Travels – where next?

India’s remarkable railways

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Steve

Location: Delhi, trying to leave

Hotel: Hathroi Palace, Jaipur…eventually

Before I start, despite my posts seemingly appearing by magic, I want it known that it takes at least 2 hours to make this happen. If I was doing it on my home computer I think I could do it in 30 minutes.

The biggest hassle is uploading photos. The bloody multiple photo chooser thingy doesn’t work. So if I select a bunch of shots, only 1 is uploaded. This means each image has to be uploaded individually, then maybe rotated or cropped. All on a tablet. It’s tough work.

But before I really get started, I remind you that when travelling, flexibility is possibly the most important skill. It is right behind patience, which is possibly the most important skill. Which is right behind keeping a sense of humour which is possibly the most important skill. Have I preempted this post?

Straightforward plan – book train Delhi to Jaipur, 1145hrs departure, 1700hrs or so arrival. Nice timing all around.

A walk in the morning for some paratha rather than the hotel food and we are on our way to Old Delhi railway station. As it happens, mistakenly thinking the train was leaving from New Delhi station would have made no difference, but going to the right place is a good idea.

Except that the tuk tuk driver did the classic “seed of doubt” routine and thought we should check at a tourist office that we were going to the right place. It was a set up to sell us something and I was out of there in less than 60 seconds.

Maybe it was because he wasn’t going to get a commission that had tuk tuk driver decide to drive through an insanely crowded market the day before Diwali. It was insanely crowded. There were people and carts and trucks and nowhere to turn. Fortunately we had heaps of time, ironically we weren’t going to need it.

Finally at old Delhi station and the initial news is that the Be Bujh express (which wasn’t) is running 10 hours late. Crap! This is the first travel day and there is a massive fail. Understanding how India works, the fact that the train is late is confirmed several times and it is turns out to be true.

We went into a huddle on what to do. We already had our shadow who was trying to help. He had some suggestions that all seemed to revolve around a different tourist office…his own, of course.

Our options came down to

Waiting 10 hours. Had I been alone I might have gone for this
Not waiting 10 hours, but working out what to do.

As Dear Leader of our group I went off to do some research on buses to Jaipur and found out the following from different travel stands:

There are none today
They leave every 15 minutes
There is one at 1800hrs
They leave every 30 minutes

The other option was a car and driver, I had a quote of 6,000R, about $120, which between 4 people isn’t too bad. The absolute lack of any solid bus info made us decide to go for it.

Enter Mr Singh, the hovering helper’s boss. He quotes us 10,000R for the same trip and I immediately walk off to book 6,000R car. I don’t look back but I know he is coming after me. After a couple of hundred metres he catches up and of course he can do a better price.

With lots of group discussion, mock upset, disappointment, heart failure and outrage we settle on 7,000R for the trip plus a 200R tip for the driver.

I am at a point in the tale where a decision must be made on how to explain how it plays out. For brevity of reading, but more importantly, for brevity of screen typing, I will keep it brief.

The promises, and below each one, the outcome.

A large car, not a small one
- We were then shown a medium car just like we would be in. We ended up in a small Suzuki Swift
A proper licensed taxi
- It wasn’t
An English speaking driver
- He didn’t
Original helper would be the driver
- He wasn’t
We will leave from Mr Singh’s office
- We left from a petrol station beside a main road where, despite all the lies, we weren’t in a position to do anything but keep going.
Air conditioning
- It actually was air conditioned.

Pretty soon we were on our way.

When we stopped for lunch and I wandered into the kitchen (as I always do) and ended up helping out, to the amusement of the staff. The one thing I wasn’t game to do was put a naan bread onto the wall of the tandoori oven.

The drive through Jaipur and the pre Diwali market was a great scene setter. Driver got a 500R trip for great skill at picking the gaps in traffic for 5 hours. It is not a trip for someone who is nervous in a car.

Arriving to a warm welcome from the Hathroi Palace guys, and at a decent time made it all OK.

