We have had a busy past few days, and I have been unable to get internet connections almost anywhere. When they say they have broadband, they mean they have a computer from the 70's in an attic over a shop with a connection that times out every 2 minutes and takes longer for a page to load that it did in Calgary on 1990's dial up connections!
The tiger safair was enjoyable, but sadly no tigers. We looked long and far, and had been assured that everayone sees tigers, but alas no luck. We did see lots of monkeys which is always fun!
To get to jodphur we has to take a private car for 4 hors to jaipur which involed probably 30 or so near miss head on collisions. My favoriate was when we passed a truck by going over into the other lane, then into the far shoulder to avoid a head on, then back into oncoming, then back to our lane, then more weaving. imagine narrow country roads with about 5 feet of pavement, it is crazy!
We had our first dinner with Vijay's family last night,everyone is very friendly and we all got henna which looks very cool. I am slightly concerned about amount of food we have to consumer in teh next few days, as you dont feed yourself, someone else hand feeds you and you cant really say no, it is considered rude to refuse. hmmm will be interesting. The dancing is beginning, i think us non indians will look like fools beside everyone here who can dance like they are straight out of bollywood. it will be veryentertaining!
must run, am being pestered to get off the internet by the hotel so someone else can get on.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tigers, trains, and chaos
We are now in Ranthambore and the internet connection is not good, so in brief-
The Taj Mahal was absolutely fantastic!! Incredible to see in person, and well worth every one of the 750 rupees to get in. We got there at 7 am which was the perfect time to see it in all its glory befor the crowds arrived.
We then went back to the hotel and relaxed at the pool beefore descending into the chaos of taking a local train to Bharatpur. The local train was the only one avaiable, and we got our tickets from the line that was for:
Cancer patients
the Blind
THe handicapped
Freedom fighters
and of course, foreign tourists.
Our train fare cost a whopping 6 rupees each (about 15 cents) for a 2 1/2 hour ride, and Christine and I were stared at by men the entire way....I kept my sunglasses on inside to avoid eye contact!
We stayed at an ancient palace which was a very bizarre experience, kind of like literally staying in a museum. I had an Indian head massage which involed copious amounts of oil poured on my scalp, but it felt nice.
Today we went to a bird sanctuary, saw lots of birds, including a kingfisher, and took a train to Ranthambore where we go on tiger safari in teh morning.
I am now tired of typnig on this sticky keyboard, but let's hope for a better connectaion in the next day or two.
CHeers for now
The Taj Mahal was absolutely fantastic!! Incredible to see in person, and well worth every one of the 750 rupees to get in. We got there at 7 am which was the perfect time to see it in all its glory befor the crowds arrived.
We then went back to the hotel and relaxed at the pool beefore descending into the chaos of taking a local train to Bharatpur. The local train was the only one avaiable, and we got our tickets from the line that was for:
Cancer patients
the Blind
THe handicapped
Freedom fighters
and of course, foreign tourists.
Our train fare cost a whopping 6 rupees each (about 15 cents) for a 2 1/2 hour ride, and Christine and I were stared at by men the entire way....I kept my sunglasses on inside to avoid eye contact!
We stayed at an ancient palace which was a very bizarre experience, kind of like literally staying in a museum. I had an Indian head massage which involed copious amounts of oil poured on my scalp, but it felt nice.
Today we went to a bird sanctuary, saw lots of birds, including a kingfisher, and took a train to Ranthambore where we go on tiger safari in teh morning.
I am now tired of typnig on this sticky keyboard, but let's hope for a better connectaion in the next day or two.
CHeers for now
Friday, April 10, 2009
Scams abound
Why am I not surprised that we were scammed today?
Back up a bit....I awoke at 630 and went for breakfast in the restaurant in the hotel. After being offered "rotten yogurt," I politely declined and had some sort of deep fried naan bread for breakfast. When I wandered downstairs, Russel and Christine had just arrived, so we had a cup of coffee and headed for the train station.
When trying to get in, a little man refused to let us enter and kept insisting we were at the wrong place, and rustled up a rickshaw for us and off we went to a tourist office. Well, the guy in there tried to sell us n 6 days of a private car for $280 EACH! We declined, and he was telling us that trains do not run where we want to go. We were fairly certain he was wrong, but he sounded convincing. He then went on a ramble about karma and what goes around comes around and we should not be so suspicious of all Indians. We somehow (I blame foggy headed jet lag) agreed to pay 30$ each for a private car with NO AC to Agra.
Well, not only were we charged 5 times too much, but the 200km took us 6 hours! Along the way we saw a parade of women dancing with coconuts and such on their heads, cows, a herd of sheep, monkeys, pigs, and insane driving. I think the best was when all traffic suddenly routed onto the wrong side of the road, and all driving was head onto coming traffic like a giant game of chicken.
We were subjected to random stops along the way, including lunch at a vastly over priced tourist restaurant. We saw monkeys doing backflips, which is quite sad given the size of the sticks the men carry to beat the monkeys.
When we got to Agra after a long and harrowing journery, our driver suddenly stops and says that cars are not allowed to go where our hotel is located. We get shuffled into 3 bike rickshaws, and after going 10 min into the city it turn out our drivers are lost and we turn around. I soon see a beautiful white building that looks like an Oasis, and start thinking "please let that be our hotel!"
I nearly fainted with joy when we were dropped at the giant white gates, and inside we went. through security checks and all. Once in our rooms, a beautiful pool beckoned and we lounged in the sun and water for the rest of the afternoon.
Tomorrow we are off to the Taj Mahal and attemping the next leg of the journey!
