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Published: February 24th 2009
So, after the last entry, we were checking out the Temple in the Pink City where the women could watch the city happenings from above without being watched themselves, etc...
The next day in Jaipur, we wake up around 9:30. I ask the guy running the front if he can do my load of laundry now but he says no - I'll explain this situation and this guy in more detail a bit later. We have to book train tickets to Jaisalmer (west about 12 hours). This is where we take off for the camel safari in the Thar desert. So, we head over to an internet cafe, but we're put on a waiting list so Aaron heads over to the train station on a rickshaw to see if he can get us on that way while Jade and I wait. Same result - put on a waiting list but with a 95% chance of getting on and we have to check back a bit later.
From there, we negotiate with a rickshaw driver to take us to the Monkey Temple, or the Temple of the Sun, wait for an hour and take us back. The Monkey Temple is about
7 kms away and we only have to pay him 100 Rps, or ~$2. We arrive at the temple and see monkeys right away. They aren't pesky at all, as I thought they might be...they kinda just hang out, run around like monkeys and groom each other. The reason the monkeys hang out at this specific temple is because there is a lake in the back where they call cool off during the day and come out and around the temple by night. As we're walking up the path towards to top, there are many poor people along the way. One boy decides he wants to be our body guard from the monkeys...for only 100 Rps...no thanks little guy. Along one path of the road, there are about 20 people huddled around. This is their home and they're extremely poor. It's hard to walk passed and not do anything for them but you have to stay in the mindset that if you give each poor person you see here money, you'll be out yourself. Anyway, there is a snake charmer among these people and this guy actually wraps the cobra's tail around his 2 (one nearly naked) children! This is
the stuff you ignore because if you take pictures you're encouraging it. Apparently, they take the fangs out of the cobras before they handle them, but it's still pretty ridiculous.
As we climb, we can see beautiful views of the Pink City as well as the two forts that overlook the area.
After the Monkey Temple, we have our driver take us to old city again to walk around and maybe shop a bit. We're headed to the desert in a couple days so we know we're going to need our turbans! Aaron draws quite a bit of attention, and laughter, as a local shows Aaron how to put the turban on. Aaron's turban is red. Jade's is purple. Mine is...well, take a guess.
Later on, we decide to go to a Bollywood film called "Billy Barber". If you haven't heard of these, check it out on Youtube. Almost each movie involves an extremely cheesy love story and multiple dance sequences = awesome city. The movie is completely in Hindi except for a few English phrases thrown in periodically so it's hard to follow, but at the end we all kind of go..."ohhh...that must be his long lost brother!" The
best scene in the movie was at the very beginning: There is a conversation between a man and a woman in a village for about 5 minutes then all of a sudden, out of no where, we're transplanted onto a space station in which a sweet dance sequence commences. YES! While we are all laughing hysterically, no one else around us is - whoops.
After the movie, we head over to McDonald's for shits and giggles. There is no beef - just chicken and veggie burgers and you're not allowed to take pictures inside for some reason - but I sneak a couple in - NBD...along with one with Ronald McDonald himself!
After all the fun and games, we head over to a travel agency so we can confirm our train tickets. We're put in the sleeper section which means no blankets, sheets, pillows or A/C. I figure that we'll be sleeping the whole time (leaves ~midnight and arrives at noon) and it's hot out, so it's not a big deal. If I would have known I would have been freezing my ass off the whole time I woulda made some serious adjustments as I have no sleeping bag,
pillow, or anything.
Ok, now let's talk about Jafar, shall we? He's the guy who I mentioned earlier wouldn't let me do laundry on our day of departure. Of course, we've all seen "Aladdin" - the classic Disney movie. Here, I'll refresh your memory:
Jafar. Not pictured in this shot is his teeth, which are gapped and dirty as hell.
He is the brother of the owner of the Ashyana Guesthouse, where we were staying in Jaipur. When we checked in, Aaron bargained with the owner to get the price down to 275 Rps, but the owner made sure we knew not to tell his brother because "he's a little crazy"... to say the least. Each morning, I'd hear 3 loud yelps in a row coming from outside the room. I figured it was someone outside or something the first morning but I realized it wasn't after the next. These 3 yelps are repeated a few times. You can tell he's sitting in a tub pouring water all over himself...constantly making blowing noises - kinda like the one's out of blow holes of whales. This goes on for a good 2 hours. After the first morning, he shaved in
front of his mirror in the main room for a good hour and a half - but I must say he looked sharp for an evil character such as himself. Anyway, back to the blowhole ritual. It gets to the point where someone comes to check in, and he tells them 2 minutes and never emerges from his lair of insanity.
The morning we are to check out, I desperately needed laundry done. He said no problem, just leave the clothes by the corner and they'll be ready later. I then told him we would check out now, and I'd pick them up before the train left later. When he realized I wasn't staying another night, he immediately said the laundry couldn't be done any longer. When I asked why, he said he had "asked" and it was now not possible. However, it was impossible he could've asked anyone since it was just us two in the room and he was looking at himself, back and forth over his shoulders, in the mirror. So, yea - that's the evil, crazy Jafar who was the subject of many questions over the next few nights such as, "what do you think Jafar
is doing
right now?", etc.
