Bundi-licious

I left Udaipur on February 10 and I headed east to the scenic town of Bundi (pop. 102,000). A couple of people I'd met during my travels had recommended Bundi as a quieter place for anyone looking to get away from the tourist crowds in Rajasthan's more popular cities. It was a place where I hoped to do some hiking or biking and also meet up with my Aussie travel buddy, Catherine, whom I'd met in Kerala, and who like me was bouncing around Rajasthan.

To get to Bundi I took a local bus followed by my first Indian train. The bus took about two hours and was jam packed with people (many crotches, bellies and butts in my face). This ride took me to the town of Chitturgarh from which I caught a train for the remaining three hour journey. I had a couple of hours to kill in Chitturgarh and took advantage of the time to briefly tour its huge medieval fort. Unfortunately, like most of the forts and palaces here this one had very minimal information on its historical purpose and significance, making the visit rather underwhelming.

For the next three days, Catherine and I casually toured Bundi, enjoyed some good food and met many nice locals and travellers. Some highlights:

• Bundi Palace and Taragarh Fort. The 17th century hill-side palace looms over Bundi and was less than a 10 minute walk from our guesthouse. Again, like most of the palaces I'd visited, this one provided very little information on its history or layout. The place is also a bit run down, which gives it a mysterious Gears of War feel (for you Xbox fans) and it was cool to tour the palace's barren rooms and many murals. The 14th century Taragarh Fort sits on the hill above the palace. It is even more run down and mostly overgrown with vegetation (both the fort and Bundi Palace are privately owned and apparently there's some dispute over the terms of ownership, which helps explain poor state of the two structures). On the walk up to the fort, a party of 50-75 macaques crossed our path and thankfully didn't pay us any attention.
• The hosts of our charming guesthouse - the Kasera Heritage View - were extremely welcoming and took good care of us, including helping us book last-minute train tickets to Delhi. Their young daughter took pleasure in showing us the latest Bollywood dance moves.
• Enjoying quite delicious thin-crust pizza and Greek salad at a nearby guesthouse (run by the same couple that owned ours). By and large, I'd avoided Western food while in India, but I'd heard good things about the pizza at this guesthouse and couldn't resist. After several weeks of curries, Indian breads and deep-fried street food (all delicious, mind you), it was nice to have something reminiscent of home and my recent travels in Greece.
• Renting bicycles to visit a lake and villages just outside of Bundi and getting chased by friendly village kids.
• Experiencing locally-made-and-openly-sold 'special' cookies. Having them kick in as I was on the phone with a representative from Expedia and having a sudden laughing fit was one of my finer moments. The Expedia call didn't last much longer after that.
• Meeting many friendly locals. One in particular - Romeo, who dressed a bit like Capt. Jack Sparrow (i.e. Johnny Depp) from Pirates of the Caribbean - was nice with us. He and his father produced hand-made leather goods (handbags, notebooks, etc.) which they sold from their small shop/confectionary near our guesthouse. Every day we would stop to have chai and paan with Romeo or simply shoot the breeze. He was a charming dude and clearly used this to his advantage, as he seemed to know many of the tourists in the neighbourhood.
• Enjoying a few beers with three funny and very friendly Aussies who we met by chance over dinner (at a restaurant owned by Romeo). These memorable, one-off encounters are among of the better parts of travelling.

Some photos:

Chitturgarh Fort

2nd class car of an Indian train

Bundi Palace

Bundi Palace gardens

More palace stuff

Example of the poor condition of some palace rooms

Catherine!

Streets of Bundi

Flour makin'

Aloo tikiya (bottom left) and paan leaves (bottom right)

Ooooh yeah

Aussie kite flyers

 

 

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Rajasthan: Jodhpur - Udaipur

I was excited to get to Rajasthan. Everyone who's been there seems to love it; once there I started to understand why. Huge fortresses and palaces, desert landscape, vibrant clothing and jewellery, camels, big moustaches, colourful bazaars - Rajasthan is all of the things that people typically picture when they think of India ("the real India" as my Indian friend Dhillan sarcastically put it). The highlights of Rajasthan include the cities of Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, but I had no intention of overextending myself during short my ten day visit, so I settled on Jodhpur (the 'Blue City'), Udaipur (a romantic honeymoon hotspot) and the quiet town of Bundi.

I flew from Mumbai to Jodhpur on February 3, where I stayed until the 6th. Even as I waited to board the flight, I could tell that I was bound for a region of India much different from those I'd visited in the south. For starters, there were a couple of guys in the lounge with painted faces and dressed in some kind of traditional robes (they might have been sadhus); they were also chatting on thier iPhones.

