On the road again!

February 24th

We checked out of the airport hotel around midnight (this morning) - hotel service was pretty bad but the rooms were good so we didn't fuss too much. We had a hard time finding our checkin counter as it was on the opposite side of the airport and there are no signs, just letters from A-O and we were at M for checkin and at A when we got out of the hotel.  When we got to the counter after waiting in line for about 30 minutes, the counter person told us that there were no seats together for this flight as we didn't have confirmed seats...DAMN KAVITA! Kavita was the travel agent who booked our flights, hotels and tour and everyone had great challenges with her. We asked her to ensure we had seats together on all flights and she said not to worry and that the seats she could confirm early were done and the others wouldn't be a problem since we booked together.  Well that was not the case!

We waited in security line ups which felt like forever, we had to clear Indian customs again and of through security checks, but in India, you walk through the metal detector thingy next to the baggage scanner and then the men are patted down and wanded, but the women have to go into this little booth with curtains where they pat us down and wand us. The line we were In didn't have a woman in the booth, so they put a number in our bin with some of our items and sent us to the next line to go through the metal detector and booth....which took FOREVER and we didn't take our passports with us and all of our stuff was out of site while people kept moving through and grabbing their items.  We were freaking out, as well as the many other women in the same boat as us as it was feeling like the beginning of a bad ending to our journey.  We finally made it through and they had our bags set aside - phew!

Funnily enough this is where Eva discovered she didn't lose the souvenirs as they found metal in her bag LOL, so after she dumped her bag all over the counter, we were able to move on.

We got on the plane and Eva was 4 rows ahead of me in the first row of a section, so she had lots of leg room.  We had lovely middle seats (insert sarcasm and eye roll here). When the last person beside me arrived he sat down and was very tall, his legs were touching the back of the seat and the guy in front of him wouldn't have been able to recline his seat.  So I offered for him to switch with Eva and he was excited to move and get the additional leg room, SCORE for us!  So I sat in the window and Eva sat in the middle (she is smaller and there was a larger guy on the aisle seat). Flight went well and we slept pretty well the entire time except during meals :)

We arrived in Frankfurt around 7:00 am Frankfurt time and had to go through another security check before getting into their airport, so weird...we had already been cleared and only went to the plane and into this airport, but apparently they are super secure LOL.

Now we wait to get on our flight to Calgary, we board at 9:45 am and should arrive in Calgary around 1:00pm - we are travelling back in time as we were in the future! Not sure if we clear Canadian customs in Calgary or Edmonton, so we might be screwed for making our flight to Edmonton on time, but we will cross our fingers and wait and see.

Can't wait to be home! Eva and I are both sick now so we are super pleasant and cheerful LOL.

See you all soon!
Miranda

Last day in India!

Feb 23 - Dehli to HOME

We slept in this morning until 8:30 - well I couldn't sleep after about 6 since we have been getting up so early, my body thought it was time to get up.  Once we did finally get up, we went for breakfast in the hotel since it was included and the breakfast was awesome! They actually had pastries that tasted right LOL.

After breakfast we decided to go with Renata and Gustavo on a shopping adventure, so we asked the hotel staff where we could find a market (since the mall nearby wasn't very good according to the group who went last night), so they told us the fastest way to get to the market would be by metro.  So off we went, grabbed a tuk tuk and went to the metro station.  The metro station was very confusing for us as there were signs everywhere pointing in many directions but we had no idea which direction we needed to travel other than what's top they told us to get off at, so we had to ask for assistance.  Once we got to the platform we found the women's only section that the hotel staff told us about (in case we were feeling nervous they said this would be a good choice, but Gustavo would have to ride alone).  When we seen how crowded the cars were, we decided to go this way and thank goodness we did.  Us ladies were squished into the women's car and Gustavo was crammed in the next car by himself.  We had to travel approximately 9 stops which took about 25 minutes. Overall it was a good experience as they had some strange signs up like "no spitting", seating for "differently abled" or "physically challenged and old"LOL.

We arrived at the market place called Connaught Place (CP) and there was a protest going on (not sure for what) so we steered away from that area and found the shops. It was a large outdoor shopping centre in a large circle. They had some trinket shops outside as well and lots of people, so we were happy to explore.  We found all our items that we were hunting for  and then some guys told us about a bazaar behind these shops that was free of taxes and has lots of souvenirs, etcetera.  We didn't go at first but we heard several times from other people saying the same thing, so we decided we would check it out.  We were walking behind the shops and not seeing anything like they described and then a young guy approached us and we told him what we were looking for and he pointed us in the right direction and then said he would take us there since he lived nearby and was on his way home anyway.  He kept saying no charge as he could see we were hesitant, as nobody does anything for free in India as far as we have seen. So we crossed the road and were making our way farther and farther from the shops and there were some guys ahead of us and then when we crossed the road they somehow ended up behind us shortly thereafter.  We all started feeling like something was a little off since we still could not see what was described to us and now there were 5 young guys surrounding us.  Gustavo decided to shout to the guy who was leading us that it was too far and we didn't have time to keep walking, to which the guy kept insisting it was only a few minutes more, but we decided to stop and turn around.  After walking away for a few minutes, Gustavo looked back and noticed the guys all talking and then walking back in the same direction as us, so the guy who was supposedly going home that way was not really going home after all. We figure that while we were on the busy road we were fine, but they likely would have gotten us to a more quiet road and jumped us for our cameras and purses since we would have been outnumbered. We just figured there should have been more people around if there truly was a bazaar that close to the shops.  So thankfully we returned to the shops, stopped in at the Starbucks to use the clean washrooms and headed back to the metro station.

We once again got lost in the metro as we had to get to the opposite side of the tracks to head back and it was also a multi line staton and we didn't know which direction to take.  Once we figured it out we boarded our train and it was a nice quiet ride back with barely any people!  We got off and went to grab a tuk tuk and when we thought about taking one nearby, some guy came running up waving a stick and yelled at the guy (likely he was trying to steal us from the back of the line instead of waiting his turn), so we headed to the front and got in another tuk tuk, but it was weird as they were all shouting the name of our hotel...

After we got back to the hotel we quickly packed and checked out (we asked for late checkout at 3:00 which worked awesome). We then got onto the tour bus and headed to the temple, the largest Hindu temple in the world! It was a crazy line up and many of the group didn't want to wait in line, but we decided to give it 30 minutes and sees here we were in line.  It only took us 45 minutes to get through the line and security and then we toured quickly.  It is truly amazing, it is only 8 years old, but took 300 million man hours to build.  It is extremely intricate marble carving work, I bought a book since we weren't allowed to take cameras inside the gates.

After this we headed to the airport to check in to our hotel for a few hours.  Thankfully it was a nice room with a shower and clean bathroom, etc so we could hang out and repackage our bags and shower and get ready for the long flight home. Eva discovered that she is missing a bag of souvenirs she bought which super sucks as it had gifts for some coworkers and some keychains for me and for gifts for her family and friends. We have no clue where they went as we did sweeps of every hotel we stayed in before leaving. Super sucks!

We are almost ready to go and checkin for our flights!

See you all soon!

Miranda

Agra to Dehli and a little place called the Taj Mahal!

February 22nd Agra to Dehli

We decided to check out the gift shops at our hotel in Agra and managed to get some good deals, we are expert negotiators now and quite jagged compared to our first few days. It is funny how you know you have gotten a good price when the storekeepers are grumpy when you leave LOL.  Most of us  have had it with the beggars and pedlars crowding our bus when we get on  and off the bus - it seems to have ramped up since we got to Jaipur, again in Agra and Dehli as well - likely since these are the largest cities. Dehli's population is 19 million! The city is so large and has so many tall apartment buildings in new Dehli...the old part of Dehli is apparently the slums area now. I was surprised at how much foliage they have here lining the streets even as filthy and polluted it is here, I was honestly expecting no trees and flowers, but they are everywhere!

