Beyond The Specs

Leaving Pushkar to drive to Agra turned out to be quite the adventure. For this leg of the journey we were due to leave Pushkar and head to Agra for the final stint of our car and driver portion of the trip. The plan was to hit Agra and then leave from a nearby town, Mathura, via train to go to Mumbai, and then begin our journey south. But en route from Pushkar to Agra it looked like the roads were closed?? All of them in the direction of Agra? Billu was not happy and not very pleasant about it at all. We first hit a major traffic jam and that kicked off the rest of the day. The drivers have their own form of channel 9 on the highways and were quickly yelling out of windows at one another as they pulled U Turns to head in the other direction. This is where it got fun. With everyone saying the main highway to Agra was closed, it was time to find an alternate route.

This is where it got tough. The drive from Pushkar to Agra was supposed to be a long day but this turned into over 12 hours of driving. We would veer down a dirt road through a village only to find that road not functioning or not connected to the next road. Complete country villages came out to see the convoy of cars snaking through their towns. When i say dirt road. I mean more like a cattle straight or pathway. Most were barely wide enough for our tiny car, and some just weren’t. It was fascinating to take in the scenery though. Like a cliched 80′s save-the-children informercial, the kids came out en masse, waving and screaming at the cars and running along. The dust was thick and abrasive but it didn’t seem to bother them. Groups of men seemed to ponder the events; slowly gazing as we passed. And the women. Well the women just kept working. Thats the big observation we have both had here. The women of India freaking work, but every 15 feet you see a clutch of men, just hanging out. Or at least seemingly hanging out. The women were in the fields, tending animals, hauling loads of wood on their heads; but the men were just there. And that trait seems to be holding through a lot of small towns at least.

While the journey was hard, and the temp increasing with no AC, and the air too thick with sandpaper to want to inhale it; it was exciting to be on an adventure. In the beginning it was annoying, and i swear i wanted to jump into the communication chain and use my GPs to help the convoy, but after a while we just settled back to enjoy what is India.

We arrived late in the night to Agra. Billu didn’t want to drive to the old part of town by the Taj but he serendipitously offered help finding a rickshaw driver for each of us. This is where it got mildly uncomfortable for us. Each of us climbed into the PEDAL driven rickshaw to head to the hotel. And we had to have the skinniest and smallest drivers in all of Agra. We were killing these guys. Especially me. And as he heaved with each press of the pedal, I just felt bad. Must go on diet! But it was also just too much of a physical toil for him for me to feel good.

We crashed quickly at the hotel in preparation to see the Taj Mahal the next day and then head out of town to catch the train to Mumbai. We got up before dawn to go get our tickets for the Taj. Walking around this quarter of the city was spooky. The smog is so thick, that it looks like fog, and beings seem to emerge from it suddenly as you walk past. Looking ahead we saw these massive creatures that looked like something out of Cloverfield, but they turned out to be camels. But it’s scary that the smog is THAT thick.

Slinking Giants

Tickets in hand, it was time to join the queue. It was a cool assortment of people. Both westerners & Indians. It was also cool to see the long list of the restrictions for entry. They really do try to prevent anything that could be used to make a statement (flags & propaganda) and/or deface the monument (gum, candy, plastic).

So let’s get it out of the way. The Taj Mahal is beautiful. It’s just like all of the photos and it’s exactly the image you have in your head. Going before sunrise was smart because it wasn’t so hot yet and the number of tourist was still low.

When you enter, you see massive gardens and water fountains surrounding the Taj in the center. And when you get to the actual White Part of the monument you have to either take off your shoes or put on little booties to protect the marble from your feet. Nice touch. We searched for a unique place to take in the sunrise.

Photographing a crazy popular place or known monument is hard for me. I want to try and find an angle that’s unique or special but it’s almost impossible. You see clutches of tourists in the classic spots making lesser versions of the post cards you can by for $.03. Chuckles jumped up and out on a balcony and found a cool spot for some shots and we took those.

Taj Sunrise

Looking at the shot above, it’s very volumetric and “foggy” as that’s what the morning was like. But remember that haze/ fog is pure pollution that you can taste and smell.

I didn’t realize that the Taj was set along a body of water either.

River Haze

Post sunrise, we just explores the grounds and took it in. It’s quite the monument. The actual interior of the building is quite small and blocked off for tourists. So it’s a fast exploration. It’s not like Al Hambra in Spain or Angor Wat in Cambodia. And I guess that was slightly a let down. If you have seen the post cards you have seen the Taj. There aren’t a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. But it is nice to just sit on a bench and think with it as a back drop.

