octopussy

I've spent the last few days in udaipur. the most beautiful place i've ever been, period. to think i almost skipped it. the city surrounds lake pichola and, around the city mountains, temples... in the middle of the lake is a palace. once used my the king of this area, now a very expensive hotel. many scenes from the film octopussy starring the infintely inadequate roger moore were filmed on the lake and around the palace.





several of the lakeside hotels screen the film nightly though my viewing attempt was interupted by a broken VCR. the place is the most beautiful i've seen in India. there are these little birds that fly around in packs over the lake, like airbourne schools of fish flying together. the sunsets, insane.





the crazy thing about the lake is that until 2 weeks ago it had been completely dried up on account of drought. it's really difficult to imagine this palace sitting in the middle of a dried up lakebed. the whole city is ecstatic because this huge deluge came in and refilled it in two days. so strange. all the kids are going crazy swimming and all the women are catching up on their laundry.



i've been laying pretty low here reading and swimming. i didn't really meet anyone here, though i did run into an art director from paris named philip. I knew he was in india but bumping into him on a small street near my hotel. well, a very small world indeed. I did make friends with the guy who owns my local internet cafe named bhupendra. he's helped me book onward travel to goa. he also invited me to his family's home for dinner last night. it was such a cool experience. his father is a cop here in udaipur. he works 7 days a week 8 hours a day. he looked really tired. his mother a housewife, as most women are here. the house was modest but, quite nice with a large open air section.



a lot of people here sleep on these cots outside. it's much cooler. i've been trying to work that out. it seems it would be great. bhupsa's mom has a pet parrot that speaks hindi. it's crazy. also this year i met a myna bird in china that spoke chinese. smart birds. so, the meal was great. dal, a kind of bean soup, rice, bread, this really spicy okra thing, and an amazing rice pudding. conversation was difficult. i was under the impression many indians spoke english as a second language, not so. even my friend bhupsa's english is patchy. they had many questions for me. one of the biggest points of discussion is always why i'm not married and they're always surprised i'm travelling alone. bhupsa's father asked me if i would like indian woman. why not i say, he'll get back to me. americans seem quite rare here as well.



indian people like america and americans for the most part but, of course always mention their disapproval of bush and, like the rest of the planet, can't understand why he was re-elected. they dislike him primarily for his support of pakistan. i guess we've been selling them weapons or something whick pisses these guys off. anyway the dinner was great and, being such a curiosity is mostly entertaining. it does get tiring at times saying hello to some 40-50 people a day. mostly kids. i also hear constantly, what country sir? depending on my mood i say canada, england or, the galapagos islands, rarely u.s.a. It's funny how quickly you can become aclimated to such a foreign place. i feel quite comfortable here now. noting like my first email right? i had a great haircut experience yesterday. i think the best haircut i've ever had. i have did a little video of it. he only charged me a dollar fifty. hell, i gave the guy 4 bucks. today i'm leaving udaipur for goa. it's going to take 2 days to get there but, i've heard some rave reviews from other travelers. i"ll be on a bus to mumbai for 12 hours, then a train to goa for another 12. i'll start my fourth book now about this welsh drug smuggler named howard marks, i recently learned from the dylan thomas biography, dylan is an ancient welsh word that means sea.

dylan

Mountain of Monkeys

So, I dropped out for a couple of days. Jaisalmer was fantastic. All did was read and relax on the terrace of my very inexpensive, yet historically relevant hotel.



The hotel operator, as my Italian friends can confirm was a bit on the annoying side, trying to sell me a damn camel ride everyday and, he and his family yelling and fighting all day/ By the way, Michele, Andrea, Elisa...Suresh blames you for the trouble with the jeep. It was very nice overall, though the interior of the fort wall was a bit of a shopping mall.





The most tourists I've seen yet. I kept telling all the shopkeepers, who really hassle you at times, "not shopping, just walking" After awhile they all recognize me and start saying "just walking sir"? Jaisalmer was nice and dry, no rain at all, and very cool at night. I actually had to use a sheet sometimes. What else happened? Nothing, I sort of got bored at the end. So this morning I got up at 4:30 and got on a bus for Mount Abu.





