For some reason, not many people want to visit me in India! Last Christmas two family members decided they would come and visit me this winter. I went home for Christmas for 10 days then left to go back to Mumbai on Dec 31st with my Aunt Connie and her daughter -in-law (my cousin's wife) Christa in tow. Here is a synopsis, but there are a lot more pictures on facebook if you want to see :)
We arrived at 1am on Jan 2nd. We slept for a few hours then took a taxi to the Gateway of India where we caught a boat to Elephanta Island.
We did a little hiking and saw monkeys and explored the caves. I took Christa to the guy on my corner that is known for his hygiene with his street food and she loved his pani puri. Connie and I had vegetarian chili that Jessie had made.
On the second day, we met Felix at the Bandra train station and he took us in a cab to tour Dharavi(a huge slum). The girls got to try chai and we saw a lot of the Industries in Dharavi - leather, socks, clothes, purses, luggage, bread, etc.
Whenever I go through Dharavi it seems that one of the men ask about something someone is wearing and say that their company made it. Christa had a purse from Kohls that the guy makes. I have heard of several instances where items for Kohls have drawn attention. Many of my clothes are from Kohls - I need to find where they make them here and buy them from the source!! We also saw clothes being made for very expensive designers - especially Italian designers. After Dharavi, we took a train to Crawford market and we shopped for spices and tea. I ate a fruit I have never heard of - a chico - it had the consistency of a pear, but was firmer and sweeter.
We went to bed very early because we were being picked up at 3am to go to the airport.
We had a 5am flight to udaipur. We were met at the airport by our driver for the week, Ram. He was excellent!! He was a safe driver, punctual, advised of great places to eat, etc. I could understand about 75% of what he said and the others could understand a little less, but he had decent English.
He took us to our hotel - Jaiwana haveli (Haveli means courtyard - you see this word often in India). The hotel had hot water and a great rooftop restaurant where we had breakfast. It looked over the lake and the people were super nice. While we were eating, Ram arranged for a tour guide for the Jagdish Temple and the City Palace. After exploring those, we went on a boat ride around the lake palace and went shopping.
After breakfast the next day we set off on the day long drive to Jodhpur. About two hours into the drive, we came to the Ranakpur Temple. The girls got to experience Indian craziness. We walked to the temple and after read the vast number of rules, decided to go back to the car to put away all of our stuff except our money. We walked back and went to buy tickets only to discover that we needed our passports to get the audio tour headphones (which was mandatory for foreigners). We went back to the car and by now, we are hot - we had to be covered neck to foot to go to the temple. Connie couldn't find her passport, so Christa and I went to get our tickets. They have us three each. One to give for the headphones, one for security at the temple, and one to keep. Somehow when I got the temple, I didn't have my security ticket and of course they wouldn't take the third ticket!! augh. Christa was already in, but I went back to the counter. They were not helpful - wouldn't give me a different ticket even though I just bought it 1 minute ago. Another tourist was screaming at them because they stole 100 rupees from her. Her husband had to drag her away while she was yelling at them to kiss her ass. Ha! I sat down on the curb in the shade refusing to pay again to get a new ticket. They wouldn't give me my money back either!! About 10 minutes later, the guy calmed down and asked me why I was mad. Um.... because I paid to see the temple and you won't let me even though I bought a ticket!!!!! augh. stupid Indian rules just have rules. I was not happy!
The rest of the drive was uneventful. We stayed at Hem guesthouse in Jodhpur. I have stayed there before and it is in a family's house so the girls were sleeping next to the kitchen and I was sleeping downstairs next to rooms where the family slept. It is a different kind of experience. They said they had hot water, but we didn't experience it :), the streets were loud at night and it was truly an authentic Indian guesthouse experience. The next day we explored Mehrangarh Fort and Jaswant Thada and went shopping.
Ram suggested we eat at Pal Haveli and it was delicious and the rooftop restaurant had a great view of the clock tower. We took a rickshaw back to the hotel and the they do not have meters like they do in Mumbai. We drove about 5 minutes and the guy wanted 500 rupees apiece!!! I refused and told him I lived in Mumbai and knew that was ridiculous - he immediately dropped it to 100 rupees apiece, but that was still too much. Augh - they see white people and think they are stupid tourists they can cheat, but I was having none of it!!!
The next morning we drove the two hours to Manvar Desert Camp. We took a nap, then Connie and Christa rode camels. We went to the cultural show that night and had dinner. It wasn't as cold at night in the desert as I thought it was going to be, but while we were eating they delivered hot water bottles to our beds and turned on heat blowers in our tents.
Transportation
They got to explore India by airplane, taxi, rickshaw, boat, train, motorcycle, and our feet!
