Jul 2007

Written on July 15...

Well, I must admit that I can´t wait to go. My train is at 4:40 tonight, and I feel like I should have left yesterday..oh well! Everything is closed today (Sunday) and restaurants actually charge 30-50%more than on week-days!!! Already that one has to pay 10-30%extra to sit on the patio, but add another 1/3-1/2 and it's just completely out of this world!!! I will want to come back to Spain, but only when I have shite loads of disposable income!!! I´m afraid I´ll share the same feeling for the rest of my trip...

So anyway, I´ve tried the famous tapas..and they’re good..but once again, I’m price stuck. Essentially, each bar puts out these finger food (mostly slices of baguette with some pate and or some stuffed peppers and or some proschutto, ham and/or other meat), you choose the ones you want (cost between 1.5E to 3.5E ea), have a beer or some drink and eat standing up somewhere in the bar…I had 3 things and 1 beer and it cost me almost 10E (!!!) If I didn´t care about $$, I´d love the concept (the food is actually quite good and it´s fun to try different things!).
Here are a couple of pics of the displays.

Other than that, I must admit that I feel like I´m in neverending Old Quebec! I now very much understand what Europeans meant when they would tell me how similar it is (back when I worked in the Old Qc)…except for the fact that everyone only speaks Spanish! Hehehe, I can´t wait to get to France!!!!
Here are a few pics…

That statue at the very left is a statue of Jesus...

San Sebastian is also known to be one of the best beaches in Europe…I though of going until I actually walked there and saw people were crammed like sardines!! I need a good 4-5feet space around me at the beach to be fully comfortable..I think I would have been lucky to have a couple of inches on that beach! Hehehe

Oh well! No biggie..I had my load of beaching in Thailand. Furthermore, I must admit that I feel quite inadequate here..on the clothing and fashion sense (it doesn’t help that my bathing suit got washed with something red and now had uneven red dye all over the bottom part!!)… Everyone is dressed very well, and with more or less good taste, but always very sexy…I really don´t have the right wardrobe for here, cruelly miss my hair dryer (for the first time so far in this trip!), some perfume, and wish I knew how to properly apply eye make-up!. Oh well, I hope that it´ll be different in France, but I doubt it. Hehehe, I expected it, but not to that extent!

Oh well….that´s that for me for now! I must decide if I want to spend 10E on more tapas (and still be hungry, or 17E for some paella (which I was told is not the best in San Sebastian, better in some other region of Spain, or buy yet another supermarket pizza to heat up at the hostel...)

More from Bordeaux, which I chose to visit solely on the fact that they make wine there! :-)

P.S: The weather is gorgeous, and it's currently 32celcius, but it still feels a tad chilly to me..the wind is omnipresent and quite cool...

Written on July 13...

There´s one last picture of India that I would like to post (for now). I took it on my last day, and it is of 2 men working in a ... I don’t know if it a telephone or electricity pole (or maybe both)! Hehehe

Ah, Beautiful San Sebastian! First of all, a quick recap of the last day in Madrid...I went to see a flamenco ballet of the opera Carmen (I just happened to stumble on the theatre while walking around, as the ticket booth was opening! Cool!. I had only send two brief flamenco performances so far in my life and I loved it both time, so it was a definite treat to see a full 1:30h show!! I’m still not exactly sure of the story however; some woman (Carmen) is disliked by her peers (I think she’s higher social class of something –assumption from her better clothes), falls in love with a low level army guy, not correct love, so he goes to jail...she frees him, they’re together, she dances with another guy (toreador), falls for him, dumps the other guy, dances some more, then falls dead...hehehe... the flamenco was great, enhanced by the live signer (with that ‘genuine flamenco signer voice’) and guitar player. I also specially liked when an older woman made a random dance. While the other dancers clearly had more classical ‘ballet’ training, she was the real flamenco deal, with the energy, the stance, the strength! She was at least 50yrs old, but had absolutely wonderful legs...her performance was so strong, simply wonderful! Flamenco is clearly a seduction dance, and I must admit that I loved the men more than the women...they are so strong and proud and powerful...I wonder which (if any) animal this dance is inspired from...somewhere between the bull and the roster! Hehehe Overall soo happy with the experience (even better from the fact that the tickets were half price, 15 instead of 30E! –Wednesday special! Cool!!!)
Anyway, I also visited a bit of Madrid, namely the Palace (only used for some formal functions now),
the fabulously peaceful Palace garden,

