Automatkamme alkaa haamottaa jo loppuaan! Viela ennen Udaipuriin kiitamista pysahdymme pieneen maalaiskylaan, n. 20 km Jodhpurista. Tie majapaikkaamme on (kuin ajelisi tunti tolkulla pitkassa perassa Utiksella!) todella lupaava! Pimea rosoinen hiekkatie saattaa meidat syvemmalle ja syvemmalle pimiaan autiomaahan, vailla elon merkkia! Lopulta loydamme itsemme koko matkan ihanimmasta majapaikasta!
Pienet savihokkelimajat, joita ilmeisesti lehman pskalla lammitetaan, hurmasivat meidat heti ensisilmayksella! Tunnelmaa lisasivat ulkona leimuava nuotio ja vierailevat paikalliset naapurikylasta, jotka esittivat meille soitantaa, laulantaa.. Siitakos muutkin paikalla olijat innostuivat tanssimaan varpaat kylmassa hiekassa. Aamun koitteessa kompuroimme viela safariautoon ja autiomaan syleilyyn.. kavimme tervehtimassa mm. antilooppeja ja paikallisia kylalaisia. Katri ja Javi bongailivat riikinkukkoja ja muita tipuja!
150 km Pakistanin rajalle. Matka tanne Jaisalmeriin oli uuvuttava ja kohmyinen. 10 tuntia pomppuilua autossa = 2 kipeaa pattia paassa, jotka sain paan lyodessa auton kattoon ja ikkunaan vuorotellen. Autoilu jopa taalla aavikolla pitaa meidat erittain virkeina. Luksustason autostamme on helppo tarkkailla mita ymparilla tapahtuu, mutta silti silmissa vilisii jatkuvasti onnettomuuksia, joita ei tapahtunutkaan > Lapset kirmailevat autojen seassa, elaimet sinkoilevat renkaiden alta, pyhia lehmia vaistetaan ojan kautta, autot tulevat vastaan samoja kaistoja pitkin ja vaistavat vasta 5-10m ennen tormaysta.. Autoilu Suomessa tuntuu varmaan tosi tylsalta taman reissun jalkeen. :)
Illan pimetessa ajeleskelemme viela Jaisalmerin kujia pitkin. Kuski kyselee joka toiselta vastaantulijalta suuntaa majapaikkaamme. Kaikki ohjaavat meita eri suuntiin. Loydamme kuitenkin perille. (autoilustamme/kuskistamme voisi aloittaa vaikka erillisen blogin!)
Jaisalmer on kuin valtava hiekkalinna. Taman vanhan linnoituksen muurien sisalta loytyy temppelita, palatsi, varikkaita kangaskojuja, intialaisia & tiibettilaisia ravintoiloita ja loputtomasti turistikraasakauppoja. Itse kiipesimme eraan ravintolan katolle paahtumaan auringossa ja naatiskelemaan inkivaari-sitruuna-hunaja-juomaa, chaita ja ihania rajastanilaisia ruokia. Seuraavaksi Jodhpuriin!
Jaisalmer es una ciudad estrategicamente situada: antano porque era de obligado paso en las rutas de comercio entre India y Asia Central, y ahora por su cercania con el vecino Pakistan, con el que India tiene una de las fronteras mas calientes del planeta. Su aeropuerto esta cerrado por seguridad, solo se puede llegar en coche o tren, y la presencia militar en la zona se siente. Se dice que Jaisalmer es la ciudad de la que son originarios los gitanos, y de hecho hay poblados muy cerca.
Pero aunque parezca extrano, Jaisalmer es un lugar tranquilo. Se puede caminar por sus calles sin sufrir el acoso de vendedores e interesados. Su impresionante fortaleza se alza sobre el resto de la zona, dominante, rodeada de 99 bastiones, y toda ella construida en arenisca, que con el sol adquiere un color dorado. Nos adentramos en su interior, vagando entre sus cientos de palacetes, tambien de arenisca, regateando en sus bazares, y disfutando de una comida en una terraza con una vista espectacular de la zona -vease articulo siguiente :)-. Una noche, disfutamos de una velada en casa de un Jaisalmeriense :p; disfrutamos de te, algo de comer, algunas cervezas y un poco de whisky indio. Y aderezado con musica de diferentes procedencias, aunque el chaval no paraba de poner Chambao :D. Todo ello en un atico de lo mas cool :).
