Rajasthan - Jaipur/Pushkar/Udaipur

A week has passed since I landed in India and I am now in the heart of Rajasthan, the searingly colourful desert region that borders Pakistan in the North-West, in a city called Udaipur. This is the one place on my travels that you will all have seen - in the (Roger Moore!) Bond movie Octopussy - something the locals are keen to remind you of from the moment you arrive: practically every hotel and restaurant shows the movie several times a day.

I left Mumbai on Thursday last week, taking the “express” train to Rajasthan’s capital Jaipur - a mere 17 hour journey. Just to keep you on your toes, the train does a three-point turn halfway along the route… not very reassuring when you doze off to draw back the curtain and see the scenery flying in the opposite direction!

I spent two nights in Jaipur and allowed myself the luxury of a guide while I got to settle in. I was expecting a small scenic town, in fact it was quite the opposite; it is home to a population of 4 million people who all seem to be crammed onto the roads flying around in every possible contraption you can imagine. Pedestrians seem to favour the big roundabouts as their crossings of choice; mixed amongst the traffic you can’t help but feel you are witness to a real life, suicidal version of Frogger. I thought the traffic in Mumbai was bad - but here you have to consider the Random Cow Factor: if one of these docile beasties at the side of the road gets bored and feels like walking into the traffic, it creates a wave of chaos as everyone frantically has to avoid slamming into each other.

After two nights in Jaipur I took a 3 hour bus to Pushkar, a small village built around a holy lake - where Ghandi’s ashes were scattered. This is both an important pilgrimage sight, and big on the map for foreign travellers - a strange contrast of locals who come to bathe in “ghats” (52 stairways around the north side of the lake where pilgrims mostly gather at dawn) as well as new-age beardies who come here for the hashish - some apparently stay for years... As a holy city all contraband - alcohol cigarettes etc - is illegal, especially near the lake where you aren't allowed within 40ft with your shoes on. I managed to find a corrupt restaurant further out of town who served beer in a teapot - so I could go to bed with my 'Homer' face. The beer here apparently contains a preservative Glycerine (which sounds alarmingly like something that explodes if you drink it and then jump up and down!) so one beer is enough to wake up feeling a bit hazy the next day - especially if you are a lightweight to begin with!

In my last post I mentioned I was doing quite well at avoiding the touts - famous last words! After I’d written that I was consistently approached by people who all start with “What is your name?” and “Where are you from?”. A handshake then seems to be an invitation to separate you from your cash. The milk-powder-scam is especially ingenious: a girl comes up to you and doesn’t want your money, rather milk for her sister’s baby or such like. If you follow her, the shop she leads you to sells the stuff for 10 times the price as the shopkeeper is in on the whole thing. You’d be right to point out this seems heartless as everything here is so cheap anyway. I’ve come to realise you have to follow your heart, some people are in genuine need - especially the elderly who the locals give to - but you can end up attracting crowds of people if you fall for the ones who pester you around the touristy areas.

I was rather pleased therefore when I managed to turn the tables on a scamster in Pushkar. Walking on the road towards the lake on my first morning, a young man pushed a flower into my hand before I was able to refuse - apparently this was a gift to be thrown into the lake. I monitored him over my shoulder to see if he was following me, but he stayed put. A few minutes later, however, he flew past me on a moped and disappeared around the corner a couple of hundred metres ahead. I don’t know exactly how the scam would have worked but I realised he would be waiting for me, likely with a crowd of accomplices. So I did an about-turn and took a huge detour around the perimeter of the town. Later that evening one of his cohorts spotted me, sulkily, but by then it was too late as the sun had gone down - by 6.30 in the evening here it is pitch black. I since learned the gist of this scam is being taken to the lake shore to make a blessing for all your family and friends; what you don’t realize is this adds up for per head for each person- before you know it they are demanding several thousand rupees.

On Monday I climbed an 800 metre hill to a temple overlooking the village - I will upload some photos after this, hopefully you’ll be able to see the view was incredible. Naturally I arrived at the top half-dead as it’s a very steep climb. Earlier I had taken a wrong turn and lots of children came running after me, shouting the road I was on went nowhere. Before I knew it I was being led, hands held, to meet their family on the outskirts of the village. Surrounded by at least ten children I was offered a seat and a chai massala (a spiced tea) made over a fire by their mother, who I communicated with in a mixture of sign language and broken Hindu and English. I was really touched by their kindness and generosity, as well as the strange sensation of being a celebrity - perhaps for having gingerish hair which they found fascinating (I always hoped it would come in handy one day). I later returned with some biscuits and some Ghee (the clarified butter used in cooking) as I’ve learned this is better than to give money, certainly to the children.

When I left Pushkar the owner of my hotel offered me a lift to the nearby town of Agra, where he said there were more frequent buses to Udaipur. Of course I thanked him and accepted the offer. I can only begin to tell you the feeling of dread when I came out, rucksack strapped on my back, to see him and his chum perched on a motorbike - actually at first I thought how nice of them, they’re obviously going to ride alongside my car… (Mum/Claus/Dad if you’re reading this I promise I won’t do it again). I have to say although he was a reasonably safe driver, it was one of the scariest moments of my life - I know how easy it is to come flying off a moped and I had to blank out thoughts of skidding on sand around corners, rucksack straps being pulled into the wheel, goats or monkeys scampering across the road, lorries coming around blind bends etc. In fact this morning I noticed several white hairs in my stubble - I’m sure they weren’t that prominent before.

As for the 8 hour bus journey to Udaipur - I don’t know if my backside could take another beating like that. The seats are covered in fabric but the padding has worn thin in the seat - so you take a hammering as you go over all the bumps. That aside it’s a good way to see rural India as you drive through several small towns; fascinating to see a barber shaving his customer at a tree by the side of the road, an old lady beating dough to make bread. When I arrived here last night and saw myself in the mirror, I practically had stage makeup on - black desert dust from the journey had smudged all around my eyes.

To cut to the chase - no I haven’t met any totty yet! I’m staying in a guest house this time to socialize a bit more; this morning there were two pretty blonde girls sitting at the table - but one was busy clipping her toenails on it. Call me old fashioned…

One week in and I have avoided the delhi-belly (TOUCH WOOD) but people say it often gets you later…

That’s all for now - hope you are all well back home, please do keep emailing - it’s great to hear from anyone when I find access to the internet.

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