With the number of tourists and the temperature rising. It was time to grab a few more shots. Remember the post card shots. Ugh. I still felt compelled to get them.

Taj Pano

Mahal Reflected

The plan post Taj Mahal was to check out, rickshaw out of the old part of town, meet Billu and head to Mathura to take a night train to Mumbai.

Given our early start, we had a few hours to burn. So we went and explored Agra. We met an eager shop merchant, who wanted to help us find the ATM. For some reason we felt good with him and went on an errand adventure through the old city of Agra. It was cool as he led us through the real city. The main streets are fronted with stores selling trinkets but then there is a network of streets and alleys behind that have the real commerce. Like the Souks of Morrocco. We needed to get a SIM card, withdraw money, and food for our epic train ride.

The Real Agra

To get our cell phones activated we needed to get pictures taken and copies of passports made. Let me just say our mugshots are awesome! We look like criminals or middle school yearbook. Sorry can’t post those… Yet.

With the errands run, it was time to meet Billu and get to the train. We were early, so we dropped the bags with him and went searching for street food. We settled in on the shop below.

Samosa Hut

Doesn’t look like much but one of the shops up the street suggested it. We each got two Samosas and a Cola. Would this be the time that got us sick? We were out of hand sanitized and had been haggling through the old city. Oh well. These Samosas were delicious. Spicy, piping hot and fresh, and little dumplings of happiness. Yea, I love indian food. The best part though was the sense of pride that the shop owners son had. He was psyched we were eating there and he knew his stuff was delicious!

Proud Chef

Post Samosas and stomach feeling great, we headed back to car. We saw this pimp shoe smith offering his services. I am not sure how many of you played street fighter growing up, but this guy is a a character from that game!

Streetfighter

From here is where it all goes down hill. You can see from the other posts that the trip started to come off it’s intinerary.

There aren’t a lot of pictures at this point because it was that stressful. When we arrived at the station we checked to see what track the train was leaving from and where to wait. Just getting help was a nightmare and then when we got it the information was all over the board. One person said it was going to be 4 hours late and the other said 24+ hours late. yup the discrepancy was that broad. Meanwhile Billu is getting annoyed because he is ready to leave. This was his last point and then he could go back home and deal with his aggression solo. But we didn’t want to cut Billu Loose without having a plan because it was Mathura. This was not the Delhi train station. Mathura felt rough. The people stared more intensely than any other place and the men seemed to want to push us to fight. They formed circles, stared angrily, and started to encroach personal space. Mildly grabbing an arm to try and get your attention. Not good and not welcomed. I am used to staring, comments, jeers, yells, and even an arm grab now and then. I know the difference between cultural curiosity and just plain aggression. And these guys were just fucking with us. We finally told Billu to just leave us and we would deal with it/ figure it out. If we had to we could take like 50 of them, like Neo in the matrix. But Billu showed a rare moment of caring and said no and to call the travel office. Another few hours on the phone and it was decided we should cancel our tickets at the station and double back 5 hours to Delhi. On top of that, all of this took 5 hours to sort so it was now dark. 5 hours of Indian highway night driving. Ugh. No fun. But we made it back to Delhi, found a dirty and cold place to stay and went to bed.

Waking up, we were done with the north. With the trains not trustworthy, we turned to the planes and plotted a plan. We went to the train station first thing in the morning to try and get a refund on our tickets. While the bureaucracy was taxing, we did learn we were entitled to a full refund on the tickets! But we had to hurry and get it from the travel agency before the train departed. Doubling back to the rebel agency, the guy of course starts his hustle about cancellation fees. Nope. Not going to play that game dude, we just got back from the train station and it’s all ours. Ok ok, he goes. Ugh. Really. He still got us for a $1 but if it’s that important to him, he can have it. We booked fights and it was off to Kochi in the south.

We had high hopes for the south. India hadn’t yet caught the flame in my imagination or heart.

Pushkar. So waking up in Pushkar for a day of pure exploration and no travel was exciting. We rallied the tribe for a quick breakfast and then we were off to walk into town and explore. Pushkar is a small town known for it’s Brahma temple, one of the few existing in the world. It’s also has it’s share of Sikh temples as well.

It was nice to just stroll into town and not have to deal with Billu. We actually called him in the morning to drive us around for the day. But he just lied and said cars couldn’t go in the old city. The walk was more fun anyway.

We did see some of the traffic Billu was obviously fearing.

Traffic Jam

Pushkar sits in a desert region as thusly the camel safari or ride was always being offered. But this one family was very interesting to just talk to about their camels and their curiosity about what country I was from.

