Lindseystravels's Travel Blog

The Blue City - Jodhpur, India

 This place was Great visited Oct 11, 2005

After staying 3 days in Udaipur, Blake and I felt like we should move on. We got some bus tickets to our next destination, which was Jodhpur. Jodhpur is another “smaller” city in Rajasthan about 6 hours northwest of Udaipur. The city itself isn’t that big, but the population is about 1.7 million! We wanted to go there because the pictures of it are really pretty. It’s known as “The Blue City,” because a lot of the houses are painted blue. We had to take a bus to get there because Udaipur is notorious for their slow trains. We booked a “Super Deluxe” bus. The guy who sold us the tickets gave us the best price and he assured us that there would be “no music, no movies,” and that we would arrive in Jodhpur in 5 hours rather than 6 because this particular bus didn’t make stops along the way. I’m not quite sure why so many bus companies use the “no music, no movies” as a selling point, but they do. Everything sounded pretty perfect, so we booked the tickets; needless to say…it was a horrific experience. The “Super Deluxe” bus was actually an old clunker with dents everywhere! The seats didn’t have an inch of padding anywhere, and the windows were practically falling out. Blake and I couldn’t believe it. When all of the passengers got settled in, the bus driver cranked up the Indian tunes, and we set off. The ride would have been beautiful, but I think everyone was too busy watching the road for the bus driver. We had to cross quite a few mountains to leave Udaipur, and as with all mountain roads, the ones we were on were really curvy. The bus driver was constantly trying to pass people while going around the curves!!! He jerked the bus to stop and he almost collided with a few other buses. It was a game of chicken! And the thing with Indian drivers is that they are all really aggressive; so, no matter what the circumstances are, nobody slows down. I think it’s better to just close your eyes the whole way if you’re a passenger. Aside from the crazy driving, the bus constantly made stops to pick people up on the side of the road, and it didn’t take the promised 5 hours to get to Jodhpur, it took 6. I’m really just thankful that we arrived in Jodhpur alive. The upside to the bus ride was the fact that we met some friends. There were two other travelers that were sitting in front of us on the bus and they ended up staying at the same hotel we were staying at in Jodhpur. Their names are Lindy (an Australian) and Nikki (a New Zealander.) They both finished up their 2 year working visas in England, and are now traveling for 6 months in India and S.E. Asia. Once we got to Jodhpur, it didn’t take long to find a hotel. Blake and I kind of ran into this place called “Yogi’s Guest House,” which is situated kind of close to the Jodhpur fort. We walked inside, and pretty much knew right away that we wanted to stay there. This place is SOOO cool!!! The people that work there are really nice – I think 4 brothers run the place, and they are all kind of young. There are really nice simple rooms, and tons of travelers! The whole place is really colorful and it’s sooo cheap. We only paid $6 per night. (There were rooms for as little as $2, but we wanted our own bathroom.) Staying there was a great place to meet people. On the roof of the hotel there is a great terrace and a pretty good restaurant. There are couches and tables everywhere, and the view is amazing. Blake and I could have sat up there for ages. On the first day, we went up to the roof to play some cards and get some chai, and we saw monkeys on the roof next door eating fruit! They would just jump from rooftop to rooftop. It was really great. As for the city of Jodhpur, well, it definitely isn’t as clean as Udaipur. There is a lot more cow crap in the street, and lots of trash mounds. There is no garbage collection here in India. Everyone just dumps their garbage out on the street, and when the mounds get large enough, they burn it right there in the city. Kind of nasty if you ask me. It’s also not uncommon for the cows to feed on the trash mounds. The people in Jodhpur aren’t as pushy as in Mumbai or even Udaipur. Nobody really tries to get you to go into their shops, which is nice. Jodhpur is known for their textiles and antiques. A lot of people come here to buy for big companies like IKEA and Pier 1, which is cool. All of the stuff that Blake and I have seen though doesn’t look that nice. There are a lot of carpets and Indian cushions, clothes, and tons of spices…but we don’t really want any of that. We haven’t found a lot of great shopping, but maybe we are going to the wrong places. We went to the Jodhpur fort yesterday, and it is amazing! The fort sits on top of a mountain and you can see all over from the top. We were able to take an audio tour through the museums on the inside, and everything was so interesting. The history and stories of the Rajputs are really interesting. Some of it is just like a fairy tale. There were princes and princesses, kings and queens, snake charmers, dancers, warriors, etc. This fort was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far. We have stayed here for 2 nights, and tonight we are taking a night train to Jaisalmer and it leaves at 11pm. We’ve gotten to know Lindy and Nikki pretty well and they have decided to travel with us for a little while. They are coming with us to Jaisalmer tonight, and when we get into the train station, we are all being picked up by a hotel owner. We asked the guys at Yogi’s Guest House if they knew of anywhere to stay in Jaisalmer, and they recommended a place. We called them, booked a room, and now it seems that everything is set up. Not too shabby!!! Right now, in Jodhpur, we are on the edge of the Great Thar Desert. Once we get into Jaisalmer, we’ll be in the middle of it! Jaisalmer is supposed to look a lot like a giant sand castle rising out of the desert. I think we’re going to stay a little longer there because Blake and I want to take a camel safari!!! (Every hotel does them, as well as the one we’ll be staying at.) Only 9 more days here in India! Time has gone by really fast here. Overall, I think it has been a perfect amount of time, and I’m glad that we still have time left here, even though it’s really really hot. Anywho…as usual, I hope everything is going well with you guys! Talk to you later!

