Desolate Beauty

After a very enjoyable couple of days back in Udaipur, on a tip from mum and dad we headed to Bundi. We decided we really didn't fancy going back to Jaipur and could get a train from Bundi to Agra which was our next planned destination.
What a treat, thanks mum and dad for pointing us that way. A bit off the beaten track Bundi turned out to be very beautiful in a slightly crumbling desolate sort of way. It is less frequented but still well geared up for those who make it there with good hostels and hotels. It's a town nestling between hills with a small lake, and a dramatic palace and fort on the hill. We were only there for one day but headed up to the palace which was practically deserted in the morning. Wandering through the impressive elephant gate, then around once grand courtyards and up small stairways reeking of pidgeon poo it had the air of somewhere once vibrant now forgotten with many stories to tell. On the upper levels there were small painted rooms, which despite neglect retained many of their intricacies. We didn't have a guide relaying all the many stories that were depicted around the walls and ceilings, prefering to wander quietly at our own pace. From the palace we headed further up the hill in blazing sunshine to the desolate fort which occupies the length of the ridge. A series of tumble-down buildings, arches, gateways,and wells. Kids would be happy for hours and hours finding secret stairways, conquering ramparts and being able to see for miles. All of this with the added thrill of possibly aggresive monkies- the only real occupants of the fort. We were warned, by a friendly frenchman who had angered the monkies in some way, that it may be wise to arm ourselves with pointy sticks, this we did, and proceeded with some caution. But it seems that we caught them in siesta time and they left us alone prefering to pick fleas of each other rather than chase us.
You'd think that would be enough adventuring for one day, but having returned from the hill slightly de-hydrated, after lunch in a lovely garden by the lakeside, we wandered into town where it turned out there was a big muslim festival in full swing. Amazing glittering floats were parading down the streets to the rhythm of drums. Crowds lining the streets and a carnival atmosphere. As with all such events there was also the slightly more fanatical edge present with adolescent men waving a variety of swords, spears, large bludgens, and inserting knives under their skin. A couple we met later had also seen them slashing their bare chests with razors splaying blood across the crowds of onlookers, glad we missed that one. As it was there was a point where we were clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time, surrounded by a slightly frenzied crowd of men, some of whom turned their attentions towards the 2 white girls stupid enough to be stuck in their midst. Needless to say we exited the scene at the next available turning only slightly worse for wear and a little wiser perhaps.
Still quite an incredible day in Bundi, very glad we made the detour. I'm writing now from Agra, where we arrived on the overnight train early this morning. We head to the Taj Mahal this afternoon and then on to Delhi tomorrow.

Jaipur back to Udiapur

Mmmmh city life, not sure about that. It woud seem that Hannah and me are small town girls at heart, or at least small city girls. Jaipur is a big city and we just never managed to get a handle on it. We've got too used to being able to walk everywhere, and even though we still did walk in Jaipur, it was so much noisier, dirty, and full of traffic in an unpleasently frenetic way that it wasn't so much fun. We had heard that the Bazaar's in Jaipur are amazing, but having trawled there lengths concluded that actually we'd seen much nicer ones elsewhere. Maybe if you know what your looking for, or if your buying precious/semi precious stones this is the place. But when you want to just amble around taking in the sights its not so good. Also it's known as the pink city, but in truth its more terracotta coloured and then only in parts, not like the consistant blues of Jodhpur. Still I'm painting it in a harsh light, which is really just saying I guess neither of us liked it that much.
We saw some beautiful stones in various jewellers and some incredible jewellery too, displaying a intricate and advanced craftsmanship that left me pretty impressed. I enjoyed some of the more obscure parts of the Bazaar- the tool and hardwear sections, with little shops stacked floor to ceiling with nuts bolts and nails, the party sections with stalls catering for all your party needs from paper plates to big sticks wrapped in shiny tinsel stuff -there purpose can only be guessed at. Kite shops and firework shops, spice and grain stands with huge sacks of grains and one section where the smell of spice and bayleaves and herbs wafted around us as we walked. Flower stands covered in roses, marigolds and others making a whole street of colour, reds, oranges, pinks, yellows, whites. All these places surrounded by roads where cycles, cycle-rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, moterbikes, taxi's, trucks, buses, donkies, horses, and cows vie for space. A bit mad, and much more negotiable in some form of transport than on foot. The number of times I attempted to cross a road to become stranded in the middle with all of that hurtling towards me was a few more then I would've liked.
It all felt a bit stressful, and that coupled with the incredibly hard beds that felt like you were just lying on a block of wood and at twice the price of Pushkar meant we changed our planned 4 or 5 day stay and left after 2. I think that to get a grip on a big city like that you either need to hire a driver, or know someone who can show you round. In size Kolkata is probably similar, but didn't seem half as stressful- the differance of having time and people who know the place and accompany you, and having somewhere that feels like home at Mum and Dads must have made more difference than I gave it credit for.
So we decided perhaps slightly madly to come back to Udaipur. But it has definately been the right decision. We are both very happy to be back here, and the 10 hour bus journey took us through different towns and villages along the way, the journeys never seem a drag because there is always so much to see. Driving back into the centre of Udaipur it felt really nice to be coming back somewhere familiar, there is something good about returning to somewhere you know you're happy in. We have learnt that the local buses are better than private ones, more regular and cheaper, and we've learnt that you can often get much nicer accomadtion if you ignore the lonely planet reccomendations and just follow your nose. The lonely planet seems to make for inflated prices and slipping standards. So we're back in warmer climes, with the lakeside views and we're loving it.

