Oh, the Places We'll Go

The Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur – by day and by night.  Tomorrow’s post will fill you in on how cool this place is.

By day, from our hotel rooftop

And by night

India – well, we’ve been here nearly 2 weeks. At first, I thought, this isn’t nearly as bad as people warned. Staying with Sasank provided a rather comfortable introduction. Sure, the streets of Old Delhi were nuts, but there is a lot of the city that’s relatively chill. And after Africa, we’ve seen some falling-down towns and poor people.

After a week though, it’s starting to wear on me a bit. The problem here is that people don’t understand the word “no”. Whereas in Africa, if I looked at a kid or a tout or a beggar and said “no” with intent, then they’d leave me alone. Here, that’s not the case. From rickshaw drivers, to store owners, to kids begging for money – you literally have to push them away with force. I’ve found completely ignoring people works pretty well too (almost pretending I don’t speak English). And getting anything done is such an effort. I am starting to understand why people come here and stick around one spot for a week or more, rather than trying to see a bunch of stuff. Booking transport has been a pain in the butt (though it has run smoothly), and just walking down the street takes a significant amount of effort. And the non-stop car horns – that’s gotten real old already.

Bitching aside, this place is fascinating, and the food is SO delicious. Into our second week, we’re starting to understand the India vibe and flow, and this is most certainly a special place. We’ve met some really cool people (this has been the highest density of travelers we’ve encountered so far, overall), getting some advice on how to navigate the transport, hotels, what to order at restaurants, etc. After 3 months in Africa, with a much less developed traveler infrastructure and network (and really just a lot less travelers), India has been a nice reintroduction back to the backpacker scene.

The diversity of this country is also amazing – this is a continent within a country (and its population mirrors that analogy). There are individual states here that have over 80 million people, and have histories, religions, and customs that are drastically different than other parts of the country. So in many ways, the states are almost like individual countries. Such rich history here as well (and beautiful remnants of it everywhere in the forms of forts, temples, old cities, and palaces), and we’re just now starting to learn about the different rulers and the legacies they’ve left behind. Fascinating.

People are initially much friendlier and much more forward than we’ve encountered before, always saying hello, and asking where we’re from (and immediately upon learning, shouting “Obama!”). But so far, I’ve encountered a lack of genuineness – everyone who starts a conversation with me eventually gets to what they want from me – either a ride in their rickshaw, or a browse in their shop, or to go to their friend’s tourist agency, or to stay in their brother’s hotel. I’ve not had one conversation with an Indian person that wasn’t driven by their self-interest, and that’s kind of disheartening. I know (hope) that will change.

So, those are India first impressions. Living up to its reputation of a land of contrasts.

One of the many rewards of traveling for an extended period of time are the small world encounters. With over 6 billion people on the planet, it’s a wonder that any random encounter 3000 miles from home could result in a shared connection. But miraculously, it happens, and it’s not that uncommon. Our two most striking small world encounters:

We’re on the last day of our Northern Circuit Safari in Tanzania at Lake Manyara National Park, in a rare moment outside the Land Rover, standing at the hippo pool. Another Land Rover pulls up, and a couple hops out and comes to stand next to us. An exchange of greetings identifies that we’re both from the US, and after a couple “where are you from” rounds, we come to find that we’ve grown up in cities within 50 miles of each other. We keep digging deeper, learning that they went to the same high school of many of our college friends, so for the hell of it, we throw out a few names of people we know from their high school:

Sarah: Do you know Katie Waller?

Katie C: I love Katie Waller!!

Sarah: No, I love Katie Waller!! Wait, who are you?

Katie C: Jim and Katie Constantine

Ted: As in, the brother of Lori Constantine?

Katie C: Yes!!

Wow, small world. Standing in front of us is the younger brother of one of our best friend’s best friend. At the hippo pool in Tanzania.

Crazy encounter with Michiganders

Our next encounter happened here in Udaipur, on one of the fabulous rooftops overlooking the lake. I’m looking over at this couple sitting a few tables away, trying to place why they look familiar. And then it comes to me. I walk over to them, and ask if they are from Barcelona (the one fact I remembered from our previous encounter). Yup it’s them, only 1/2 a world away. We first Montserrat and Aleix back in Bolivia, 6 months earlier on our salt flat tour. It was a short encounter, but they stuck out to me because they were Spaniards who looked like they were Swedish. 2 months after the Bolivia meet, we saw them again in Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile. This 2^nd encounter was already pretty crazy, but within South America, it’s not unheard of to see people who are on the same general path. But 4 months after Chile, we had chosen different directions around the globe (us to Africa, them to Australia and New Zealand), we find each other sitting on the same rooftop in Udaipur, India. That is a crazy small world.

Spaniards on the right, us on the left, and random Israeli guy in the middle

Our first and last overnight bus ride in India got us to Udaipur just in time for sunrise. Our guidebook called Udaipur the “Venice of India”, and though that is quite a stretch, the city is centered around the water – a beautiful and impressive lake that is lined with palaces, forts, and guesthouses. Wonderfully, nearly all the restaurants and guesthouses in the area have rooftop balconies for taking in this fabulous view.

