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Published: October 5th 2007
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FRENCH
Nous avons passé notre dernière semaine en Inde dans le Gujarat, région natale de Gandhi, l'ultra-prêcheur de la non-violence et qui avait bien raison de dire que... "oeil pour oeil et dent pour dent, ça ne ferait jamais que des édentés et des aveugles".
Petit arrêt à Ahmedabad ou je suis allée visité l'ashram de... Gandhi donc, pendant que Jason, lui, a préféré aller voir un puit à l'architecture archi-impressionante, un
baoli ça s'appelle.
On a enchainé le soir-même par 8 heures de bus pour Bhuj. Bhuj est une petite ville mignonne, propre (relativement... parce que dans la vie, tout est relatif.). Ses rues et ruelles constituent un véritable labyrinthe ou il est facile, mais agréable, de se perdre. Les séquelles du tremblement de terre de 2001 sont encore visibles et la reconstruction des monuments qui avaient été détruits est toujours en cours. Une fois de plus, nous avons eu recours à la location d'une moto, avec laquelle nous avons sillonné la région de Bhuj... On y trouve (pèle-mèle) du désert, le Tropique du Cancer, des troupeaux de chameaux, buffles ou chèvres en travers de la route, des villages d'artisans avec des maisons toutes rondes et des toits
en tuiles en forme conique. Au Sud, il y a la mer avec Mandvi et ses construction de bateaux (pas d'photo!) et davantage de célébrations de Ganesh!
Lors de notre première journée, nous sommes parvenus à:
- faire pleurer un petit garçon... première fois qu'ça nous arrive (il a eu peur de l'appareil-photo, je crois)
- crever un pneu en plein désert (heureusement, une jeep s'est pointée au bout d'une demi-heure de marche et on a pu embarquer notre engin jusqu'au garagiste le plus proche)
- nous faire inviter au diner d'anniversaire d'un petit bout d'chou d'1 an... avec 120 autres invités (et j'aime autant vous dire que la bouffe était
delicious!... Et nos hotes charmants!)
Le deuxième jour, nous n'avons réussi qu'à obtenir 1/3: on a (re-)crevé un pneu!
Partir, c'est mourir un peu. Partir, c'est crever un pneu...
ANGLAIS
We spent only a night in Ahmedbad our first stop in Gujarat. Dinner was at a Gujarati themed restaurant where you sit on the floor and eat from leaves under thatched roofed shelters. When dinner came it was an avalanche if you can have an avalanche of food. The multitude of dishes that made up the thali
were delicious and we gorged and washed it down with buttermilk. As you do. Only after we'd refused 3rd helpings did they then try to give us the rice course. Crazy mofos! They need a warning sign. "This is not all of the meal. A mountain of rice and a selection of sweet/spicy gravies will follow!" Thankfully they had some cots to lie on before we had to leave the place...though they didn't let us walk out of the bamboo clad entrance-way without giving us ice-cream.
The next day while Nat perused the Gandhi museum, in an effort to balance some negative stories we'd absorbed about Mahatma during our travels, I went to see the magnificent step well of Adalaj. Magnificent it was. It's a well down some steps. In the old days it was a place for the weary traveller to rest, cool off and get some water. These days people come to admire the intricate architecture and others to say a prayer and wash their feet. After that and while Nat soaked up Ahmedbad town I visited a couple of mosques. In both I found a few men praying, or reading from the Koran but the majority
seemed to be sleeping or at least lying on the floor…in contemplation no doubt. In one I was told by some divs that I was not welcome. I'm pretty sure that's not right so I ignored them and went to watch some other less ignorant men and boys as they performed their ablutions in the tank in the middle of the courtyard.
Bhuj is the big town of Kutch, north of which are the Banni grasslands, which gradually turn into the salt plains of the Great Rann of Kutch. Our four days in the area took us to small villages where they specialise in different crafts: weaving, embroidery, leather work, wood carving, metal work and more. The villages are all over the place so it takes a bit of riding to get around and a lot of avoiding f#$king insects. Another bite on the face was registered on the way to Zura, (home of copper bells and leather shoes). Untold other flying things tried to blind us as we returned at dusk from an eventful but in the end fruitless day searching for Hodka village (mud work and embroidery I think). That particular day began with a child crying
hysterically in what seemed to be terror as Nat got off the bike, found us stranded kilometres from anywhere with a puncture, almost got us lost in the semi-desert when we strayed from the path and ended with the father of the birthday baby crying and moaning in anguish at something his mother-in-law had said. Bhuj was good!
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Stu
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Still reading these.....
......in case you wondered if we were :-)