Udaipur - Jaisalmer - Rishikesh

And I'm back with a game changer! I just purchased a netbook so I can keep the updates coming more regularily. I'm trying to get this up to speed so I can bring you all into real time. The present is just too good to be told as the past. But, I can't skip over the other goodies, so I will try to be equally brief and thorough in my recaps.


UDAIPUR


Getting off the plane I was met by Keanan and we took a taxi back into town. It was an automatic feeling of relief and relaxation to get out of the big city life. While in Udaipur, Keanan had gained a good rapport with the owners of our guesthouse and they all gave me an extremely warm welcome. It was really nice to be met with smiling faces instead of unpleasant stares. That evening Keanan took me to his usual dining rooftop at the Panorama Hotel. After, we walked around and watched a bit of a wedding celebration. March is the wedding season in India and every night there are tons of celebrations happening in every city (some of the weddings Joe went to in Delhi were so extravagant that $500,000 was spent on the first of the five nights of celebration).

View from Panorama

The groom

Udiapur is located in southern Rajasthan and sits among a valley that surrounds a large lake. In the middle and east side of the lake are two palaces as well as the Monsoon Palace on top of a hill to the west which gives Udaipur its fame (outside of the fact that the James Bond Octopussy movie was filmed there). All of the buildings had wonderful rooftops for sunset viewing and life was serene.

Rooftop Fun

More sunset views

You can see the Monsoon Palace in the distance

 The next day Keanan had a case of "Delhi belly" and we spent most of our time in the room. Our room was bright and colorfully painted and it was actually nice to have nothing to do but read and watch the monkeys play on the trees and vines outside our window.

On our last day, Billu, our tuk-tuk driver took us on a tour of Udaipur and the surrounding area. We went to the City Palace, a few parks, burial grounds, an art school, and puppet museum. And after the tour we went to a dance performance. Keanan took most of the pictures this day, so below are a few of the ones I got.

The City Palace

Posing at the burial grounds

More burial domes

Incredibly creepy man dressed as a woman dancing with traditional water containers on his head

After the show, we head to the bus station to take our sleeper bus to Jaisalmer in western Rajasthan.


JAISALMER


Now, for those who have been following along, I remind you of my caution against sleeper buses. My reasoning will now be explained.

After my horrendous bus experience from Delhi to Agra I was completely disinterested in taking another bus, but Keanan had the same feeling towards trains after his 22 hour ride from Mumbai to Udaipur, so I gave in and we booked a 12 hour overnight bus. Hey, sleeping through the night can't be that bad, right? WRONG!

You should've seen our faces. What started as excitement when climbing into the last sleeper bunk, quickly turned to frustration and nausea. Trying to sleep was impossible. The turns had us sliding up and down and from side to side in our already traction-less sleeping bags. On top of that, each bump sent us flying into the air. I kid you not, at times I was at least one foot above my bed. There is no getting used to that. Not to mention... having to pee... this was hell. So, I repeat, SKIP THE SLEEPER BUSES AT ALL COSTS. However, if this is impossible, be sure that your designated car is not at the end of the bus where all bumps and turns are amplified.

Nevertheless, we made it to Jaisalmer in the morning and were welcomed by a friend of our guesthouse keeper (Harry) in Udaipur. Apparently Harry had called ahead to make sure we had a reliable person there to help us find proper accommodations.

Jaisalmer is a desert city which is centered in a huge fort. The fort which was once used to house and protect the city still has guesthouses, businesses, and restaurants opperating inside. We found a guesthouse in the fort and booked a camel safari into the desert for the next day. The rest of the day was spent exploring, calling it an early night to make up for the lack of sleep we got on the bus.

The next day the safari started with a 45 min jeep ride into the desert where were met by a guide and camels. The group consisted of a guide, Betty (from Mexico), Juan (from Argentina), Keanan, and I.

Well, hello to you too! Keanan's camel is in the front

My little Papaya

The safari was a three day, two night excursion. We rode for 2 hours in the morning, stopping where we found shade around noon when the sun was the hottest. During our break we would rest under a tree and walk the dunes and arid grasslands while the guides would make us lunch. We ate dhal, potatoes, and lots of chapati!

After lunch we would ride the camels for another hour or two, coming upon small villages, until we found a proper place to camp. We would all hang out, talk, explore, and prepare for dinner. Sitting around the campfire learning the proper way to make chapati (desert style) was a great experience. It was amazing to see how they cook and clean with very little resources. Definitely tips to take with me for my future camping trips.

Dinner time

Camel in the distance

We slept on mats under the stars, shielding our faces of the light rain drops that fell both nights. The rain, however, was not much of a problem as we just covered our faces with our scarves. It was incredible to see such clear skies in pure darkness.

