if he was angry that he could get off of the bus. Eventually he just sat down.

Then two of the bus company employees took two of the reclining seats. This really irritated the Israli couple who stood next to them until they got up. When I looked around I could see that they had given the westerners the bad and broken seats (mine was broken) and the locals had the nice seats. Luckily I was tired and put my ipod on and just fell asleep.

Erotica Part 2

Day 417
I was up early and after breakfast decided that I had time to walk to one of the further away temples that I wanted to see. After a long walk I realized that I didn't have the back up battery for my camera. I had just enough juice for the Duladeo Temple and nothing else.

This was a Jain temple and wasn't as well done as the others, the karmasultra scenes were still there.

I had to go back to my hotel and after a few minutes I got tuk tuk. When I got back I ran into the cyclo driver that I had spoken to me the day before and said that I might use him to take me to the temples. I told him that I only had 3 hours as I wanted to shower and pack before check out time. He said ok, we settled on a price and off we went.

After about 20 minutes we were at teh Chaturbhuja Temple, the only one in the area lacking in erotic carvings. It was still a beautiful temple, this isn't just about dirty stuff.

Next up was an enclosure of several Jain temples. The first was called Shanti Nath. This was onl yabout 100 years old and was more of a building that held pieces of other temples that have not survived the centuries. The display was really quite well done. Adjacent was the smaller Adinath Temple. It looked more like a Jain temple than a Hindu temple. Scattered nearby were other smaller and unnamed as far as I could tell they were unnamed. The Parsvanath was the largest in the group and was under restoration. I was still able to get some good shots though and I found the most famous of the carvings, one of a woman pulling a thorn from her foot and another of a woman putting on eye makeup.

After the Jain temples came the Varna Temple dedicated to the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu. It was only ok, there were a lot of elephants.

Just outside of a small village was the Javari Temple. The crocodile entrance was the best bit. I was really starting to get templed out though.

We stopped at one more small temple that I don't know the name of before heading back. The whole thing took 2 hours. I had no problem paying what we agreed, but I was really annoyed when he asked for more money.

After showering and packing I put my things in storage and headed out for some food. Afterwards I spent a few hours at the internet cafe.

Around 4:30 pm I had a tuk tuk take me to the train station. He told me that I could try and drive it if I wanted, but I decided that it was safer if I didn't. The Khajuraho train station is only three months old, I'm pretty lucky, it used to be much more difficult to get here. After climbing to my top bunk I soon fell asleep.

Erotica

Day 416
My train arrived to Satna at 6:15 am, I had 15 minutes to get to the bus station. I wanted a tuk tuk for speed but there seemed to only be cyclos around. I missed the bus by 10 minutes. It was really annoying.

The first person I asked (who seemed to be working at the bus station) told me that I would have to take a cab back at the train station as there was only one bus a day. I knew that this couldn't be true so I went and got in line, the next bus was at 9 am. I got a ticket and waited.

Two young boys whose job seemed to be to clean up the area decided to take a break to see if they could get any money out of me. My patience outlasted theirs.

When the bus was boarding I was told that I would have to put my bag on top. I really didn't want to do that so I sat with it instead. It all worked out. I ended up sitting next to a really nice guy who ran out and got me some water when I didn't want to run out and leave my stuff. I offered to buy him a drink as well, but he gave me all of my change.

In Khajuraho there happened to be a tout from the hotel that I wanted anyway. I was the only tourist around and was just besieged by touts. I got a cyclo and soon I was checked in.

The first thing I had to do was figure out how to get the heck out of this middle of nowhere town. My only option ended up being to get a night train the next night, meaning I would be here one a day longer than expected. I then headed right across the street to the temples that Khajuraho is known for.

The first temple I came to was the Lakshmi Temple. dedicated to Vishnu's boar incarnation. The temple was quite small but had an over sized boar in the middle of it with hundreds of intricately carved people on it.

Up next was the Lakshmana Temple completed in 954. About at the height of my head. Battalions of soldiers were forever at war. Apparently the Chandelas were either at war or carving temples. One side of the temple was covered with the Chandela's peace time pass time, inventing sexual positions. This is where the karmasutra comes from. One carving seemed to suggest that a horse is actually mans best friend while a woman looks on in horror.

