I met a Dutch traveler over breakfast and we decided to head over to Ajmer together. That was certainly an experience. From the bus to Ajmer we walked forever trying to find The mausoleum of India's most significant Sufi sage, half a kilometer can sometimes mean four. I found it sad that we had to be warned numerous times to watch our belongings inside a mosque. We crammed into the inner sanctum around the tomb where I shared stories of the perennial stampedes that plague India. For some reason this, and the shoving and full on body contact made Nikki leave through a side exit. I got right up to the front and was next to touch the tomb but couldn't see what the observers were exactly doing so stepped back for fear of being found out as a non-believer.
Nikki had never had goat before so for the first time since leaving Mumbai I had meat. The restaurant was a bit confusing because I asked for goat in Hindi but the menu said mutton. Since my Hindi is still very weak and they didn't know English, it was a huge confusion with the whole restaurant in stitches as I tried to explain what I wanted using animal impressions. Turns out everyone in the restaurant was from Ahmedabad and spoke Gujrati, which finally made things much easier. By mutton, they actually mean goat. As we were eating they sat down next to Nikki one by one to take a photgraph with her. She was the only white person we saw in town but the superstar attention made me feel a little left out and I wanted to have someone take a picture with me. Nikki called the little girl back and as soon as I sat down next to her she cried. Just as we left I saw the butcher with the carcass of a freshly killed goat on the sidewalk and swarming with flys.
We then found our way to a Mosque that was built built by Aurangzeb, mostly with parts from plundered Jain and Hindu parts. The pillars still have the original figures on them, only roughly scratched off. On the way back I was swarmed with kids and commented that I was the movie star now but they left very quickly. We commented on how not persistent they were, usually the beggars stay with you for a lot longer before they realize they are wasting their time. They weren't wasting their time, I was a cell phone and camera lighter. That's why there are no pictures of Jaipur. And all my pictures from Pushkar are borrowed. I'll have to go to Delhi to buy a replacement, no camera shops in this small town.
Nikki had never had goat before so for the first time since leaving Mumbai I had meat. The restaurant was a bit confusing because I asked for goat in Hindi but the menu said mutton. Since my Hindi is still very weak and they didn't know English, it was a huge confusion with the whole restaurant in stitches as I tried to explain what I wanted using animal impressions. Turns out everyone in the restaurant was from Ahmedabad and spoke Gujrati, which finally made things much easier. By mutton, they actually mean goat. As we were eating they sat down next to Nikki one by one to take a photgraph with her. She was the only white person we saw in town but the superstar attention made me feel a little left out and I wanted to have someone take a picture with me. Nikki called the little girl back and as soon as I sat down next to her she cried. Just as we left I saw the butcher with the carcass of a freshly killed goat on the sidewalk and swarming with flys.
We then found our way to a Mosque that was built built by Aurangzeb, mostly with parts from plundered Jain and Hindu parts. The pillars still have the original figures on them, only roughly scratched off. On the way back I was swarmed with kids and commented that I was the movie star now but they left very quickly. We commented on how not persistent they were, usually the beggars stay with you for a lot longer before they realize they are wasting their time. They weren't wasting their time, I was a cell phone and camera lighter. That's why there are no pictures of Jaipur. And all my pictures from Pushkar are borrowed. I'll have to go to Delhi to buy a replacement, no camera shops in this small town.
1 comment:
you absolutely look like a movie star with sunset lighting, mountains and water in the background. I don't know what's wrong with those people
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