This morning we went bright and early to Taj Mahal, and thank god we did as it was insanely busy by the time we left. It was busy enough when we arrived, I couldn't imagine if it had been a nicer day out. It was super foggy from the rain the day before and we weren't sure we would get any decent pictures, so we were pleased with how it turned out.  It is quite astonishing to see in person, it is so symmetrical that you almost can't believe your eyes. We were discussing how amazing the project managers and craftsman must have been to have everything built as precisely as it is and for it to have lasted so long, they really don't build things like they used to!  The guide was telling us that back when it was built it cost $40 million rupees. At that time 10 oz. of gold cost $11 rupees and today the same weight in gold is approx $823,000 rupees to give you some context.

After the Taj Mahal we went to Agra fort where the king that built the Taj Mahal lived.  Our guide told us that the eldest son who was successor for the throne was killed by his younger brother and then the king was held hostage by him in the fort for 8 years until he died. He apparently lost his vision as well in his old age so he couldn't see his Taj Mahal from his rooms so he used a small mirror to see its reflection. The king built the Taj Mahal to house the tomb of his third and favourite wife and it took 22 years to be built (20,000 paid workers - not slaves, and 5,000 elephants and I can't remember the rest but I am sure it can be googled LOL) and then he moved her there.

Also at the fort we were told about another king that ruled there and he had 20 wives (apparently there is a book about her called "the twentieth wife") and he had 300 concubines!  As a wedding gift to his 20th wife, he gave her a large bowl (5 ft high, 8ft wide and 25 ft in circumference) made of granite filled with gold coins and jewels which she later used as a bath. It took two elephants to carry the load to the palace. Crazy to even think about what that would have been like in real life.

After the fort we made our way to Delhi, where we said goodbye to Tia, Greg, Amy and Troy and the rest of us headed to the hotel.  Our hotel is super swanky and lovely! Eva and I decided to get 90 minute massages since we didn't have time to get them anywhere else since we arrived! We also decided to order room service instead of getting ready again to eat in the restaurant.

We are ready to come home, we were joking today with some of our group about what we will enjoy the most when we get home:

-brushing your teeth using tap water instead of bottled water
-sitting on clean toilets even when you go out in public for the most part
-having toilet paper in any washroom you go into
-not having to be hassled for a tip to provide you with toilet paper or napkins to dry your hands with
-not having to lug around bottled water everywhere you go
- not being harassed constantly to buy things
- people being nice to you without expecting money in return
- not feeling everyone is trying to rip you off all the time and having to haggle every price for everything you buy (including snacks  and drinks as well)
- having good food that you can trust and enjoy without having to say a Hail Mary or cross your fingers that you won't get sick!
-BEEF and PORK!!!!

Miranda

Elephants and more - Jaipur to Agra

February 20 & 21st Jaipur and travel to Agra

February 20th -

Amber fort and Observatory

We started our day at the Amber fort. It was a palace with a fort next door and was accessible by elephant ride. We were excited at first, however a little leery as these elephants are "working" and not just enjoying a relaxing life, which bothers me, even though I know the animals here have different lives than what we expect. Camels and donkeys and elephants are like horses at home...not sure why it doesn't bother me to see horses work, but it bothers me with the camels and the elephants. We waited in line for our elephant and crossed our fingers for a good experience.  When it was our turn we quickly noticed our driver was in a hurry and he had hooks on his prodding stick. Eva and I also quickly noticed that no other drivers had hooks on their prodding sticks and that most of the elephants walked slowly where our driver was clearly in a hurry. We asked him several times to slow down and to wait in line as we were passing people and he was trying to push his way up the line. He tried to say it is harder for elephants to walk slowly - yeah right! So we were persistent that he slow down,and after the third time, he finally slowed dome and followed the line.  Eva also asked him about why he uses a hook and he said to control the elephant, when we said why nobody else used a hook he just laughed. By this time we were caught up to the line ahead of us and many drivers were scolding him and yelling at him - animals are very sacred here and treated well, so this was very taboo and also very disturbing for us. After the ride we asked Tia to assist us in reporting the driver for abusing his elephant to the police that were at the fort. Tia wrote down the complaints and we will also be submitting complaints to the Incredible India travel site as well as he Indian government as we were devastated about the way this driver was treating this poor elephant - racing her up and down the mountainside road and she had a big scab where he was using the hook. Also, they had signs when we got off the elephants not to tip the drivers, however some drivers were very aggressive about receiving a tip. So this will go in our complaints log as well.  The police In India are useless, figureheads at most, but not known for enforcing anything.  They had signs saying no hawkers and no purchase of photos taken with the elephants yet we were chased down and harassed by both of these types of people the entire time we were on our tour of the fort palace. It was our worst experience yet as it didn't matter how much you said no or ignored or flat out told them to go away, they would continue to pester you.

The tour was okay, but our guide was not very good and seemed to be in a hurry and not explaining much to us. After the tour most of us walked down and the guide met us at the bottom with the tour bus and oh my god, I have been very tolerant of the paddlers and hawkers up until this point but these people were ruthless, I would have told them to fuck off if I thought they would have understood. It didn't matter how rude we were tot hem they continued to pester us. We finally go on the bus and drove to our next stops which was a small palace on the lake where the royal family would have lunch. Apparently the water quality is poor as sewage started to be dumped there and the royal family abandoned it.  The government is wanting to make it a restaurant, but it will depend on the water quality improving. On our way to the next stop our tour guide allowed a child onto the bus to do some magic tricks for us, which I'm not going to lie, pissed me off. This guide committed us to tilt his child, which no doubt he needs the money and was not begging, but I really didn't like the guide making decisions on our behalf and at our cost.

Can you tell I am getting grumpy LOL, I am getting run down and tired and sick and am losing my patience with many things and people here. I am officially homesick  and ready to go home. I miss my baby girl and my husband and my snugly beagle, and even the clean air and garbage free ground.  I cannot express how appalling it is to see so much waste and garbage thrown on the streets, in the fields, on the roads, in the countryside, EVERYWHERE you look there is garbage. The air quality appears to be getting worse in these bigger cities as well which is making many of us congested and sore throats and feeling sick.

Alright,  back to the tour.  Our next stop was next to the city palace we visited the day before, it was a conservatory where they have built very large sun dials for telling time and predicting weather, etc. the largest sun dial in the world is located here, over 75 meters tall I think. The time one of the smaller ones is accurate to 20 seconds and the large one is within 2 seconds. After this we went on a rickshaw ride to the bazaar. The rickshaw is a bicycle in the front with two seats behind. Eva and I picked a younger guy as there were so,e really old guys and I didn't want to see him struggle with my "strong girl/eats good" physique LMFAO.

While on the rickshaw there were some super creepy guys blowing me kisses and making lewd gestures which was quite as appalling. We always take a male with us when waking in the markets and bazaars and such otherwise the men can be quite aggressive. Troy has been our token male quite a bit and Gustavo and Renata also travel with us quite often. I would never go to India without a male and without a person from India to help with the language barriers and to keep people honest.  After the first few days we have learned quite well how to negotiate and barter and have been doing quite well I think, so at least we aren't all getting hosed like many other tourists are. You really must be educated on the tips and tricks for shopping, getting transportation, and meals here. Thank goodness for Tia and Greg, they have made this trip so much easier and more pleasurable for all of us!