Al principio del viaje dudabamos si merecia la pena desplazarse hasta Jaisalmer, tan lejos de todo lo demas. Ahora podemos decir que fue un acierto hacer el esfuerzo :).
Y de alli, camino de Udaipur, hicimos una parada en Jodhpur. Alli, simplemente visitamos el mastodontico fuerte en lo alto de una montana -otro fuerte, aunque bastante diferente en todo-. Nos empapamos un poco de su historia, maharajas y maharanis incluidos, de sus batallas y de un poco de comer :p, antes de seguir hasta Bishnoi Village. Bishnoi Village es un poblado en el que una tribu, los Bishnoi, llevan una especie de hotel en medio del desierto, que consiste en unas cabanas al estilo Rajastani, aunque adecuadas un poco para el turista. Los Bishnoi -su nombre significa literalmente 29- son una tribu que tiene (como su nombre indica) 29 reglas a seguir en su vida: levantarse pronto cada dia para adorar a Dios, nada de carne ni caza, ni huevos, ni pan, invertir todo su beneficio de la venta de leche y textil en oro, para en caso de necesidad de uno de sus miembros, venderlo, y otra serie de peculiariedades.
En el campamento-hotel, pudimos disfrutar de comida tradicional, danzas y musica del Rajastan, alrededor de una hoguera, junto a una familia de Varanasi que estaba alli para pasar el fin de ano. Al amanecer visitamos el poblado y contemplamos como antilopes, pavos reales y demas campaban a sus anchas, a salvo de cazadores en la zona.
Y asi pues, nos encaminamos a Udaipur, donde estamos ahora y hasta el proximo domingo.
Around 500 km, that's the distance between Pushkar and Jaisalmer. It's the longest driving stage in our journey. According to Narish, our driver, it was going to take us 12-14 hours. A fast calculation -so many years of engineering studies are sometimes useful :p- showed an average speed of... 36 km/h??? We even thought about warming up our muscles and go jogging, probably we'd arrive before :D. But the uphill climb in Pushkar left us too tired :). So we just went up into the car and prepared for a long long trip.
We went through many villages, we were able to see the deep Rajasthan, where a tourist would never stop -neither we did, if not, we'd still be on the road!-. Narish is quite a skilled driver; avoiding so many cows, groups of sheep, peacocks, camels and dogs can't be any easy ;).
We could see that conditions in the region are really hard; still, children often waved their hands smiling at us when we passed next to them.
We stayed half hour stopped while waiting a train to cross the "highway". We guess Narish was counting on this when telling us the duration of the trip :).
But the highlight was still to come. After we had stopped for a nice lunch, and while we were facing the final 60 km, we found a huge traffic jam in the so-called highway, in the middle of the desert. We went out of the car to find out that something huge was blocking the road. First thoughts were it might be a nuclear bomb or something -we are very close to the India-Pakistan border :p-, and after going for a walk between the cars and the crowd, we could see how a truck, wider than the road itself, was stuck while carrying a huge gas cylinder.
One hour or so walking in the desert and chatting with indians and other tourists. Once again Narish's predictions were getting accurate. The final part was the funniest. An excavator machine had to come from I don't know where to flatten the sides of the road and make it wider in that point in order to reestablish the normal traffic. We were freaking out! :)
Finally, we arrived in Jaisalmer. It took around 9-10 hours at the end, so surely Narish was still expecting something else to happen... ;)
Pushkar 26.12.08. Cleaning socks 15 rupees. Towel 50 rupees. T-shirt 40 rupees. I found myself washing my own laundry in our hotel room. Too expensive to use the hotel laundry service? No, but I needed to do something with my own hands (anyone tip me 50 rupees?), which I found almost meditative these days.
We've arrived to Push car to have a few days break of all the hectic life of the big cities and it's been a success!
After the latest experiences we really appreciate the peace, silence and beautiful views of desert-edged scenary.