This bunny kept running aorund me, which I though was cute initially, but sort of creeped me out after a while (he litterally would just run in circles around me...weird!)

the Cathedral ‘de la Almudena’

and the Museo del Prado. The museum experience was a bit of a disappointment however, as despite it being filled with ‘big names’, I just don’t really connect/click with painted art (specially when the little explanation boards are all in Spanish and when at least 90% of the paintings are of religious nature (to be expected from European art of the ...several past centuries) and/or the Monarchy/well-to-do. I really enjoyed the few sculptures however, although the urge to touch was sometimes overwhelming (in my opinion sculptures were made to be touched, made by tactile people, yet I fully understand the impossibility of allowing the public to touch unique and priceless pieces of art!).

I also found the perfect restaurant (only seen in Madrid so far)! Called FrescCo, it´s an 'all you can eat' buffet for 8.5E! I had 3 MASSIVE salads (which I missed so much while in India!) and some roasted chicken and some pizza and some dessert (hehehe I was hungry! Food is quite expensive here, so I had mostly stuck to bread and peanut butter thus far!-yes yes, I had been carrying a tub of peanut butter since Thailand, for ‘if Indian food was bad and/or I could not really afford European food'! Hehehe, seems crazy, but it turned out to be a great idea! Hehehe for me at least!). On the topic of food, I must admit my disappointment at the food here, as 1:it´s crazy expensive (generally at least 12E for a meal, not bad if you’re paid in Euro, but for the little CAD$, it sucks ass!), 2: EVERYTHING has meat (or almost) of some sort...combining that with menus in Spanish, I haven’t eaten much in restaurants, opting for..well, not eating very much, and buying food at the grocery store and eating at the hostel. This ‘omnipresent’ meat (and fear of cost) has also kept me away from the renowned Tapas...I think I’ll blow all caution out the door tomorrow, and have some as I don’t think I can reasonably come to Spain and not have Tapas (and Sangria and paella as a matter of fact).

Anyway! I took the train over to San Sebastian and it left right on the dot, at 10am sharp! How cool! And it even arrived on time!!!! Wow! I had some time to ponder on my lack of passion about Spain thus far, and it came to me, as I was reading a WONDERFUL book. It’s called ‘Lost in Transmission´ (I forget the name of the author right now), but it’s about this Australian journalist who becomes the foreign correspondent of his news channel for South east Asia (he’s based in New Delhi, but also covers Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, etc). I don’t know if I enjoy this book so much because I’ve been there and recognize the quirks of Indian people (as he explains countless anecdotes of when he tries to settle in his new job, as well as just live and work in this region), but I definitely think that he does a great job at explaining the Indian people –I strongly recommend it! Anyway, in the book he goes back to Australia for a few weeks and can’t help but find the place flat and boring...I realized that my problem was that I hadn’t left India in my head and in my heart (knowing is half the battle) an that this book was sort of keeping me in the mind frame...so I finished it asap and am now happy to report that I’m glad to be here and that I think Europe is great! Hehehe For example, I was walking on the street in Madrid and a man was walking toward me, while opening a package of some food or something. He dropped a portion of the wrapping on the sidewalk, actually stopped and bent down to pick it up (!!!!!!!!) I hadn’t sent hat in over 5 months!!!!!! Wow!!!!! Furthermore, people as so polite here! Cars stop to let pedestrian cross the street (!!!!!!) and people line up to get in busses and trains (!!!!! I actually have to be careful and consciously get in line, as the habit of cutting everyone has become somewhat of a reflex!!hehehe). At first I was a bit shocked at seeing girls wear very skimpy clothes, and had a hard time going back to ‘showing some skin’, but I´m getting there !!!hehehe The mood is very different here, as my fellow travellers are here to party and relax (as opposed to discover culture or anything like that), which means that they travel differently and carry different things (aka I heard a blow dryer for the first time since I started travelling! I couldn’t believe that the girl was travelling with her blow-dryer, but here in Europe, it actually makes sense. People dress well, fashionably, and I’m in constant internal struggle to not buy clothes or shoes –wonderful wonderful shoes here!!!)

