Jaipur: I Was Rugged!!!

Namaste!
Have I explained what this Indian greeting means yet? It means something like I recognize the divine within you...innnit nice??

Okay Leanne, stop with the that's-beside-the-points!

Jaipur is great! One of the highlights of our entire time in India has been the scenery we have come across on long train rides, bumpy bus trips, and quick town-to-town jaunts in cars. The road from Delhi to Jaipur was no exception. It was a nice change to see the dry, rocky, red hills of this desert region. The women dress in particularly bright clothing, the men seem to be better looking here than elsewhere, and instead of cows there are camels and sheep. Which reminds me of a little funny tidbit: As we passed a shepherd with his flock on the highway, yes, the highway, my first thought was "that's cool", but my second though was "man, I really wanna watch Grey's Anatomy!" (here's a hint: Dr. Shepherd, aka McDreamy, is one of the characters) Anyway, I thought it was funny, you don't have to. Moving on...

Last night we watched a Muslim wedding from our balcony at the hotel, and tonight there is a Hindu wedding. This is incredible. I have been dying to see a Hindu wedding, and if the Muslim wedding bears any likeness to one, then it should be a grand time. There were about 3,000 people (all family, friends and community members) coming to witness the marriage of two sisters to two men. (I was told by one of the hotel staff that 90% of marriages are arranged here, and 10% are love marriages) When I say they are there to witness a marriage, it is not all like witnessing a Catholic wedding, where the crowd actually sits down and witnesses. The stage, for one thing, is set up with two thrones, and the family is separated into men, and then women and children. There are these long tables set up so people come to sit and eat in rounds of hundreds. There were about 5 rounds of men that bull-rush in and get out, and then the women eat. This all starts at about 8:30pm. By 10:30 there were fireworks, music and people dancing in the street. This wasn't even the wedding bit. I never even saw the brides!! I must admit, I tried my darndest to stay awake long enough to catch the whole thing, but I was too tired and I fell asleep. Tonight I'll give it another shot.

Today we saw the City Palace, this super cool astrological "park?" (it's a space outside filled with crazy looking marble structures that look like artwork but really they are intricately measured tools including sundials and tools for reading horoscopes) I can't wait to show you the pics from this place. The we saw the Amber Palace up in the mountains, stunning! Later, we went to a famous artist's home/showroom to see his award-winning blue pottery (an art form particularly famous in Rajasthan). I bought a little something for my sister here because I know she loves blue. If we hadn't already sent so much home I would have bought so many things from him. Oh, and here is another funny little tidbit...

Ryan wanted to look at a carpet shop in Agra, so our driver (who we are liking less and less each day) took us to a "factory" where carpets are made in Jaipur (against our wishes). It turned out to be really cool to see how carpets are actually handmade, but we are convinced that this "factory" is actually a shop that pays our driver commissions since we never actually got to see any parts of the "factory". So, as Ryan was looking at all these gorgeous carpets, I managed to convince myself that I had always wanted a beautiful carpet too ha ha! I ended up buying a stunning silk-wool runner for my soon-to-be-but-still-theoretical home in Montreal. So what? I never buy myself anything!! Well except in India...Ryan ended up buying 3, and we had to go send those by post today...yeesh. And let me tell you, the post offices here sure are sumpin'. Apparently India hasn't discovered lick-to-paste stamps yet so there are gluing stations where everyone puts their fingers in glue and then you have to go to 3 different desks to do things we don't understand. We went to one desk just so a guy could sew a piece of paper to our package (which I could have easily done).

Alright, I know I'm rambling this time, but Ryan and I are killing time until we can get in to the Om restaurant (a revolving resto so we can see all of Jaipur at night).

I forgot to mention that Jaipur is also called the Pink City because the Maharaja painted the entire town, yes, THE ENTIRE TOWN PINK (because it is a welcoming colour!?!) to welcome some Prince or Kind from England in the late 19th or early 20th century...man, what and I considered myself to be a people-pleaser!!