Two days in Pushkar

Another juddering bus journey bought us to Pushkar two days ago. It's a strange little place really, a holy pilgrimage town for the Hindu's, set around a small holy lake which you can't really get to unless you're going to say prayers. It's not a big town and sits in a basin surrounded on all sides by hills. We have clambered up a couple of them which have temples at the top of them and afford an ariel view of the town. the main street circles around the lake and is a bit like Camden market, alot of very 'ethnic' hippy clothes and stuff. The traveller crowd matches that vibe in a fairly druggy monged out way, and as such isn't the most appealing place we've visited.
Still it seems it's wedding season in Pushkar so we have been treated to numerous bridal processions throughout the day led by bands of musians usually a dodgy keyboard player being amplified and then a bunch of trumpeters and horn players and some drums. The woman all look absolutely stunning in all their most colourful sari's and stacks of jewellery. The actual bride and a couple of friends appear to have to carry some sort of pot on their head as they parade through the streets- no doubt this has some significance but I couldn't begin to guess. They parade round the streets for considerable amounts of time it seems we've constantly come across the same party in different parts of the town throughout the day. I conclude that however knackering a British wedding may be this is a whole different ball game. Wandering the streets all day with a big pot balanced on your head and this only one day out of 10 or more days of celebrating. We met a couple from Worthing on our way here and they have come back to Pushkar to attend one of these weddings, invited by the owner of our hotel who was out dancing all last night as part of the celebrations. Like I said it's an energetic affair.
Other highlights here have been an entertaining dinner in a garden restaurant with abortive attempts to light a small fire next to our table in a bid to keep warm, reggae throbbing in the background. A scamper up the big hill next to the town and the views of the desert and hills from the top. Encounters with cows and monkies, and ongoing continuing joy every time I see a camel which is pretty often here. I've stuck more photos on the photo link from the last few places, will add more soon.

Lakeside lounging

Udaipur is stated to be the most romantic city in Rajasthan and I'd have to say if you wanted a honeymoon destination in India this would have to be up there. Set around a lake the old town is a cluster of steep lanes and boutique shops, cafes, restaurants, and beautiful views. Surrounded on all sides by an arid hill country it makes for impressive sunsets across the lake and hills. It is probably the most laid back town we have been in so far, yes there are still rickshaws, mopeds, moterbikes, and cyclists vieing for space on the roads but get off the main streets and all is much quieter. Finding ourselves in the backstreets we wandered through various quaters of the town, from bookbinders, through jewellers, potters, tailors and painters, A veritable hive of creative industry. We have enjoyed alot of lounging in cushioned alcoves with views over the lakes in various locations around the town. I'm getting into this easy life, but do catch myself quite often and find it all a bit mad, I think I'm realising I'm quite a task or project orientated person, so just kicking back and taking in life as it goes on around me for an extended period of time, enjoying the new sights, and experiences sometimes feels a little too self indulgent. Still like I said I'm getting into it! We went trekking in the country today on horseback. It was amazingly tranquil and peaceful, ambling along through the hills, cacti, palms, stopping in small villages calling out greetings to an endless stream of children who lined our route. Seeing something more of rural life. Our guide was lovely, a patient and thoughtful man who admirably put up with a couple of novice riders plodding along for several hours! Attired as we were in flip flops, and without riding hats its probably just as well we didn't try anything more adventurous. This evening we just watched James Bonds Octopussy which was filmed here, and honestly if you fancy some pure action packed implausible comedy, watch an old Bond film.

Beautiful Blue

Jodhpur is beautiful, I'm always loving the blue, so being in city where there's a blue building round every corner I couldn't be much happier. It's a pretty special blue too, that is warm and just changes into all these different subtle shades depending on the time of day and what the skies doing. Hey it even makes the pidgeons look good- They sort of reflect the sky and the buildings and it just makes them look much prettier than they normally would! Then there's the odd bright green parrot flying over and the huge kites wheeling round the fort in the evening. Then there's the people arrayed in all manner of beautiful bright colours and all incredibly friendly with it. We've wandered through spice, grain and fabric markets and soaked up all the colour and beauty around us. We hired bikes yesterday and cycled up to the palace across the city, good fun and not as dangerous as I had feared, it seems there is a pretty comprehensive system of giving way and nothing is travelling that fast so even if your brakes are a bit ropey you can muddle through. We did manage to get comprehensively lost a couple of times but asked directions and managed to find our way home again. The fort is stunning, some of the most beautiful and intricate architecture I've ever seen, and once we fought our way through the bollywood film set at the entrance it was incredibly tranquil with stunning views across the city.
We move on to Udaipur in southern Rajasthan tomorrow more news from there.

