Johdpur: an unexpected wonder

We stopped in Jodhpur to break up our journey from Udaipur to Jaisalmer, but it turned out to be one of our favorite spots in India. Jodhpur is home to the Mehrangarh Fort. The fort is impressive because it's not only immense, but covered in impossibly intricate stone carving. Check it out:






Much of the carving is simply decorative. But the window shades were practical, or at least purposeful:they blocked the public or visiting men from seeing the royal women within.









In Jodhpur we saw much more of the trappings of India's caste system than we had seen in the south. For example, the neighborhood surrounding the fort was reserved for members of the Brahmin class - the priests - who are delineated from their neighbors by their blue houses and pink turbans:





In addition to the fort, the main sights in Jodhpur are the mausoleum at the Jaswant Thada:
And the markets surrounding the famous clocktower, which sold over 13 varieties of rice:

And the amazing fabrics we see the women wearing here. Another cultural difference between Rajasthan and the other states we've visited is the way women wear their scarves here. In Mumbai scarves were generally draped across the collarbone and hung down the back of the shoulders. Further south they might be worn over the hair. But here women wear their scarves over their faces. The scarves are silk, they are transluscent, and presumably easier to see out of then in to. They, along with the carved-stone window shades at the fort, are another reflection of the cultural influence the invading Mughals had on the local Hindu culture.
We also saw the candied fennel seeds restaurants serve with toothpicks after dinner:
My deepest appreciation was for Jodhpur's sweets. I ate my first rasmalai and rasgullas in Jodhpur, and they ended up being the best of the trip. Like gulab jamun, ras are milk products. In this case the milk is boiled down to a spongey disk and soaked in cream and saffron for malai and in rose water for gullas. They're served cold and I loved them.

The last of Jodhpur's delights were mammalian. We saw our first camel (well my first of the trip, Aaron's first since Egypt):And an elephant in rush-hour traffic:
Love it.

xoxo Jessie

Octo-whatty?

I'm an unabashed James Bond fan. I own most of the films and watch Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan without prejudice, because I'm not picky so long as they use cheesy dialog, fantasy locations, and overly-convenient gadgets. But it's been a while since I've seen Octopussy, and after a month in India watching it in Udaipur (which served as a set for much of the film) was a bit surreal. I mean Bollywood films contain no explicit sexual contact or language, men and women do not touch in public, women cover themselves from collarbone to ankle, and many cities outlaw the consumption of not just drugs but alcohol. So it was a bit uncomfortable to watch James sip his shaken not stirred and banter with Moneypenny. On the other hand it was obvious why Udaipur was chosen as the location for the film (which was taking place in Dehli according to the plot).

Udaipur is a city of whitewashed townhouses built on hills surrounding a Maharaja-made lake with island palaces floating in the middle. Whether you're looking up at the city from the lake, or down at the palaces from the city's rooftop restaurants, it's a beauty.

Though the lake palaces are the most famous sights, we actually spent the most time in the City Palace - a huge complex built over the centuries to house the world's longest-sitting royal family, the Mewars.
Check out the dining room, among other wonders:



And the Rolls they outfitted for Tiger safaris:

Udaipur's other attractions include the Jagdish Temple:

(whose exterior is all but obscured from view thanks to the unbelievable arrangement of power lines we found typical of major urban intersections here)

Among other things, Rajasthan is famous for its miniature paintings. We saw some of the best of them at the City palace as well as unconsciously ironic copies painted as murals on many of the cities buildings:


Besides the tourist sights, we also discovered this scary-looking cow:

Fresh lemon soda (it's seltzer, salt, sugar, and lemon juice and it's served everywhere from airplanes to street lanes):


And, of course, lots more gulab jamun:)


xoxo Jessie

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

The plan was to take a sleeper bus from Bangalore to Hospet, our jumping off point for the ruins around Hampi. That worked until 10 km from our destination when we ran into a formidable traffic jam. A small cargo truck had overturned on the "highway" (a term used somewhat loosely in India to refer to any road with a lane line - in this case a two lane road with no curb or shoulder) and stopped traffic completely. After three hours and no progress we set out on our own. Well not completely on our own: we hopped on the back of a tuk-truck (motorcycle engine powering a front seat and small flatbed) along with ten locals and headed off the main road. We dropped off most of our passengers in a small village and then went off-roading, parallel to the highway through a dried lake bed. This was my view:
Incidentally, that's Aaron's mosquito zapper on the right side of this shot. The best three dollars we've spent.

At one point when the tuk-truck could no longer make it over some particularly tough terrain was, our driver hopped off his seat (which he had been sharing with Aaron) and collected some rocks to patch together a short stretch of road. Seriously. Eventually we cut back to the main road ahead of the accident and made it into town. It was well worth the trouble.



The temples and palaces stretch out over more than a 10 km radius. At the remains of Virapakshu Temple an elephant blessed Aaron with a snuffle on the head.


