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Published: February 23rd 2008
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After the Sun...
Mumbai!
Where everybody is zooming along trying to pay for one of the most expensive living areas of the world, not shy about asking for tips or of saying that they consider what you have given to be radically less than what is warranted, expected or even correct!
After a day-long tour of all the typical sights, our driver was very disgusted at our 200 rupee tip.
Strange, because, when I asked him how much the fine was for not wearing a seat-belt, he said that it was really expensive, which when further pressed, turned out to be... you guessed it, 200 rps!
Our three(!) porters at the hotel, were similarly displeased when given 50 rupees, indicating that there were three of them... to which we answered that they only carried two bags a few meters, actually pulling them out of our hands and that they could share the tip.
The similar anecdotes could go on and on... and we were lucky, judging by what other travelers told us!
Udaipur
Peace at the lake and very little begging or
Udaipur
Just a little room... with a view! aggressive hustling going on, a place of authentic pride and history.
I had a tiny, freezing monk's cell for 150 rps a night, Jordi and Vanessa shared the Royal Bedroom right on the water for 1200 a night, which was the best they could have done, considering they were 'running' really sick!
It is a place where I could go and write my book, if I don't find my beach!
Pushkar
A place to lose my religion.
Where the hustling takes on a religious connotation and insufficient offerings are accepted, followed by an innocent curse!
When they gave me a flower in the market and told me to hurry down to the water to profer it to Brahma, I thought they were being friendly.
When the Brahmin in shades performed all the rites and made me say all the names of the hindu pantheon as if it were a prayer (like reciting all the saint's names in quick succession), I felt like an untrained parrot.
When he looked at my hand, after, what he considered, my meagre offering (100 rps), asked if I had ever had a bike
Illusion?
What is reality? accident, saying I would have another one, I felt like sending him and his shades to Hades!
Jaipur
The Muslim festival of Muharrem was another nail in my religious belief coffin.
The multitude first touched Vanessa's prized behind (despite being very chastely dressed and covered), then, by sheer numbers, blocked our exit, making us force smiles through the winding, narrow back streets of the Pink City, moving back in time at each turn.
We got out without further ado, smiles still stuck on our faces, having gathered quite a following of fans taking our pictures, the facade of friendliness masking a deeper, barely suppressed frustration and aggresiveness.
We felt that we had just escaped getting burnt, simply because there had been no matches to start the fire, or our smiles had doused any flickering flames.
A good friend's girlfriend had been stoned at the same place a year before for wearing a short skirt...
We saw most of the sights...
The Forts of Kumbhalgar and Amber, spectacular remains of the glorious Rajput past that I grew up reading about in the Amar Chittra Katha comics.
Ranakpur a
Moon and Birds
Breathless in the cold morning... pure white display of Jain disdain for the rest of Religion, Buddha included.
Fatehpur Sikri evidence of the degradation of things Muslim in India.
Agra
The Taj Mahal.
Wow.
Luckily, we managed to summon the willpower to brave the freezing morning and wake up at the crack of dawn to be amongst the first visitors, even getting to catch the full Moon over the Monument of Love on one side, the rising Sun on the other!
Magnifique!
Even here, the clever gentlemen were at play...
As you have to put plastic socks over your shoes to walk on the final platform, a man came over and proffered me some, to which I said no thanks, pulling my own ones out of my pocket.
Without blinking he pulled them out of my hand and proceeded to slip them over my shoes, as I was searching for the best angle to catch the rapidly disappearing Moon.
He then rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, asking for a tip! I stared at him in disbelief as I walked away...
The same happened as I was taking the
Sun and Shine
Breathing Hope in the new day! last photos of the morning with the reflection in the pond.
A man very kindly told me to kneel down to get a better picture.
He was right so I thanked him.
He then started to tell me where to take all the pictures from!
I said no thank you and moved away.
He followed, gave me some more tips which I didn't take and then did the same movement with his fingers!
I couldn't believe it!
In this lovely place, all is simply business!
I guess that accurately reflects our times!
Delhi
To get to Delhi, we decided to catch the train as it cost about 60 rps each instead of hiring a car for 1400 rps, despite the warnings (by the cab drivers) that it was unsafe.
We had second class, unreserved tickets, as you have to reserve a day in advance (unless you find somebody that you can pay extra to... )
The train was two hours late and I ended up sitting on a trunk in the separation between two wagons.
I knew that we would have to pay a
Modern Barber
Now what do I do? supplement of about 200 rps because we had not wanted to go into the wagons that were a teeming chaos of humans, and bags, maybe some anilmals, too! and were in the reserved section.
A man asked to see my ticket and said I needed to pay a supplement, I said okay and asked him how much, he said 500rps!
Luckily, Roberta, the charming Brazilian woman looking for what to do with her life was sitting nearby and told me not to pay as it was too much and he didn't have a uniform on.
As she said this, he simply absconded, searching for the next unwitting victims. I hope it wasn't the Koreans further along!
Vanessa traveled the whole six hours (instead of the scheduled four) with her feet up after having been gently asked to remove them from the ground by the itinerant rat!
Upon arrival in Delhi we plunged into mayhem right upon alighting from the train, finally,managing, after much searching and haggling, to get a cab into town, where we didn't get to see much as all the monuments were closed for the National Holiday on the 26th of January with
Forts
Gateway to past glory. the visit of the French government.
This sums our up stay in Delhi:
Dizzy in chaos bazaar with friendly people to greet Sarkozy!
Then it was time to say "hasta la vista" in Ibiza, as Jordi and Vanessa left for the Andaman Islands and Alberto (who had joined us in Jaipur) and I went to Goa... again for me, his first trip to the Beach.
Next on our travel menu, Alberto is off to Anantapur while I go to Kerala...
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karuna
non-member comment
beautiful sights
Hey hermano, gracias! Your photos are getting better :) I really like the moon and birds one. This blog reminded me of some of my unpleasant experiences travelling by train to Varanasi. I await Kerala, never been there. un abrazo, Karuna