Rajasthan, full of desert cities

On our way to Jaipur from the Taj, we stopped at a the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary where we saw a number of beautiful kingfishers, peacocks, storks, and spoonbills among others. The land was bought by the Maharaja Bharatpur in the early 19th century, declared a national park in 1982, and a World Heritage site in 1985. Unfortunately, due to decreasing annual rains during the monsoons, the actual "wet" part of the wetlands and marshes now spans only a fraction of what it used to, so many migratory birds are either moving somewhere else, or decreasing in number due to scarcity of survival space. It was nevertheless a great opportunity to feel like a geeky camera-carrying eco-tourist, but instead of wearing a goofy hat, I sported a bandana that most bandits would be proud of.

We arrived in Jaipur soon thereafter, to first meet our host parents who we are to stay with for the duration of this month of classes in the University of Rajasthan. When I discovered that the house-father of Tom Abel and I is a retired a colonel in the Indian Army, I became slightly nervous. Was I to shave my face and hair? Will there be strict rules and curfews, including random pushup workouts for wrongdoings? I had no idea, but was pleasantly welcomed by a kind man who has been retired since '87. He lives in a mansion of a house in North Jaipur, along with his wife, daughter, two sister-in-laws, brother-in-law, two housekeepers, and tintin (the white alaskan dog, who looks much like "snowy" on the show "tintin"). I honestly get pampered with hot breakfasts in the morning (omelette, toast, and chai), packed lunches, awesome dinners, internet in-home, laundry service, and an interesting family to hang out with. Two women in the house are professors at the University of Rajasthan, and there is a really intelligent 17-year old who is currently writing her 10th standard plus two (grade 12) exams.

The courses I'm enrolled in are extentions of the last module (in Mysore), but are each independent in nature. My courses include Indian Philosophy, Politics, Economy, Public Administration, Environment, and I'm auditing Hindi. They have been going well, but the days are long, with 6 hours of class per day. I feel like I'm back in grade school with my packed lunch, backpack, and cheap notebook.

Last weekend, my friend Luke visited me from Delhi. He came with his friend Brent, and along with Tom and John, we rented a taxi to explore Jaipur. We first went to Amber Fort and Jaighar Fort, situated north of the city. We had so much fun in these forts because they were so big. Unlike many other such structures, the construction was so asymmetrical that there was a seemingly unending amount or doors and passageways like portals to unpredictable destinations. We saw the tallest tower with a bold flag blowing in the wind, and were determined to make it there eventually, so that was our unofficial goal to our wanderings. When we reached it, there was a massive lock on the door. However, on the southern edge of Jaighar Fort, there lies the largest cannon on wheels in the world, with a range of 22 kilometres and weighing thousands of metric tonnes. They call it Jaivan and it has only been tested once. We went to the "pink city" later, which is a walled portion of Jaipur where every building is painted pink (after fading, it is really all red), which is supposed to be a color of welcome. They re-painted it pink to welcome the Prince of Wales in 1876, and again at the event of the visit of President Bill Clinton. We checked out an ancient astrological observatory called Jantar Mantar, and I saw Hawa Mahal later with Tom, which is a large wall made for the "ladies of the court" to observe the city's events without being observed themselves. Also pink.

The next day, Luke and Brent and I hiked up to the Nahaghar Fort, which offers a breathtaking panoramic of Jaipur city, as well as a switch-back road up and a sketchy hike down. Tom and I might visit them in Delhi soon.

On Thursday, our big group took a night train to Jaisalmer, which is where we are right now. It is on the outskirts of the Thar Desert, that is, the Great Indian Desert. The Fort of Jaisalmer is situated on the highest point of the city, and is one of the only living forts still existant- about 25% of the city still lives in the Fort itself. This place is alive with turbans and brightly colored garments worn by the locals, as well as beautiful instruments like a violin-like instrument played with a bow that resounds like a tunnel. We checked out a nearby lake, which is filled with ghats and a few personal collections of heritage that have been turned into museums. There are also Havelis in the city itself, which were basically beautifully built multi-level houses owned by rich business men. Each has a welcoming room which was used to serve opium to newly arrived guests (apparently the first thing to offer guests!). The bed frames in the living quarters were made of pure silver, and the women's powder room was stocked with expensive jewellery. The most exciting part was the incredible view of the Fort at sunset from the top of the Havelis.

One of the most anticipated items of our itinerary happened yesterday, which was a camel ride amid the Thar Desert. We piled in jeeps and drove west towards Pakistan for about an hour (we were apparently around 40 kilometres from the border. yikes!), largely offroading until we got to where about 30 colorfully dressed camels were patiently waiting in the sand. It wasn't my first time riding these gentle beasts, but it was my first time riding them in massive, smooth, gleaming sand dunes! It was like all the postcards and movies but brought to life in real time. The heat wasn't too bad because we rode from about 4 until 6:30 at night or so. One of the camels kept sending off mating calls (they were all male by the way, so I assume this was the dominant male) where he would bellow a deep rumble from deep inside his diaphragm, and then his massive tongue would protrude out the left side of his mouth, and blow up like a balloon, adding a unique auditory element to the call. It was grotesque to watch, but fascinating to listen to, and we joked about what would happen with all these males in the event of a wild female camel approaching from the distance (the consensus was that we would all die from falling off our running camels as they chased her through the desert). We watched the sunset over the dunes as we drank chai and ate snacks. Dinner was rice and dahl, and was followed by a performance of local dancers and singers, playing the harmonia, drum, and hand-held wooden slabs that reminded me of when musicians play the spoons. That, coupled with firelight and thousands of stars made the night romantic, but I'm sure the romance was taken once we started singing english tunes like "in the jungle" and "summer of '69" at the top of our badly tuned lungs.

Well, I'm off to see the Maharaja's palace here in Jaisalmer Fort, more to come...