Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer is the golden city, and it is sincerely golden.... or actually sand coloured. The fort on the hill is full of little shops, and it is surrounded by againa lot of little shops. It is normally full of tourists, but it is a bad season, and december is a bad months for tourists anyway.... which means that everybody wants to do buisiness with you.....We stayed at Gadjanand, a budget hostel for 2 euro pppn. For this we had our own room with a hot shower and a super nice owner Kamal. We were the only guests of the week....  Besides a lot of shopping and eating our favourite ker sangari curry at our favourite roof top restaurant , we did a camel safari. This is THE thing to do in Jaisalmer, and everyone tries to sell you their tour... We already prebooked with the real safari man :)

 We were with 7 in total. It was a 1,5 hour drive to the desert, with a brief stoo at a deserted village. It was deserted because the inhabitants did not agree when the king wanted to marry one of the girls, so they flew. When we arrived at a little desert town, we all got a camel with a saddle with many cusions....however, riding a camel is still quite challenging for unused muscles....and my muscles where super happy when they reached the final destination.

 However, it was great for the mind... tracking through the deserted desert with not much more than sand and our camels.... We were just in time for sunset... 

 maartje and I helled making the chapati's this time just with our hands :) Dinner was cooked in the campfire and was simple but delicious. After dinner it was time for singing around the campfire, but we all went to bed quite early....on our matrasses under the stars. I saw 6 shooting stars, which is more than in my entire life :) All my wishes will come through :) 

The following day we tracked back after breakfast, to reach Jaisalmer around midday. We were allowed to shower in our guesthouse, whihc was a good thing after a camel ride and before a two day journey to the north.... That afternoon another train left on time :) 

Jodhpur

Jodhpur is the blue city, and a lot more blue than Jaipur pink is. Up till now this is our favourite city, mostly because there is a lot less hassling of tourist than anywhere else. We stayed just outside of the fort at lonely planet nr 1 recommendation for €15,- for the two of us per night. Lovely athmosphere :) This time we decided we really needed some time without Rickshaw man, so we went into town ourselves. We tried the most famous samosa and the most famous lassi, the latter being far too sweet for our teeth. We booked a cooking class and had just enough time to visit another tomb of maharadja Jaswant. 

He brought the irrigation system to India and is still beloved for this. The marmer of the tomb is so thin the light can shine through. Then we went to one of our best experiences, the cooking class of Rika at spice paradise. They make and sell their own masala's and they teach how to cook traditional indian disches with them. We made the best fry dahl ever! , really good Biryani rice, but also lassi, chai, paneer curry and diferent types of breads. It is good fun to blow chapatis in the open fire, but they will never be as good as the garlic and coriander naan :)

 It took us about 5 hours in total and we got to eat all our dishes. Meanwhile she told us about all the remarkable qualities of the different spices. Red chili for instance would cure rabies if you aplly it immediately after being bitten, and green Cardemom is good for your memory, gloves will protect you from muscito bites.  She taught us how to peal a pomgrannate and how to make a nice round shape out of your dough.... it was a super good night and we left with a bag full of spices and some great plans to prepare an indian dinner for friends :) You can reply to this post if you like to be invited :)

The following day we visited the Mehrangarth fort, and yet again this was the prettiest fort so far.... Kipling decribed it as the creation of angels, elfs and giants.... we did an audio tour which explained a lot about the fort and indian history and traditions. 

Many maharadja's used to live here, and quite a few rooms are in perfect condition with many, many decorations and mirrors. They also have a great collection of cribs, paintings from the 18th century, armour and jewelery. 

The current Maharadja spoke to us on the audio tour :) It took us quite a few hours to get through this fort, and afterwards we treated ourselves to the most expensive restaurant so far.  The curries were about 4-5 euro each, twice as much as normally :) They were very good, especially the aubergine one, but we preferred out own cooked food from the day before..... 

 the following day we had our first train that was in time! The train to Jaisalmer.

Jaipur

We arrived in Jaipur rather late, so we just ate in the hotel and had a quiet night. The following day we gave ourselves to one of the tuctuc man to show us around without a premade plan. That turned out to be a fun day! We started in monkey village, from where we had a great view over the city. 

Maartje fed the monkeys, but the third monkey was so clever to steal the whole bag of nuts. Maartje tried to get it back, but unfortunately the monkey didn't want to give it back..... On top there was a small temple, only worth the visit for the view. After that we visited the great Amber fort, the most majestic fort in the surroundings.