Brain dead after a long day, but we made it to the Chillout space where we did exactly that with beer.

Next, Diwali.

A day in pre Diwali Delhi

Posted on October 18, 2017 by Steve

Location: Delhi

Hotel: Suncourt Yatri, not to be confused with nearby hotels Sunstar Heights, Sunstar Heritage, Sunstar Grand, Sunstar Karol Marg and other similarly “Sun” named but in no way related hotels.

India time is 4.5 hrs behind Australia which makes for interesting initial adjustment and coordination communicating with home. Especially when on arrival there are a couple of minor home dramas to attempt to sort from not-home.

Wide awake at 5AM (9:30 by my body) so we’re Tiff and Dawne so we headed out for a walk and explore. Within minutes we heard music and chanting in the distance and a small crown parading behind a mobile temple appeared.

Out of consideration for our early/late morning they stopped outside a house, we didn’t have to chase them. Some chanting over a quite loud PA, some Puja, and it turned out they were here to bless the house. It was OK to go inside with the crowd, but there were too many people to see what was going on in the room where it was all happening. Friendly people explained what it was all about and we walked away with bananas and sweets plus a great start to India.

An ATM mission and now I am cashed up and ready to charge my SIM card, but it wasn’t as easy as I expected. The guy didn’t seem to know what he was doing so I’ll find another shop today.

The attention from tuk tuk drivers is constant. One bloke came up to us, all smiles and friendly and good English, he said his name is Lala. Seemed like a smiling friendly guy so we arranged to meet him at 1000hrs so he could drive us to Old Delhi.

Of course he arrived at 0900hrs, all smiles and very friendly. He didn’t want to name a price, just “whatever you put in my pocket” which should have been (it actually was) a warning that this was a little weird. But we decided to do it anyway knowing the price was about 150R ($3).

Lala wanted to stop in an emporium on the way, this is where he makes his real Rupees, even if we don’t buy anything. Actually he wanted to stop at 2 or 3 emporiums on the way.

The first one was a rabbit warren of small stalls in a single building. Some of their stuff wasn’t bad, but what a tourist trap ripoff. Given we had previous India travellers before we had a sense of prices and they were about 5 times more expensive on average. A smallish carpet that I would expect to pay maybe 2,500R was 30,000R. Maybe I was missing a subtlety that it was 100% genuine silk or whatever, but everything was way overpriced.

We were ready to get going and smiling, friendly Lala said “two more emporiums” and we said “no”. Suddenly Lala turned…he wasn’t smiling or friendly any more. It was a remarkable transformation where we seemed to suddenly become a huge disappointment :o) We got to Old Delhi for a reasonable price and a lesson was learned, hopefully by Lala as well.

The girls and boys headed in different directions with plans to meet at the Gurudwara Sis Ganj temple. We headed to the Red fort for some culture and a failed attempt to get onto the set of a movie being shot out the front. Even pointing out that we are handsome Australian actors didn’t help.

One frustrating problem solved. In future, before I leave, when I take my camera charger out to recharge the spare battery I will put a note on my bag so I don’t leave it at home, charging. Every time I thought about it I would mentally kick myself up the arse. Managed to buy another charger that will never be used again once I get home…sigh…

The Gurudwara Sis Ganj temple is one of the holiest Sikh sites, built on the location where the 9th guru of Sikhs, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was martyred…or as we would say, murdered.

I posted about it last time and was looking forward to sharing the experience. I wasn’t disappointed.

We started in the temple proper, sitting, wandering and watching. It is a fascinating place. As an atheist, I find the depth of people’s devotion quite intriguing. They prostrate themselves, kiss walls and doors of the altars and simply touch an icon. It is also a little bewildering, but such experiences is why India.

We spent a lot of time upstairs where you can overlook the temple proper. The gallery is surrounded by small reading room where people study the holy texts. I was surprised to see a woman in one of the rooms. It is incredibly visually rich and awesome photo opportunities, but at the same time is quite intimidating. Not understanding the culture, taking photos seems intrusive and inappropriate.

