10 Weeks in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, India, and Ireland
I had to pay 50 Rp. to get in and another 200 Rp to take my camera in...DAMN!. It was just OK. After seeing so much, it couldn't compare, but it was nice still the same. Afterwards we went to a silver jewelry shop so that some people could buy stuff for themselves and as for gifts. The stuff was pretty crappy, but I guess the others had NO idea on what constituted as quality and what as cow manure...but that just confirms my initial assessment on how these people are the 'typical' western tourists...that is, they have no individual thought, they just pay whatever they are told to pay, and are just ignorant people. Just last night all the girls were talking about how they couldn't wait until they had their fortune read from a palm reader. They were discussing the 'science' behind it and then they finally asked what I thought. I told them how you can 'cold read' someone based on what they wear, how they speak, their posture, etc. I told them there was no science behind it and it's entire market is perpetuated by voodoo worshiping undereducated people. Well, obviously I didn't say that, but God knows I wanted to. I went to look for some saris with the Norwegian girls, and then after that went with Lisa, the German girl. I went to AT LEAST 6 or 7 different places and shopped around for price and quality. I bought 3 saris from one place and then 1 from another place. In total the initial asking price was around 4500 to 5000 Rps for all 4. I bargained and bargained for the better part of 2 hours. I ended up walking out on 2 shop keepers hoping they would call my bluff, they didn't. Luckily the other 2 did call it and immediately ran after me in the streets demanding I come back to hear their 'new Final Offer'. That's funny, I always thought a final offer meant they would not give another one? I was able to get the saris for a total of 2400 Rps., which was about half of what they had originally asked for them. Now for comparison, the others in my group ALL PAID what the shop keepers ORIGINALLY ASKED FOR. It's sad because I KNOW that all of these people (likely) will suffer severely from this down turning economy. Maybe if they were not completely thoughtless they would not get ripped off. I am sorry, I digress, I don't mean to turn this blog into a negative group-session, but you have to understand. It's very hard for me to be surrounded by people that had the level of comprehension about their surroundings I likely had more than 7 or 8 years ago. UGH. Anyways, I went to an incense 'place' with Lisa, which was behind some type of kiosk and in a very very grungy little closet-filled shack. The guy claimed that all his incense was 'home made'. OK that was lie number one. Next he was saying that he exported to all the major distributors in the world. OK that was lie number two. Next he claimed that he couldn't go any lower as I told Lisa to haggle since he was already selling it at cost. That was lie number three...and boy was that the worst of the lies. But get this LISA actually believed him, felt bad, and then offered 100 Rps. more so he could make a profit. I wanted to kick her for that...but instead I bit my tongue and went to the post office to mail my post cards, all 7 of them. That reminds me, have any of you received mine yet? I only had to pay $0.24 per post card, which is much less than the $1.15+ I paid while in Lao. The post office looked like a repossessed car garage no larger than 750 sq. ft. There was no feeling of semblance and I had ask 4 people there how to go about sending a post card to America. I received my stamps and had to ask manually glue each of the stamps to the post cards, since they were not self-adhesive. They were just paper. I even had to use my own finger to get the glue out of the container and onto the post card...how precious. Afterwards I got two big bananas that only cost me 5 Rps (10 cents) and then went to shop for some leather bound journals. I LOVE THE FEEL OF LEATHER BOUND JOURNALS. I went into 4 or 5 shops that carried these journals to test the waters. I got a pretty good idea of what the selection was and their prices. I spent no less than 45 minutes shopping in the place I decided I would actually do my purchasing (see picture on right).
I love opening them up and then closing them and wrapping the leather strap around to fasten them closed. They just felt like something right out of "Raiders of the Last Ark". I don't know what it is about them, but whenever I hold a leather bound book I can't help but feel that the book has some inherent value and meaning...which is stupid, but oh well. I ended up buying 7 (yeah you heard me, ) journals. Some as gifts, some for myself, and some in hopes to sell for a profit. But I got a pretty good deal since I bought in bulk. The shop keeper even offered me a nice hot chai, which I gladly accepted. I am going to go to the 7:30 showing of Octopussy w/ James Bond at some rooftop restaurant close by. I'll have my dinner while I watch the flick. Apparently part of the movie was filmed here, in Udaipur, so many local places have DAILY showing of it.
I wanted to visit some local villages on a safari, but no one else wanted to join me. I couldn't go alone so I pleaded. After I showed the others an in my lonely planet I got 4 of them to change their minds. There were now 5 of us taking a village safari to the Bishnois village. These people sacrificed their lives to save the cutting down of a tree. We took a jeep packed with 6 of us total and went off road (really really off road) 50 km or so until we pulled up to a couple of huts. We were informed of the Bishnois caste and some other information about their small village. We drank some opium tea and then some Indian chai. We toured the village and helped grind flour and some other daily chores. Next we went to another village, of the caste I think is Megual (something like that). There we tried on some turbans and local clothing and helped an old man weave carpets from camel wool (see picture on left).
All these castes are sub castes of the Brahmins. The Brahmins don't eat meat which is killing me, but tonight we are going to an upscale restaurant which serves meat, yummy. I keep ordering my meals extra extra spicy, but am left having to order a side order of chillies. I don't think the Indian food is as spicy as I hoped. After the village safari I went to the Mehrangarh Fort (see video below), where I got a 50 Rp discount since I had a student ID card. For the total price of 200 Rp. we got an entrance ticket plus an audio tour of the Fort. It was quite wonderful, but I think I'm done with the forts. The village safari was about 6 or so hours and it was 550 Rp ($11 USD), which included the 100+ km round trip off road transport, a tour guide, and lunch.
Much to our surprise men kept coming back with large pots of food and gave us heaps upon heaps of food. I couldn't believe how much I ate. After dinner we got a table/bed closer to the fire and set up a card game to drink to. Each card has a rule and every player takes turns drawing cards. The point of the game is to drink. No winners, no losers. We all drank and drank for hours until it was about 12:00. We were listening to some music at that point. It was funny because no one had a pair of speakers that was working and my iPod wasn't loud enough. One girl had a flashlight you can wind up and charge anything via a USB port. One of the girls had bought a small speaker that charges just this way. So we would be winding this damn flashlight to power the speaker, and If I would wind too slow the speaker would just stop. It sounded like a broken record was playing. We were all having a blast trying to wind this thing fast enough to keep up with the music of the iPod. We gazed at the stars and it was just so clear. We slept on a, well, don't know how to describe it. There was a frame with 4 legs, and along the top there were some straps of fabric. On this fabric we laid some sheets and then a pillow. We were just sleeping out in the open under the stars (see picture on left).
The nearest toilette is wherever the hell you want it to be. The rule was just that you were supposed to kick sand on wherever you had just gone. I was writing in my journal and there must have been at least 5 girls swarming over to see if I had written about them. They were quite put off that I had not, though I passed it around and let them all write a little something. I've been keeping up very good on my journal writing. Everyday, between 2 and 4 pages a day on average. Here in India they sell nicely crafted leather bound journals with nice paper and I want to buy them all. I am not sure I have any more uses for them, so Please give me some suggestions as how I could use them. I need SOME type, ANY type of an excuse to buy 1, 2, or 8 of these. Also, if you like journals and want one, just let me know what size, and style and it's yours. TRUST ME ON THIS...I went to look at many journals before settling on the one I brought with me on my trip. The leather journals back in the states will cost between $15 and $80 USD, while the SAME ones will cost between $2 and $10.
