I heard a quote the other day, "A true traveler sees more than they remember and remembers more than they see…"
… and I would have to agree with the first part. I have been pretty good at remembering the major events of this trip, but it is impossible to remember every single detail well enough to be able to recite them back in this blog. Pictures can fill in some of the blanks, but there is always those little slivers that are forever lost in the crevices of our memory.
Now…. as for the second part of this quote… you can believe what you want of my recantations…. you can resolve that what I am saying is exaggeration, that India really isn't as great as I make it out to be and that some of the events in this blog are entirely fabrication… I assure you none of this is true, but I understand those who refuse to believe in magical places will have their suspicions of what I write and I cannot change that. However to those of the pessimistic nature, for this weekend in particular, please read what I write with an open mind. Allow yourself to believe in the unbelievable because everything I am about to tell you is just as magical as I say, down to the very last detail that I can remember.
Okay, so besides the monkeys in the trees and a tipped over carrier truck on the side of the road, the sweltering hot six hour bus ride from Udaipur to Jodhpur wasn't all that exciting. It was also not very exciting that when we finally got to our guest house, they were so short staffed that everyone's dinner came out at different times and the last person got theirs after the first person had been done nearly two hours… However, falling asleep on a real mattress in a room with real air conditioning made up for everything. The bed was big enough for all three of us to sleep comfortably and not touch each other once. I don't even think Ariana talked in her sleep which she has grown accustom to doing the past couple nights. The next morning we ordered breakfast from our rooms and headed out to the city.
The Celsius/farenheight conversion confuses me, but if your good with math, it was about 45 degrees Celsius while we were in Jodhpur. If you're not good with math, just know that Jodhpur is the warmest city in Rajasthan and much MUCH hotter than our core body temperature.
I think I probably drank about six liters of water throughout the day and sweated out five. But, despite how drenched in sweat we might have been, it didn't stop us from enjoying the city.
Jodhpur is called the "blue city". From the memorial we visited first, you can look out over the city and see for yourself the reason why. Most of the houses are painted blue. The reason is because the blue paint keeps their houses cool and also helps ward off mosquitos. In the picture above, you can barely see on the horizon the King's palace which currently houses the reigning king of Rajasthan.
Jaswant memorial was beautiful. Entirely marble, the structure stretches across a bright green landscape complete with a mote, flowering trees, and fountains. A father and his two children sat outside underneath the shade of a tree. He played an instrument that looked like a hybrid between a guitar and a flute while his children sang along with him to traditional Indian songs.
Just as we were leaving I ran to the bathroom. No one was standing outside the door to collect money for entrance, but when I came out a random man was standing there holding out his hand and asking for fifty rupees. I honestly had no money on me, so I just shook my head and booked it as fast as I could to our car. I figured if he really wanted my fifty rupees he would tackle me.
A similar situation happened with Allie and Ariana in the bathroom at McDonalds. An elderly woman remained in there with them the entire time, opening the stall door for them, turning on the faucet, and even pumping their soap. When they tried to do it themselves she got angry and would force their hands away, and then when they went to leave she demanded a tip. Allie and Ariana shook their heads, refusing to give her a tip for something they could have easily done themselves. Of course the woman didn't like that very much and I am pretty sure they got cussed out in Hindi.
Ok Ok… so bathroom swindlers aren't anything new or exciting, but the good part will come I assure you.
After the memorial, the group went to Jodphur Fort, the largest fort in Rajasthan. It makes Fort Vancouver look like legos… mini legos. On the outside it looks like continuation of the dusty red hills, but on the inside is a beautiful palace. No one lives in it anymore, but as you are walking through, you can just imagine the events that took place a thousand years ago when it was built. There are still canon ball holes in the side of the rock exterior and the handprints of all the widowed queens who dipped their hands in clay before throwing their bodies on their dead husbands body as it was being cremated. The museum inside houses the silver chairs royalty rode around in atop elephants. The male chairs were open while the female chairs were covered by cloth to avoid the lustful gazes of men. There was a royal chamber, a throne room, long silver swords still encased in their sheathes, and a case full of knives that split once they entered the body of its victim. The staircases wound up higher and higher, with courts on every level, until finally we reached the very top and gazed out at the beautiful blue city of Jodhpur. How luxurious would it be to be a princess during that era when the walls of the fort housed kings and queens and all their attendants, adorned in the finest silks and silver? I imagine music everywhere and grand parties where the dancing lasts well into the night. I imagine a parade of elephants and armies ready for battle at the fort wall. I think it would be an amazing sight to see and take part in...
….Well besides the whole throwing your body on your husbands burning body after he dies…
After the fort it was another two hour jeep ride into the desert. We stopped at a Rajasthani temple where we rung the bell once upon entering to show our presence to God and were shortly after blessed by a holy man. There were so many people crowded into the temple and it wasn't any particular hour of worship. It was just a daily activity for most. Outside on the terrace was a wire fence where over a thousand bangles and bracelets were tied. It is tradition for young girls to tie their bangles to the fence and make a wish. If the wish comes true the girl must return to the temple and untie it. Allie, Ariana and I all tied one bangle, each making a separate wish and refusing to tell each other what it was.
This is where the magic begins.