See you in Agra! I promise I'll take some great pics of the Taj Mahal.
Leanne

My Problems Are Solved

Well well well, I stand corrected. There IS a place in this world where one can find silence regardless of religion or lack thereof. This wonderful beautiful place is called Bahai Temple (aka the lotus temple and I'll eventually post a picture but I can't with this computer). The only rule in this place is to be quiet (oph, and no shoes/cameras or mobile phones), just as I wanted. It is gorgeous inside and out. But wait, let me tell you about the rest of Delhi.

It is refreshing (in every way except the air) to be here. The people are kind, the city is really great and modern, and there is so much beautiful history to be taken in. We saw Qutb Minur, the Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Khan Market (let me tell you about Khan market in just a little minute) and I think that covers it. Okay, so now let me tell you about Khan market heh heh...

You know how in my last entry I was listing all the things I missed from home...well I found them, in Khan market. Ryan and I spent an inordinate amount of rupees to savour such delicacies as fresh croissants, camembert cheese, pork products, and Lindt dark chocolate-particularly wonderful. We were sooo happy. We also found this great bookstore that will bind any book with leather for really cheap. Had we not spent so much in the last week I would have loved a copy of Salinger's Catcher in the Rye leatherbound...I also managed to snag some gifts for a few people (light ones this time since we already sent a box of stuff home by express mail yesterday).

What else? Let me think a little. Well I have gotten quite good at haggling. I managed to knock off a lot of money for our chauffer to Jaipur/Agra by lying a little. I was trying to work with two different drivers, seeing who would give me the best offer. The one we had today offered rs.8000 and the other rs.6000 but with all sorts of extra expenses. I got the second driver to knock it to rs.7000 nothing extra, and then told driver number one that he quoted us rs.6500, which got him to knock his price to rs.6800. A little white lie goes a long way in India, it's all in good spirits. Which brings me to my next point.

We are leaving tomorrow morning for two nights in Jaipur (in Rajasthan-desert place) and then off to Agra. We will see the Taj Mahal, do a little carpet shopping, and then we're off to Varanasi that night (fingers crossed). From Varanasi, where we'll see the Ganges river (don't worry, I won't touch it because I like my flesh on my body, though I could stand to lose a bit...maybe I'll reconsider), we will take a 10-hour bus to Sunauli, the border of Nepal/India. From there we'll see a few things and then take another bus to Kathmandu. I'll tell you more about this when we get there or back. As I never know where there will be internet or not, I can't promise to write for a while, but so far I've managed everywhere we've been.

Wish us a safe and happy journey, and I wish to you the best of luck in all you're doing.

Peace be with you (and also with you...sorry, leftovers from Catholic school, but I like that bit)
Leanne

Delhi: the halfway mark

HELLOOOOO!
well well well, we're on to week 5, which means we've pretty much passed the half way mark of our trip in India. We have 4 more weeks to haul a@*! around the north end and spend another week unwinding in Goa.

Since I've already outlined our itinerary in a previous entry, I'll just tell ya a few tidbits.

1. Our train ride went smoothly (we are pros now) since we had big books to read which we both finished, and lots of food to eat: apples, nutella/PB/honey and bread, pringles and chocolate bars...That's right, Leanne ain't getting any skinnier on this trip ha ha! No, but seriously kids, now that Ryan's tummy feels better we will be eating more Indian food and less badly cooked, over oiled, makeshift Western food. (But we did have a wonderful chicken burger in Chennai-the only good thing)

2. We ended up in this guest house which is expensive (50$/night as opposed to our regular 15-20$-yeah). Budget hotels are about 8$/night but they are really 'roughing it' so that's where a lot of our budget is being "overspent", on midrange hotels. So this guest house is away from the main streets, which means it is quiet!!!!!! I can't tell you how much this means to me. I am seriously deaf. And, we have internet and laundry services, which is well needed since we have been wearing the same shirts/pants/skirt for the last week (and in case you were ever curious about my body hair or Ryan's, we have also decided not to remove any of it until Goa, so we're pretty grubby looking...we even got rejected from a resto who made us eat down in this dark hole of a bar in Kerala ha ha). We really can't stand to smell ourselves anymore. That was a bit of a tangent, but all to say that this guest house has a wonderful bathroom-with an actual bath, which is impossible to get here, as well as water-saving toilets that we should have in North America-and is luxurious and beautiful with wood finishing, high ceilings and a home feel.

