Rajasthan

---

I've been kinda lazy on updating lately. Amritsar was nice, had an interesting time getting there too. When I was waiting for the train in Rishikesh, I met some Sikh men and talked to them about where I was going and how I was planning on getting there. They told me they were also going to Amritsar and that they were going in a much quicker way and that I should come with them. After a while I decided it would be a good idea and agreed to get off with the at Midnight which was four hours before the stop I had planned on getting off at. So when the time came to get off the train, I tried to get off and found that apparently everyone's favorite place to sleep is on the doors. I went to the next car and, same story. Then the train starts moving, and the Sikh man finds me, so we both start yelling at the people sleeping on the door and they finally get up in time for me to jump off the train. It wasn't moving terribly fast, so its not as exciting as it sounds. There were about 12 Sikhs traveling together whom I joined and they were all very nice and generous. They all had snacks and continually offerred them to me, and the first time I tried to turn down a snack, I found that they wouldn't take no for an answer. One of they younger Sikhs explained to me "Please, it's in our blood" which is a remarkably profound statement which serves to summarize the beliefs of generosity and equality that Sikhs hold central to their lives. Then I had to wait until 3:30 to catch the cheap local train to Amritsar, so I didn't get any sleep until that morning. The Sikh man who I had the most interaction with insisted that I give him my cell phone number so that he can call me when i get back to the States to make sure everything was ok. Oh he also insisted that I stay with him at his house and I think was a little offended when I turned him down because I felt it would have made me feel like a burden.

After sleeping for quite a while, I went out to see the Golden temple, bought a bandana so I had something to cover my head with, and it was beautiful. Its truly a magnificent sight. So I decided to sit down next to the huge pool of water that surrounds it to relax and take in the sight. Little did I know apparently this invites everyone around you to come and talk to you, be appalled that you don't speak Punjabi, and demand that you take pictures of them. It was fun at first to talk to all of the little kids and take a picture of an old man, who then gave me his address so I'd know where to send it...sure I will. But eventually it was just a little too annoying and stressful so I left. I went back later around midnight so there would be less crowds and I would be able to go into the temple. The inside is also amazingly beautiful and intricate, and everything was being cleaned and polished which was nice to see when some things in India certainly seem to be neglected and deteriorate much faster than they would if someone would take care of them with as much dedication.

The next day I went to see the closing of The India-Pakistan border. It was quite a show. Also, extremely hot because we were sitting on big concrete bleachers with no shade and it was at least 100 degrees. The ceremony however was quite entertaining. People were cheering and dancing and yelling as if it were some huge sporting event/party, even with the heat, and the border guards all had rediculous hats and marched more aggressively than I have ever seen, with their feet coming up above their heads. It was terribly comical and good fun.

So then the next day, having been seeing the sights with a few people I met who decided to go to Jaipur, I decided to go with them on a whim. We bought tickets for a deluxe bus, which is just a coach with comfortable push back seats. This was nice enough to sleep when I wasn't scared to death of the frequency of which the bus was swerving on and off the road in order to avoid other cars. However, when we got into Rajasthan, we stopped and they said, alright, time to change buses. So without our prior knowledge, we then had to switch buses to a crammed local bus to make the remaining 5 hours of the journey, which was rediculous considering how much money we payed for our tickets. Oh well, so here I am in Jaipur, we will go see the old city today and do some shopping as well as seeing a Hindi movie in a crazy 1200 seat cinema. Should be fun.

---

Comments

[Mom]

Sorry you got sick, but glad you had a mother-substitute to take care of you. Now we have a common experience of being sick while traveling-it sounds like yours was worse, because i never made it to the doctor since I was travelling around Spain at the time. Glad you are feeling better. Have a safe trip back. See you soon. Love, Mom