After shopping we went to Elefantastic which is an elephant sanctuary and rescue.  There are apparently many people trying to impersonate this place as it is very well known and there are many cheaters here. The experience at elefantastic is more what we were looking forward to as the animals are very well cared for, happy, and live a good and simple life.  When we arrived we fed the elephants sugarcane so they could get our scents and know that we weren't going to steal their food. Elephants are very sensitive to scents and like good smelling things.  Tia told us a story about the last time she went on an elephant and was wearing perfume and the elephant stuck it's trunk down the front of her shirt LOL, so we were all forewarned not to wear perfume anywhere you wouldn't want an elephant to stick its trunk LOL. They introduced our elephants and told us their stories and their ages, etc. and we selected our elephant.  We fed the elephants and pet them and made eye contact with them (no sunglasses were allowed). Then they put a pad secured with some ropes on her and we climbed on from a raised staircase platform. Riding an elephant even with a cushion (I was on her highest part of her back, her hump) and after a few minutes it felt like I was riding a bicycle with a very slim seat, so the bones in my butt were so sore! It was nice as they took us for a nice slow walk through the compound and when we returned they had the elephants kneel down and let us off.  The. We had some snacks and asked some questions  about the elephants. They make a low vibration sound which is apparently their way of communicating with one another and when they trumpet it is a warning about something they have seen - some don't like motorbikes, or dogs, or fireworks, etc. so they will trumpet. One of ours heard a dog whining and crying and trumpeted and then they all got upset and the owner of elefantastic ran over to see what the matter was and to get it to stop. It is quite unnerving and intimidating as they all appear to get quite riled up and start trumpeting and doing the low vibration sound. I certainly wouldn't want to upset a pack of elephants! After our snacks we got to paint on our elephants with natural colours from crushed rocks and water using bamboo sticks.  After the painting we gave our elephant some water which was cool as they fill both sides of their trunk (both nostrils) and then shoot it into their mouth. We also seen their teeth which are massive  and they only have 4 at any time and get 6 sets in their lifetime which is about 75 years.  There is one handler for each elephant and each elephant lives with their handler and their family. The elephant has it's own stall and the family lives in the building next to the stall with a bedroom, living room, washroom and kitchen. The handlers have been with their elephant since birth and they were boys, and they will pass their elephant on to their sons, since the elephant will outlive the handler usually. The owner's family were the elephant handlers for the royal family in Jaipur and you can see that they genuinely love and care for these animals.  They have 23 females and 1 male on their compound and a few of the ladies are pregnant. The government only allows for one male to remain onsite and all males that are born are taken to a government run sanctuary/preservation  area when they are of a certain age, so that there is no interbreeding. They swap out the males every seven years so that the bloodlines continue to mix, and all elephants are microchipped and tracked by law. We were so happy with this experience and would recommend it to anyone, they have whole day packages where you bath the elephants and spend the entire day caring for an elephant and learning to ride it and give commands, but we only did a 2.5 hour package which was just the right amount of time.

February 21

Today we are on our way to Agra. We stopped along the way at a historical site where people would go to collect their water, but because water was difficult to find in the area, they needed to control how much water people took so they didn't take too much and run out, so they built an extensive water well system which required people climb 14 sets of stairs that zig zag and are 9 steps each seta nod very narrow, so they could only take one pot on their head at one times and would have to take multiple trips if they needed more water.

We stopped at Fatehpur Sikri and it RAINED! It is pouring rain here which is not common and a complete fluke...of course it rains, it wouldn't be my vacation if there wasn't freak weather changes, it was super hot yesterday! Many of us have our rain coats and umbrellas safely stowed in our luggage under the bus where it can stay nice and dry! LOL

We decided to skip the fort today since it is pouring rain and we could all use some rest.  We have a very early day tomorrow again as we need to be at the Taj Mahal first thing in the morning to hopefully avoid the rain and possibly catch a sunrise.  Following that we will got to the Agra fort and then make our way to Dehli for our final night and tour the following day. We are all pretty exhausted so we won't all do the Dehli tour completely so that we can rest a bit before catching our flights home.

It is our final night together as four people are leaving tomorrow to catch flights, so we are having our last meal together at the hotel - Jaypee palace. This is another beautiful grande  hotel, just too bad it is pouring rain so we can't take great pictures, but their website has some great photos! This is another pay for use of wifi hotel which surprises me since all the super high end places charge for internet and the smaller places do not...you would think that you are paying more, that it would be included. Oh well, we can pay in two hour chunks for 300 rupees which is about $6 CAD

Miranda

Bikaner to Jaipur! The pink city!

Feb 19th Bikaner to Jaipur

Bikaner was interesting to say the least. It is an Islamic area primarily so women are covered from head to toe other than their faces, although many also cover their faces. So, drop a bus load of super pale tourists off in a street market full of men that don't see much of women, never mind pale women wearing t-shirts and capris and a few wearing skirts. We attracted so much attention that the men we were with all kept us surrounded and placed themselves between us and men that were getting a little too close. It is so funny here as people stare and don't think it's rude.  We walked up and down the street and weren't finding anything for us since it is not a large tourist place, so everything is catered to the locals. Our tour guide took us to another government supported co-op for patchwork and scarves and the prices were half what they were at the last co-op we went to in Jodhpur so we all dropped a bunch of cash (well actually plastic money LOL). It was so nice, they had us all sit around the shop and they showed us bedding and scarves. They explained how to tell if fabric is synthetic or real wool, silk, etc. so it was very nice. They also made us masala chai drinks which were very good and then after shopping they gave us free scarves, etc. depending on how much we spent. Before we left they broke out a bottle of rum and coke for us which was fun. We figured they would party since we spent close to 150,000 rupees between all of us.

After shopping we headed to the hotel for dinner. It was a good meal but very costly (for India). Our hotel was a heritage hotel so it was original walls, doors, ceilings, etc. with a few modern conveniences. It wasn't fabulous, but it was quaint and very original and met our needs with clean washrooms and beds so we were happy.

This morning we are heading to Jaipur where they have a crafts bazaar and then to the hotel to drop some laundry.  A few of us need to buy duffle bags to bring stuff home in as we are running out of room in our luggage. Tomorrow we see a fort and palace and we go for our elephant rides at elephantastic (a elephant sanctuary where they are treated very well and protected). Elephants are very hard to manage as they eat alot and if they aren't being fed they cause trouble or get killed, so a family started this sanctuary to preserve and enjoy the elephants.

We had a long bus ride again today to Jaipur. We stopped at a roadside shop/restaurant and payed high prices for lunch and clean washrooms. Food wasn't so good, but whatever, at this point food is nourishment.  When we arrived in Jaipur we were told it has 3 million people and is the third largest city in India and that between Agra, Jaipur and Dehli these cities make up the golden triangle as they also the main stops for most tourists.  Jaipur is very commercialized and have hospitals and universities and many professionals. The markets are vast and well organized on larger streets with all the same size stalls.  It is also cleaner than other cities.  We went to city palace where there is still a royal family living there, but they don't rule anymore, they are just super wealthy. They have converted many properties into hotels and museums to create income. After the palace we went to the place where they do block printing on fabrics and also make carpets.  This was very interesting to learn about, however the sales pitches that follow are also part of the package.  I find he prices fluctuate greatly from one place to another depending on how touristy they are, so this being a larger city, the prices were high for me.

We checked into our hotel around 8:00 pm and Eva and I laughed as we had no toilet paper in our room! We also waited for our bags to arrive and when we decided to go looking for them we found them on a cart by the elevators LOL so I guess they weren't delivering them to our room as they have been in the past. Oh well!

We have a busy day tomorrow starting at 8 am and in the evening we will be enjoying the elephants! Super excited about it, but I'm sure there will be stories to tell!

Miranda 

Forts, palaces and camels, oh my!

