We've re-entered Indian culture in a big way, emerging from obscure Himalayan towns to the pulsing bigger city tourist scene. A startling contrast, especially after 10 days of serenity and solitude. Quite overwhelming. Honestly, we are a little burnt out on India and some of its repetitious behaviour, but overall we have absolutely LOVED India. It has been such a varied experience, with each place holding its own special character. We constantly felt like we chose good places to visit and good things to fill our time, and were really lucky with all of those results. Currently, we sit in Dehli, awaiting our flight to Phuket, Thailand...from where we really have no clue where to start when our plane lands.
Just as quickly as we were celebrating our trek with some locals in Kasol, we quickly realized that we only had 12 days left before our flight. So we traded the blissful mountain air for the hot desert to the West. Making a mad dash for Rajasthan State, we found ourselves in Pushkar...30 hours and 5 buses later. The long bus trip was made tolerable by the fact that we found and ate at a Pizza Hut in Jaiper, just as we were reaching our max with buses.
Pushkar is a small holy city with ghats that surround a lake. Gandhi's ashes are scattered at one of the ghats. Every year they host an annual Camel festival and we arrived on the evening of the last night, so naturally, there was chaos. The festival includes all types of wild carnival adventures from walking on coals to camel racing. There were 5 ferris wheels and other rides, games with prizes, greasy food, and of course a cotton candy man. All the makings of a legit fair. Camel drivers and tourists come from all over to see the madness and to buy, sell, and trade camels. On top of that, it is also a time when hundreds of Hindus make a pilgrimage to bathe in the holy water. So needless to say, the place was hopping when we staggered into Pushkar at 9pm, carry our packs and weary from clocking 30 bus hours. We just wanted a hotel and a bed. Glad to have missed the full throng of people and the sky-rocketed hotel prices, it was still exciting to see a bit of the action, as the carnival stayed in full swing for an extra day.
Next we headed to Udaiper, which is dubbed as the "Venice of India". There are 2 islands with palaces on them in the middle of a small lake, visible from shore. City Palace is huge and looming on shore, and every other structure in the area is beautifully painted white, full of arched windows and domed rooftops. The city was especially magical viewed at night from one of the many rooftop restaurants, when all the palaces were lit up like a fairly tale backdrop. We were informed that Shakira was there to do a private concert for the 80th birthday of an outrageously rich Indian business man. He rented out an entire island and invited 400 guests at $40,000/head...including Ricky Martin and David Beckham. The newspaper showed throngs of young men gaping from the shores during Shakira's concert, even though the island is far enough away to barely see or hear anything!
Udaiper's major claim to fame is that part of the James Bond movie, "Octopussy", was filmed here. Nearly every restaurant will roll out a TV for you to watch the movie with dinner...so we figured we'd better get on board and watch the infamous movie as well, which we did while consuming an absurd amount of food! Also, embarrassing as this is, it was my first James Bond movie as well.
Lastly, we headed to Jaisalmer for a look at the golden sandstone fort, which is slowly sinking its way into the earth. The fort itself was a beautiful maze of narrow streets with intricately engraved temples and havelis (ornate homes). Then, as a last hurrah for India, we splurged on a camel. Meaning...we did the slightly cheesy camel safari that everyone and their brother offers in Jaisalmer. It was only 2 days and one night, but it was enough to give us saddle sores, and a great way to end our time in India.
Every place we went in Rajasthan, there were rows and rows of market vendors with beautiful handicrafts to buy. So now our bags are popping at the seams, and we just hope to make it onto the plane with only carry-ons! Next time you hear from us...it will be from the beaches of Thailand!
Just as quickly as we were celebrating our trek with some locals in Kasol, we quickly realized that we only had 12 days left before our flight. So we traded the blissful mountain air for the hot desert to the West. Making a mad dash for Rajasthan State, we found ourselves in Pushkar...30 hours and 5 buses later. The long bus trip was made tolerable by the fact that we found and ate at a Pizza Hut in Jaiper, just as we were reaching our max with buses.
Pushkar is a small holy city with ghats that surround a lake. Gandhi's ashes are scattered at one of the ghats. Every year they host an annual Camel festival and we arrived on the evening of the last night, so naturally, there was chaos. The festival includes all types of wild carnival adventures from walking on coals to camel racing. There were 5 ferris wheels and other rides, games with prizes, greasy food, and of course a cotton candy man. All the makings of a legit fair. Camel drivers and tourists come from all over to see the madness and to buy, sell, and trade camels. On top of that, it is also a time when hundreds of Hindus make a pilgrimage to bathe in the holy water. So needless to say, the place was hopping when we staggered into Pushkar at 9pm, carry our packs and weary from clocking 30 bus hours. We just wanted a hotel and a bed. Glad to have missed the full throng of people and the sky-rocketed hotel prices, it was still exciting to see a bit of the action, as the carnival stayed in full swing for an extra day.
Next we headed to Udaiper, which is dubbed as the "Venice of India". There are 2 islands with palaces on them in the middle of a small lake, visible from shore. City Palace is huge and looming on shore, and every other structure in the area is beautifully painted white, full of arched windows and domed rooftops. The city was especially magical viewed at night from one of the many rooftop restaurants, when all the palaces were lit up like a fairly tale backdrop. We were informed that Shakira was there to do a private concert for the 80th birthday of an outrageously rich Indian business man. He rented out an entire island and invited 400 guests at $40,000/head...including Ricky Martin and David Beckham. The newspaper showed throngs of young men gaping from the shores during Shakira's concert, even though the island is far enough away to barely see or hear anything!
Udaiper's major claim to fame is that part of the James Bond movie, "Octopussy", was filmed here. Nearly every restaurant will roll out a TV for you to watch the movie with dinner...so we figured we'd better get on board and watch the infamous movie as well, which we did while consuming an absurd amount of food! Also, embarrassing as this is, it was my first James Bond movie as well.
Lastly, we headed to Jaisalmer for a look at the golden sandstone fort, which is slowly sinking its way into the earth. The fort itself was a beautiful maze of narrow streets with intricately engraved temples and havelis (ornate homes). Then, as a last hurrah for India, we splurged on a camel. Meaning...we did the slightly cheesy camel safari that everyone and their brother offers in Jaisalmer. It was only 2 days and one night, but it was enough to give us saddle sores, and a great way to end our time in India.
Every place we went in Rajasthan, there were rows and rows of market vendors with beautiful handicrafts to buy. So now our bags are popping at the seams, and we just hope to make it onto the plane with only carry-ons! Next time you hear from us...it will be from the beaches of Thailand!
the Himalayas, home of the snow, is the most impressive system of mountains on the earth, and for centuries the setting for epic feats of exploration and
ReplyDeletemountain climbing / treks, are a world into themselves. Ascending the heights and being a part of the Himalayan landscape is an experience beyond comparison.
treks to himalayas in India