The attendants are friendly and helpful, unlike Lala, they are genuinely friendly and helpful. They explained what was going on and that it was fine to take photos. It still felt weird and intrusive, but hey, that is my stuff.

All of the workers are volunteers or have devoted their life to the temple. The production of thousands of meals a day is well organised with many hands involved. Including us.

Tiff threw rotis onto the hot plate, quickly mastering the art of tossing them like a frisbee and not having them land on top of each other. Dawne didn’t quite get her rotis rolled as round as the experts, but gave it a good shot. I dished out dhal from a bucket to rows of appreciative if slightly bemused people.

Arm dishing out food may not be me and is for demonstration purposes only.

And the food was great!

Into the old market. I recognised the stall where I took one of my favourite photos of Sheila in 2015.

2015

It isn’t quite as romantic in the recreation

2017

The trip back to our hotel involved walking through a market to get to a road and grab a til tuk. Tomorrow is Diwali, so it was crowded. very crowded. We walked and walked and walked and the market went on and on. Craziness indeed.

Four of us for dinner, 5 yummo dishes, 5 naan breads, 3 bottles of water came to 800R, around $4 each. Then back to the hotel roof which saw Tiff almost decapitated as a rocket shot past his head as we were looking over the edge at the kids setting them off. A flash of green passed less than 300mm from him and then exploded just above us. The next one exploded as it was falling back towards me. It was too funny and the only remedy was beer.

And next time you grumble about your tedious job, re!ember you could be employed as an official nut separator.

Today, train to Jaipur.

Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Steve

Please meet Tiff and Dawne, 2/3 of my travelling companions for the next 3 weeks.

I’ll introduce Jane later, she is flying in from.the UK.

The laughter has already begun with us nearly taking Uber Dave’s backpack with us by mistake.

Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur, 3 hour layover, then into Delhi at 2230hrs which is 0300hrs on our body clock.

2017 India trip test post

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Steve

Only 3 weeks until I leave for India, departing mid October, returning early November!

This year I am travelling with some friend and neighbours Tiff – who has never been to India – and Dawne – who has been once plus Tiff’s sister Jane, who lives in the UK. We should have a really funny time together.

Having an umbrella theme is fun, while having an adventure there is an overall purpose. 2015 was Stepwells, 2016 was meeting people, this year the theme is music.

This has been a test post to check if my blog still works OK and posts to FB and G+

The almost last post

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Steve

Location: KL international airport

Hotel: Container Capsule where I managed to get about 5 hours sleep after only a couple on the flight

This is almost it. I’m tired and taking regular paracetamol to keep whatever is going on at bay.

Waiting for my flight from KL to the Gold Coast not wanting suit because I have been sitting to much and not wanting to stand because feet are in bad shape. At least I have found a comfy chair, most airport seating is hard plastic.

So I have this crazy idea. Why I am even floating this is beyond me, but I know that in a few days it will seem like a good idea again.

Who’d like to come to India with me for 2 or 3 weeks around October 2017? Me plus 3 people, I’ll be your “guide” in the loosest sense of the term, having done this twice now I know the ropes.

Diwali is October 19. The Pushkar Fair is from 22 October to 31 October. Two awesome events. Plus the Taj Mahal, maybe Varanasi, Jaipur, not sure. We can make it up.

I’m simply floating a random thought to find out if anyone is vaguely interested.

How come extra large vegetables but not extra large fucuks?

I now have a bunch of friends in various places that will help make the trip more interesting by hanging out with locals. There’s a few cool places to visit off the tourist path. It will be fun, I can assure you.

I’ll leave the idea here, you know how to contact me.

Out of India – fortunately not by train

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Steve

Location: Indira Ghandi International Airport gate 17

You know that feeling when you aren’t feeling well and you are cranky and everything is annoying? Now imagine that happening and you are in India where everything is over the top. Now imagine you are in India but you are in New Delhi where it is even more over the top.

