"20 Rupees to go CRAZY?"

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Jodhpur - The blue city.
This is a fact because
1. All the buildings are painted blue
and
2. It's also where i contracted food poisoning on day two and had to minimize my daily activities from wandering through the tangled streets to counting the points on my rooms' ceiling design (462 in case you were dying to know...)

I eggagerate. I wasn't sooo upset ; ) But eating toast was one of the highlights...

It was a really unique place - truly different than the other places i've seen anywhere since the main focal point of this near-desert town was the gigantic sandstone fort, Mehrangarh, built in 1459, that loomed over the entire area, high up on a red cliff. Amazing.

From the viewpoint of Mehrangarh the city sprawled out like a maze-on-drugs - beautiful shades of blue dotted the landscape - actually, blue was a colour once used for only the houses of Brahmins (elite caste), however these days it's more of a signature to the city itself.

Since i decided to overstay and get better, Heather ( girl i met at the Agra train station) and i got to see the city together on a few occasions.
Everyone knows that in India, hassles are ordinary - especially those that include Indian men....and even more common are those that include Indian men and their three-wheeled "there's no way that makes him look as Macho as he thinks he is" rickshaws.

One day, as Heather and i were shopping in a little market, a few drivers came up to us asking us "where you want to go?!"........followed by..... "your country, madam?!"......and....."why you looking at me like that?!"

At this point, we'd been followed by beggars, whistled at and had a man 'usher' me out of his shop in a hand-on-ass kinda way, so, we were a little strung out.

At times like these you can either get mad (which will get you nowhere, says the after school special) or have fun with it.
And that we did.

Eventually, Heather turned to one of the men, and the conversation went like this:

Heather - "how many Rupees to go crazy?"

Man - "20 Rupees"

Heather - "So...what you're saying is, it's 20 Rupees to go crazy?"

Man - "yes, come...get in."

Heather - "do you know where crazy is?"

Man - "ummm.....yes. Please, get in."

Me - "what if we are already crazy?"

Man - "impossible - i take you there"

Well, he got that one right.....

Wow. I mean, it wasn't the nicest thing for us to do - but we all had a good laugh (even the man...although, not convinced he knew what he was laughing at).

The next day, we decided to go to the most expensive hotel in Jodhpur to use their pool - only 250 Rupees for the entire day....very nice.
It was heaven.
Beautiful pool set into a little mini-fort landscape with lounge chairs and towels...umbrellas...it was exactly what we (my stomach and i ) needed.

After a few hours an older Indian man swam up to us and started to chat. He was really nice, very friendly (a little too much, his wife may have thought....) and talkative. Reeaaaal talkative.
We got everything from the future state of India -
It will be the world's next super-power! You have my 101%!g(MISSING)uarantee!

to

you speak English quite well...but it could use a little practice

(Really. Is it that bad?....In Agra i got the same thing...)

and my favourite -

I permit you to leave now, BUT - come back tomorrow and ask ME all the questions you need answered about India. I will let you know them all.

Thanks, Pal.

My train drew into the Delhi station this morning and i am now just biding time (aka: shopping, eating, minimal walking) until i fly to Goa tomorrow! I am very excited to be going there and also to be meeting up with friends.

Until next time....

Rebecca-anyone-know-a-good-ESL-teacher?-oh-wait-that's-what-I-AM-Orsini












After a little while dealing with persistent rickshaw men, you just have to have a little fun. A few days ago, in Jodhour, Heather (girl i met in Agra train station) and I found ourselves surrounded by men (surprise, surprise ; ) wanting us to get into their r

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Photos

Un-mappable
There are so many interesting places to stumble accross...

Rajasthani Woman
The state of Rajasthan is known for its bright coloured fabrics...

Perspective
..from our hotels rooftop restaurant...

Onlookers
(mens)

Rajasthani Shoes
(mens)

Typewriters
In case you need any documents done up professionally...

Bollywood Ad
"Shakalaka Boom Boom" - saw it. Good movie :)