We found all the Westerners!
Throughout our travels for far we've been surprised by the lack of western tourists. All of the main sights in Dehli, the Taj Mahal etc. have been filled with Indian tourists. When we arrived in Pushkar we were surprised by the sudden appearance of so many Western tourists. Although it makes sense, Pushkar is a beautiful, little holy town nestled between several surrounding hills. The stories say that the Hindu god Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth and it became Pushkar. Therefore the town is predominantly Hindu and has many rules in the town. For example, no meat, eggs, drugs, alcohol are aloud anywhere in town. We enjoyed the sunset (and an amazing pizza) over the small holy lake. The next day we spent the afternoon hiking to temples on the hill tops. It was hard to see the beggars at the bottom, like everywhere we've been there are many people living on less than a dollar a day. In the evening we went to a dance school's performance and were entertained by beautiful traditional dancing.
Swimmers beware of crocodiles
We arrived in Udiapur, a city famous for its man made lakes. The lakes were carefully designed so that one would fill up before spilling into the next. This was long before the science of water reservoirs was developed. When we read the lonely planet description of Tiger Lake, "swimmers beware of crocodiles", we got excited. This implied that there was actually water in India clean enough to swim. We rented bikes and set off on a 20km bike ride around several lakes and through the quiet countryside. It was a beautiful bike ride and a great feeling to be cycling after a few long bus rides. We arrived at tiger lake and found many fish but no crocodiles so we jumped off the beautiful, ancient steps into the cool, refreshing water. We were even able to find a spot on the steps where we were hidden from view for a bit of suntanning.
Shiva's birthday
Shiva is the Hindu God of creation and destruction and happens to have a birthday on March 2nd. The city streets and it's temples were decorated and full of live music. Many people were visiting the temples and giving out a white sweet and Bhang lassi. Lassi is one of our favorite Indian snacks, a yogurt drink flavored with fresh fruit and/or sugar. Bhang lassi or special lassi is laced with cannabis and commonly served at religious ceremonies. We enjoyed the evening festivities with a group of English, Russian, German, and Israeli travelers.
Our failure at being tourists
Lonely Planet has lovely descriptions of deluxe, direct, AC buses that travel between cities. They are meant for tourists as they are more expensive ($10). However we have failed to figure out this option because even when we tried to catch one we still ended up on the local bus. It may take longer because it stops in every little town but despite it's well worn seats it is a lot of fun. The people watching is great, although once I had a woman sit on top of me for an hour or so. At the many stops people board the bus eager to sell you snacks. Once we were pretty much attacked by samosas as three keen vendors were pushing (very tasty) samosas in our face. These buses are also only $2-3 for an 8-10 hour ride. Greyhound should really take lessons from India on appropriate bus fares...
How could I forget the world's most beautiful building?
Somehow in my blog posts I forgot to mention our day trip to see the Taj Mahal. It was an unforgettable day trip for two reasons. One because we experienced driving in India. Our driver considered the shoulder of the road a lane and had no problem weaving between large trucks at high speed and honking without slowing down whenever a rickshaw or pedestrian was in his way. Somehow this crazy style of driving works and is expected because all the trucks paint "horn please" or "blow please" on their back ends. Amelia was afraid for our lives but after awhile I got used to the swerving and I enjoyed a this nap on the five hour road trip. The second memorable part of the day was seeing the Taj Mahal. Outside the ticket and security lines are chaotic, hot and filled with touts but once I walked through the gates I was speechless. It is impossible to describe the beauty of the white marble with intricate designs of precious stones and the overall grandeur of the building. The inside tomb was incredibly busy but when viewed from the side tombs it was both peaceful and beautiful.
A warm welcome
On march 3rd the second part of our adventure began. We are volunteering with the Sambali Trust, an organization that promotes independence, confidence and empowerment of women. We were unsure of what to expect but when we met Kerry, another volunteer, and Govind, the founder of the organization, we quickly became excited about Sambali and our upcoming two months in Setrawa. We will be teaching English and workshops to girls in a small village. There are two classes, one for Dalit girls (girls of the lowest class who otherwise have no access to education) and extra English and workshops for girls who can afford school. We felt very welcomed by everyone here. Tomorrow we are heading to Setrawa where there will be no Internet. We will come back to the city Jodhpur occasionally. I'm looking forward to living in Setrawa and being able to contribute to what seems like a really positive project.
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