This blog post will
have three sections. The first will have the general summary of what we’re
up to, the second will begin our new “how to” series and the third section will
have random thoughts that Caroline and Stephanie would like to share. There’s also
“Caroline’s Song of the Day” section but that’s short so it doesn’t count.
General Summary of
What We’re Up To Section
This section will explain our past four days.
Desert Experience
Saturday, August 23 was a very memorable day for both
Stephanie and Caroline. We arrived to a
village in the desert at about 5:00 pm an almost immediately began our “camel
safari.” We’re not sure why it was called a safari because we weren’t
looking for other animals, we simply rode a camel through the desert.
Each of us had our own camels that were guided by men
dressed in white clothing and the ride was overall enjoyable. It’s funny because both of us have never
even been on a horse ride, yet we were on a camel ride in the desert of India.
A view of Luna, the camel guide, and Lalu, the camel I rode
My first view of the dunes in the desert
My camel, Lalu
After about 30 minutes we took a rest off of our camels to
sit in the shade and we met a cute couple from Germany and Morocco who were
also resting from their camel ride. We eventually got back on our camels to
walk up a high sand dune to watch the sunset over the desert. Once we got to this point we actually met
up with the two guys from Portland from the night before, Luke and Michael, and
also met another couple from Scotland, Leah and Jamie. It’s funny that we
finally met Leah and Jamie because we had seen them in both Mandawa and Bikaner
at our hotel and we assumed they were on the same tour as us under the same
company.
Steph taking break from the camel ride
Caroline taking a break from the camel ride
Steph on her camel
Watching the sunset over the desert was absolutely
beautiful. This was actually Caroline’s first time in a desert to which made it
that much more special. What was even
better was the conversation we had while on the sand dune as the sun set. We
mostly talked to Leah and Jamie who just left their jobs in Scotland to travel
for five years. Jamie was a social worker working in child protective services
and got quite burnt out from this job and decided to quit his job to travel.
Leah was incredible because she was able to convince her boss to let her take a
five year holiday and get her job back when she comes back. Leah seemed like
she was an incredible teacher and this is why she was able to make this deal.
Sunset over the desert
This man sang a song about the sunset over the desert as he used his cooler as a drum
It’s great that they’re making their traveling dreams work
before they settle down to have kids in five years or so. Their plan (as I
remember it) is to be in India until the end of September, go to Nepal for a
little less than a month to trek, then go to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia and
later they’ll have to go to South Korea in February to begin a one-year
teaching English gig where they’ll also earn some money. Then they have a plan
to go back to Scotland for a bit, go to South America for a year and then I’m
not sure what. Stephanie and I basically
have a mini crush on them because they’re going for their traveling dreams and
we are so happy for them.
Anyway, after the sun set we rode the camel back where we
started which kind of sucked for Caroline because her hamstring is still
hurting a bit and the bumpiness of going downhill on a camel is not very
pleasant for a sore hamstring muscle. We
then watched a dance performance that actually wasn’t that impressive because
we could tell the dancer did not want to be there at all because she seemed to
hate the music that the four musicians were playing. We actually found it
comical by then end with how often she would stop dancing and turn back to the
musicians to give them a disapproving look. Followed by this we then had a
dinner that was pretty good.
The best part of the
day was when we packed up to sleep under the stars in the desert. We were
joined by Jamie and Leah (from Scotland), Michael and Luke (from Portland), Sabrina
and Wassim (from Germany and Morocco). Once we got out to our location, we
found out that Sabrina and Wassim were on their honeymoon and so they
respectfully didn’t want to sleep next to the remaining six of us. The rest of
us made a circle with our beds and we ended up talking for around three hours. We all knew that this would be one of those
nights to remember for a long time because the scene in the sky was absolutely
incredible; not to mention the numerous shooting stars we had seen!