Jodhpur

Jodhpur (pop. 1 million) is known at the Blue City because of its thousands of blue, cube-like houses (traditionally, blue was meant to signify the home of a Brahmin). It is also home to the mighty medieval fort of Mehrangarh and a picturesque, hectic old quarter that is a literal labyrinth of narrow, winding streets and alleys. Like most of the guesthouses in the old city, mine had a rooftop terrace / restaurant that provided an amazing view of Mehrangarh and the surrounding area.

Some highlights and observations from Jodhpur:

• The city is a photographer's wet dream, particularly the crammed maze of streets and old buildings in the medieval old town. Walking around this area can also be extremely disorienting (I got lost everyday).
• Less charming is the endless stream of motorbikes and scooters that race through these tiny streets, honking constantly. It's stressful, man! Combine being lost and having to constantly keep an eye out for oncoming traffic and people (not to mention dodging cows and cow patties) and endure constant honking, and have people tell you that you're going the wrong way and have people ask you if you want a rickshaw or water or to look at their paintings... and you've got one irritated tourist. "Just go with it, Jeremy. It's India." Whatever. Thankfully Valium is sold over the counter here.
• But just when you're thinking "!@#$ this place" you have a surprise interaction with someone on the street with your minimal Hindi and their minimal English. This makes you happy. Then you take a chance on some delicious street food and chat with the vendor, which makes you even happier. A while later you give a banana ("kaila") and a carrot ("gajar") to a little girl and you end up taking pictures with her family, and all is golden. I forget who told me this, but it was to the effect that just you think India has you beat, something good will happen and turn everything around. And so it goes...
• Speaking of Hindi, it's nice to finally be in the northern part of India where Hindi is most commonly spoken. Each day in Jodhpur I added a few more Hindi phrases to my quiver and practised reading signs in shops and restaurants. Like in Greece, I'm finding that a few phrases in the local language go a long way in making connections with people.
• Weddings here and everywhere in India are an event. Every night in Jodhpur there was a wedding party parading down the street, filling the neighbourhood with the sounds of drums, horns and fireworks.
• The muslim call to prayer occurs several times daily and can be heard all over town. It will also wake you up everyday at sunrise, so no need for an alarm clock.
• I get irritated by tourists who shamelessly take pictures of locals going about their day-to-day lives without so much as even asking these people if they mind being photographed. We've all been guilty of this, but if you're going to get up in someone's face with a camera, try to at least ask them first.

Udaipur

On February 6 I headed off to Udaipur (pop. 451,000). For the 6-7 hour journey, I caught the bus in the early morning which took me through many small towns and the Rajasthani countryside. Many villagers boarded along the way and it was interesting to obverve thier interactions and manner of dress (enormous nose rings, colourful turbans, etc.). As we approached Udaipur, one young lady who'd boarded with us in Jodhpur casually leaned out the window to vomit several times and then sat back down just as casually. I thought about the motorists riding alongside the bus as she was doing her deed.

In Udaipur I stayed at the Dream Heaven guesthouse, right in the heart of tourist district (aka. "backpackistan"). Its best feature is the beautiful rooftop terrace / restaurant that provides a stunning view of nearby Lake Pichola and Rajasthan's largest palace, the City Palace.

Apart from exploring some of Udaipur's major tourist highlights, a lot of my time was spent hanging out with my friend Shraddhaa Murdia, with whom I was put in touch by my Toronto friend, Abhishek. Shraddhaa was a very gracious host. She took the time to show me around the city a bit and made sure that I experienced Rajasthan the right way: through food. She was also kind enough to invite me to her home to meet her family and to try some homemade dal baati, a popular Rajasthani dish comprising of dal (lentils) and baati (a type of baked or fried wheat roll). I'm grateful to Shraddhaa and her family for their hospitality.

Some highlights and obervations from Udaipur:

• I already knew this, but Udaipur reminded me very quickly that I don't like staying in the tourist center of any town. No, sir, I don't need a rickshaw; no, sir, I don't want a bottle of water; no, sir, I don't want to visit your shop (repeat every five minutes).
• Why do so many older tourists feel the need to dress like they're going on safari. Do Tilley hats, cargo shorts and hiking shoes make sightseeing any easier or do these people just want to stand out even more? Why don't they just wear the clothes they normally wear back home?
• During our first meeting, Shraddhaa, her cousin and I had lunch together at a nice restaurant not far from my guesthouse. Shraddhaa ordered so much food (which I in turn ate) that I thought I would pass out. After lunch I waddled through the City Palace in record time, for all I could think about was getting home to lay down. Later that night I suffered bad cramps and was finally sick for the first time on this trip (and just when I thought I had India beat!). In the end it wasn't so bad and I was 100% a couple of days later.
• Shraddhaa, her husband and her in-laws run an invitro fertilization clinic and live just above it. It was interesting to learn a bit about invitro fertilization in India, though I declined Shraddhaa's offer of an in-depth tour of the clinic. I was also happy to visit her huge and beautiful, multi-story apartment, and meet her lovely family.
• On the eve of my departure, I met Jon from New York, an excellent character who was staying at the room next to mine at Dream Heaven. It was great to finally meet someone who understood my humour and with whom I could exchange travel stories and observations. Jon was coming from Delhi which was one of his worst travel experiences ("Don't trust anyone" he warned). I was curious as to how I'd find the city, as I'd not yet met anyone, Indian or otherwise, who'd had very positive things to say about it.

