Steintore
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Steintore
Thu, 16.01.2014: Khuri −> Jodhpur, sunny, 22°C
Last night I dreamt of shepherd's pie!! It was there, right in front of me and it looked so delicious!! It was just what I needed - something that I can eat right now, something that won't make me sick, something that will stop me from losing so much weight! Plus it's my favourite dish!
So I reached out to start eating it and it moved away! I reached again ... and it moved away again. Oh God, this was turning into a nightmare! I was sooooo hungry and there's my favourite food and I can't reach it!!
The nightmare woke me up and I realised just how bad I must be feeling if I am dreaming of food! I don't remember ever dreaming of food before! Waking up out of the nightmare made me feel worse because I was really hungry and there was no chance of shepherd's pie, chicken casserole or even good old fish and chips!!
We got a knock on the door to tell us breakfast was ready - a hard boiled egg and a banana. Not exactly shepherd's pie but at least something that wasn't too spicy to eat! We were joined for breakfast by Tom Cruise and Shakira - that's who the Indians think they are! In reality, they are a couple from England - he's 6ft 8 inches tall and a foot taller than the real Tom Cruise and she has long blonde hair so that's close enough for the people here!
We chatted to them for a while and then packed up and drove around 330km to Jodhpur. The roads were fairly good at the start and I used the driving day to write on the computer in the back of the car until we hit bad roads and I had to pack the computer away.
We drove through a maze of very narrow streets, barely wide enough for our car and got to our hotel at around 4pm. Our room was above a courtyard on the second floor and we had clean sheets, two towels and three rolls of toilet paper!! I was about to declare this to be the best room we'd had so far when I made the mistake of checking under the toilet seat!!!
Oh well - India clean, in other words, the people here are colour blind when it comes to the colour brown!!!!! They just don't see it! Not on toilets, not on bathroom walls or even the supposedly clean sheets!
Oops, sorry - is this too much information? I think you're all getting the picture by now and it's not a very nice one. Even a supposedly 3 star, mid-range hotel doesn't come up to standard. The filth, squalor, lack of hygiene and cleanliness is really getting to us. We needed to get out of here except we've paid for this 28 day tour and haven't even got through half of it yet!
When the going gets tough, the tough get going? Hmm, we still haven't fully recovered so, for now, we should just be grateful that we have clean sheets, towels and toilet rolls I suppose!
After showers and putting in the first of three loads of washing, which had mounted up since we had been ill, we went out to find one of the restaurants recommended in the Lonely Planet and I was amazed that we managed to find it so easily in this maze of streets!
Unfortunately the food wasn't too good - a very greasy chow mein and we tried the macaroni cheese which just wasn't the best idea for our stomachs. So we ended up with chips! A really healthy diet!
We finished off the evening doing our washing, uploading videos and writing on the computer until it was almost midnight and time for bed!
Fri, 17.01.2014: Jodhpur, sunny, 21°C
We walked down to the clock tower and saw the "egg man", mentioned in the Lonely Planet, who makes eggs every day - scrambled, fried, omelettes, sandwiches - and uses between 1000 and 1500 eggs per day!! We saw him every day, working to feed people, and we wondered if he ever takes a break or if he ever gets fed up of eggs!
The market around the clock tower was very busy and then we found a posh hotel so we went to check out the restaurant. We only had cold drinks but there were 2 couples from Winnipeg on the next table and we couldn't resist asking what they were having and what it was like.
The chicken looked very good - a kebab and no sauce which is just what we need at the moment and they said the fried potatoes which looked like sliced potatoes in butter were very good, not hot but tasty. We reserved a table for later and went back to our hotel to do more washing and writing.
Our meal was wonderful. We shared a chicken kebab and potatoes. It filled us up because our stomachs must have shrunk. It's about time we have finally got something substantial in our stomachs!
Sat, 18.01.2014: Jodhpur, sunny but hazy, 21°C
Today was a sightseeing tour. First stop was Mehrangarh Fort - the most expensive fort at 400 Rs per person plus 100Rs per camera. Still that's only $15 for the two of us! We decided to take the audio guide which is included in the price and set off listening to Indian English up a steep climb into the fort.
