Blogs from Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 350

... oh, what a week. My last 12 hours in Jaipur were interesting, to say the least. I got thoroughly yelled at (perhaps 'chastised' is a better word) by a stranger on a street corner, which opened my eyes to how I've been seeing this portion of the trip. V and I were racing around the city in our usual "avoidance" march of blank stares and brisk pace when a man whose "hello"s we'd been ignoring suddenly said "so you don't speak to Indians?" It was insulting, and yet embarassingly on point. A rather heated conversation followed in which we were lectured for refusing to talk to the locals who spoke to us, and likened to the tourists who come to India and manage to avoid everything and everyone authentically Indian. We escaped the conversation unscathed, ... read more

Fortunately my nose had stopped running, but my head was still heavy and my throat sore. A conversation with the owner enabled me to understand why there had been no hot water yesterday morning, and why I was unable to flush the loo last night. It seems as though there are scheduled power cuts between 9 and 10:30AM, and 1:30 and 3PM, every day, plus the water is turned off between about 10PM and 7AM. Hence I need to get up between 7 and 9AM in order to have a hot shower. I noticed that the family dog had been chained up, and the owner explained that this was because he was a little "enthusiastic" around new guests. Not wanting the poor beast to lose its freedom purely on my account, I said I'd be happy ... read more

Diego had showed up for talks I was giving in LA some years ago, based on the Picture of Man here. It is the key to doorway to what is iknown by a very very few as The Way of Gratitude. It is difficult to access this information. If you are reading this particular blog, you have. It is not promoted. It is only available. You have to know how to know about it first, before you know about it. (say that three times without smiling :) When Diego called and invited him to Guatemala,"James" got it in his head that it was his duty to finish up the material what he had started with Diego. It requires a great deal of consciousness to be considerate of others. Lets say if only one person could ... read more

Today was devoted to haveli hunting, using a map that Rajesh had drawn up for me. The town isn't large, but there are some confusing little alleyways and I was at the northern extremity of the map before I found my first haveli. It was interesting that Rajesh's recommended havelis did not tally with what was in the Rough Guide. Given the quality of the ones I saw, I would suspect the Rough Guide didn't see the best ones. The paintings in/on the havelis are from a mixture of sources - some based on Indian legends, some based on current affairs at the time (e.g. pictures of Britishers smoking pipes), some based on religious themes. As I was considering heading back to base for lunch, I saw a Western woman in Indian dress in the distance, ... read more

Since i last updated i have travelled miles across the Indian countryside!!! From Delhi we caught the train (an experience, i tell you!) to Agra, where we spent the day sightseeing - went to the Taj Mahal, was absolutely breathtaking!!! We then continued our journey, going to many forts, palaces, a national bird park, a local village (where we actually stayed the night in a restored fort and got dressed up in traditional Indian costumes - women wore saris, men wore turbans = such good fun!) We have travelled on every means of transportation possible: jeeps, rickshaws, local buses, trains, mini buses - each one more interesting than the last! The excitement just keeps building! Everyone in this tour group is really good fun - we all look out for each other and are laughing ... read more