Animals
They got to see lots of animals wandering all of the streets - dogs, cats, chipmunks, chickens, rats, goats, cows, water buffalo, oxen, monkeys, deer, and antelope
Food
Christa loved Indian food and tried everything she could and liked all of it. She also liked the cheap, huge kingfisher beers! Connie did not like curry, but liked many of the dishes we had that did not contain curry. I can't eat Indian food and thought I'd have to spend days eating granola bars, but I was happy that we found plenty of things I could eat - naan, omelets, porridge, toast, and tomato soup. I only had to resort to granola bars a few times :) They got to try chai and pani puri on the street.
Sights, sounds, and India chaos
They got to experience Bandra Gymkhana being really loud at night, honking, crazy traffic, walking through sewage water, using squat toilets, throwing used toilet paper into the rubbish bin instead of a toilet, my crazy titanic elevator, people peeing and pooping right in front of them on the street, people spitting everywhere, pushing and shoving, lack of hot water.
We arrived at 1am on Jan 2nd. We slept for a few hours then took a taxi to the Gateway of India where we caught a boat to Elephanta Island.
 |
| love the garbage by this sign!! |
On the second day, we met Felix at the Bandra train station and he took us in a cab to tour Dharavi(a huge slum). The girls got to try chai and we saw a lot of the Industries in Dharavi - leather, socks, clothes, purses, luggage, bread, etc.
Whenever I go through Dharavi it seems that one of the men ask about something someone is wearing and say that their company made it. Christa had a purse from Kohls that the guy makes. I have heard of several instances where items for Kohls have drawn attention. Many of my clothes are from Kohls - I need to find where they make them here and buy them from the source!! We also saw clothes being made for very expensive designers - especially Italian designers. After Dharavi, we took a train to Crawford market and we shopped for spices and tea. I ate a fruit I have never heard of - a chico - it had the consistency of a pear, but was firmer and sweeter.
We went to bed very early because we were being picked up at 3am to go to the airport.
We had a 5am flight to udaipur. We were met at the airport by our driver for the week, Ram. He was excellent!! He was a safe driver, punctual, advised of great places to eat, etc. I could understand about 75% of what he said and the others could understand a little less, but he had decent English.
 |
| Ram |
He took us to our hotel - Jaiwana haveli (Haveli means courtyard - you see this word often in India). The hotel had hot water and a great rooftop restaurant where we had breakfast. It looked over the lake and the people were super nice. While we were eating, Ram arranged for a tour guide for the Jagdish Temple and the City Palace. After exploring those, we went on a boat ride around the lake palace and went shopping.
 |
| We did a lot of shopping for textiles. |
 |
| Ranakpur Jain Temple |
The rest of the drive was uneventful. We stayed at Hem guesthouse in Jodhpur. I have stayed there before and it is in a family's house so the girls were sleeping next to the kitchen and I was sleeping downstairs next to rooms where the family slept. It is a different kind of experience. They said they had hot water, but we didn't experience it :), the streets were loud at night and it was truly an authentic Indian guesthouse experience. The next day we explored Mehrangarh Fort and Jaswant Thada and went shopping.
 |
| view of mehrangarh fort from our guesthouse |
Ram suggested we eat at Pal Haveli and it was delicious and the rooftop restaurant had a great view of the clock tower. We took a rickshaw back to the hotel and the they do not have meters like they do in Mumbai. We drove about 5 minutes and the guy wanted 500 rupees apiece!!! I refused and told him I lived in Mumbai and knew that was ridiculous - he immediately dropped it to 100 rupees apiece, but that was still too much. Augh - they see white people and think they are stupid tourists they can cheat, but I was having none of it!!!
The next morning we drove the two hours to Manvar Desert Camp. We took a nap, then Connie and Christa rode camels. We went to the cultural show that night and had dinner. It wasn't as cold at night in the desert as I thought it was going to be, but while we were eating they delivered hot water bottles to our beds and turned on heat blowers in our tents.
Transportation
They got to explore India by airplane, taxi, rickshaw, boat, train, motorcycle, and our feet!
Animals
They got to see lots of animals wandering all of the streets - dogs, cats, chipmunks, chickens, rats, goats, cows, water buffalo, oxen, monkeys, deer, and antelope
Food
Christa loved Indian food and tried everything she could and liked all of it. She also liked the cheap, huge kingfisher beers! Connie did not like curry, but liked many of the dishes we had that did not contain curry. I can't eat Indian food and thought I'd have to spend days eating granola bars, but I was happy that we found plenty of things I could eat - naan, omelets, porridge, toast, and tomato soup. I only had to resort to granola bars a few times :) They got to try chai and pani puri on the street.
Sights, sounds, and India chaos
They got to experience Bandra Gymkhana being really loud at night, honking, crazy traffic, walking through sewage water, using squat toilets, throwing used toilet paper into the rubbish bin instead of a toilet, my crazy titanic elevator, people peeing and pooping right in front of them on the street, people spitting everywhere, pushing and shoving, lack of hot water.
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