India (photos)

I finally got the memory uploaded. Here is some of what we saw in India. As Dara said, we stayed in Delhi for a few days and then did a little driving tour of some sights. Most people we've met since then are amazed that we only gave a week to India. It was definitely a mistake since it takes quite a while to acclimate to the culture. We really only started catching our stride right at the end, and then it was over. People spending months there note it as the best place they've been, and people spending less time often have less spectular reactions, but, it is definitely an interesting place.

I saw this in the airport and thought it was funny.

So there is one crappy street that most travellers end up on. Here we are at our hotel. On the street, you are constantly being harrassed, someone wanting to sell you something, or be your guide or give you a motor rickshaw ride. It took us the whole week to finally learn that if you say "no", you are acknowledging the person and they persist. The solution is to not even respond. It takes about a week to be able to do this without feeling rude. It's just how it works. But, the motor rickshaw rides are great. There are not traffic rules and huge numbers of vehicles nearly collide on each other at each intersection and everyone just muscles their way through. No one gets mad and no one gives way.

The best part was probably the food. The peanuts taste kind of funny though, kind of like farts or something.

Anyway, here is a pedal rickshaw and a man in front of a store and another guy.

After a few days in Delhi, we headed south to Jaipur, which was a nice. We didn't do much in the town. Most of our experience was just watching the landscape and people from the car. We spent 6-10 hours in the car each day. Here is a straw house and a guy giving bunny ears to a woman.

From Jaipur, we headed over to Pushkar, where there was a huge camel fare. The town was pretty busy with people bathing in the holy lake and markets and then we found the camels. It was a huge field full of them. There were women walking around collecting the turds (about the size of a billiard ball). They would lay them out in little sections of sand roped off with string. Each turd would be duly rotated for even drying. Then, they are carried off in shallow baskets carried on the head. I think they use them for fuel. I was standing there, watching a woman rotating the small turds, and then it dawned on me.

Peanuts.

Anyway, here are some photos from Pushkar. The connection here is too slow for me to look at the photos I uploaded, so I am just going by the file names. Camels and more camels.

A nice monkey family.

Here is Dara and a camel
and then Jim with a camel.

The camel fare.
And a wider view.

Some guys smoking.

Pushkar camels.
Camel fare.
Camel fare again.

A street scene in Pushkar and some Pushkar women. In India, it is very normal for men to hold hands.

Next, we went to see the Taj Mahal. Here is the two of us there. When we were there Albert Brooks was filming a movie. I was wearing a blue long sleeve shirt and think I should be in the background. But, I thought the big bald guy was Albert Brooks, so I took a picture of the wrong guy.

Here is sunset at the Taj.