Camel Family

One of our first stops was at a Sikh temple. If you look at the traffic jam shot you will see it in the background. This was a cool experience. To enter the temple you had to cover your head and body and enter barefoot through a cleansing pool. The temple itself was made of marble and felt calmingly cool underfoot. It was a simple temple with a reading room in the center, but it did have a very cool walking labyrinth etched into the marble floor. Clearing the mind while tracing the pattern soothed the soul.

Back on the town we walked toward the market area. The goal for the day was to walk the markets, go to Brahma Temple, and see the Ghats.

Descending into the Market

The market vendors were out and active. And the locals were buying. I always wonder how far people travel to these markets because having driven through the countryside to get there I really wonder where all the green vegetables and fruits come from. This woman had a modest display for sale.

Wrinkled Onions

We also spotted this guy selling fried wonton like noodles. Looked to be a tasty snack.

Wontons

Our tribe grew thirsty and so we stopped for some sugar cane juice.

Sugar Cane

Popcorn was another staple that was everywhere and it really did look delicious. I promise that in another week we will be eating out of the hands of strangers (literally), but I am just not there yet.

Orville

While there is a lot of selling going on, there is also a lot of just living too. This family was just staring out onto the action.

Bouncy Baby

Again texture plays such a deep role in this experience as well. The layered smell of diesel, urine, cow dung, samosa, masala, dogs, and people intermix to create a olfactory ballad that’s unforgettable. It dances across the brain. Really unforgettable. But speaking of texture the shot below caught my eye.

Foil Vendor

We finally found our way to the Ghats and it was an experience. The Ghats are the stairs down to the Pushkar lake. When you approach them, the hustle begins. A holy man comes to take you down to the lake to talk to you. Of course he doesn’t want any money. So they put rose petals in your hand and down to the water you go. Once you get down there its time for a ceremony and some chatting up by the holy man. I don’t mean to sound jaded but the hustle is hard. There have been some very amazing people who have gone out of their way to guide or help us. But a lot are working it. And I can’t decide for sure which category these guys were in. I decided to let the rest of the tribe descend and I would watch shoes and just observe. The holy man did not like that. He kept pushing me that it’s ok, no money, it’s holy. No I’m good for now. One by one I watched them get separated and counseled. And one by one I watched the wallets come out for “donations”. I just didn’t like it. It was good to experience and have a quiet moment there. What’s even more fascinating is that when you have had the experience they tie a bracelet on your wrist. Like a symbol or rather signal, that you had been through it. Was it a scarlet letter or the pope’s ring? Hmm.

Post the Ghats it was back to the market and to see some of the other side of the town. The market is organized along a strip in front of the Lake, and while the lake is encircled with development, there is definitely a front a back to town.

Working our way to the back part of town we attracted a beggar. But she was different. Had a delicate but scary aura to her, and she had taken a liking to our tribe.

The Hobbit Beggar

Her face was so finally wrinkled but her demeanor was almost child like. She is still stuck in my head.

We made it to the back side of the town and were looking for a quiet place to take in Lake Pushkar and we found it and shared it with a new friend.

The Pilgrim

We spent some time just experiencing the place and lake. Seeing the settlement around this small lake as the sun began it’s arc lower was calming.

Lake Pushkar

Leaving the lake, we walked along dirt roads, away from the bustling market and vendors. Passing a small farm house, a group of kids came to take a look.

Neighborhood Watch

Yea, doesn’t get much cuter than that. Our loop took us back to the main road at the top of the city. With the sun setting and the dusk swirling in the air, Pushkar started to glow.

We were among a troop of pilgrims exiting the markets.

The Flock

And the fella below had cleared his cart and was going to get another.

Push Cart

But the shot below best captures the feeling of being there. The glow, the dust, the movement, the smell.

Pushkar

Waking up in Udaipur was peaceful. It was nice to not have to wake and leave. We got up early though because our two new buddies needed to get to the train station early to get tickets to Delhi for later in the day. I stayed back to organize a bit and Chuckles went with them to get their tickets. The plan was for us to hang during the day and then they would train to Delhi and we would car to Pushkar. It was nice to have new friends to travel with and explore for the day.

While they were away I went out to watch the city wake up. It was awesome.

First up was this awesome car. Most of the town is suspended in a cloud of dust. So this car had to have been there for quite some time to get stuck like this.

Sealed

I ventured down to the water to see kids getting ready for school and some clothes being washed. The city really is gorgeous. Especially at this hour.