Anyway, upòn my arrival in San Sebastian, I met 3 American girls and 2 guys from Mtl at the hostel and we all planned to go to Pamplona that night (last night), for the San Fermin festival (run of the bull). Pamplona is approx 1 hour away from San Sebastian, but is WAY out of range $$ wise, so many people stay in San Sebastian. The last bus leaves at 9pm, and the bull run is a 8am, so the trip involves spending the night up partying (twist my arm!!!hehehe). I bought some booze at the grocery store (for a flabbergasting 3E for a 40ounce of Rum!!!!! Booze is WAY cheap here (I just bought a 1.5L of Sangria –in an effort to taste it before I leave, 2 nights from now, and it cost me 0.99E!!!! hehehe Awesome!!!) in the markets, but crazy crazy expensive in the bars (which means that I won’t go out! Not worth it!).
Anyway, the festival ends tonight, but there was fireworks and an ‘almost all night’ music show last night! It was a LOT of fun!!! Staying up ended-up being very very easy and a great time! It was also great to be at a pop show, with all those old and young Spanish people, everyone –or almost- dressed in white, with some red (neck scarf, shoes, belt, etc), dancing and signing!
While many people were saying thet the actual run was not all that it´s hyped up to be and that we were better off in the stadium (where they have smaller bulls run around and hit anything they see) for that portion of the show), of the 6 of us, 4 decided to go straight in, while a guy and I decided to also see the actual run (after all, it’s what I was here for, I didn´t even know there was a stadium show until that night!). We got great seats (on the fence) and waited for a couple of hours, seeing the preparative, ambulances, lots and lots of paramedics, police, street cleaners, etc prepare for the event.

The run itself was indeed quite anticlimactic (it literally lasted 5 seconds and there were only 5 bulls –I was expecting a full heard), but the adrenaline and enthusiasm was great! I didn´t get any good pics infortunately, but the guy got a video which he´ll send me.
We then proceeded to the arena, where the following pics were taken...( there´s a great video where the bull nabs 3 people in a row!!)

.

This portion of the show lasted almost 1 hour and several small bulls were released one after the other. One even jumped past the first gate (where some of the poeple sometimes get refuge from the ring)! heheeh what a commotion that was!!! hehehe Poor animal though. While no actual harm was done to them, it must have been a stressful and nasty experience for each one of them...

We were told that there´s a corrida at 6pm, with a toreador and a bull is put to death, but it´s expensive, and I´m not sure I really wanted to see a bull slowly die before my eyes (I´ve seen the slaying of a mutton in Morocco years ago and that was enough for me!).
Last couple of pics;
The eternal and incontournable Don Quichotte:

And last but not least, one must not forget that there´s poverty here as well. I´ve repeatdly seen sights similar to this one:

So that’s that for me for now. This internet is running me way high (at 2E-hour!!!), so adios amigos!

P.S. I find it interesting and surprising to see that, in this part of Spain at least, there isn´t a 'Spanish look'. Spaniards look very different, some are very white, some darker, all colour hair..just plain simply different! One thing in common¨they don´t speak English or French!!! (arrgghh!), but I realize that I can understand more than I originally thought (specially reading), and coming here is triggering a desire to learn Spanish...oh we'll see... I'd consider a school exchange (semester abroad) here, but the Euro is a bit of a killer...

Written on July 10...

