Rob and Anna's travel adventure

Rajasthan I, India

Anna's entry:

SAWAI MADHOPUR - RANTHAMBHORE NATIONAL PARK

We visited Rajasthan (Udaipur, Mt. Abu) about four years ago, and this time around decided to add a few other places to complete the route.
Our first stop-over is Ranthambhore National Park, which supposedly provides a rate opportunity to encounter an elusive tiger.  Naturally, whatever remains from the previously lush habitat serves a sorry refuge to tigers, and our expectations are quite low.  However, compared to other natural reserves, here tigers do run free, thus it is considered a great "victory" to see one -  as opposed to other parks where tigers are put in a certain fenced enclosure (and are even sedated on occasion) to offer tourists an expected "check mark" of seeing one - the latter never has worked for our taste. 
I must add that to get to Ranthambhore from our previous stop-over in Haridwar required a long train ride, with quite a chilly temperature during the night.  We were shivering throughout the journey, and drafty unsealed train windows kept us awake for most of the night journey.  Our train was scheduled to arrive in Sawai Madhopur around 5:45 a.m..  Around 5 a.m. we were startled by the voice of one of the passengers insisting that our stop was coming up and that we should get ready.  Rob looked out of the train window to read the station sign, and it seemed like we were at least an hour away.  Nevertheless, we rushed to get ready.  It took us less than five minutes to do so, and when we sat down ready with our backpacks, the passenger settled himself comfortably next to us and gave as a big smile.  "I have a question for you" he said.  "What is the biggest industry exporter in your country?" he asked with a typical Indian accent.  "Whaaaat?"  We just got prematurely woken up at 5 a.m. to be interviewed by a complete stranger about global import-export affairs?!  But, it was India after all, by now we had gotten used to the most unexpected questions in the most unusual circumstances.  So, trying to push ourselves to an awake state of mind, we started conversing with the passenger about world-wide export, import, economy, diplomatic challenges, etc. etc.  Then the passenger stared into our eyes and proudly told us with a smile that it was a great honor communicating to us and that we were "like Gods to him"...  This must have been the most humbling compliment we had ever received.  "Believe me, far from it..." I tried to re-assure the man, but he insisted that he meant every word of it.  To make him feel good, we in the most modestly possible way accepted the compliment, which was followed by the gift of smoked peanuts offered to us.  We thanked the cordial man, took a few peanuts, and insisted that he would take the rest to his family...  See what I mean - you just never know when and where you could come across the most unexpected fascinating interactions, this is why we love India...  I must say, that was the best memory of Sawai Madhopur.  What followed later I tried to forget...
Ranthambhore National Park safari was turned into a racket, controlled by a seemingly profiting cartel of the national park rangers.  Basically, the number of entries to the park was divided and sold to the touts, who later on resold the seats to tourists for a hefty commission.  Sure, there was formally established "a line" to buy your own safari entry tickets, but regular park visitors were mobbed by a professional tout group.  On one visit, a fight developed among the touts, and two guys threatened to stab each other.  On our second attempt to buy "honest price tickets", we and a group of regular Indian tourists got pushed out of the line by an angry mob of touts, followed by a big fight between the Indian tourists and Indian touts.  Somehow, one tout felt bad for me, and put me in front of him in queue so I could have a chance to buy my honestly earned ticket (we stood in line for three hours).  He told me the following "I'll protect your back, but for the rest you are on your own".  My God, I found myself in the middle of the craziest queue I've ever been - and I have been in quite a few of them growing up in Russia.  When I was ready to pay for my tickets, a fight broke off behind me, and my hand got stuck in the cashier window.  When I eventually was able to pull it out, it was all scratched up and bruised up by the window iron bars.  I also got short-changed (which eventually, after several attempts and demands was corrected by a young park officer).  We got our tickets, but the brutal disorder tainted our experience.  The safari was pleasant, but it wasn't worth it.  Yes, we did see a number of interesting animals (unfortunately missed a tiger by a few minutes, and saw only his footprints).  Over all though, would I recommend the park?  Most likely, not!  I just hate to see the park cartel benefiting like that.  And, in my opinion, the less people visit the park, the more chances for a tiger to survive...