 It was built in 1727 when the capital was switched to Jaipur. It was increadibly large and the fun part were the thousands of little corners, stairs and hallways, like a large maze. It took a few hours to explore. You can enter the fort by elephant if you wish, but instead we went to elephant town. 

They paint their elephants, just because they can, it is a tourist atrraction. We didn't go for a ride, but we baked them some chapati's. 

Elephants eat about 4 kilo of chapati per day and a lot of grass and other things. It is actually quite a lot of work to make so many chapati's, even if you kae them 4 time the size of a normal one.... After Elephant town we went up the mountain again to tiger hill, from where we had a beautiful view over the city...we were just a little late for sunset. But still quite enjoyable with a beer and some pakora...  We went for dinner with the rickshaw driver and two if his friends, which was actually quite fun. However we friendly refused their invitation to go clubbing, not to break every single rule the hotel sets....  The driver wanted to take me to his family village and asked Maartje for permission.... fortunately she refused ;) 

The following day we visited the city itself. First we had to climb the Ishwar lat tower, so we had an overview of the pink city. Only the old part was pink though. The guy at the entrance climbed up with us, to show us the different buildings. Then we had to follow him down, because we had to take a picture of ourselves holding the tower between our fingers ;) no discussion possible..... Ricksaw man then took us to some tombs. They asked wether we wanted to have a guide, because with a guide the history would come alive, while without the tombs would just be a pile of stones.... we couldn't refuse if course, and fortunately he did have some funny stories. There were several tombs of different shaws, the oldest being 400 years old. One shaw was about 250 kilo's and had about 900 girlfriends, because every time he had sex with one, she was crashed under his weight and would die.... However, the monkeys at the tombs were the best! We even saw one just a couple of days old :) 

Of course we had to end our tour with a visit to a fabrique factory. This was a project from a dutch girl Janneke, and 300 woman were making patterns to earn a living. We never know how much of these stories is true, even when they show certificates and pictures, but we often like the things they sell, and they are still pretty cheap. As our train was only 6 hours late, it was time to get to the station :) We arrived at the same time as the train, for a 6 hour ride to Jodhpur.

Agra

We arrived in Agra half a day later than planned, but fortunately we immediately got a private taxi driver for the rest of the day. For about 13 euro he will drive you wereever you wánt, or he will make an itinary. After dropping our stuff at the hotel and a quick lunch we went to the one thing to do in Agra: visit the Taj Mahal.... For Indians it is 30 cents, for non-Indians 10 euro, but in return you don't need to wait in line. As it was Saturday and super crowded, that was a great benefit.... We were more popular here than ever, and got approached many many times for people that wanted to take a picture with us.... When here, you have to take a picture of yourself holding the Taj Mahal between your fingers..... people almost take your camera to show you....

 the Taj mahal is breathtakingly beautiful from the outside, but that won't be any surpirce to anyone as there are soooo many pictures of it. It is the tomb of Shah jahans favourite wife. The inside is rather plain: there is a fake coffin made of marmer, but not much more than that. However, although not as special as Varanesi, it was totally worth the visit. 

After that we visited the baby Taj Mahal, which was built before the real Taj Mahal for the family of the minister of finances.... not sure weather any of our ministers would ever be able to afford such a tomb....It was actually more beautifully decorated than the real one, with pretty patterns in marbel and colourd half gems. 

We drove to sunset lookout, from where you had a very pretty view of the Taj Mahal. And then it was factory time again...this time one that sold Kasjmeer and other clothing. We still don't know how it exactly works, but they do sell beautiful things for reasonable prices, so yet again we bought some Christmas presents. We had dinner at our guesthouse with all the guests, which was nice and super tasty! 

Our train was supposed to leave at 6.00 in the morning, but we now have the link to a website that tell you about the delays....so we knew in advance it had a 6 hour delay :) 

Varanasi

On wednesday night the train left for Varanesi. At 20.00. Or at least, that was the plan..... in the end it left at 00.30, to get a little more delayed on the way, and we arrived with a 6,5 hour delay. Our first train experience was special :) We booked one of the best classes, giving us two beds on top of each other that were comfortable enough to catch some good sleep. However, privacy is not an issue in India.... While alseep people came to sit on my feet, probably people that had their own beds.... You got woken up for chai,chai,chai ( weather you wanted some chai) or by ine of the other 20 people that want to sell you something. But the weirdest thing is that you have no clue whatsoever where you are. There are no announcements in the train, and if you ask someone, they always answer "next". So now ready to get out on the next station, the only indication weather that is correct is a small board at the plaform. It took a while to find out that "next" means nothing more than " not now". In the end we got there, and as the train stops for at least 20 min, there is enough time to get off....