I just made it to Spain this morning, after a wonderful flight (got upgraded to business class), thanks to the guy beside me. As we were about to take off, the stewartist came to him and said he could move up (Anthony -the guy beside me- had apparently made him laugh by saying "welcome to civilization" as we walked ont he plane...hehehe whatever works! hehehe). Since we had been chatting, I asked if I could go with him, and the stewartist said yes!!! yay!! SO we ended up talking and drinking (moderatly, only 2 bottles of red wine -airplane size- each) until 5am (the plane took off at 2:10am).
First things first, important detail about the airport. My cousin Rafale had mentioned this a long time ago, but I had sort of forgotten, until I got to the entrance door to the airport, only to find a significant line-up! It turns out that they check the passports and tickets of people before letting anyone in the airport...maybe to reduce the traffick inside (it´s quite crammed in there), maybe for security against terrorism... I´m not sure. Anyway, I´m not sure if I mentioned this, but I had read in Lonely Planet that women could bypass line-ups to buy tickets at the train station simply by walking at the front of the line and taking the next available spot...so I tried my luck and just walked straight pass the line (at least 20-25 people) and just gave my passport and ticket to the army guy as soon as he had his hands free...and it worked! hehehe, no one complained at all and I saved a good 30-40 minutes waiting! hehehe, gotta love India!!! I also saved a shite load of time by having checked-in online (thank you British Airway for this wonderful option!), as the line-up for the 1 “regular” check-in counter was just out of this world. Instead I got to check-in at the very quick “First class” counter! Hehehe good times!
The plane left on time (shock of all shocks!!! I´m not used to this anymore- at all!!) and was pleasantly reminded of the joys of developped countries while waiting in London for my connexion to Madrid. Madrid is pretty darn good so far! It´s clean, smells good, is quiet (guess what we don´t hear: people honking!!! wow!), good food (a bit pricey, but it´s Europe! So to be expected!)
I do have one very major complaint however....it hit me as soon as I walked in the airport in Madrid....everyone here speaks Spanish )deh! you´ll say).... I don´t know if it´s just because I´m so tired (I only slept 3 hours last night, and not very comfortably), but I´m oh so tired of being in countries that don´t speak my language!!! This is the 6th so far... and I think it´s worst because it´s somewhat close, but still oh so different, that it´s even more frustrating (as opposed to any of the other languages which had nothing at all, written or spoken, inc ommon with anything I knew)...so I don´t think I´ll bother going to Barcelone (combined with the fact that it´s oh so far away and out of my way). I think I´ll stay in Madrid 1 more day, then off to San Sebastian/Pamplona for 3 nights, then up to France, where people finally speak the same language as me!!! (albeit with a very weird accent, but still!) I can´t wait!!!!
Gotta go,
Cheers!

Written on July 9…

I feel like there's a million things to say and write...but nothing comes to my mind right now....I hate when that happens, as I will log off, walk away and immediately think of 100 stories, will make mental notes to write them down, but won't...wachha gonna do!

First, I must apologize, as I have totally failed at showing you India! I have posted some pics (finally, it’s about time, on the last day! Hehehe), but really, it’s such a few pics, for such a broad country! I feel like everything I’ve seen was picture worthy. Almost every scene should have been captured..it would have been the only way to properly portray this place…I was already feeling a little inadequate on the pic front, but it got much worst in Jodhpur, where a Danish girl showed me some of her pics….it totally put me to shame! She had the same feeling as me: India is about the colours! They are everywhere, and are wonderful! However, as I only have a few pics with great colours, she has a ton (ok ok, it probably helped that she was here for almost 6 months! but still!). Anyway, all of that to say that I’m sorry about doing such a poor job at portraying India. I’ll nevertheless post the pics if/when I get them, from my first memory card, as there were some good ones…

