Blogs from Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 9

Montag, den 19. November, haben Anja und ich das überlaufene Pushkar verlassen und sind nach Jaipur gefahren, einer Stadt über die wir schon viel Gutes gehört hatten und auf die wir uns bereits sehr gefreut hatten. Wir haben uns ein Ola Cab gebrufen um uns nach Ajmer zum Bahnhof zu bringen (10km entfernt) und, genau wie beim letzten Mal, wollte auch dieser Fahrer, dass wir die Fahrt offiziell stornieren und er wollte uns dann inoffiziell für 400R dorthin bringen. Da Ola Cab uns Kosten zwischen 375R und 475R errechnet hatte, fanden wir die 400R ganz okay und akzeptierten sein Angebot. Es ist wirklich komisch/interessant, dass die Fahrer alle inoffizielle Fahrten machen wollen, entweder um der App nichts vom Profit abzugeben oder um weniger Steuern zu zahlen, ich weiß es nicht... Unser Zug fuhr um 11h ab ... read more

The day arrived that we hadn’t exactly been looking forward to and we broke one of our cardinal rules of travel. We left Camp Bliss before the Pushkar Fair ended and we traveled to another part of India. And the crazy thing? We actually chose to do this! I had heard about this other fair in Rajasthan that was supposed to be as exciting or maybe even better than Pushkar and for years had wanted to check it out, but it never quite fit in our itinerary. Until now. Dad and I said goodbye to our friends from Indian Moments. We said goodbye our camel herd and our new Raika cameleers. We said goodbye to our Aussie friends. And then there was the hardest goodbye of all...we said goodbye to Camp Bliss! Ok, I am teasing, ... read more

We had heard there was supposed to be animal judging on the first day of the fair, but in true India style, we could not get a solid answer as to when or where. So we spent the day wandering around and foolishly using Western logic as to when we might be able to watch the competitions. We have been to and participated in many a fair in the United States and show day is easily recognizable. There is a flurry in the barns. Animals are being washed, groomed and primped beyond belief. The air is filled with the sound of blowers, clippers and aerosol cans spraying. Exhibitors are rushing around like they are chronically late. There are announcements blasted through a speaker system to alert exhibitors of the next class. There are class schedules printed ... read more

How do you describe the dust stirring, drum beating excitement of horse dancing? How do you convey the fear of near misses with horse hooves and the thrill of watching majestic beasts use their many muscles to contort into art forms? How do you explain the magnetism that draws a crowd in a matter of minutes, if not seconds? If I knew, I would not have struggled so much with this blog! My easy answer is with many photos, but even the photos seem to fall a tad bit short. The event starts with the sounds. The rhythmic beating of the metallic drums draws in the crowd and then the intoxicating sound is punctuated with the crowd’s gasps and cheers as the show progresses. The drummers keep the beat and they seem to conduct the show. ... read more

Our visits to India have introduced us to some very interesting and like-minded people and their dear to my heart NGO. The organization, Camel Charisma, is part of an effort to preserve the camel population of India by assisting the people who know these camels best, the Raika. Run by Ilse and Hanwant, the camel conservation group puts their energy into creating revenue outlets for the Raika by using authentic camel products. These products include camel hair rugs, camel hair scarves, paper made from camel poo and camel milk soap. All of the sales and proceeds go back into the Raika community so these communities are not forced to sell their herds and look for occupations elsewhere. This year they also began a Raika Journey program where people can come to the Camel Charisma campus and ... read more