Anyway - onto Jaisalmer! Jaisalmer is the Golden City because the buildings are carved from sandstone with extreme detail. There is a fort at the top of a hill with houses, shops and restaurants inside. A great place to watch the sunset as well.
During the day, two funny things happen worth mentioning (don't read if you get offended easily):
In an internet cafe, we talk with a the young guy in charge of the 4 computer, tightly compacted room. You can tell he's a "western-style" Indian, as he knows about Daft Punk, Cut Copy and a bunch of other DJs and his favorite movies are "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs". We joke around with him and he says he's heard of a saying that is a substitute for "You got it". I tell him to say, "that's the ticket" but he can't quite get it right and constantly says, "That's the dick!" We see him later on in the day riding passed us with a motorcycle yelling the same thing - hilarious. I can just imagine him in health class as the teacher points to the male reproductive organ on a projection screen
asking if anyone knows what it is. He would definitely get it right.
After the internet cafe, we head over to the Wine Shop - the Indian equivolent of a liquor store or beer store. On the outside it reads, "Wine Shop" and below that, "Cheeld Beer". Now, I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt because maybe, just maybe, there is a brand called "Cheeld", but in the back of my head I know the truth. Anyway, I ask the guy for "cheeld" beer and it's not a brand after all - not surprising but hilarious. When Aaron asks if they have Royal Stag whiskey, he belches loudly and looks into the street behind us as if the question had never been asked. At this point, Aaron and I come to the decision that we have to buy a tape recorder just for occurrences just like those.
The first night, Aaron and I split from the girls. We decide to surprise Jade with a birthday cake that night (her bday is on the 22nd, the last night in the desert). The traditional birthday song is sang but after that we go Indian-style. Rubbing cake on her
face and each of us feeding her a piece with our hands.
Another character: Mr Desert. This is the man in charge of the travel agency making our desert journey plans. Yes, his name is officially Mr. Desert. Let me explain. As we walk towards his office in the middle of the market, we see portraits all along the town of a man with a turban, looking proud and staring to the right of the camera. These pictures are attached to ads and restaurants. When we arrive at the agency, a Jaisalmer Cigarette ad hangs in a frame behind the desk. Mr. Desert greets us and we talk about the camel safari. We plan on leaving the next morning. The trip starts with a jeep ride about an hour and a half outside of town where we'll meet up with our guides and camels. It is a 3 day, 2 night trek in the Thar desert and we'll sleep in the sand dunes each night, one night is going to be Jade's celebration night which includes fireworks!
After the trip is explained in detail, he tells us how he came to be known as Mr. Desert and that it
is, in fact, him who's face is pictured all over town. Starting in 1988, Jaisalmer has had a "Mr. Desert" competition - who portrays the face of the desert man the best. He won from 1988 - 1992 and was permanently given the title Mr. Desert for all eternity. So, we take pictures with the hometown hero and depart to the hotel.
Our hotel is called the Golden City Hotel and has hot water (first time!), comfortable and big rooms, a patio and a pool. A huge step up from past guesthouses. Aaron's room even has a TV which plays "Cops" - a lot. The rooms are 250 Rps each or 125/person - about $2.75!
The next morning we walk over to Mr. Desert and get the Jeep to the desert. The jeep has no doors nor seatbelts, which I like (sorry, Mom) - it gives the trip more of a "safari" feel. The camels and guides are waiting for us when we arrive. At about 10:30, we take off. We all plan to give our camels names and I'm the first one to do so when within 2 minutes of our journey, he
walks into a bush and gets stuck. "Bush-whacker" is now his nickname; real name is Lalu.
Our guides include two boys, ages 7 & 10, and two older brothers, ages ~22 and ~30. Lunch and dinner each day are the same thing: veggie dahl, rice and chapati - all made from scratch. The first night, we get to the dunes and our guide tells us to go venture out and watch the sunset and take pictures. The sand dunes are just like you see them in magazines/tv, etc. The wind sculpts them and they are like mountains of sand. The sunset is really nice too that night with the thin clouds. That night, we drink shots of vodka, eat, smoke and dance with the kids. During the night, the winds pick up and it gets really cold. We all have to cover ourselves completely in blankets, including our heads.
Breakfast is hard-boilded eggs, toast and bananas. We take off for the 2nd set of dunes on this trip. We see a variety of animals during our little desert trek including gazelle, mules, white spiders, massive beetles and camels.
The last night is Jade's b-day party and we go out
with a bang - literally. We bought fireworks in Jaipur so we set them off around 2 AM...and then wished we had more. The night is filled with laughter as we contemplate who would win in a battle - Mr. Desert or Jafar? Good vs. Evil? All-knowing vs. Insane? Obviously, Mr. Desert comes out on top. We also realize that the best ad Budweiser could ever do to symbolize the ultimate freedom that is Budweiser, is to have Free Willy, waves crashing under him as he leaps over the barriers of captivity, Budweiser in fin. Patent pending.
The next day, we head back to Jaisalmer, eat some food and relax.
Tomorrow we head off to
Pushkar . It's a very holy city and has a temple right on a lake.
Until then...
Max
New pictures:
Uno Dos
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Dad
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Turban
Bring a green one home for me! Max, great stories, keep em coming and remnd me to tell you the camel joke. Love Dad