Down by the water

Laundered

Next, I doubled back to the other side of the city. The cows really are everywhere and quite persistent in their wants and desires. While I was taking the picture below I heard this guttural grunt behind me and it was a massive bull trying to pass. It was a percussive sound, like a drum with a tighter CRACK. Never heard that one before. So I yielded to his way.

The Bullied Scooter

Working back to the hotel, I met up with the tribe for some breakfast on the rooftop. Post breakfast it was off to explore the city, we had a few hours before everyone was due to shove off to the next stop. Us to Pushkar and them to Delhi.

In Udaipur there is a massive City Palace. It’s always interesting to explore palaces. Man the lives of the rich… Anyway I am not going to bore with a bunch of staid shots. Palaces are palaces. But we did have a few cool experiences.

One, we broke the rules. You are supposed to pay for a “camera ticket” if you have a camera and are going to use it. Well some of the tribe got one but two didn’t. Well we got caught and this guy was not nice. One of the tribe took a picture and the guard asked for the camera ticket. Uh oh. It was a little scary as he dragged her away to get kicked out. After some baksheesh it was taken care of. But the shot below caught the scene.

Uh oh

Shaken but not stirred we soldiered on exploring. We came to another guard who could care less. I thought it fitting that he was roped off like the object of desire. Kinda like a do not disturb sign for him as he was texting.

D.N.D.

The view of Udaipur from the palace was amazing. The town had a very Mediterranean feel to it from this angle. Its interesting how that changes when you go down below.

Palacial View

One thing that is striking about India and that keeps coming around, is texture. Everything has a layered and underpinned feeling to it. Like you can strip back the surface and find something underneath. Walking by this Angel caught my eye.

Nai Angel

On the way out of the palace we walked through one of the courtyards where there clearly had been an event. Hanging from all of the trees were these balls of flowers. Still fresh and unwilted. They were awesome. We wondered how they made balls of flowers, so tried to get a close inspection.

Cabbage patch flowers

Out of the palace it was back to the market and we had to start thinking about the trip to Pushkar. The markets and lanes around these attractions are fascinating. Because it’s a mix of touristy hawkers and also legitimate market commerce for locals.

The woman and child below caught my eye. She had such a claustered expression as she was holding her child close. I am not sure of her status but she was begging and no one would approach her.

Protection

Many of the merchants work off of mobile carts. With their goods loaded, which range from bananas to a full rolling kitten with boiling pots, they work the strip.

Fruit Stand

The alleyways and side streets are the real gems though. I love how compact the scooters and other vehicles are to be able to careen through the side streets.

Pop Alley

Cars are tiny here for that reason as well. I am sure that the “mini-vans”, emphasis on the “mini”, run off the same 50cc engine that seems to power everything from rickshaws, to scooters, to generators, to sugar cane grinders (more on that later).

Road Obstacle

These guys caught my eye as well.

Puppet

Back to the hotel it was time to sort our goodbyes as part of the tribe was heading to Delhi and we were heading to Pushkar. But as we settled into the last meal together it was clear we weren’t ready to part. So as is often the case on the road, we decided to stay together for the next stop Pushkar.

But now it’s complicated. We have to deal with our driver, Billu. Sorry but Billu really does chafe. I have tried everything with this man and I am pretty good with cross cultural exchanges. Nothing softens him but money. So while we have paid for the car and his time, we knew there was going to be a fight to get our two companions in the car with us to head to Pushkar. How much was it going to cost? Ugh.

With gusto, Chuckles tried to handle the situation, but Billu met his approach with the yielding of a concrete wall. Round 2, our travel companions jumped in to spar with Billu. Yielding some elementary Hindi she battled to negotiate. Nope not working Billu is too strong. All weapons are failing us. Ugh. Chuckles went back in for round three, trying to emotionally connect with the plight while expertly finding common ground and was mildly successful… we had gotten to a deal. Now why the heck do we have to fight so hard with the driver we are paying, is beyond me. But we did and he won. Grr. Mildly annoyed we are packed tight in the car and we were off to Pushkar.

If I must empathize with Billu, I would say I do feel his pain on the packed car. We have a total of 5 people in the size of a subcompact. And we aren’t small folks. Billu was pissed the whole time.

People really do love when they spot me in the back of the car. They kinda combust into a smile.

Take a picture

This was one the only time we drove through a chunk of night. And if it’s scary during the day. It’s freaking The Shining at night. Imagine 65mph, no shocks, faint headlights, cows, pigs, birds, scooters, tractors, speed bumps, kids, camels, bicycles, milk trucks, semis, all trying to make a two lane highway a 4 lane highway -and all are determined to not use their brakes. Dang, really not doing this again.

