Kashmir: Into the North

          

          Hi Everybody, I hopped on a plane from Delhi to Kashmir after spending a couple days in the capital.  Ready to find out what mountain living in India really means!  

I wrote this journal entry the day I arrived and believe it is the perfect place to start! 

Saturday May 23rd

          Holy cow this is mind boggling!  I am sitting on the back deck of a beautiful old wooden houseboat on a small Indian mountain lake in the foothills of the Himalayas.  Its a cool 55F or 15C outside with a slight breeze that carries the sweet smells of the water and the echoes of a mystic chant to my cozy deck.   The chanting adds a serene spiritual vibe as it echoes like a faint song across the snow-capped mountains.  I hear an occasional fish jump but otherwise the water is still.  The chants have now turned into distant drums and light chatter as the night grows quiet.

                         

          Needless to say, I have been enjoying Kashmir so far.  Its a laid back and beautiful countryside.  I have gotten a range of impressions for the area however.  When the plane landed the first thing announced, after a warm welcome of course, was not to take any pictures of the airport because it is a defensive airbase for the military.
         As I left the airport I met my driver Reshiz who was waiting with my name on a sign.  He helped me get my luggage into an SUV and we started the 30 minute ride to the houseboat.  I was shocked to see that even after leaving the airport there were many armed military men all throughout the city!  Most seemed dressed for battle with full BDU's and some powerful looking rifles at their sides.  Not to even mention the ominous castle sitting on a jungle mountain top overlooking the city.  It is actually is still being occupied by the military....Sri Nager has an operational castle!!  

          

          Kashmir is the region of India just to the northwestern border with Pakistan. It has been a highly controversal border for many years as Pakistan still claims it belongs to them.  This historical turmoil has led to many rebellions and fights between the two however everyone I spoke with tells me it is now a peaceful place.  
        Otherwise, the city itself however seemed much like your typical Indian village, just with a bit of a mountain folk twist on everything.  For example, the buildings seemed to be made of large timbers and kinda reminded me of a bit more rustic version of the Bavarian style mountain houses.  The people seem a bit different as well. Many in the city were wearing T-shirts with American emblems and the whole place had a slightly slower paced laid back and comfortable feel to it.  

         So when we got to the lake we drove down a small dirt road to get to the entrance of my houseboat.  It's parked with the back deck facing out into the lake and to get aboard we walked down a narrow wooden plank that looked like it was a splinter away from splintering in half!  It was, however, in better shape than the boat off to my left though. My neighbor boat was sitting underwater, and looked more like a boat skeleton!  

          I met Manzoor the boat’s owner and trip organizer and then Abdul Raheem the chef and assistant.  (all of this was for about $15 USD per night by the way).  Manzoor says the neighbor boat is "closed for repairs".   

         My boat, however, is magnificent!  It is made entirely of wood, and feels like a floating log cabin. The floors are covered in carpet, but you can tell they cover some ancient floor boards because every step comes with a loud character adding creek.  The furniture is all beautifully carved walnut that looks like something that is a rare find in an antique shop.  The bed, a magnificent king size in the back of the boat that is covered in warm handmade quilts that looked like something I would see at my grandmother's house. And finally to top the cake the very smell of the place is warm and welcoming...It smells of a sweet mix of wooden timbers and mountain lake water… I think I will enjoy my time here!

*Later that day*

          It has now started to pour the rain outside, making a soft patter as it hits the tin roof of the boat.  It’s about 10:13pm.   Raheem left about 20 minutes ago after cleaning up the delicious dinner he prepared.  He made a vegetable curry and meat curry which were both great!  I am so happy, I can actually eat again!  I had two huge helpings and for the first time in weeks my stomach is fine!