So I wasn’t in a good mood today. I had many hours to kill so I thought a movie would be fun. But getting there…normally the noise and traffic and smell of stale urine and everything else doesn’t bother me. Today it was all super annoying and I couldn’t wait to get to the airport.

But I did go to a movie. I thought I was seeing Tum Bin II, the fact that it averages 1.5/5 stars reviews added to the allure. However all that was on was Force² an action movie dedicated to Indian spies languishing in foreign jails.

Despite it being 99℅ Hindi, even I could work out that the dedication was nothing more than a cynical marketing ploy.

But I did get to see a movie audience get excited every time the hero flexed his considerable muscles, but I was disappointed there was no singing and dancing. I’ll make up for it with the really bad R40 DVD I bought in Pushkar.

It’s always comforting to have astute wait staff that anticipate your every need. Despite not feeling well, last night I felt like something to eat but didn’t want to put much effort into it. The hotel doesn’t have a restaurant so I went to one over the road. Just me. Alone. By myself. Without anyone else.

I order a Paneer Butter Masala and 2 chapatti. The waiter writes it down and stands there looking at me. Eventually he says “just one?”. Reminder: I wasn’t feeling well. I look around me, under the table and then say “yes,just me, one meal” and he looks disappointed before heading to the kitchen.

I had left my bag at the hotel for the day and while heading back to get it I had to cross the railway station over bridge. I noticed a really crowded platform and quietly wished the train would arrive right then.

Bag retrieved I headed back and my wish had come true.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I never travel cattle class (general seating) on a train.

Note the fight toward the middle. I have watched a couple of times and can’t pick why they all got stuck into one guy.

And in case the whole situation might have gotten out of hand, the police stepped in and in an even handed way restored order. This is really worth watching a couple of times for him hitting people trying to get off and on, tossing luggage both on and off the train and why you should avoid a cop swinging a lathi.

There are no cops with lathis, just soldiers with submachine guns so I’m going to sit back, enjoy the ambiance of the airport before I arrive in KL at 0700 for a 16 hour layover before flying home.

I have pre-ordered pizza for Tuesday dinner

A day in Delhi

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Steve

Location: Delhi

Hotel: Surya

In my post yesterday I said I was tired. Turns out I am sick. Not Delhi Belly type of sick from food, more some sort of bug that has given me a headache and a temperature (I think). Fortunately a paracetamol relieves the symptoms.

At a guess I walked 15 – 20km today. From the hotel to Old Delhi and around the markets and then most of the way back before I realised it was another 5km so caught a rickshaw.

In the morning I stopped for a while to watch some sort of display/ceremony/meeting that was related to Indira Gandhi. The reason the description is so vague is because I have no idea what was happening. There was a stage and some seating and well dressed men. Ironic that given it was something to do with a woman there wasn’t a woman in sight. The stage had a backdrop with a big photo of Ghandi and they placed a garland below it and it was all in Hindi.

The only reason I am telling about this is that after watching in puzzlement for a while I wandered off, heading down alleys and anywhere that looked interesting. I’m not sure if anyone saw me laugh out loud when an hour later I ended up back at Indira Gandhi. I would have sworn I was heading in one general direction.

I think it is an old tea urn.

The traffic in Old Delhi is a mess. A mix of tuk tuks, cars, rickshaws, ox drawn carts, human pushed carts, pedestrians and more. It is much faster to walk than use any sort of vehicle. The situation was made worse by long lines outside every bank and ATM forcing the few pedestrians who chose not to walk in the street, to walk in the street. There was a plan to make money changing today restricted to seniors, it didn’t look like it was working.

Last year I heard about an important Sikh temple here in Delhi, it turns out there is another in Old Delhi, Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib. The steady flow of people coming and going to this magnificent temple was amazing as was the devotional happenings inside.

And from the upstairs gallery where there were private prayer rooms with outstanding looking Sikh men reading religious texts – I wasn’t game ask to take a photo.

They feed a lot of people, continuously. There were three rows like this.

To produce that much food you need a production line. This was great to watch.

I couldn’t get these guys to move so that the light wasn’t behind them.