We have been very busy! The ride from Udaipur to Jodhpur was very long! We left Udaipur around 4:00pm and arrived at 1:30am to Vivanta in Jodhpur, another amazing hotel, just too bad we didn't have much time to explore. I uploaded a few more photos, it takes so much time to upload that we need to be in our room for a few hours to be able to get time, but hopefully we will have more time today since we don't have as much planned...just crossing my fingers we get free wifi again.  As I mentioned, the roads were so bad and we weren't sure our drivers knew where they were going, but we made it! It's quite funny, we come to a screeching halt quite often to avoid cars, people, motorbikes, cows, deer, etc., so it is difficult to sleep on the bus and honestly the ride is still exciting as we pass villages and temples all lit up with blinking LED lights (think Vegas lights on a temple) and crazy things along the way. Eva and I also play wheel of fortune which passes the time quickly :)

Jodhpur February 16th

Our first stop was Umaid Bahwan Palace, this is a fairly new palace that has been converted mostly into a posh hotel, small museum and still houses the Maharaja (king) when he visits. We seen a freaking locust outside by the vintage car museum. Eww! For those of you that know me, you would be proud, I didn't take off running in the opposite direction! Now if it had jumped or flew or whatever those things do I would have hightailed it out of there!  After that we headed to Merherangarh Fort which is one of the largest forts in India. There were some amazing museum items in this fort and it overlooked the city which is called blue city.  We seen many silk carpets and wall hangings and all sorts of elephant seats and baby cribs from the queens over the years as each queen had different ideas of what was good luck, etc so they all wanted different cribs for their princes and princesses to be in when they were born. There was beautifully decorated rooms and carvings all over. There is a picture of a metal spiral staircase, they used to take it out into the fields for hunting as they could take the bolts out and collapse it and then the women could sit up in a tree while the men hunted.

After the fort we headed out on our journey to Jaisalmer.  The guide we had for the day assured us that there was tourist restaurants on our way, maybe 30 minutes from the fort, but alas, not unlike the many other fumbles along the way, there was nothing suitable.  We didn't end up stopping until about 5pm when we reached a haveli garden restaurant and shop.  We were all so famished and thankfully we had good and prompt service, so it was our silver lining.  We have all learned to take advantage of our complementary breakfasts at the hotels and most provide doggy bags as apparently the Indians always take food anyway. My mom would be proud, we took some snacks and fruit for the road, LOL.  The breakfasts are not like our crappy continental breakfasts at our hotels in Canada and USA, continental here means they have western food and Indian food and it is a buffet with stations for omelettes and a few other hot Indian foods made to order as well as fruit and yogurt and fresh juice, toast, etc.  it's funny though as some places have better chefs than others, I got a croissant at one hotel but it was as heavy as a brick....not quite right LOL!

It is so funny, in towns they advertise for things they think tourists will like but they aren't quite right, such as English wine shops (English aren't really known for wine) and German bakeries (when the Germans aren't known for their baked goods).  They also have some funny signs like the no smoking signs and some of the other shops.

We arrived at Jaisalmer around 9:30 pm and checked into our next fancy accommodations.  The Suryagarh hotel is a small fort and absolutely beautiful! Jaisalmer is in the desert and it was very hot during the day (in summer it gets in the high 40-50's) but it was only the 30s for us, thank god it is winter! Apparently in the summer months it gets extremely windy, so they have wind farms all over, it seems so strange as they are fairly still now, but it gets very windy and the power companies installed them a few years ago.  The hotel has beautiful golden retrievers  and a puppy named Simba who is soooo adorable We visited Gadisar lake which is a man made lake that supported the area with clean drinking water and is also considered healing water. There is a gate that was constructed by one of the kings prostitutes as she wanted to be remembered. The queen was outraged and ordered it to be demolished as it was viewed as passing through her legs to walk through the gate, but the prostitute placed a Krishna on top and knowing that anything with the Krishna on it would never be destroyed, it still stands today.  The lake also has catfish in it which people feed bread to for good karma. The catfish are HUGE and not ever eaten  as they are considered somewhat sacred due to the history of the water. The lake is no longer clean enough to be used for consumable water so it is just a historical site now.

After the lake we went to Jaisalmer fort which is one of the older forts. It was a very dirty place as there are still 4000 people living within the fort and most of the fort has been converted to hotels and there is an active marketplace inside. Because it is one of the only tourist spots in jaisalmer the prices are very inflated and the shopkeepers take advantage of this - when asking the prices they ask how much you have and try to get you to come into their shops by saying let me help you spend your money, etc. we also seen a marijuana shop outside as it is legal here since many do not drink alcohol and opium is now illegal and used to be the drug of choice in the past. There were also to Jain temples (sorry not sure on spelling) of seven that are open to the public. The Jain people are extremists as they do not believe in taking the life of any living thing (bugs, animals,etc). So they don't farm, and only eat things grown above ground - no root vegetables, no meat, etc. they wear all white and even wear scarves to cover their mouths so they don't accidentally swallow a mosquito or fly. These are the women we seen walking in the countryside at one of the first temples we went to, they walk bare foot and sweep the path in front of them as they walk, they also camp along the road and carry enough food and water to get them to their next stop.

After the fort some of us went to the local market, but this market catered mainly to tourists, there were not many locals shopping which was strange for us. There were lots of yucky smells too, I imagine due to the lack of water available to rinse the streets from the animal waste.  We went to a prime ministers house that has also become a shop for camel-bone items (since ivory is no longer a legal and marketable product and they have many camels in the desert). We then went to a patchwork shop which is a co-operative for the women that used to sell their products around India, when Pakistan separated from India it made it difficult for these women to sell their items and now this co-op was created for them.  The prices were super high and they refused to barter so many of us didn't buy anything. We all think our tour guide was wheeling and dealing with these shops and receives a cut from what we purchase, as that is the way things work here (everyone is in someone else's pocket).  After the market we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and then headed out for our evening of camel riding and entertainment.  Eva and I shared a camel and OMG it was terrifying! Camels are not graceful and when they stand up they lift their front legs partially, then back legs go all the way up and then front goes all the way up, so you lean all the way back and forward to try not to fall off! Our camel driver was not great  and didn't warn us that the camel was getting up so we were still holding our cameras and not knowing where to hold on. He then rode in the cart we had a few people riding in and when we got off he didn't warn us again and I gripped the saddle weird and bent one of my fingernails back so far it was bleeding and really hurt. It was so funny though as we were getting off he camel and he was helping me, he told me I was "very strong", had "thick legs" and said "you eat good" LMFAO - then from the look on my face he laughed and said "no no, it's good, it's good!" LOL Tia tells me it was a compliment, but I think she is just being kind, oh well LOL.

After the camel rides we sat up on a sand dune and watched the sunset which was beautiful. Eva and I decided not to get back on our camels and to walk to the desert camp instead LOL - there were a few of us that didn't want to get back on, and a few that went for a fast ride where the camels run,  I must say seeing so many camels made me think of the movie Starwars LOL.  At the desert camp they have luxury tents for people to stay in and a stage with chairs all the way around for the performance.  They played music and had some dancers  and then got everyone up and dancing and teaching us some moves.  We then had a buffet dinner that we ate outside while they continued to play for us. It was a lovely time! Food wasn't very good and since many are vegetarian the chicken always seems undercooked - and yes you people that know I like my chicken very well done (some people say chicken dust) even Eva and others who like dark and juicy meat felt it was undercooked. We have found at many restaurants this is the case, some is cooked but not all...yuck!

We all had to be on the bus for 8am this morning so we headed up to our room when we got back around 9:30.  Many of the group were up until 2am chatting and drinking but we have been tired and wanting some down time, so we went up to bed.  We are now on our way to Bikaner for the afternoon and then off the day after to Jaipur (the pink city). Bikaner is known for their trade market and they provide the majority of the camels in India. 

Longest day ever!

We left the fort and had lunch and jumped on the bus to Jodhpur, our driver didn't appear confident he was going the right way when we hit a fork in the road and ended up asking some locals for directions - nobody uses maps here.  We road along the highway avoiding the usual cows, people, carts, motorbikes, dump trucks and other large trucks and busses and brought tiny villages with small roads. We came across a patch of road that was so bad, it was like concrete blocks and chunks were randomly places and we needed to drive through, we went maybe 5-10 Kms/hr for about 25 minutes, seen signs saying the number of kilometres to the next town but they were randomly placed as it would be maybe 1 km later and it would say we were 5 km closer...

We stopped at a restaurant along the highway and had terrible service and food and arrived at our hotel in Jodhpur at 1:30 am so it has been a very long day.

We have a couple stops tomorrow before we move on to Bikaner I think.  Will post more tomorrow, we are going to bed!

Miranda

First day of the tour!

Feb 15, 2014 - Udaiper to Jodpur

We have had a busy few days! On Thursday, Feb 13th More of Tia's friends and family arrived from Kolkutta for the wedding. Tia's cousin Peckam took us to Shilpgram which is like a fort Edmonton type place but showing what village life was like over the years. It was funny though as there were many shops trying to sell things to us, they all said that the government gives them a free spot to sell their goods as they are all artists from villages in the surrounding areas. Many of our group have become very good negotiators which is fun as well all leverage our buying power together. I am still struggling with the moral dilemma of trying to score a good deal when things are so cheap already, but Tia keeps reminding us that they are trying to take advantage of us and that it would be foolish to pay too much. Some of the couples had their photos taken while dressed in traditional Rajasthani dress which was fun.

After the Shilpgram we went to the city palace of udaiper which I have MANY pictures of and we could also see it from across the lake at chunda palace wherever wedding was held. It is always quite cool to see the palaces and forts as they are very old.  We should have had a tour guide as we didn't have the same experience just wandering around and reading signs, but it was cool nonetheless. I find it quite interesting that they don't have gift shops or things set up selling books or pictures of the tourist attractions. Sometimes there are people standing outside trying to sell trinkets and other things, but not quite the same as we are used to in North America or Europe.

That day was quite chaotic as we had a bunch of people transferring to thee chunda palace so we had to get luggage moved and people checked into rooms right after breakfast, so the handful of us that didn't move to chunda palace that day ended up waiting around for what felt like hours. We were told to be ready for 9:00am but didn't leave until nearly 10, by the time we got everyone checked in and rooms sorted out we didn't leave until after noon. Spent an hour or so at Shilpgram and then made it to he city palace by about 3:30 but it closed at 5:00 so we had to rush a bit more than we would have liked.  When we left the palace we headed back to our first hotel Mahendra Prakash for dinner as we hadn't eaten all day. Tia was sweet and preordered food for us as she knew we would be starving.  We also had to make it to a cultural dance and puppet show for 7:00pm which was about 25 minutes from our hotel.  Our group managed to scarf our food and jump in our cars to get to the show just minutes before it started.  The show was unbelievable! I posted some video clips of the dancing and puppets, which was very cool as it was representing various areas throughout Rajasthan.  We have learnt many interesting facts about this region that seem to go in one ear and out the other at times - it is the ultimate level of distraction here, there is always so much action going on around you at all times it is hard to concentrate on anything!

Friday, February 14th

Wedding day! We were up early to eat breakfast and check out of our hotel and make our way to chunda palace to check in and be ready for a 10:00 am wedding tradition ceremony. We were very impressed with the accommodation at Chunda Palace as our room has a jetted bath tub made of marble and a Huge rainfall shower, blow drier, etc. the downside to all marble floors and walls is that sound travels very far, thankfully we were exhausted after the wedding that night so we slept like rocks!  We have actually slept very well our whole trip so far, likely due to the busy days!

The ceremony in the morning was for the family and friends to wish the bride and groom well and to place turmeric and sandalwood on them as turmeric is for health as it is believed to have healing and medicinal properties.

After the ceremony we headed to the hotel next door for Chinese food for lunch on the rooftop restaurant (Chinese food is  very popular here). It was quite funny as we sat down and were served some appetizers and soup and pop and then they came over with so,e water in a metal jug. He filled all of our glasses and we all kind of looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders as we have been warned about not drinking water unless it comes out of a sealed bottle and avoiding ice and sanitizing your cutlery and dishes if they are wet. Troy was sitting with Eva and I and decided to have a big gulp and we all joked that "fingers crossed we don't get sick" (we all joke about this constantly) and then Greg (the groom) comes over and sits with Tia at the next table and sees the waiter pouring water and shoos him away as he asks if it is mineral water and the guy says no....to which Eva and I both immediately turn to Troy and say OH MY GOD and start laughing  at Troy.  Turns out that the water at that hotel is uv filtered and reverse osmosis as it is a 5 star hotel that caters to tourists and is safe, but we all had a good chuckle.  We finished lunch and they had an icecream station which Eva was all excited about as she loves ice-cream and it isn't common as freezers are a luxury. So Eva and Troy were one of the first to get icecream. They were helping themselves when all of a sudden Eva lost the grip of her bowl and spoon while she was trying to scoop the ice cream - yes she was trying to hold everything and scoop hard ice cream out of a container LOL - well she got everyone's attention as she dropped eh spoon and bowl and it sounded like she broke a dish and startled everyone.  One of the waiter ran over and pushed her out of the way and served her ice cream and them ended up serving the rest of the people in line...but she only got one scoop of ice cream and we all got two...which Eva pouted about LOL.

After lunch a few of us headed out to the market to see what we could find. We caught up with Renada and Gustavo which we were thankful for as we feel more comfortable having a man with us when we are out and about. Lots of women go out together but Eva and I are chickens!  Anyway, the market near Chunda palace was a little rougher than we were used to and not very busy, so we ended up jumping in a rickshaw (tuktuk) to Hathipole bazaar (hathi stands for elephant in Hindi and pole means gate). Anyway, we were helping Gustavo find shoes for the wedding and thought maybe we would check out some bangles and jewelry or others things that caught our eye.  We tried on bangles at one place but apparently I am a monster and they didn't have any that fit me, LOL.  They were asking for too much money so we left and found another store that a few minutes away that had the same jewelry set and the posted price was a few hundred rupees less, typical. Our rule of thumb thanks to Tia and Greg is to offer half of what they say the price is and meet them somewhere in the middle depending on how much you like or really  want the item.  We came across a shoe store that had shoes that Gustavo liked  and Renata found a few pairs too, and I wanted to get a pair of sandals for Taylor that were Rajasthani style. The owner wanted 1150 rupees for 4 pairs of shoes and wasn't negotiating with us so Gustavo pulled out a 1000 rupee bill and said I will give this to you for all four pairs or we leave and sure enough he accepted the offer. Even saving a bit is a victory for us :) some items have more negotiating room than others as you are paying for their effort/time/materials.  We have discovered that there are many "artists" claiming to have original artwork on silkscreen but they all somehow are using the exact same templates even though they all claim to paint the art themselves...it is interesting how they try to justify the prices by saying how detailed the work Is and use of gold leaf,etc. we were fortunate enough to have some very smart people with us and have taught us some tricks for checking art such as the size of the silk it is painted on as you need more than most leave for edges to get a good mounting and framing done at home, also to look at the detail and quality of paint,etc as some seem to maybe add paint to a print,etc.  one other fun thing we experienced was a short rain - it is very dry and dusty here and we seem rain clouds rolling in and then it actually rained! Just lightly, but rain nonetheless.

After the market we headed back to chunda palace to get ready for the wedding.  We caught a tuk tuk and said chunda palace but somehow he thought city palace and we noticed we were getting close to city palace and said "no chunda palace" and the driver stopped and said he couldn't take us there so we jumped out and had to walk back to the bazaar. There were quite a few that said that but we think it is either because only certain ones can go there or that it is too far from the bazaars so they don't want to go so far.  We finally got one and we all squished in, he didn't know where we were going as he couldn't read and didn't understand us or know where it was so he drove around  asking other drivers. He pulled over to a shop and asked someone who could read our address and name and then we were on our way!  We were about three blocks from chunda palace when we came upon a huge herd of cows in the street. He driver honked his horn (in true Indian style) and ally he cows started running as they were all startled (which isn't common as most of the cows just ignore the horns and people and everything else and just roam where they want - many just lay down in the middle of busy roads. So they all started running and then two bulls started to fight with their horns and I'm not going to lie, it freaked me out as we were feet away and in a tiny rickshaw with no protection.  Our driver found a break in the herd and gunned it through and then a bunch of people on the street started yelling and running towards the cows and they all calmed back down.

The wedding was to start at 4:00, but didn't get started until almost 5:30 as the wedding planner was terrible and wasn't getting everyone to where they needed to be.  The wedding was beautiful though so we all quickly forgot about the wait. Tia was breathtaking in her red and gold saree, and the groom looked very fancy in his coordinating traditional suit (don't know the name of it). The look on Greg's face when he seen Tia was heartwarming as you could see how in love he is with his beautiful bride.  After the wedding ceremony they had pictures and there was appetizers and drinks served by waiters while we waited.  Did I mention the wedding and reception/dinner/dance was on a rooftop overlooking the lake and city castle, lake palace, and monsoon palace in the distance (it is a palace on the top of a mountain that has been converted to a nature preservation area). As the sun set behind the mountains and all the lights turned on it was truly a fairy tale setting and incredibly breathtaking.  We had an awesome Indian buffet dinner and yummy desserts too followed by beautiful and heartwarming (and tear jerking) speeches from the family and groomsmen and bridesmaids.  The people we have met are all incredible, so warm and friendly and happy! Tia's family and friends are so lovely  and kind, they all wanted to take pictures with us and hang around with us and offered to have us at their homes if we ever come back to visit. It was quite sad to say good bye to everyone as we spent a few days with them and quite enjoyed talking about our different lives.  The dance was so much fun! Everyone was dancing and having a great time and nobody cared what they looked like, they all just had fun.  The dj was pretty good too he played a great mix of Indian music with our top 40 and classic hits. He told Tia he was surprised that everyone stayed the whole night and danced as he has never experienced that before.  We weren't even drunk and we were all dancing like fools and having a blast. (I dread seeing the photo proof of the evening LMAO). It wa too funny though as he played YMCA but it was the minion version from despicable me! All of us with kids were killing ourselves laughing as we recognized it right away...I'm sure many of the Indian guests thought we were nuts but they tried to join in even if they didn't know what we were doing with our arm motions to make the letters.  It was funny though as the Dj played it again as the last song of the night (which was 10:00 due to it being rooftop and their being sound rules in the area).

This morning we checked out and jumped on our tour bus for our long journey to Jodhpur.  We stopped at Chittogarh fort which was very cool and we had a tour guide and rickshaws to take us around to the important stops so we skipped the less interesting spots and focused on the highlights which was nice.  There is a cool story about he queen padmini (sorry bad spelling and no internet to Google as I write this on the bus). She was apparently the most beautiful women in all the land and she had to be covered at all times as her beauty would make people mad. Only her husband the maharaja and her immediate family had seen her face. The sultan in Dehli apparently heard about her beauty from a painter that caught a glimpse of her while he painted her portrait, so he cut off the food supply to the fort as he wanted to bargain with the maharaja's that if he allowed him to see his beautiful wife them he would bring them back food supply. So the maharaja agreed but only allowed him to view her by looking In a mirror to see her reflection in the water and could not look at her directly.  So the sultan agreed, and then he seen her face and was mad with desire for her so he ended up starting a war.  The queen found out that her husband had died in battle and tr sultan was coming to collect his prize, but because being a widow was the equivalent of being dead (not permitted to weddings, celebrations, etc and most women were burned to death following the death of their husbands, she decided she would rather die than live a life like that as a Slave to the sultan, so she decided to jump off a Tower into a pit and all of the women in the area all followed her as their husbands all died and the children and young girls didn't want to be captive of the sultan - so there was a mass suicide there.

We also seen friendly monkeys and the kids (Emma and Austin) fed them chickpeas that women were selling. We also seen many school children touring and they all crowded around us and stared at us like we were a freak show, it is so funny. Many of our group members were asked to pose in pictures with people, it is so strange!  After the fort we went for lunch at a palace where we caught the rickshaws to the fort (the tour bus wouldn't fit up the roads and thought the gates- there were 7 gates and it is at the top of a Rocky Mountainside. We had butter chicken for the first time which was very good :) it's so funny  as we all just cross our fingers every time we eat a meal that we don't get sick!

Now we are on a 400km bus ride to Jodpur, it doesn't sound far, but when you pass through tiny villages full of people and have cows and carts and such to dodge along the way mad highway speeds are 80kms/hr it takes a LONG time!

PS- the bindi I had at the first fort we went to was an orangey colour which apparently  means sacred and is on many of the shrines and symbols at the temples.

Hope you are all enjoying the photos and blog so far, it is so hard to remember everything and write it all down, but there are so many nuances and funny things that we see we can't possibly explain and describe them all!

Day one of the tour!

Miranda (aka. Mindy)

Tour day and shopping experiences

February 12 - India

We had a very busy day yesterday, we were up early to go on a tour so Greg and Tia booked cars for us to travel in for the day. The SUVs were $3500 rupees and seated 4 comfortably with 2 jumpseats in the back and a car was $2500 rupees for 4 people. So for our SUV it was $75 CAD for 6 of us and the driver stayed with us ALL day! We left about 9:30 AM and returned at approx 7:30 PM and drove 2.5 hours away to a fort, then to lunch about 30 mins away, then to a temple that was another 30 minutes, and then back to the hotel.

The day started quite funny chaotic as we didn't have enough cars to fit everyone, so Eva and I ended up riding in the back seats of the SUV. They were jumpseats that faced each other and we're not great for cushioning, but we were up for the challenge even though the drivers were suggesting we get another car as the roads are quite bumpy.  We figured how bumpy could they be, and when we were originally told how long the ride would be, we figured and hour wasn't too bad and we would suck it up. It really wasn't that terrible, but it was quite funny that every time the drivers quoted one hour, it was always 2.5 hours...

We had quite the drive though, we passed many villages in the rural areas where we seen beautiful women in colourful saris carrying loads of wood, leaves, hay or wheat, stones, jugs if water, large bowls of spices,etc on their heads and often with some cows or goats on a rope. The women of India work very hardy and many of the rural men as well, however the city men are very leisurely. The men in the rural areas all cut crops by hands as there is very little equipment, they cart loads of materials on wheels pushing by foot, break large rocks with sledge hammers for construction, etc. every village has shops lining the main road where they sell clothing, snacks, electronics, and various other items mainly for tourists. We seen many school children walking to and from school in the middle of nowhere all by themselves as young as 4/5 years old. We seen loads of kids in small tuktuks waving and smiling at us as we passed by.  There are still many cows on the roads in the rural areas, although they are plumper, the cows in the city aren't as large since they live on garbage and donated vegetables from the locals. We seen many many cows and drove on a single lane highways that often had stone walls on either side (so the roads don't wash out in the rainy season), so it gets quite interesting when a large truck or tour bus needs to pass in the opposite direction while there are cows and motorbikes also sharing the road.  The roads are also very windy, so each time we approached a blind corner at highway speeds the driver would honk...we were told yesterday that you only need three things to drive in India; a good horn, good brakes, and good luck! I cannot say enough how valid this statement is!

