Two or three days in Daman?

It was a very long day. I went from Ahmadabad to Daman, a distance of 354 kms and it took me the entire day to get here! The speed we traveled at probably averaged 25-30 kms. Even on a major highway the traffic is insane.

In India most goods are delivered via medium sized trucks that are usually packed way beyond intended capacity. They rule the roads and if they don't move, you don't move. To add to the traffic problem, throughout Gujarat the highway is being widened and the construction made for some very long stops on a very hot day.

But the long trip was worth it, what a change! I went from a busy, polluted and overpopulated Ahmadabad to a scenic oceanside resort town of only thirty five thousand. There's no foreign tourists here (it's difficult to get here by train or bus) and I seem to be the town attraction. I've been told that I remind them of Salman Kahn, a Bollywood movie star. I don't see it, but I don't mind the attention. :)

Daman is an old port town where the Portugese built a couple of 500 year old forts. It's really beautiful and I've got a nice hotel room for a fair price. I expected to pay a lot more because the population here seems to be mostly middle class. I've decided to stay here for at least a couple of days.

The sun was setting when I got here and I didn't really have time to do much. I went to the nearby Nani Daman (Fort of St. Jerome) and tomorrow I'll try to explore some of the other sights.

Crows resting on the ruins of the Nani Daman:








Fishing boats in the harbour:

Avoid Ahmadabad

It's really like I've entered another country! Everything from the alphabet to the language is different. Not only do people not speak English, they don't even speak Hindi -- which is supposed to be widely spoken in India. Each state here seems to have it's own language.

People here have been pretty unwilling to help and finding a hotel was quite hectic. The hotel I did find I had to haggle for to get down to 200 rupees, which is roughly five dollars per night. It's easily the dirtiest hotel I've stayed at so far and yet not the cheapest.

The only place I've seen any tourists is in what seems to be the ONLY internet cafe in a city. I find this really unusual for a city of 4.5 million! I had to wait an hour to get to a computer. Walking the streets I could immidately feel the pollution in my nose and throat. It's not a pleasant city to explore. The traffic is insane! I'll be leaving tomorrow and it's not soon enough.

Relaxing in Udaipur

I got up early in the morning and went to see the Sajjangarh Fort, the City Palace and the Jagdish Temple. I didn't take many photos and the sights didn't really offer much that I haven't already seen in other parts of Rajasthan. There were a number of other sights to see, but all I really wanted to do was get an idea of where I wanted to be for the rest of my trip and spend the remainder of the day relaxing. I did just that.

I booked a domestic flight from Bangalore to Delhi for December 15 which means that the rest of my trip will be spent exploring south India. I also arranged for transportation to my next stop, Ahmadabad, Gujarat. I went to a nearby restaurant where I spent the rest of the day playing chess with David and Marie (the couple from France) and sharing stories with other travellers.

The view from the fort:
















A sadhu in front of the Jagdish Temple:

Ranakpur to Udaipur

I woke up early in Jodhpur and met up with Bhuwan outside of my hotel at 6:30 am. The sun started to rise shortly after we left the city. Immediately the scenery started to change. We left the desert for lush hillsides. It was a quick drive to Ranakpur and right away we went to the Jain temples. What a sight! The architecture is amazing and each column (over a hundred columns) is decorated with unique carvings. I could have spent hours in there and I easily took over a 100 photos.

My original plan had been to stay a night in Ranakpur, but I heard accomodation in nearby Udaipur was cheaper and it's known for being one of the favorites for tourists. I thought it would be better to keep driving and spend a couple of nights in one place -- for a change.

We reached Udaipur before sunset and this was the last stop on my taxi tour. This tour was worth every penny. It really helped ease me into my trip and I highly recommend it as a way to travel through India. I was really lucky to get Bhuwan as my driver and saying goodbye was surprisingly difficult. Over the last few days I've gotten to know him well. During the long drives we talked and joked about everything from politics to religion to girls. He had as many questions about Canada as I did about India. I may see him again in Delhi before I fly out. We made plans to get together for "momo," a type of dumpling and one of his favorite foods to eat.