There’s lots to see in the markets, areas have their own speciality. There was the wedding card market and the spice market and the long lines outside banks market.

One thing I have noticed here in Delhi, a city with a population of 18 million! is that people aren’t nearly as friendly and approachable. A smile elicits a blank look, it’s as though they have seen it all before, and they probably have.

This is an interesting campaign.

When I arrived at this hotel I asked if there was hot water. Yes, I am assured, ask for it and it will be provided to your room. I didn’t quite understand, maybe they have water heaters on each floor or something.

Back from my walk, exhausted and not feeling great, I asked for hot water to my room. Ten minutes, I am assured. I figure it takes that long for the heater to kick in. A while later there is a knock on the door, my hot water is ready.

Only In India.

On my last legs

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Steve

Location: Delhi

Hotel: Surya, one of hundreds along a road near the railway station

It’s taken a few days to write this, so some things are a bit out of sequence and tense.

Tomorrow (Friday) I head to Delhi for my flight home on Sunday. I was looking for a photo in an early post and it is hard to believe that stuff happened only 5 weeks ago. Feels like last year. Places and events have melted together and it can be hard to remember what happened where and when. This blog may help me piece it all together in the winter of !y life – next week.

I am not the first person who enjoys wandering aimlessly npt worried about getting lost. I have some of the best experiences during my many trips by heading down lanes and towards something interesting.

I stumbled upon this group of kids crowded on a rickshaw about to be delivered home after school. It is my new favourite photo this trip I think.

I was glad I also managed to get some video.

It is the start of wedding season in India so there is lots of dancing and really loud music into the night.

I’m tired. My feet hurt from walking and each foot has a couple of cracks in the skin which are tender. There’s no electricity in the area at the moment. Last night I didn’t sleep well, too hot with a blanket, too cold without. Someone is smoking in the hallway outside my room and it stinks. My flight is in 36 hours or so and I think my brain is in going home mode.

Walking from the metro station to the hotel involves walking over a footbridge that crosses the main, huge, New Delhi railway station platforms. There is a steady stream of people crossing and as I approach the stairs a security guy – can’t call them a guard – shouts and points at a sign no entry. I paused for a moment, remembered T.I.I. – This Is India – and followed all the other people who he hasn’t yelled at. He didn’t give a shit, which I imagine is part of the job description.

Can’t you just picture the joy on the faces of kindergarten kiddies when they these colourful characters every morning?

Back in Jaipur I had a day to fill before heading to Delhi. I had heard about Chand Baori earlier in the year and it was on my list of places visit. I was planning to go last time in Jaipur but Ajeet took us on that amazing adventure. So I decided to head there this time using local buses, it’s about 90km from the city.

First a bus 90 minutes down the highway to Sikandara. From Sikandara you catch either a jeep or tuk tuk 20 minutes to the village of Abhaneri. I negotiated a price of R200 for the tuk tuk ride there, he would wait and then bring me back. I don’t begrudge $4 for the service, but when I realise other people – he picks up as many as will fit in – are only paying R10 or R15 each way it irks somewhat.

Chand Baori is one of the biggest and oldest baoli and was truly spectacular.

I think the shipping might be quite expensive, but I really want doors like these from the back streets of Jaipur.

That’s it, it’s all you get this time. Maybe one more post from Delhi and then home.

Fairwell Pushkar

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Steve

Location: Jaipur again. Heading to Delhi for flight home

Hotel: Hathroi Palace again

Apparently the Pushkar Fair wasn’t nearly as big this year and it was blamed on the money ‘crisis’. Because of a shortage of cash many people were unable to travel.

But there was still a lot of people in town. The first few days is more about the livestock, the last few, more religious.

According to Wikipedia

It is celebrated for five days from the Kartik ekadashi to Kartik Poornima, the full moon day (the 15th) of Kartik (October–November) in Hindu calendar. The full moon day is the main day and the day, according to legend, when the Hindu god Brahma sprung up the Pushkar Lake, thus numerous people swim in its sacred waters.