I left Udaipur on Monday, February 10. And although I didn't explore too much of the city itself, I was happy to have spent some time with Shraddhaa and get a more local experience with her and her family.

Some photos from Jodhpur:

Mehrangarh fort

Mehrangarh fort

From my guesthouse window

Clock tower in Sardar Market

Street food!

Where's the safari, yaar?

Grain vendors

...and some from Udaipur:

View from the City Palace

Traditional dance performance

Shraddhaa & me

 

 

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Mumbai Redux

I flew from Kochi, Kerala to Mumbai on Friday, January 31. My plan was to spend the weekend in the city and see my friends there before continuing north to Rajasthan and other parts of northern India for the month of February.

For my stay I'd rented the same small make-up studio/apartment in the Bandra West district where I'd stayed for a few days during my initial visit to Mumbai a few weeks earlier. After three weeks of travelling through new places, it was a great feeling to be back in familiar surroundings.

Once settled and showered, I made plans to meet with Dolly and her friend Bakhu at Ghetto, a bar they'd taken me to once before. Prior to heading downtown, I caught up with some of the neighbours I'd met previously, including John, the landlord upstairs, as well as Peter and ??? and their dog Pebbles, who invited me in for some masala chai and delicious sev puri (purchased from a vendor who walks the narrow alleys of the neighbourhood balancing on his head a table top with all of the required sev puri ingredients in various pots and containers. If you want some, he rests the table on a small tripod and prepares your dish. Amazing.). Later on, I made my way to meet Dolly and Bakhu at Bakhu's apartment (near Leopold's, of Shantaram fame) for some drinks and fantastic Parsi food before heading to Ghetto. It was a good night with good friends.

The next day I got up late and started the morning right with a grande Americano at Starbucks. I then met Dolly, her friend Gauvind and some other people for lunch and 'happy hour' at a local restaurant / bar in Pali Market, not far my where I was staying. I spend the rest of the afternoon and evening close to home to do some laundry, catch up on my blog and plan the next stages of my trip.

On Sunday I made plans to meet with Sharvari and Neha, two Indian girls I'd met in Hampi and who lived in Mumbai. I also arranged to visit my friend Kaashvi who was directing a one-episode show for MTV India. She'd invited me to check out the set, but also asked if I might be willing to participate as an extra. I agreed and said I'd be at the set for 6:00 pm. It was only later that I realized that I'd kind of double-booked myself, as I'd made plans to meet Sharvari and Neha in southern Mumbai at 4:00 pm. This would not give me much time with them before having to take a 30-45 min cab ride up to where I was meeting Kaashvi. So after a quick but nice visit with Sharvari and Neha, I got a taxi to Juhu, a district north of Bandra West. Along the way, I was in touch with Kaashvi's assistant, Kushal, who gave the taxi driver directions to the set location. But once we hit Juhu the traffic slowed to a crawl and it became clear that I was going to be late. Worse still, the driver actually didn't know where he was going (or pretended not to) and ended up taking some wrong turns into terrible bumper-to-bumper traffic. All the while, Kushal was calling me to ask where I was and I would in turn pass the phone to the driver for him to explain our location and get additional directions to the set. It maddening, as I was pretty much at the mercy of the driver (I had no clue where we were) and he was at the mercy of the horrendous traffic.

On set in Juhu: location of the dance scene

Just before 7:00 I finally got to the location where I'd arranged to meet Kushal. I was stressed out from the ride, but excited to see the set and learn more about what I was going to be doing there. Kushal led me through some back streets and up the narrow stairs of a building that finally brought us to an apartment packed with people and film-related props and gear. Not five minutes after I arrived Kaashvi asks "Jeremy, are you ready to dance?" After a stressful hour in a cab, of course I'm ready to dance in front of a bunch of strangers! This particular scene involved five wedding guests who were planning some dance moves in anticipation of the upcoming wedding reception. The only instructions I was given were "Follow this guy beside you and just look like you're having fun." Suuure, no problem. So we did about five takes, each of which consisted of us dancing to upbeat music, then somebody coming to tell us that there would be no dancing at the reception, and then us stopping to dance and looking disapointed. I tried my best to just go with it, but I can't say how natural I looked. I definitely felt awkward dancing with a small group of strangers in front of a film crew. Anyways, we'll see if the scene makes the cut and Kaashvi promised to send me a copy of the show once it was completed.

