Lost in experience

Everyone recognize a Camel? The other shots are the old Fort behind the city. No one is conquering that place. It looks like it was carved directly out of the earth, from the top of the mountain down. The other photo is the clock tower near the city center, about a two minute walk from our room.

I had planned to write more, I always do but there is just so much happening at all times. There is the tangible. Like the constant motion of bodies and machines. Also the perceptions of my new surroundings. I'm lost. Every moment is a new beat, a new stimulus. It's all action with little chance of reflection. I can't even journal fast enough. Every new sight gets drowned out by the next. Beauty after sorrow after Oh Shit, I almost got run over by a Water Buffalo or whatever I might not be dodging fast enough for that one moment. No wonder it's so hard to find alcohol here. It's too dangerous to not be tip-top.

Tomorrow we catch our train to Bikaner. The plan thus far is to hang in Rajasthan, which is sooo hot right now. Then we regretfully return to Delhi for as little time as possible in order to catch a train North to the state of Himachal Pradesh to lay low in the Himalayas for a couple of weeks. I can't wait for some lush, cool environment. Gonna make me homesick for the Northwest

Days of Pushkar

So this is just a taste of Pushkar. The first photo is the sunrise from the vantage point of our balcony. The next one is a Unicorn and the third is a one of the Ghats that surround the lake. Shortly after I snapped this picture we crossed over a bridge and were signaled over by some Babas under a Bodhi tree for a sit. The days blend together but saw for the first time snake charmers and an ALL DAY festival for the full moon. The celebrations adn parades wind their way through the streets causing chaos and excitement. everyone is involved in the action. The parades and music run deep into the night and this is a way of life. In the states we'd have traffic cops, guard rails, security for the floats and you know abotu a thousand phone calls to the police thrity seconds after dark because of the ruckus. These people have more of a communtiy than any I've ever seen.

Still in the Deserts of Rajasthan

Well now we're in Jodphur, Rajasthan. We held out in Pushkar for three days and got completely spoiled by the lack of noise and air pollution. The city is very tiny compared to all of the others that we've been to and doesn't allow autorickshaws which cuts down on the filth factor considerably. we also splurged on a 450 Rupee room (US $11.25) which sat high up on the top of the hotel with numerous windows and a balcony overlooking the lake and most of the city. The sunsets from this room were amazing. We did have a bit of a schedule to keep and we felt like we had seen all of the city. So our next destination we decided on was to be Bikaner which is home to a rat temple. Since the trip from Pushkar to Bikaner is roughly 10 hours by bus we thought that we'd do it in two trips, having a two day layover in Jodphur.

As for our illness, I'm feeling a lot better. Almost 100%. After I just couldn't kick the shits I fell back on antibiotics and stopped taking my Malaria Meds. I wish that I had a picture of the pharmacy we went to and the guy running it. It was small, like the size of a living room in a double-wide trailer and with the same feel to it. The "Doctor" resembled a human slug that couldn't control it's teeth. All I could think of when staring at this guy was the Ruler in DUNE that floated around and and drank pus all day. And every time we brought up an ailment (Diarrhea, Back Pain, Nausea) the "Doc" had the proper (maybe ?) med within arms reach on his desk somewhere in a pile of cellophane pharmaceuticals that were scattered about. Sometimes you just gotta have faith (and Google).

A Strong Contender for "Worst Night of My Life"

So Melissa and I came down with the expected case of Diarrhea. But it was accompanied by the violent regurgitation of anything lining my intestines, chills, sweats, and vicious muscle spasms. Mels came on 16 hours before mine and I couldn't have guessed that it was going to be such a hellish experience. I became completely dehydrated without the capability of holding water and it took all the life out of me. We holed up in our room for two days and then decided to make way to Pushkar by taxi. There was no way that I was going to risk a four to five hour bus ride with no toilets so we paid Fifty American for the cab. This was about five days ago now and I'm still having issues.

Other than that Pushkar has been beautiful. There is a lake in the center of town which is surrounded by Ghats that head down to the water. The people, for the most part, are less pushy than in the other cities. Except for some Gypsies that started calling me a "Poosay" when I wasn't falling for their pleas for money. The food is good and we found a hotel with a pool yesterday where we took some time to cool off.

I'm not really feeling this "blog" thing right now. Partly because there is so much to write about and partly due to Mel waiting for me to go get something to eat. I'll be back

And check Mels blog out 'cause she has all the dope photos

Now this was a great day. We headed into the bazaar for a little window shopping and then caught a bus to Amber (pronounced Amer) which was a Palace/ Fort high up on the hill. It houses the worlds largest canon on wheels and many different Muslim and Hindu temples. We met some of the most kind and friendly poeple yet there. Almost like super-fans of the West. So much hand shaking and hand waving and picture taking. We were total rock-stars. The Muslims we passed were not as freindly. Almost no smiles coming from those grills. At the top there were again many monkeys. Not as many as at the Hanuman Temple and also a different kind. Very friendly. Their soft hands would gently take some naan from mine. Although when I tried to play hard to get with the food some fangs came out. I learned my place very quickly.

This is India

This is a view from atop the Wahal Mahal

Jaipur, Rajasthan

On our first day in Jaipur we toured the city by auto-rickshaw. I can't really convey how chaotic and unnerving the city streets are. There are bikes, and rickshaws, and motorcycles, scooters, pedestrians, cows, camels, and dogs all going back and forth. There are sometimes street lights and traffic guards but it seems that they are only cautionary devices. It's confusing even to describe so I'm going to learn to post video so you can get a taste.

We headed through the remnants of the old Pink City and made our way to the Sun God Temple which you can see above the Pink Gate on the picture. The driver stopped at the bottom and we trekked up to the top which is also the monkey temple and a shrine to Hanuman, the monkey god.
Holy Monkeys! They were everywhere. You can see in the picture at least thirty and there were more behind us, above us in the trees and scattered about the mountain. I felt like I was home.

The middle picture is just the view from the temple. The city sprawls forth and fades away. This is India. Never ending company.