Today we saw one of the few Brahma temples in the world and it was crowded but a true beauty.. except the thousands of bees zzzzzzzzzring around the lotus flowers all over the floors. Another special feature of Pushkar is the gath where Gandhi's ashes were sprinkled in the lake.
My favourite things besides the temple were a restaurant called Mango and Savitri temple in the top of the hill. Restaurant Mango was cozy and homelike (Javi and Katri thought it was pretty neohippy) place where we sitted on the floor with bare feets and wrapped in thick blankets and drinking the best Chai Masala tea so far.
At the sunset we headed to the Savipri temple. The sporty Javi climbed all the way to the top but my knee didn't behave properly so we decided to stay in the middle way where we met four friendly monkeys. While we were watching the sunset with the monkeys, Javi met some locals on the top of the hill and took some nice pictures.
So these two peaceful days were exactly what we needed. Now we are going to change our batteries, have a hot shower, sleep tight and long, wear clean and fresh clothes and get ready for the 9 hours driving to Jaisalmer.
P.S. No alcohol, kissing, embracing, meat or eggs allowed in Pushkar :-O
After Taj-Mahal, anything coming is susceptible of being worse. Despite of this, we continued our journey looking for new places and experiences. And thus we entered a new region of India: Rajasthan, famous for the rajputs and maharajas, and whose territory is mainly a desert.
Fatehpur Sikri -the Ghost City- was our last stop before Rajasthan. Unfortunately, it was very stressing. Locals were continuously trying to become our guides to show us the couple of sights worth of a visit. It was just couple of hours there, enough for catching a glimpse of the beautiful Mosque -Mezquita-, and run away to the next place: Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.
We found good news and bad news. Bad ones that our reservation had been given to other guests with similar surname :(; good ones were that we got a suite room instead, and a delicious free Christmas dinner :).
Our stay in Jaipur was short, just couple of sightseeing spots, including the Palace of the Wind and the Amber Fort. And of course, we got an elephant ride :). Jaipur's Old City is somehow special, as it's all painted in pink colour. Jaipur, for this reason, guess...... is called the Pink City! :p
PS: Kinnunens making friends in 1st pic :), Fort Amber is 2nd, and 3rd is obvious :p
Jouluaatto meni matkustamisen merkeissa - paamaarana Agra ja Taj Mahal! Agraan saavuttuamme ja muutaman tunnin mittaisten younien jalkeen herasimme reippaina kohtaamaan Taj Mahalin jo heti aamunkoitteessa. Mitapas tuosta vaikuttavasta hokkelista voisi muuta sanoa mita ei olisi viela sanottu - valkoista marmoria ei liiemmin sen rakentamisessa ole taidettu saastella ja silmia siita oli vaikea saada irti. Tarina kertoo etta Taj Mahalin rakennuttajan, hallitsija Shah Jahanin oli tarkoitus rakentaa vastarannalle muistomerkki itseaan varten mustasta marmorista, mutta suunnitelmat menivat kuitenkin myttyyn kun hallitsijan oma poika tappoi kaikki veljensa, riisti vallan isaltaan ja laittoi isansa vankilaan, jonka pienesta ikkunasta han sai loppuelamansa katsella vaimolleen rakennuttamaansa muistomerkkia. .
Jo samana paivana huristelimme "vaaleanpunaiseen kaupunkiin" eli Jaipuriin, jonka valitsimme matkakohteeksi lahinna Amberin linnoituksen ja elefanttien takia :) Joulupaivan aterian nautimme Kingfisher oluen kera hotellin ravintolassa, missa meille tarjottiin huonesekaannuksien vuoksi ilmainen illallinen. Itse Jaipur oli ehka kaoottisin ja meluisin kaupunki kaikista tahan asti kokemistamme kaoottisista ja meluisista kaupungeista, mutta elefanttiratsastus kuitenkin hieman hyvitti artymystamme ( josta ehka tuonnemmin sitten lisaa) ja uteliaina suuntasimme "lepopaikkaamme" Pushkaria kohti. .
At christmas dinner. - Joulun vareja ei puutu ainakaan naamasta!
