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Day Seven......
We awoke to find Raj cleaning the car again and upon taking out our bags we were met with Ashok! A lovely friendly guy who informed us he would be with us to continue the tour. Our bags were not squashed inside the car, but on the roof rack we didn't know existed and we had even more room. Ashok sat In the front and as I was head organiser had to speak to Ashok uncomfortably about the tour so far and what the problems were....awkward!!! Ashok then told us that Raj was going though some family problems, our email had broke his heart, and he had to cancel a trip with other customers to come and see us so he was not given a bad review on trip advisor by us...so as you can imagine we felt.... awkward AND guilty. Never mind, we cracked on and to be fair things were ten times better as soon as that conversation was out of the way. As Ashok said, the tour starts now. Throughout Ashok translated to Raj what we were asking and saying, telling us Raj 1) definitely can't speak English even though claims he does. surely he
would want to show Ashok how good he is as a tour guide rather than letting him take over completly 2) Raj shouldn't have been working if he was feeling so low and bad for his family problems.
Anyway, the journey went quick with Ashok talking about Indian culture and traditions. Our first stop was to see a magical motorbike, the baba motorbike, this was to bring the rest of trip luck. The shrine is on a motorway famous for its brutal accidents. At this place Bullet Motorcycle is worshiped and people of Rajasthan strongly believe in him. The story of worshiping the bike goes like, few years ago "Om Bana" referred to the young Rajput Boy was driving on the highway and had a sudden death due to bike accident. The police took the vehicle to the police station but the very next day vehicle was again their at the accident point , the police later on removed the fuel and punctured the tyre but again the bike went to the same point. During the phase there were plenty of accidents happened which were brutal. Later some old folk suggested to keep the bike their only and start
worshiping as this was the reason for accidents over the place. Same thing was implemented and since then there have been no more accidents. The Bike is worshiped and Alcohol is also dedicated to Shri Om Bana. Drivers believe that if they are passing through that highway its necessary for them to worship him and if they do it they don't have any problems during their journey.
From here we ventured into another different landscape of forests and mountains heading up to the hills. We stopped on the side of the road to meet a local farmer irrigating his land in a very traditional way. He sat on a buffalo who was attached to a mechanism which raised buskers of water from a well and then flowed to the nearby fields. He even let Danielle and me have a go sitting on the buffalo. We were loving this experience, thanks Ashok.
Next stop was at the Janism religion church. Not Jenism I'm afraid but Janism. The Janism religion is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings and emphasises spiritual independence and equality between all forms of life. Practitioners believe that non-violence and
Udaipurself-control are the means by which they can obtain liberation The church was very impressive and we decided to take an audio tour. But not before the boys having to don some more clothes as they had their arms and legs out meaning they were showing too much flesh. The audio tour was interesting, Rhys bailed early on and took lots of pictures of the beautiful building. The place made for great pictures and he took many great shots. Danielle and l climbed under the mystical elephant statue which brings good luck and fortune and we ended up staying a while as it was so pretty. We stopped in a little over budget hotel but it was worth the money as it was very hot and the hotel had a swimming pool! Ashok even stopped by a alcohol shop so we could buy some cheap alcohol (not hotel prices) to drink later in the night. These were called Hayward's beer and very strong, about 8%. So that night we relaxed and Craig and I were introduced to the card game president and peasant. I seemed a dab hand and won most games, shame we weren't playing for money.
Day
Eight......
We were up early and with heavy heads from the rocket fuel/petrol oil beer we settled in to the journey to Udiapur. I didn't really know anything about Udiapur apart from that a part of the James Bond film was filmed here. I had no idea what it would be like and after we drove around one of the lakes and got a cable car to a view point to watch the sunset and admire the lush, lake views, had the most amazing masala dosa and I decided I liked the place very much. Just to clarify to you if you don't know what a masala dosa taste sensation is it is a crispy rice and lentil pancake with a spicy potato filling in the middle, typically eaten at breakfast with curd. It is also sometimes served with a lentil broth called sambar and some spicy dipping sauces. I think its my favourite little Indian side dish, and hope we can get them at home, otherwise l shall have to learn how to make my own!
We were supposed to stay for sunset but decided after 30 mins and after having had the masala dosa of dreams
wetting our appetites that we needed more food please. So we huddled back into the cable car to find Ashok and get checked into the hotel to head off exploring. The hotel again was a little over budget, but had the most amazing terrace overlooking the lakes and the hotel where octopussy was filmed. It was stunning. The hotel also had two very cute dogs, one being a pug and the other a sausage dog who were our friends instantly and very entertaining.
Day Nine.....
Today we had a little lie in and mainly just relaxed around the hotel and surrounding area. Later in the afternoon we went to see what the Marwar festival was all about as this was happening whilst we were there. We didn't have to go far to find the festival, just around the corner where the ghat is onto the river was a huge crowd of people, mainly women wearing beautiful saris and looking very dressed up. Rajasthan is well known for having lots of and lots of festivals on throughout the year so it was only a matter of time before out trip around Rajesthan stumbled onto one. The festival features folk
music centered on the romantic lifestyle of Rajasthan's rulers. This festival is devoted to the music and dance of the Marwar region and offers a good opportunity to see the folk dancers carrying pots on their heads and singers who assemble here and provide hours of lively entertainment. The women gather to dress the images of Isar and Gangaur and then carry them in a ceremonial procession through different parts of the city of Rajasthan. The whole city of Udaipur of Rajasthan is decorated beautifully in colorful streamers. These folk artistes provide a glimpse of the days of yore, of battles and valiant heroes who still live on in their songs. It was great fun, so loud and colourful and gave us a fantastic glimpse of life in Rajasthan.