Numerous people is an understatement. Thousands of people bathe in the lake and I found it endlessly fascinating – I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. It was a combination of sheer numbers, the ‘novelty’ factor compared to my cultural experience, the colours, the rituals, the location, and more.

Photography isn’t allowed so I didn’t take this shot before a whistle wasn’t blown me.

I am not sure why, but part of the rituals is offering what looks like puffed rice to the gods, there is also lots of wheat scattered around. This attracts and maintains huge flocks of pigeons that are regularly spooked and fly off adding another spectacular dimension to the spectacle. You can see them in the photo above and in another doesn’t do it justice shot, they were all around this pool.

The lake is the spiritual focus but the streets have a quality of their own. I regularly have to remind myself that this is The Real Thing™ and not some sort of recreation by actors for the benefit of tourists. Because sometimes it is so surreal it seems like that. I especially have that fleeting thought when I see the Rajasthani men in their big turbans.

They are so ridiculously fantastic I love them. The turbans, though the men likely too if I got to know them. I would expect that in the desert heat the last thing that makes sense is wearing 10 beanies, but somehow they must keep people cooler than not wearing them. One of my few purchases, I have bought a length of turban material, that I managed to tie badly once :o)

There are a lot of desperately poor people here as pilgrims. Someone explained that people will save for years and sell gold and other precious possessions to make the pilgrimage. As I mentioned in a previous post there are organisations and temples giving them food.

This was a roti production line.

and there was no shortage of willing recipients

I love this photo for the memories it invokes, as well as the story I think it tells – though it’s hard to be objective about that.

In the streets I was talking to one of the vendors I know and as I left there was some commotion down the street heading our way. No idea, but knew it would be something interesting.

Aside: I am still kicking myself for accidentally deleting a video of a group of men walking, playing instruments and singing. One guy came and joyfully put his face right in the camera singing..it was so great…and irreplaceable 🙁

Anyway, something was coming so I climbed up to a vantage point and…

By now you know I am a cynic so keep that in mind as I say that this all felt contrived.

A couple of days earlier I had seen a naked-ish sadhu. He was wearing no clothes but had some material over his shoulder hiding front and back and he was quietly heading down to a ghat, no big deal, but kind of startling to see. In contrast these guys were parading and making a big deal of their presence.

My understanding is that the nakedness is about renunciation of all possessions including clothes so that they can focus on meditation, so in my mind, as a fairly astute observer of people, the video is a little weird. I would have thought there would be humility and devotion – but who knows, maybe that is what it looks like. And I know this is my take on it based on my assumptions and I may be really, really wrong, so please correct me if you know more.

Numerous people? Oh yeah! The streets were crowded but not unbearable, mostly. At one point where the main tourist street met a street leading to a popular ghat at certain times it fell into the unbearable category.

After taking the video – from the safety of a restaurant – there was what I though was a break in the madness. I needed to get through this intersection so seizing the moment I went for it. Bad judgement = big mistake.

It was a crush that was insane. People were pushing and shoving (is that the same thing?) and at one point I was actually carried backwards. Now that I was in the middle, the only way to get through was to also push and shove. Almost everyone came out the other side sort of laughing, I think it was out of relief at having survived. After this I needed a break at the hotel didn’t go back that way for many hours.

At another spot people were giving away what at first I thought were potatoes. Good for poor people but not me. Until I saw a guy bite into one and it wasn’t a potato at all. So back I went and was given what is called a tsikooor or chiku . Yummm!!! So good I went back for another, it was incredibly sweet and tasty. Glad I have tried chiku, singura and ber, some really unusual and tasty fruits.

OK that’s it on the Pushkar Fair. Time to head out and hit the ATMs again. Also since I am back in Jaipur I may go check on the progress of my carpets.

Less than one week to go…

Meanwhile, of you want to review my back catalogue, all my YouTube videos are here

Pushkar Fair – Day 2 – an ATM win!

