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Published: December 18th 2006
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Mumbai to Hodko Oh my, what an incredible adventure I found myself enjoying back on the Christmas holidays! Deserts and a camel trek and tiny, traditional villages where ancient handicrafts and traditional ways of life are still practiced. Not to mention bicycling through several of the National Parks of India.
But how very crazy these weeks since have been! In January I managed to scramble through two weeks of teaching before taking a group of 29 students on a week long trip to The Hague in Holland for the Model United Nations Conference. Then I went back to school to teach for three days before taking 21 students on a 5 day trip to our regional music festival in Kathmandu, Nepal. Now, I've been back to teaching less than two weeks and finally finding things settled, the routine reestablished, room in life to reflect and create
And that means its time to reflect on the adventures of the holiday trip. And to share the stories!
Monday, December 18, with my expandable suitcase lightly packed - lots of extra space for the incredible souvenirs of the coming weeks - I ask the rickshaw driver to drop me off at Bandra Station so
I can catch the train for my 18 hour ride to Bhuj in the far western state of Gujurat here in India.
Well, I quickly discover that Bandra Station, where I had asked to be dropped off, was not Bandra Terminus, from which my train actually would depart! Luckily, every one I ask says it was close. 'Just walk toward the red sign'. And when I got there it was 'just continue walking towards the green sign'. And then it was 'just go on until . . . . .' anyway, about a mile later, down a dusty dirt road, I arrive at Bandra Terminus. And my train.
But that dusty dirt road was a bit too much for my suitcase. For the next three weeks I will be dragging a one wheeled expandable suitcase behind me. By the end of the trip that suitcase will fully expanded, huge and heavy! And there will be a hole all the through the suitcase where the other wheel used to be!
The train eases out of the station, the light and shadows dance across peoples faces on the platform as we travel into the gathering twilight. The wheels beat
out their predictable rhythm and I settle into the gentle swaying of the train car. I've reserved a seat in a 2nd class, air conditioned bunk bed car and the night passes easily.
But I do come to understand at least part of why the trains here are truly a part of any Indian adventure. Squat-style toilets that let you look right down on the train tracks as they thunder by, are one aspect of that adventure! And oh, toilet paper? Bring your own. This is one of those countries where the right hand is for eating and the left hand is for . . . . well . . . . toilet paper!
The sun rises and the dance of the brilliant orange of the early morning sun flickering across the walls of the train awakens me. We arrive in Bhuj two hours late. The city is recreating itself anew this morning, vibrant in the early morning activity of the incoming train. And its a city recreating itself in another way too. After the horrific earthquake of January, 2001 which killed thousands of residents and left much of the medieval heart of the city in ruins.
I meet my ride at the train station and we head out of town, down tiny one lane paved roads which are raised on berms above the surrounding desert. So these road can remain above the water when the monsoons come and this desert turns to swamp. We go to the tiny village of Hodko. Actually, it is a collection of 13 hamlets, most of them Moslem, who have opened a cultural and ecological hotel in hopes of promoting their traditional way of life and of encouraging the people of their village to maintain that way of life. From the very first, the people of the village are incredibly warm and welcoming. So very eager to share their hospitality and their way of life.
And one of the first things to strike me about their way of life concerns their buildings. The white washed round structures are made of mud plaster covering sticks and branches woven to form the inner structure of each wall. Intricate designs are molded into the drying mud plaster and tiny mirrors are placed in the drying mud plaster inside the buildings to reflect the light of the simple source of light, an oil lamp.
Even the furniture can be made of mud plaster, shaping beds and chairs on which cushions can later be placed. The roofs are made of reeds and leaves, woven together and coming to a point over the round building with a reed representation of 'animal' like creatures at the point. And to add the finishing touch, brightly colored designs and patterns are painted on the walls. The effect is stunning. And natural. But the buildings take constant care, re-plastering in the vicious heat of the dry season and the driving rains of the monsoon season.
The first afternoon I take a 4 wheel drive trip out to the huge, but shallow Chhari-Dhand Lake for some incredible birding. We see migratory birds from Russia such as the Common Crane, migratory birds from Europe such as the White Stork and numerous types of eagles and buzzards and harriers. Then we head on to an extinct volcano, Kiro Hill, and play rock hound for a while, finding some excellent crystals and fossils.
Again and again, as we cross the road less desert in our Tata 4x4, we find people cutting down the scrub brush. It seems a terrible thing to do
in this desert where plant life hangs on by the barest of margins. Well, it turns out its not quite that simple. The brush, Gando Baawal, is not indigenous, its from Africa. It was brought here to try to control the spread of the desert. But instead it grew so well here that it started taking over the desert! So, the people harvesting it, making charcoal of it and selling it in neighboring states for a nice profit, are doing the local environment a nice favor. But the bad side is that unless the roots are bulldozed up, the brush comes back, stronger than ever. And then there's the problem of the people seeing the huge profits to be made from selling charcoal who are now cutting down all the brush, including the native plants. The erosion issues created as a result are huge as this is a desert that does have a monsoon season. And the destruction of indigenous habitat also destroys the intricate web of life. Including animal life. Like jackal, hyena, fox and wolf.
As the sun sets, we come across a group of camel drivers, moving their herds of camel across the dusty desert. The
muted glow of the setting sun settling through the clouds of dust and the profiles of the camels in front of the setting sun creates a deep sense of peace. Of traditions untouched by time.
Until one of the camel driver's cell phones rings. And his wife tells him to bring the camels home for the night!
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Eric
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camels and hotel
Love the indoor shots of the Hodko resort...very warm and inviting. And the camel shots are beautiful.