(Relative) Peace and Quiet

Some of the beautiful, bright saris

We decided to keep heading south into Rajasthan to visit Udaipur. Again, getting there was an experience. We took a 10-hour overnight sleeper bus. The sleeper was an area above the seats --about 3 inches too short for Chris and a bit too nasty for Alex.  We pushed down the dirty blankets, wiped the vinyl with toilet paper, then wiped it again with hand sanitizer, and finally used papers and a magazine on the pillow area. There wasn't much sleep that night.

But the three days we've spent in Udaipur have been great. The city is small, compact, and situated on a lake. The best part is that unlike the last 2 places we've been, it's far cleaner and has hardly any traffic (and the associated incessant honking and pollution). The city is made up of narrow alleys and we can walk basically everywhere.  It's built on 2 sides of Lake Pichola, a man-made lake with 2 beautiful palaces in the middle (one was used for filming Octopussy).  The views from the many roof-top restaurants are incredible.  We spent one memorable evening enjoying drinks on the lake and watching the sunset.  Really, the name given to Udaipur as "the most romantic city in India" seems to fit.

Sunset on the lake

 

A nighttime view of the City Palace from dinner

We've been able to relax, visiting the bazaars (Alex bought a simple ring to wear as a wedding band) and the City Palace. The Raj family still lives there and we saw the prince a couple times (always on his cell phone) and the king as he left the palace for a procession. We've also had some great times getting off the beaten path -- visiting residential areas, sitting with a group of men to play cards (understanding the game was hopeless), meals at non-touristed restaurants, and spending time in a large park that isn't mentioned in our guidebook.

Ring shopping

 

Watching a confusing card game...it seemed to have no rules.

We're also here in the midst of a 9-night festival, which has been very fun. The nights are filled with dancing, music, and performances.  Last night's dance was huge: it filled the length of a main street with 2 circles of dancers.  The women rotated around the inside and men around the outside, all hitting sticks together on the same beats.  Today, the last day, we've seen truckloads of people with effigies of the gods and covered in colored powder sing and yell their way to the lake.  There they take the gods to the water and dump them, sometimes off a boat.  Everyone is extremely happy and there's a lot of celebrating with dancing and banging drums and firecrackers. Alex, especially, has loved this having really wanted to see a festival here.

Another cool experience we've had was taking yoga classes.  They're run in a small room by a teacher who has a nice balance of pushing us and understanding that we suck at yoga.  Although it's hard we both liked it a lot and Alex is definitely interested in pursuing it more in the future.  We might try it again in Varanasi.

We continue to take in the sights and sounds and adjust to life on the road.  There are obviously some things that don't work out according to plan but usually it turns out fine.  It's also great to have so much flexibility--Udaipur being a great example of that. 

"It's a very nice bus."

Night time traffic

We spent two days in Delhi; after getting over the initial shock of heat, people, traffic, and general chaos, we were able to appreciate the city a bit. Our highlight was visiting the National Museum; it gave a great overview of the subcontinent's 5,000 year history. Our other highlight was visiting Humayan's Tomb, where we were able to find some shade and a quiet spot within the grounds.

We planned on going to the train station to buy tickets for Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. Unfortunately, after sitting in traffic for an hour and a half to cross the city, it was closed. So, we had no choice but to go through a travel agent. He sold us on taking a bus to Jaipur. We asked lots of questions and it seemed like a good deal. "Don't worry, it's a very nice bus," should have been our first indication that something was suspect. 6:30 the next morning the "bus" arrived; it was a man and his SUV. This would've been fine, great even, except that we shared it with another family so we were horribly cramped for 5 hours. Chris rode in the middle seat with no head rest and Alex was on the side with the sun beating down on her.

We then spent the last couple days in Jaipur, "the pink city." It's chaotic but we think much nicer than Delhi. Highlights were Amber Fort, a beautiful palace on the hill that was the former Raja's home; a place nicknamed "the monkey temple" for the many monkeys that reside there; another tomb where we saw a large black cobra slithering through the grass.

Our tuk-tuk in Jaipur...loved the name

And then there was the Ayervedic massage. This was an experience. We arrived for our appointment at 8PM. We entered a room and a sheet was put up to separate us. We were told to change; i.e., strip completely naked. It was certainly disconcerting to lay face-up on a bed while some dude rubbed me down with hot oil. Alex apparently had a lot of stress in her boobs, because that area was worked over a lot.

Celebrity or Freak Show?

(Excerpt from Alex's Journal)
"An oppressive wave of hot, humid, stale air hits my face.  Taxis, tuk-tuks, rickshaws, motorbikes, buses, and cars are honking constantly.  People are yelling. Women are dressed in the most brilliantly vibrant saris and kurtas and scarves.  And everyone is jammed against everyone else.  These are my first impressions of Delhi and, consequently, India.  Everything I've heard and read is true and yet it still comes as a shock to my senses."