Floating Palace

Rooftop sunsets

Rooftop view from our hotel

Udaipur waterfront

Udaipur was a treat. Yes, it is still full of aggressive Indian salesmen, noisy rickshaws and smelly cows however, it is such a small place that it all feels more manageable. Anytime the chaos is too much, you are never more than a couple minutes stroll from your hotel or another equally welcoming rooftop with this breathtaking view – perfect for sipping on chai and admiring the floating palace, the whitewashed guesthouses lining the lake, and the mountains that hover in the distance. We took a boat ride on the lake, we visited a temple in town, we watched sunsets from our rooftop, we recuperated from being “foiled by India”, but our favorite and most memorable activity in Udaipur was an Indian cooking class.

Neither of us had ever taken a cooking class before, but we were excited as we obviously love Indian food and wanted to learn how to cook it better at home. Our instructor, Shashi, was a widow who had lost her husband when her sons were young. The Indian caste system did not allow her to remarry, but she had no way to support herself without her late husband’s income (and family members did not come to her rescue). After working for years doing laundry and sewing projects for the many hotels and tourists in town, she came up with the idea to start a cooking class. Through trial and error and her many international customers, she learned English and she now operates one of the most successful courses in town. Her class is so popular, it has surpassed the floating palace as the #1 activity in Udaipur according to TripAdvisor! She was a very fun and inspirational lady and the day we were in class, her oldest son was off to take his exams for university admission so she has obviously done well for herself and her family.

Indian spices!

Mashing away

Mix and stir

Presenting...pakora

Our group mates were a couple from The Netherlands. They were wonderful partners in crime as we worked our way through Shashi’s recipe book. We sliced and diced veggies; we deep-fried pakora; we hand-rolled naan and roti; we simmered curries; we watched Shashi in action; we took notes; and we had a wonderful time. The course was topped off with an over-the-top meal that we couldn’t find the room to finish (thanks to all the snacking along the way). Our first cooking class was a roaring success and we look forward to trying to recreate Shashi’s masterpieces when we get home.

Look Ma - we can cook Indian food!

Shashi, her pupils, and deliciousness

Where else can you see an elephant in the middle of a big city, and not have it turning heads around every corner.  India’s madness is everywhere

Elephants cruising the streets

More elephants on the street

After the Holi celebration, we headed west from Delhi to the Indian state of Rajasthan. India has 28 different states, each with tens of millions of people and many with their own distinct dialects, religious beliefs, food specialties, and rich histories. This diversity makes the country incredibly interesting to travel through, and though we are only going to see a small portion of it, Rajasthan is supposed to be one of India’s highlights.

Rajasthan is the land of forts, deserts, and city palaces. It is India’s biggest state and also the most visited by travelers due to its proximity to Delhi, its storied past, and its impressive architecture. As a result of its popularity, there are lots of traveler services (decent hotels, yummy restaurants, multiple train and bus options for transport, etc), however there are also plenty of people out to haggle you out of your money along the way. The aggressive nature of the Indians here unfortunately left us feeling underwhelmed by the people we encountered in this state. We didn’t meet one Indian person throughout our 2 weeks in Rajasthan that we had a genuine conversation with. Every single interaction eventually resulted in a sales pitch of some sort. Yes, we pretty much stuck to the well-traveled tourist route, but that applies to many other countries that we’ve visited on our trip, and India was just different.

Despite our less-than-ideal personal interactions, we loved the places we visited in Rajasthan. Our first stop was a few nights in Jaipur, the state capital. Jaipur is part of the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra), which is the most popular short tourist route for quick visits to India. Though definitely an interesting place with some phenomenal history and an impressive city palace, I was battling a wicked head cold and overall stomach unrest brought on by our Holi day extravaganza which left me unenthused with the place. On top of that, Ted had another “foiled by India” episode as he attempted to book our onward transport on our first day. But thankfully, Ted had a little more energy in him, and he dragged us to some of the city’s historic buildings – the Hawa Mahal, the City Palace, and the Jantar Mantar, an observatory of massive proportions.

Hawa Mahal

City Palace

Hawa Mahal

City Palace Musician

Jaipur is also a big trade hub – many of India’s famous textiles and art come from Rajasthan, and Jaipur acts as a distribution center. It was fascinating to cruise the shop-lined streets, watching craftsmen work on everything from textile dyes and tea pots to keys and Hindu god shrines. India’s vibrant colors shone brightly throughout the never-ending bazaars and shops, and it was interesting to be surrounded by people so dedicated to their individual craft. We’d seen a lot of vendors and markets over the past 7 months, but nothing can quite describe the colors, smells, craftsmanship, intensity, aggressiveness, and chaos of an Indian marketplace.

Jaipur's colorful markets

Preparing textile dyes

Jaipur vendors

Making keys on the sidewalk

All in all, Jaipur was not our favorite destination, and we were ready for a change of pace out of the big city atmosphere. Luckily, our next stop was going to fit the bill perfectly.