posted Oct 13, 2005 | Comments (0)

Ahhhh....Rajasthan.... - Udaipur, India

 This place was Amazing visited Oct 8, 2005

Blake and I are now in Udaipur, which is a small city in Southern Rajasthan. We decided that we didn't want to spend more time than we had to in Mumbai, so we went to the train station to book some tickets. Well...that was a total fiasco. I won't bother with telling the story, but we ended up leaving the train station about 2 hours later, and we didn't have tickets. As we were walking out of the station, tired, frustrated, and confused, one of the random vendors came up to us and asked if we wanted bus tickets. He said he had a bus that was going to Udaipur and it left the next morning. We bought the tickets, and the next day, we spent 19 hours getting to Udaipur. India is a huge country...and the maps of it are all deceiving. Two cities that look close to each other will be at least 8 hours apart. The bus ride was long, but Blake and I really made the best of it. We paid for a "sleeper," which is a double bed on the top floor of the bus. It was actually pretty comfortable. The only bad thing about it was that we only had enough room to lay down or sit up indian style. (Thank god we're short!!!) The ride was really neat. In 19 hours, you can see quite a bit of countryside. Mumbai was disgusting...but once you get out of the city, it's all jungle! It's like they put a highway right through a rain forest or something. It was really really beautiful! When you're riding through it, you can see how other people live. We would see women walking along the highway carrying big bundles of hay on their heads, we saw grass huts that people lived in, religious shrines, kids playing, etc. It was really something. One of the other interesting things that we found on the ride was how distinct the landscape is between the different Indian states. Maharashtra, which is the state that Mumbai is in, is full of jungle. Then, when you get into Gujarat, the cities that we rode through were all industrial. There are factories all over the place. Then...when you get into Rajastan, everything is more like the desert. Everything is reddish-orange, and you see alot of mountains and far less trees. Rajasthan is really beautiful, and the weather is great. Once you get north of Mumbai, the weather gets alot less humid. When the bus came to Udaipur, it dropped everyone off at a random gas station, rather than the bus station. It was a little hectic getting to our hotel, but once we did, we were really happy! Udaipur is great!!! The town is situated around a lake, and all of the hotels are pretty nice. Apparently, once you get out of the big cities, you get even more for your money. We're staying at a really nice hotel, right on the water. I'm loving it! Another thing is that all of the hotels here have rooftop restaraunts, and it's really romantic because they all have views of the lake, and you can see all of the mountains that surround the city in the distance. The architecture here is really pretty too. All of the buildings are whitewashed. They kind of look like the buildings you would find in Greece. It's also A LOT cleaner here. I can't even tell you how different this is from Mumbai. There is still some cow crap in the street every other block, but overall, there is less trash. There aren't any beggars, and the people respect your space when they are trying to sell you something. When you tell them that you don't want something, they usually back off, rather than follow you through the streets. The kids are really cute too. They all dress in their uniforms to go to school, and it seems like most of them are pretty well educated. Most people speak English in the areas we've been to, (even in Mumbai) so we haven't had a problem with that. When we were walking to our hotel yesterday, we saw a huge monkey up in a tree! I think the thing must have been as big as we are!!! I wish I had gotten a pic. of it, but I'm sure we'll see more. They also have alot of cows walking in the streets. (People just ignore them.) And yesterday afternoon, we turned a corner walking back to our hotel, and we saw an elephant!!! The thing was HUGE!!! The streets are pretty narrow here, so of course, it looked really out of place. There are also quite a few tourists here, so Blake and I don't feel completely out of place. We've probably seen about 10 since we've been here. If this is what the rest of India is like, then I know we'll love it. I think the key is to spend as much time as you can in the small cities, like Udaipur. We are spending two more days here; then, we are going to head to Jodhpur which is a city in northwestern Rajasthan. It's a shorter bus ride...only 6 hours this time! Oh, as a side note...there was a pretty big earthquake in Southern Asia yesterday. Part of India was hit by it, but we weren't affected at all. (Only northern India, and we won't be going there.) Talk to you guys later!