We met Tom Cruise and Shakira again so we chatted to them for a while and then continued on our tour.
Construction of the fort started in 1459 but was added to over the centuries. It is owned and was lived in by the Royal family for 500 years and then turned into a museum. There was a lot to see - miniature paintings on display, lots of marble, a very elaborate Royal greeting room, an armoury, and a carved marble cosmetic chest. We also got views over the "Blue City" as Jodhpur is called and also went to the Turban museum!
Kirsten was getting stressed out with the audio guide, kept asking me which number we were on when there are numbered signs up, and couldn't take photos and listen at the same time. It was the first time we'd used an audio guide and there was just a bit too much information for each section. We would have been better off doing what we normally do - just reading the info boards as we go along. But at least we'd tried it out.
We spent 2.5 hours there and then went to Jaswant Thada - a cenotaph for a Maharajah built in 1906. Our final stop was the Umaid Bhawan Palace, where the Royal family lived and still lives once they'd left the fort. It is now also part museum and part very expensive hotel. It costs between $400 and $900 per night! Not in our price range!
The building is larger than Buckingham Palace and we enjoyed walking around but the best part was the collection of vintage cars that looked in pristine condition. The collection included a few Rolls Royce vehicles from 1927 and 1938 and even a Morris Minor convertible from 1934!
After over four hours of sightseeing we were quite tired but also hungry, so we went back to the Pal Haveli for chicken and potatoes again. Kirsten didn't want to have the same thing twice but when we got there it was 3-20pm and we were told that the kitchen would be closing in ten minutes so we had to rush in our order. I knew what I wanted - I didn't care that I would be eating the same thing again because it was something of substance in our bellies. But Kirsten felt rushed and went for the chicken again.
What made it worse was that several other people came in after us and all ordered food without being rushed! Kirsten complained and continued to do so for some time. She even complained all the time she cut my hair in the shower in our room! She messed up the back because we don't have the shaver with us but, with my hair, it doesn't matter! In any case, it will grow back!
Shortly afterwards, Kirsten got diarrhoea again - another bout of Delhi Belly. Not good. We've only just started eating again!
Sun, 19.01.2014: Jodhpur, sunny, 21°C
Kirsten managed to sleep through the night but got up again in the morning to rush to the toilet a few times. We were supposed to be driving to Kumbalgarh for the night where there is a fort and would then drive to Udaipur the following night visiting some temples en route. But with Kirsten needing a toilet close by, that wasn't going to happen.
I spoke to our driver and then spoke to the head office in Delhi. They cancelled the booking in Kumbalgarh and arranged for us to stay in the same hotel for another night. We will just have to miss the fort. No big deal. The main thing was that Kirsten could spend the day in bed.
It gave us time to discuss our plans for this trip and we decided that we would cut this India trip short and when we fly back from Myanmar on the flights we have already booked back to Delhi, we would fly right back out and go to Nepal. We would drop our plans to go over to the east and see Varanasi, Allahabad and Khajuraho and we would never come back to India! Our health is far more important and the longer we stay in this country, the longer we leave ourselves wide open to another attack. The place is so dirty and the hygienic conditions so disgusting that we worry every time we eat! Definitely not a good feeling!
I tried, and failed, to find bananas as this is the main part of our diet for the last few weeks! I wandered around twice during the day and must have walked a few miles - no bananas! That evening there was really loud music - Indian style - which was the last thing Kirsten needed. She was not having a good day at all - poor thing. Would it be my turn tomorrow?
Mon, 20.01.2014: Jodhpur −> Udaipur, cloudy, 22°C
Kirsten was feeling weak so I made us a cup of tea and did all the packing. I arranged for someone to help carry our bags down from the second floor (no lift) and we set off at 9-25am. We drove for over three hours, firstly on good roads but then we got bumped around quite a bit as we went up into the hills.
We stopped at Ranakpur to see the Jain temples that were built out of marble in the 15th Century. The main temple (200Rs per person plus 100 Rs per camera) are an incredible feat of Jain devotion with 29 halls, 80 domes and 1444 engraved pillars. It was actually smaller than it sounds and because the temples are only open to visitors from 12 noon until 5pm, we hit the crowds.
