THIS is India!

"THIS is India...." he said, tilting his head slightly to the left and lifting his palms towards the sky as a truck dressed up in tassles, glittering tinsel and bright colours as if it were a girl in a dance hall, comes barrelling down the road towards us. He veers at the last minute avoiding the collision I expected to happen.

THIS is India, where nothing happens the way you expect it. Where lines on the road are for approximation, not guidance and if it looks like there are supposed to be two lanes, well, three or four will do. Where if you want to turn, you just do it by barging your way across lines, in front of other vehicles and within inches of pedestrians, horses, camels and bullocks- who all share the road with you.

THIS is India where 6 squillion people crowd into the Taj Mahal at sunset to see the lights and the queque's are 45 minutes long so you can be body searched before entering the gate. Where at least 50 + people squeeze through a gate opening meant for 10 at the most. Where we are lead blindly through the tomb at the Taj in camel caravan style not knowing where the steps are and if you will trip or not. [Doesn't matter, "whatever" Rakesh our driver would say- and anyway it probably doesn't because if you tripped and fell you would land on at least 75 other people stumbling around in the dark too].

THIS is India, where young boys tell old western women how beautiful and wonderful and unique they are, so you will buy a carpet that costs $4,000 US while they also ply you with cardmon tea and other variations of compliments. Where you don't know if what you are being told is for real or a ploy to get some money out of you, and what does it matter in the long run? This is India and it is a constant letting go of everything- expectations, grasps on reality, opinions, plans. "Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu" says Rakesh, "we will be protected all of us, and we will be complete."

THIS is India where on one end of the same street there are beautiful houses, with roses in the front yard and a car in the carport and at the other end are brick buildings with some walls, no roofs- or ones made of black plastic garbage bags held in place with bricks and bamboo, and no front yards, only garbage piled as high and as far as the eye can see, and hundreds of pigs and cows eating the plastic and rotting food and excretement, while little boys play badmitton with god knows what.

THIS is India, where young boys and girls roam the roads and rap on the windows and point to their mouths asking for rupees for food. While other boys ask you about cricket and Australia and Ricky Ponting- hey I am learning Aussie cricketer's names at the least.

Here's where we've been- [photos will have to follow, as this computer will not let me upload them- and I've tried 3 times and it is almost midnight]

Delhi- one night and a morning for me- city of smog- only the locals call it "haze"
Chandrigarh- WOW what a place- wide streets-tree lined, beautiful buildings, lovely houses, millions of new housing projects [and those slums I was talking about]
Shimla- high in the mountains- beautiful fresh air, freezing cold, lovely atmosphere.
Delhi [again] then to Agra and the Taj Mahal

Today we saw the Taj Mahal, which was amazing- no photo does it justice. And this being New Years weekend, we saw it with at least 500,000 other people- what a trip! I just keep on laughing at everything that happens- what can you do?

The traffic cracks me up, the people crack me up, the experiences crack me up. And I have been very lucky that I have a lovely driver, who is extremely protective of me, so I have not been hassled too much, if at all really. It makes me feel relaxed enough to look forward to what will be coming next.

Tomorrow we are off to Rajasthan after another sunrise viewing of the Taj!

ANTI-Ci-Pation

Since this is what I have managed to do so far in terms of packing and in honour of my jittery pre-India anticipatory nerves, I had a practice holiday down in Sydney this weekend....madness really. Pre-Xmas Sydney is full of shoppers, tourists and drunks and navigating your way through them is tricky.





It was a spectacular day- blue skies, warm breezes and of course, I was on the harbour, which always makes me want to live in Sydney- until I breathe in that is.
So now with less than 36 hours to go - yes Michael I am a bit scared- and excited too!- I have no choice but to continue with the packing. All of which makes the anticipation more intense. Every item of clothing I put into the case is accompanied by imagining in what circumstances will I be wearing that item, and what experiences will I be having.

I know by now, that no amount of reading, imagining or any other related activity will come close to what will actually be happening, but I can't help myself. All I am missing are the sensations: smells, sights, touch- will my thermals keep out the cold of the Himalayas? Will this shirt I've chosen be too hot? not warm enough? I also know that it doesn't make any difference what I pack because what clothes I come home with will not be the ones I put in the case today. And what, besides the Lonely Planet India guide, do I take to read? Do I read about the fall of the Liberals? another Westerner touring through India? a murder mystery? a biography? Or do I wait to browse through the airport selections, because I will have 2-3 hours before I have to get on the plane- thanks to anti-terrorist paranoia. [Which bits have to be in the plastic bags?]

During my short practice holiday in Sydney, a huge ship was docked at the Quay. I asked the security guy and he told me it was from New York and making its way around the Pacific and eventually over to Europe. I couldn't help but think about my 3 cruises in 2005-and how the ship is a floating city, complete with everything you could imagine which makes it difficult for people to come ashore and explore- suddenly you are on your own! [I can't wait!] People were coming off the ship and wandering around in a daze and the city looked beautiful on the surface. Underneath are the homeless, the smells of rotting food and god knows what else and the millions of cigarette butts, which litter the wharf now that we have driven smokers outside. It's always a challenge to navigate your way down a Sydney street on a Friday or Saturday night without being assaulted by smoke.