As we walk down the overly crowded sidewalk (full of almost all men) on our first venture out I realize that I'm being stared at by every single person.  Without exception.  Chris and I change spots so that he can walk ahead of me hoping that this will "shield" me a bit from the ogling.  I put on my sunglasses to avoid the looks.  It doesn't help.  It's incredibly uncomfortable and I feel so self-conscious.  People will literally come up and take pictures of me.  I think to myself that this is what it must feel like to be a celebrity...or a freak.  I'm not sure which one I am.  But I do know that I'm not only the only white woman on the street but I'm the only one in a t-shirt.  It's not low-cut but it is apparently too much for these men because you can actually see the outline of a body.  After one day of this I go out the next day with my scarf draped over my front.  That helps a lot.  I also buy a kurta (tunic) and this helps even more.  The next two weeks this red kurta is going to see a lot of action.  On the bright side I now feel a little closer to the people here and I'm in love with the bright patches of color that the women provide in a place that is often so worn-out looking.
--Alex

 At the Ba'hai Temple (only 1 of 7 in the world) shaped like a lotus flower

(Notice the scarf carefully draped to cover my chest)

Of course not with green tea!!!

We are learning a lot about British ways including the importance of their tea.  Our new friend Poonam (Neel's girlfriend) was in complete disbelief that Chris loves to drink his tea black and never uses milk or sugar.  That's just not the right way to do it.  The past few days this topic has come up several times and when I mentioned none of my friends use milk or sugar with green tea Poonam exclaimed (in her proper British accent), "Of course not with green tea!!!"  So today we took high tea at a place by Kensington Palace and had our tea with milk and sugar along with cucumber sandwiches, a delicious scone, and an orange cake.  It was delicious and a fun experience.

Our days continue to be packed in London with tons of walking and sightseeing.  Yesterday Alex did some sightseeing alone while Chris joined Neel to play "football."  She got a great view of Parliament Buildings and Big Ben from across the river, then walked up Whitehall to see #10 Downing (where the Prime Minister lives) and finished at the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms.  This museum was amazing!  It is in the underground war rooms they used during WWII and the rooms have been recreated so you get a great sense of what it felt like.  The museum about Churchill's life was full of information (much of which I was shocked to learn) and very high tech.  The coolest feature was an interactive timeline on a table about 30 feet long by 5 feet wide.  You could select the year, month, and day of any date you wanted to check.  Soccer for Chris didn't go to badly considering it was with a bunch of hardcore British footballers.

We reunited around 6:30 at the Tate Modern.  It's the most visited modern museum in the world and was cool to see.  Some of it was way too "modern" for our taste.  We had a great dinner near the Tower Bridge (the bridge many mistake for the London Bridge).

Today focused mostly on the British Museum, full of artifacts from 4,000 BC including the Rosetta Stone, tons of mummies (incl. Cleopatra's corpse), and the statues from the Parthenon.  Then we went to Kensington to hang in Hyde Park and have high tea.

Chris enjoys high tea the British way

 

Some good pub food and ale (and wine for Alex)

 

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

 

Dinner with Neel and Poona, our gracious hosts

Mind the gap

We've been in London for two days now and have been loving it. We're staying with Chris' college roommate, Neel, who lives in the Canary Wharf section of London (which is an entire neighborhood of high rises, office buildings, underground malls, and apartments built from scratch in the last 10 or so years).

We've spent our time doing tons of walking throughout the various neighborhoods and have seen some of the main sites. We put on our art history hats and visited the National Gallery (one of the world's great art museums), the Courtald Gallery (one of the best small museums) and Westminster Abbey.  We saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham (along with every other tourist in the city) and have walked a lot of the city seeing smaller historical sites along the way and getting a great sense of the city.

Our favorite part of London is the way the city embraces change while maintaining continuity -- old buildings mixed with brand new; traditions going back hundreds of years along with modern industry; traditional culture alongside the new -- London seems to pull this off like nowhere else we've been.  All of the architecture is beautiful and constantly amazes us.

(The title of the blog comes from the common British phrase as you get on and off the Tube.  Very polite.)

Tomorrow's the day

Time's flown by, but we're leaving tomorrow for our trip. This summer has been hectic but great. In June we each had trips planned opposite weekends, so we were apart every weekend. July was a total blur with trips to Rochester and New Hampshire mixed in. In August, we went to Africa with the Massie clan, had a wedding in San Francisco, packed and moved out of our condo, Chris tied up loose ends at work, and we spent this past weekend at a wedding in Rochester. We got back yesterday afternoon and today have been doing last-minute chores. Tomorrow we're off to London!