          After dinner Raheem and I talked for a while and he brought out an antiquated looking hookah he calls his "Hubbly Bubbly" and packed it full of sweet Himalayan tobacco.  We sat in the living room for nearly an hour as he smoked and tried to teach me some of the local language.   The area of Kashmir seems to be predominantly, if not entirely, a Muslim area, so naturally the language reflects that with many words and phrases tied to the religion.  Salam Maleku is the common greeting meaning peace be upon you.  

*May 24th. 

About 4:45pm I am once again sitting on the deck of the boat looking out over mist covered mountains as the sounds of religious chants echo across the mountains like a beautiful symphony.  Feels good. Life is good…that is all

*End Excerpts*

          *I kinda slacked off a bit on writing and have way to much left to write to go on word for word.  So the next couple of days can be summarized by awesome, relaxing, and…the following couple paragraphs!

Each morning I awoke to a delicious omelet breakfast, along with some amazing sweet Kashmiri chai all prepared by Raheem.  I spent my mornings reading on the back deck of the boat and writing in my travel log.  Letting time slip by like the quiet breeze on the boat deck. 

  Eventually I took some time to explore the area around me just walking around the streets and stopping in shops. In one shop I discovered a wonderful drink I had never seen before called Rani Root.  It is a peach flavored soda with actual peaches in it!  It’s funny how the small things like a drink can really stick with you….

          While exploring the neighborhood I had the most amazing experience.  One day I was walking about the town, just enjoying the atmosphere, when I was stopped by a friendly looking young Muslim guy, named Javid.  He seems so very excited to meet me and insists that I come see his school right around the corner to meet the students.  I had nothing better to do at the time so thought to myself “why not”.  As we walked, however, I noticed a small crowd forming behind us.  Like a magnet, as we went along the crowd collected girth.  We arrived at a small square and before I knew it I was surrounded by smiling faces all wanting to shake my hand and say hello!  The school is an Islamic school for kids of all ages and I think half the school must have come out to greet me.  Hardly any of them spoke enough English to communicate with me but some did and they all were very friendly.  We snapped a photo together and then Javid took me on a shortcut back to the boat.  Its moments like these where I really can’t imagine where the hatred in this world comes from.  It can only be taught from older generations, for on those young smiling faces I saw nothing but love and excitement.

          I also spent some time out exploring the main part of the city of Sri Nager.  Manzoor planned an itinerary that included visiting some of the beautiful Mogul gardens and a mosque that is among the holiest places in Islam.  The mosque is said to hold the ACTUAL beard of Mohamed, which is brought out for special holiday occasions!  Everything about the place seemed heavily and uniquely reverent.

          The gardens on the other hand are hundreds of years old and are centered on mountain streams that have been built around to form a beautiful symmetrical garden with the backdrop of snow-capped mountains.  The flowers were in full bloom and smelled as sweet and fresh as the mountain air.    

Our final stop was a carpet shop where of course I was told, “No need buy, just look”.  As every store everywhere seems to say.  I couldn’t resist though, the carpets are all handmade out of silks and Kashmir wool on machines that have been used for over 100 years!  The say that each pattern has a song that is sung as the carpet is knotted to help the knotter to remember the pattern...hearing one of those is on my list for my next visit.  Now I just need a nice study where I can put a carpet…

I spent the evening exploring the town more and sitting on the boat deck.  At one point a traveling merchant named Mr. Marvelous paddled his boat up to my deck.  He says he is traveling around the lake peddling Kashmiri flowers and seeds of the finest quality.  Friendly guy, Mr Marvelous, but I didn't need any flowers at the moment.

That night Raheem made another delicious dinner of two types of curry, this time with homemade cheese! He then brought over his “hubbly bubbly” and smoked as we attempted a to play cards.  He tried to teach me a game called 10 cards but I am still not quite sure the objective or who actually won…This language barrier can be tough sometimes…  I tried to teach him blackjack but I think I got the same results from him.  Finally I thought it a great idea to bring out my harmonica, which Raheem instantly took a loving to and played/sang an old Kashmiri hymn that I did not get a word of….Twas a good night.

