I thought an interesting new post would be to copy in an entry from my diary. So here goes a description of our time in the city of Udaipur, approximately one week ago:
The drive to Udaipur. More uncomfortably car sleeps. Necks jammed in strange places, Isaac's beanstalk legs taking up most of the car, insanely overpriced roadside diners for Channan's commission. And then the weary pile out of the car at dusk, to search for a guest house. We found ourselves walking through cramped winding streets this time, as the roads were blocked off for a Muslim festival that night. Udaipur made an instant good impression though, a huge lake in the middle, and a lovely small town vibe despite its size.
We found the perfect place to stay - Nukkad's Guest House, as recommended by the Bible (5kg Lonely Planet). Navigated our way up three flights of stairs and into a great big room ($5 per night each). There was a great street view that we discovered as we tore off our stifling hot clothes and looked down to see four aghast Indian women stopped in their tracks with their mouths open. And six teetering levels of the guest house, with vines and trinkets hanging from the top, all the way down the middle to the bottom. The downside was that the hostel owner was a sleepy man who we had to wake up from his bed every time we needed something. Always awkward waking a sleeping Indian, and a far more common task than you'd imagine.
That afternoon Nara and I went on a motor boat ride around the lake. We'd hoped to do a paddle boat as advertised on the company's signs, byt the impatient owner told us, "Paddle boats finished for the day. Start maybe in April or May". It was a lovely ride though, if a little odd. The boat guy sat Nara and me on opposing sides and glared at us the whole journey, while blasting Hindi pop music and dancing angrily.
So our journey home was difficult, as all the roads were blocked off and starting to fill up with people. We waiting in the small winding streets, and watched it all unfold. There were mostly women and children stacked around the footpaths, stairs and gutters, while men did the celebrating in the middle, and stern army dudes stood around holding guns imposingly and pretending to be tough. Mostly they ended up dawdling around us and asking for our Facebook details in broken English.
The parade that went past all night was true Indian style. Loud, gaudy, full of passion, and very precarious. Huge floats held up by yelling men would come careening around the bend, stopping and starting at random intervals, and looking like it would fall and crush 100 people at any second. After awhile we headed home. There was a huge rush of people, and suddenly Nara was yelling, “Argh! I’ve fallen in something!... ARGH! Someone’s grabbing my arse!”. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically, while trying to protect her from the hoards of men running around. And of course, the power was out everywhere. So we ended up back in the hostel room, shining a torch on her offensively stinking, wet, black foot, and dowsing it in hand sanitizer. I think it’s safe to say (just between you and me), that she had fallen almost knee deep in sewerage.
So after the poo-foot incident, we gathered sickly, sleeping Isaac, and headed out into the masses again to get dinner. At one stage we stood in a busy spot, and the crowd surged again, and I got thrown into three disgruntled elderly Indian men. We waited for the festival to die down, and purchased some 10c street food, served in some newspaper, before finally making it to the Lotus Café for a safehaven dinner. Played connect 4 on big pillows, ate paneer kebabs, and lay about before heading home.
The next day we went to 8am yoga on the rooftop of our hostel (YAY). No time for brekky, and we jumped into an auto rickshaw to take us out of the city, and to the Udaipur Animal Aid Hospital. There we met Trudy, one of the Indian workers there, and Jim, and older American man who started the shelter 10 years ago. Trudy showed us around, and we got to work. Played with delightful three week old puppies who flopped around a cage all day, tended to the amputation wounds of little street dogs, greeted the disabled dogs, gave (much needed) love to the depressing mage-infested dogs. Bathed a teenage donkey with two fractured legs, fed a dying cow (not allowed to be put down in India), watched a cow with a maggot infested wound be brought in and restrained, and generally pretended to be a BADASS VET, ALL DAY. It was simultaneously heart-breaking and uplifting. Had lunch of street samosas among the bewildered locals, and went home late that afternoon totally high on life and determined to switch careers to animal care. Or maybe just come back and volunteer for a couple of months there at the shelter.
That night we went to the sound and light show at Udaipur’s stunning Palace. The highlight was the ridiculously dramatic and historically skewed conversations that the buildings had with one another. Example:
One building lights up and a recording plays, “We must prepare to go to battle, to save the world’s undisputed most historical and beautiful empire!”
Another building lights up, “Yes! You are right young one! And in order to do so, we have to other option but to send all of our city's women into a fiery death. This will show the enemy that we will not give in. All the women believe it is best for everyone. FOR UDAIPUR!”
After the show we went back to the same café and had a lovely long dinner. Prepared to head back out into the desert the next day, to the town of Pushkar.
So I hope that served as a little snapshot into our adventures in an Indian city. Now I sit in a net cafe in Mubai. Shall be here for the next five days before heading south. Bollywood here I come...
