India - Rajasthan

Along with German volunteers Paula, Anna, and Niklas, I spent 9 days touring Rajasthan (one of the Indian states). We visited Bikaner, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Ranthambore, and Jaipur. Because we wanted to see so many places in so little time, we decided to go by car instead of by train. Driving around India is a great way to see all kinds of things going on. It is an experience not to be missed (see India Part 1 for a description)...driving in India is crazier than just about anything. It can definitely make me feel as if I'm putting my life on the line.

In Bikaner, we spent a day exploring. We walked through the maze of streets (getting somewhat completely lost), took pictures of beautiful havelis, tasted traditional sweets, and visited an impressive Jain temple. I loved exploring the old city because it had a small town feel. Very different from Delhi!

We went on an overnight camel safari. We had dinner in the desert and slept under the stars. Though I enjoyed riding a camel for three hours, I can't say it was the most comfortable mode of transportation.

We visited the Deshnok Karni Mata "rat temple", a temple swarming with sacred rats. Lives ones, dead ones...they were all over the place. And we had to take our shoes off to enter the temple. If a rat runs over your feet, it is good luck. If you accidentally step on a rat and kill it, you must bury the rat outside of the temple. You also must give the temple a golden rat statue.

In Jodhpur, the blue city, we stayed in an awesome haveli hotel, tasted world famous lassis, ate a tasty tandoori meal, and visited the very impressive Mehrangarh Fort. The wall leaving the fort has red vermillion handprints on it from the widows of the last maharaja. The widows made the marks as they left the fort for the last time, on their way to be burned on their husband's funeral pyre (remind me to watch the movie "Fire" when I'm home).

On the way to Udaipur, we stopped at a breathtaking Ranakpur temple. The temple is decorated with more than 1444 uniquelycarved pillars. It was incredible.

In Udaipur (supposedly the most romantic city to in India) we ate a beyond delicious $1 "all you can eat" thali meal. Finding the restaurant, which was well off the tourist trail, was an adventure in itsel. My travel buddies were good sports about my desire to explore the city by foot for hours. The "local version" of Udaipur that we discovered by walking around and the "tourist version" of Udaipur that most foreigners see when they visit were like night and day. Though we were plenty touristy, visiting the city palace, attending a traditional dance performance, going to a Hindu temple, and watching Octopussy (a James Bond movie partly filmed in the city) over dinner. We even made a stop at the Lonely Planet recommended Edelweiss Cafe. Nearly every shop and restaurant in Udaipur was adorned with a sign saying "Recommended by Lonely Planet"

We were all very surprised when we arrived in Pushkar, only to discover that the holy lake had gone dry. We hoped that the non stop rain while we were there would help to fill the lake up before we left. We spent most of our time in Pushkar wandering along a very fun, kilometer long, hippy market street. We picked out some fun souvenirs.

Throughout Rajasthan, it was interesting to see the different types of tourists in each town. Very few tourists in Bikaner,mainly families in Jodhpur, lots of couples in Udaipur, mostly young college age hippy types in Pushkar...

We went to Ranthambore to visit Ranthambore National Park, a tiger preserve. Unfortunately, we did not spot any tigers on our safari. We did see some creatures though, the most memorable of which were the baby owls snuggled together. We felt a little lacking in knowledge compared to our safari companions, who could all name each and every bird and plant we passed. For dinner, we went to a hole in the wall joint. I doubt that a single tourist had ever eaten there before, let alone four. My favorite things to do when traveling is to visit places that are as close to authentic as possible. Eating where the locals eat usually means that you a)meet interesting people and have interesting conversations with them and b)get a way better meal. One of my rules is to never eat at a restaurant with pictures of the food. Pictures of food mean one thing: tourist alert (since we tourists can't read the menu).

In Jaipur, we were looking forward to doing some serious shopping (all the guide books say Jaipur is the single best place to shop in India). However, the selection of souvenirs and trinkets wasn't quite what we were looking for. It was a bit disappointing. We did visit the shop of my friend Atul who sells typical Rajasthani handicrafts. I had already been to Jaipur with my mom at the start of my India trip, so I was content relaxing and taking a bit of a breather at our hotel.

I organized our tour of Rajasthan through Jolly, a friendly tour guide recommended by a previous Udayan Care volunteer. Though I specified budget hotels, the places we stayed in were super nice. Nicer than most places I've stayed with my family when traveling. I felt kind of spoiled. It is remarkable how far a dollar can go in India.

All in all, I loved getting to see parts of Rajasthan. It is a lively and very colorful state. The week was full of tasty meals (though I don't think I ever need to eat camel milk kulfi again), unbelievable sights, busy days, tired feet, and lots of laughs.

P.S. Did you notice the fact that I'm pretty much wearing the same outfit in every single picture? And no, all of these pictures were not taken on the same day.