          The next morning was a bit rainy so I relaxed around the boat most of it.  I needed a good rest up anyway.  After my omelet breakfast Manzoor came by and tells me he has some exciting news!  He says that I have been invited to attend the wedding of one of Raheem’s nephews!  I am thrilled to participate and eagerly except.  He tells me we will leave early the next day and spend the night in Raheem’s hometown!
  

         

The next morning I wake up excited and ready to go.  Raheem and I catch a rickshaw into the center of town where he says he needs to get a few things before we leave.  We end up spending the next HOUR picking through an endless open air market of food!  This place had everything from potatoes and peppers, to lambs eyeballs and hooves!  We shopped until both of our arms were full of groceries and I think we must have gotten a little bit of everything, including the lamb hooves! 

         

After our shopping we hopped into the back of a transport jeep that was so packed that we rode knee to knee with our fellow travelers for the entire two hour long ride before finally reaching a small set of houses in the middle of a rice paddy filled countryside.  We had made it to Raheem’s home place. 

         

I believe I met the entire family over the course of this night!  It was absolutely wonderful!  First Raheem introduced me to his sister-in-law and brother and his niece, nicknamed “Shorty”.  Then we walked towards town, where Raheem seemed to know everyone in the area.  All of his friends walked in from the rice paddies to say hello as we went by. And everyone was excited to see who he had brought home with him. 

We made it to the center of the small one road town and went down a small alley until we reached a large colorful tent set up beside a house.  This was the wedding hall!  Everyone again was very friendly and excited to see Raheem and myself.  We even organized for a group selfie!

 I was shown around to see all of the busy wedding preparations.  There was a tree by the river where they were skinning a lamb and another tent full of cooks hammering the meat into meatballs,  On the porch a group of women sat playing the drums and singing.  It was really a happy vibe all over.

After meeting at least a hundred family members I met Raheem's brother-in-law Parvez.  I got to know this man well over this couple of days and am happy I did so.  He welcomed me into his house with open arms and generosity.
    After an hour or so of excellent conversation Parvez insist on showing me Manesbald lake, which the city is well known for.  We took his car and drove until we reached a lake resting between monumental snow-capped mountains towering over a beautiful Mogul garden and the ruins of an ancient fort on the lakeside.  We walked around a bit before taking the car up one of the mountains for an aerial view before the sun set.

After driving back I met up with Raheem again and we went to the wedding tent to enjoy a special wedding dinner.  I was invited to sit among the elders as we ate and shared a traditional four person plate of rice with a lamb curry. We each rinsed our right hands in a silver dish that was passed around and then each picked a corner and scooped up a mouthful.  Really, eating rice by hand is not nearly as difficult as it may seem to the western world.  I think I was finally getting the technique down after 3 weeks in India.


After dinner I was led to a seat of honor on the edge of the tent.  All the women of what looked like the entire village were seated on the ground in the middle of the tent and were engaging in a cheerful song and playing drums.  

This went on for a couple of hours until eventually a band was brought in along with a couple of traditional Kashmiri dancers!  The dancers were two males dressed in a traditional dresses with bells on their legs and scarves they twirled in the air.  As the colorful clothes twirled in the center of the tent and the crowd around them sang and cheered them on, I thought to myself, just wow, this is what traveling is all about.  Experiencing the real lives of real people participating in their own unique tradition that exist only within their unique way of life...not a bad way to spend the night!  
 


The next day I woke up to an amazing omelet breakfast prepared by Parvez's family.  It was even prepared with some local spices that were like none I had tried before!  Wish I knew what they were but may have to remain in the memory bank.  We talked and enjoyed the morning for while just sitting in his living room.  Eventually Raheem came by and says we have a boat ride to catch!  We walk back to his house, which conveniently is right on the edge of the river.  
He had a small canoe tied up to his back porch.  We paddled down a small river overhung with trees that made a sort of green tunnel as we rode, until eventually we reached the lake.  The water was full of lotus plants and the air full of eagles and kingfishers looking for prey. But when sitting in the middle, in a moment of perfect peace, the majestic beauty of this place is truly revealed, as the water turns quiet and the lake becomes a mirror reflecting the powerful peaks above.  What a beautiful World!