Some of you have found humor in my prior journals well, there is nothing funny about a 15 hour bus ride through the desert. I also keep ending up on these local kind of routes. Everyone on the bus is looking at me like, buddy you're on the wrong bus. This thing is so ragged. The seats are all shredded, dusty, banana peels everywhere.



I'm cool being the only whitey on this trip and all but, I'm conviced I'm the one of maybe 3 other americans in India right now. It actually was a fine trip. The guy riding shotgun. The buses always have this guy who whistles signals and collects money. Anyway this guy is sitting in front of me meditating between stops. He's chanting and stuff, OM...I'm digging that. Every now and then he checkson me, looking back smiling, like I'm some kind of special cargo. I asked him to take my picture with my new digital camera and the whole bus went wild. These guys love camera's and ham it up. I'm on my way to this Mount Abu.







It turns out it's a major tourist destination for Indian travellers. It's an old hill station, whatever that means. It's this kind of oasis on top of a mountain. Lot's of rich kings, majarajahs, sp? built palaces up here and, now they're all hotels. Funny. On my way up the mountain and, on a different bus now. I'm with all seemingly middle class, by our standards, Indian families. I'm thinking. Hmmm. is this cool? I'm seeing alot of monkeys hanging around in the trees along the road. The landscape is really beautiful but, hard to describe. There is a quick transition from desert to mountains. It's lush, but still open. It's kind of Texas hill country, Marfa, Bear Mountain, Oaxaca jungle with lot's of palm trees, camels, and monkeys. I'l try and refine that description with photography tomorow. I made it to my hotel of choice. The Shri Gonesh guest house. It's very nice. Electric blue tile bathroom, T.V. , and 2, yes 2 blankets on the bed. The altitude makes it some 15 degrees cooler up here. I'm pretty tired from my journey. I'm going to go find some dinner and dive into another book. Tomorow I'll explore this strange mountain. Watch out for panthers & sloths. Two other inhabitants of this place. Cheers,

dylan

Thar Desert

So, I get to this really sketchy bus station in Johdpur to catch my ride to Jaisalmer. Before I'm even out of the rickshaw this toothless guy grabs my backpack. It's hard to explain why it's difficult to argue, many factors. I follow the guy around the back of the really sad looking vehicle to a squeaky old hatch in the back. He puts my bag in, demands 10 rupees for carrying it, and I make peace with the idea I may never see it again. The seats onboard are actually not bad. The enviroment is entertaining. Imagine a greyhound bus decorated like one of the indian joints on 6th. street. Lights, music...The ride is 5 hot hours. To my surprise I am the only tourist on the bus. Jaisalmer is a pretty big destination, maybe I'm on the local? The landscape begins changing rapidly. More sand, sometimes the sand seems to overtake the road. I'm also seeing a hell of alot of camels now. Strange animals. They don't seem like they'd be so comfortable to ride. The bus stopped a couple of times and what would be a Mcdonalds on our local greyhound. If you've ever wanted to know what it was like to feel like an alien from another planet, come to the Thar Desert. There is a general shortage of 6'2'' white guys wearing addidas sneakers and cutoffs around here.



I could set up a booth out here and charge admission given the attention I recieve. I'll admit at moments I'm thinking what the hell are you doing on a bus in the Thar Desert? All the while I'm reciveing a very healthy sunburn on the one arm. Windows don't really work. As we make our final approach into I formulate my plan. You see, the rickshaw drivers and camel safari guys are really aggresive as are most salesmen in India. I've slowly been sorting my strategy. I've read in my book the guys here are especially tenacious. I'm going to just blast through these guys and walk into to town. So, the bus stops. I stage dive from the bus into a throng of crazy camel dudes. They're all waving keys and pamphlets at me. You want camel safari, you need place to stay...etc. It was a blur. I raced back to the hatch in the back, found my backpack covered in some kind of red dust, and make my way towards the city. I actually have no idea where I'm going but, I just walk. Slowly the voices are quiet. I made it out of there. Now that I've refused a ride. I'm walking in the desert. I don't have a hotel booked or where the old fort I'm looking for is. A rickshaw passes. "You need place to stay, camel ride?" I jump in but, I did it my way. The ride to the 600 yr. old fort is actually only 5 minutes. They call Jaisalmer "The Golden City" All of the buildings are painted this tan honey color and as the lonely planet says, the city does seem to rise from the desert. It's amazing too, there are many small hotels within the old fort walls which sits in the middle of the city on a large hill. I opt to stay within the fort. It's so cool like staying inside a castle.



