Rajasthan capers
Trip Start
Nov 03, 2003
1
5
Trip End
Apr 05, 2004
Jaisalmer, India
Friday, December 5, 2003
We started in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Now before I begin, I must tell you that seeing the Taj Mahal has been one of my life's dreams since a lady I was working with when I was nineteen told me about her visit to the Taj Mahal. It all started when I told her I was thinking of going travelling in Europe. 'Oh Amanda' she said, 'my fondest memory of travelling when I was young was when I found myself in India, in the sixties, smoking a big joint outside the Taj Mahal.' Visions of Karen in her paisley 60s flower power gear lounging in the grass outside the Taj Mahal sounded like heaven to me, so I decided that one day I would also see the Taj Mahal.
And so I did.
It was absolutely amazing. I really can't begin to describe how beautiful it was. We arrived at around 6am in the morning for the sunrise, and it was so amazing to see the beautiful monument in the morning haze, rising out of the smoky mist. We were lucky in that there werent many people there so we didnt have to contend with hoards of tourists armed with their cameras.
From Agra we went to Jaipur, a fairly uninteresting place, but we managed to meet a model (so he claimed, although he did talk about going to Milan rather convincingly) and a fashion designer, who, horrified to hear that we hadnt bothered to see any of the city's attractions, took us for a drive to see various palaces etc.
We then went to Pushkar, another holy place in India. The lake is very holy indeed and we soon arranged to have a blessing on the lake, which involved reciting lots of hindi, throwing flowers into the lake and receiving some red paste on our foreheads and a red piece of string around our wrist. While it may sound funny it was actually quite special, especially as it was done as the sun was setting over the lake. We blessed family and friends and also made secret prayers for husbands!!! (Sorry Gran, I forgot to ask for a 'rich' husband as you keep reminding me!)
We also decided to partake in a bhang lassi, a special drink available all over India which is like a yoghurt smoothie with hash in it. (Waccy baccy, for you older readers!). Well, at first it was quite funny. Me and Quinta went back to our room to play cards and dice games which was fine, until we couldnt actually see the cards or dice. Then Quinta passed out and I stayed up staring at the wall for some time. But it wasnt until the next morning that I felt the full effects. I couldnt get out of bed! The room was spinning and I had no balance at all! I ended up sleeping all day and that night, with only a quick trip down the road to purchase some munchies. An interesting experience......
So onto Bikaner, a desert town where there wasnt much to do but take a camel safari. We booked a 2 day safari and set off in the morning for the desert, with Raffi, our guide and the camel driver and the cook. It was nice and peaceful, with the exception of the constant flow of air coming from the mouths and arses of the camels. Boy could they fart. Even more than my sister, which really is saying something! We slept under the stars, after being entertained by our camel team who sang us hindi songs around the campfire, and me and Quinta reciprocated with some very bad versions of Hotel California and the NZ National Anthem.
We are now in Jaisalmer, which is a huge fort in the middle of the desert, and really stunning.
Hope youre all well, send me an email and let me know what is happening out there in the real world!!!