The Kandariya Temple, finished in 1050 represented the high point of Chandelen architecture. It also had the largest number of sexual carvings at 872. Most of these are about 3 feet high and much more detailed than the carvings at the other temples. It was basically a huge orgey.

On the same platform was Mahadeva, a small ruined temple with a really nice carving of Sandula, a mythical animal that is part lion and part unknown.

Next door was the Devi Jagadamba Temple finished in 1025. This temple was dedicated to Parvati, Shiva's consort. This one also had a lot of karmasutra carvings. They were just a bit more chipped.

Just north was the Chitragupta Temple. This one is uniquie as it was dedicated to the sund god Surya. The elephant fights were the best carved bits.

Next up was the Parvati Temle, it was quite small and closed up.

The next temples were the Vishuanath Temple and the Nandi shrine. Both of these were built in 1002. Along with the erotic sculptures people were playing music, cuddeling babies and laughing.

At this point I was pretty templed out. it was good timing too because that was all I had to do for the day.

Khajuraho is a pain in the butt to get to and it is off season. This meant that I was just about the only tourist in town. As I walked by people would run out and open up shops. It was really getting annoying. I needed the chemist to get something for a bug bite that seems to have gotten infected on my leg. Eventually I just got so annoyed with everyone that I picked up snacks for dinner and didn't leave my room again.

I spent the rest of the night reading and watching my ipod.

Don't Fall In

Day 415
I was up before 5 am and down stairs for the beginning of my tour 10 minutes after 5. After a short motorbike ride I was at the Ganges. I had booked a sunrise boat tour of the ghats. The concrete promenade was surprisingly busy with people considering the early hour. The boat I was in was really rickety and I shared it with a Spanish couple with limited English.

The Ganges is one of the holiest rivers in India and Varanasi is the city of Shiva making this the most sacred place in India to bath and to die. Dying here liberates Hindu's from the cycle of birth and death. In font of the hats ancient religious traditions take place in public.

After watching some sari clad women bath we moved onto a more crowded ghat, filled with children splashing around. We also passed some people preforming yoga. Next up came the clothes washing ghats. These were not very busy. Some people gave offerings of flowers and candles to the gods. There were only 3 people in our boat, but others were overloaded with tour groups. I'm glad that I had more privacy. I have no idea how they managed to get any good pictures.

Manikarnika is the main burning ghat, about 50 bodies are cremated here each day. After being carried on a bamboo stretcher thru the tiny ally's of old Varanasi and then doused in Ganges water. The type of wood used is dependent on how much money the family has. The wood wallahs (I don't know what else to call them) are experts at figuring out just how much wood each body needs so that none is wasted. It's possible to watch the cremations from above, but I had decided against this the night before. It seemed like an intrusion to me. Instead I got some other peoples pictures off of the internet. Up close photography is not allowed, so once again I borrowed some I found online. Women are not allowed to attend the cremations as they are considered to be too emotional. Not everyone is cremated. Children and pregnant women are floated down the river itself.

The ghats cover about a 7 km stretch. Thirty sewers discharge into the river along this same stretch. The Ganges is so polluted that the water is septic, no oxygen exits. Just the thought of getting in the water is repulsive to me. When its hot like it is here even small sores can take ages to heal and get infected easily. Even now I'm nursing an infected blister and an infected bed bug bite, or cluster of them. I think that if the Ganges water touched them my leg would fall right off.


Recently the government has been trying to clean up the river. They've opened three sewage treatment plants and an electric crematorium. These don't work very well thought. They often cause blackouts. I think that there were at least 6 a day here during my stay. When this happens sewage backs up into the streets. India hasn't smelled great from the beginning, but Varanasi stinks. There are sever programs in the works now to help. Hopefully they will soon be given approval and they will be put into action before edit is too late.

After an hour on the river and some stunning pictures I rested with a cup of chai while waiting for my guide. I was then whisked away on a motorbike to see some temples.

He told me that the first place was the monkey temple, but I don't think so. There were monkeys and people praying, I just think that it had another name. No photos were allowed.

I was also given the wrong name of the second temple. It was called Tulsi Manas, but I only figured this out with my guidebooks help. Photography was also prohibited. This was a modern temple built in 1964. The walls were engraved from top to bottom with verses from the Ram Charit Manas, sorta like the Hendi Bible.

