The last 5 days have seen us complete our tour of Rajasthan. With it comes the end of our relationship with Aamir. Having initially been the most sceptical about the benefits of embarking on the tour, I have to admit to that is has been completely worthwhile. We have been lucky enough to experience a whole load of things that we didn't even know about. For example, a visit to the incredible Jain temple at Ranakpur. Set in the mountains on the winding road between Johdpur and Udaipur, Mette, a danish friend we've picked up on the way expressed the firm belief that it was more beautiful than the Taj. I'm inclined to agree with her.
On the tour so far we have tried to maintain an open mind and tried to seek out the 'real India'. This attitude has probably been key to some of the great experiences we've had so far. But I guess it's always gonna have its downsides...Unfortunately punishment was lying in wait. On arriving in Jodhpur a group of us were set on visiting one of India's home-style restaurants. One evening luckily enough, a charismatic gentleman on the street was offering a cheap meal of thali on the roof of his house, cooked by his wife, for a tiny sum of money. Seemingly a great offer. In reality, however, thali turned out to be curry flavoured water, generously garnished with her long black hair. All of us were too polite to turn down the food which kept coming. The trauma of the whole experience sent Will into liquid mode for the next few days!
Although the other two have suffered more than me on the food front, they have been on the receiving end of some fabulous attention from numerous Indians. On many occasions locals have stopped to request photographs (especially when Will is sporting his ridiculous straw hat). To my great dissatisfaction I am commonly ordered from the frame with a few harsh phrases of hindi, which I embarrassingly have to explain I don't understand. This always seems to invoke expressions of bewilderment...who is this curious brown kid hanging around with two white men?!
In the time where we haven't been sight seeing or posing we managed to catch the must see movie in Udaipur. Octopussy. The city itself is often referred to as the 'most romantic city in India' or 'East of Venice' (which we have assumed to mean Venice of the East). Unfortunately, this has been slightly lost on Rhys and Will. Roger Moore, however, did give a text book lesson on how to deliver a most effective sleazy one liner. In addition we have all made sizable inroads into our reading material. No one more so than Rhys , who after finishing his first ever book (One Day, the heartless bastard didn't shed a tear) has started Stieg Larsson's millenium trilogy. Personally, I think he'll make it 20 pages.
I sit writing this post in an airport waiting lounge, tiesto beats pumping through my headphones, so it seems appropriate to call time on a enlightening cultural tour of Rajasthan. The pill popping raves of Goa are waiting.
Techno techno techno. Shaan
On the tour so far we have tried to maintain an open mind and tried to seek out the 'real India'. This attitude has probably been key to some of the great experiences we've had so far. But I guess it's always gonna have its downsides...Unfortunately punishment was lying in wait. On arriving in Jodhpur a group of us were set on visiting one of India's home-style restaurants. One evening luckily enough, a charismatic gentleman on the street was offering a cheap meal of thali on the roof of his house, cooked by his wife, for a tiny sum of money. Seemingly a great offer. In reality, however, thali turned out to be curry flavoured water, generously garnished with her long black hair. All of us were too polite to turn down the food which kept coming. The trauma of the whole experience sent Will into liquid mode for the next few days!
Although the other two have suffered more than me on the food front, they have been on the receiving end of some fabulous attention from numerous Indians. On many occasions locals have stopped to request photographs (especially when Will is sporting his ridiculous straw hat). To my great dissatisfaction I am commonly ordered from the frame with a few harsh phrases of hindi, which I embarrassingly have to explain I don't understand. This always seems to invoke expressions of bewilderment...who is this curious brown kid hanging around with two white men?!
In the time where we haven't been sight seeing or posing we managed to catch the must see movie in Udaipur. Octopussy. The city itself is often referred to as the 'most romantic city in India' or 'East of Venice' (which we have assumed to mean Venice of the East). Unfortunately, this has been slightly lost on Rhys and Will. Roger Moore, however, did give a text book lesson on how to deliver a most effective sleazy one liner. In addition we have all made sizable inroads into our reading material. No one more so than Rhys , who after finishing his first ever book (One Day, the heartless bastard didn't shed a tear) has started Stieg Larsson's millenium trilogy. Personally, I think he'll make it 20 pages.
I sit writing this post in an airport waiting lounge, tiesto beats pumping through my headphones, so it seems appropriate to call time on a enlightening cultural tour of Rajasthan. The pill popping raves of Goa are waiting.
Techno techno techno. Shaan
These blog entries make my week, they are so lovely to read. You all have great writing styles and are really entertaining to read. I knew Will would suffer with his tum at some point, poor chap. So glad to hear it's all going well still, you still have so much ahead of you still too! Enjoy Goa boys. oh and Shaan I brought that hat for Will that you call "ridiculous" !!!!! :)
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