The final big event of the wedding was a the giant wedding feast.  This again was served on a large silver plate and intended to be eaten in a group of four.  The rice was the base for all dishes but as the feast went on the plate was refilled with various curries and entrees.  Imagine a mountain of rice, and a curry on top, that is eaten until either the curry or the rice is gone and then the mountain is rebuilt for the next course!  And the same for the next 5 or more courses it seemed the food just kept on coming!  So Much Delicious food!  

 

 After all of this celebration Raheem and I were headed home to the houseboat.  It had been a remarkable excursion and experience but there was much more to explore in this mountainous region of beauty, like the mountains for instance... TO BE CONTINUED!  Tomorrow night in this continued publishing spree!  Thanks for Reading!!

Heartlands of India

Part 2: On the move again! Agra and Delhi

        Just left the desert city of Jaipur and am headed into some of the heartlands of India, Agra and Delhi.  Hopping the first train I can catch to Agra and then gonna try and figure a way to get to Delhi the same day when I get there.  It doesn’t look far on google maps, I'm sure I can wing it.   

There are, however, some downsides to not being able to book train tickets in advance.  

*Travel hint for India: getting tickets in advance is near impossible unless you have an Indian phone number. 

I settled for a general ticket for the 5 hour train ride to Agra.  I imagined I could put up with any condition for 5 hours and...it was all they really had left. Now, a general ticket in most places isn’t too bad…however, this is India and in India general ticket means literally fighting my way on to the train. (grabbing the door rail before the train stopped and then pulling my way on, past the others trying to claw their way on around me)... I realized all the seats were already full and grabbed a spot on the metal shelf above the seats.  I was lucky to find this spot as well, since all the shelves filled up in minutes and everyone else...was stuck standing.  You don’t want to even imagine trying to use a toilet on one of these things!  This made for a very long and sweaty 5 hour trip...

Classic Indian train toilet.  Imagine using one of these while sick as a dog on a bumpy train...Fun times

          Finally I arrived in Agra, feeling sick and sweaty but determined to both find this famous building and then head out of town to make it to Delhi.  I stopped in the train station to check tickets but before I got anywhere a rickshaw driver came up and started a conversation.  He tells me he can take me to the Taj Mahal, get me a bus to Delhi, and even hook me up with a hotel room, all through a friend he had in town.  I thought about it for a while, but, after realizing I wouldn’t get to Delhi until midnight with the train, I figured I may as well go for it.  He charged a huge tourist price of 500 rupees for the ride but I wasn’t in the mood to argue so I went for it anyway and we were off! 

          First stop in the city, the Taj Mahal!   The building is situated in the middle of a busy part of the city surround by cheap souvenir shops and crumbly looking hotels.  I had only one hour to visit since I had to catch a bus, so the rickshaw driver dropped me off and told me he would wait in the parking lot.  I walked towards the entry gate down a street packed with tourist and shop owners. It seemed every five minutes some 10 year old kid would approach me trying to get me to stop in "their" shop.  "Only look no buy" they would say.  I ignored most of it and continued on wading my way through the crowd to the gate… Finally I have my ticket and make it to the gate…only to be stopped by security for my backpack, which apparently I could not bring in with me.  I knew I was short on time so I rushed back up the street until I found a small hotel.  They would not let me store my luggage but a room was only 200 rupees for a night ($2) so I rented a room for the night to use for the hour, dropped my stuff and ran back to the gate, this time making it all the way in. 

And to the jewel of India, the grand and glorious Taj Mahal!