After the three days in the desert, we head back to Jaisalmer to rinse out all the sand that had nestled in our hair and creavases and bought a train ticket to Rishikesh, a holy city straddeling the Ganges River just north of Delhi. We were gone the next day

Jaisalmer was fun, despite not spending much time in the city. With more time I would have given it one more day, but again, the husstle was getting to us. The camel safari was an amazing break from it all and was well worth the trip.

RISHIKESH

We hit the road to Rishikesh looking forward to the different landscape and happy to make the most of our last leg in India. On the way we met a boy named Hari (who called himself Hari Potter) from a town near Agra who was traveling with an American named Karuna. Karuna was born in Minneapolis, grew up in Iowa (poor guy) and has been living in California. They were both great and we ended up spending much of our time in Rishikesh with them, although, Hari had never had a TV so much of his time was spent in his room glued to the tube.

Karuna and Hari

Rishikesh was beautiful; straddling the Ganges River and sitting at the foothills of the Himalayas. It is considered as a very holy city and is a place of pilgrimage for many. There are also numerous yoga and meditation ashrams for students and teachers. Automatically the vibe was much more relaxed. No hassling and little hustling.

The Ganges

A day or two into our stay we decided to hike through the mountains (10km one way) to a Hanuman (The monkey god) ashram in the valley. The uphill hike was long and hot, but very rewarding. It took us about 3 hours to get to the town and we had gone up and over and around a mountain side to get there. The Ashram was on the far side of the small town at the top of a hill looking over the valley. It was small and two minutes after peaking around, a man appeared and walked us through the spiritual rituals. After eating some rock candy, drinking some holy water, getting a bindi on our forehead, and prayer bracelet, we began our trek back to Rishikesh. This was our first ashram experience in India.

The next morning I tried yoga for the first time. It was a little nerve racking being in a class at an ashram with people who had been spending weeks or months there doing yoga and meditating, but I think I did well holding my own. The only downfall was that the swami there was rather creepy and left me feeling too uncomfortable to return, and thus my desire to do more yoga was lost.

Snake charmer outside of our guesthouse



Outside of our days relaxing around the guesthouse with Karuna and Hari, we also went to the now closed Mahirishi Ashram and to a town called Missouri to see the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. The Mahirishi Ashram was spectacular and definitely one of the highlights of the trip. It has been closed for some time and the buildings and grounds have all become grown over and decrepit. It is said that the Beatles spent months at the Ashram while it was open and wrote much of their White album there. Being free to explore made me feel like we were part of an Indiana Jones movie. Going wherever we liked- even on the roof tops of the old guest houses! It was incredible.

Meditation/OM domes

Keanan inside the dome

Old buildings

The Himalayas were also a great way to end our time in Rishikesh. The four of us hired a car and went through the mountains to Missouri. From the road along the way we could see the snow-caps. It was so rewarding, as being so close and not seeing them would have been quite the disappointment. To get the best views, we stopped at ashram that was at the peak of one of the foothills. The trail to the top was long, steep, and hot, but it was worth it.

The next day we were on our way back to Delhi to catch a flight to Bali. Rishikesh was a great end point for our time in India. It left us feeling more relaxed and with a positive outlook on the country. The food, people (outside of the swami), and terrain were all great. If I were ever to return to India, I would love to do more exploration of the north.

Mumbai and Delhi

Now that I've laid the foundation, here are the nitty gritty details of what daily life was like in India!


MUMBAI


Keanan and I arrived on the morning of February 16 wide-eyed and ready to accept the unexpected. After an hour taxi ride into the city, we found a room at the YWCA. The Y was located in the Colaba Causeway area in the southern part of the city and was really clean and accommodating. We were both exhausted from the two days of travel so after spending a few hours surveying the scene, we head back to the Y to sleep.


The next day started early, at 6am. We decided to walk west towards the Arabian Sea and from there followed the shoreline about 3km north to Chow Patty Beach. The beach is not suitable for swimming and is more of a hangout locale. 