There are even canons still in place at various corners fo the complex. I walk through 4 large gates to arrive in the central fort area. Not knowing where to stay I just wander around looking for a guest house that strikes me. I walk into this one called Hotel Laxmi Niwas. There is a really large, hairy and, friendly indian man named Suresh sitting behind the desk. He let's out this unexplainable laugh and says welcome. I look at the rooms and decide on a rooftop suite, shared bathroom (metal stall on roof).



Very spartan but the view, incredible. Only 4 dollars a night! I relaxed for a bit, then out on the streets did some portraits. People are very easy here. I do have trouble shooting single portraits. Other folks always seem to creep into the pictures. I think this is kind of interesting though and don't discourage it. Makes for funny compositions. Later I found a nice rooftop cafe, had some fo the nicest indian so far. Back at the room watched the sunset, read awhile, sleep. Sorry for any typos, I'm on the clock and a lousy typist. Thanks for tuning in, your feedback is keeping me connected. I hope everyone's well.

dylan

Bollywood...

Bollywood. Wow. Last night I went to a local cinema here in Johdpur with some friends from Barcelona Daphne & Raphael. So funny. The plot best I understood it was kind of a Natural Born Killers meet's Bonnie and Clyde substitute the ultra-violence for ultra-crazy musical dance numbers. It was so cheesy it was hilarious. The costumes were completely ridiculous. Scenes like the main male lead riding on the front of a train through the desert in northwest India humping the air and singing this crazy hindu disco song. The best. the cinema photography and lighting was actually pretty nice in a lo-fi primitive way. I've got to find a place to rent these in the city. It was also a very strange experience going to the theatre. Several people outside warned us it was in hindi, that we wouldn't understand but seemed entertained that we were there. At intermission, the film was three hours long, a couple of cool young kids came up and asked how we liked the film, what country are yo from sir... It was funny to because the bad guy was so obviously ripping off Al Pacino. I said that to the kid and he told us Al Pacino was that guys favorite actor and, the father of the lead character was a total Indian Dustin Hoffman. Interestingly the theatre was all men except for maybe one or two women and, when the female lead worked her dance moves, they all whistled and cheered very loudly. My deli guy Prakash in East Village told me there's a theatre in midtown that shows all Bollywood films. Check it out. Yesterday afternoon I visited this old fortress here in Johdpur. It was pretty spectacular complete with cannonball holes.









I think I got some nice pictures up there and in the market later in the afternoon. My friend Raphael told me a funny story last about an experience in Delhi. He and Daphne came upon this guy on the street who had a small table set up. In his broken english he asked them if they were interested in his services. He had a comment book and looked like a sort of holy man, not sure what the guy was selling they read some comments from his book. One said, "I didn't know what I had inside". Another, "It took some convincing but, he did a really great job". "What does this guy do?" says Raphael. Turns out the guy was an ear cleaner. I guess it's sort of common here to include on a daily list, trip to the market, post office, haircut, and a good deep earcleaning on the streets of Dehli. I'm off to the used bookstore. I'm devouring bad detective novels.

dylan

Update

hello all,

So, I said India wasn't relaxing. It's not but, it's absolutely intoxicating. For all the struggles the rewards are so great and seem to come just when you need them. Sunday evening I travelled by train 12 hours from Varanasi, the holy chaos of the
ganges, back to Dehli to catch another 12 hour train to Jodhpur they call the "blue city" Most of the buildings or at least part of them are painted this amazing indigo blue.