At the Nandi monolith we had our first serious Indian monkey sighting.

And in the old Bazaar we saw families, livestock, and souvenir shops all housed in the ruins themselves (despite conservationists' best efforts to remove them, apparently).



Most of the other visitors to Hampi were Hindu pilgrims. They all wanted pictures with me. Pants, pale skin, (relatively) blond hair - I'm a huge hit, albeit an awkward one. Children think I'm hilarious and get super excited if their hellos elicit a response. Women openly stare (mostly with curiosity I think, but sometimes it's a form of begging as well). And men shuffle around until they work up the nerve to ask to take a picture. Often we pose for a group shot and then individual portraits. Aaron's started threatening to charge a fee.

This is as good a time as any to point out how much taller I am than the other women here. I first noticed this in Mumbai at a crowded temple where visitors were divided my gender and I towered above everyone else in my queue. Aaron is also a giant among the men:)

Because the temples are still holy sights for many visiting Hindus, we saw many people bathing in the ghats there. Others made offerings of flowers, money, and food at the temples. The custodians wasted little time collecting these items:


At the Royal Center we saw the Lotus Mahal (dancing platform of the queen) and Elephant Stables:

Vitalla Temple is the best-preserved of the whole collection. The carved stone columns are hollow and act as chimes when tapped. The site includes this scale model of an elephant chariot:


All in all we really loved Hampi. Our time there was full of remarkable scenery, interesting sights, and decidedly foreign culture.

However, on our last afternoon we witnessed two sobering episodes. First, we saw local police allow a crowd to beat an Indian tourist who had either (we heard differing accounts) worn shoes or consumed alcohol on holy ground. Shortly thereafter, we saw a partially-completed suspension bridge which had collapsed four days early with some 80 laborers lost in the rubble. There was no rescue effort to speak of, just some police presence and some rubber-necking. So ... yea.

xoxo Jessie

Bangalore: the most photogenic city in India

I've often heard India described as pungent or vibrant. Those words are particularly useful because they contain no value judgment. Vibrant could be a scantily dressed young girl in heavy makeup offering herself for pictures or massage. Pungent could describe the powerful combination of exhaust fumes, burning trash, sewage, and cow dung. Or not.




In a Bangalore produce market we were immersed in just the opposite. The air held the aroma of freshly cut flowers. The colors of the women's saris were second only to the flower chains they were making, purchasing and wearing. Red carrots, green okra, yellow jaggery, magenta bindi powders - I couldn't stop snapping pictures. Check it out:







Slightly less photo-friendly, but equally "pungent and vibrant" was our meal at Mavalli Tiffin Rooms. A 14-course all-you-can-eat thali included our best parantha and curry combination to date, a great vegetable biryani, fresh-squeezed pomegratnite juice, and excellent curd and radish (yes, I'm eating uncooked food in India. With my hands. Pray for me, throw salt over your shoulder, cross your fingers, knock on wood, invest in Cipro, do it all). The place was packed with locals and the whole feast totalled about $2 a piece. Legendary.

xoxo Jessie

Houseboat!

Two years ago I bought a book called 1,000 Things to See Before You Die. I thought the book would help us choose some destinations. It turns out that the book is not just recommending that you see these 1,000 Things but also that you be fabulously wealthy. Thanks. I had no idea. Brilliant insight, really.

So we haven't ridden on the Orient Express or stayed at the Oberai (the book recommends locations in not one, but five Indian cities). And a couple of countries ago I ditched the clunker. Nevertheless, when the Lonely Planet recommended a Keralan backwater cruise as one of ten things to do before I kick the proverbial bucket, I bought in once again. Fortunately I didn't have to sell Aaron on the idea, because we ran in to Tanya and Kelly, a Canadian couple we'd met in Fort Kochin. Splitting a houseboat brought the cruise within budget and we were off.

The backwaters are a series of canals that stretch from the coast 90 km inland. Small villages and rice patties occupy the area in between the canals. So the serve as both a natural irrigation system and a transportation network. The canals are full of life: lilly pads, storks, kingfishers, fish, tiger shrimp, ducks, seaweed, etc. We stayed on a houseboat built in the traditional style of a rice boat. We ate our meals on board and spent most of our two days on the water chatting and reading.
The few times we ventured off the boat we meandered through the rice patties (Aaron ended up soeless in the mud moments after Kelly warned us of lurking tapeworms, lovely) and a small village (whose economy seemed more linked to tourism than rice cultivation, but what do I know).

So the pictures are nice, but top ten? Just on this trip it's a stretch. Once back on solid land, we grabbed a quick Thali dinner before heading out of town.

Yea that's 9 all you can eat dishes for less that $1. Talk about top ten things to do before I die.

xoxo Jessie

p.s. This is neither here nor there, but I love this movie poster. Check out the studio behind this mess.