The last temple was the Durga Temple and also the monkey temple, but I didn't really see any monkeys. The whole building is a blood red color and the spire was quite nice. It was built in the 1 century. Durga is the mean form of Parvati (Shiva's consort and Gfaneshe's mother) so goats are often sacrificed here.

THe last stop of hte tour was the mandatory silk facotry. I've seen so many of these that I didn't even bother with a picture. I was asked if I wanted to give it a try, but I knew that there would be a large tip in that so I declined. I felt bad at the showroom because he kept pulling out scarf after scarf and there wasn't anyway I was buying any. I think that I already own enough scarves to open up my own shop! When he realized that I was a lost cause I helped him fold everything up.

On the way back ot the hotel a puppy got too close to the motorbike and I nicked it a bit with my foot. I felt terrible, but I'm sure that it was ok. When I got back to the hotel it was time for breakfast and I ordered there to save time. Afterwards I headed to the internet cafe to work on the blog for some time. When I was done I was hungry again and spent some time looking for a specific German bakery. It took me quite a bit of time as there were several misleading fakes. The fondue was good, but I couldn't have any ice cream as it had melted during the power cuts.

After showering and resting a bit I got myself packed up and headed out. The power was out again so one of the hotel guys was kind enough to walk me to the main street as the alley was so very dark. I wanted a tuk tuk for speed but ended up with a cyclo instead. At the station I couldn't find my train number anywhere and no one as being helpful. I finally did the Indian think and just pushed my way to the front of the line using my pack to shove people away. At one point a man shoved me really hard and it didn't hurt but I decided to use it and acted very injured. I got to the front in no time. I was told to sit and then come back in an hour. This wasn't good, my train was meant to leave in 5 minutes.

What could I do besides sit though. I picked a piece of floor with everyone else where I could see the train info board. After about 10 minutes a security guard came and told me to move to an area where there were more westerners. He then went and found out that my train was very late. He suggested that I go to platform 5 where there was a ladies only waiting room right next to the station masters office. Once there I found out that I my train should arrive around 10:30 pm. Just about 2 hours late.

I then sat in the ladies waiting room. One girl just stat there and starred at me. She didn't ask for money nor did she look like she needed it. After about an hour of this is was getting really creepy. The power kept cutting out and I would grab my things close and hope for the best.

At about 10:15 I asked about my train again and was given a platform number. I never heard and announcement. Soon the train was there and in no time I was on board. I had oped for a ladies only compartment. A man came and asked if I would like to join him, but I declined. The other woman in my compartment said tearful goodbyes through the window. I felt quite bad for her.

After locking all of my thinks up on the upper birth I fell into a restless sleep. With the lateness of the train I had no idea what time I would actually get to Satna and I didn't want to miss it.

Holy of Holies

Day 414
When I got off of the train in Varanasi I had little problem finding a tuk tuk that took me straight to the place that I wanted to go. After checking in I got some breakfast and rested for a bit. For lunch one of the hotel guys was nice enough to drop me off at a place that was meant to have bagels. They were just out. I ended up with humus and wrote in my journal for a while.

After eating I finally got myself situated and went to explore the back allies of Varanasi. This is always the time when I wish I could take pictures of people. There were just so many interesting thigns going on. Kids were playing, people were working and vendors called out to me. When I was about to come to the bank of the Ganges a colorful funeral procession passed me. A nearby local who sold the things needed for funerals explained what everything was for. It was very itneresting, but I forgot it as I didn't write it down. Damn my bad memory.

As it had become dusk I decided to walk along the Ganges for a while. There were tons of people out and it was really an exciting place to be. When it grew darker I got a cyclo and headed back to my hotel. The place I was staying at was really friendly but down a dark alley so I didn't venture out again and instead had dinner there. Afterwards I did some hand washing and took a shower. The electricity kept coming and going making this a challange. I was happy to sleep, even if the fan only worked some of the time.

Chuga Chuga

Day 413
After packing my things I headed out for breakfast. I also spent some time writing. I didn't have a whole lot of time though, I had a 1:30 pm train to catch. On the way back to my hotel I picked up a nifty bag for 50 cents to help me hold my souvenirs and gifts for others.

An hour before my train was due to depart I headed to the station. I hadn't been able to get my sleeper of choice and was chucking it in with the $3 a night people. I did have a top birth though. There just wasn't a later to get up there and it took some acrobatics and laughing from the people watching me to get up there.