I’m leaving tonight with mixed feelings.
On one side, I wished I’d stayed longer and had more time to see more places! On the other hand, now that it’s almost over, I’m kinda glad. Indian food is very good, but it’s always the same (parantha for breakfast (it’s like a chapatti, but bigger and takes a bit different). Lunch and dinner made of Dal, rice, chapatti and some mix veggies) and it, so far in my trip, almost always tastes the same! In other words…I’m a bit tired of it! Hehehe Furthermore, monsoon season is about to start (has already started in the south) which means almost non-stop raining, with the resulting floods and delays/cancellation in trains and buses. Finally, tourist season is picking-up quite a bit here, with Europeans and Koreans everywhere (it’s their summer vacation there and many of them travel I guess!), so this changes the scenery and feel quite a bit.
Really finally: I’m quite a bit tired of having the exact same conversation over and over and over again! Where are you from? What’s your name? Are you married? What’s your father work? Mother work? What do you do in Canada? Hehehe, I have had “conversations” with people who barely speak English just by guessing which of the above that person what asking me and answering accordingly! Hehehe, fun once or twice, boring after a while! hehehe
Overall, I would have been happy to stay here longer, but I’m also happy to leave and explore a new continent! Hehehe
About the rain here, I must admit that I’m a bit puzzled at how they handle it. Let’s face it, monsoon is not a new phenomenon, yet they don’t seem to be prepared for it at all! In Johpur, it rained for an entire day, and by mid-day, the street was covered by several inches of water, essentially flooded from only a few hours of rain! I can only imagine after several days/weeks!!! My question is why do they not have better trenches and/or canals??? It’s not exactly rocket science!! I don’t have an answer to this! As a result, entire cities get flooded, people die (albeit a small number considering that there are 1B of them!!), roads get destroyed and trains/buses get cancelled! I cannot believe that there’s nothing at all that can be done! Especially if it has been happening since the beginning of time and will keep on happening for ever!!!
I chose not to go to Jaisalmer as I was afraid that it would rain again and prevent me from coming back to Delhi on time for my flight (original plan: Jpdhpur-Amristar to see Mouchi, visit the Golden temple (holy sik site) and get a copy of the CD (with my pics) that he has. When I couldn’t get a train ticket until July 13th, alternate plan: Jodhpur-Jaisalmer for a couple of days, then come back to Delhi today and go straight to the airport. Actual turn of events. Massive rain in Jodhpur, stay there 1.5 extra day, spend 1.5 day in Delhi…not as much fun, but at least I’ll most probably make it on the plane!!, and Mouchi will mail me the CD…

Things I will not miss:
The lack of etiquette! hehehe I have heard many people fart, up to a man across the road at a park!!! (however, I must admit that Indian food does make you fart! hehehe). People also burp quite a lot. I once had a shop owner burp loudly (there was no attempt at keeping it quiet) and at first I was like ???, but seeing no hint of sorryness, I just moved on! hehehe
Spitting is also quite nasty. Men here chew tobacco (or something like it) and, of course, have to spit regularly...yak! hehehe I'm glad our men don't do it (as much)! I'd have a really hard time finding a "spitter" attractive! hehehe
On a final note of unattractivess: it seems to be perfectly correct here to pick your nose (I've only seen men do it though)...hmmm, not so hot! hehehe
I will also not miss being constantly observed. I litterally cannot walk for 5 minutes and not sit for more than 2 minutes before someone comes to talk to me. After a few minutes they move on and someone else invariably comes along (with the same exact conversation questions.)
I will not miss the beggars. There aren't that many, but I always feel bad. From mothers with their small child to handicapped adults, via children...it's always sad. However, I don't know where they picked it up, but in Jodhpur, kids perfectly well dressed, clean, with clean clothes and shoes, would come up to me and ask for 100R (which is a shite load of money here -some people live on less than 100R/day), when I'd say no, they'd go "2R, 5R, 10R, 20R.." ad so on! I'd be like NO!!! No WAY!!! GO!!! I guess it works sometimes, but if I've met any kids/or people in general, who clearly don't need it, it's them! t was so weird!
I will also not miss the pollution here. The air pollution is quite harsh, leaving a fairly think layerof dirt on me every day (most noticeable when I blow mynose - sorry for the details! hehehe)
Finally, I will not miss almost always paying more than anyone else!!!! I can't wait for an actual "fixed price' (even shops with that mention here are not really, you can always get a better price - always!)