We walked following the procession until we got a little lost in an alley, having turned around we continued to walk through the busy streets around the lake and to an area which was holding a cultural programme. We settled in and waited for the cultural stuff to start. First up was a man (this had to be verified by all of us, as he was dressed in full makeup,
had long hair and was wearing a glittery skirt) balance pipes, and bowls on his head, he even managed to do this despite having a little row with his assistant because at one time when she was putting more props on his head the lot almost came down! With another assistant swapped in the fun continued with him having props on his head and also waving swords about. He has a shot at winning BGT for sure!. Next up was the Mr and Mrs Marwar competition. All the men watching ran forward to get a good view for this one. So two girls and two guys paraded around the stage and were asked questions (in Hindu), they answered and everyone clapped. Id like to think they asked whats your favourite curry, or perhaps what do you want to be in the future. In fact l think that was asked as one of the gentleman started doing lots of strange poses after being asked something from the host. Great wholesome fun. We had a little more of a wander around and found some very nice looking and cheap food stalls to have our dinner at. We sat down and ordered what
can be described as bread roll with a delicious spicy curry! yum. Danielle went off to take some pictures of the lights and water at night, and for about 5mins we thought we had lost her and she had been kidnapped!...she was dressed so much in hippy clothes she seemed to melt into the crowd! after a little panic and Rhys having a quick look up the street, there she was, just continuing to take pictures by the water. phew!
Day Ten....
Danielle and l were up early to do some yoga at 7am which was described to us as bringing the connection from your head to your heart. Brilliant, lets try some of this. We arrived on a roof top terrace, were covered in flower petals, the incense was flowing and off we went. This was definitely not conventional yoga as we knew it but is was fun all the same. Despite a little bit of psycho analysis pointed in my direction as l had my arms behind my bag (which apparently means l was focused on other things and not the yoga, there is always something ha) it was an surreal one of a kind experience.
The guru had us clapping, breathing in and out fast and slow, chanting and jumping up and down. We also laid on the floor with more petals placed on us and listened to the head guru (Osho) giving his guide to life. Brilliant experience. All overlooking the beautiful lake and with the sun rising.
Afterwards we had a flower necklace placed on us both as well as an OM bracelet and rosary wooden beads given to us to keep whilst having a drink of herbal tea. We were even given the guys business card, which on one side said he was a guru and the other a sales man for a tour agency, what a diverse fellow! We floated back to meet the boys who were amused with our get up. We had a quick change and packed up into the taxi again to more on to Pushkar.
En route to Pushkar we stopped at Ajmer town to go and see the dargah-Kwajalein muin-ud-din chisti temple. Ajmer is mainly a Muslim city and the temple is huge place for pilgrimage. As we couldn't take the car too close we were dropped of with strict intrusions from Ashok to
Udaipurbe back at the dropping off spot in 45mins. With this in mind we stomped on as it was at least a 15 minute walk to the temple. The route included a very intimidating walk through a very busy street with lots of street food vendors, people, physically disabled people, homeless people and off course lots of motorbikes coming through tiny gaps. I found this very intense, especially washed down with lots of dirty looks coming for the crowd. I bought a scarf whilst Rhys bought a skull cap to cover the top of his head. We persisted through the crowd and made it eventually to the entrance. Once in, there was lots to look at, lots of intricate buildings and a lot of people hanging around. It was quite full on, there were people banging heads against walls. We should have hired a guide to explain it all to us so we got a little more out of it i think.
We didn't stop too long and headed back down the road of full on assault on our senses, the humid air, the sounds of the street, smells of the food sellers and for me the touch from
a fellow asking for money. We were definitely Professional travelling I think. However, we did find a great food seller selling what can only be described as a kind of a Indian nachos, delicious. I'm pleased to say their were no repercussions afterwards as well. We made it to where we were meeting Ashok a little early,we only experienced full blown ogling and death stares for about 10minutes before our escape pod arrived (the taxi) and we were back on the road. What a surreal hour! Though some and over some beautiful mountain scenery and we arrived in Pushkar. Which felt like a another world to Ajmer. We stopped in a pretty decent hotel for a good haggled price. There was a pool and lovey surrounding gardens so not bad for a couple of nights. We headed straight into Pushkar town for exploring. Pushkar is said to be formed from the tears of shiva. We had a look round the tatt shops, had some dinner and a bhang lassi. A bhang lassi, is a lassi with weed in it. The is apparently the draw for backpackers, especially Israelies. This is not really our scene, but it was there so we
Pushkar courtyardhad some. One each was not going to do us any harm. I could sense things were going to get weed, I mean, weird, and they did a bit. We decided to get back to the safety of our hotel and whilst walking back it was quite dark and I was clipped by a guy on a moped, I'm not sure if they were trying to steal my bag or have a cheeky feel of my bum but it was a little shock. Not to worry, I wasn't hurt. To add more of a saga we couldn't get into the hotel and when we were about to scale the effect luckily Craig found an entrance, this was simply by opening the gate, LOL. But then we arrived to not even knowing what our room number was, haha we had 'broken in' and didn't know what room we were in, we must have looked well dodgy. The weed had definitely taken effect by now, we were laughing ours headed off. Once in our room, I said goodnight to a squirrel dressed in a top hat who looked like a ring master and went to sleep.
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