As usual the ride was interesting to take in the countryside a people. Our car suddenly kept cutting off. Like taking it’s last breaths. No. Please no. Luckily it seemed timed with the sprouting of a town along the way and we stopped for repairs. This scene was awesome. Fluorescent stick lamps lit the shops and the texture of the place was crazy. These men were making it go. There was arc welding, the pounding of metal into submission, parts on walls and generally the “get er done” of auto mechanics. The scene below is one of my favorites of the trip.

The Tailors

Back in the car with it respirating normally, we rolled onward to Pushkar. Again trusting the lonely planet was a good idea, but it did manage to piss Billu off. The driver expects to be your pimp in India. You buy something he gets a cut, you go somewhere he gets a cut, you eat something, better fix him a plate too. Its crazy. In essence they think they own you, and your decisions have to go through them. So when I made this hotel reservation, he scolded me because he “knew them” and would have gotten a better deal. Uh huh. Really. What he wanted was to get a cut and maybe a free room. You know, all of this is fine and all, but man don’t be such a punk about it. And he’s crossing my line of respect. I really don’t want to go to Indian jail for shaking my driver….

Arriving in Pushkar was a relief. Tired and brow beaten by Billu, it was off to a quick dinner on the roof top with a fire to warm us.

Campfire

Post dinner it was just sleep. Ugh Billu sucks. But hopefully Pushkar will be fun.

Ok, so due to the overwhelming request for frequency vs length. I am going to just go with more frequent posts though they may lack the awesome depth of my traditional posts The wedding post is going to come some point in the future because I am determined to put up 10 great shots and i am wrecking my brain to figure out which would be best. So wait for that one.

Alright so post wedding it was time to head out of Jodphur and go to Udaipur. At the wedding, as typical with this type of travel, we met some kindred spirits who through 6 degrees of separation we realized we were connected. Both through subject matter interest, ecology, and through a shared relationship, my brother. Its always striking when you realize how small the world is , no matter what part or corner you may be in. It’s amazing. They too were headed to Udaipur but via bus. We made plans to connect in Udaipur and stay at the same hotel. So when they departed via bus, we made it back to our car.

Again, our driver really isn’t winning any points with us at all, but it’s to be expected at this point. The highlight of the trip to Udaipur was where we stopped and had lunch. The thing about the indian highway network in Rajastan is that it basically runs through varying levels of desert, so you see nothing and then a settlement or small town will pop up along the road, but then as quickly as it appeared, it will subside. I was not looking forward to eating at one of those roadside pop-up delis. But this place where he took us was nice. And what better way to start to relax from the wedding experience than a couple of beers. The first few days of the trip have been hectic. Filled with lots of movement, unexpected expenses, and pressure to be good guests and well dressed. Yea i know life can get harder than this, but still stressful. It was nice to sit at this table surrounded by greenery and just start to take in the fact that we are in INDIA, with complete freedom of movement, and of course good company (except the driver).

Yes, we like it strong

The rest of the drive to Udaipur was uneventful. By Indian standards at least. I do really like the incidence of tractors on the road…

Built Ford Tough

And the love of the auto rickshaw. You look at these things and they look very human like. Like a little baby with it’s eyes all round and happy. Makes you want to hug one. But trust me, you don’t.

A little baby auto-rickshaw

Arriving in Udaipur, things turned up. This place really was beautiful. We have now moved away from the Lonely Planet and moved on to Tripadvisor to lead us in our hotel choices. Our first choice was booked but we found another, The Hotel Tiger, which was available and highly regarded. It did not disappoint. We met up with our two traveling tribesmen, and we headed to the roof to take in the sunset. It was stunning.

The Udaipur Glow

Post the sunset we decided to take in a government sponsored dance performance, showcasing the dances of Rajastan. Like many things in India, the start time is approximate. So a 6:30 show actually started more like 8 PM. But it was worth it. I was concerned that it would be a hockie show for tourist, but the Indian families outnumbered us, and it was given in both Hindi and in English. The dances were amazing and the performers were into it.

Dancing Queens

But the show’s finale really took the cake. For the finale, a single dancer performed a dance celebrating the water gathering tradition of the women carrying 9 pots of water on their heads back to their families. This woman was amazing. I have a full series of shots but need more time to process them, but it really was splendid to watch. But what i liked most was her face, there was such a sense of mastery and pride in her eyes. It was amazing and made me warm.