So we arrived at the fort after passing through dozens of villages and some terrible pot holes (we joked that they were no worse than the ones we have in Edmonton) and they also have speed bumps in many villages which added to our enjoyment in the jump seats. Our group was very sweet and we all took turns riding in the back throughout the day.  We were following the car with Greg (the groom) and his friends Kristian and Kristians wife Jing and their two year old Dian Dian.  Poor Dian Dian got sick in the car and they had to pull over and clean her up and everyone else and the car as well. Nobody was prepared for that and weren't sure if she was car sick from the windy roads or from breakfast or something, so they drove very slowly to the fort and we met them there,a long with the other SUV full of family.  The fort was HUGE! Way bigger than any castle or grounds I have ever seen or imagined. We didn't know the history of the fort other than it was used to protect against invasion and was successful.  It was set in the mountains  and I took some photos but my camera died and so did Eva's. We have agreed with the group that we will all share photos afterwards  and we have some amazing and professional photographers travelling with us so they should be good :). There was lots of walking uphill and stair climbing involved and it was very warm. We also seem our first monkeys which freaked us all out as Greg had warned us earlier about not taking pictures or staring at them as they feel it is an act of aggression.  So his tips along with our travel nurse telling us to stay away from monkeys and that they are evil creatures had us a little nervous, but we managed not to get attacked :) LOL.  I of course ended up walking with all the athletes in the group (3 joggers) but they were kind enough to go slowly for me.  We walked for approx. two hours and then needed to head off to grab lunch and get to the temple as it closed at 5pm.

Jordan (I was calling him Jason in my last post - oops LOL) had spotted a restaurant to go to  on the way to the fort but our drivers said it was too far in the wrong direction from the temple and suggested another place that would be quicker, so we went there.  We all laughed when we arrived as we assume the drivers had come up with this plan before we had asked about going to the other restaurant Jordan suggested as when we arrive 30 minutes later there were tables and chairs set up with enough chairs for all of us and the food was prepared and waiting for our arrival (it was also very bland, so we figure they told them we were all foreigners and requested mild food for us). Oh and did I mention this place was in the middle of nowhere, a completely remote area...very strange.

After our meal we hurried to get to the temple as it was 3:30 and it closes at 5:00.  There were dozens upon dozens of monkeys on the road, we all giggled and stared at the monkeys from the protection of the vehicle! We were really tough behind windows LOL

At the temple they have a board posted with rules. My darn camera was dead so I couldn't take a picture of the sign, but I will at the next one. It had things like no leather items, no women that are menstrating,  no bare shoulders or knees exposed, etc. I decided I didn't really feel like going in, along with a few others, but Eva and the rest of the gang went in and raved about the intricacy of the marble carvings inside.  We were told about women pilgrims that dress all in white and travel from all over India by foot, walking 10 Kms or so per day and camping along the highways to reach this temple as it is very unique and special. I again don't have any pictures but it was very nice from the outside!  The group finished at 5:00 and once again we were told it would be 1 hour back to the hotel but we didn't get back until 7:30. We stopped at an ATM on our way home as well and drained all it's cash...I'm sure the locals that lined up behind 8 or so of us weren't too happy as the 8th customer was not able to get any money as it was all gone!

Everyone was so tired that we all slept on the way back, I kept hitting my head on the window but it didn't seem to matter as it would wake me up but I couldn't keep my eyes open and would soon end up waking up again as my head would hit it again! If you see how rough the roads are and windy, and with all the traffic how much weaving and braking goes on, you would imagine how terrible it was to sleep and be thrown around in your seat.

We had a pretty quiet evening as we were zonked, but many of the group stayed up and drank - they weren't feeling so hot this morning though! I was falling asleep while writing in my journal, and Eva was falling asleep reading the blog post from the night before.

Today was another adventure! 4 of us women decided to go to the mall to find shoes and accessories for the wedding.  So we took at tuk tuk to the mall and I took some video of it as well, the mall was very strange, it was western style, 4 levels with a food court and the whole bit. We had to go through metal detectors and get wanded by a women in a booth who also checked our bags before they would let us into the mall.  Once we were inside it was dead, there were maybe 50 people in the whole mall other than staff working in the stores. There were many western stores and only a few local stores but we managed to find shoes for the wedding and a few of us found some extra shoes for home! We also found some earrings and a wrap to wear in the evenings when it gets cold as it is bloody freezing when the sun goes down.  It was very strange as 95% of the staff were men and many of the people we seen were men.  We attracted much attention as we stand out everywhere we go. Sometimes it's so weird as they will walk by and then there will be a roar of laughter. This has happened quite a few times in other places too and we aren't sure what it is, but apparently we either look, smell or dress funny!  We also found an easy mart (walmarts international brand) so we grabbed a few toiletries and nail polish. We had to check our bags before entering there as well as another department store.

When we finished at the mall we went to the Bapu bazaar to pick up our dresses for the wedding as they required alterations and mine was being made. All the dresses turned out great which was a huge relief for me as I couldn't find anything that fit! Apparently they don't have women with broad shoulders as well as a large chest so even their largest sizes are too tight in the bust as everything is made with restrictive materials that have no give. We also stopped to grab a few scarves and wraps while we waited for Natalie's dress as they told her 1:30, then 2:00 and then when we came at 2 the guy said it was only 1:50 on his watch and needed another ten minutes...Greg has coined a term IFT (Indian Flexible Time) as nothing takes as long as they say.

We took another tuk tuk back to the hotel as we were supposed to get mehndi done with the bride Tia at 2:00 and it was almost 2:30 when we arrived back at the hotel. The mehndi guys were supposed to be there by 2:00 but didn't show up until almost 3:30.  We all took turns getting ours done but it was quite entertaining as the prices kept increasing for each person that went next and the photos that we selected were nothing like what was drawn on us.  I had asked for my left hand and my right leg to be done. The guy did my left hand and then he grabbed my right hand and I said no and pointed to my leg and he said yeah yeah and then grabbed my right arm and started working on it...so I went with the flow LOL.  Then he did my leg, but I had asked for a peacock on my leg as it is the national bird. He said okay and then drew the henna on my leg. He asked me if I liked it and it was clearly not a peacock so I asked if it was a peacock and he said no...at which point he went back to work on it but is still didn't end up with a peacock!  Eva asked for one and got it so maybe he liked her better!

After all the henna was done - approx 8:00 we had supper in the hotel restaurant and had to apply a sugar, lemon and water solution to our henna three times (once per hour) starting an hour after our henna was applied.  This was all fine however the mixture had to be refilled a few times since there were about a dozen of us that got it done, so the mixture kept getting stickier and stickier as they put too much sugar in.  This was all fine, other than everything sticking to our hands and arms, until we went to take the dried henna off tonight before going to bed. It is supposed to dry and flake off however when you baste it in sugary water it becomes a sticky glaze ontop.  We all went outside to dust off the flakes but many of us were so sticky it felt like we were ripping our skin off and had to pick and scratch it off.  We were all killing ourselves laughing as we were told not to use water or soap until morning, yet we were all sticky and the henna was not coming off! We were joking that if we had strips of cotton we could apply it and rip it off like we were waxing our arms since it was so sticky like sugaring or waxing is!  Before we took our henna off though we all sat around and listened to Tia (the bride) tell us stories about Indian princesses and queens as well as her families history and some of her experiences in India and Canada while our henna dried.  The boys went out for Greg's bachelor party and it was just us women sitting and chatting.

So after the giggle fest trying to get the henna off we headed off to bed. Tomorrow is a tour of Udaipur city and we are going to a few palaces.  We are hoping to also hit a market again to get bangles and maybe some gifts to bring back for family and friends.

Mindy (aka Miranda)

We made it!

Sorry it has taken so long to post! We struggled with wifi connections in Frankfurt as well as Dehli. By the time we got to our destination it was the beginning of the day and we set out on our first adventures.

As a recap, we flew from Edmonton to Toronto and we were able to score first class tickets for this flight thanks to our buddy Colleen from work. We were delayed at take off due to mechanical problems by an hour and a half, but luckily we had a 4 hour layover in Toronto, so we ended up only having 2 hours to kill instead of 4. We were supposed to use the lounge passes we scored from work but they wouldn't work with our tickets since we switched airlines :( but Eva and I felt pretty cool being turned away when there was a lineup of "qualified" people behind us trying to sign in! LOL

Our flights were uneventful for the most part, but I always get a person in front of me that somehow manages to recline their chair farther than the normal limits. On our way from Toronto to Frankfurt, if  that wasn't bad enough it was a tiny man and he was very bouncy in his chair which resulted in my water splashing around quite a bit.  He also adjusted his head rest and pulled it all the way up (not sure why he would make it taller as he was short) and it flew off the chair and landed in my lap!  Thankfully the flight from Frankfurt to Dehli went quickly! We had a longer nap which helped and I have introduce Eva to the game wheel of fortune on my iPad , so we had fun with that.

