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First, a few observations:
1) In India there is no coffee, at least not what we in America would consider coffee. You can order black coffee, but it comes in a dixie cup, and a small one at that - if you order a pot of coffee it comes in what might be considered a normal size coffee cup in America. This has posed a problem.
2) So we drink Chai tea, which also comes in a dixie cup unfortunately, but it is sold nearly everywhere and it is very cheap. This isn't American Chai - I'm not sure what it is, but holy smokes is it delicious.
3) One of the more interesting and hardest things in India to become used to is the hand holding of men: in other words, it is very, very common for grown men to walk around holding hands. Not just little boys, not just teenagers or college students, but grown, fifty-year old men walk around holding hands. It would be like if Brian and I were in our fifties and we walked around downtown Omaha holding hands. No one would think a thing of it. It is quite odd.
4)
The people of India have a third head nod besides the usual yes and no. They have a head nod that is diagonal, I suppose, like a tilted head nodding. It's hard to explain and I have no idea what it means - sometimes it seems to mean yes, sometimes it seems to mean I don't know, and sometimes I haven't got a clue what it means.
5) We have found, predominantly, that people are very intrigued by us once they learn we are Americans. We have taken dozens of photographs with people who instantly want a picture with us upon learning we are American. Little children especially seem prone to this. It is hard to get used to, but in the smaller cities we really stick out and no matter what we do, we are approached by people glad to have Americans in their cities.
6) This wont surprise anyone that knows me, but I spend a lot of time wandering around the markets listening to my headphones - and sometimes, because I forget where I am, I get caught singing out loud or very slightly dancing. It isn't embarrassing though because what ends up happening is
that I'm approached by people who very badly want to listen to my headphones, and I, being an ambassador of Rock N Roll, naturally allow them - but without fail, they are disappointed instantly upon learning that I am not listening to, nor do I have, Michael Jackson. Let it be said here: India loves Michael Jackson.
So now Updates:
Let's play a game of make belief for a moment:
Let's say you find yourself in India, let's say Udaipur, Rajasthan, and let's say, again for the sake of argument, that you have a hankering to see some caves - and not just any caves, but Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain Caves dating back as far as 500b.c. - well, hypothetically of course, you had better be ready for a heck of a journey because it is no easy task to get from Udaipur to the Ajanta Caves. No easy task at all. It entails leaving Udaipur at 730pm for Ahmadabad at 430am - then waiting two hours in the Ahmadabad train station for the 630am train to Surat (a city that holds the distinction of India's dirtiest and most congested) which takes seven more hours -
then, taking a 9 hour overnight bus that is so crowded people are literally laying in the above-head luggage rack and you have to sit with your 25 pound pack on your lap the entire time - all the awhile, of course, having the unfortunate luck of having to sit next to the largest human being on the continent; not to mention, the sudden stops and arguments with police cars in a language you don't speak and the almost definite certainty that your bus is indeed going to crash, because this bus driver is a terrible, terrible driver who attempts to pass at moments where it is far from appropriate to pass. And all of this, just to get to Jalgoan - and from Jalgoan you have to take another two hour bus trip and then, finally, after nearly 30 consecutive hours of travel, you will find yourself at the base of these caves. And you might, if you're a sane person, begin questioning if this immense journey, hypothetically of course, was worth it just to see some stinkin' caves - you might even, considering your moral character, curse these blasted caves. But, alas, you are there and so you'd
better pay the people there money and go see them.
This is precisely what we did - and the following day, we traveled to the Ellora caves as well and it was definitely worth it. We took a lot of pictures, but in many caves we were not allowed to use flash photography, so this is the best we could do. From Aurangabad, which is the large city near the Ellora Caves, we traveled overnight to Mumbai, where I am now writing this, having arrived here early Friday morning. From Mumbai we will travel to Goa late Sunday night. We have attached the pictures of the caves, including some market pictures from Jalgoan. Hope you enjoy. The parts of Goa that we are going are off the beaten path quite a bit, so it may be awhile before we can post the Mumbai/Goa pics.
On a side note, I have stayed in dozens and dozens of hostels and cheap hotels all over Europe, Mexico, and the United States, but the hostel Brian and I stayed in in Aurangabad is by far the most decrepit, disgusting place I have ever seen. We included some pictures, but chose not to
post the worst of the worst.
Namaste
PS - this was written several days ago. It is only today (Wednesday) that we have found internet suitable enough to upload pictures. We are in Goa now. Look for a Mumbai post soon....
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Andy
non-member comment
For the record
Let the record state that Mr. Jones is indeed an ambassador of Rock n' Roll--I can attest to that. Let not the elixir of his fine words render your skepticism obsolete, however, as I imagine him to sing quite a fine karaoke rendition of Billie Jean.