Digest II
My goodness, India really is brimming with things to see. Tomorrow I'm leaving to escape the increasing heat and coming monsoon! In a matter of 5 days I'll travel through/into 4 countries: India, Thailand, Malaysia, and The Philippines. I'm excited to add a new destination to my list. But I'm ahead of myself... After I left my dear Indian family in Gujarat I headed for Rajasthan.
Udaipur
My first stop was Udaipur, the "Venice of the East". Set near Lake Pichola, the romantic history and striking lake palace did intrigue me, but overall, I was left disappointed.
The City Palace was gorgeous, a maze of rooms and stairwells, paintings, glass filled rooms, and many, many tourists. I'm one of them, I know, but the ones there were the amusement park types who yell at beggars (okay, I did that once) and, no matter where they are from, live up to the "ugly american" caricature (one more note- they are in equal parts American and European, I believe).
Within the palace is grand museum, the main thing to see, really, but there is also a small government museum, that most overlook. Within it, well, see for yourself:
Chittorgarh
After Udaipur I took a shaky 6 hour bus ride to Chittorgarh, home of a fantastic world-class fort (and not much else). There are a few hotels and even fewer restaurants, but most tourists make it a day trip. The ruins are a magical place- acres and acres of say, an 8th century sun temple to the left and a 900 year old tower to the right.
Bundi
Another 5 hours of bumpy road the next day and I found myself in charming little Bundi. Narrow lanes, inspiration and sometime home of Kipling, the narrow lanes and hilltop fort are breathtaking... This little city is mostly blue, as the paint used to signify the upper echelon of society. But, this is another Hampi. Among the fort, palace, the museums and smiling faces, you have a place where tourism has grown so much to make the feeling a little stale, forced, greedy. I did manage to meet some nice people who invited me into their home, but I had to walk a bit out of the main city.
Jaipur
And, onto Jaipur... A huge metropolis that, well, it is pretty nice. I wanted to be in a big place for the upcoming festival Holi, the "festival of colors" with the purpose of welcoming spring. The day before Holi there was a wonderful elephant festival.
On Holi, anyone outdoors is considered to be "playing" or available to play, with gulal, powder. People either throw powder or mix it with water put in buckets, water guns, etc.
Holi was pretty intense for me. Even though I thought I knew what I was in for, people were much more aggressive than I bargained for. I actually used my pepper spray on someone that would have gone to jail for his actions had the same thing happened in the United States. The experience had me frustrated with India for a few days, but it also illustrated for me one of the ways in which this place is so completely different from where I am from. I always say this, feel this, but while our needs and desires are the same everywhere, the culture, the intent, the way, the very soil of us is different. India is 1/3 the size of the United States with 3x as many people. Obligation, duty and loyalty drive Indians, and on this special day they can show their excitement, affection and love to the world. I'm glad I got to see a little of it, but once was enough...
Leaving
After Jaipur I hopped over to Agra, another day on the bus. My main purpose was to visit some people I met the last time I visited. It was wonderful and quiet, and cheap. Then I took a 23 hour train ride to Calcutta. I stayed a couple nights and then went to a wonderful small town (possibly the highlight of my time in India thus far) for a few days before returning to Calcutta for a flight to Bangkok April 5. I'll take off from there within a day, heading overland for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (about 800 miles) for a flight to The Philippines mid-week. I'm meeting someone special there for a little while, and then I've got to find something to do, somewhere to go until returning to India in August!
Udaipur
My first stop was Udaipur, the "Venice of the East". Set near Lake Pichola, the romantic history and striking lake palace did intrigue me, but overall, I was left disappointed.
The City Palace was gorgeous, a maze of rooms and stairwells, paintings, glass filled rooms, and many, many tourists. I'm one of them, I know, but the ones there were the amusement park types who yell at beggars (okay, I did that once) and, no matter where they are from, live up to the "ugly american" caricature (one more note- they are in equal parts American and European, I believe).
Within the palace is grand museum, the main thing to see, really, but there is also a small government museum, that most overlook. Within it, well, see for yourself:
Chittorgarh
After Udaipur I took a shaky 6 hour bus ride to Chittorgarh, home of a fantastic world-class fort (and not much else). There are a few hotels and even fewer restaurants, but most tourists make it a day trip. The ruins are a magical place- acres and acres of say, an 8th century sun temple to the left and a 900 year old tower to the right.
Bundi
Another 5 hours of bumpy road the next day and I found myself in charming little Bundi. Narrow lanes, inspiration and sometime home of Kipling, the narrow lanes and hilltop fort are breathtaking... This little city is mostly blue, as the paint used to signify the upper echelon of society. But, this is another Hampi. Among the fort, palace, the museums and smiling faces, you have a place where tourism has grown so much to make the feeling a little stale, forced, greedy. I did manage to meet some nice people who invited me into their home, but I had to walk a bit out of the main city.
Jaipur
And, onto Jaipur... A huge metropolis that, well, it is pretty nice. I wanted to be in a big place for the upcoming festival Holi, the "festival of colors" with the purpose of welcoming spring. The day before Holi there was a wonderful elephant festival.
On Holi, anyone outdoors is considered to be "playing" or available to play, with gulal, powder. People either throw powder or mix it with water put in buckets, water guns, etc.
Holi was pretty intense for me. Even though I thought I knew what I was in for, people were much more aggressive than I bargained for. I actually used my pepper spray on someone that would have gone to jail for his actions had the same thing happened in the United States. The experience had me frustrated with India for a few days, but it also illustrated for me one of the ways in which this place is so completely different from where I am from. I always say this, feel this, but while our needs and desires are the same everywhere, the culture, the intent, the way, the very soil of us is different. India is 1/3 the size of the United States with 3x as many people. Obligation, duty and loyalty drive Indians, and on this special day they can show their excitement, affection and love to the world. I'm glad I got to see a little of it, but once was enough...
Leaving
After Jaipur I hopped over to Agra, another day on the bus. My main purpose was to visit some people I met the last time I visited. It was wonderful and quiet, and cheap. Then I took a 23 hour train ride to Calcutta. I stayed a couple nights and then went to a wonderful small town (possibly the highlight of my time in India thus far) for a few days before returning to Calcutta for a flight to Bangkok April 5. I'll take off from there within a day, heading overland for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (about 800 miles) for a flight to The Philippines mid-week. I'm meeting someone special there for a little while, and then I've got to find something to do, somewhere to go until returning to India in August!
posted by Maya at 6:14 PM
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