BUNDI
It feels good to be in Bundi...  We came here for a few days, and ended up spending an entire week.  It is a very pleasant small town, surrounded by the 17th century fortress, with narrow lanes and very welcoming local people.  We have a clean nice room (only $6 a night) on the roof of the large family house overlooking a lake on one side, and the fortress on the other.  The house itself reminds me a medieval mansion, and it's in places crumbling walls oozing history and enigma.  We seem to be the only guests here, and ended up having the entire roof terrace to ourselves with an unobstructed view over the old city and fortress; our only visitors are the mischievous monkeys who strive at an opportunity to steal either fruits or clothes.  We spent our Christmas wandering around the medieval fortress, and joined wild monkeys for the sunset (I don’t now how to explain it but macaques always seem to be fascinated with the sunset and seem to find the best spot to watch it).  Another treat we have here is that our room comes with a HOT water shower, and I can't tell you how great it feels to take the hot shower after days and days of cold bucket water facilities.  It is obvious, that travels help us appreciate the simple things in life that normally would have been taken for granted... 
Unfortunately, the food prices are unusually high in town (for Indian standards), but we walked around and got familiar with people that offer reasonable prices.  So, we've found one guy who we visit for breakfast at a street stall - he makes fresh tasty samosas (kind of fried piroshkis with garlic and tomato-chilli sauce), then another guy who makes great chai with ginger and milk, then another young man who cooks in the evening fresh vegetarian burgers, then also a fruit seller, who gives us good prices (fresh papaya about $0.50/kg; bananas $0.40/kg; mandarin-oranges also $0.40 /kg), so we are caught up on fruits, which were more expensive in other parts of India.  Then, we also save the fruit peels, and feed them to street cows.  Some of them are starting to follow us along the narrow alleys and even attempt to run towards us when they see us coming - that in itself can turn into a humbling experience as some cows are quite large, and a few of them have sharp horns.  The other day we were sitting at a small restaurant by the side of the road eating our vegetarian thali, and a cow insisted on sampling our food.  We attempted to limit her entrance by lifting our legs in the air and constructing a "road block", but it was futile, there was no competition in the muscle strength.  Luckily, the restaurant owner stepped out and poured some water on the cow head, so the cow hesitantly conceded in search of another unsuspected soul..
Also, what is very nice to see in this town is that people seem to be a lot kinder to homeless animals.  Yesterday, we saw a local guy taking care of four very young puppies while the stray mom-dog was taking a rest break away from them.  What a change after Rishikesh, where the attitude was so much worse... 
Tomorrow is our last day in Bundi, then we'll be heading out to our next town of Ajmer, and then Pushkar.  The latter would likely be more touristy (which we do not care for), but we have to break our journey around the New Year's, and it seems like a logical place to make a stop at.















AJMER
Not many Westerners stay in this Muslim town, which is fine with us.  Wandering along the narrow alleys and markets of the old town made, visiting the old architecture, people watching, sampling local food made us feel quite appreciative of the genuinely preserved place.  We ate several meals at one Muslim restaurant that was very good and very cheap (no cheating prices around here).  The table waiter was very helpful, kept bringing us fresh hot chili peppers, lime and freshly cut onions to spice up the food, and seemed proud to show us how to properly eat the freshly baked naan bread and curry stew without using utensils - it was very sweet.  At the end of the day, the same restaurant was also distributing donations to the homeless women and children, so it was interesting to observe all the squabbles and interactions.  We also spent a leisurely afternoon on one of the city center ancient squares, and ended up chatting for several hours with locals.  Goats seemed to wander everywhere - some pilgrims were happy to feed them, but others were seemingly annoyed by constantly being bugged by their attention.  We watched one family having a picnic on the ground by the temple wall.  Among the family was an old woman who barely could chew her food.  The "opportunist goat" couldn't wait for her moment and kept attempting her "moves" to steal the food from the woman.  It noticeably irritated the poor old soul, and her attempts to chase the goat away were mostly unsuccessful.  The goat kept coming back bugging the old babushka.  It was actually quite entertaining to watch.  The men in the family noticed us laughing and started laughing themselves at the whole thing which made the poor old lady even angrier.  Being defeated by the goat, she unloaded on her family, which produced even louder laughter...  One can learn a lot about the culture by people watching, it is interesting to see the interactions with each other and dynamics of relationship with one's surroundings.
 











PUSHKAR
I am writing this entry sitting in a  former maharaja palace above the lake ghats, where we have met the  New Year. According to the legend, God Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth, and the city of Pushkar floated to the earth.  India seems to be full of legends, most of which are still widely believed and honored, creating often unpredictable repercussions...  The latter must be a key contributing factor to India being so spiritual and largely insane, and undoubtedly fascinating.  The believes get transferred into architecture, colorful clothing, animistic rituals, and the way of living.  Nevertheless, it is peaceful in Pushakr most of the time, except for occasional blasting sounds of drums, religious temple chanting, families of pilgrims calling out, monkeys jumping over the roofs, cows stumbling over the lake steps, dogs barking, and numerous pigeons cooing throughout the day while in constant search of pilgrims' food offerings...
To our surprise, Puskar has turned out to be a pleasant enough stop despite of the town's gained bad reputation - created over the years by worthless travellers who come here with a sole purpose to get high.   Our room in the former palace was right above the lake, and from the beautiful marble balcony we would watch the pilgrims performing their rituals in the thought-to-be sacred waters.  Here we met a very interesting American lady whose family were originally from India; together we enjoyed long conversations and laughs sitting on the balcony overlooking the lake with  the images of temples and palaces reflected in the water.  This lady gave us a very intelligent and frank insider perspective on the Indian life style and customs, which finally explained a few insane things we've encountered while travelling here (normally, it is impossible to get a clear answer from the locals, or at least the one that makes some logical sense). We also met a couple of delightful gentlemen from London working for the BBC, who encouraged us to consider another journey, this time through Africa.  And, most importantly I was able to catch up with my family and friends in Russia for the New Year, finally having located a reliable internet connection.
Today is the last day in Pushar, and we are enjoying another dramatic  sunset from the roof terrace of our place.  Everything in India seems more intense...  Tomorrow, we are back to over-crowded buses and long journey to the city of Jodhpur - I am not particularly looking forward to Jodhpur (a little too touristy and way too many touts), but we have to break down our journey while on the way to the Great Thar Dessert.

posted by Rob and Anna @ 1:18 PM