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Steve

Location: Pushkar Fair

Hotel: Paramount Palace

When I was in Jaipur a year ago I asked about seeing some live music and ended up at the Sufi Music Festival – read about it. Keep in mind that I had no idea where I was going or what I would see.

Last night there was a concert at the mela ground (the stadium) that was bill as The music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan which was enough to get me along. If you have no idea of who he is, here is a sample on YouTube.

After an hour of traditional dancing – not me, on stage – the main show starts and bugger me, it is Harshdeep Kaur, the same act I saw by chance a year ago. I see two concerts in India, a year apart, in separate cities, not knowing what I was going to see either time and it is the same act!

Click for her YouTube channel

This is not a complaint, she is a great performer and the audience clearly idolised her. I can save a lot of time typing about the repressed emotions of most Indians by referring you back to last year’s post. The description of an audience bursting with energy but keeping a lid on it, holds.

I had a pretty good spot, standing against a barrier between the VIP section and we mere mortals. In front of me were two young women cops who were stopping people sneaking into the VIP area and also making sure that the seated area at the side stayed seated. When there was no policing to do they would sit on a couple of chairs, talk and check their phones.

Suddenly they were on their feet, putting their berets on and looking about as busy as an Indian police officer can (not very). I spotted the trigger, a cop with three silver pips on his shoulder (plus his aide) who was doing a walk around. When they turned around I saluted indicating I figured what happened which got a laugh. They would sit down again, he would reappear they would jump up and put berets on again. This happened a few times to the amusement of people standing nearby.

Eventually they got bored or something and wandered off. With no one there keeping the riff raff out, decided I was worthy of an upgrade to VIP status and through the bamboo fence I went. VIPs had mats to sit on, some bolsters to lean on, were directly in front of the stage and could feel comfortably smug about being the I in VIP. I was clear that being in the VIP section made me neither V or I.

After a while some people left and there was an empty chair, which is much more comfortable than sitting on a mat. Guess who was my neighbour? He thanked me for taking a photo :o)

While discussing scams, it was another ATM day. Same machine, a few more people in front of me, but since it opened just as I arrived I knew there would be plenty of money, plus it is a bit social.

Unlike most queues in India, people would not tolerate someone pushing in and the police would be roused from slumber to push someone to the back of the line. It got a little heated at times, but the people in line with the help of the cops prevailed.

For me it is a fine line between banter to get on someone’s good side and banter which draws attention to me when I try something like getting into a VIP section. I have almost gotten away with little things in the past only to draw attention and get caught out. Not bad stuff, sneaking into an airline lounge at Singapore airport after a false fire alarm comes to mind. All I did was comment to one of the staff and she realised I shouldn’t have been there. Lesson learned.. but maybe the wrong one.

While we are waiting and the cops wander back and forth as slowly as they can, I greet them and then this guy is stopped by a woman for a photo.

I jump in and get one too, he is happy seeing the result. How lucky am I when half an hour or so later and I get into the ATM room and he is the one on duty. He is wanting to withdraw Rupees and I, without a (cough) single ulterior motive (cough) in mind graciously insist he goes before me.

My turn and I get my R2,000 in about 1 minute. When it works, it works really well. I ask ‘again?’ and he gives me a head waggle which means whatever you want it to. So I go again and w00t!, R4,000 takes the money pressure right off. In case you are thinking wow, 4,000, this is $AUD80.

On the way out I tell the woman who took his photo – Polaroid of all things! – that she should try it too. And you know what? I hardly feel sorry for the poor bugger who is next in line when the machine runs out of money later today.

Please don’t think I am implying that the police are lazy, but it is definitely a cruisey job that comes with some power that makes them feel quite I.

Haha, originally I said there were 3 ferris wheels, then a different angle showed me there were 4. Today I discovered there are 5 ferris wheels, each has different music that is blaring out at a Spinal Tap level of 11. Add other rides similarly loud and it is not a pleasant place to be, fortunately there are plenty of other areas to hang.