posted Oct 9, 2005 | Comments (0)

What in the hell did we do?!?!?! - Mumbai, India

 This place was Average visited Oct 5, 2005

OH MY GOD!!! All right...Blake and I were glad to be leaving Europe when we did...but we didn't know that Mumbai would such a chaotic shithole!!! It's crazy to think that the city of Mumbai can even stand on its own. I can't believe a place like this even exists in this world! First and foremost...we were the only foreigners I saw the first day we arrived. The fact that there is nobody else like you is quite intimidating...but what is even more scary is the fact that all of the Indians look at you like your a walking dollar. The streets are filled with vendors and everyone is in your face trying to sell you something. 5 different vendors can be talking to you at once and they won't leave you alone until you walk away from them. The key to not being bothered is to KEEP MOVING!!! There are 30 million people in that city, and it seems like 40% are vendors, 30% are beggars, and the rest are the hardworking people that you never get to see. Mumbai is also home to one of Asia's largest slums. Blake and I are still trying to figure out why people choose to live the way they do, rather than going out in the countryside to provide for themselves. People in poverty live in absolute crap. They make their houses out of blue tarps and metal scraps left over from old advertisements. I have also seen some of the wierdest things here, than I've ever seen before. There are cows right in the middle of huge causeways...I've now seen my first albino...I've also seen a woman without a body (SHE ONLY HAD A HEAD AND A TINY STUMP!!!) The list goes on from here. I do realize that a lot of my negative reaction might come from culture shock, but all and all, Mumbai got thumbs down from me. I did give it a three on my list because I think the people are extremely nice. Our hotel manager, Raj, was a really great guy. Just so that you won't be worried, we are now in Udaipur...a smaller city, and it's like night and day. It's completely beautiful here, and everyone seems nice. We're still being careful. Hope all is well!!!

posted Oct 7, 2005 | Comments (4)