 

People sitting on the shore of Chow Patty Beach

After soaking up the sun and surroundings for about an hour, we settled on moving inland to find an area called Chor Bazaar. Talk about an early awakening. It didn't take long for India to slap us in the face with reality! We soon realized that the further inland we went, the less tourist friendly it became. We were in a different world all together. The sun was rising in the sky and the hundreds of thousands of peoples and animals created a blur of motion, scents, and stimulation. Walking through the madness was a battle on its own, but with the heat and no oasis in sight, it was sensory overload. The climax came as we were making our way down the sidewalk through a dense crowd and almost walked over a man begging on the corner. Now, this was no ordinary beggar. From head to foot his body was covered in huge boils. His body baking in the sun in clear discomfort. There was no time to react and as he reached out his blistering arms all I could do was keep my eyes forward and my pace steady. As we made it past what felt like the gateway to the underworld, it was then that we realized how far away from home we were. We walked another block before stopping to catch our breath and concluding that maybe we had had enough for one day. As we found our way back to the coastal road and into familiar territory, we grabbed lunch at a delicious restaurant in the Fort neighborhood (just north of the causeway) and went back to Colaba and the Y to decompress and register what we have gotten ourselves into.


The next morning we had to change guesthouses, as the Y was booked. We found a room at the City Palace Hotel in Fort. The room was on the sixth floor and after taking the two person elevator with our bags and the machine operator to the fifth floor, we climbed a spiral staircase to what felt like the servants quarters. The rooms were sparse with two twin beds and a window looking out onto the rooftops. The ceilings were so low that I could just barely stand and left Keanan in the permanent slouch position.

The Taj Hotel and Gateway of India

After getting situated we walked to the Gateway of India, a structure on the waters edge, and caught a boat to Elephanta Island. The Island was said to have ancient cave art and carvings. The hour ride was calm and we shared the empty top deck with an old Indian man with three teeth and his "lady." They were incredibly sweet and fun to talk to. However, upon arrival on the island, we were immediately disappointed. The caves, shorelines, and hiking trails were littered with trash and greedy monkeys hissing and stealing peoples food and water. 

 Dogs on the beach of Elephanta Island

Inside the caves on Elephanta Island

 Boats stuck in the mud along the shore of the island

After exploring for two hours we made our way back to the boat. After grabbing a quick bite we walked back to the hotel in the dark. We thought it would be nice to walk down a side street adjacent to our hotel. During the day it was a lovely street with friendly people and trees shading the road and stalls, but at night it was ghostly with only rabid dogs defending their territory. As we neared the turnoff, a pack of dogs were beginning to form and growl and bark. This was the most unsafe I had felt in India thus far. The idea of being attacked and eaten by 10 mangy dogs was not how I had imagined the end of my life to be.


Luckily, we made it out alive. The next day in Mumbai was our last and we spent it walking around and looking at art museums. It was the most pleasant day up to this point, but the conclusion still stands: skip Mumbai. It's expensive, smelly, and just as busy and bustling as any other big city. Your time will be better spent elsewhere.


DELHI


On Sunday, February 20, I flew to Delhi to meet with my good friend Joe and new friend Abhinav (who I met through couch surfing). Keanan took a 22 hour train ride that evening to Udaipur in southern Rajasthan. When I landed in Delhi Abhinav was kind enough to set me up in his uncle's guesthouse for four nights free of charge and then he and his friend (whose name escapes me) and Joe and I went out to dinner.

 At Qutub Minar

 Qutub Minar - The old stronghold of Delhi

 Joe and I doing some parkour

 Mangy Delhi Dog chillin' in the city center

Joe and I decided to book a bus trip to see Agra and the Taj Mahal and spent the entire next day on the road (5am to 2am). The bus ride was hellish. Piercing horn honking, 1,000,000 stops, and lunch and dinner spots that had "Delhi Belly" written all over them, was definitely not what Joe or I were expecting. The two main stops were the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal. Both beautiful and worth the agonizing trip.

 Taj view from the Red Fort

 Girls from Agra- So beautiful!!

 Barber Shop in Agra

 The Taj!

 Joe and I posing for the camera

 

Other than that, the rest of Delhi was pretty chill. I just spent time with Joe during the day and went to some bars with Abhinav and his friends at night. Joe and I also went to the Lotus temple, which was incredible. It is a temple for the Bahai faith (a faith that encompasses and excepts all others) and people from all religions are welcome to come and do silent prayer in the lotus shaped structure. Definitely the best stop of the trip thus far- even better than the Taj! You can't take pictures inside, but below are some great pictures at sunset.

I was beginning to regret not going to Rajasthan and wondering what the rest of India was going to hold for me when I received an email from Keanan inviting me to meet him in Udaipur. I was out on a flight the next day. Thank you Joe, Abhinav, and Delhi, but I must go - adventure awaits!


Consensus: Delhi is by far better than Mumbai, but a big city nonetheless. Good for short stops between more exciting places. Also good if you need/want a night out.

~~~

Well, this post took longer than expected with the slow uploading speeds, so the rest of India will have to wait till next time! Hope you enjoy the photos and stories.


Till then,
XO Nadia