So for those interested the Taj Mahal was built as a mausoleum to the wife of an ancient Emperor of India.  It is made mostly of white marble and has a grand garden in front of it and the Yamuna River behind it.  So I know this is the most famous attraction in India, and perhaps it was the other great and amazing temples I had already seen that jaded my view, but I don't really get it!  I think really the idea behind it is much more magnificent then the building itself.  The fact that all of this was built to house the body of a single person is a bit romantic.  Of course the king did not have just one wife, he had 8!  I kinda feel bad for the other 7...But this was the wife that bore the son so, tough luck to the others. 

Anyway, I looked around, walked in and saw the tomb, took a gander at the river and rushed back out to catch the bus to Delhi.

 **I am going to try a different style of writing at this point for a while.  You see, I keep a hand written travel log as I go and, while I normally am reiterating events from that journal, I think it would be nice to add in some exact excerpts here and there.  I did a lot of writing on this bus, so here are a few slightly more real time'ish, stories from it.

May 21st. ~6pm The Bus Ride

          I'm sitting on a Bus from Agra to Delhi that I purchased a ticket for an hour ago from a friend of the rickshaw driver whom I met two hours ago at the train station.  I was only in Agra for a short stint and am more like passing through on my way from Jaipur to Delhi. This is my first Indian bus ride! The interior is very beaten up and damaged and it is completely packed…but, it has AC and some nice scenery outside so I guess its not too bad.  We just passed a temple that looked like a chunk of Las Vegas it had so many neon lights on it!  The sun has now set so I will continue later…

          We stopped in the city of Matsura for a 30 minute break and to see a Vishnu Temple in the area.  I decided to seize the moment and try to find some much needed food that I could actually manage to eat and keep down.  I found some watermelon and stocked up on apples and oranges for the next few days’ supply.  Should be enough for now. 

I am happy that I completely passed on the temple and instead spent most of the time relaxing around the town.  Despite the slightly funny smell of the place (mix between curry, cow, and piss…) it seems like a nice town!  The bus is moving again and it’s too bumpy to write so will have to continue again later…

*Later that night. ~11pm 

          Ok so we have stopped yet again! Yet still not in Delhi.  This time for food but I don’t think my stomach is up for it.  It’s almost 11pm now and I have discovered why we are stopping at these different Hindu temple sites.  Apparently this is a Hindu Temple Tour bus full of happy Hindus.  We stopped at another city before the food and the driver talked for nearly 15 minutes in Hindi before the whole bus cheered some type of praise Vishnu chant!  We got off the bus and there was a parade of idols going through the town, each placed on top of a float that looked no different than the parade floats I see back home (apparantely there’s some kinda festival or something going on).  I decided to go with the group this time to see what this was all about.  We were there to see a specific temple to Vishnu.  I have no idea why this temple was significant since the entire intro was in Hindi but I met a couple new friends on the bus who were happy to explain some of it so I figured why not go ahead and go along.  We were visiting a really old and important temple is about as much as I could pick up…

So Yeah...that happened.

I took my shoes off at the temple door and went inside to observe the ritual.  Upon entering I received a blessing in the form of a yellow chalk dot on my forehead and some mumbled words that I did not understand, then everyone sat down behind a closed curtain and listened to the priest preach in Hindi for a few minutes before he dramatically pulled back a curtain revealing an idol of Vishnu covered in gold ornaments.  The priest then proceeded to ask for tithes for 10 minutes before each person placed a flower wreath at the foot of the statue and received a crumbly sugary substance as a holy food to be eaten as a blessing.  It was quite an experience overall!   

           After all this we piled back on the bus and here I am… now sitting on this bus at a cross roads restaurant in the middle of who-knows-where India wondering what in the world I just witnessed and when in the world I am going to actually make it to Delhi!  The guy that sold me this ticket must not have known it was for a tour bus because he said 1 hour and it has now been 5!   Going to try and get some sleep now, I think we still have a long ride.

*End of Excerpt* 

Saturday May 23rd.