I think our layover in Dehli was the longest since there wasn't much open (we arrived at 1:00 AM).   The real fun began when we got off the plane and had to go through security. They divided people with Indian passports and international passports. When we came down the escalator it hit us that we weren't in canada anymore...there were thousands of people lined up and it was complete chaos! We of course had to go to the international passport line which wasn't moving at all in the 30 mins we waited, so we were expecting it to take hours. All of a sudden the Indian passport lines were almost gone and they started pulling people from the backs of the lineups to move to the Indian passport side. We seriously felt like we had won the lottery! We were done at security in about 10 minutes. When we went to get our luggage I discovered that my suitcase pull handle got broken somewhere along the way so I can't pull it without being hunched over. Apparently I was whining too much on our crazy long walk from baggage claim to the domestic flight area(to fly to Udaipur) so Eva offered to pull my bag, so we swapped! The lady who issued our tickets was not friendly at all and Eva and I didn't even end up sitting together on that flight. Thank goodness it was only an hour and a half flight, which we both slept through.

We arrived in Udaipur on a small puddle jumper plane (like air canada jazz) where you board and De-board on the Tarmac. It was so cold we could see our breath! We ventured on to get a prepaid taxi to take us to our hotel. It was approximately 30 minutes and cost us 600 rupees ($12 CAD). Now this taxi ride was the beginning of our real journey! We drove by extremely poor living conditions and because it was 7:30 AM local time all the children were waiting to be taken to school. We quickly learned two very important lessons. If you hear a horn, move over or you will be run over. Also, Indian people are extremely agile drivers of cars, trucks and motorbikes. We were squeezing I between large trucks (not semi size but think garbage truck size) within inches and at approx 80-100 Kms per hour. We were dodging motorbikes with 3-4 people on each of them, tuktuks (motorized rickshaws) that are supposed to hold three people...crammed with upwards of 8 people. Kids (and I mean toddlers no bigger than 1-2 year olds) sitting on the drivers laps on a motorbike and holding on themselves as their parent is operating the motorbike. No helmets and no seat belts are to be found. The roads have very few rules, the main one is to avoid contact with other cars whether they are oncoming on the wrong side of the road or turning across unmarked intersections, as long as when someone honks at you, you move out of their way, everything seems to go smoothly. I am surprised there isn't more road rage or pile ups, but it seems to work! There were a few times I closed my eyes as it was too close for comfort, and it was best to look at the scenery than to watch the roads.

Once we arrived at our hotel we were relieved. Our room wasn't going to  be ready for another hour or so, so we had breakfast at the hotel. Our room is okay, two single beds, the plumbing is interesting to say the least, we can't flush any toilet paper due to the plumbing. The hot water is heated by solar panels and the shower is just in the bathroom with a drain in the floor - no designated shower stall. Once we freshened up we decided to see who else had arrived from the wedding party. We were happy that the grooms brother Jason and his girlfriend Jen and his two kids (ages10&12) were also here, so we decided to go take a look at the local market.

We left our hotel on foot and discovered that the roads are narrow and there are very little sidewalks if any. There are some large concrete sidewalk blocks that cover the sewer that runs below, but some blocks are missing so you must be careful. Between the broken sidewalks and roads, you must avoid contact with the thousands of vehicles that are whizzing past you and their screaming horns. The roads are two ways and often two lanes each way even though in canada I think it might pass as a single lane in one direction. There is food and garbage on the streets for the cows to eat and there are many cows wandering around...also leaving cow pies to avoid in your travels. There are also many stray dogs rummaging through trash.  We walked for about 4 or 5 hours through the market and seen many beautiful things to buy. We went to a temple as well which was interesting. We had to take our shoes off and walk barefoot (insert shudder here). Just seeing how many birds fly around and sit on the temple, the number or people coming and going, the mice, and all the rest of it, I am sure Eva and I looked at each other a few times before removing our shoes as if to say in our heads "are we really going to do this?" A local artist whose family runs the temple gave us a tour free of charge (although he did take us to his art studio afterwards to show us his craft...and then introduced us to a shop owner and a scarf shop) so I think he earns his commission somewhere down the line, but he was very nice to us and explained many things to us that we had no clue about.  On our walk back through the shops we came across a cow (we had seen a few at this point and just avoided being too close), but this one was coming towards us and when I went to walk around it a car came very close so I got squished between them for a moment and was rather disturbing for me! Eva though (who had been joking earlier about not getting hit by a cows tail) got whacked by this same cows tale! LOL I guess it's better than getting stepped on by it (as that was also a close call).

So we survived the market and returned home to gather with the other wedding guests who had arrived and we had a lovely lunch at the hotel (mmm....chicken korma) followed by a short nap.  We had plans to have Tia (the bride) take some of us dress shopping, so around 6:30 we headed out to a bazaar which is a larger market with more established boutique/shops and we were all able to find something. I ended up needing to have a dress custom made for me since my body type and size aren't common here (everyone is skinny as rakes) and Eva found a beautiful dress as well.  We still need shoes, but it's amazing how in Edmonton we were looking at $300-500 CAD for an outfit plus alterations and here I am having one custom made for 4300 rupees (approx $85 CAD) including alterations and it will be ready the day after tomorrow!

We are setting out in the morning for a tour with the group so it will be another action packed day!

We certainly are enjoying ourselves and trying to embrace the culture and the surroundings! I am amazed at how many wonderful people we have met in the hotel and also that have come to be a part of the wedding celebrations and tour (there are people from all over the world and some very adventurous travellers).

Signing off now,

Mindy (aka. Miranda)

Vacation has officially started!

Today was our last day of work before the big trip, whohoo! Eva and I have a spa morning planned tomorrow and then a few final errands to run before we head out on Saturday morning. We were able to score some Air Canada lounge passes from work for us to use when we get to Toronto for our first leg of the trip, so that will make things more fun - free food, drinks, etc. and a comfy place to hang out and relax before our long flight to Frankfurt. We are so lucky to have connections!

I must say that I set up this blog without thinking that Eva might want to share this information with her friends and family as well, so although the name says "Mindy's adventures in India" it will be Mindy and Eva's adventures in India that I will be blogging about! Sorry Eva for leaving your name out of the title!

This is my first vacation abroad by myself and for this long. I am a little nervous about being so far away from everyone, and everything familiar to me, but I am very happy that my amazing friend Eva has invited me on this journey and will put up with me for two whole weeks! She may regret ever inviting me. I actually invited myself - well more like begged her to go and to take me with her. Eva and I have been through a lot over the ten plus years we have known each other and she is like family to me, so I know that we will look out for each other and have a great time. I can't wait to update everyone on the crazy things we will do and see!

I am so very thankful to my husband and my mom for making this trip a reality by juggling their schedules so that Taylor will be looked after. Knowing that India was the one place in the world I always was curious to see, and thought I would never have the opportunity to go to, this is certainly an opportunity of a lifetime. I am so blessed with a supportive family :)

Getting Excited!!!

Mindy (aka. Miranda)

Getting Excited!

The countdown is on...5 more days until me and my pal Eva leave on the adventure of a lifetime! I plan to blog about our experiences as I know many of you are curious about what we will see. I am fully anticipating a fabulous trip filled with culture and many new experiences. This trip is truly beyond my wildest dreams and I am so blessed to be able to check this off my bucket list so early in life. Looking forward to keeping you all updated!