Indian Adventures

Just finished my first week in India and finally found time to sit down and write. BTW... I just skipped over Turkey and doha, and I'll just have to come back to those two trips sometime later! As for India its been a busy trip so far... Steph and Ariele joined me on the road and its been good to finally get some company! Our plan was to see Rajasthan, Delhi, and Agra... but now we also found time in our itinerary to squeeze in a trip to Bhodgaya (spelling?) and Varanasi.

The trip has been good so far. We were able to hire a driver and car for 2 weeks to take us all around Rajasthan and Agra! The car, driver, and gas are actually cheaper than the buying train tickets for the three of us! Crazy, huh? Who woulda thought that a car and driver would be cheaper than a train... especially with gas prices as high as they are! Well, I was definitely surprised by this, but jumped at the opportunity which has turned out to be money well spent. Our driver also doubles as a guide, telling us which monuments are good and which ones are not... hotel choices, however, usually depend on where he can get a good commission and don't always exude a feeling of quality, comfort, or service, so we've learned to stick to the lonely planet for hotels and our driver for other tourist advice. Traveling with a driver has also proved handy because getting around can be a total mess. I knew that Delhi was a bit chaotic, but I was surprised to find that the other cities were not much better... on any given city street one has to be able to navigate through cars, trucks, bikes, rickshaws, cows, donkeys, goats, people, cow droppings, goat droppings, pigs, dogs, dog droppings, and worst of all... the evil touts. Indian touts have definitely been the worst on my trip... not as aggressive or rude as Egyptian touts but much more persistent and annoying. Its difficult to just walk down the street without being followed by a rickshaw driver or a store owner... I actually had one driver follow me for at least 20 minutes on my first afternoon. Walking around forever with all the obstacles... the only word that I can use to describe it is... gauntlet. With all the chaos, I'm definitely happy that we have a driver and I can just sit in the car and sleep while he has to battle the traffic, people, and farm animals that crowd the city streets.

Minus the traffic and crowds... India has been a great trip so far. We spent most of our time visiting palaces, forts, and temples, my favorite of which were the fort in Jodhpur and the Jain temple in Ranakpur. The Meharanger (that is definitely spelled wrong) fort in Jodhpur was the most impressive site yet... its absolutely huge and sits high up on the high top overlooking the nearby city. Best of all, it is owned by the Maharaja of Jodhpur so its better kept and maintained than the other forts which are mostly owned by the government. It also overlooks Jodhpur, which is the "Blue City" as you can see by the pictures. In any case the pictures of the fort and the city are at the top (2 of them together). The picture of the Jain temple is the last picture of the 4... the temple was absolutely breathtaking. Every pillar, ceiling tile, and square inch of wall space was covered with detailed and intricate carvings.

Aside from sightseeing, we've also had the time to partake in some great food. Almost every meal has been different from the rest, which is amazing after 10 days. I was a bit disappointed with the food in Delhi (probably cuz I was stuck in a bunch of tourist traps) but have been very happy since we left... I've sampled 6-7 different types of bread (naan, chapati, parantha, roti, puri... etc), countless types of rice (byranis, pilaus, etc), and endless curries... most of which have been tasty, but a bit on the heavy side. Its especially heavy when you are sitting in 105-110 degree heat... which has happened to us quite a few days. The heat really kills your appetite. I knew that summer was the off-season for tourism and now I'm seeing why. There have been 2-3 days where I ran from shady spot to shady spot on the streets trying to avoid the intense heat of the sun. Its difficult visiting palaces and forts when you are constantly trying to stand in a shady spot while listening to your audio guide and taking pictures. Sadly enough the heat will be one my most enduring memories of India... I'm sure of that and its only my second week here!

Well... I guess anyone who is reading this is probably wondering what the hell is going on with the rats in the first picture... I saved this story for the end so you would have to read the rest of my blabber before getting the good one. We went to a temple in the city of Deshnook where the rats are considered holy. They are a reincarnation of a god (i forget which one) and they have free run of the entire temple. The locals feed them and keep them happy (they are drinking from a bowl of milk in the picture) and there are just hundreds, if not thousands, of nasty, filthy, diseased rats just running around the temple. The best part is that you have to take your shoes off to go inside the temple and so you are walking around rats with your bare feet. It was a strangely disgusting yet quirky and fun experience.... memorable to say the least. I'm surprised there are more tourists that come here or that the temple isn't more famous than it is... I've never heard of it, but would recommend it to anyone in Rajasthan who wants to see something "different".

In closing... big shout out to my boy Kobe Bryant... love my Lakers and I can't believe I'm not at home to watch them destroy the Celtics.