3.We are planning a trip to Nepal right now. I won't give too many details in case for some reason we end up not being able to get there or do the things we want to. But it is an exciting addition to our trip.

4.There are times when we really miss home. I think you all should know. This is why I have made every effort to be at a net cafe when we have nothing to do. I had heard that nothing makes you appreciate home more than leaving, but now I have my own reasons to really believe it. I want to savour every moment I have left here, but here are some of the things I can't wait to have again:

a) My friends and family to talk to in English/French since my English is crap over here
b)Dark chocolate-impossible to get here. Some may know that I have negative feelings toward cadbury chocolate, but here it's all I've got, so you'll know how desperate I am.
c)Wine, and Jack and Gingers. Drinks are weird here. Though I don't usually drink when I travel, the occasional drink I have tried in Goa or otherwise, has been pretty nasty.
d)cheese. Who knew I loved cheese so much? I certainly didn't until I came here and realized that they basically have one kind of all-purpose cheese that is flavourless and sometimes reminds me of tofu. I have nothing against tofu, but I really want good cheese!
e)hot showers, nice bathrooms, a soft bed with my 6 pillows, and taxi drivers that use a meter and that you dont have to argue with every single time.
f) last, but not least, music. Though I really like watching the Hindi music videos and dancing around in our hotel rooms, I really feel like I need a good dose of quality Canadian music...

Alright, I'll do my best to continue to update you all on our progress,
Adieu,
Leanne

Goodbye Chennai, Hello Delhi!!

Pondicherry, Pondy, or Puducherr(i/y)...whatever the heck it's called was nice. I think I talked a little bit about it already so Ill just update you on the last bit of our stay there. We visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram where hundreds of people come from all over to follow the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and "The Mother", the Paris-born companion of Mr. Aurobindo. Sh is notorious for her hugs...we did not get the chance to hug her since she is dead. So much for better late than never eh! I picked up some nice little gifties for a few people there, adding to my ever growing stockpile which Ryan and I have decided to send home in Delhi sinc we can't handle lugging so much around anymore.

We got back to Chennai without a hitch. However, I have the unfortunate duty to report that this is by far our least favorite city yet. Let me tell ya why...

Well, from the day we got here until right now (at the train station waiting anxiously for our two-day ride to Delhi) we have met the rudest men, the most scammers- mainly in the form of autorickshaw drivers, but also as not-so-innocent child labourers working at our hotel who constantly try to find ways to make us tip them- and the dirtiest city with regard to air pollution. I am determined to buy a mask before continuing on with this trip because this cough just keeps getting worse.

Perhaps our opinion of the city would have changed had we done any sight seeing here (which we intended to do) but the ridiculously overcharging drivers combined with the sheer size of this city made it a task mor daunting than tempting. We were on our way to see things and we stopped to buy some saris and books for our long journey, but after arguing over the cost of our ride with the driver for the umpteenth time, we were so frustrated we just went back to grunt in our hotel room and wait for our train.

So, moral is, if you're in Chennai, save up some rupees so that you're prepared to be ripped off, and go see some of the wonderful sights we missed and tell us about them. We'll be happily visiting somewhere else :)

I won't be posting for a few days but fret not, I will be reading either "Night" by Elie Weisel, "Nine Stories" by Salinger, "No Onions Nor Garlic" by an Indo-Canadian author whose name I'v forgotten, or taking beautiful pictures of the scenery from here to Delhi as seen from a traincardoor.

Can't wait to talk to you all once Im on the other side of the country.
Leanne
Did I mention I bought two beautiful saris...hopefully mommy will like one of them! I know daddy will!