so with the almost constant downpours and very poor drainage systems, it is totally conceivable that on any given day you might find yourself spending an afternoon wading through knee- to chest-high water to get home. the city is set up with only 1 or 2 possible routes taking you from any point A to point B, so if a street is flooded and your transportation can't travel it, you often have to just park the vehicle and wade home ... regardless of how far away you are! it's actually somewhat dangerous at times. what this means (among other things) is that to be prepared, one must have rain gear because it is just not a good idea to stay indoors ... for 3 straight months. karilyn headed to shopper's stop (department store) in search of rain gear. we figured they'd have it; they sell clothing, home furnishings, 'art,' books ... everything you might possibly need besides food. we wandered around for a while, looking in the clothing section and then moving on to the accessories corner. nothing. so we decided to ask...
us: excuse me, where do you keep the rain gear?
salesguy: it's here next to you, madam.
us: this is men's rain gear. where is the women's rain gear?
salesguy looking very confused: women's rain gear? no.
us: what do you mean, no?!
salesguy: no women's rain gear.
us: oh, you sold out?
salesguy: no, madam.
us: is it maybe at another store?
salesguy: no, madam.
us, starting to fume: so you don't sell any rain gear for women?!
salesguy: no, madam.
us, so thoroughly annoyed with the big i: what, don't women get wet in the rain?
salesguy, completely serious: no, madam.
WTF?!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
monsoon!
the monsoons have started, and ... um ... this is for real. portland weather is for sissies compared to this!
several times a day, the sky darkens and there is deafening, elongated thunder accompanied by brilliant yellow, orange, pink, and purple lightning, and rain. not just rain, but RAIN. rain that comes UP at you, bouncing off the street and puddles already there, or pelting sideways, leaking through the windows and air conditioners, or coming straight at your face, purse and clothes regardless of how large and sturdy your umbrella is. and then of course, the rain that just comes straight down, pummeling your head like so many dull needles, soaking you to the core within seconds.
again, this happens SEVERAL times a day (and night). monsoon season lasts around 3 months. i need to buy buckets ... lots of buckets. so far, i've counted 3 major leaks.
life here is a non-stop adventure!
several times a day, the sky darkens and there is deafening, elongated thunder accompanied by brilliant yellow, orange, pink, and purple lightning, and rain. not just rain, but RAIN. rain that comes UP at you, bouncing off the street and puddles already there, or pelting sideways, leaking through the windows and air conditioners, or coming straight at your face, purse and clothes regardless of how large and sturdy your umbrella is. and then of course, the rain that just comes straight down, pummeling your head like so many dull needles, soaking you to the core within seconds.
again, this happens SEVERAL times a day (and night). monsoon season lasts around 3 months. i need to buy buckets ... lots of buckets. so far, i've counted 3 major leaks.
life here is a non-stop adventure!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
and ... finally, leh
the final leg of my trip consisted of a week in the foothills of the himalays, in a tiny town called leh which is located in kashmir. to get there, we had to take another overnight train to delhi, where we hopped on a plane for the 1.5 hour flight up to leh. the train to delhi is typically like a 16 hour ride. the areas surrounding delhi were getting a lot of rain (monsoon season is just starting), so a couple times the train had to stop until the weather cleared. it turned into a 20 hour or so ride. by the time we arrived, we were starving, tired, grouchy (me), and in desperate need of showers and a proper, clean toilet! luckily i have friends there, and just as luckily they were home and seemed happy to accommodate us for the 10 hours until our flight. (memorable moment from that night ... i ate brains. some sort of animal brains. and i'm absolutely certain i'll never do it again.)
leh is almost the polar opposite of everywhere else in india i've been ... in pretty much every way. first off, it was COLD. secondly, it was clean (and beautiful)! third, the people there seem to care very little about making a quick buck, and instead are friendly, smiley, welcoming, gracious, and absolutely wonderful. they've got rosy cheeks and their faces light up when you pass in the streets and everyone merrily says hello and welcome. it was a shock to the system, physically and mentally.
