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Published: February 15th 2010
Sand dunes
Mel by sun setSo this week I had a BATH (well, a few really). We have a real BATHTUB! I was sure I'd never see one this trip, but low and behold! Oh yeah... we rode on some camels too. :-) But I'm jumping ahead. Let me back up a little...
Getting out of Goa had proved to be a little difficult: like a big conspiracy to stay longer to spend your tourist dollars. It was about a 3 week wait to get a train... and after spending 4 days racking our brains and consulting a handful of travel agents we bit the bullet and bought a plane ticket directly to Udaipur, saving ourselves a lot more hassle and about a full day and night on the train.
We stayed in the heart of the old part of Udaipur, right on the lake with a stunning lake view of the two lake palaces and some of the old buildings. We also had THE SOFTEST mattress of our whole trip (just like being at home!). Heavenly. It was the perfect place to be sick --which was exactly what I proceeded to be for the next 3-4 days. But all tucked in with a
new book, my great view and cooler weather, it was kinda nice to have some time to chill out after moving around more in Goa. Jeff would return to the room to check on me and to give me 'virtual tours' of his adventures via photos and to share tales of the interesting characters he'd met along the way. He spent one afternoon on the back of G-2's motorbike (G-2 was his new friend's name) along with another fellow and cruised out to a village out of town. While part of me was frustrated that I was stuck in the room and missing out, I knew that these adventures were only possible in my absence (India's Boy's Club) and it was fun hearing all about this part of India that would otherwise elude me.
On my first excursion out we ate on a rooftop restaurant where the neighbouring table invited us to sing Happy Birthday to their friend and share their cake. Octopussy, having been filmed in Udaipur, is shown every night at every other guesthouse and hotel in the old part of the city (can you imagine watching it EVERY night if you worked there?!??!). We took a
tour of the palace and
... my favourite... I took an Indian cooking class! Shashi was a fantastic teacher. About $12 got me 5 hours of instruction and then we ate everything we made. Three kinds of flatbread, snacks, chutneys, curries, rice dishes, paneer and yogurt (curd). Sooo delicious! Anyone care to come over for dinner when we're back!?!?
Jeff's new hero in Udaipur, Mr. A, could tell you where or how to get anything you could possibly need (truly amazing). So, now armed with Oreos, peanut butter and train tickets for the next few legs of our journey, we were on our way to Jaisalmer. We took a coach bus from Udaipur to Jodhpur and thanks to a booking mistake our seats on the bus were taken and we got the front row instead where we had lots of leg room and a good window seat! Ooooo Yeah! We went by so many marble dealers along the way where there's so much junked marble that many farm walls are made out of it and heaps upon heaps of it sit by the roadside (if only it didn't weigh so much what a great addition to our new house!). Then came the train ride...
When Mr. A had told us that he thought that AC class would be more comfortable for us, what I thought he meant was "Air conditioning class is more deluxe so of course being a westerner you'd like it more". It never occurred to me that what he really meant was, "Hey, you're heading into the desert and sleeper class isn't a sealed compartment and so it will be not only freezing cold at night but also incredibly dusty, so you'd have to be crazy or broke to not go AC". How quickly we changed our tickets for leaving from Jaisalmer to AC upon our arrival! Sigh of relief!
Jaisalmer is like a giant fairy tale sandcastle. The fort sits atop a hill that looks as if a giant scoop of sand was dumped and then built upon it. The photos will do it more justice than my words could. We opted for a place to stay off the hilltop as the water usage of too many tourists is causing the hill to be unstable and the fort --already so precariously perched right to its very edge-- has already lost a chunk Jaisalmer Havalis
Intricate sandstone work of its wall. It's foundation simply can't take all the water tourists use. Like in Varkala, there seems to be so little awareness of the repercussions of actions and the focus staying on continuing to make money... which makes sense given the struggle against poverty. Our guest house was recommended by an Australian couple we met at Kudle beach, and it has been terrific. Apollo is run by a wonderful family who has treated us like honoured guests and catering to all our needs... including sending us off into the desert with their uncle, Abraham!...