At the top of the hill is a giant old fort, complete with cannonball blemishes from an ancient war. I must tell you first a funny story from my layover in Dehli. I got myself a 5 dollar room for the day in this crazy part of old dehli. It's basically several blocks dedicated to car & motorcycle parts, mechanics, etc.. Very strange and cool muslim area. Across from my hotel is the oldest, largest, or both in India. I can't remember the name either at the moment. Anyway, I thought I'll head over check it out maybe get a picture or two. I arrive at the gate and since I'm wearing shorts, which are not allowed, I have to put on this crazy robe, take of my shoes...So, I wander in and have my big four by five field camera unfolded. I thought people seemed facinated in China with this strange "old looking" camera. Nothing like here. I set up the camera much like I did in Shanghai on the river. I found a suitable background, meanwhile a crowd is gathering bigtime.



It's fairly un-nerving, but I keep my cool take a light meter reading, more people, more. I stop look around. I'm completely surounded. I actually kind of can't even move. There must have been 50+ kids, adults, all male. There not just behind me. They are all around. If I was trying to take a picture or the Mosque. Not gonna happen. I just start clicking. I shot several sheets of my curious friends. All smiles. The funniest thing though was. I picked up to move. Not really knowing what to do. I had planned on pulling a few interesting folks out of the crowd for single pictures. Forget it. Not enough film. So, as I moved they all followed me. The funny part is I'm here at this huge Mosque filled with all kinds of people, including many fellow travellers, and I have a pack of 50 people following me around. And I have on this crazy robe. I just start laughing. It was a fantastic moment.





I did however retreat back to my little room to regroup. That happens alot. You start to feel overwhelmed with the mass of humanity. I headed up to the roof of my hotel for dinner. It was dusk and I was surprised to find people on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings as far as the eye could see flying kites. Hundreds of kites in the sky. It was such a site. Set against the backdrop of this massive Mosque, absolutely beautiful.



I made the train last night at nine and met a really cool couple from Barcelona in my compartment. We talked with an Indian man late about the hindu religion, caste system, all sorts. I arrived in Jodhpur this morning at 9 a.m. I have this thing I do at the train station upon arrival. You're always mobbed by all the rickshaw drivers looking to take you any number of places, some of which are on their kickback lists. I always like to make it through the crowd to find my own guy. Somehow it seems better if I pick them out instead of the other way around. So, this guy approached us, my friends for Spain and I. I shrugged him of in search of my magic driver. We make it through this huge crowd. I find this dude not paying too much attention, that's my secret, and say how much to Havali Hotel. 25 rupees, fine let's go. In jumps the guy I just turned down. This is my brother he says. Funny right. You never know. My hotel in Jodhpur is outstanding with five roof decks looking out over the blue city. A bargain at 7 bucks a night.

dylan

gold flakes

greetings from the ganges,

Well, India is not relaxing.

It's filled with tests, and lessons. You ask five completely different people from a street beggar to the concierge at a five star hotel the same question. You get 5 answers. Some are liars, some just don't know, mysterious. It's a challenge i'm up for, but it's not easy. The real people I've met here are amazing. Big ups to my man Roy & Pankaj Choudry at Hanuman Ghat and, my new friend Loren all the way from the upper west side.




Yesterday I visited Sarnath. The site of the Buddhas first teaching, incredible in the pouring rain, dozens of stray dogs racing around the ruins.



I'm here in Varanasi one more afternoon, then I'm off to Johdpur by way of 24 hour train ride back through Dehli. The food, Whoa, and no sickness. I'm careful to eat in busy hotels & restaraunts. I've seen cremations and the remains delivered out into the river. Lots of people swim in there, not me I swim at the Taj Ganga resort. Stefan did you swim in there? All the locals chew this wierd tobacco stuff called betlenut. It rots their teeth and they spit huge amounts of this red juice, look out for that.



The rickshaw rides are like your worst ny taxi experience times 10. What else...People pee and crap everywhere right in front of you...they don't have trash cans, so lot's of garbage everywhere. Don't worry the cows will eat it.

dylan