Momma can do it

Post the dance performance it was time for some sleep and the next day promised more exploration of Udaipur and then a trek to Pushkar. But on the way back, this scene caught my eye and I just liked it.

Still Life

So post brunch it was time to start thinking about the wedding and in particular what we were going to wear. We are still without our suit bag, so it was time to see what our Indian tailor had managed to do in less than 24 hours.

When we go to the shop it was quite a sight. It was clearly wedding season and lots of men were there trying on their suits and such. We waited patiently and then were called over with a huge smile to see our suits. No matter how much we paid, it was worth it to see the excitement and pride of the tailor’s apprentice. The tailor himself was quite stoic. They carefully unzipped our bags to show us our suits. And I have to say I was wowed. In less than 24 hours my big 6 yards of fabric turned into a kick ass suit. Linen + me = awesome!

So you may be wondering where the shot of the suit is? Well it’s coming as part of the wedding post. For now let me leave you with this.

Project Runway

(left to right. Awesome fashion guy, tailor, and salesman).

Sitting at brunch on Wedding Day! It’s an amazing morning though a little tired from dancing last night. Full report on the night coming later this morning! Though I do feel under dressed for the day… Let’s hope this suit tailor rocks it. Yea more on that too.

Day 2 in India was a really long day. We awoke in Jaipur and went up to the roof of the hotel to get some food and the view was truly gorgeous as the sun was rising. Again the ever present air pollution couldn’t be avoided but it offered a sort of feel to the place that was nice and calming. I do feel like my lungs are crying out for a deep clean cold breath. But i guess i will have plenty of that when i head back to Chicago in Jan.

The Sunrise

Jaipur is a muslim city as well and has a few mosques in the area, so at sunrise the call to prayer echoed out across the landscape and it was amazing. Our hotel room had a special area to kneel and face out to pray.

The Window

The plan for the day was to drive from Jaipur to Jodphur. Our driver said we should leave around 8:30am to arrive to Jodphur around 12 noon or so. So we estimated about a 5 hour ride. Well, that was severely underestimated. I don’t have a sense of scale yet for the country and it’s slowing starting to come to focus. This country is freaking huge. Like massively large. Yea i am sure you guys are like “no shit”, but still a fun feeling to take in as you barrel down the highway. We needed to get to Jodphur around 12 noon in order to get checked in and to see my friend, the bride to be! But that wasn’t in the cards. The drive took 8 hours almost 9. It was grueling. Remember my feelings about “flocking” and the ordered sophisticated chaos of the road? No. It’s just plain dangerous. We saw a bus rolled over on the side of the road, all of the windows crushed and smashed, and the crane-like truck there to hoist it up. There were no people on site, but it wasn’t good. We had our share of near misses and now I am certain that driving is dangerous. Will have to contemplate the rest of the trip post this leg of the car.

We stopped for the customary meal in the middle and i really have a hard time processing our driver. In the car, he is very visibly annoyed and stand offish. He doesn’t really talk to us, and generally doesn’t want to be there. But then when we stop at places, he tries to be buddy buddy and talk about his children and how important tipping (us tipping him) is to his family. After the first talk, you take it as a sincere explanation and bit of outreach, but after the 4th time, its like OK. Got it. Maybe he will warm to us, but we really do try and he just doesn’t want to connect. That’s cool. Its going t be an interesting 6 more days with him.

Pulling into the hotel in Jodphur was amazing. This was serious. It is an old palace that had been converted to a hotel, and if Hotel Vivek was at one end, then this place was at the other! Really amazing place and felt serene. After a little scare at check in where they couldn’t find our reservation, we were in! But remember we still don’t have our bag with our nice clothes in them so it was time to go find a tailor.

Shopping for a custom suit is one thing, but doing that in a foreign country and needing the suit with an overnight turn around was something else. Just outside the gates of the hotel, there was a tailor and fabric shop and we just committed to it. We didn’t have any other options. So we went in and got fitted, and I negotiated. I ended up a few hundred lower, but that still makes me feel like I was being gouged from the beginning. Oh well.

“Chuckles” getting fitted

When it came time to pick a style for the suit, it was tough. Do you go traditional Indian Rajastani or do you get a western suit. And if you go indian do you risk showing up to the wedding and looking crazy? We opted to go Indian and didnt even take the first recommendation. Will have to see how that turns out at the wedding.

With us fitted and deal negotiated. We left the shop and headed back to get a nap. There was a dance party later in the night that we were supposed to see the bride to be!! About 11PM the 808 drums were thumping through our room’s walls and so it was time to get dancing!