Sitting in the Delhi airport enjoying a couple raspberry sangrias while I wait on my flight.  This time heading off to the mountain town of Sri Nager!  I thought I was leaving yesterday, but, upon closer examination of the ticket I had bought a week earlier, I realized I had planned for a day in Delhi and forgotten all about it!  I discovered this just as I was packing up my bags at 8am and immediately celebrated by going back to bed!  

The Hindu tour bus had not arrived in Delhi the night before until nearly 2:30am!!  Fortunately the bus cleared out a few hours before since it dropped people at different places, and I was able to stretch out in the back seat.  When we arrived I awoke to the bus driving down a main avenue packed with neon hotel signs attached to somewhat tattered looking old buildings lining a rough but quiet street.  I saw a Dominos, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut all within 5 minutes and I knew I must be in the capital.  Only here could India have this high of a concentration of western restaurants on a single block.  At least that I had seen so far.  Honestly…It was a strangely comforting site for some reason...

The Delhi airport is actually very nice and modern feeling.  This seems befitting of a capital airport, yet contrasts sharply with everything else I have seen of India.  Even the capital city was unlike any city I had seen before.  I guess I expected it to have fallen victim to the big city syndrome where the mere size of the city make it merge into this similar global big city culture, like how London, New York, and even Shanghai have many similar big city traits such as their architecture and fast paced city life, but then, I realized oh yeah, I am in India.  

The streets were just as chaotic as every other city, if not even more so.  Full of cows, and rickshaws rushing in every direction side by side.  The buildings were tightly packed, slightly crooked, and tangled in electrical wire.  Some of those wires looked like the only thing holding up some of the buildings!  There were no Skyscrapers, no giant busses, and a lot of chaos...This is a true capital.. Its just like the rest of the country just bigger!

 

After I woke up in mid-afternoon, I decided to leave my hotel and just take off into the streets.  And it wasn’t long before, of course, I wondered my way into the slums.  I found myself in arm length width wide alleyways with people sleeping on either side in rooms no larger than a closet.  Closet sized shops with goods spilling out into the streets, stray dogs and cows wondering aimlessly.  WOW what an environment...The cords hanging down blocked out the sunlight and the kids ran naked through the street playing tag.  And here in the midst of it all is the most beautiful sample of genuine human happiness that is rare to see… anywhere.  Everyone going about their lives without a care in the world.  They offered the gift of a smile as I quietly passed through and for many, I imagine that is all they had to give.

Anyway plane is about here so I'm hopping on and taking off for the Himalayas!

*End of excerpt*

So I didn’t write this in my journal for some reason but for the sake of keeping a logical order to this thing, I should mention that I am going to Sri Nager, Kashmir to escape the heat for a while and booked a ticket through a travel agency during my time in Delhi.  I had heard good things about the area of Kashmir so I thought….why not? 

Also I checked out a few of the nicer buildings of Delhi like some of the grand temples and monuments.  Here are a few pictures from that as well!

You can look for the next leg of the journey coming out tomorrow as I head into the disputed borderlands East of Pakistan to the great foothills of the Himalayas! 

Thanks for reading!  And Check out the rest of my journey in my earlier blog entries!

India: The Next Chapter

Hi everybody! This has been a long time in the works but I am happy to say it is finally a realization to get this thing published.  Originally I planned for the last 12 days of my India excursion to be one big final chapter.  However, In these 12 days more amazing things have occurred than I could begin to describe in an amount of words that you would want to read or I would want to write all in one sitting.  So I have a plan.  I will take a note from The Hobbit and split a book in three.  Three entries posted over 3 days one chapter per day, each summing up a bit more of the amazingness that is India.  

Considering this is the beginning of the third post on India,  here is a quick update of this adventure so far.  From the beginning in a quick paragraph.  Flew into Chennai down south, hopped some trains further south to Madurai, Moved north to Bangalore where I met a good friend from earlier school days, Varun, Took a flight from Bangalore to the desert cities of Rajasthan, Spent a few days exploring ancient desert forts, deserts, camel rides, and other cool desert stuff with Varun.  Spotted tigers in Ranthambore tiger reserve, and finally came to Jaipur where Varun left back for Bangalore and I stayed to plot a rough idea of what to do in the next couple weeks.  Busy couple weeks it had been! However I still had over a week to go and to many options for what to do next! ... 

