So Much to Say, Such Bad Internet Connections

So there are a lot of ups and downs that come with being in India...reliable internet connections being one of the downs. As a result, there is a lot to catch up on since our last update--here's the abridged version. Coincidentally, we have spent most of our time here in one Indian state (which I think I mentioned in an earlier post) called Rahjistan--home of grand cenotaphs, or monuments, built for the Maharajas (kings), towering palaces, massive forts and all the rest of the insanity that comes with the life in India.



The beauty of most Indian cities in Rajhistan is the rooftop restaurant--a brilliant way to get above the day-to-day chaos of the streets. It's a welcome relief after battling our way through the masses, beating away the touts, and playing intense games of "Frogger" trying to get across the streets.

Most cities here seem to be associated with a color. Jodhpur is the 'Blue City', named after the many blue houses (a religious indication and apparently a good color to keep away misquitos)inside the old city walls. Standing like a monolith in the center of the city is a massive sandstone escarpment, holding up one of the most grand palaces in the state. Most of the fort and palace are open to tourists, and we threw away our tacky tourist inhibitions for what turned out to be a really good audio tour which described all the main attractions. Quite nice.

Somehow we were convinced by the guy at our hotel in Jodhpur that we should take the bus to our next destination. I'm not sure how he convinced us, but he did, and luckily it was a better ride than our previous trip. Trains are definately the way the travel here. Our next stop was in a place called Jaisalmer--know as the 'Golden City', because most of the buildings here are made of golden sandstone. This palace (almost every city has one) is occupied by 25% of the cities 90,000 residents. Sadly, the walls are starting to sink into the earth as a result of poor sewage and water drainage systems. It was interesting to wander around the interior of the fort though, with its maze-like narrow streets. We even had dinner on top of the west wall where we watched the sun drop along the Indian-Pakistani border which was about 45 miles away. Strange to think we were so close to such a volitile part of the world.
The landscape in Jaisalmer was a lot like home, and the main draw to the city are the extensive camel safaris that run into the Great Thar Desert. Being that we're already desert rats, thanks to Southern Utah, we decided to skip the long stints under the stars and just do a half day--which consisted mostly of jeep rides and then ending with a few hours on camels with a couple of older Rahjistani guides. Such weird animals (the camels, not the guides), and yet another zoo-like novelty to westerners. In this part of the world the camel is just another beast of burden, and they are a regular part of everyday traffic here.

Speaking of camels, we enjoyed them so much that we jumped on a train and went to a dirty, relatively untouristed city called Bikaner, for the annual Camel Festival. Yeah, that's right, a camel festival. What we witnessed there was a pure camel extravaganza full of events we couldn't have even dreamed up--good fun like camel dancing, camel acrobatics, camel milking competition, camel haircutting, and on and on....the locals even join in and the Rahjistan men compete in the Mr. Bikaner competition, full of colorful turbans, whispy beards and long spears. Wow is all that can really be said. Wow. It was so much that we were on camel overload (and a bit burned out on the city itself) and only opted for one day of the three day long festival. It was hands down the best camel show we have ever been to. We highly recommend.

The only real attraction in Bikaner besides the annual festival is the strange and somewhat revolting 'Rat Temple'. I'm not really sure what to say about this place. In fact, we never got an explanation as to why it really exists. Just look at these few photos, and know that this is no side-show, but a place where people come to worship. Only in India.

At the moment we are spending our last day in the state's capital city of Jaipur, or the 'Pink City' which has a somewhat dainty population for an Indian capital with only 2.5 million residents. The scene here is chaotic, but the shopping was pretty good and we visited a nice temple inhabitated mostly by monkeys--not quite as revolting as the rats.

A great way to knock out many attractions in a few hours is to hire a rickshaw for the day. After bargaining hard to get what may, or may not be a fair price, the drivers will cart you all over the place in a horn-honking, exhaust-sucking frenzy. While we're busy looking at the sights the driver will sit outside and wait. It's a pretty good system--especially when Shanon bargains hard and gets us three or four hours of sightseeing for around $5.

So much to say, so little time. I wish we could tell you more stories and show you more pictures. Every moment is an adventure here. More photos soon to come....