tired. tired and i'm sick with a cold.

in delhi now. back in paharganj, the backpacker main bazaar running across the border between new and old delhi. it's hard to take. like the touts and shopkeepers of the khao san, times three, with devil horns.

from pushkar, the holy town of sadhus we bussed it to agra, home of the taj mahal. this would be viewing number five for me. it's just as beautiful, giant, in white marble, inlaid with jewels and blue and golden with the sunrise. unfortunately, because of what the Times of India calls a "western distrubance," we were surrounded in fog. fog that stretched in every direction blanketing an already polluted and dirty indian city with mist...cool mist and wind...and rain. i managed to get some great photos though. i'll post some soon.

from agra, headed north, back to the cool green valleys and icy peaks of the himalayas...on a train delayed 5 hours. we got off at haridwar...an auspicious and holy city near the mouth of the ganges river, seven hours north of delhi. the city stretches along the banks of the ganges proper and ganges canal, lined by ghats and temples. two temples sit high on opposing mounts above the valley are both connected to the ground by cable cars. surrounded by attacking monkeys and stray dogs, we removed our shoes and wandered...past beautifully carved idols and deities, in the smoky incense, chanting and bell clanging...

each night, puja (prayer) for the ganges is preformed at the 'footstep of god' ghat (vishnu once left a footprint here). the ceremony, called ganga aarti, is celebrated by hundreds with chanting, candles, palm-leaf boats filled with marigolds and bathing in the icy and dangerously fast-moving waters of the river. amanda and i shivered in the cold, while devotees stripped down (some entirely naked) and stepped into the mountain rush of water. it's astonishing to see, with the music and singing and candles...marred only by the constant prescence of beggars and touts soliciting for fake donations.

from haridwar we took a one hour bus further into the mountains to rishikesh. rishikesh is famous throughout the world for its tie to the beatles. they all stayed here, at the maharishi mahesh yogi ashram, studied with the yogi and supposedly wrote most of The White Album here. the ashram is now abandoned but we walked and peeked over the fence at its crumbling remains in the forest.

on the other hand, rishikesh is famous in india for yoga and is the self-proclaimed yoga capital of the world. the town sits on either bank of the ganges river (only a 100 km or so north, the river spouts from a a rock in the himalayas) in a deep cut green tree'd gorge, traversed by two swaying, steel-cabled, suspension bridges. guesthouses clamber down the edges on both sides...while monkeys...and cows...horses...some mules...motorcycles...bicycles...stray dogs...and people share the bridges. it's a beautiful setting. ashrams abound on the east bank, and yogic sadhus (holy-men) wander in orange robes smoking hash-hish from chillim pipes and praying to the river.

after a couple of nights in rishikesh we bussed it back to delhi. our plane leaves in 8 hours, at 3:15am. it's night now and we're just getting ready to head out for our last dinner in india. today was a long day at the 'toilet museum' (which was awesome) and the Ghandi Smriti (where Mahatma Ghandi was assasinated in 1948). i bought a little sitar too and i'm looking forward to learning to play.

goodbye india. i'll be back before you know it. you know it.

ps: the MAHA kumbh mela is in 2010...i gotta see that.

Labels: india, travel

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we're deep in rajasthan now. from the white city of udaipur, its giant lake and white capped domes, we headed north to ranakpur for a day.

ranakpur, the jain temple here, with over 1444 columns, no two alike, in a series of nine halls set back in the desert was peaceful and cool. we had to cover our legs with giant, mc hammer, pyajama pants rented for 15 cents and couldn't bring any water in (???). the four hour, bumpy government bus ride, each way from udaipur was a bit much though.

from udaipur we headed further to the blue city of jodhpur. it's a mish-mash of ancient twisting allweyways, buildings white-washed and stained with indigo, to a deep brahmin blue, brilliant in the day light. the meherangarh forth, of yellow sandstone sits high on the hill above the city, while shop vendors rip us off in the market by the clocktower below. the fort is incredible. i've been here before though, walked these halls, touched the walls. i was bitten by a rabid dog on the street just outside the market two years ago, and endured a month and a half of anti-rabies injections. good times!

after jodhpur, we hopped on the overnight express train west through the thar desert to the golden city of jaisalmer. so named because of the yellow sandstone used in almost every building here. as the sun sets, it glows golden. there's a great fort here and a palace, a few nice jain temples and a lot of camels. the fort is crumbling because of water over-use and wastage. it was never designed to hold or manage the amount of water that the hotels and restaurants within its walls use today. three of the 99 bastions have already collapsed and the fort is slowly sinking. it's a shame, not much is being done to save it, and jaisalmer's fort may not be here another 100 years...let alone 500.

in jaisalmer, amanda and i rented three camels, and two guides: piru and kabal, along with bedding and food, to take us the hundred or so kilometres around the circuit of ancient temples and cities through the great thar desert edging towards pakistan. it was a four day, three night trek, 5 hours on the camels a day. the stars out above the sand dunes in the scrub brush, were incredible and falling asleep in the cold of the desert tucked-in under layers of blankets with the sky above us was amazing. piru was a great cook, with over 20 years experience doing camel treks. he cooked a mean dahl (lentils and spices), tasty chapatis and vegetables and milked the camel every night for fresh camel's milk chai tea and rice pudding. we saw old temples and abandoned cities, but the best part was just the ride. bumping up and down on my camel, raja, was something i'll probably never experience again. i had an indiana jones hat, my mp3 player, views of eagles circling, deer, herds of bell-tinkling, non-stop farting goats and sheep, hoards of flies, lizards and cacti...and neil young singing "been through the desert on a horse (camel?) with no name, it felt good to get out of the rain..."

from jaisalmer we went train crazy, and made it the 800 kilmoetres through the desert to pushkar. that's where i'm writing from. hindu epics say that brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth and pushkar lake floated to the surface. it's a holy city, strictly vegetarian: it's impossible to find chicken (or any other meat for that matter) anywhere...eggs aren't even allowed. drugs and alcohol are prohibited...beer is nowhere to be found and sadhus (holy-men) wander around with sticks asking to have their photgraph taken for money. you're not allowed to take pictures of the bathing ghats that line the lake. people come here to wash away their sins, just like the ganges in varanasi. the lake is only about 250 m around a encircled by holy temples, snowy white domes, cows and monkeys and flocks of pigeons who shit everywhere. shoes aren't allowed within 40 feet of the water, which makes it hard to dodge the bird crap and cow piss anyways.

we're out of pushkar tonight, heading to agra to see the taj mahal. from there it's back through delhi to rishikesh (where the beatles studied at an ashram and wrote most of the 'white' album). home in 10 days! ahh!

Labels: india, pushkar, rajasthan, travel

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