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Published: January 17th 2007
dhani
All dressed up (proper Indian style) for dinner at Chohki Dhani. Supposedly we're married?! Hello everyone,
We've decided because of the computer crashing last time and the keys on this keyboard not functioning properly, we are going to send a point-form email.
1) We signed onto a tour: 15 days, a personal driver to drive us all over Rajasthan, hotel accommodation arranged, elephant ride, camel safari in the desert, some dinners included and all breakfasts, and our train ticket to Mumbai.----After arguing with the tour "boss man", we got the whole package down to $1400 CAN from $1800 CAN. Good job Kris!
2)We took a tour of New Delhi the same day--Day 1 of our journey. We saw the President's palace, India Gate, Lotus temple, Himayun's (sp) tomb, and our favorite Akshar Dham. This temple with its intricate detail and precision carving awe-struck us both, especially when the sun set and the lights came on.
3)We woke up at 530am the next morning. Kris decided to take a walk to look for a warmer sweater (Delhi was cold). As we were walking along the barren streets, we met a British couple named Stacy and Dan. They were coming from the train station trying to find an alternative option for travel
temple1
One of the many many temples in India. to Agra. We were set to leave at 8am for Agra so we offered a seat with us in our car. They agreed with delight and thus began our friendship with the Brits.
4) Off to Agra (Day 2). 4 hours of driving later we arrived in a not-so-special city. We immediately set off to see the Taj Mahal. Perfect in symmetry and construction, the temple is beautiful, especially the marble inlets of flowers.
5)Day 3...we were off to Jaipur. Stacy and Dan decided to join us once again for the ride, this time 7 hours. We drove past many hard-working villages that seemed to each have their own purpose. Brick-making village, marble sculpting, tire making etc. Rajasthan seemed like it was also getting a lot of improvements done, mainly to its rough-patched road.
6) Before getting to Jaipur, we stopped to see the Monkey Temple, a place where hundreds of monkeys reside. You can buy a bag of peanuts for 5 Rs and hand them out to monkeys as they run around un-caged. Some proved to be smart, taking Stacy's bag of peanuts, running off with it.
7) Jaipur--we marveled at the Raj Mandir Theatre
Taj1
Hanging out at the Taj. the night we arrived. One of two theaters designed by the same man who had his builders' arms cut off afterwards, so they could not make another one. It truly was a temple in itself. We watched our first Bollywood film entitled "Vhiva," meaning marriage. Although the film was extremely cheesy, and the boys wanted to go
after the intermission, Stacy and Izabela really enjoyed. The audience clapped when there were happy times and cried out loud when there was a sad moment. Truly something Izabela's never experienced at a movie theatre before.
8) Day 4 we went to the Amber fort for an elephant ride. Poor animal had to walk up-hill. We then decided to hike up to the peak to catch a view of the city.
9) We also saw the water-less Water Palace, and walked around one of the markets...busy busy.
10)That night we met up with Stacy and Dan and went to Chocki Dhani—a restaurant theme park in the middle of nowhere. A ton of fun, as they greet you by putting a dot on the women's forward, and red line on the men's. We had dinner sitting on mats on the floor
taj2
The Taj Mahal in all its glory. beside a fire, trying an array of Rajasthani food. Later we marveled at the different activities going on the fair ground. Most notably, a Jurassic park cave with the sound of a cheesy horror movie. There were also these boys dressed in Tarzan outfits pounding on a drum in a tree house. We also said good-bye to Stacy and Dan. So sad.
11)Day 5. We headed off to Pushkar, a small town around a lake. Kris was haggled by priests and accomplices who offered a flower in exchange for good karma (They give it to you and then chase you down for rupees). One man, after Kris firmly said "No flower, no flower!" said "You have bad Karma" in Kris' face. Perhaps he gave him bad Karma because the next morning he got terribly ill after eating porridge with MILK.
12)Day 6. Kris was sick as a dog. Diarrhea. We did our laundry and stayed in for the rest of the day.
