We said goodbye to Jenny in Jodhpur to catch her train back to Delhi, and continued on with our crazy ass driver, Va Jay Jay, to Pushkar.
Just a side note- because my brain isn't thinking in any chronological order right now :
I think Alex and I have finally hammered out a solid system for communicating about the smells in India. It's all smells. The whole country is a bubbling smell pot of different variations. There's a point system up to 9, but I am only going to reveal 1- 5, as these are most important and frequently used.
Masala #1 - kind of obvious, it's the pee. The piercing urine smell that only street side urinals can provide.
Masala #2 - obvious as well, it's the poo. But there are all different kinds of poo, so I think it is important to differentiate. Masala #2.5 is cow. Masala #2.8 is human. Human gets higher on the list because it smells worse and it's just way more gross to see in the street.
Masala #3 is vomit. We don't really have to use this one too much, but when you do-you really do.
We'll skip #4
Masala #5- is a very important B.O. The cologne of India.
This is just a little answer key to help you along as you read our blogs. I believe there might be a color system in the works as well. I'll get back to you on that one.
Anyway, back to Pushkar, it's a beautiful little town surrounded by mountains and hosting a small population of stoned priests and locals. "Special Lassi" is on most cafe menus and only costs about 30 rupees. That's less than a dollar.
Alex had the brilliant idea of renting a motorcylce and driving around outside of town. Why Not? (another Va jay jay-ism. "Ya, why not?") It was only 150 rupees for 24 hours. I have to give mad props to the boy. Not only had he never driven a motorcycle, but he was driving it on the opposite side, in Indian traffic, and on Indian roads. Great Job! We didn't wipe out once, and it was so much fun. The first time we took it out it started to rain. Just as he pulled it up under an awning it came a torrential downpour. We were really lucky to have a chai stand across the street. Everything seemed to work out perfetly. We ran through the river in the road and had tea with all the men in their turbans. They were very amused by our cameras.
By the time we were done with our tea it had stopped raining. Driving on the country roads was the coolest thing we've done so far. We got drenched by a bus blasting music, carrying at least 15 people on it's roof. At one point we ended up going up a mountain. Again, great job on the driving. people are crazy on those mountain roads. We ran into the british guy from jodhpur with all the funny enthusiastic stories. He's not enjoying India. But i'm enjoying his stories.
We had dinner with a woman from Turky and sat out on the lake for the evening ceremonies. I really enjoyed Pushkar. People actually come to talk to you for conversation rather than money. The "priests" want money, but whatever. (religion is SO for sale here) It's so much better than everywhere else.
We woke up way too early the next morning to hike up to one of the temples on the mountain for sunrise. Sunrise didn't quite work out, but we made it up eventually, and then decided to screw our driver and keep going on the motorcycle. One of the highlights of the trip was stopping on the side of the road to take pictures of the beautiful woman in their saris digging ditches (woman do all the work in this country. You'll find men lying on cots outside, drinking chai or peeing on the side of the road). Before I knew it I had a hoe in my hand and was being shown by 5 or 6 chattering women how to dig a ditch. None of them spoke english, but they were all eager to communicate with us. All at once. I was wearing my bangles wrong, and my scarf should have been on my head. I'm pretty sure that's what was being said. They seemed very pleased when I adjusted both. One of them stuck her finger in my ear. i don't know what that was about.
Va jay jay was totally pissed when we got in 45 minutes late and drove like a crazy person (even crazier than usual) all the way to delhi. Horn every 4 to 5 seconds. Seriously. I had to tell him to chill with the horn.
So once again, I'm back in delhi at casa de jenny (thanks jenny!). we bought yogart and bananas for dinner last night, mango and oatmeal for breakfast, and now alex is making us all killer omlettes with lots of veggies. All of these things are going into his letter of recommendation that carie, jenny and I are writing. Plus the clothes washing and loaning me money which is making my next trip possible. I'm so excited.
we bought our tickets to kashmir tonight and leave early, early tomorrow morning. EEEEEE! This will be the last leg of my trip. : (
I'll be there until the 11th, fly back to delhi, and then fly out the next day for etas unis. Evidently we bought tickets on a really risky airline, so we are staying positive and hoping to make it to Leh. Challo!
By the time we were done with our tea it had stopped raining. Driving on the country roads was the coolest thing we've done so far. We got drenched by a bus blasting music, carrying at least 15 people on it's roof. At one point we ended up going up a mountain. Again, great job on the driving. people are crazy on those mountain roads. We ran into the british guy from jodhpur with all the funny enthusiastic stories. He's not enjoying India. But i'm enjoying his stories.
We had dinner with a woman from Turky and sat out on the lake for the evening ceremonies. I really enjoyed Pushkar. People actually come to talk to you for conversation rather than money. The "priests" want money, but whatever. (religion is SO for sale here) It's so much better than everywhere else.
We woke up way too early the next morning to hike up to one of the temples on the mountain for sunrise. Sunrise didn't quite work out, but we made it up eventually, and then decided to screw our driver and keep going on the motorcycle. One of the highlights of the trip was stopping on the side of the road to take pictures of the beautiful woman in their saris digging ditches (woman do all the work in this country. You'll find men lying on cots outside, drinking chai or peeing on the side of the road). Before I knew it I had a hoe in my hand and was being shown by 5 or 6 chattering women how to dig a ditch. None of them spoke english, but they were all eager to communicate with us. All at once. I was wearing my bangles wrong, and my scarf should have been on my head. I'm pretty sure that's what was being said. They seemed very pleased when I adjusted both. One of them stuck her finger in my ear. i don't know what that was about.
Va jay jay was totally pissed when we got in 45 minutes late and drove like a crazy person (even crazier than usual) all the way to delhi. Horn every 4 to 5 seconds. Seriously. I had to tell him to chill with the horn.
So once again, I'm back in delhi at casa de jenny (thanks jenny!). we bought yogart and bananas for dinner last night, mango and oatmeal for breakfast, and now alex is making us all killer omlettes with lots of veggies. All of these things are going into his letter of recommendation that carie, jenny and I are writing. Plus the clothes washing and loaning me money which is making my next trip possible. I'm so excited.
we bought our tickets to kashmir tonight and leave early, early tomorrow morning. EEEEEE! This will be the last leg of my trip. : (
I'll be there until the 11th, fly back to delhi, and then fly out the next day for etas unis. Evidently we bought tickets on a really risky airline, so we are staying positive and hoping to make it to Leh. Challo!
1 comment:
SARAH!! I miss you and love your brilliant blog. You are going on so many fun adventures!! Keep bringing us magical stories.
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