First weekend away from Jaipur. We got an overnight bus. It felt nice looking out the window, wind in my hair, noticing how strange it felt to be led down whilst passing the familiar sights of Big Bazaar, Apex Mall (where I get off for work), the two bridges. Udaipur was, as expected, beautiful with it’s hills, the lake and narrow streets. It was a very indulgent weekend.. We looked around the palace, drank silly amounts of coffee, ate several muffins, meandered around the streets, drank beer, went on a boat ride, watched the sun set and we even got our palms read.
I’m very sceptical, cynical yet intrigued about palm readings. He said I’ll have a nice husband (he kept telling me that he’d be better than me); at least 7 more trips abroad; that I have an open heart and if it’s good or bad I’ll express it; that sometimes I get mind trouble; “your mind is in two palaces” he said “you’re always torn and confused.” “Use your mind properly” he said “ and don’t waste your time.” I will have 2 jobs, 2 sources of income. 3 Kids-1 girl, 2 boys. Marriage in early 30s. He said I drink too much. The funny this is though, last week I went to a jewellers and I got my palm read again to find out what "my gemstone” is. So I sat down and I noticed how he poked my hand more than looking at the lines. He said a lot of the same things which was weird- 3 kids, married in early 30s, will spend a long time abroad, that I’m romantic but overly emotional and think too much. Again, he said that I'll 2 jobs and that my mind is always in two places. My stone is the “catseye”-basically keeps the head/heart battle in check. He also said that I'm a "peaceful woman" but if i'm made angry it takes a long time to cool down. So apparently this will help me make more logical, less impulsive decisions. Now that’s good sales for you “This beautiful stone, that brings out your eyes, will balance you”.
They're not far off the "mind in 2 palaces" thing though-I know everyone is torn about things but I feel very indecisive at the moment. I'm a homebird with itchy feet which makes decision making difficult. I have a need for structure and a desire to feel rooted and obviously lots of people at home that I love but I always long for new experiences at the same time. There’s a happy medium there somewhere. We’re all scared of looking back on our life with regret-and there’s a risk of regret in whatever you do especially if you go too far either way. So whether it’s all just mumbo jumbo or not it's still thought provoking and the ironic thing my mind is “in two palaces” about whether to take any of this on board or not.....I must admit though I’m half tempted to buy the pendant!
Agra: 06/05/22
It’s hard to say what I thought of the Taj. Selfish I know, but I wish I could have seen it for the first time completely alone so I didn’t just feel like another tourist with a in some sort of weird production like; “ok stand there. Take a picture. Good. Now, move there-no, stand there. Smile.” It just feels a bit weird. Sat on the steps just through the archway (where everyone takes pictures) it was amusing watching people’s awkwardness when they had a picture taken alone in front of the Taj (we took mock awkward standing alone in front of the Taj pictures: see picture for my example!!) and watching massive tour groups in matching hats and families who looked so stern and serious as there picture was being taken.
I noticed, sat on the step, how some people walked through the arch, didn’t even look at the Taj and turned their back to it straight away and smiled ready for the picture. There’s something strange about the whole thing-yes there’s a romantic story behind it, but what makes some buildings so ridiculously more famous than others? I just found it all a bit weird and sort of forced somehow.
Jaisalmer 13/05/11
Probably one of the best weekends yet. Even getting to the train station was an adventure. We were running really late-we were still in the rickshaw with two minutes before the train was due to leave-“if you a play a song in your head, by the time the song finishes the train will have left” Michael reassuringly said. We got there about three minutes late. Ran to the entrance- couldn’t find the entrance-couldn’t find the platform, found the platform-it was over the bridge, spotted the train as it was pulling out-ran through crowds of people over the bridge half planning in the back of our minds what we’d do and where we’d go instead-as I ran down the steps I noticed the train wasn’t in sight but as caught up with Laura and Jerome I notice the train was STILL pulling out (they’re proper long). So we all ran as fast as we could, ducking and diving between people, caught up with the train, grabbed a rail of one of the doors, pulled ourselves up the steps and jumped onto the moving train, sweating and out of breath. We then had to stand there shoulder to shoulder with loads of other people squashed next to the toilet before we could get off at the next station and find our actual carriage, seats etc. By the time we got on the sleeper train we all slept like babies.
The camel ride was more relaxing- riding through rocky and sandy areas with trees scattered around and of course the sand dunes. The shadows, breeze, sun, the motion of the camel walking and clicking sounds the camel guides made to make the camels speed up and making various other sounds to communicate. When we stopped to rest under a tree our legs shook when we led down. We ate melon under the tree (the taste of melon always reminds me of being at my grandparent’s house in Essex, now I wonder if it’ll remind me of being in India ) drinking chai and sharing riddles and jokes with the camel guides-don’t ever try and explain how a “knock knock” joke works. Our guide was funny. He kept saying “hunky dory”, “lovely jubbly” and “diamond geezer” as well as randomly coming out with, accents, riddles and strange poems about chai, women and chapattis. My camel, Calu, was great too- very well behaved compared to the others. Bergit’s camel spent the whole trip randomly straying from the group to eat leaves off trees and Michael’s camel had mental health problems. We ate dinner by the sand dunes, watched the sun set, drank a couple of beers (which tastes 50 times better in the desert) and all sat around putting the world to rights as people almost instinctively do in contexts like this.
When you’re detached from everyday life- in the sea, on a mountain, in the desert-conversations always tend to become “deep” or reflective in some way as perhaps being in an alien situation makes you feel more objective or detached somehow. Anyway we named the desert “the desert of truth” that night as it managed to tease all our secrets and stories out of us. We didn’t have the “magically romantic” view of the stars but the night was interesting in a different way. It was, in all honesty a bit scary! We all had out blankets laid out on the sand dunes (that we, with childish glee, earlier ran across, rolled down and jumped about in) and shared stories as we fell asleep. I felt a bit like Truman in the Truman show looking at the sky and how dome-like it looked. It was cloudy but the moon was ridiculously bright you could see everyone clearly. Then the wind kicked in and the sand started hitting us and getting in our eyes, ears and mouths. At the same time there was silent lighting on the horizon either side of us and on top of it a beam of light on the horizon scanning and moving from the Pakistani border.
Then the wind kept getting stronger so we had to hold onto our bags, lie on our flipflops and tie our hats to our wrists with a scarf wrapped right round our faces. During the night my imagination was getting the better of me and I kept on picturing “The Mummy” and this bollywood I’d film I’d seen where a mother and son get separated- “Bambi” style-by a massive sand storm in my head. In the morning I woke up on Jerome’s blanket and mine was just a massive pile of sand. I’d drawn the short straw and was sleeping the side where all the sand was coming from. In the morning it was “hunky dory” though waking up to eggs, toast , chai and a sunrise over sand dunes. 3 top weekends. Only 1 weekend left to go and then I'm home again, home again-jiggity jig.
No comments:
Post a Comment