Best Bathroom in India so Far

Hot water, water pressure, shower roses and clean towels are not always possible... Hot water being the characteristic most important as I am ok with an Indian bucket/baler bath and carry a Tek towel from home for the dirty towel occurance.

Some of the group have not coped so well and complain at reception wanting bathrooms like home. They cannot understand that the people they are complaining to have no hot water at home, probably bath in the cold river water, or under a cold tap in the street; and thus don't understand the problem with a western shower rose not working when there is hot water and a perfectly good bucket and baler to get wet and clean with.

However in Jaipur we had HOT water, plenty of water pressure in the western shower rose, nice clean towels and the bathroom was nicely tiled and maintained. And, the hot water came out of the left tap too :) But... if you look closely above the shower rose you'll see the broken tiles where they've had to repair the plumbing...

Fantastical Bollywood

Everything piece of infrastructure I have seen in India so far has maintenance issues. Some of the more loved spaces have less than others, but visiting the movie theatre in Udaipur showed me just how important fantasy is in a country where life is a dose of reality on a minute by minute basis.

This theatre was built in 1972, seats 1000 and shows movies day in day out. Bollywood produces twice as many movies annually as Hollywood.

The thing that struck me most strongly was that the exterior, and particularly the interior, of this theatre is in PERFECT condition. Not a mirror is broken, not a light bulb blown, not a torn carpet, no stains on the walls, no holes in walls, no electrical cabling running exposed and hickeldy pickeldy. It looked as good as the better historic theatres in Australia. Unless you have been to India you are not going to get quite what I mean...

Watching a Bollywood movie is also an extreme fantasy experience... this particular story was like a cross between the stage play 'Chicago', a James Bond movie, a Mills and Boon romance and a Jacki Chan Kung Fu movie, all thrown together with a dose of G&S operetta side-kick comedy. There were no sub titles in English and we didn't need it. The audience is treated to the back story as the drama unfolds - to make sure you  don't miss anything - before the good guys and bad guys work out what is going on :).

The audience cheers and boos, claps and gasps as the plot unfolds. The cheap seats down the front join in the loudest and everyone, even in the posh boxes, seems to have a heart lifting good time. I had a thought that Shakespeare's audience would have been similar to contemporary Indian. Both audiences escape from their everyday through theatre.

Pushkar images Updated 5/2/14

 Pigs and monkeys forage for food in the rubbish

 See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

We met these ladies on their pilgrimage to Pushkar which is the only place you can come to worship Lord Brahma.  The red headed European is one of our tour group Kirsty from UK.

 The Colour Run recreational activity at home originated in Hindu tradition. You throw colour and water over yourself, family and friends to clear any bad feelings, sins, past hurts and start a clean slate together.

 Temple

 Brahma Temple

 Some of the group at dinner at a local family's home. Murray and I are in the top left corner. The host mother is in the centre of the group, with the headscarf and shawl.

 Colour at the market

 Kids on the walk up to a Temple and a grand view

 Kids Mark 2

 The grand view back to town from the mountain temple. Unfortunately there is a lot of smog in India (the locals swear it is 'fog' but in my opinion it is too grey/brown to be just fog).The water in the foreground may be sewage ponds. The water in the centre back is the Lake and Ghats in the centre of Puchkar where people bath to purify themselves. Pushkar only exists for pilgrimages to visit the only Brahma temple - which is one of the seven places you need to visit in this life to get you closer to Nirvana in your next life...

 An Indian Bee Eater

 (Above) Street life. The big brass pots on the motor bike are used to carry milk.

 (Below) Sweet Shop. We are buying lollies like when we were kids... Picking 5 of these and 4 of those... we get 40 individually wrapped lollies for R30 - about 60cents.

Thoughts on India

Been in India a week. Visited five locations - Dehli, Jalsamer, Rajastan Desert, Jodhpur and Udaipur. The Indian people are very open and kind. Always ready with a smile, they seem content with whatever path in life they are travelling. Sure there are touts but no worse than anywhere else. People push in, but that's just because if you don't, you don't get anywhere.

It is a very competitive society. You are expected to make something of your life yourself. Waiting for someone to give you a hand up, or expecting something for nothing just isn't going to happen. Begging is illegal and both the locals and we are discouraged from giving them money or food as they believe it encourages them not to find a productive way of survival. You can feed the animals - and everyone is expected to put something out for the cows/dogs/pigs etc but you can't feed the beggars - it is believed they have a choice to rise, where the animals don't...

There is very little crime as the Hindus believe that something that is not yours is of no importance to you and so is 'dust' to be ignored. Eg Vehicles (motor bikes, push bikes, etc) that have been left by their owners are not stolen or taken by anyone. They just stay where they were last parked and gradually disintegrate into the dust.

Anyone can declare themselves to be a tradesman. They get work if they do the work and fail if they make a mess of it. There are no WHS laws or policing of them. Many people are injured or die in industrial accidents but no-one cares as there are plenty lining up to take their place - seems so sad that life holds so little value.

On the other hand all life is seen as sacred and they believe in non-violent responses to threat (this doesn't mean they don't have warriors and enemies - they hate the Pakistanis, and are very proud in Upaipur that they have never accepted the rule of Muslim or British invaders).

There are way too many people for the infrastructure, and it is under incredible pressure. Hot water is what I miss most and a warm room. Everything in the north is built for the summer and so is FREEZING in winter.

It is interesting that in such a crowded place everyone finds privacy by ignoring everything that is not their business. Old ladies have a bath in the river on the steps with the women as they do their washing and no-one notices they are naked; people relieve themselves against walls, in corners of streets (1s & 2s) and on the railway tracks and no-one notices; animals mate, give birth and nurse in the middle of the human mass - and no-one takes any notice... It is impossible to have space for privacy so you create it.

When you come across a quiet street or a small park or there is a gap in the incessant horn honking, I feel my muscles relaxing and stress dissipating for the few moments of peace given to me.

Colour at the Jodpur Fort and Palace

Feed time for the goats

 These goats are well fed, with lovely shiny coats. They are called 'mutton' on the menu. The sacred cows we see eat anything they can get - cardboard, food scraps, rubbish... and sleep in the middle of the street - or where ever they like. They have more freedom than people...

 Horse rickshaws - haven't seen these aywhere else yet. Just in Jodpur. Jodpur is the home of Polo and 'those ' trousers. I'm guessing horses are important here.

The clock tower at the main market Jodpur

Jodpur markets for locals more than tourists

 Bangles are on every corner

 Bulk spice

 Ginger, tumeric, green chilli and lemons

 Local ladies bargain for fruit and veges - the carrots are the really long red root vegetables

 Buckets of pasta, poppadoms (front - white, green, pink) and other things you cook by deep frying to expand.

A flour miller