(no subject)
i'm in jaisalmer, india. (sorry for the image sizes, i don't have the time or patience for the keyboard to fix!)
delhi was pretty amazing. cows in the streets! people asking to take MY picture ... schoolkids staring at me. paratha stalls, temples, mosques, etc ... all while i was jetlagged.
the 20 hour train ride was hard. i was exhausted and people kept bumping into me at every stop with their luggage; understandably, i was in THIRD class (wish i could have upgraded, probably for 20 bucks - but the train station was pure, unadulterated, impossibly distilled CHAOS). erh
we got here and checked in and had dinner. jaisalmer is in northern india and it's also unquestionably in the desert. in a walled city with a fort dating back to the 1100s ... the fort is crippling and we're staying in it in a pretty nice hotel and by nice i mean the bathroom is clean.
everyone wants to sell you something here ... i get it but it's hard for me to ignore anyone, difficult too to tell everyone on the street where i'm from. the hard part is there are a couple of things i need to buy but i HATE shopping when no one is pressuring me and just can't deal with shopping when wheedling and bargaining are involved.
my roommate is a challenge, i won't lie. i thik she's 21. she definitely loves to smoke (weed and cigarettes, she put the ashtray next to my pillow last night!), "party," talk about ("no offense") how the US has bad food and is evil!!!, sit cross legged on 2 person seats at dinner and ask me if her leg on top of my thigh is bothering me, she's just more comfortable that way YUCK! then again, it's pretty amazing she's traveling for 4 months on her own around india. i can't imagine how i would have come off at that age to some hardened 30 year old new yorker. and she could be worse so i shant complain beyond what i just wrote on my livejournal ... i'm whining in my livejournal! she's probably too mature for one. i think i just have to get used to sharing space with someone?! who isn't as cute as robert?
but onto more positive things. i am realy glad i came to india. last night i rode a camel and watched the sunset in these amazing sand dunes in the desert!
this is a random pic, i don't have time to find a good one, but interestingly enough there are wild dogs running around the desert. and rats!
a local family wandered a far distance to play music for us and dance. the women wore full makeup and traditional northern indian dresses ... they were amazing. and during the singing their baby started to cry and the mother pulled a scarf over the baby and started to breast feed while she was singing and clapping. i have never seen such multitasking! the baby even played peek-a-boo with me. do babies just seek out women who aren't looking at them? i think so. at night i stayed in a magical tent that had a bed in it! and there was more music and dancing.
and i have some real faves in my group, which is really only together for transport and hotel check in/out, plus the occasional meal. and i'm so super happy i came to india. it's vastly different than anywhere else i have ever traveled and i know i need to come back to southern india, as i can tell i don't have enough time alloted there. well, i must go, until some other horrificly slow internet connection ...
delhi was pretty amazing. cows in the streets! people asking to take MY picture ... schoolkids staring at me. paratha stalls, temples, mosques, etc ... all while i was jetlagged.
the 20 hour train ride was hard. i was exhausted and people kept bumping into me at every stop with their luggage; understandably, i was in THIRD class (wish i could have upgraded, probably for 20 bucks - but the train station was pure, unadulterated, impossibly distilled CHAOS). erh
we got here and checked in and had dinner. jaisalmer is in northern india and it's also unquestionably in the desert. in a walled city with a fort dating back to the 1100s ... the fort is crippling and we're staying in it in a pretty nice hotel and by nice i mean the bathroom is clean.
everyone wants to sell you something here ... i get it but it's hard for me to ignore anyone, difficult too to tell everyone on the street where i'm from. the hard part is there are a couple of things i need to buy but i HATE shopping when no one is pressuring me and just can't deal with shopping when wheedling and bargaining are involved.
my roommate is a challenge, i won't lie. i thik she's 21. she definitely loves to smoke (weed and cigarettes, she put the ashtray next to my pillow last night!), "party," talk about ("no offense") how the US has bad food and is evil!!!, sit cross legged on 2 person seats at dinner and ask me if her leg on top of my thigh is bothering me, she's just more comfortable that way YUCK! then again, it's pretty amazing she's traveling for 4 months on her own around india. i can't imagine how i would have come off at that age to some hardened 30 year old new yorker. and she could be worse so i shant complain beyond what i just wrote on my livejournal ... i'm whining in my livejournal! she's probably too mature for one. i think i just have to get used to sharing space with someone?! who isn't as cute as robert?
but onto more positive things. i am realy glad i came to india. last night i rode a camel and watched the sunset in these amazing sand dunes in the desert!
this is a random pic, i don't have time to find a good one, but interestingly enough there are wild dogs running around the desert. and rats!
a local family wandered a far distance to play music for us and dance. the women wore full makeup and traditional northern indian dresses ... they were amazing. and during the singing their baby started to cry and the mother pulled a scarf over the baby and started to breast feed while she was singing and clapping. i have never seen such multitasking! the baby even played peek-a-boo with me. do babies just seek out women who aren't looking at them? i think so. at night i stayed in a magical tent that had a bed in it! and there was more music and dancing.
and i have some real faves in my group, which is really only together for transport and hotel check in/out, plus the occasional meal. and i'm so super happy i came to india. it's vastly different than anywhere else i have ever traveled and i know i need to come back to southern india, as i can tell i don't have enough time alloted there. well, i must go, until some other horrificly slow internet connection ...