I flew out of Mumbai at noon the next day, bound for Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Unfortunately there had not been enough time for me to see all of my friends (sorry Reema and Tanvi!), but I'd still had a very nice and relaxing weekend. Most notably, it was a weekend free of pressure to see or do any sightseeing or anything touristy at all. That is one thing that I'm starting to miss a bit as a write this, but more on that later.

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The Backwaters of Alleppey

Alleppey (pop. 174,000, also known as Alappuzha) is the hub of Kerala's vast network of backwater canals. Beyond the busy city centre, Alleppey is bordered by a beautiful beach on its western coast and a lush, green labrynth of canals and villages to the east.

I travelled from Munnar to Alleppey on January 29. I was accompanied on the drive by Irit and Israel, a nice middle-aged Israeli couple that I'd hiked with in Munnar. Together we'd hired a car and driver for the four-hour trip and arranged to stay at the same guesthouse. Our friend Catherine was also hoping to join us in Alleppey. She had planned to take a bus later in the day, but was not sure if she'd make it out of Munnar as the town was virtually shut down by a one-day city-wide strike (even we had to pay our driver extra for taking us that day).

The beach in Alleppey

Once checked our the guesthouse, I enjoyed an espresso and ice cream at a canal-side cafe and then walked about 30 minutes west through town to the beach. I didn't expect the beach to be so beautiful. I also can't remember the last time that I strolled barefoot through soft, white sand and warm salt water. I admit that I briefly thought of my friends and family back home and laughed at my good fortune in contrast to the snowy temps in Ontario. In celebration, I concluded my stroll with a beer on a terrace overlooking the beach and even wrote a couple postcards.

That evening I enjoyed a delicous chicken curry and banana lassi (a popular yoghurt drink) at a restaurant not far from where I was staying. The bill came just as I spotted a rat scurrying in through the front entrance (lovely!). Once back at the guesthouse I received a knock at my door; Catherine had somehow made it from Munnar. Her trip had been rather arduous and she was relieved to have finally made it to Alleppey. I too was happy, as we'd gotten along well in Munnar.

The next day, Catherine, Irit, Israel and myself had arranged to take a full-day tour of the backwater canals by a 'chauffeured' canoe. The most popular way to tour the backwaters is by houseboat, but I was glad that we were taking a paddle-powered canoe. The canoe would give us access to smaller, quieter canals and was more eco-friendly (there are over 1000 houseboats in the Alleppey area, whose motors and waste increasingly contribute to pollution of the backwaters).

Our tour started at around 8:30 am. We met our guide / skipper at the launch point, where we boarded our vessel - a 20 foot canoe with a canopy that could seat 2 x 2 comfortably.

The ubiquitous houseboats of Alleppey

For the next few hours, we paddled through a network of canals large and small. On the larger canals, we passed many houseboats, a ferry for transporting locals to various stops along the canal (kind of like a big floating bus), and even a mobile floating supermarket, complete with aisles inside. On the smaller canals we got a glimpse of everyday village life: people bathing, women laundering clothes, kids fishing, and vendors on small canoes selling fish and other goods. We also passed canal-side temples, variety stores and restaurants. On several occasions, Catherine and I took turns paddling at the helm of the canoe, which was great fun and a welcome opportunity to get a bit of exercise. For breakfast and lunch, our skipper brought us to a small restaurant off one of the larger canals. At other points in between, he let us off the boat to explore certain areas of interest, like a tiny village or a giant tree that was home to dozens of bats. He also brought us to a small bar (read: shack) for a bottle of toddy, a popular type of moonshine made from fermented coconut (This stuff tastes weird. After four swigs I couldn't take it any more). We ended the day by watching the sun set from the beach and enjoyed the company of a stray dog who went wild chasing beach crabs.

The next morning I caught the 10:30 bus to the airport. The ride took about three hours, which I figured would get me to the airport with some time to spare before my 4:00 pm flight to Mumbai. En route I got a text from the airline saying that my flight had been pushed back to 7:30 pm and that they were sorry for any inconvenience. !@#$ hell, I thought. The last thing I wanted to do was to spend over six hours at the small Kochi airport. The delay would also cause problems for checking in at my accomodations in Mumbai. My only hope was that they'd be able to put me on an earlier flight. I got to the airport at 1:30 pm and promptly made my way to the check-in counter to ask about alternate flights. "We could put you on the 2:00 pm flight, if you'd like." said the attendant. Um... yes! Shortly after 2:00 that afternoon, I was airborne for Mumbai and very much looking forward to a great weekend.

Some photos from Alleppey:

Mucho relaxo by the beach

Catherine at the helm

Our skipper, Raju

Floating backhoe

Fish vendors

Cruising the smaller canals

Young punks

Shot of toddy anyone?

Floating supermarket

Yummy veg thali on banana leaf

A canoe similar to ours (on the right)

 

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