And I found out the name of that game. It is called Kabaddi (kuh-buh-dee) and I am not sure the rules will make much sense if you haven’t seen it played, but here they are. Today was the final of the competition and in Indian style, there was no emotion displayed by the winners at all. They’re a funny lot, but that’s why I am here.

These guys had an important air about them as they watched the judging of a horse competition, I suspect they are owners.

This is one of the horses, the curled ears is obviously a desirable trait, as they all have them. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but are they Arabian stock?

Rather than in any sort of order, I am grabbing images and telling the story. I want to get this post up and get back on the streets.

When I was here a couple of weeks ago, when I saw them lighting crackers, I befriended some boys who live next door to the hotel. I had some in a bag which I gave to them. When I returned a couple of days ago they spotted me and came running babbling away at top speed in broken English.

The gist of it was they wanted to buy me a kite (R5) and fly it with me. I was happy to buy them each a kite but they insisted. So they get the kites and the manager says it is OK to fly from the roof, but another employee says no, so we don’t get far…or high.

Kite flying, while fun is a very serious past time and on the average afternoon there will be dozens of kites in the air. There is an object to the exercise, and that is to down someone else’s kite.

The top 10 metres or so of the string is abrasive. I don’t know if this is how they do it, but years ago I heard that powdered glass is mixed with glue and the string is coated with this mix. Your kite crosses lines with another you give a quick tug and one of the strings will be cut and come floating down, hopefully not yours.

As often happens when kids (me included) are having fun, some of the well intentioned staff who claim to be kite experts come along ‘to help’ and spoil it. :o)

Would it be inappropriate or offensive to mention that I saw the biggest and best camel toe ever?

I was already a jaded greenie. I won’t go into why here. But being in India reinforces how futile changing a light bulb or using public transport V driving is for us in the western world.

The amount of rubbish in the streets and everywhere, the awful quality of the air – look again at the ferris wheel photo, the putrid state of most waterways, cow, dog and human shit everywhere. And all of it in volumes so unimaginable you can’t imagine it. (Why didn’t the grammar checker pick that up?)

Mumbai and Delhi combined have nearly as many people as the whole of Australia. In the rest of India is a staggering 1,310,000,000 people. That is over 1.3 billion people more than Australia. There is no hope.

This was an environmental rally of sorts. Some people are trying and I wish them luck, but I am not optimistic.

I had a wonderful Malai Kofta tonight and can only hope that having done the cooking class I can produce something as good. There was a great view of a busy intersection from the rooftop restaurant and I noticed some guys building a barricade.

I may have touched on the fact that as well as the livestock trading – which has wound down now – there is a religious festival going on. It ends tomorrow on the day of the full moon and apparently it gets crazy crowded in the streets. So crazy that the streets are being converted to a big one way loop and the lane to the hotel is off one of the one way streets.

So tomorrow, to get to my hotel, I may have to walk all the way around the loop. The manager suggested I tell the police I am coming to the hotel and they will let me walk the wrong way, against the tide of 1.33 billion people. I don’t like my chances.

Tonight many people will walk all night and the markets near the important Bramah Temple won’t close.

A tray of beads for sale in the market

I am reminded of all the Frankenstein's monster images of people with pitchforks

I am reminded of the images of people with pitchforks coming after Frankenstein’s monster

After bathing in the holy lake, saris must be dried.

After bathing in the holy lake, saris are air dried. It only takes a few minutes.

These people make a really yummy sweet lassi. I asked what the little bits of peel-like things were that are in it. Marigold petals! See them in the lower left corner? Maybe that is their secret.

This was at about 11pm last night, they were doing brisk business when just about everything else was closed. The Indian version of the late night kebab stand?

Many people won’t drink lassis, could this be why? It is also used for chai and cooking so is hard to avoid, but I’m not trying to.

Raw milk – wish I could get it for my cheese making

I have been here for exactly a month and have a week to go. Keeping an eye on being in Delhi in 5 days I still have no idea where to go from Pushkar.

But I am fed, I am flush for funds, I am I’m India. Life is good.

For my lesbian friends :o)