Spending some time with the rents! - Rome, Italy

 This place was Amazing visited Oct 1, 2005

On Oct. 1st, Blake and I met up with my mom and stepdad at the train station, and my GOD was it good to see them! I feel like seeing them soothed what homesickness I had and I think it kind of refreshed us for the rest of the trip. The day they came in, we went with them to their hotel which wasn't all that far from ours. They stayed what is known as the Spanish Steps, and it was a really cute hotel. The first day, we just walked around and got caught up. We told them all about our travels and they told us all about theirs. It was really great. We ended up walking to the Piazza Navona, which is this huge sqare filled with restaraunts and a big fountain. We also walked all the way to the Vatican, which served as pretty good exercise. The next day, we all met up early in the morning, and took a bus tour of Rome. It was pretty interesting. The great thing about this bus is the fact that you can get on and off whenever you want, and your ticket is good for the entire day. We got off at the Coloseum and we ended up taking a walk through the Roman Forum. VERY IMPRESSIVE!!! Some of the same stones that were used when the romans built roads are completely in tact. Also...you can see the exact area where Caesar gave his speeches, etc. Anyway, we took a tour through the Coloseum, and the tour guide was pretty infomative but a little too verbose if you ask me. It started to rain while we were on our tour and it got really cold. My mom and Dick decided to go back to their hotel and Blake and I met up with them after the tour. The rest of the tour was really interesting. Not only did the gladiators fight with elephants and tigers, but they would also fill the entire Coloseum with water and reinact battle scenes from previous wars using tiny paddle boats. They would usually fight hippos, and alligators. After the tour, Blake and I went to get some lunch and then we went to my mom and Dick's hotel to hang out. The following day, we all went to Vatican City. We stood in line for 2-3 hours, and when we finally got into the Vatican museum, we had to go all the way to the end to see the Sistene Chapel, which was extremely worth it. I'm really happy I got to see that. The paintings took up the entire chapel, and there is just so much to look at! It was beautiful. Once again, it was raining, so after the Vatican Museum, we didn't feel like waiting outside in another line to get into St. Peter's Basilica. We just took a cab home and got back together for dinner. Blake and I had a great time and it was really good to see my mom and Dick! That...of course...was the highlight of Rome for us. Talk to you guys later!!!

posted Oct 7, 2005 | Comments (0)

Lucca...the short version. - Lucca, Italy

 This place was Great visited Sep 16, 2005

Hey guys!!! Just wanted to tell you that we're having alot of fun in Italy! I can't believe that we only have one week left here. As the subject area says, I wrote this huge post for Lucca, and I accidentally erased it all! I don't want to type it all out again, but I'm really behind in my postings, so I'm thinking I'll give you the short version of Lucca. On Sept. 16th, we went to Lucca, which is in N. Tuscany. It's really beautiful there, and we had a great time. We spent 3 nights there in another hostel. Blake and I met some new friends there, and had a great time with them. We met George - a guy from Germany, and Yael - a Jewish girl from Jerusalem. Kind of a different mix huh? They weren't traveling together...we just all met at the hostel. Under George's recommendation, we had an Italian-style dinner together at one of his favorite restaraunts. We each had about 6 courses and stuffed ourselves. It was really fun. As far as George and Yael...the only way to really explain them is by doing a series of impressions. You'll have to wait until Blake and I get home. Blake's really good at doing George. Blake and I also got to go to Pisa on a day trip. We saw the leaning tower, which was pretty impressive, but after that, we pretty much left Pisa. There isn't anything else to do there. On one of the other days in Lucca, we took a really long hike. We ended up walking about 10 miles all together, and though the walk was pretty fun, the reward at the top of the mountain was horrible. At the top of this mountain was supposed to be a lookout point. You really couldn't see anything good at the lookout point when we got there. Just a bunch of hills covered with olive trees and overgrown grass. We tried to eat a picnic up at the top, but we ended up sitting in a field of chiggers and were attacked by bees. Blake tried to kill them with his shoe, but it didn't work. We ended up just cutting it short and walking home. We spent most of our time in Lucca walking around the wall that surrounds the city. The wall is about 30 feet wide, and over the years, they have turned the top of the wall into a big walking path. There were tons of parks that stemmed from the path, and Blake and I found tons of places to play cards. I don't know if I've told you, but Blake and I have been playing Rummy since Bilbao, (about a month ago.) We are going to keep playing until we come back to the U.S. Then, we're going to submit our score to the Guiness Book of World Records. So far, Blake is in the lead with 9,084 points. Not too shabby! I would like to keep talking, but my internet time is practically up. I'll have to tell you about Florence and Sienna the next time. Anyway, I hope you all are doing well!! Blake and I miss everyone tons!!!

posted Sep 27, 2005 | Comments (1)