When we arrived in the desert, we were all alone. There was a single hut, a larger cement building, and a cow tied up under a tent of sticks. There were fourteen of us in all, our group of twelve volunteers, Guarav the coordinator, and our driver. Besides a shepherd and his goats, the tiny hills of sand and few scraggly bushes, there was nothing around for miles. We had only heard that we would be sharing the site with four other travelers.
There wasn't much in the light of things to do, so Shelby and I entertained ourselves by throwing rocks off the side of the roof and ducking before anyone could see us. So mature! But just as we were about to launch our attack on Ariana, something in the distance caught our eyes. Out in this expanse of sand and nothing were four figures moving on foot. They came up from behind a random sand dune and from the way the light hit them, they looked like they could be a mirage. Shelby and I stood up and kind of cocked our heads to the side. As the figures came into focus, it was like Indian music started to play in the background. Drums were beating and pipes were playing. I swear someone was chanting….Because this wasn't a mirage. This was very much real and the four figures who slowly moved closer all looked to be male Abercrombie models….
Turns out, they were American
… brothers
.. and they had graduated a year early with a degree in Biology….
…and they just happened to be going to Udaipur the same day we were going back…
Yea...
I might have to come back to India to untie my bangle...
The rest of the night went on like something out of a movie, just as everything in India seems to do. Shelby and I went on a snake hunt but unfortunately didn't find anything. Then, as the sun was setting over the sand dunes and the sky was beginning to darken into deep shades of orange purple, everyone- including the hunky Americans- ate dinner atop the roof of the cement house. There was no bottoms to our plates. The owner of the house continued to bring us more rice and bread and vegetables, even after we insisted we were through. We had to practically be rolled back down the stairs.
When the sun finally set, a three man band played traditional Indian music seated on the ground and two beautifully adorned Rajasthani women danced under the glow of headlights. In between performances the women would pull us up and have us dance with them. Some of the biggest smiles I have seen from any of the volunteers came from that night as we made fetal attempts to copy their moves. Even the boys laughed at themselves as they tried shaking their hips to the tempo of the drums and tambourine.
After the performance, we laid out on cots underneath the stars. No blankets needed. None of us could sleep, probably because we wouldn't let each other. Between listening for the cackle of one of the American boys, the goats farting, and Shelby and me rapping about the stars, none of us could keep from laughing for long. The event that made us finally shut up and go to sleep was Jack getting angry at Shelby for not giving him a cigarette and walking off by himself into the dark desert. You know you're dumb when you have to be told that is a bad idea… Myself, I would have just let him continue walking until he got bit by a snake or attacked by a camel with rabies, but of course Guarav was forced to go after him… something about liability. Damn it.
I think we got about four hours of sleep before we woke up to ride camels. It was still completely dark outside and we had just enough time for a cup of hot chai before we picked our camel out and hopped on. I had no idea how tall camels were until I was on top of one looking down at the ground. I also had no idea they made such strange noises. Actually, they are just strange creatures all around. Ariana I think said it best when she said camels were like evolution seriously gone wrong. And if you look at a camel, you will see what she means. They have the legs of a donkey, the bodies of cows, the faces of giraffes, and the mannerisms of dogs.. They roll around in the dirt and chew on shoes. The belch and fart and always look annoyed. However, surprisingly none of that took away from the experience. The hour and a half long trip wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as I assumed it would be and the views (once again) were spectacular. I feel like I have seen so many different sides of India and each one of them is just as beautiful as the next. Two weeks ago, it was the grassy green hills, and this weekend, it was the sand dunes. It was so peaceful and quiet as the sun rose over the sand dunes, illuminating the landscape in bright beiges and orange. The sky turned a pale pink then light blue washing everyone and everything in the scene in a subtle glow. When we reached our destination, we just sat on the sand and stared out over the desert, reflecting, and breathing…. really breathing. The little seven year old boys who were helping lead were crawling over the camels like miniature gymnasts, hanging from their necks, and standing up straight on their backs. They were adorable. Seven year old boys back home are entertaining themselves right now by playing with game consoles. Can you imagine growing up and having a camel to crawl all over as your source of entertainment? After a thousand pictures and a beautiful sunrise, it was back on the camels for the slow trot back to the village for a warm breakfast and a nap.
The six hour ride back home seemed much longer, much more bumpy, twice as hot, and three times as crowded. Fortunately the busy weekend had us all passed out for most of the trip.
Going on week five of being in India, and it just keeps getting better. Despite how long this post has been, I am positive there are a thousand and one things I am leaving out. It is impossible to remember every detail completely, but I try my best to relive them for you. Sometimes that means adding a little extra color to the images, but never making anything up. What happened this weekend was magical. I would use the word amazing if I didn't feel it had been well overused in this blog, but that's exactly what it is.
Living in Vancouver my whole life, I had gotten used to the routine. I didn't realize there were new experiences to be had. I didn't know there were sights that would actually have me feeling like I was seeing a new color. That excitement and rush you get as a child when you discover something new.. that is what I feel almost every day.
.. Bringing me to India Lesson #2. There is ALWAYS something left in the world to discover… Don't ever let yourself believe there is no more magic to see… no more adventure to be had….
and as far as that quote is concerned… i think that sometimes, remembering more than you see is better than not seeing anything at all.