I spent the evening playing chess with David from France and watching the sun set over Lake Pichola, the lake Udaipur is built around.

Jain temples:
































Bhuwan and me with the taxi:








Sunset over Lake Pichola in Udaipur:

Heading south through Jodhpur

I'm at an internet cafe in Jodhpur, the second biggest city in Rajasthan. A wedding procession just passed by and all I can say is "Wow!" Indian people really know how to have a wedding. The whole city seems to get involved and everyone joins in on the parade. The more people that come the better. Right now seems to be a good month to get married.

I really like Jodhpur. I find it quite fun to explore, there are markets everywhere and the streets are too narrow for buses and big cars. Mehrangarh (a giant fort) overlooks the city. In some places its walls are 400 feet high. It's impressive! I spent the morning and afternoon walking around the fort looking down on the city. The palace can be seen in the distance and it too looks impressive. It's not that much of a tourist attraction, it's still used by the royal family and part of it is used as a hotel. I don't want to know how much a night there costs!

Near the fort I saw the Jaswant Thada, an impressive marble monument marking the royal cremation ground. I think the temperature today reached 35 degrees and I decided that was enough sight seeing for me.

I found a nice little guest house ran by a very friendly family. From the rooftop I can see the city and the fort. There I ate dinner, something that can best be described as an egg and cheese pizza. It was quite tastey.

If I weren't trying to see as much as possible in one month, Jodphur is a place where I wouldn't mind spending a few days.

Inside the fort:








One of the many canon's still guarding the fort:








Jaswant Thada:








The fort and city as seen from the Jaswant Thada:








The streets of Jodhpur:

Two days in Jaisalmer

My first night here was spent in the desert, with nothing more than a blanket, camels, beetles, scorpions and sand dunes. It was part of the 'camel safari' experience. After three hours on the back of the camel I'll be quite happy if I never have to ride a camel again. I'm still having troubles sitting. It seems most safaris here involve some ruin visit, mine didn't. It was just the ride, dinner, night and breakfast in the desert. There was no tent and most people slept right on the sand. With scorpions running around I'm glad I chose to sleep on a raised platform.

In Jaisalmer the only interesting thing to see was the fort. It's one of few (if not the only) forts that people still work, build and live in. I spent a good part of the day exploring the narrow streets and saying no to the many things people tried to sell me. In terms of architecture, there's not a lot to see but it does provide some insight in how life would have been here 700 years ago. I don't think it's changed much.

The desert is not to my liking. Tomorrow I'm off to Jodhpur.

Inside the fort:

Bika.. what?

Bikaner -- an alternative to Pushkar, on my way to Jaisalmer. There is a camel festival in Pushkar, making it difficult and quite expensive to get a place to stay. With prices going up five times the norm, I decided not to even bother and settled for visiting Bikaner instead.

It's a quiet place compared to the places I've been to thus far. There's not much in terms of sight seeing, I went to the Junagarh Fort and the Lalgarh palace. They pale in comparison to what I've seen so far, but it was something to do for the afternoon.

Right now I'm in a VERY dusty computer cafe finishing up all my updates and I can't wait to get back to the hotel. It's one of my cheapest stays and it's incredibly clean -- it even has fully functional western toilets. The restaurant at the hotel is supposed to be really good, the food up to this point has been delicious!

Junagarh fort:
























The street my hotel is on:

Welcome to Rajasthan

Entering Rajasthan is like entering a different country. The people seem fierce and have a proud history. The landscape is mostly desert with imposing forts on every hill and palaces around every lake.

Like most who come to Rajasthan, my first stop was Jaipur. It's a busy city with a lot to see! I woke up early, met up Bhuwan and set out to see the Amber palace, just a few minutes outside of Jaipur. It's a beautiful palace overlooking a lake, built for concubines. Part of the taxi tour package included an elephant ride through the palace gate but a long line up of tourists suggested a two hour wait and I opted to go through the back entrance. Even in its run-down state it's impressive and one can't help wonder how it would have looked during its golden age.