Our conversation that
night was great because we talked about what we love to talk about most – the
importance of traveling, the problems of consumerism, ways things can improve,
what we want to “do when we grow up” and such. It was great talking with
Leah, Jamie, Michael and Luke because although we were from different areas, we
could all come together and have great, bonding conversation. It is such a
comforting feeling to meet like-minded people from completely different areas
of the world who share some of the same ideas; it gives us more and more hope
for the world progressing into a better place.
Soon enough we went to bed and actually slept quite peacefully.
Soon enough, around 6:30 am, we woke up to see the sun rise (which was
beautiful of course) and then went back to eat breakfast. We then got caught in
another conversation with Leah and Jamie and then we said our goodbyes so we
could move on to the city of Jaisalmer.
This is where we slept and what it looked like when we woke up
Sunrise over the desert
A view from our camel cart ride back to have breakfast
As I’m sure you can
tell, we loved this experience and we kept saying “I can’t believe we’re here”
because just days before we had no plans to even be in Rajasthan. Maybe it’s
one of those karma things – good things happen to good people. We’d like to
think so J.
Jaisalmer: the Golden
City
Jaisalmer is a city made of a bunch of sandstone (making it
the golden city). The main feature of the city is the huge fort on a hill which
is unique because people still live within the fort. We had a great tour guide, Ram, who took us through the fort as well as
other areas of the city.
We went to two Jain temples that were intricately carved
(like all temples here) and then continued to see other parts of the fort
including a Hindu temple. We enjoyed the Hindu temple especially because we
were able to briefly see people worshiping in the temple. Our favorite part of the day however was seeing Ram give small candies
to every kid he saw as if he was the fort’s candy man. Ram will finish his
studies in one year and then he plans to be a social work – which we’re sure
he’ll succeed in due to his big heart.
Within the fort
Ram giving candy to the children
A view of the city from the fort
We then left the temple and managed to escape its many
shopkeepers who wanted us to buy their stuff. Ram then took us to three
different havelis (intricately carved houses who were owned by really rich
people) and then to a patchwork and scarves shop. This shop was interesting
because they worked as a cooperative with widows, mentally handicapped people
and other similar populations to help them earn a living. This is especially important for widows in villages because once their
husbands die, they’re not allowed to leave the house and thus, they can’t earn
money. This shop allows them to make various patchwork pieces, scarves,
etc. in their homes and then have them sold in the city so they can earn some
money.
One of the havelis
Crazy people in front of a haveli
Although we really didn’t want to at first, we ended up
buying a few scarves because they were so nice and still a decent price. It’s
also nice to know that our money is going towards a good cooperative effort
rather than some random shop owner on the street. We also got the information
of the NGO that’s involved in with this co-op so we can look up their successes
later.
Later, we saw a manmade lake area and Ram bought some bread
to show us the crazy catfish in the lake. It was crazy how wild the ugly
catfish went for this bread. An interesting moment that happened was when Ram
had told the young boy who was selling the bread that he should not allow the
plastic that the bread was wrapped in to be thrown into the water; and then made
him pick it all up on the shore along with his help. You really got the sense that Ram really did care for his community and
the people in it, and even this small act could make a difference. We
enjoyed this scene of the lake overall, but we were tired and hot and wanted to
go back to the hotel.
Crazy catfish
The day concluded with relaxation at the hotel, a view of
the sunset from a cremation site (romantic, I know) and then more relaxation
back at the hotel.
On the Road Again –
to Jodhpur
The car ride to Jodhpur was similar to the ride to the
desert village. There were still a lot of pilgrims, one stop for tea – this
time with cookies, and long scenes of the desert. The scenery did change a bit
with more vegetation and hills, but had fewer camels.
We eventually made it to Jodhpur and were supposed to go see
a market area but we were too tired to do so. Instead, we asked our driver to take us to a movie theater so we could
watch a Hindi movie. Once we got there, we decided to see “Singham Returns”
which we found out was about a Mumbai police officer who was basically a
badass. He pretty much seemed like the Indian version of Vin Diesel or The
Rock. The movie was all in Hindi with no subtitles so we didn’t understand
every piece of the movie, but it was simple enough where we could understand
the basic story. It had the cheesey elements we were hoping for from a
Bollywood movie with the dramatic acting and very unrealistic fight scenes but
we were disappointed that there weren’t many Bollywood dances. Hopefully it’ll
be in the next Bollywood movie we see!