13)Day 7. We headed off to Bikaner despite Kris still being sick. On our way there we stopped at the Rat Temple...rats, like the monkeys are good luck. After seeing a dead rat being eaten
dinner
Having dinner with Stacy, Dan and Bharat (the immature driver) up by other rats...we were out of there. Too much for the Western eye. When we got to Bikaner, we checked into our hotel and didn't leave until we checked out the next morning. Poor Kris.
14)Day 8. Off to Jaiselmer, mainly for our camel safari in the desert. Kris felt much better (not 100%, but about 75% better). We ate in the city's fort at a restaurant called Little Italy. We had pasta and pizza. The smells in this city were too much even for Izabela's stomach...poo and pee. Yes Timmy.
15)Day 9. We went back to the fort to see the Jain Temples, which were beautifully crafted with intricate detail and carving. After that, we headed towards the desert. In a nearby village we saw a school and Izabela asked our driver Bharat if we could look inside. The director of the school was happy to see us, welcomed us and after talking about the school's financial problems showed us around. A neat experience for sure.
16)We ventured out into the desert camel-back...Kris' broke his nail in half as the camel tried to get up. Bad Karma. We hobbled around the desert...really peaceful and calm.
camel
This camel pissed beside us while we took this pic. The sand was so fine it felt like water spilling through your hands. We stopped to watch the sunset...oooh how romantic, and then headed back to the huts to watch some gypsy dancing and have dinner. The owner was really nice and taught us a new card game--absolutely addicting.
17)Day 10.Once again we sat back down in the car, heading east to Jodhpur, where we reside at this moment. Last night we met up with a guy we first met back in Delhi. His name is Jason, and although really hyper...a cool guy to hang out with. We walked around the city, having a late dinner and marveling at the MOST BEAUTIFUL textiles in India. This place makes
hand-woven, hand- stitched bed covers and all hanging, and shawls for all the big name designers. We were all awe-stuck as they were folded out in front of our eyes, beauty by beauty. After 20, we were definitely thinking of buying 1 if not many, but it was a visual overload as well, and we needed out.
18) We bought some beer for the night and stayed up playing our new card game with Jason.
19)Day 11.Breakfast time it
monkey
Monkeys at the Monkey Temple was and we went to what Lonely Planet recommends as the best omelets a person will ever have. It was pretty damn good. The "restaurant" is a tiny shack...a wall of eggs (1000 get cracked a day), where a father son team greet, and make their signature omelets. The father makes em, the son greets em. You'll have to see the picture to believe it.
20)Jodhpur is probably our favorite city so far. All the houses around the massive fort are blue just like the sky. We took an audio tour with Jason and a friend he acquired in Pushkar--an outgoing Kiwi, Kelly, around the fort and maharaja palace, which was both informative and actually fun. Those kings lived in a beautiful place. The fort has never in history been conquered.
21)Afterwards we headed to the market to grab some lunch--we have our favorite spot here already--and something sweet. Lassi is this mixture of yoghurt, sugar, and other "bad" stuff for you...it tastes like lemon meringue but smoother like pudding. So damn good. But we have to say, we were a bit hesitant considering all that's happened to Kris because of milk.
22)It was shopping time and
rats
First the monkeys....then the RATS! This is just a small corner of the Rat Temple. we spent 4 hours and $900.00 each at this textiles shop that had hand-made goods made from local villages for designers such as Versace, Armani and such. That's all we're saying for now.
23) We're about to send this email and we hope the power doesn't fail on us this time seeing as every time we have tried to send it, the power just disappears. The power has gone out on us at least once in every city. Oh India.
We appreciated all the emails, and miss you all very much. Take care and talk to you next time. Lotsa love,
Kris and Izabela
PS. Kris has been getting more attention than me in India because of his good looks, "length," dancing ability and his name...Krish is a famous action hero in a movie...Superman style baby. When we get to Mumbai I have to find a shirt of this uber-hero for him. I keep wondering when my ass is going to get touched.
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gucci
non-member comment
hello from jodhpur
hey guys, i am sure you haveing nice time in your trip, well i am from jodhpur, and i am sure you like that verymuch!!!!!!! you have really nice pictures as well. and yes littel advise for you "good to trust but some time you have to be inttelegent" bye for now have a great time.....