once again we stayed in a guest house. the majority of accommocations in leh are in the form of guest houses. the family who runs each one usually lives in part of the ground floor, and rents out the remaining rooms. typically they'll cook for you and help you with laundy, etc. ours was incredible. we weren't provided with toilet paper or towels or toiletries, but we did have hot water on demand 24 hours a day (a real treat anywhere in india), great breakfast and tea anytime, soft, warm beds in a clean and new home ... for $4 per person per night!!
we did a lot of hiking and reading. the atmosphere is so clean and pure, that we all got sunburns right away. i used lots of sunblock and wore a shawl over my head, but somehow my nose still looked like rudolph's when i got home. ... and the rest of my skin was still white! we toured a monastery in a nearby village, which houses a few hundred monks. we rented mountain bikes and took a jeep up to the highest drivable pass in the world. the guys rode the bikes down the pass... i chickened out and rode in the jeep, which turned out to be an even more interesting experience. our jeep guide has a brother in the indian army who is posted at the top of the pass, meaning he lives there year-round. we gave the guys a 20 minute head start before we followed them down the hill, and i got to spend that time in a tiny army hut, with about 10 army dudes, drinking chai and trying to converse. sadly, they wouldn't let me take any pictures. mostly, they asked me about their english skills and laughed uproariously at my pathetic hindi.
leh was definitely the best part of the trip for me. it was incredibly peaceful and CHILL. no hassling, no overcharging, not a lot of staring, and no shady people. it might have had something to do with the fact that the tourist season hadn't quite kicked off yet. who knows? it was perfect ... and if we were all gonna get food poisoning on this trip (which we did!), this was the best place to do it.
leh is almost the polar opposite of everywhere else in india i've been ... in pretty much every way. first off, it was COLD. secondly, it was clean (and beautiful)! third, the people there seem to care very little about making a quick buck, and instead are friendly, smiley, welcoming, gracious, and absolutely wonderful. they've got rosy cheeks and their faces light up when you pass in the streets and everyone merrily says hello and welcome. it was a shock to the system, physically and mentally.
once again we stayed in a guest house. the majority of accommocations in leh are in the form of guest houses. the family who runs each one usually lives in part of the ground floor, and rents out the remaining rooms. typically they'll cook for you and help you with laundy, etc. ours was incredible. we weren't provided with toilet paper or towels or toiletries, but we did have hot water on demand 24 hours a day (a real treat anywhere in india), great breakfast and tea anytime, soft, warm beds in a clean and new home ... for $4 per person per night!!
we did a lot of hiking and reading. the atmosphere is so clean and pure, that we all got sunburns right away. i used lots of sunblock and wore a shawl over my head, but somehow my nose still looked like rudolph's when i got home. ... and the rest of my skin was still white! we toured a monastery in a nearby village, which houses a few hundred monks. we rented mountain bikes and took a jeep up to the highest drivable pass in the world. the guys rode the bikes down the pass... i chickened out and rode in the jeep, which turned out to be an even more interesting experience. our jeep guide has a brother in the indian army who is posted at the top of the pass, meaning he lives there year-round. we gave the guys a 20 minute head start before we followed them down the hill, and i got to spend that time in a tiny army hut, with about 10 army dudes, drinking chai and trying to converse. sadly, they wouldn't let me take any pictures. mostly, they asked me about their english skills and laughed uproariously at my pathetic hindi.
leh was definitely the best part of the trip for me. it was incredibly peaceful and CHILL. no hassling, no overcharging, not a lot of staring, and no shady people. it might have had something to do with the fact that the tourist season hadn't quite kicked off yet. who knows? it was perfect ... and if we were all gonna get food poisoning on this trip (which we did!), this was the best place to do it.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
jaisalmer, or part 2
so we left jodhpur and headed to jaisalmer, in an overnight, a.c. train which turned out to be surprisingly easy to sleep on. the train crew is super anal about who sleeps where, but i was able to convince p+s that it would be safer for me as one of only 2 white women in the crowded car, to sleep on the top bunk ... and i slept fine. there is of course no privacy whatsoever, so we had to sleep in our clothes. the locals don't seem to mind though, and they feel free to change, fart, pick their noses, scratch their balls, and do pretty much anything they feel like doing at any time. we crashed almost immediately, and i didn't wake up until the conductor's assistant walked through the car, literally whispering "jaisalmer, jaisalmer." rarely is someone so polite or quiet here!