If you wanna check out the previous blogs: here is a link to each one:

> http://whatsupw0rld.blogspot.com/2015/05/india-where-am-i.html

> http://whatsupw0rld.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-eventual-part-2.html

And finally on with the adventure...

Part 1: Sandstorms, Monkeys, and Elephants!

The setting is Jaipur, a small desert city in the west of India.  The weather has been nearly 100F everyday (40C).  The streets are hot and dusty and the people wear clothes that cover them from the desert heat. 

Varun just left and I was still feeling a bit under the weather from some bad food poisoning I had picked up earlier in the week. So I got a nice hotel and decided I would wait until I felt better before trekking on.  I had been moving almost every night for the past couple weeks by sleeping on night trains and occasional cheap hotel beds, so this really felt like a grand resort I was staying in.  It was only 800 per night ($8 US) but came with air conditioning, a rooftop restaurant and even wifi that actually worked some of the time!  I guess my exhaustion caught up to me, or I got too comfortable or something.  Somehow... I laid down in the hotel bed, and 3 or 4 days just slipped away...

Despite the comfort of my desert palace, I did get out and about some.  I explored the part of the city around me by foot mostly in search of necessities of life such as a laundry service and a fruit stand.  My clothes had not been washed in two weeks, but considering India I think my smell kinda blended in...

My second night in Jaipur I did have a good excuse to stay in however.   I tried to take a walk around the block yet halfway through I noticed it was oddly windy and dusty out.  Within an hour this had turned into a full blown sand storm and I could hardly see across the road!  I heard from the hotel staff that it actually killed 7 people back in Jaiselmer but luckily we were on the edge of the desert so didn’t get the brunt of it. 

View from my room as the sandstorm swept in.

The next day the main attractions were on my schedule no matter how I was feeling.  I booked with a rickshaw driver to take me around the highlights and made a day of exploring as much as I could.  We started off headed to the ancient desert fort that guards over the great city of Jaipur.  Now I know it seems like I visited a fort in every desert city I visited, but that’s only because every city I visited had a fort...  Apparently many years of ancient battles have been fought among the desert kingdoms of India. Fortunately, it’s a purdy peaceful place now days, and they make for pretty cool attractions!

Even after spending the last few days exploring other desert forts this still was a pretty remarkable place.  It sat atop a cliff overlooking a lake on one side and the Jaipur on the other.  The walk up was along a rough crumbling road that zigzagged through ruined bits of the castle. The sun was turned up to full blast as I climbed the steep crooked path to the front gate.   It was so hot, that even the random goats I passed were hiding from the sun in a small doorway!  I finally reached the front gates, covered in sweat and eager to get inside the gates.  Out of all the grand rooms of this lofty palace, my favorite would have to be the bathroom.  It had a hot tub sized stone bath and sat in a small veranda soaking in the sunlight through windows that peered straight out over the cliff to the sunny lake below.  I can just imagine relaxing there in the sun with a good book and that view....truly the life of a king! 

So that’s about all I really have to say about the fort really.  I mean it seemed similar to the other forts with its grand colorful stained glass rooms, gold trimmed thrones, and large gardens.  Equally as grandiose and stunningly powerful just as any proper palace fort should be.

After the fort I was headed for an experience that has been on my list since I was a kid watching the Jungle Book.  Finally riding an elephant!  We drove into town to the local elephant handler (yes, local elephant handler is a real job!) who allowed me to take one out for an hour around the town!  He put a basket up top to sit in which I stayed in until I got tired of ducking the dangling power lines in the narrow alleys we were walking, and hopped down to sit bareback instead.   I had never even seen an elephant up close before this day and here I was petting the head of one as we walked through a city that didnt cause people to even bat an eye.  Well I take that back, I did draw attention while riding an elephant through town...but only because I was a foreigner riding an elephant through town.  This must be a rare site indeed.