Things I will miss:
hmmm hard to say, many things though. I will certainly miss the lack of etiquette, and being an attraction ! hehehe
I will mostly miss the atmosphere, the crazyness, the seemingly lack of order (but it somehow always works out!). I will miss people coming up to me every 5 minutes to talk and take pictures! I will definitely miss the smile on kids faces when I wave hello or buy something from them (prime example: I went to buy this samosa at a shop. The kid - maybe 12yrs old- originally turns to his father, who tells him to serve me. The smile that comes on his face!!! He asks me how many I want, I say 1, I ask how much, he hops over to my side to give me my samosa and hops his way back with my money, all while smiling from ear to ear!!! hehehe, so cute and heart-warming!
I will miss the colours, the smells, the sights! I will miss the food as well (not right now, but eventually! hehehe) On that note, I tried a local food of Jodhpur when I was there. It's a chilly pepper stuffed with something (potato I think), dipped in batter and deep fried. They're sold in most shops there. I went to buy something else, and the owner asked me why not to try (only 4R), and I though, yeah, why not? So I bought it. It tasted like hell!! I had half a bite and it tasted like jalapeno pepper (deh!!) and hadn't lost any of it's spicyness (I though it may-but I was oh so wrong!!) hehehe I ended up trying to give it to a cow, who wouldn't eat it either ! hahaha! Later that evening the Danish girl (who took so much better pics than me), told me that she had tried an awful deep fried pepper thing! hehehe I said "me too" hehehe, she was like "ahh is was soo bad! I had tears coming down my face and my mouth was on fire, and it just tasted so bad!"
hehehe

Things I was expecting but didn't see:
- People shitting on the side of the road (to be fair, I kinda saw it, but not as I was expecting-not in the middle of the place for everyone to see). I only saw it very early in the morning, on two occasions, and both times, it wasn't an obsene or disgusting event, just life going as it must go when one had no other options. The first time was just outside of Mathura (on the way to Agra), as the bus was going on a country side road. Kids were in the field, fairly far away from us and from one another, doing their thing...we just happened to drive by. The second time was getting here to Delhi, once again very early morning, people were going in a somewhat forested area and around the train tracks...once again, they were in a fairly secluded area, but we just happened to pass by...hehehe, I saw many pee wees on that morning! and some Indian men have massive balls (like very massive)...I wonder what's that all about! hehehe :-) To be fair, these people lived in slums and certainly didn't have any kind of toilet... so what else were they supposed to do? furthermore, they were in the sitting/crouching position that everyone assumes regularly here (kinda like sitting but your butt doesn't touch the ground), the only difference is that they pants were off (obviously!)
- I didn't experience any realy stinky Indians... I was kinda execting it from past experience, but everyone I met smelled ok (unnoticeable), and I noticed that the vast majority of people wash at least once a day (in the morning), no matter if they live in town or in the slums...
-I wasn't molested, attacked, groped (except by an old man who touched my knee in a bus - big deal!!) or offered shady propositions... From what other people had told me, I was almost expected to get mugged at every corner! Actually, I just got offered hash for the first time tonight, which I believe is triggered by the massive influx of white people (it's litterally day and night from the first time I was here! The shops also sell different stuff - clearly geared toward tourists- as opposed to the first time I was here!)

To conclude:
A couple of random remarks:
1- Everyone here (shop keepers) seems to know about French Canada!?!?! They ask me where I'm from, then ask me what part! Many even guess Mtl right away!! Funny because I haven't met a single Canadian (let alone French speaking) since I've been here!!!

2- All the hotel staff (cleaning, reception, room service, etc) are men. I've never seen a woman working in a hotel. The same applies to restaurants! Come to think of it, the only place I've seen women is in the police and army force!!, and maybe once or twice in a shop, but even there, rarely!. Women are almost all housewives here!!!!

So that's all I can think of right now for India...I overall loved my experience here and would definitely like to come back one day!!!

P.S. I'm going to Madrid next. I'm still tired of living in my backpack, but will just have to bear it one more month (arrggghh, life is SO difficult ;-P), as changing my flights and living in Van for 1 month would have cost me pretty much the same thing as going to Europe..so overall a fairly easy decision. Madrid, here I come!!!

