camels, scamels, desert forts - welcome to Rajasthan!

OK, my first entry from Rajasthan! I am sitting in an internet cafe in Pushkar. I just spent a harrowing but fun two days in Jaipur, but I'm happy to be past that place I must admit.

The train ride was long, and a bit uncomfortable. I gave my juicy side bunk so a father could be with his son, and was regretting it a bit in the wee hours b/c i had no place to stretch my legs. But, he took this nice photo of me so that is a good second prize. They were a german father and son importing business on a business trip.

Feeling a bit weathered by all the heavy attention from cheats and touts, I jumped right back in the fray in Jaipur and regretted it pretty shortly thereafter. I met a smooth-talking cab driver who won me over with his sense of irony. I initially told him no go, but then ran into him later in another part of town and he agreed to give me the "tour" at the rate the bus tour was giving the next day. This I should have realized was my first mistake, way too cheap a price, so he must have an angle. The next day, his "friend" shows up, says that Om (the guy I met) is going to be late, and that we should start without him. Also, his friend immediately starts being over-nice, and also a bit threatening like "you treat me like friend, I treat you like friend, you treat me like cab driver I treat you like tourist." It all seemed plausible at the time. That. The stopping to talk to a shady guy to pick up a new laminated, slightly forged looking, copy of his and his buddy's driver's licenses, the learing at women (especially western ones) in a creepy kind of way, constant hindi conversations with others, sometimes them glancing my way never translated, the constant having to pay "parking fees", the place he took me for lunch where I told him I'd buy since he paid the "parking fees" and it was 5-6 times the going rate (his commission), the deciding to take the scenic route home without mentioning to me, the trip to see his silk paintings, and the coup de gras, the visit to the aura reader and gem healer who tells me that only he can fix me (unblock my third eye chokra) by saying the right words over the right gem, having it set in a pendant, and me wearing it for 5 months but not telling anyone about it (because the energies could be bad). And, as luck would have it, he is a gem dealer himself (on the side of his true spiritual calling, aura reading, which he never charges money for...), and shows me a gem which will unblock my third eye shockra for a mere 36000 rupee (plus 500 for special ceremonial materials at the market)- yes that's about $940. Then he said he could do it with a smaller gem of the same kind for about $120. Then I left, feeling a bit stormy. Mad for letting it play out for so long, and for being open to the gem guy a bit at first. But I guess that's not a bad thing, to think with possibility about such situations. I did, however, happen to be residing in a gem dealer's section of town, and asked one of the guys theoretically what the maximum possible price could be for a gem of that size and type and set in a pendant that way, and he said - if the gem was of the utmost quality - the most it could be would be about $90 or so.

Anyways, amidst all this hyjinx I did get some of my most amazing photos of the entire trip, around the Amber Fort, did some amazing shopping which was quite lively and fun (lots of haggling in the bazaar), and got to see urban, high density area, street tree planting and get some photos. Shopping here was really fun, and there were also lots of craftsmen/women doing stuff not supposedly of interest to us foreigners (key repair, tailoring, broom-making, bangle making), etc. So that was fun.

and today I snuck out of my hostel, trying to avoid the guy from yesterday who said he'd made me "a reservation" on the bus to Pushkar (a bus the guidebook says doesn't exist, that you have to get off at another town on the way). But I persevered, escaped, and now in another world. A touristy one no doubt, but one that has considerable charms as well.

Pushkar is a very holy town. A big lake, surrounded by bathing ghats on all sides, a temple to Brahma, and about 500 other temples. It is pretty strictly vegetarian, not even eggs, but on the other hand "special" lhassis are legal here. Cows roam back and forth on the narrow crowded streets. Lots of pilgrims. There is a "holy man" scam everyone has warned me about where these "holy men" perform "ceremonies" for you without asking your permission and then want exorbitant amounts of money. So I've been on my guard (especially since all the crooked cabbies I've come across recently). But, aside from the scammers and the market callers, the throng of European tourists and the types of stalls that inevitably pop up all around us, there is great beauty here. A 5 minute walk in any direction and you're out of town, walking up a dusty road with only a few cows for company. Today I walked about 700' up to a Shivatri temple on a stunning hilltop above town. It was beautiful. Shivatri is Brahma's wife. There is sign in the temple requesting silence, but just below there is a cafe where they carry all the drinks up by hand and play Indian-themed techno-lounge music. I had a very relaxing post-temple interlude there before walking back to town.

Plus, I had a tailor mend a pair of my pants. And I'm staying in the "Pink Floyd" guest house. Rooms named after Floyd songs, hot water, and a stunning 5th floor rooftop restaurant overlooking the lake (all the other buildings are 4 floors or less).I sense that my guest house pink floyd thing has something to do with the draw of the "special" lhassi to the western tourist, but for that price, that view, and hot water (not to mention a room with a window and nice stained glass windows), count me in!

So, that's about it for here. I'll probably write more once I go the Brahma temple. I almost went today but wanted to save it.

Cheers,

John

PS I regret no pictures. Especially now because my pictures have been spectacular recently, but upload speeds here are prohibitively slow...