As mentioned before, my India trip has two parts-and I did not include the itinerary for the Buddhist Magical Mystery Tour. Here's what will be happening:

13 Jan - Full day of sightseeing New Delhi [and perhaps some shopping n'est pas?]
14 Jan - Varanasi - this is where I catch up with Jim- among other things, and maybe swim in the Ganges?!- I've been warned to keep my head out of the water.
15 Jan - Varanasi
16 Jan - Morning drive to Bodhgaya
17 Jan - Depart for Rajgir
18 Jan - Drive to Kushinagar
19 Jan - Kushingar-Limbini
20 Jan - Lumbini
21 Jan - Drive to Kathmandu
22 Jan - Kathmandu
23 Jan - Kathmandu
24 Jan - Kathmandu
25 Jan - leave for Delhi to fly back to Sydney and entertain everyone at copious dinner parties about the trip!


Well, enough of this procrastination, time to finish packing....now which long shirt should I take?

just like a paperback novel

You know those novels you read where one chapter finishes and the next chapter is about something different, but semi-plot related? Well, here we are at the end of one chapter, about to enter into another one. The semi plot related chapter is about changes- our most recent one being the government-[a collective sigh of relief just rippled through cyber space...]

So here I stand, in front of my beautiful home which has been sporting the Your Rights At Work plus Greens sign for the past couple of months. Mine was the most successful advert in the neighbourhood, as it was not stolen once from my front fence-unlike others who had theirs taken on a regular basis. Admittedly this is not my best photo- but it does capture a bit of the angst I am currently feeling about the next adventure. I am playing the Will I's in my head:
Will I give away my entire inheritance before I get out of the airport?
Will someone be there to meet my plane?
Will I manage to keep my food intake in? or out?
If it's out, will I cope with the loos?
Will there be some fresh vegies for me to eat?
Will my camera work? Will our driver by groovey?
Will my life be changed?

Only 6 more sleeps to go....and 6 more for all of you who are awaiting Santa's visit.

My Christmas day will be spent on Singapore Airlines-hopefully in a generously donated business class seat- can't decide between the martyr approach [oh please I am without my family- sob sob- and I need comforting, I think a Business Class seat would do the trick]. Or the direct approach: Are there any vacant Business Class seats? And can I have one?] The end of the day finds me in Delhi- sometime in the evening. Then the next day, we head off to Chandrigarh -that's Marianne, my gorgeous 60 something neighbour, myself and a driver, who we are yet to meet. Here's our itinerary for the 15 days following Xmas:

26th Dec Delhi-Chandigarh
Early Morning drive to Chandigarh Later tour of Chandigarh. Overnight in hotel.

27th Dec Chandigarh-Shimla
Early Morning transfer to Train Station for train to Shimla(5hr), Enjoy the beautiful view of Himalya's as train goes slowly towards Shimla.

28th Dec Shimla-Chandigarh
Drive back to Chandigarh(3.5hr). Evening tour of city.

29th Dec Chandigarh-Agra
Morning drive to Agra Via Delhi (7hr). You have to go through Delhi to go to Agra from Chandigarh. On arrival check in hotel. Later evening visit to of City.

30th Dec Agra
Early morning visit to Taj Mahal for Sunrise, Later full day tour of City visiting Agra fort, Itmuddaula fort.

31st Dec Agra/Jaipur
Morning visit to Taj Mahal for sunrise later drive to Jaipur (5hr.) enroute visit Fatehpur sikri. On arrival in Jaipur evening tour of City.

01st Jan Jaipur
Full day tour of Pink City of India.

02nd Jan Jaipur-Bundi
Morning drive to Bundi (5.5hr). On arrival check in hotel. Later tour of city.

03rd Jan Bundi
Full day tour of Bundi.

04th Jan Bundi-Udaipur
Morning drive to Udaipur (6hr.). Half Day tour of City.

05th Jan Udaipur
Full day tour of City of Lakes and Palaces.

06th Jan Udaipur-Jodhpur
Drive to Jodhpur (6hr). half day city tour.

07th Jan Jodhpur
Full day tour of Jodhpur city.

08th Jan Jodhpur-Pushkar
Morning drive to Pushkar. Later visit Ghats and temples.

09th Jan Pushkar-Mandawa
Morning drive to Small town of Mandawa . Later visit to villages.

10th Jan Mandawa-Delhi
Morning drive to Delhi.

After Marianne leaves to come back to Sydney, I join a tour that was supposed to have 6 people plus Sharon the tour manager, plus a Buddhist monk, but now is only Sharon plus Monk plus Me-too bad eh? We are following a path from Delhi into Nepal, via the original Buddha's spiritual journey. We also hit Varanasi where I hope to meet up with Jim, from TAFE, who is learning to play the sitar. Perhaps I should make him serenade me by the Ganges. Now there is a photo Op