However my wild animal adventures did not end there.  After the elephants we were headed to a slightly more sacred of places, to visit some much smaller occupants.  The isolated monkey temple of Jaipur!  This is an ancient Hindu temple set in the red stone mountains surrounding the city that is of course heavily inhabited by...monkeys.  

To get there we rode for an hour in the rickshaw, buzzing through tangled alleyways and cow filled streets until we actually left town and eventually pulled into a small village at the foot of a tall mountain.  There were a few monkeys running around the village but I was a fool to think we had arrived.  

The rickshaw driver turns to me, and in rough English says..."You walk from here, I stay"...  He points to the top of the daunting mountain in front of us to a small building sitting atop.  I sigh, step out of the rickshaw into the 100 degree weather (40 C), and began the climb.

  After a 5 minute climb I was about a fifth of the way up and ran into a friendly old Indian man that had stopped for a rest on his way to the temple.  He continued walking with me and talked the entire way of how the youth of the country have changed and don't respect customs anymore...Ironically the kind of conversations you hear from concerned elderly anywhere else in the world…maybe we are not all so different after all....but then he tried to get me to stop by the brothel he runs around the corner so I took a break and told him to walk on without me....Finally I reached the top of the mountain and looked out at the view.  I could see the city of Jaipur on the horizon and nothing but mountains and sand everywhere around.   I turned and looked at the building that I thought I was walking to and suddenly realized, this was not the temple I was looking for at all!!!  The temple apparently is hidden away in the valley behind this mountain!!...I just had to climb over the mountain to get to it...  At least I was halfway there and it was downhill from here.

I slacked down the back side of the mountain on a road that looked more heavily trafficked by horses and camels than by cars, eventually into a small green valley, an oasis of contrast to the dry rock mountains around it.  And there, I saw the true temple.  Like a gem tucked away and isolated from the outside world, this place sat as a paradise to our primate cousins.  There were large fountains and man made lakes and waterfalls, tall colorful buildings with intricate carvings of strange looking beasts, and tall trees with plenty of branches to swing, and of course, everywhere you looked there were monkeys.  Again I am reminded of the jungle temples in The Jungle Book.  

The monkeys were swimming in the green water of the fountains, climbing the rock cliff sides as I walked by, hanging in the trees, sitting in the windows of the temple and running across the path as I walked.  I even saw a couple that were picking on a local dog! This was definitely the monkey's territory.

I had bought some monkey food (a bag of peanuts) on the way up the mountain and when I got it out a radar must have gone off in the heads of all the surrounding monkeys.  I had 7 or 8 of them running around my legs and clinging to my pants within seconds!  It was ok at first but those little guys are mean!!  I ran out of peanuts and one started trying to eat my backpack!  At that point I decided I had seen enough and it was time to hop over the mountain again.

Well again it was more like a crawl up and over the mountain.  By the time I made it back to the rickshaw the water I had bought at the temple 20 minutes earlier was already boiling hot and I was suffering from heat exhaustion so bad that I yacked out the side of the rickshaw the second we started to move...Woops,... I decided I had done enough exploration for the day and asked the driver to take me back to the hotel.  

My backpack had been stationary for too long... it was time to get a move on.  I had spent enough time running around the desert and had so much more still left to see.  So the next day I packed up my bag and left for the train station.  And Just like that I was headed out of the desert heat and into the heartlands of India.  And just like that I will leave it To Be Continued...! 

  

You can look for the next chapter tomorrow night and enjoy the Taj Mahal, my first Indian bus ride, and a taste of the capital city, Delhi!

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave some feedback in the comments!  Any feedback is good and I love to hear from readers, so don't hesitate!