P.P.S. I bought a new purse today and immediately felt bad toward my old one, my "faithful companion". I bought the new one because the zipper of my old (and let's admit it, beat-up) one was giving and was seriously starting to not zip properly (would open from anywhere, sometimes, and I could always fix it, but I could tell the end was near). Well, I didn't switch my stuff rightaway, and went about with my old purse, and it is the moment it chose ot officially not zip up at all! I like to think that my old faithful companion knew it could finally die peacefully! Thank you dear old purse, you were beautiful (but oh so dirty!) and I like to think that thank's to you, I didn't lose any of my important stuff! xxx

Written on July 9...

Finally some pics!!!

This is a brief view of the old city of Jodhpur, which is within the walls of the Fort (following pics). The blue houses are from a tradition where the Brahmins (religious cast) could paint their houses blue. Now many people also do it as this colour is thought to have "insect repellent" properties, as well as keeping the houses cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter (it's magic! hehehe)

The following pics are of the fort, which is where the Maharajat of the area has lived (and still does) for centuries. The site had an audio tour (when you wear the little earphones and press on a number when you get to a dedicated station) which was absolutely wonderful! It was the best tour (after the Taj) that I've even done!

Interesting story, about opium... In the West, we often think that they smoked it (and/or some derivative of weed) in their long decorated pipes. Well, it turns out that they actually smoked scented tobacco, and drank opium tea instead. ahhh, it's in line with what a French guy had told me in Laos..except that he ate his opium instead of drinking it...

Back to Jodhpur, here are a couple of the paintings found in my room..so pretty! I must admit that I haven't seen that in any other place yet, but it seems to be typical fo Rajasthan (the province)

First of all, the train was delayed by almost 4 hours, due to heavy rain in Mumbai (where it started). I was taking it from Jaipur to Jodhpur. So instead of arriving around 7-8pm, we arrived at 11pm (I try to never arrive anywhere at night, as everything costs more - rickshaws, hotel rooms, just overall trouble). Luckily, the hotel guy had offered to arrange with a rickshaw to pick me up. I must admit that it felt great to have someone ask me "Are you Mimi?" when I arrived (I was already busy escaping other drivers) and drive me to the hotel, where a room was waiting. Now, the room was clearly not in the price range I had asked for (200-300R), but it was so pretty and clean that I decided to stay there the night (it turned out to be 400R -pretty typical hotel scam, reserve a room at a certain price, but if you show up late, it's bound to be gone, and they give you a costlier room). Oh well, I switched rooms the following day, but at least got these great pics! hehehe

To conclude with the pics (I've only taken very few since buying the new card)

This is a pretty typical sight in Rajasthan, a camel pulling a trolley or some sort. Unfortunately, I was not able to go on a camel ride, as it rained and killed the day. This also prevented me from going to the city of Jasailmer, which is apparently very very pretty... too bad, I will need to come back to India!!

In an effort to show a bit of the colours...

This was taken in Delhi, on my arrival at 8am. A spice market.

Taken from the train, ladies walking on the tracks...

A regular occurence: an entire family "assaulting" me. It always happens the same, they all come up to me, only 1 speaks english and they ask the same questions as everyone else... Generally they ask for pics, and I have to sit through 5-6, with different members of the family, so this time I turned things around and asked to take a pic to show you the colours these women wear, but they put the kids in front, covering themselves a bit too much unfortunately... Men wear very "regular' boring clothes, but women, all throughout India so far, wear these wonderful colours! I wish we could do the same in Canada...
The dress code is generally one of two things: the sari, and the salawaar camise...I didn't buy a sari, but bought and wore quite a bit, the salawaar camise...which you san see in this (very bad) couple of pics! hehehe

People really liked that I was wearing that, as I think it showed respect. I got told over and over again that I was very pretty in it (pat on my back! hehehe)...Now that I see those pics, it just kinda looks silly, but "when in Rome, live as the Romans" and It's actually quite comfy!
Cheers!