Jodhpur City
We began the day by
seeing the city’s fort which cost a lot (400 Rs ~ $6.50) and to be honest,
looked a lot like the other forts we’ve been to. We were interested in a
few parts of the museum within the fort however we still didn’t spend much time
there because once you see three forts in India, you feel like you’ve seen them
all. Now thinking about it, this is Caroline’s sixth fort that she’s seen in
India so they’re especially getting old for her.
A view of the Blue City (Jodhpur) from the fort
Side view of the fort
View of the fort from away - Do you think it's big enough?
Good ol' friends in yet another temple
We then went to a spice and tea shop, which was proud of its
Lonely Planet approval, and smelled many different spices and teas. We then
walked around the area to see the large market area which had a lot of stuff
including plastic toys, pots and pans, fabrics and produce. We then found a place selling packages of
outfits for women that included a shirt (kurta), pants and a scarf for 75 Rs
(~$1.40). Caroline was excited because she really wanted to get another
Indian outfit because she felt out of place with only having one Indian-looking
outfit. Even though it’s not the best quality, it does the job.
We then went back to the hotel to relax, make plans for our
time after Rajasthan, and eventually had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel.
Not to mention, we drank some Indian
beer in our hotel room while watching T.V. and ended up watching the Emmy’s to
our surprise. Tomorrow we leave for Udaipur which we’re really excited
about because we’ve heard from many people that it’s a great place with
beautiful scenery and a wonderful lake.
How To: Drink Chai
If you are in India, then you will be drinking chai (tea).
There is no doubt about that. Typically it is masala chai which is black tea
that is spiced in a certain way and is mixed with milk and sugar. Chai is
normally served as a welcome to many homes or shops and is also a necessity
during a break. If you are not drinking chai at least 3 or 4 times a day, you
probably haven’t fully acclimated to India.
Here’s the process of drinking chai.
1.
Specify what type of chai you want (either plain
black tea, with milk/sugar, or just say “masala chai” and you’ll get it with
both tea and sugar)
2.
If it’s served in a cup without a handle, hold
it from the top edges or else your fingers will seemingly burn off
3.
Wait long enough to let it cool down a bit, but
not too long where the people around you think you’re crazy for not drinking
your chai right away
4.
Slurp the chai so you’re also inhaling air which
will ideally help you not burn your tongue
5.
If you do burn your tongue, suck it up! Hopefully
you’ll have better luck next time
6.
If you can, try to avoid the milk from forming a
thin film at the top of the tea by mixing the tea. It’s not a problem but it is
a weird texture to drink.
7.
Enjoy the chai
8.
If cookies/biscuits are available, dunk them in
the chai
9.
Feel refreshed
Random Thoughts of
Caroline and Stephanie
·
It’s weird that this is the first time in 17
years that both of us won’t be starting school in late August/September
·
This is the longest Caroline’s gone without
shaving her legs (10 days). This saves her a lot of time with showering and
whatnot but she’s also really getting grossed out by it. She wants to do it
just to see how long it takes to grow to full length and she’s not here to
impress anyone anyway so now’s the time!
·
We’ve expected to get diarrhea by now but we
haven’t! Yay!
·
This is the longest Stephanie’s nails have been
due to the fact that her nail biting habit must come to an end because of the
hygiene of India (22 years too late-but it’s better than never!)
Caroline’s Song of
the Day
24-Aug Here Comes the Sun by Bob "Bronx Style"
Khaleel
25-Aug Night of the Flying Horses by Yo-Yo Ma & the Silk
Road Ensemble
26-Aug Lagartija Azul by Fonseca
A lonely ass
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