There were a number of large coach loads and taking photos wasn't easy. We escaped the crowds by going off to see two other temples that the crowds weren't interested in! We spent 2.5 hours there and then continued on a bumpy ride across a high ridge.
We got back on a toll road and arrived in Udaipur at 4-45pm. Kirsten had managed to get through the day. Our room was the largest we have had so far, with clean sheets, towels and toilet paper. We will be here for three nights.
We watched the end of a Hollywood blockbuster from at least 10 years ago and found that the TV only had two volume settings - too loud or mute! I guess we are never going to get a perfect room but then I'd rather have clean sheets than the latest TV technology!
We went out to a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet and ended up having chips again. Kirsten's veggie noodles were too hot for her and the fish fingers I had ordered were burnt to a cinder! We are really struggling to find food here but at least we have found a German Bakery that seems to have banana cake and apple crumble cake - or at least they will have tomorrow!
I rang up reception to ask for hot water and was told 5 minutes. It took another phone call and a wait of 1 hour before we finally got hot water at 11pm for a shower! A long and tiring day.
Tue, 21.01.2014: Udaipur, rain, 22°C
It rained all night and was still raining in the morning. We booked our flights to Nepal and celebrated being able to get out of India!! It will still mean another night in Delhi as our flight back from Myanmar arrives in Delhi at 11pm. But we will be back at the airport at 7-30am the following morning to get out.
Unfortunately, it will mean spending the night of Kirsten's birthday in Delhi!! I told her we would delay the celebration for one day until we get to Kathmandu.
We walked out into the rain, trying to avoid a flood outside the front steps of the hotel, and went to the German Bakery for an early lunch. Kirsten had cheese and tomato toasties and I had muesli with bananas. Our breakfasts are included in the hotels but we have missed so many because we haven't been feeling well enough or just can't stomach what's on offer.
The rain prevented any sightseeing but we went out later in search of another recommended restaurant. There was some very loud music on the way - a group of people singing and men dancing wildly as they moved along the street. They kept stopping every 10 metres and were using loud speakers to boost the sound of the clarinet and drums to ear-splitting level! There was also a man in traditional dress on a white horse. We have no idea what was being celebrated as the music was so loud we couldn't shout loud enough to ask!
When we eventually got to the restaurant, which we had picked because it offered baked potatoes, we were told that there weren't any tonight! So we walked back towards the hotel and found another one that offered baked potatoes. To get to the roof top restaurant we had to climb up four stories of very narrow steps.
We ordered our potatoes but then Kirsten couldn't get the Coca Cola that she wanted. She complained that the restaurant on the ground floor, which is under the same ownership as the roof top restaurant but had told us to come up here for food, had coke. So why couldn't she get one? In the end, the waiter said he'd go down and fetch one for her.
Even the simple things are difficult here. We were struggling to find something we could eat and then only got the drink Kirsten wanted if we pushed them. Maybe we're just not cut out for travelling anymore. Has India killed our travelling bug? Or maybe the stomach bug killed the travelling bug!!
Wed, 22.01.2014: Udaipur, cloudy/sunny, 23°C
We had planned to visit the City Palace today, but when we walked up there, we were told it was closed due to the Royal Wedding. The Royal groom is from Udaipur so the Palace would be closed until the 25th January. (The wedding was taking place in East India just south of Calcutta.)
We knew that we would be returning to Udaipur for one night so we would get another chance to visit the parts of the Palace that are open to the public. Kirsten went to see Jagdish Temple and I returned to the hotel - I wasn't feeling too good again but this time it was because I was coming down with a cold. Not surprising after Delhi Belly and a distinct lack of food.
We didn't do our appetites any favours when we decided to walk over to the other side of the lake that afternoon and had to walk through dirty streets and a disgusting stench from open sewage running into the lake!
We took a few photos in the courtyard of the Amet Haveli Hotel whose restaurant is recommended in the Lonely Planet. But after the horrendous stench, and knowing we would have to walk back through it, we didn't feel like eating.
We stocked up on water and snacks and later went out to a restaurant for pizza and a supposedly non-spicy fried rice that was too hot and spicy to eat! When we returned to the hotel we asked for hot water but waited so long that we gave up and went to bed!