We organized 2 days and 1 night into the desert with the option of staying an extra night if we felt we could were up to it (never having been on camels, we didn't know what our bodies could handle...). Teamed up with an Italian couple, a jeep took us about 45 minutes out of town where we met our camels and guides. Abraham, Ali and Laloo had our steeds saddled up and ready to go upon arrival: Marinda, Raja, Papoo & the biggest camel whose name escapes me. Let me quickly add here, that I am currently adorned by my most excellent rainbow turban... that if I brought NOTHING else with me into the desert, this turban was it. It was a totally frivilous purchase, I know: truly, when will I ever wear it again? But can you blame me?!?!? It's the coolest thing.
I wish I had footage of what it's like to get up and down on a camel, but holding on tight was about all I could manage at that moment. Riding a camel is a bumpy, rocky affair. It took some figuring how to make it most comfortable, but with my sweater wedged in to keep me more steady and my arms bracing myself somewhat, I seemed to be getting the hang of it. The camel's feet squished along like giant gel-fill masses that spread out upon impact to cushion the weight of their big bodies. Mesmerizing. We made our first stop at a village where children ran out to meet us with the usual, "Hello-one-school-pen" greeting (note to self: travel with LOTS of pens). When we told them we had none, they wanted rupees in exchange for photos of them with their sheep. Not sure whether I'd be starting a bad precedent for other tourists or how Jeff on Camel-back
Higher and bumpier than it looks! I wanted to handle the situation, we walked away... only to be taken by storm! The Italian woman got a stone in the back of the legs (amazingly accurate aim given they were all under about 7). The rest of us escaped unscathed. We ate lunch by an old temple ruin and were able to give our legs and butts a much needed rest. The camels had their front legs shackled with rope to keep them from running off and were then free to take small steps and graze from the trees (worked rather well given the options). We rode another 3 hours and found ourselves in the sand dunes. So beautiful and QUIET. How much we've missed the quiet. More good food, Abraham's desert songs, and Laloo's (only 13) great service. We were well taken care of. Tucked in cozy by Abraham, we slept in the open under a star-filled sky trying to see what constellations we could recognize. Reminded me how much I love living in BC that such a view is available to me so close to home.
The next day we awoke to chai in bed and a breakfast of eggs and toast. We were clear at this point that though we could spend another day hanging out in the sand dunes, a third day of riding was out of the question: our bodies would be maxed by day's end. We rode another 3 hours, returning a different route. Such beautiful terrain, differing every half hour or so. After about an hour and a half, the Italian contingency opted to walk. By this point, the ride had become something of a mind-over-matter meditation. A deal with my body if you will: I would not give in to the pain and my body would afford me another hour and a half on the camel until we stopped for lunch, which would be the end of our safari. As long as I didn't think about it, it didn't hurt. Jeff was in too: we could do this! Go team! And WE DID!!! I had to physically remove my other leg off the camel. I've got great footage of Jeff after he got off, unable to move much. Ha! We were quite the sight. 24 hours later, we're still pretty sore. Of course this morning --when we needed the tub the most-- was the morning the power went out and the hot water was only warm. Oh how stiff we are. For the ride, the guide book recommended women wear a sports bra... which was great. Seamless underwear would have been a great hint too. But lets not go there, shall we?
We have 2 more days here before leaving for the bird sanctuary, Agra (Taj Mahal) and then Varanasi. I'll sign off here as already this is quite long and the day is fading away. Hope this finds you all well. Only one and a half months to go!...
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Brendan
non-member comment
Wow! Great report, Mel. This looks like a very exciting place to explore. Thanks for the super pictures. BTW .... you will be able (encouraged) to wear the "rainbow turban" at Horning's Hideout this summer along with any other exotic clothes you may have bought. I hope you are felling better by the time you read this. Keep on blogging !! Lots of love to you both, from Brendan. p.s. Bella is happy and gets LOTS of cuddles and belly-rubs .... but hardly any exercise ...... she's a happy, fat-cat. I'm really enjoying looking after her day-to-day.