Giant Banyans and little children

This last week I've been mostly just hanging out in Kolkata, working with mum and dad at Freeset, and waiting for Hannah to arrive. On Sunday Sara, Fiona, Katie and myself went to the botanical gardens for a picnic with a bunch of other people our age who are working over here and know mum and dad. We provided much entertainment playing frisbee and even more when an over throw landed it in the river. The recovery of the frisbee proved to be an enjoyable challenge taken on by a policeman who promptly collared some young lad to wade into the river to try and fish it out. The gardens are home to Asia's largest Banyan tree which has a canopy over 70 metres wide and still growing. This one tree is actually like a small wood, with mad ariel roots which drop down at right angles to the branches and back into the ground. Very cool.

Other than that I've spent a couple of days at the project and worked in the nursery, or worked upstairs with the ladies making bags. Since Christmas the nature of the nursery has changed and rather than just having pre-school aged children, there are now 4 young babies as well. This is proving to be quite a challenge in terms of accomadation, liasing with the mothers, addressing matters of primary health care and basic hygiene, whilst still trying to keep all the older kids occupied. My mum is beginning to tear her hair out! Life upstairs at the project is a little calmer, and certainly more focused, just a matter of attempting to follow instructions when you have no common language. Much mime is employed.

The last couple of days have pretty much been non-stop conversation with the lovely Miss Bywaters, inadvertantly resulting in a few late nights. But hey it has been 10 months since I've seen the girl. It's great to have her here and to be heading off with her later tonight. We have booked all manner of trains to get across this country starting with the 2 nights and a day long trek to Jodhpur the 'Blue city' in Rajasthan. You'll hear from me again when we're there.

The Dawning of 2007

Happy New Year everyone, hope you all had a good one. It's been great to hear about some of them. I got back from Darjeeling a couple of days ago where we had an absolutely fantastic time. From the fully Indian experience of the overnight sleeper train up there to the sunrise on new years day it couldn't have been much better. It was pretty cold up there though. I think we all put on about 4 layers of clothes and didn't remove them for the next 5 days apart from the brief hour and a half hot water window each evening at our hotel (to not change your clothes or wash for 5 days would just be a little too fetid.) It's a bit like a different country up there, probably much more like Nepal than India, a lot of the people living there are Nepalase or Tibetan. It is much more chilled out, quieter, and incredibly beautiful. At about 6500 feet above sea level everywhere you look there are stunning views. Darjeeling clinging to the sides of the hills and dropping down into tea plantations. Us Crow's couldn't be much happier than being half way up a mountain as many of you will know, and I think mum and dad particularly enjoyed the break from Kolkata life; the clean air, the walks in the hills and the backdrop, when it was clear enough, of the Himalayas. We stayed at a very friendly if slightly basic Hotel, ate fantastic home cooked Nepalese food at a little open fronted cafe called Sonam's kitchen and also enjoyed her fantastic masala tea. Walked to monasteries, conversed with monkeys, and shopped in the street markets.

For new year itself we headed to a little bar called Joey's and enjoyed some beers with a bunch of other westerners, then hiked back up the particularly steep hill to our hotel under a clear starlit sky at about 2 in the morning. We got up again at 4 to head up Tiger Hill for sunrise. At about 8000 feet its the local high point and we joined a huge crowd of people to watch the dawn of 2007. As the sky grew gradually lighter to our right, on our left the faint outlines of the Himalayas, and Khangchendzonga particularly, began to appear glowing dark orange against a still navy sky. Daylight increased and the outline sharpened. Then a shout from the waiting crowd went up as a red sun climbed from its cloud bed, at the same time the mountains were illuminated pink and orange in the early light of the new year. Absolutely stunning and awe inspiring.It was and will remain the most memorable new year I've had for a long time.

We were all rather sad to leave and come back to the City, particularly as it meant the end of the trip for my younger sister Hannah who has now gone home. Arriving back in Kolkata on the train just before getting in to the station we passed the aftermath of a large slum fire. Crowds of people stood around the smoking wasteland that had been their homes. They will not be re-housed. A sharp reminder and jolt back to the reality of life in this country.

Hannah Bywaters arrives here on Tuesday which I am totally looking forward to and getting a bit impatient about! We'll head off west together some time next week. I've put a link up to the right if you want to see some more photos.