There were five men in my compartment and one of them offered to switch beds with me. I said no thanks. The upper berth is to keep me out of groping range, plus, I can easily lock all of my bags to the bed. I spent a few hours with my new Mongolian and Chinese guide books before I fell asleep for almost the entire ride.

Denied

Day 412
I got up early and walked for ages before I found a place opened for breakfast. When I was done I checked the time and realized that I really had to hull it to get in line at the Chinese Embassy and grabbed a tuk tuk. Once there I waited in line with several other tourists. When the doors opened they told us that we were all in the wrong spot and that we needed to go elsewhere.

I ended up splitting a tuk tuk ride with an American and a local. After waiting for ages at the right embassy it was my turn. I gave her my paperwork and she asked if that was all I had. Apparently I either needed a letter from my employer or an exit ticket, I had neither. I explained that I didn't want to get the exit ticket yet as I didn't know how many days I would get on the visa and hadn't done my China research yet. She told me that if I didn't have an exit ticket that I would stay in China. I pointed out that I am American and that there is no way that I would want to stay in China when I could live in the US. This didn't really help. I decided to not even submit what I did have and try again in Hong Kong. Apparently it is much easier there.

The American named Kevin was also denied and we decided to drown our sorrows at the American Embassy, McDonald's. After lunch we split up. He headed to do I don't know what and I went to the train station to find a way out of Delhi. No one at the station was helpful so I went to an internet cafe and simply booked a ticket online. I also worked on my blog for a bit.

When I was done it was close to dinner time so I went to a nearby bar that some people from the line at the embassy had told me about. I ended up running into them and spending some time chatting with them until the bar closed at midnight.

Yech

Day 411
Due to the over abundance of people traveling in India I was not able to get the train that I wanted and ended up in Delhi instead. Delhi is such a bad place that even Indians say not to come here. I was here mostly for visas. As it was a Sunday though I would have to kill the rest of the day on my own. The train ride was only three hours which was good, because I consumed a whole lot of chai along the way.

Getting a tuk tuk was a nightmare. I went to the prepaid stand and no one would take me. Eventually I just had to find a cop and he made one of them take me. When I got to my hotel he asked ofr a tip, but I declined. I has decided to treat myself to a slightly nicer hotel with a tv if I had to be in such a terrible place. After resting for a bit I went to do some shoping, but wasn't really in the mood so I just ended up back at my hotel. I was so lazy that I even ordered room service and didn't leave for the rest of the night.

Not the Casino

Day 410
5:30 am comes very no matter what continent or sub continent you are on. My guide had recommended a breakfast place that opened early and I headed there will all the other LP early risers. After some confusion I found the correct gate. The entrance fee was really expensive and then they wouldn't let me in with my i pod. They said that I could keep it in their special holding area but I declined. I walked back to my hotel to lock it up there. When I returned to the entrance they gave me some problems about getting in as my ticket was already stamped. The guards were just really rude. They put me in a bad mood.

The Taj Mahal is perhaps the most extravagant monument built for love. The Taj was built as a memorial to Emperor Sha Jahan's second wife. She died in 1631 while giving bithto their 14th child, not in a traffic collision as suggested in Slumdog Millionaire. It took over 20 you to be completed. Shortly afterwards Sha Jahan was overthrown by his son and imprisoned in Agra Fort. Sha John died in 1666, the same year as the great fire in London.

When I finally got to go in I was stunned to the point of stopping. It was magnificent and magical like nothing I had ever seen before. It was definitely not like the casino in Atlantic City. As it was early there weren't too many tourists around and I was able to get some pretty good shots. It was just a pity that the fountains were empty for repair. A tout tried to help me get good pictures, it was the way I was headed anyway and then asked me for 200 rupees! I refused and he backed off.

When I got to the platform of the marble structure I put on shoe covers and climbed up. Pictures of the tombs themselves were forbidden, but they were really the least impressive bit of the whole place anyway. It was the carvings and inlaid marbles that were the most interesting.

When I was done at the Taj I walked two kms to the Agra Fort. This was also rather expensive to get in and perhaps not worth the cost. It is, however, considered to be one of the best Mugal forts in India and I wanted to check it out. The fort was built in 1565 and was originally intended for military use. Shah Jahan transformed it into a palace. Asformeionted, this also became his prison.

There were a lot of nice carvings and the place is really very large, it just wasn't as well kept up as I would have liked. Much of the art work was faded or chipped. I spent a while just sitting in the shade enjoying the solitude. Not as many people visit here.

After the fort I took a very long walk. I don't think that many people walk this way but hire tuk tuks. I just wanted to try and save some cash after the expensice of the morning. When I finally got to the Itmad-ud-Daulah, or the baby Taj, I was exhusted.

The tomb of Mizra Ghiyas Beg was stunnign and empty of tourists. I was able to take pictures of the graves themselves. They sort of reminded me of some that I had seen quite some time ago in Marrakech. The marble was hot so the shoe wallah gave me very dirty shoe covers and then wanted money. Inside there were a lot of paintings of plants and flowers. I had a great time taking pictures.

When I finished I was exhusted and it wasn't even lunch time. I was also very fort sore. I tried to get a tuk tuk back but no one would take me for the price I was willing to pay, so I walked. A little girl followed me. She didn't ask for any money she just starred. Eventually one of the guys who had refused what I was willing to pay caught up with me and took what I was offering. When I got back to the area of my hotel I stopped for lunch. The place seemed to be run by adolecent boys. They took my order and I think they even cooked my food, and then brought it to me. It was one of the best meals I have had in India. I did feel bad for supporting child labor though.

After lunch I headed back to my hotel for a shower and for a nap. Siteseeing can be exhusting! I ended up not waking up until it was dinner time again.

For dinner I went to a different place with a good view of the Taj to say my goodbyes as the sun set. I retied early, still tired and wanting a good nights sleep.

Breathless

Day 409
It was dark when I left the hotel. I had about a 10 minute walk to the train station and had hoped to get a tuk tuk, but the only guy there wanted way too much money. When I pointed out that I knew just where the station was he lowered his price and we were both happy. I was just glad to not have to walk in the dark.

The train ride wasn't long and I think that I slept thru most of it. When the train pulled into Agra tuk tuk madness ensued. From the moment that I had gotten off of the train I had thought that a man was following me, but he never spoke to me so I figured that I was being ridiculous. He then preceded to pick a huge fight with my tuk tuk driver. They were both screaming and I thought that punches would be thrown. I ended up finding a different driver and thought I had got away. The first guy I had spoke to though found me and wanted to know what the problem was. I told him that his argument made me feel unsafe and that I wouldn't go anywhere with anyone who made me feel uncomfortable. My tuk tuk driver seemed to understand and drove off before the first guy could protest any more.

I bargained a bit at the hostel before settling on a room and dumping my things. I then headed out for lunch. Its so weird that even in Agra, the most popular tourist place in India, all the resturants are empty.

After eating I thought that I would wander to the main bazaar but the tuk tuks were just so annoying that I just walked in a circle and returned to my hotel. It was the only way to escape.

For sunset I went up on my hotels roof where I had an amazing view of the Taj, it almost brought a tear to my eye. It is so much more amazing than I can describe, or than any pictures can show. Several people on nearby roofs were flying kites and on other roofs monkeys played tag. I stayed there until it was too dark to see and then headed off to sleep. I was going to have an early morning.

Whats Your Sign

Day 408
I got my act together as well as a whole bunch of things to send home. I had decided to not mess with the tuk tuks and to just walk everywhere instead. After a while I got a bit tired and ended up stopping at a coffee shop to refresh myself. When I really couldn't carry my bag any further I grabbed a cyclo.

The post office was a bit weird. I didn't have a box so they sewed a white linen envelope. I'm really glad that I didn't have anything breakable in there. After it was wrapped up I was told not to wait in the line but rather net to it. I think I would have been helped faster if I had waited in line. I even tried to get in the line at one point and was told to go back. Eventually the person who I was waiting for acknowledged e and I was soon on my way.

After some negotiation I got a cyclo to take me to the City Palace. It was more expensive than I was willing to pay and the stuff inside wasn't all that interesting so I decided to skip it. Instead I headed around the corner and had my picture taken by a 150 year old camera. I now cant seem to find the picture anywhere. I'm sure that it will turn up. After taking a picture of the amazing Palace of the Winds I headed to the Jantar Mantar Observatory.

This was more like a modern art park than a 400 year old observatory. I had elected to not get a guide and there weren't any explanations at all. I ended up just taking pictures and then resting in the shade for some time.

When I was done I got another cyclo and had him take me to a Pizza Hut that was close to my hotel. I hadnt had pizza in India at all and I really wanted to do some writing in the air conditioning if possible. I spent several hours there, I think I began to annoy everyone actually. It was dusk when I began to walk back to my hotel. On the way I stopped at a travel agent to book some tickets but nothing was available. I ended up going to the train station instead with the hope that I could get a tourist quota ticket. None of those were available either and I had to change my plans a bit.

I then walked back to my hotel and spent some time at the internet cafe there before having a small dinner and calling it a night.

Personal Space

Day 407
I was up early and by 7 I was out of the door. I got on the first bus to Ajmer, it was a painless half hour journey, if you don't count the nasty looking latrine I passed. At the bus station I got a ticket for Jaipur and grabbed one of the smaller seats for myself. I had my big bag between my legs on the ground, my mini back pack, purse and another bag on my lap. Despite all this some guy decided to sit next to me. The bus was full though, so I couldn't complain.

At one stop a kid tried to sell me water through the window, I turned him down but he came back a few minutes later with several of his friends. They were all smiling and pointing at me. I could just hear him saying "see, I told you there was a white chick on the bus!" As the number of people on the bus thinned I kept expecting the guy next to me to move so we would both have more space. My legs were starting to get really uncomfortable and I eventually just told him that I was going to move to another seat myself (he was in the isle). This is when he finally got the hint and moved over himself.

When I got to Jaipur there was a crazy crush of tuk tuk drivers. I went with a pre-paid one and was soon at my hotel. I still had to dodge a dodgy offer of a free ride though. Once I had checked in and eaten I grabbed a tuk tuk and headed to the old town. I had meant to see some of the palaces but instead got stuck in sari land. I had been wanting to buy some but they had all be way out of my price range, here I found several from $2 - 4 each. It's just that I ended up having too much to carry.

I decided to shop a bit more but stopped for some ice cream on the way. As I walked by the different shops the owners would grab anything and then hold it up to show me. One guy tried to sell me a ripped pillow cover and told me that it was that way because it was hand made. Another held out a shirt and told me it was r 450 (I have one like it I got for r 170) and that he also carried fat sizes. There was no sale there.

Eventually I got hot, tired and bored and got a tuk tuk to my hotel. At one of the red lights about half a dozen street kids came up to me asking for money. When I said no they began to punch my legs and poke me quite hard in the sides. The driver tried to get them to go away but they just kept jabbing me harder. This was beginning to feel like the longest light ever. Eventually I lost temper and yelled at them to get away. This just provoked them more, but luckily the light changed. I ended up with bruises from them.

That night I had a quick dinner at my hotel before calling it an early night. I was pretty tired after the early start after all.

Relax

Day 406
I was up around 10 and headed to a place for breakfast recommended in my book. It was pretty good. I also got directions to the post office and headed straight there. I needed to book a couple of train tickets and this was the cheapest place to do it. After some waiting, and massive confusion on my part I realized what the guy was suggesting so that I wouldn't have to change my itinerary. After about 20 minutes I had a train ticket to Agra.

When my chores were done I decided to browse some of the shops and see if there might be anything that I wanted. A few shirts later I was on my way back to my hotel. I didn't stay too long though and decided on an early lunch. I wrote for some time before heading to the internet cafe for some more typing.

While I was relaxing in my room I heard a huge crowd outside, it sounded like a fight, but I thought that could never be it. When the noise had died down I headed out for some dinner. There was still a huge crowd and some police loitering around, but I didn't think much of it. The place I picked for dinner was really close to where the ruckus had been. I asked what had happened. It turned out that an English tourist had slept with two local friends, one each night, and when they found out they got into a fight. This escalated until almost the entire town was in the brawl. On occasion there would be some more loud noise and I stayed put until the crowd had completely dispersed.

Back in my room I got mostly packed in preparation for an early morning.

Pushing for the Goal

Day 405
I was exhausted when I arrived in Jodhpur. I had about 3 hours to kill in the station and I took a piece of floor just like everyone else. Only I think that many of them might have been living there. Every few minutes the same kid would come around and try to sell me toenail clippers. How many times do I have to say no? Other people brought their kids over to try and get me to give them money. I was really happy when it was time for me to get on the train. I had a sleeper and passed out as soon as I got on.

I woke up when I was in Ajmer. The touts were crazy and I hardly ever decided to go with one, however one guy's hotel had a mention in a guidebook that I had heard of and he would pay and take me all the way to Pushkar so I went ahead with him. After a short tuk tuk ride and then a bus ride where a few kids were made to stand up to give me their seats (I felt bad), I had arrived. The walk to the hotel was short but I had a lot of stuff so I decided to just get a cyclo. The hotel guy said it would be 20 rupees so I hopped in. About half way there the cyclo wallah told me that it would be 200 rupees because I was so heavy, I told him no way. When I got to the hotel the tout who had got me there told me not to give him any more than 20 so that's what I did.

After showering and resting a bit I headed out for some food, I hadn't eaten yet that day. I had some problems because this is just little desert outpost town. Eventually I found a nice cafe though and ended up chatting to some English girls. They told me that the people who owned their hotel had a pet cow and that it went on a date the other night, even kissing the other cow goodnight at the gate. Just as this was happening a motorbike hit a western woman from behind. She ended up on the ground crying. I tried to grab my pen to write down the license plate number, but he just drove off, I don't even think he bothered to apologize.

After lunch I wandered to the Braman temple, but there were so many touts just walking up to it that I just turned around and gave up. I didn't want to fight through them all. Pushkar is known for that temple, a few ghats, cheap clothing and weed. On the way back to my hotel I found some cheap clothing, but decided against the weed. While I was wandering four sari clad woman surrounded me and asked what my "good" name was. They were standing so close I thought that it was the sari mafia or something. One of them then grabbed my hand and tried to draw henna on me. I knew that this had to be a scam so I pulled my hand away and told her that I already had enough. Luckily they were small women and I could easily push through them.

Before heading back to my hotel I grabbed a chai and wrote in my journal for some time. I then headed to an internet cafe to work on updating everything. I am so determined to not get too far behind here! After a few hours of that I headed back to my hotel.

When it grew dark I headed out for dinner and ended up with some street falafel, it was pretty good. I was tired and decided to call it an early night. This is meant ot be a dry town anyway!

Hot Hot Hot

Day 404
I was up pretty early, I wanted to beat the heat and I had gone to sleep early as well. After some breakfast I headed for a long walk through a non touristy part of town.

After about a 15 minute walk I came to the Patwa-ki-Haveli, or a really pretty old house. The entrance fee was bit steep though and I decided to just enjoy the outside. Once I passed some goats I turned a right and ended up at the Desert Culture Museum.

This museum was a labor of love by a retired history teacher. After checking out the slightly worn exhibits on my own he insisted on giving me a tour. he pointed out the same things I had just looked at. The only different thing was a non pictorial version of the karma sutra that his father had given him as a wedding present. He then went on to tell me that people don't bother to read it any more and Indians no longer have good sex. This was way more than I wanted to hear from him. He just kept talking and talking and I had problems trying to figure a polite way out. He continued on telling me that he was married when he was 10 and his wife 5, but that they did not have the consummation ceremony until he was 20. His first experience with a woman was at age 17 with a prostitute! Eventually I just told him that I had another museum to go to and was able to get away. It was really very weird.

Next up was the the dusty and small Folklore Museum, it was owned by the same guy. I didn't stick around here too long, there wasn't much to look at and nothing was explained.

Nearby was a large pond or small lake. There was a really pretty gate and some surrounding buildings here. You could rent paddle boats and I saw a few kids across the way harassing some water buffalo.

By the time I had finished seeing everything it was hot hot hot, about 110 degrees. After a bit of walking I found an ice cream place and grabbed a booth to cool down. There were two young boys whose job was to bring water to everyone. They literally hung over the edge of my booth just staring at me. Eventually the guy working the cashier told them to stop it, but every chance they had they were staring right at me. It was a bit weird.

It took me 20 minutes to walk back to my hotel and I was gross. I quickly took a shower and then just sat in the fan room. I didn't want to dare and venture out again until dinner. When it grew dark I headed out. After a quick dinner I spent some time at the internet cafe before heading back to my room. I was actually headed out on a night train to Pushkar. I was packed and ready to go just after 11pm.

At the train station I had to wait some time before boarding. I ended up in a bed near a very loud snorer, I didn't get a bit of sleep on the entire trip.