Se dice que es el edificio mas grandioso jamas construido por amor. Por algo habra sido elegido como la primera maravilla del mundo. Fue un emperador mongol el que, tras morir su mujer, decidio levantar el Taj-Mahal como mausoleo en el que enterrarla. Les costo 22 anos, dicen.
El dia de Navidad, al alba, tras pasar unas medidas de seguridad estrictas, caminamos entre la neblina matutina el paseo que lleva a una plaza, desde donde cruzamos el arco de entrada a los jardines que rodean el monumento. Ahi estaba. Se han visto tantas fotografias suyas que al principio hasta te suena, como si no fuera nada nuevo. Fotos, fotos, mas fotos. El guia nos va explicando la historia, cuando, como, quien, etc. Pero la verdad es que no le hacia mucho caso. No solo porque lo que decia me sonaba de la Lonely Planet, sino porque mis ojos y mi atencion estaban en el Taj. Su simetria es tan perfecta a simple vista, que no es simetrico. Su marmol blanco cambia de color conforme el sol va asomando. Su reflejo en el agua es perfecto. Y cada angulo desde el que lo miras te pide una nueva foto. En el, todo tiene su por que, desde el tamano de sus inscripciones en arabe hasta la ligera inclinacion de las 4 torres que lo rodean.
Una vez dentro, se aprecian los relieves en el marmol, las infinitas piedras semipreciosas traidas desde Sudafrica, Nueva Zelanda, Belgica y otros lugares lejanos, todas ellas incrustadas en las paredes. Y en el centro, la tumba -replica, porque la verdadera esta un piso mas abajo y no se puede ver- de la mujer del emperador. A su lado, el propio emperador, al que su hijo enterro alli tras destronarle, rompiendo la simetria del lugar. Era dificil caminar de vuelta al coche sin darse la vuelta, una y otra vez, y parar para contemplarlo de nuevo. Desde luego, su fama es merecida.
Varanasi is just different, one in a million. This sacred town by the Ganges river, is at least once in life the compulsory destination for hindu people. In here, they clean their bodies and souls in the holy water of the river, and they bring the corpses of their dead friends and relatives in order to burn them and scatter the ashes in the river.
At the sunrise, we sailed under the fog, up and down the river, watching all these people in their rituals, it was a breathtaking sight.
But there is time for pleasure too. We decided to take an Ayurvedic oil body massage afterwards. Ayurveda is a health science in India. Needless to say it was so relaxing that it won't be the last :p.
And finally, once out of big Delhi, we saw many cows, the indian holy and respected animal. It is funny to assume as normal to be walking along narrow streets while a cow is walking next to you, or to avoid them with the rickshaw in the middle of a crossroad.
Today is Christmas' eve, it will be weird to be far from home, we will miss everybody, but we'd like to say: Merry Christmas! Even Indians celebrate it!
PS: picture with Raul is attached above, the eternal white holy cow (eterna vaca sagrada blanca) :D
Ok. Take a deep breath.... close your eyes... Can you imagine the colourful India, Varanasi, Ganges.. and Kaisa sitting next to an appreciated GURU? Yes! We saw that happening. It was yesterday when we were watching a local Puja -ceremony by the Ganges river. Kaisa got a chance to light the candles for the candelabra used in the Puja ceremony. We almost got hypnotized by the fire, music and the incredibly beautiful atmosphere. And during the ceremony, all the local people were enthusiasticly bathing in the holy Ganges .. Afterwards we also saw people burning their death relatives by the river.. I thought this very holy ritual would be shocking for us.. but surprisingly it turned to feel very natural.
In the morning (5am) we took a boat to see more of Ganges and the ghats which are the stairs by the river.. The river side was full of people doing yoga, praying, washing clothes and having a bath.
It all started when we just had arrived to Varanasi and we were about to ask a map of the city. There was this mysteriously smiling white-bearded old man sitting in the reception - Have a seat, please. - He said. And we seated. - Where are you going?
... Soon after that we found ourselves in a cozy little room sitting on soft pillows and holding cups of tea in our hands while a superfriendly silk factory keeper was presenting us hundreds of silk products - scarfs, tableclothes, saris, bedcovers - one after one made of more beautiful silk fabrics. Fascinated by all the colors and glory we were just thinking what were the limits of the credit cards.
