Dreaming Dreams

Having left all of you without a proper update for so long here is finally another post including some images for the picture-hungry

After spending 3 weeks including Holi in Rishikesh I decided to do a tour of Rajasthan, the desert area filled with marble palaces, dried up lakes, impenetrable forts, sand-dunes and camel-rides.

After spending a few days at the dried up lake in Pushkar I moved to Udaipur where I shared a car and a driver with an Irish couple for one day. First he took us to see the Kumbalghar Fort, which lies in the middle of nowhere on a steep hill surrounded by mountains.

After this it took another hour to reach the Ranakpur Jain temple. The interior of which consists of countless of finely detailed pillars and other statues made out of white marble.

The next day I spent wandering around the city of Udaipur, which is not called the “Venice of India” for nothing. It is quite famous for the James Bond movie ‘Octopussy’ which is set on the palace in the middle of its giant artificial lake. Many places have daily screenings of this film.

In Udaipur I also met up with Pieter and Simone who I knew where travelling in India (arriving in Mumbai), but it was a complete surprise to see them walking on the bridge next to the restaurant I was eating! Many cups of chai followed ofcourse.

Then the bus took me to Jodhpur, the “blue city” where I teamed up with Severin, a very cool french dude that’s doing a ’round the world’-trip. After Jodhpur we went to Jaisalmer to experience the desert on a 3-day camel safari!

Unfortunately I got sick on the 2nd day. This did not ruin our trip at all, but when the malaise kept on for another 2 days I decided to take the train to the much bigger city of Bikaner where I got IV-treatment with antibiotics and fluids at the Govt. Hospital.

Previously in Pushkar I met a guy from wales, Nick, that has been working as a musician and audio-engineer in Jaipur for 4 years. So I decided my final stop in Rajasthan would be Jaipur to visit his Morchang Studios.

After relaxing in Delhi for a few days, among others couchsurfing with a wonderfull elder american woman named Barbarra (who is also the local ‘ambassador’ for couchsurfing.org), seeing a local Indian Fusion band and buying a brand new tabla! (that I have stored for safekeeping at barbarra’s place) I went to the word-famous and overrated Taj Mahal in Agra.

I spend 2 daily budgets to get in (well, inc. a visit to the local Fort), together about 1000 rp. Compared to the price that indian people pay: 2 times 20rp!

Anyway, I had a good time there during sunrise, at which time the place is already crawling with hundreds of tourists, indian and foreigners alike.

After spending the morning and lunch here I took the train to Jhonsi and a shared tempo (riskshaw) to Orcha, where I am now typing/posting all of this

Next on my list are the erotic temples of Khujaraho (oelala) and then the stinky city of Varanassi (bbq!).

Till next time!

Just a few tiny pics of my journey so far (had to scale them down so the upload would go faster haha):

In orange you see my Baba (monk) friend Krishnanan with his Bengali friends and the girl next door from them.

These guys are almost everywhere. In this case, they where in my view while playing tabla during one of my lessons.

While walking through the Baba camps we went past these guys. They invited us in their tent and we had some delicious chai with them.

A very spectacular event which happens every night all along the Ganga (and other holy rivers) since hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

It is called the Ganga Aarti and in this case there where thousands of people present for the ceremony.

First, I have to excuse for not posting any pictures yet. Atm I haven’t found a single cybercafe that has any descent upload and some don’t allow usb-connections and such. When I get to a proper internet connection/computer I will try and give some previews.

Now, some of you knew already that I was planning to go to Haridwar and experience some of the Kumbh Mela. For those who don’t know about this: it is the biggest religious gathering of people in the world! Feb 10 I took a bus via Dehra Dun to Haripur where I stayed with Rajesh, an Indian Astrologer and couchsurfer. With him there where another 2 Indian surfers staying, Ronita and Ajit. That night, Ajit and I went to have a look at the main site, Har ki Pauri (Step of God), where Lord Vishnu is said to have left a drop of the sacred Amrit elixer. Every twelve years, for the past hundreds (if not thousands) of years, people have been going to this place for a series of processions which last a few months. These are marked by particular bathing days where the masses come to cleanse themselves with the sacred waters of the Ganga river.

The 11th we then went again in the evening to be part of the daily Ganga Aarti, a procession where people lit small leaf-boats with flowers and incense to drift downstream. This was truelly a beautifull sight. Unfurtunately, I didn’t bring my camera, since Ajit had trouble getting in that afternoon because of his. Ofcourse there were lots of people with cameras now and we did bring a small one of which I might be able to get some pictures from.

On the 12th there was the First Royal Bath, which marks the main start for most religious people (although, as you can read on Wikipedia ™, the Kumbh starts on 14 Jan). I must say that the organization was very well done! Even though there where LOADS of people EVERYWHERE, there was never a sense of pressure or too much of a crowd. However, we didn’t go to the Har ki Pauri this time since it gets closed off during the official bath, since then all the Saddhus, babas and other saints have first attendance with their sects and groups. Instead, we went upstream at a local ashram where there was a nice gath (bathing site) and not so many people. And yes, I did went into the Ganga and have a bath! Luckilly this was a nice side-stream of the Ganga with amazingly clear water. I didn’t fully emerge into the water, because I didn’t want to wet my dreads but it was actually very nice and refreshing (read: damn cold!).

The next day a friend of Rajesh that lives in Berlin came with his family to spend the afternoon. Soumitra is a professional tabla player and he showed his skill together with a local harmonium player and singer for a private concert in Rajesh his living room. I also had the chance of trying out these wonderfull instruments. After this the family and I took an auto/taxi to nearby Rishikesh where I am currently staying at an ashram.

I am still debating if I want to stay in Rishikesh much longer and maybe take up some music and/or yoga lessons. During my morning breakfast I had a talk with a Belgian fellow and long time Indian traveller that my plans of going south might not be such a good idea because of the weather. It seems there is going to be some blazing heat coming in the following months so maybe it’s a better idea to stay in the northern region and explore the south on some other journey. Another problem is my visa. Recently, the Indian government has changed some visa laws that mandate that all double/multiple entry visa holders must stay out of the country for at least 2 months when they leave. I was planning on going to Nepal for a few weeks, up to a month. But 2 months out of my 4.5 month trip seems way too much really. I will contact the Dutch Embassy when I get back to Delhi and see what they recommend, because this is very inconvenient.

Until the next stop! (and possibly a better connection with some pictures -_-)