Its really crazy how the shittiest day can turn out being one of the best of all in the end. I woke up today knowing full well that my plan to try and make it to Pushkar (for the Camel festival) was going to be tough (for to many reasons to list properly, mostly it has to do with that 200,000 people converge on one place for 5 days). After being fucked around by a few so called travel agencies, not finding a hotel room for a price even near reasonable, and with no real idea of where i was going to go next, on top of not having a hotel room anymore (having checked out of my hotel in Udaipor) and lugging around my backpack for about 4 hours, i got lucky.
Its truly amazing how luck works. I walked into a little shop down the block from my hotel for a bottle of water. The guy inside saw i was upset and really on edge, so he decided to ask me what was up, without trying to push on to me some useless object he had for sale in his shop (this my friends, is fucking rare in India). After telling this guy about what shit i had been through in the morning and having a crazy realization (in front of him) that i was totally lost and out of ideas in a country thats on the opposite side of the world from my own he told me (calmly) to tell him, where and what i wanted to do next if the camel festival didn't work out. By the way, every convince store in a resort city is a internet cafe, drug store and travel agency all compiled into a 12 by 12 foot room. The guy understood what i was going through (with the stress of Indian travel) and told me - if i would like of course - that he could sit me down and give me some advice (free by the way, truly fucking rare) about traveling Rajasthan, and the rest of north India, if i would like. Considering his shop was empty, and i was out of ideas i took him up on the offer and he walked me through a bunch of places and things i should see over the next month. Over the next hour, the guy pretty well walked me through how to time manage my trip, with booking trains and buses in and out of cities and towns i wanted to go to. This completely went against my whole game plan, which was winging the whole fucking thing from the start, but i trusted this guy and he completely understood what i was going through, because he was in all honesty helping me first and foremost. He was completely sincere and upfront about costs and commissions (on tickets), showed me the prices of trains and buses on the official websites, and totally helpful with listening to what i wanted to do in different areas (along with giving me his own advice on what to do, see and experience there and the amount of time he would take if it were himself that was traveling there). Pretty well, in about the course of an hour this guy had booked my trains and buses from city to city (with tickets and complete itinerary of course) for the next month. I end up in Varanasi, on the 3rd of December. This was a total relief and weight off my chest, knowing for the next month, i have the stress of booking my transportation out of the way and a whole route mapped out for the total cost of around 120 dollars. Il see how this all works out in the end, but it really feels good to know that my time and transport are managed accordingly over the next month, because - take my advice here (at least anyone who plans on traveling this country at a young age and on a budget - this is probably the hardest places in the world to go a distance of 100 km. Nothing here travel wise is like north America, nothing is set and nothing ever works out the way you picture its going to. Something always happens (for good or bad) and the trip is always interesting but it kicks the shit out of you after a while and im glad as hell that i have this next month figured out. After that, the guy called up his friend and got me a hotel for a good price right up the street (after being told by my previous hotel that i had to pay an extra 200 rs if i wanted my room back and all the other rooms in the area were full).
After all that was settle and done with, i smoked a sheesha and sat on the deck of my hotel with a really cool man from south India as we watched the sunset from a roof top bar. If you check the photo i posted below, you can see how amazing the sunsets are here. The truth is that the photo doesn't do it justice and my long explanation of it wont either, so read it if you like but know that you have no clue. At around 5:30 the sun becomes a red circle right above the horizon then slowly (and i mean slowly, sunsets don't last like this in canada)the sun goes below the horizon. After that, theirs a sort of greyish, blue mist that engulfs half the sky and the moon appears right above your head. At this point the lake, looks still and birds (hawks particularity) are contrast unbelievably with the horizon. The sky then - over the next half hour - turns from blue to a deep, dark orange then to a foggy tint of yellow, contrasted by the darkening sky that surrounds the moon above you. Stars begin to appear, and at this point all the lights from the buildings surrounding the lake turn on, and the water looks like its dancing when boats make ripples as they glide throughout the lake. There are chants from a mosque across the lake, and at this point Lake Pichola (which is what im watching the sunset over) and the Palace that sits on it, looks so pristine that the scene could actually be out of a fairytale(not wanting to quote lonely planet but its true). At around 6:15 the mountains in the back ground look like waves against a light purple sky and you look directly up, to see the moon completely surrounded by stars. Really an amzaing experience, of course a bit of hash helps the cause but all in all a truly "zen" moment aunty jocelyn.
This is what makes everything on this trip worth while. You can have the shittiest day (or week) for that matter and then all of a sudden someone decides to help you. And not "help" you as in try and sell you something and get as much money from you as possible, i mean actually help you, and you realize that once again the world is good and everything for the most part will work if its supposed to. That sunset puts everything into perspective and makes this whole trip worth while. It completely reinforces that if you can walk through the shit on the streets, deal with garbage, turn away beggars, stand the heat of the day without dying and most of all, put up with seeing people everywhere that have less money to there name than you have in your pocket you can after all see the true beauty that this country possesses. Thats all im going to rant about today, im sure none of you have any idea of what point i was trying to make, truth is i dont know what point im trying to make. Maybe its that the world would be a far better place if everyone appreciated kindness more and took the time everyday to watch something simple happen and see the true beauty that takes place within it. Wow this is good hash
1 comment:
Wow, baby, you did have a moment of zen. But, much bigger in recognizing hoe the world works in far off places, with people who so much less than you, and in the end people are essentially good. You have seen and experienced the ups and downs on surviving India but have a sense of what it takes for the Indians to survive India. And, as you say, don't be surprised if all the best laid travel plans take a turn, because now you know it is always a possibility and you can take the time to regroup and connect with where you are and the next steps will unfold. I love your stories. In a small way, it is like being there with you. Thanks so much for sharing.
Your VERY impressed Aunt Joss X
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