We left Agra and the state of Uttar Pradesh about 4 days ago and we've just been traveling around the western state of Rajasthan, starting from the Mogul Fort of Fatehpur Sikri and the Keoledeo Bird Reserve, then proceeding to the capital Jaipur, followed by Pushkar, Ajmer, and the very lovely Udaipur. Until Udaipur, we had the convenience of a hired driver which helped us cover many sites very efficiently. Arko, if you are reading this, you are right! I will go into this in more detail in a subsequent post as it is quite interesting on it's own.
Fatehpur Sikri is a red fort situated on a hill, about an hour's drive from Agra, or the Taj Mahal. On the way to the main gate (which is in itself very impressive), you'll see pigs digging around trash, cows commuting somewhere, mountain goats jousting on the steps, touts selling stuff, guides telling you you're too stupid to navigate around by yourself, and people just hanging out cos it's a Friday at an islamic site. Just outside the mosque area were ruins just begging to be climbed. We got up a set of stairs leading up to the top of a watch tower of some sort, and was presented with a pleasing bright yellow landscape of canola flowers and green grass fields. Within the fort, we got to see how the mogul king housed his Muslim, Hindu, and Christian wifes, store his treasure, and execute his criminals in public. On the walk back to the car, we were outflanked by a few kids, only waist tall. Haloo! Money?? We would love to help them out, but there's only so much we could do for every kid in India asking for money. They were very persistent, but we could outrun them. After telling them to go back to school and stay there, we made hell for leather and took off. What a scene... Two grown men in their prime running away from a bunch of kids, some shoeless, some toothless. To our surprise, they actually gave chase. Approaching the car, we thought of a fun thing to do the next time a tout approaches us. We will in turn, try to sell him something equally ridiculous, and equally overpriced. If its a guide, we will offer him a tour of the attraction that we have just arrived at and laid eyes upon for the first time.
Another hour to the west, along the way to Jaipur, we stopped at the Keoledeo Bird Reserve, situated in the middle of nowhere. We went in not because we liked birds, but because there was a tigress roaming about. The bicycles for rent were all rented out, so we decided to tour the 29 sq km park on foot. We saw a lot of exotic birds, all the common critters, but no tiger. At stretches along the way, a rickshaw driver was just tailing us and telling us repeatedly how tired we were, and how unsafe it was with the tiger roaming around. We're definitely safer as sitting ducks inside an open-air rickshaw. On the way back, we were hungry, tired, sunburnt, and desperately in need of that rickshaw. Hoping to get a cheaper fare, we kept the bravado, as if we could walk a few more miles, and it worked. On the rickshaw after a quick bargaining session, the driver started lamenting about his singlehood after passing a bunch of female tourists. Not weird at all.
On the way to Jaipur from Keoledeo, our driver felt the urge to visit a famous temple to pray. He explained to us that many people believe this temple to be highly effective for people with psychological issues. Wait, what? Curious, we followed him in to observe. We took off our shoes and stored it at a stall by the main street selling incense and proceeded through the temple. Walking barefoot through a busy, grotty county side road, dodging pies and wading through unknown yet colorful puddles, is an experience that I won't elaborate further in this blog. Please try it yourself sometime, as you'll walk out of it a stronger and more resilient person. I still can't shake off the shrill cries of agony from the wanting devotees in the temple, something truly bone chilling. I walked out of it with a red tika on my forehead and a solemn mood. On the way to Jaipur, we were cracking open roasted peanuts and tossing the shells out the window like the driver told us to. I thought it was liberating, but the singaporean in me was going insane, paranoid of getting fined.
We arrived in Jaipur around evening time. For those who get lost and disoriented easily, one way to tell youre in Jaipur is by realizing that most of the buildings are pink, similar to the color of adobe. We had just missed the kite festival which took place during the day, but there were kids still flying kites most everywhere. There were quite a lot of "over the counter" fireworks being launched, continuously going off in the city and surrounding areas because of wedding celebrations as explained by our driver. Later that night, we witnessed the first of three street fights outside our hotel in Jaipur. Too much alcohol, but not too much testosterone. The next day, we went to 3 forts, all strategically situated on a rugged hill over looking a valley. For the military buffs and RTS gamers, the view on top of Jaigarh Fort presents a classic setup of high advantage choke points and dead grounds cleverly using the hills as a natural barrier supported by high, fortifiable walls that resemble those in China. Perched on the same mountainside is the Amber fort, it's majesty resembling Minas Tirith of Tolkien lore. The elephant traffic on it's winding passageways takes you back to the late 1500s, and you can almost imagine the chaos leading up to a siege on the fort. From the top, you can see a fairytale lake palace which was still used by the Rajasthani royal family until recently.
One good thing about staying in small family owned inns is that they would sometimes upgrade you to a better room, hoping you would leave a good review on trip advisor in return, since they rely so much on word of mouth for business.
Hippies still exist, and they tie their hair in dreadlocks, stop shaving, and congregate in Pushkar, near the eastern edge of the Thar desert. Other things that congregate in Pushkar are camels during the annual camel fair held around November. A very small city, it's known for it's many temples and a sacred lake used for both religious rites and laundry. This place is so sacred, that restaurants within the township are not allowed to sell non veg food or alcoholic beverages. You can, however, get "bhang" (or marijuana) rather freely for religious purposes, which explains the thriving hippy population. We met one on a hill top who quit her job a year ago and has been globe trotting since. We had the fortune of observing a local engagement party, which began as a loud traffic halting procession on the streets in the afternoon, and ending with a dinner disco party at our hotel. Observing from the balcony, we were invited to join in the festivities, but we weren't sure if we really should or if they were just being polite. They had a separate section in the grass just for making chapati (unleavened bread) and masala to feed the many guests, and a dance floors with kids rocking out to the latest Bollywood tunes and repeats of "sheela ki jawali".
On the train ride from Ajmer to Udaipur, I got to see the beautiful colorful Rajasthani country side at sunset, dotted with canola and untarnished by trash - a stark contrast to Ajmer city where I boarded, where a man literally pulled down his pants right in front of me and did his business into a drain. The air-conditioned chair class (CC) ride took 5 hours and cost only 750 rupees for 2 passengers. It is the preferred way to cover short distances and also meet other travelers.
Udaipur is probably the most pleasant city I've stopped at so far. The streets are cleaner, the air is fresh, and the touts are less aggressive. The two main attractions in the area are the massive waterfront city palace, and the 007 endorsed lake palace which was featured in the Bond film, Octopussy. If you have a thousand dollars, you may get to stay there a night too. While exploring the area, we found a cable car that took people to the ridge of a bordering mountain. We reasoned that the fact that it is still in business after all these years mean it's got a good safety record. Also, at 66 rupees, the price was very attractive. I'll post pictures so you can judge for yourself if it was a dollar fifty well spent. The coolest thing was that I got to see a flock of a dozen eagles up close and personal, soaring effortlessly on the drafts on the mountain ridge, twitching only their head and tails, going into a nose dive occasionally to scoop up a chipmunk or two.
Next stop: Mumbai!
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