the minute we stepped off the train, we wished we had stayed in jodhpur longer. it was 530 in the morning, and we were pretty disoriented. being the only whiteys around, we were instantly surrounded by rickshaw and cab drivers, hotel hustlers, touts, porters, and anyone looking to sell something. these guys are relentless. they do not take no (even if spoken emphatically and explicitly in hindi, which i'm proud to say i can now do!) for an answer. they will simply persist until you give in, tugging on your clothes, grabbing your bags, trying to steer you to their vehicle. they'll even fight with each other to get your business. most of them have arrangements with local shop and hotel owners, so that if they bring 'rich' foreigners (read... any foreigner) into the establishment, the owner will give them a commission. if you ask to go to a hotel or shop that doesn't give out commissions, the driver will say it no longer exists, has burned to the ground, is shut down for repairs, or simply refuse to take you there ... driving instead to a commission-paying place. it's infuriating!
jaisalmer turns out to be more of a glorified village than a town. bombay, in comparison, is clean, orderly, and modern!! each road in jaisalmer is lined on either side by open gutter/sewers, into which literally everything goes. not only are there the requisite cows, donkeys, and dogs roaming the streets, but jaisalmer also has an abundance of boars and little boar piglets running around ... rooting in the sewers, eating everything in sight. there's an old fort in this town as well, but it's not nearly as exotic as jodhpur's. there are several people living within this fort, and it is a somewhat bustling area with run-down guest houses, internet cafes, shops, and temples.
definitely the highlight of our stay there was the camel safari. we found a travel agent near the fort gate who specializes in them, and walked in. we were met by 'mr. desert.' mr. desert is the only man to win the mr. desert competition multiple times, resulting in the 'mr. desert emeritus' title. each year jaisalmer hosts a desert festival, comprising of many competitions. there are beauty competitions for both women and men (mr. desert) and for the best mustache (!), tug of war for indians vs foreigners, camel polo, turban tying contests, and contests where women carry jugs of water on their heads... all kinds of crazy, as of yet non-olympian events. mr. desert is very proud of his title, not at all humble, and quite a character, demanding that we take his picture after he adjusted his 'stache and changed his headgear. we booked a safari on the spot.
we met again at the shop later in the day and were whisked away in an open-air jeep. we bounced along for 2 hours, going deeper and deeper into the desert. it was insanely hot and just as windy, sand blowing eeevvveeerywhere. we wrapped our heads in shawls, and our cameras in plastic. eventually we came upon our guide, who happens to also be the owner of the camels we rode. he lives in a desert village and he and his young nephew accompany the tourists to guide the animals and cook. we rode the camels for a few hours, stopped to watch the sunset, and then set up camp nearby. our guide and his little helper cooked an amazing and enormous meal over a campfire, which we ate with (almost) cold kingfishers. we then stretched out on cots, burrowed under thick quilts and contemplated the stars. it was a little tough to get used to the fact that we were just plopped in the middle of the desert, sleeping out in the open ... and i probably would have slept better if the wind hadn't lifted half my cot off the ground from time to time!
riding a camel is easy (at least at the leisurely pace were were moving). mounting and dismounting is not so easy. at least for someone of my diminutive 5'1.5" stature. standing next to a sitting camel, the saddle came up at least to my waist. i needed assistance even getting my leg over! then the camel rises. and not smoothly. first the hind legs begin to straighten out, it's butt shoots up in the air, and if you're not leaning waaaaaay back in the saddle, you'll topple off. then the front legs come up, and suddenly you're really high up! i loved it. i also loved the desert. incredibly peaceful, simple and oh so enormous. ... we got up the next morning, had a simple breakfast, and headed out for a few more hours of camel riding before meeting up with the jeep and returning to town.