Walking into the dance room/ bar was intense. I hadn’t yet seen the bride to be, so i was walking into a sub culture with no guide. But the music was right, and a bar is universal, so I settled into the bar and just took in the scene. A few things struck me. One, the crowd was super diverse in age, everyone was up and moving. Two, they were really dancing. People were just dancing and having fun and no one really gave a care, wasn’t stuffy at all. Three, the music WAS universal, and a mix of Hindi to top 30 chart beats. Awesome and fun. I will post up a short video later.

I finally got to see the bride-to-be and dragged Chuckles out to the floor to rep our squad. Was a good night.

Yea i know, not a lot of photos, but remember its been sitting in the back of the car for hours and then sleeping. But i am sure the wedding is going to deliver. I am going to have to limit myself on that post. Just 10 pictures!

So the first day in India was an eventful one. The flight from Frankfurt into Delhi was uneventful but landing in Delhi is when the adventure began. First there is this smell when you hit the airport, its a thin but pungent smell in the air. You try to place it and as you walk the maze of corridors to get to passport control you can see a fine mist in the air. Its almost like the misting they do on hot summer days at amusement parks the way, it sits in the air, but it’s dry. And as you descend the stairs, through passport control and out the door you realize that mist is actually pollution! The air is quite simply filthy with industrial progress. Instantly China flashbacks.

But before we can leave the airport we need our luggage. One bag unceremoniously makes it’s way off the belt, though the pushing and jockeying for position was fun, almost like a rugby scrum. The second one did not make it off. I knew we would lose one bag and quite frankly I was glad it was this one which had the suits and dress clothes, vs. the one with the everyday wear. After finding our way to the baggage office it was time to prepare for Mad Max style line surfing to get some help. The ticket office was a small room about 10 x 8 that surged with people trying to file claims. It seemed like Lufthansa decided to just send half the bags somewhere else. This was my first introduction to line etiquette or the lack there of India. After patiently queueing waiting to be helped. I watched one after another just push forcefully past me to the front to be serviced. That didn’t last long, then it became the full box out and crushing of the little people. Did I mention it was hot? I quickly rose to about 100 degrees F in the room and got steamy. Nice. After a couple of HOURS waiting to sort the bag, I was given 4000 rupees (about 80 bucks) and told “good luck, we will try to contact you”, but man you don’t have my number, shouldn’t I give it to you… Yea so not too optimistic about that bag. With that sorted it was time to be off into the city.

We had planned ahead and had he first night planned for us and they arranged an airport pick up. I didn’t feel like hitting the scam game the first night and thought it smart for us to plan ahead. Most of the time when you pre arrange car service you get nicer and cleaner cars than you would otherwise get at the airport just flagging one. This was not the case for us. Out little van-scooter-car pulls up and the driver grabs our bags and puts them on top of the fuel tank which is literally a tank in the back of the car behind the seats. Nice. And we’re off.

Arriving at our hotel which is in the main bazaar area of Delhi was real. It was about 5am when we arrived and were taken up to our room. We got to look at two rooms, and we took the room with the least amount of stains on the sheets. As you look at the photo below it looks nice. But it wasn’t. And the bathroom, it’s too graphic to show. So officially the lonely planet #failed us. But it was only for a couple of hours sleep because we still needed to leave later to head to Jodphur. After saying the bed bug protection prayer, it was lights out.

Waking up, or rather, getting up 5 hours later we had to sort the transport for the day. We were staying close to the New Delhi train station and knew all the details to get to the ticket office and get our tickets for the overnight train to Jodphur. Of course we didn’t stick to the struck advice of the Lonely Planet, and we took an auto-rickshaw instead of walking to the train station. Mistake #1. While the chap was really nice, we never made it to the train station we went to a travel agency office where they told us to book the tickets. Ugh this is not what we wanted. And of course the train was sold out and he offered to book us flights. No that’s not what we want. Back to rickshaw and demanding to be taken to train station.

The Ride

Ok, to the station we go and of course another fare. Then at this “station” we follow signs and end up in a dusty lot of sorts and of course a very helpful guy comes and Inform us our train leaves from Old Station (which I knew to be true and that we needed to go there to buy), ok back in another autorickshaw. Hmm, as we pull up this doesn’t look like a train station but rather another travel office. Ugh. And again the train is booked full for the day but tomorrow was free. Ugh we have a wedding to go to. Tomorrow is not good enough. So then the game begins. Now given the experience of the day it’s hard to not feel like you are going to be taken. Like a voice isn’t over your shoulder saying “squeal like a little pig”. But tired and needing to get to Jodphur. We let him work it. The end plan he came up with was like $1500. Ouch. So we settled instead for the first leg. We would have a driver and DRIVE to Rajastan, go to wedding, explore region and then double back and train down to Mumbai for New Years. Epic. This still wasn’t cheap but was about the same as the flight and gave us a driver and car for a week. I am sure as my brain does the math now we were taken. But oh well, time to go. After refusing to live a week in a tiny car the size of a geo metro we got underway in a car the size of a Toyota Tercel. Sweet.

