hannah

It's been a while since the last post. Apologies, but we have been driving around a himalayan desert where people mostly spend their time moving rocks with their hands (more on this later). Needless to say, there was no internet.
Since the last post we jetsetted our way to Varanasi - one of Indias most holy cities. It is where Hindu people wash away their sins in the River Ganges, as well as burn bodies next to it. We saw a fair bit of both which was an amazing experience, the choking smoke of burning bodies however, was somewhat overwhelming. Dead holy men and children are not burnt, but placed in the river to wash downstream. It's funny in Australia if I saw a big old man's body floating down the river I would freak, but not here. The one we saw was very close to the bank where people were washing, so they just splashed it so it would move away. Wierd. It was unbearably hot in the this crazy and dirty city, so we next headed to the western Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh. Shimla is a lovely hill station which was the summer capital of India when the British were in power. It is very clean, cool and full of wealthy Indian tourists. We wandered here for a day, then hired a jeep to take us north to the above mentioned desert area - Spiti. The drive was through the most spectacular valleys, but separating jeep from 50 metre cliff was often very little, so there were more than a few nail biting hours. Fortunately we had a very safe driver called Kookie who seemed to know all the tricks when it came to any stand off with buses coming in the other direction on a cliff road as wide as one car. We always won! That is not to say the buses rolled off the edge instead of us, but lots of yelling behind closed windows and exaggerated hand gesturing ultimately resulted in the other car/bus backing up to within an inch of the edge and us squeezing past. The drive was worth it however. We saw spectacular glacial and river valleys, jagged snow covered peaks and some of the most incredable cliff top monastaries. This area used to be part of a western Tibetan kingdom, and so Buddhism developed here over 1000 years ago. There were some artistic treasures hidden inside very plain looking mudbrick monastaries, some on jagged rock cliffs about to collapse. Each of the monastaries was attached to lovely, but very poor and basic villages. The people looked far more Tibetan/Chinese than Indian and were so friendly. Their lives seem so hard though, living and working in a rocky, mountainous desert where the only water comes in the form of snow. They carry their children on their backs and move rocks to create fields for potatoes and beans, or to clear roads after landslides. But it is mostly untouchables from the south of India who risk their lives to build the roads.
We have lots of photos that give you a better picture.
Heading towards Rishikesh tomorrow where we will start our 9 day Kuari Pass trek. Am looking forward to the peace and slow pace of walking for a while.


Boat trip at dawn on the RIver Ganges in Varanasi


Collapsing Ghat by the river




Can you see the dead body?


A cool relief in the moutains. Bhima Kali Temple at Sarahan.




We met these ladies when we went for a walk near Chitkul. They told us to sit down and then shared dried apricots with us.


Eating a lunch of aloo and parantha by the river. We are not far from the Chinese border, so we were soon joined by some friendly police to see what we were doing.


The view down from the edge of the road.


Buddhist prayer flags at Nako


Cute kids in Kibber. "One Photo, One Photo!"


Dankar Monastary


Yaks. Alistair loves Yaks!


School children lining up in the morning. Kibber.


Kee Monastary


The view from the roof of Kee


Shimla


I still hate them.

We have made it to Bundi - our last stop in Rajasthan. I felt quite sad leaving Udaipur, it truly is a most beautiful city, as you will see in the photos. But as soon as we arrived in Bundi I was happy. All the people are so friendly and say hello without wanting to sell you anything. I feel like we know half the people in the town already!! There was one guy who reckons he remembers Michael, Jackie and Alex from 10 years ago! (PJ Michael??)
We ventured up to the ruined fort this morning in the 40 degree heat and pushed open one of the 5 metre high fortified gates to get in. I felt quite excited about exploring the ruins until we saw crazy monkeys leaping from walls to trees with arms and tails outstretched. I was just imagining them leaping onto my face. We armed ourselves with stones and sticks and made our way to the highest point of the fort, only to be met by a guard dog (glad I had my stick). It's not very touristy here!
So mum was right about the monkeys. They are revolting and scary!! We saw a whole lot yesterday and exclaimed "oh, how cute, look at the baby" and then one of them hissed and chased us like out of the movie Outbreak or something. Not cool!
I enjoyed a delicious lassi today. With saffron, pistacchio, raisins and cardamon. Yum Yum!


Udaipur Sunset


Daily washing at Lal Ghat outside our very expensive hotel!


Udaipur City Palace


A jewel of a Shish Mahal in Dungarpur Juna Mahal


Dungarpur Juna Mahal


Very artistic!


How good would a disco be in here!!!


Couldn't resist having breakfast, lunch, and dinner here for three days!! Our hotel in Udaipur - Jagat Niwas


The view at dinner time


Hindu Temple at Chittaurgargh


Don't let their cuteness fool you...


Bundi


Al getting his hair cut. Best cut ever for 70c!!


Note the stick. Waiting at the top is the guard dog, but we don't know that yet!


The Fort. You can't see them, but the monkeys are EVERYWHERE!!!

A small village near Jaisalmer. The kids were so lovely and we kept saying "Namaste" to each other really loudly. The goats had HUGE ticks on them, so I was delighted when one of the lady's grabbed one and put it in my arms!!



The boys chasing our jeep as we left. They are wearing school uniform - a 5km walk to school each day.


Alistair's camel


Alistair riding the camel into the dust storm, with the singing camel man dinking a ride



Doing it tough in our Jaisalmer hotel room


They like bread


Gadisagar


Mehrangarh Fort, Jodphur


Alistair enjoying yet another great audio tour


The Brahmin area - the blue hue of the whitewash is a chemical that keeps away the termites


Cute in Mount Abu


The Mewar Festival in Udaipur where unmarried women pray to the goddess Gangaur for a good husband.






The view from our hotel room in Udaipur - early morning (no, Alistair did not take this photo)


Scary at City Palace Udaipur

We had a lovely couple of days in Jodphur - the blue city (photos to come). We were both incredably impressed by the imposing fort and the excellent audio tour. We made an effort to wander through the streets (quite an effort when its hot, polluted and people are staring)and found some great little bazaars full of quirky little shops. You had to be careful to avoid all the muck on the ground though. We returned to our oasis of a hotel - a lovely Rajput family home with s stunning garden and pool - fenced in of course, from the outside grot. It seems funny here, how the wealthy just put a big fence around their property - fencing in their little plot of 'niceness' - away from the rubbish, poo and noise on the street just outside.

We caught the overnight bus to Mt Abu. We were a little apprehensive, but relieved when we boarded the bus to find a lovely double sleeper compartment with a soft mattress and windows with curtains. We soon settled in ready for a good nights sleep. We did, however, forget the state of Indian roads and the style of Indian driving. We spent the night like fish on the way home from the pet shop - bashing against the sides and rolling onto each other. I was in fits of giggles for most of the trip - but not now that I see my bruised knees!!

Anwyway, we finally made it safely to Mt Abu - a cool hill station in the mountains of Rajasthan. Its a lovely holiday town with the most spectacular Jain Temples. We visited them today and were amazed by the fine chandalier like marble carvings. Incredable fine detail carved over 1000 years ago.

Might head to Bhanswara tomorrow with the hope of seeing panthers.

Hmmmm.... well, it wasn't quite a sunset that we rode into, more of a dust/thunderstorm!! It was still cool though. We ate dinner in a little mud hut with lightning putting on quite a show outside. Heading to Jodphur today.

Are you carrying any concealed weapons. What is this? What is this?