The drive to Udaipur. More uncomfortably car sleeps. Necks jammed in strange places, Isaac's beanstalk legs taking up most of the car, insanely overpriced roadside diners for Channan's commission. And then the weary pile out of the car at dusk, to search for a guest house. We found ourselves walking through cramped winding streets this time, as the roads were blocked off for a Muslim festival that night. Udaipur made an instant good impression though, a huge lake in the middle, and a lovely small town vibe despite its size.
We found the perfect place to stay - Nukkad's Guest House, as recommended by the Bible (5kg Lonely Planet). Navigated our way up three flights of stairs and into a great big room ($5 per night each). There was a great street view that we discovered as we tore off our stifling hot clothes and looked down to see four aghast Indian women stopped in their tracks with their mouths open. And six teetering levels of the guest house, with vines and trinkets hanging from the top, all the way down the middle to the bottom. The downside was that the hostel owner was a sleepy man who we had to wake up from his bed every time we needed something. Always awkward waking a sleeping Indian, and a far more common task than you'd imagine.
That afternoon Nara and I went on a motor boat ride around the lake. We'd hoped to do a paddle boat as advertised on the company's signs, byt the impatient owner told us, "Paddle boats finished for the day. Start maybe in April or May". It was a lovely ride though, if a little odd. The boat guy sat Nara and me on opposing sides and glared at us the whole journey, while blasting Hindi pop music and dancing angrily.
So our journey home was difficult, as all the roads were blocked off and starting to fill up with people. We waiting in the small winding streets, and watched it all unfold. There were mostly women and children stacked around the footpaths, stairs and gutters, while men did the celebrating in the middle, and stern army dudes stood around holding guns imposingly and pretending to be tough. Mostly they ended up dawdling around us and asking for our Facebook details in broken English.
The parade that went past all night was true Indian style. Loud, gaudy, full of passion, and very precarious. Huge floats held up by yelling men would come careening around the bend, stopping and starting at random intervals, and looking like it would fall and crush 100 people at any second. After awhile we headed home. There was a huge rush of people, and suddenly Nara was yelling, “Argh! I’ve fallen in something!... ARGH! Someone’s grabbing my arse!”. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically, while trying to protect her from the hoards of men running around. And of course, the power was out everywhere. So we ended up back in the hostel room, shining a torch on her offensively stinking, wet, black foot, and dowsing it in hand sanitizer. I think it’s safe to say (just between you and me), that she had fallen almost knee deep in sewerage.
So after the poo-foot incident, we gathered sickly, sleeping Isaac, and headed out into the masses again to get dinner. At one stage we stood in a busy spot, and the crowd surged again, and I got thrown into three disgruntled elderly Indian men. We waited for the festival to die down, and purchased some 10c street food, served in some newspaper, before finally making it to the Lotus Café for a safehaven dinner. Played connect 4 on big pillows, ate paneer kebabs, and lay about before heading home.
The next day we went to 8am yoga on the rooftop of our hostel (YAY). No time for brekky, and we jumped into an auto rickshaw to take us out of the city, and to the Udaipur Animal Aid Hospital. There we met Trudy, one of the Indian workers there, and Jim, and older American man who started the shelter 10 years ago. Trudy showed us around, and we got to work. Played with delightful three week old puppies who flopped around a cage all day, tended to the amputation wounds of little street dogs, greeted the disabled dogs, gave (much needed) love to the depressing mage-infested dogs. Bathed a teenage donkey with two fractured legs, fed a dying cow (not allowed to be put down in India), watched a cow with a maggot infested wound be brought in and restrained, and generally pretended to be a BADASS VET, ALL DAY. It was simultaneously heart-breaking and uplifting. Had lunch of street samosas among the bewildered locals, and went home late that afternoon totally high on life and determined to switch careers to animal care. Or maybe just come back and volunteer for a couple of months there at the shelter.
That night we went to the sound and light show at Udaipur’s stunning Palace. The highlight was the ridiculously dramatic and historically skewed conversations that the buildings had with one another. Example:
One building lights up and a recording plays, “We must prepare to go to battle, to save the world’s undisputed most historical and beautiful empire!”
Another building lights up, “Yes! You are right young one! And in order to do so, we have to other option but to send all of our city's women into a fiery death. This will show the enemy that we will not give in. All the women believe it is best for everyone. FOR UDAIPUR!”
After the show we went back to the same café and had a lovely long dinner. Prepared to head back out into the desert the next day, to the town of Pushkar.
So I hope that served as a little snapshot into our adventures in an Indian city. Now I sit in a net cafe in Mubai. Shall be here for the next five days before heading south. Bollywood here I come...