we stayed on in jaisalmer that night and left on another train to delhi, where we booked a flight to leh ... which ended up being easily my favorite part of the whole trip.
the minute we stepped off the train, we wished we had stayed in jodhpur longer. it was 530 in the morning, and we were pretty disoriented. being the only whiteys around, we were instantly surrounded by rickshaw and cab drivers, hotel hustlers, touts, porters, and anyone looking to sell something. these guys are relentless. they do not take no (even if spoken emphatically and explicitly in hindi, which i'm proud to say i can now do!) for an answer. they will simply persist until you give in, tugging on your clothes, grabbing your bags, trying to steer you to their vehicle. they'll even fight with each other to get your business. most of them have arrangements with local shop and hotel owners, so that if they bring 'rich' foreigners (read... any foreigner) into the establishment, the owner will give them a commission. if you ask to go to a hotel or shop that doesn't give out commissions, the driver will say it no longer exists, has burned to the ground, is shut down for repairs, or simply refuse to take you there ... driving instead to a commission-paying place. it's infuriating!
jaisalmer turns out to be more of a glorified village than a town. bombay, in comparison, is clean, orderly, and modern!! each road in jaisalmer is lined on either side by open gutter/sewers, into which literally everything goes. not only are there the requisite cows, donkeys, and dogs roaming the streets, but jaisalmer also has an abundance of boars and little boar piglets running around ... rooting in the sewers, eating everything in sight. there's an old fort in this town as well, but it's not nearly as exotic as jodhpur's. there are several people living within this fort, and it is a somewhat bustling area with run-down guest houses, internet cafes, shops, and temples.
definitely the highlight of our stay there was the camel safari. we found a travel agent near the fort gate who specializes in them, and walked in. we were met by 'mr. desert.' mr. desert is the only man to win the mr. desert competition multiple times, resulting in the 'mr. desert emeritus' title. each year jaisalmer hosts a desert festival, comprising of many competitions. there are beauty competitions for both women and men (mr. desert) and for the best mustache (!), tug of war for indians vs foreigners, camel polo, turban tying contests, and contests where women carry jugs of water on their heads... all kinds of crazy, as of yet non-olympian events. mr. desert is very proud of his title, not at all humble, and quite a character, demanding that we take his picture after he adjusted his 'stache and changed his headgear. we booked a safari on the spot.
we met again at the shop later in the day and were whisked away in an open-air jeep. we bounced along for 2 hours, going deeper and deeper into the desert. it was insanely hot and just as windy, sand blowing eeevvveeerywhere. we wrapped our heads in shawls, and our cameras in plastic. eventually we came upon our guide, who happens to also be the owner of the camels we rode. he lives in a desert village and he and his young nephew accompany the tourists to guide the animals and cook. we rode the camels for a few hours, stopped to watch the sunset, and then set up camp nearby. our guide and his little helper cooked an amazing and enormous meal over a campfire, which we ate with (almost) cold kingfishers. we then stretched out on cots, burrowed under thick quilts and contemplated the stars. it was a little tough to get used to the fact that we were just plopped in the middle of the desert, sleeping out in the open ... and i probably would have slept better if the wind hadn't lifted half my cot off the ground from time to time!
riding a camel is easy (at least at the leisurely pace were were moving). mounting and dismounting is not so easy. at least for someone of my diminutive 5'1.5" stature. standing next to a sitting camel, the saddle came up at least to my waist. i needed assistance even getting my leg over! then the camel rises. and not smoothly. first the hind legs begin to straighten out, it's butt shoots up in the air, and if you're not leaning waaaaaay back in the saddle, you'll topple off. then the front legs come up, and suddenly you're really high up! i loved it. i also loved the desert. incredibly peaceful, simple and oh so enormous. ... we got up the next morning, had a simple breakfast, and headed out for a few more hours of camel riding before meeting up with the jeep and returning to town.
we stayed on in jaisalmer that night and left on another train to delhi, where we booked a flight to leh ... which ended up being easily my favorite part of the whole trip.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)