We immediately got apporached by twenty rikshaw men, all wanting to give us a good time in Varanesi. It is not so much about the ride to the hotel, but much more about then trying to get whole day tours with you, which will always include visiting some factories, on which they probably get commisions. They warn you for them in the hotel, but meanwhile the hotel will offer you the same packages just a lot more expensive....We quite liked our tuctuc man, so we decided to go with him for the rest of the day. 

The thing to do in Varanesi is visiting the holy river ganga, where the 60.000 children of king Sagar where burnt to ashes by Sage Kapila. Ganga then descended to earth, helped by Lord Shiva, to wash the ashes away by creating the river Ganga. Now it is believed that the Ganga river will wash away the sins of all beings, and every day thousands of hindi people come here to wash them selves, or to cremate a beloved one. At the bank of the river there are several holy fire places where you can burn a family member before throwing the ashes in the river. Only babies, pregnant woman, hermaphrodites and peole that died by snake bites are not allowed to be cremated and are thrown in the river after making them more heavy with stones... sometimes the stones get detached from the bodies.... 

We rented a little boat and a boatman and were rowed to a place where they perform holy rituals during sunset. The whole river exhales a special athmosphere, that was more breathtaking than the holy services, that looked a bit set up for tourists. 5 men on stage made a performance with fire with indian singing on the background. 

Still a nice experience though :) We lit a little candle and released it on the river to bless our families, so hope all good has come to them :) 

The following morning at 5.00 we went again to see the sunrise from the river. This was even more special as all men and woman were doing their bathing rituals. 

All was covered in morning dew, which gave it some mystical appearance. We made a small stop at a musical performance before heading back. Afterwards we went for a massage in the special indian way.... it was a bit cold, and she contineously was trying to convince me to have other treatments too, so a bit less relaxing than a normal massage, but still pleasant. 

Our train left at 1600 and left on time, although on the way to Agra we got 6 hours delayed, arriving at 12.00 the folowing day...

The wedding

On Saturdaynight, two man came to the house to make henna art out of our arms and hands. The higher on the arm the better, so the mum made sure they did a good high job :)

 They each worked on a hand, and after it dried for an hour, you could turn around for the other side. In total it took about three-four hours to apply and dry, in which you cannot touch anything with your hands....for me a difficult task! 

 After that we could take of the dried henna, that left a nice orange pattern, that had darkended the following day. Some Indians do this every months, but everybody doesit for weddings. Maartje came very late that day, but on the pre-wedding party they also hire these guys to henna the rest of the guests.

Sunday it was time for the religious wedding. We all went to a venue where the religious person, for now called the priest, built up a whole plaform full of fruits, lights and drinks. Rohan and his family were sitting with him on the platform, while the rest of the family was shattered around the room. For about an hour the priest did all kinds of hindi rituals, and the family was asked to join him in some rituals, as were we. We got bracelets, red dots on our fronthead, we waved with fire.... The for me weird thing about it was that most of the rest of the family was just chatting, the mum got up once in a while to organize something in the back and to make sure everyone was having enough snacks. 

After the rituals it was time to dance on a very loud band with mostly trumpets, drums and a singer. While we were dancing people waved money above our heads before donating it to the goddess. In the brakes we went outside for the most dilicious snacks, like al my favourite indian starters. After the dance, around 23.00 it was time for an indian buffet with about 25 different dishes, all really good, and 5 deserts....after which everybody soon disappeared home....

The following day it was celebration day. First the entire family moved into a hotel in the neighboorhood, including us :) Then Rohan had a set up argument with his dad over money...why was his dad buying one car after the other, while he, Rohan, had only a bike? Rohan left de house in anger to hide with an uncle. We all went to the uncle and forced the door to come in, where Rohan and his dad, with interference of the entire family had the financial argument and in the end the seetling for ????? 

Now being friends again, we could all go to party :) Maartje and I danced the tranky doo, and then all other family members, two by two, weather they liked it or not, had to dance on stage :) It was all followed by some good indian disco, and of course a super nice big banket..... During the party all the girls good have their hands coloured with henna patterns, as well as Rohan. Sarah had her own party, so it was a Seghal party. it was not so much about Rohan, but more an entire family celebration. 