Walking through the palace I met Pedro, a fellow from Portugal, running around and taking photos with the same enthusiasm and camera model as me and Tim and Christine, a couple from Australia who were eager to talk about Nikola Tesla. We were trying to figure out the easiest way to get up to the fort overlooking the palace and Tim and Pedro figured out a way through a palace window followed by a climb down one of the palace walls. It was like being in the game "Prince of Persia" and it made for a fun adventure -- making up for lackluster fort.

I returned to the city where I checked out various other sights such as the Hawa Mahal, the Jaipur City Palace and the Jantar Mantar. My driver also took me to the nearby Galtaji temple though instead of going to it I decided to hike up the hill to an abandoned and secluded fort. I had it all to myself and was also rewarded to a great view of the entire city.

While checking out these sights I ran Nick and Maggie (who I met in Delhi) and we talked about meeting up later for chess -- I don't think Maggie was too keen on that idea. I also met up with Manu (from Agra) and walked around searching for an internet cafe. We didn't find one but we did end up having a great dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Couldn't ask for a better day!

The walls of Amber fort:








Amber palace:








Amber from the walls of the palace:








Camel riders inside the fort:








This is who the fort belongs to now:








Cow road block while hiking to abandoned fort:








The city of Jaipur as seen from abandoned fort:

Taj Mahal - it deserves it's own entry

Wow, it's impressive and quite inspiring. I spent all morning walking around and inside the Taj Mahal and its garden. The gates open at 6:00 am and I got there quarter to. They did not allow me to take my tripod inside and I was asked to check it in at the nearby lockers. On my way there I met one of the hundred Taj Mahal keepers who promised me the best Taj photos for 350 rupees (that's just under 10 USD). I told him if I can get an amazing shot, I'd be happy to give him the money. The photos were medicore, but he really tried his best to get me a good photo and took me to dozens of spots, even to a rooftop of his friends' place. After he invited me over to his place for tea, a tiny place where he lives with his wife, five sons and a daughter. I couldn't give him any less and I didn't feel ripped off.

Inside the gates of the Taj Mahal it's quite busy. Thousands of people and it's very difficult to get a photo without someone in it. I did my best waiting for people to get behind trees or pillars before taking the shot. It's really an amazing structure from all angles.

The reason it was built hits you as soon as you enter the tomb. It's beautiful inside and photos are not allowed. It's difficult to describe the emotions that hit you -- it's one of those things that everyone needs to experience for themselves.

(I hope these photos are not as crappy as they look on this ten year old computer, using Windows 98)

The classic shot:








From the side:








Inside one of the side structures:

Busy in Agra

My night in Delhi ended in the company of Nick and Maggie, a friendly couple from Holland. Nick had a chess board and we played a couple of games. He's a very good player and the game was quite enjoyable. We tied at two games a piece and it got pretty late so we left it as a draw. We are traveling in the same direction so should we happen to run into each other again we may play one last time.

The next day I met up with my taxi driver and we drove straight to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. It's unbelievably busy here, the traffic is much worse than in Delhi. It made sight seeing much slower and I only got two sights in; Agra Fort and Itmad-ul-Daulah's Tomb.

The fort was fantastic. It took a good chunk of the day to take in and it seemed to be quite popular with the locals too. The tomb was not worth the entry fee still it provided some good photos.

I made friends with a girl that's staying at the same hotel, I believe she said her name was Manu (as in Manuela). We explored the fort together and then she went to the Taj Mahal. She should be getting back soon and I'm looking forward to seeing her photos. I'll be going there tomorrow with the hope of getting a good sunrise shot.


Manu taking photos at the fort:








One of the many rooms in the fort:

Itmad ul Daulah's Tomb: