Prayer time in Haridwar. Most holy river Ganges at 6.30pm
The flowers that float in the ganges
Me in Delhi at the Qitb Minar
Me on Holi...it washed off OK but is still on my hands and I think my jeans and top are ruined!
Pre Holi Holi at Sanju's cousins house in Jaipur.
Sanju's cousins wife and kids. Not all hers!!!
How do they keep the elephants still to paint them?!
My favourite door in the Palace of Jaipur.
Freaky man on hobby horse in Elephant festival. Jaipur.
The Elephant parade
Me in the Cenotaphs of Jaipur. (Monuments to Maharajas who have died.)
Right update time! The 10th of March was the Elephant festival in Jaipur. It was OK but a bit too staged and touristy for me. All of the white people were sitting in a caged area and all the locals were being beaten off with sticks if they ventured anywhere near our shaded VIP section. Of course this did not put me in a relaxed frame of mind for enjoying the festivities. But even so I saw some great Elelphants and wonderful dancing. In the morning I went to the lovely Palace and the cenotaphs but Jaipur's traffic is the worst I have seen. THANK YOU SAnju for being such a great driver!
In the evening me and three other tourists and drivers went off for a meal at Sanju's cousins house. I had beer and chapatis and Dhal and Aloo Gobi and Raita and roti and rice. I was the only foreigner there who ate everything and all the drivers siad they have never met such a woman who can scoff so much of their great cuisine. I went upstairs to Thank the women who cooked and I even offered to wash up but of course they refused. Seeing how the family lived was an eye opener...it was the shabby quality of the building itself which affected me most. But the food was great and I still haven't been ill. Apart from that one morning!
The 11th was Holi. SO we left at 4am coz the main highways are too dangerous to travel on later in the day. We bombed it back to Delhi with four of the nephews in the back. It was a trecherous journey and I saw about 4 different road accidents. I couldn't sleep the whole way back.
I got dropped off in a LOUD hotel in the centre of Delhi and they charged me over 50 quid coz it was Holi, but hey, I got a room. Wandered out alone about 10am and soon hurried back because of the harrassment and then went back out again about 2pm. Got in a Tuk Tuk with a Christian from Tamil Nadu. he was most disparaging about Holi but he was interesting to talk to and he took me to some of the sights I missed on my first trip. Such as the big tower the Mughals built to do astronomy in the 9th century. I then wandered around near India gate and got hassled again and laughed at coz I was totally pink!! (Kids chased me with more paint but I was able to run away from them!)
In the evening I met back up with Sanju who had enjoyed his Holi drinking WHiskey and being with his family. He took me back to his house. NOw that was an experience. NEVER HAVE I seen squalor outside. A real slum dog situation. His room he rented with his Mum, Dad, neice, nephew and sister was clean and good but as the only working member of his family he had many people to support. (His brother died in a motor bike accident 2 years ago) They fed me and Mum and sister were a bit embarrassed to have a white person there but when I GOT BACK TO MY HOTEL THINGS TURNED A BIT nasty. I gave him a tip and he told me it wasn't enough. I was upset, he was angry, so to appease him I doubled his tip,(the atmosphere was pretty tense) Looking back at it now my initial tip was more than adequate, he was just after as much money from me as possible. He took advantage...but hey, he has got a lot of people to support and I can't blame him for trying his luck with me!! From his point of view I was a very rich woman...
Anyway forget that coz now I'm in beautiful Rishikesh in the foothills of the Himalayas and it's really peaceful and calm here. Right I'm back into the sun now and hopefully will come back later.