Although the food was lovely, I clearly ate something wrong and the entire night I threw up.... bad start of the big day! The following day my stomach wasn't good, and all the other Utrecht people were sick :( However, we couldn't miss the wedding of course! There were several rituals, Rohan and Andrei were covered in turmaric, their was a session in which Rohan got his bibs made of money and a crown made of pearl necklaces....

and then it was time to go!!!! We got into very very bad traffic, so we were more than an hour late :( We were a bit surpriced when in the middle of the highway we all suddenly had to get out of the car. Rohan was put on a horse with his nephew in front of him, there were 8 lanterns on electricity by a truck and a full band playing indian music, while we all had to dance. 

This is already a little bit out of our custums, but the fact that this all happened ON the really bussy highway and that we danced along the cars untill we reached the venue, made it in our western eyes a little surrealistic.... The venue was truely amazing! A very large garden was lightened with christmastree lights and there were many tents to sit down on beautyful decorated chairs and tables. There were probably a hundred different disches to eat, although I haven't tried one due to my sickness..... When Rohan sat on his special chair in his special tent, it was time for Sarah to arrive. She was utterly stunning in her red dress!

 It was the first time I met her, and she is super nice! The rest of the night they had to sit in the special tent, so all of the guests could come to congratulate and have their picture taken. There was no music or dancing this time, but we didn't feel well enough to dance anyway :) After all the pictures, there was a long religious ritual, ending with them walking around the fire.... We didn't completely make it till the end, as we were all pretty sick, but we stayed till almost 3.00 so at least we got the whole experience. How great we could be part of such a spectacular event! 

The following day Sarah was welcomed to the house with again some rituals and presents. In India de wives leave their parents house to mive in with the parents-in-law, or in sarahs case: to move to Utrecht :) But not before enjoying their honeymoon first :) 

India

Sorry, due to super slow internet no pictures yet....

How do you describe your first impressions of India in a page, or even in a few..... impossible... but let me start by telling a few stories from the first few days....

It started all at the check in in Dubai airport where a large bo-ing needed to be boarded with a few hundred indians. Although we all are going to be on the same plane, it is extremely important that you board ahead of the others, trying to pass them in every possible way. I think it is still way of the indians to rebell their previous english possesors with their nice and tidy queues.

Then the traffic, without any rules. The only things you need: good horn, good brakes, good luck.... The big roads can contain up to 5 lanes if side mirrors just hit each other. Where the lanes exactly are, varies from moment to moment, as no-one drives straight. You can overtake on any side, at any speed, as long as you press your horn long and loud. At one moment my taxi driver got caught into a traffic jam, and in this five lane jam, he simply reversed out, a few hundred meters back on the wrong side of the road, into a different one. No-one will let you in if coming from a side street, so you simply just push forwards and the others will brake vigerously.... and probably use their horn....

I think in a country with so many people, they are just not used to personal space or privacy. Even in the train strangers come and sit on your bed ( preferable on your feet while you are asleep) while they must have booked their own. 

Delhi is overcasted in an immense veil of smog, which also give it a bit of a fairy tale experience, especially when a beautiful temple suddenly appears. 

After an hour of crazy driving, I reached Rohans parents house, where I met Rohans parents and his sister Ashima, and where Natalai, Andrei and Rohan already arrived a few days earlier. As I hadn't slept yet in the plane, I first needed to crash for a bit. After my sleep I ate the mjammiest parata, a potato pancake filled with spices and vegetables. Then Natalia and Andrei and me went to an extremely beautiful temple, with a name close to " Amsterdam" but with a lot of extra letters I forgat. You are not allowed to bring anything with you, except your wallet. The rest is ina cloakroom at your own risk. Andrei didn't want to take that risk with his cell phone, so he stayed behind. But the temple was absolutely amazing! The pillars were full of carved elephants and other signs of worshipped creatures. The temple was bright and full of hindu gods and goddesses. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take our camera's, so only mindpictures were taken....

The following day we slept in, before we went to Hauz Khaz, a complex of buildings made by Sultan Tughluq in 1352. The complex exsist if several tombs, situated around a very green small lake. There were some monkeys playing on the old walls, making it all a bit surrealistic. We wanted to take a shortcut by jumping of a wall, but unfortunately Natalia landed wrongly and badly hurt both feet. That restricted us from doing much more than having cocktails on a nice roof terras :) That evening, after a delicious dinner that made us want to kidnap Rohans mum, all the girls were treated with henna for the wedding.