Just a moment before the silk factory keeper had given us a tour in his factory showing and explaining us everything about silk. We leave the place with heavy bags and thinking what the hell just happened to us.
Nuestra primera estancia en Delhi ha acabado. Volveremos los dos ultimos dias, pero para eso hay un largo camino por delante. Hoy tocaba la Vieja Delhi. Hay un gran contraste respecto a la Nueva: calles bulliciosas, edificios que parece pueden caer en cualquier momento, templos y mezquitas, muchisima suciedad y aun mas pobreza y miseria. Por la avenida Chandni Chowk y sus alrededores, andar ha sido un continuo evitar bicicletas, rickshaws (especie de "carros" cubiertos pero abiertos tirados por una motocicleta) y coches a la vez que se intentaba no pisar ninos y hombres mutilados literalmente tirados en las aceras. Curiosamente, cuando tomabamos un te, una marabunta de gente empezo a venir de un lado de la calle: se trataba de una estrella de Bollywood -nos contaba el camarero- corriendo entre excepcionales medidas de seguridad, periodistas y miles de personas a su alrededor coreandole como a un heroe. El contraste no puede ser mayor. Mas tarde, visitamos un templo hindu. Una vez descalzos, nos paseamos entre gente rezando -sentada en el suelo o arrodillada-, agitando velas, cantando a lo "hari krishna" en una esquina a viva voz o ofreciendo granos de arroz a Shiva o Vishnu. Era un templo pequeno, pero ha sido una experiencia, "religiosa" :). Para relajarnos despues de tanto trasiego, hemos ido a un parque amurallado, el Viejo Fuerte, donde estaba la originaria ciudad anterior a Delhi. Era un sitio agradable, lleno de grupos de amigos, familias, parejas, etc, increible para echar una cabezadita en el cesped :p. La verdad es que veniamos avisados, la India es chocante, en muchos sentidos, y no sere yo quien diga que no, porque asi es. Pese a todo, dice Katri que fue casi mas chocante ver mi corte de pelo ;). Manana toca ir a Benares, o Varanasi, al punto de la manana, pero de eso ya os contamos otro dia.
Delhiin saapuminen ei ollutkaan niin suuri kulttuurishokki kuin olimme pelanneet - oikeastaan Javin uusi hiusleikkaus sai suuremman jarkytyksen aikaiseksi Helsingin lentokentalla.. Paikallinen ajotyylikin on lahinna tuottanut vain hilpeytta. Olemme riksatakseillu ympari seka vanhaa etta uutta kaupunkia auringon yrittaessa paistaa saastepilven takaa. Huonoksi tuuriksemme vaan vanhan kaupungin nahtavyydet olivat suljettuina jonkun suuren Bollywoodtahden hyvantekevaisyyslenkkeilyn takia. Emme kuitenkaan jaaneet paikallisten taikka tv-toimittajien jalkoihin kun naytamme olevan pieni nahtavyys itsekin, koristamme jos jokusenkin kotialbumia piakkoin :) Huomenna heratys aamukuudelta ja nokka kohti lentokenttaa ja Varanasia. Arrividerci!
The adventure has started. Once we packed our shuttle car to go to the hotel, which by the way was 2 hours late, we discovered Delhi driving style. The slogan could be something like "do whatever as long as you blow the horn". This is by far the noisiest place I've ever been. Rickshaws, bikes, pedestrians, buses and cars merge into a complete chaos. And not even didactical messages like the one in the title of this entry seem to help at all. Traffic apart, it was exciting to walk in the streets of New Delhi, under a permanent fog which gives the city a misterious atmosphere. In Connaught Place, a very large english-way-designed square where we arrived by metro, we hung around and enjoyed a beer and our first indian meal: nothing better to fight the jet-lag :).
Namaste to everyone! Tomorrow, friday 19th, we'll fly to India! It's the Kinnunens, Kaisa & Katri, and me that will spend the next 18 days hanging around India. We'll try to keep this journey-blog, where we'll talk about everything we see, find, meet, eat or escape from :), as much updated as possible...
