Traveling Around India: Part Two

Rajasthan to Goa: From Desert to Beaches:

Though Delhi was a great break point in between Rishikesh and Rajasthan I was ready to move on to the desert. The only problem was that my body decided to get a cold. Oh well, it proved to not inhibit on fun times.



The New Delhi Railway Station
(spiffy huh?)


Jaisalmer Railway Station



On the train from Delhi to Jaiselmer I met a man who was going to Jaipur. He told me at the time that he is getting married soon (he is actually getting married tomorrow) and we discussed things like culture and education. That night on the train it was hard to sleep because of my cold, but I finally got some rest. After the longest train ride thus far (literally speaking- it was 17 hours) Kate, Nina, Sherry and the rest of the group arrived in Jaiselmer.

 Roof top views of the city were waiting for us as we arrived in Jaisalmer. Rajasthan is like something out of Aladdin. There’s sand everywhere and our hotel had a rooftop view of the city (like Aladdin’s view of Agraba). In the center of the photo you can see the fort. We spent a good few meals up here. In fact, we spent the first night of Dawali up there, which was supposed to be the festival of lights, but just sounded like bombs and gun shots were going off. I would have tried to take pictures but I was too busy dodging firecrackers to document the very noisy holiday. Wondering around the city was magical though, women in brightly colored saris and kameezes stole attention everywhere. To escape the noise and commotion of this loud holiday my friends and I set up a camel trek trip in the dunes.

Camel Trekking!
Camel riding was an adventure on its own. Our thighs were yelling at us during the entirety of the ride and a few days afterward. Those animals are a lot taller than I had remembered- like the dinosaurs of the dessert. My camel's name was Rocket- it's neck dotted with flies and you could tell that these camels did not want to be there. It was easy to respect their laziness; Carrying a sweaty, fat tourist along with a ton of cargo would make me want to pass out in the sand as well. The men who were guiding us through the desert made us delicious meals and we were able to recover from thigh chaffing (at least temporarily) camel trekking in the comforts of the shade of the forgiving trees. The tan dinosaurs were able to roam for an hour or two with out the people and cargo on their backs :)

I was the caboose of the camel train.

(Dedicated to Alyx Barbeau)


SANDVALANCHE!

After a long day of camel trekking, our group decided to play in the sand dunes. To our delight there were scarab beetles everywhere and they suffered a fate of our cruel humor.



We would step in the sand in front of were the beetles were marching on the sand and here is an example of our cruel mischief:

Dorky Joyful Me in the Sand

After playing in the sand until the sun went down we settled onto to our cots and watched the starts come out. Our guides set up a camp fire and tried desperately to keep it going. The air that night was cold, and waking up to the bright sun, hot chai, and toast was very much welcomed. It also gave our camels the rest they needed. Sleeping under the stars wasn't bad either, even if it was chilly that night. 

Jodhpur                                                                                            Next on the stop before the long journey to Goa was Jodhpur, the Blue City! If you have ever seen The Fall, it’s one of the locations of this movie. Jaipur, another location of the movie, was a bit too far away for us to visit, but fort we visited sufficed.

Victoria and Nina and I had a day to explore the city so we searched for an eatery called “the Omelette Shop”. We roamed the streets not expecting to find it, but it was hiding in a corner of the city. On the streets there were firecrackers going off and people were bustling about, the Omelette Shop placed on the side of the bustling streets allowing passerbys to stop for some sort of quick fried egg dish. There were little plastic chairs and small tables, which served as places to eat for the costumers. Think of it as a hole-in-the-wall kind of shop, but outside. I ordered French toast because it’s something that I haven’t eaten since I left. It pretty much was just an egg fried on a piece of toast with some sugar, so not quite the same, but still satisfying. There was a pleasant French family that we ate dinner with. One of the women told me that what I was eating was not French toast. Ha, I guess she would know.

The next day Nina and I squeezed in seeing the Mehrangarh Fort fort before our train to Mumbai. It had a great view of the Blue City, it cost a good amount of money to get in, but it worth it. Something that irks us about seeing national monuments and such is that foreigners have to pay a “foreigners fee” which is often 10 times more than what Indians have to pay. It makes me reluctant to enter some places out of sheer stubbornness.

Take that smokers:This sign has got it going on. I think that I will be making this sign for my new home when I return to the states.

One perk that Nina and I got from the foreigners fee was a free audio tour of the fort. The audio tracks guided us through the fort step by step narrated by a dignified sounding British man. It was a great visit and it felt like we were in ancient times wandering around that fort (sort of).



Nina and I behind green glass



Train Ride to Mumbai
On this ride Nina and Victoria were on one side of the train so I was riding by my self for most of the trip. Fortunately I met a friendly family based in Mumbai and they shared their dinner with me. They told me things that I could while in the city and we discussed cross cultural similarities and differences. One of the best parts about riding on trains is looking out the window; there is much to see through the dirty windows. It is a great opportunity to see the small towns that are skipped by most travelers. Seeing people in the towns we pass through out all of the miles we cover reminds   me of how big and diverse this country is. (As an endnote for the train: I actually got sleep on the train and had a full belly upon bedtime: it was a good night!)

Mumbai

Being the biggest city in India, it was daunting thinking about navigating about, but Nina and I managed somehow and figured out the local train system fairly quickly. I am quite ashamed to say that we got Subway and McDonalds, but it was so tasty! I got to try a McVeg burger which the Iowa group had been meaning to try for a while.

Besides the meals we indulged in, we were able to partake in a bit of sightseeing. First we wandered around aimlessly for about ½ and hour looking for the Bombay Natural History Museum. It was either closed or attached to another museum, so we just decided to enter into the regular historical/art museum that had a natural history section. It was not exactly what I was expecting, just a bunch of stuffed Indian animals, very cool, but not worth all of the hype. Then again, I might have not been in the right natural history exhibit. One of the things one tends to learn about India is that you may never find that place you were looking for, and asking for directions may lead you into the opposite direction. People would rather lie and point in a random direction then say they don’t know.


Gateway of India



A couple dozen rupees and a couple hours later we were at the famous Gateway of India. There was a good blend of people there: sellers, foreigners, and Indians swirling about. The impressive structure was right on the ocean, but the smog and what looked like poor treatment of the water was a reminder that we were still in Mumbai.

That same night we took the local train back to our bus stop to board our bus that would take us to Goa. We walked back on a raised walking path that overlooked the streets and houses of the locals. Looking out the left side one could see the houses that were cramped together and masses of people commuting on foot and by automobile, while the right side was an empty grassy field and fancy high-rise buildings.



Mumbai at Night



Goa

Goa was the most laid back and relaxed place that I have been to in India thus far. The beach scene made it seem like we weren't in India anymore (except when the cows were meandering about). Everyday I was on the beach and the night time consisted of dinner overlooking the ocean and afterwards we would dance or simply sit on the beach enjoying the Arabian Sea. It made me miss home a bit and was the first time being on the beach since leaving California. I almost wish I was there now with a drink in hand...

Climbed up a bluff and found out there was a pleasant trail after I reached the top.

 

Wearing shorts! Trust me, you would be excited too. It's not very well accepted in most parts of the country, so it was a treat.

  

Goan Church



Goa is known for it churches and Christianity that was brought over by the Portugese back in the day. With the green vegetation surrounding these old style buidlings, traveling around Old Goa was a sight to behold. 

Well, these past couple blog posts have been a mini-documentation of my travels around India.

Next time will be an update of Coorg, where I have been conducting research (slowly) for the past couple of weeks. Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving Break!

I'm missing it this time around, but might cook a mini-Thanksgiving meal for my host family :)