Back up a bit....I awoke at 630 and went for breakfast in the restaurant in the hotel. After being offered "rotten yogurt," I politely declined and had some sort of deep fried naan bread for breakfast. When I wandered downstairs, Russel and Christine had just arrived, so we had a cup of coffee and headed for the train station.
When trying to get in, a little man refused to let us enter and kept insisting we were at the wrong place, and rustled up a rickshaw for us and off we went to a tourist office. Well, the guy in there tried to sell us n 6 days of a private car for $280 EACH! We declined, and he was telling us that trains do not run where we want to go. We were fairly certain he was wrong, but he sounded convincing. He then went on a ramble about karma and what goes around comes around and we should not be so suspicious of all Indians. We somehow (I blame foggy headed jet lag) agreed to pay 30$ each for a private car with NO AC to Agra.
Well, not only were we charged 5 times too much, but the 200km took us 6 hours! Along the way we saw a parade of women dancing with coconuts and such on their heads, cows, a herd of sheep, monkeys, pigs, and insane driving. I think the best was when all traffic suddenly routed onto the wrong side of the road, and all driving was head onto coming traffic like a giant game of chicken.
We were subjected to random stops along the way, including lunch at a vastly over priced tourist restaurant. We saw monkeys doing backflips, which is quite sad given the size of the sticks the men carry to beat the monkeys.
When we got to Agra after a long and harrowing journery, our driver suddenly stops and says that cars are not allowed to go where our hotel is located. We get shuffled into 3 bike rickshaws, and after going 10 min into the city it turn out our drivers are lost and we turn around. I soon see a beautiful white building that looks like an Oasis, and start thinking "please let that be our hotel!"
I nearly fainted with joy when we were dropped at the giant white gates, and inside we went. through security checks and all. Once in our rooms, a beautiful pool beckoned and we lounged in the sun and water for the rest of the afternoon.
Tomorrow we are off to the Taj Mahal and attemping the next leg of the journey!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
So much fo hot water
I feel slightly fresher after my 3 hours of sleep and a "shower", which consisted of me running a trickle of cold cold water from a tap and attempting to lean my head underneath the dribbling steam and sort of shampooing it.
I decided to try capris and a button up shirt for today, and hopefully it is the appropriate wear for wandering around Delhi and Agra. Off to the Taj Mahal today, if we can figure out how to get there. Trying to figure out a Delhi-Agra train schedule is far more difficult than one would imagine.
I also woke up to the sound of some sort of chanting, not unlike the Muslim chanting in Malaysia, but this chanting is more song like and is being led by someone.
I think it is time to go discover what an Indian breakfast at the hotel consists of!
I decided to try capris and a button up shirt for today, and hopefully it is the appropriate wear for wandering around Delhi and Agra. Off to the Taj Mahal today, if we can figure out how to get there. Trying to figure out a Delhi-Agra train schedule is far more difficult than one would imagine.
I also woke up to the sound of some sort of chanting, not unlike the Muslim chanting in Malaysia, but this chanting is more song like and is being led by someone.
I think it is time to go discover what an Indian breakfast at the hotel consists of!
The journey to Delhi
Stepping off the plane, the first impression on India came through my nose.....an overwhelming combination of the smell of Mexico, Thailand, curry, and sweat. Somehow wednesday morning became friday morning and now here I am in the hotel.
9 1/2 hour flight to franfurt
8 hour layover
7 hour flight to Delhi
30 minute drive to the airport hotel
I was sure glad I had prearranged a driver, as it was reassuring to see a sign with my name on it. I followed the guy through a maze of walkways to the car, which was basically a smart car with a backseat. Ok, no problem.
Now picture driving on the transcanada and coming up behind 2 semis, and rather than just driving behind them, you try to pass them by driving in between them and honking at them with vigor!
My driver weaved in and out of the traffic lines, passing tuk tuks, tractorss, and various other vehicles. The highway technically had 2 lanes which in reality had drivers creating lanes to make 3 or 4 lanes.
When I went to check the side mirror to reassure myself traffic would not hit the car as our driver weaved, I looked into blank nothing as there was no mirror. hmmmm.
Well I made it here, the hotel is clean, although I do not know quite what to do with the numerous buckets and hoses in the bathroom. I would read my cosmo in bed, but the Indian fellow beside me asked to borrow it, found an article detailing specifics of erogenous female zones (which when I glanced over to see what he was lookng at in the magazne, I caught him readng) and then he kept it and took it off the plane with him!
Time to attempt a shower, take my various vitamins and malaria meds, and wait fr Russell and Christine to arrive in a few hours.
9 1/2 hour flight to franfurt
8 hour layover
7 hour flight to Delhi
30 minute drive to the airport hotel
I was sure glad I had prearranged a driver, as it was reassuring to see a sign with my name on it. I followed the guy through a maze of walkways to the car, which was basically a smart car with a backseat. Ok, no problem.
Now picture driving on the transcanada and coming up behind 2 semis, and rather than just driving behind them, you try to pass them by driving in between them and honking at them with vigor!
My driver weaved in and out of the traffic lines, passing tuk tuks, tractorss, and various other vehicles. The highway technically had 2 lanes which in reality had drivers creating lanes to make 3 or 4 lanes.
When I went to check the side mirror to reassure myself traffic would not hit the car as our driver weaved, I looked into blank nothing as there was no mirror. hmmmm.
Well I made it here, the hotel is clean, although I do not know quite what to do with the numerous buckets and hoses in the bathroom. I would read my cosmo in bed, but the Indian fellow beside me asked to borrow it, found an article detailing specifics of erogenous female zones (which when I glanced over to see what he was lookng at in the magazne, I caught him readng) and then he kept it and took it off the plane with him!
Time to attempt a shower, take my various vitamins and malaria meds, and wait fr Russell and Christine to arrive in a few hours.
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