So with a planned itinerary in Rajastan of 2100km driving and us fashionably compressed into our car, we’re off.

Let’s talk a but about Indian driving. Holy crap. It’s unreal. The speed and the honking. But the cool thin once you observe it is that there is a nice system
Of driver communication and type of “flocking” almost like birds do when flying in a group. Really fascinating and clearly a lot more going on than just honking and chaos. Strapped in we just took in the countryside.

We saw all manner of people and machines on the road. This triplet of dude went absolutely nuts when they saw me.

The Triplets

I really liked that shot for the energy it captures as it comes closest to the feeling. It was striking to watch tractor, car, donkey, camel, all share the road together. And while India has the highest motor vehicle death rate in the world it was still quite amazing we didn’t see any of it.

Bike + Moto

We stopped to get gas along the way and it was also time to put something in the belly.

This place was awesome and well branded.

Pepsi

Again guide books ruin you, as you fear catching a parasite at every meal. For the rest stop I was fine to indulge in a bag of Lays and a soda. But my adventurous buddy wanted to eat some hot food. Ok. Here we go. The prep station looked impressive enough, and the chef was clearly in command of his kitchen.

Charlie Trotter?

But it’s hard to ignore the surroundings and when the “waiter” brought a pitcher of water to the table even our driver had to intervene and say “not for you”. But um isn’t that the water they clean the plates and spoons with? Nice. The food arrives hot and steamy and looks delicious!

The First Supper

My buddy was grubbing and loving it. I couldn’t resist and dove in for a few nibbles. It really was tasty, not sure what it was but yummy veggie, cheesy stuff.

It’s back on the rode after that. This is when it really started to sink in. Wow, we are in India. The smell and scale of development was amazing. And as the hours wore on and miles passed it was a calming experience to just gaze out the window.

Our driver will certainly get his own section at some point but as he approached Jaipur he really was great at forcing us to take in the place. We stopped and got peanuts and watches some men arc weld pipes.

Infrastructure Projects

As we got into the city walls he got into tour guide mode and taught us about the sites. And he insisted we stop and get a picture of the below. It was truly breath taking under the full moon. The iPad limits my ability to really work this photo but it was truly a magical scene. We got out and walked to the edge of the rail and just took it in. It was amazingly beautiful and peaceful. I took some long exposures and had fun with the camera. Magic.

The Water Palace

Now it was time to head to the hotel. This tome screw lonely planet and it’s all about Tripadvisor (which hated the first hotel we stayed at). Sorry driver, not taking your advice just yet, let’s go to the Pearl Palace, #1 rated hotel in Jaipur and rooms from $7-25.

They had one $20 double left and in we went. Amazingly clean, comfy, and they had towels!! Yes yes yes! Then up to the roof for an amazing rooftop dinner and 4, 30oz beers. Yes yes yes!

Day 1 in India: amazing

So day 1 in India is off and running. It’s already been an adventure. After finally getting to the hotel at 5:00am because it took forever to get out of the airport due to some lost luggage. That’s another story for the full report later today/ tonight.

We had to try and figure out a way to get us to Jodphur, India for a wedding. Unfortunately the trains were full, the flights were crazy pricey. So instead we booked a car and driver and a few legs of train rides to get us to Mumbai on 12/28. Now we are driving in the back of a tiny car to Pushkar before getting up tomorrow and heading to Jodphur.

We have definitely been scammed a bit but hopefully not too much. The first feelings of India are, congested, polluted, & a lot like Honduras actually. Slightly comforting.

So I have just touched down in Frankfurt Germany en route to India for a few weeks of exploration. I have a wedding to attend, a few camel
races to watch, and generally a bit of photography to do. Expect to see a ton of activity over the next few weeks with posts every other day if not daily. I’d recommended subscribing via the box the right to get notified of the latest updates.

For about a month of travel I have packed light, only a carry on bag of clothes and small bag for camera and lenses. And I brought the power cords but somehow in the scramble left the laptop!! The iPad better stand up to real use!

Mom, dad, brother, and sister love you guys and talk soon!!