India DIY
1 Eu = 55 rupees
Kites and mice: that’s to say the best and the worst, the sublime and the abject, the opposite extremes.
My second trip to India, from 12/20/07 to 01/05/08, a few months after the first one, in August 2007. It is as if I had to close a circle.
And then, always remember that “there are a hundred gates to enter India but not one to get out.”
Locations visited Ajmer, Pushkar, Bundi, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Delhi.
They are quite a lot, taking into account that I only used public transport, but I traveled mostly at night, to save time, and to see as much as possible. Although it was more comfortable, I chose not to take a driver, since this practice is contrary to the principles of nomadism, of which I am fan and priestess. 🙂
It was both exhausting and fun together.. Fun, for obvious reasons, exhausting because it is impossible to sleep on the grueling Indian buses, due to the holes in the streets, the filthy and uncomfortable seats, the broken windows, the drafts of cold air. Yes, because in Northern India, in winter nights, it’s cold. Hence the title “Sleepless in Rajasthan”, mangling the title of the movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, because I was not blessed with the gift of a great imagination ..
I would like to give some advice to women: if you will be traveling on buses, don’t bring any light colors clothes, they get dirty in one second..
Being the Rajasthan, in the holiday season, attraction for thousands of visitors, both foreign and Indian, let’s say this time I did not feel the religious and mystical sense of India as much as in my previous travel.
Typically, I am averse to any kind of reservation, except the first day transport..
Regarding Indian Railways, it would perhaps be better to reconsider the matter, in hindsight
The train is billions of times more comfortable than the bus, but it is obviously much more requested, so in many cases I could not find my coveted second class berth.
On line booking is available (www.irctc.co.in), so, about a month before departure, I got, for 561 rupees, an upper sleeper class 3A on the 4.30 Delhi-Ajmer express.
I have already extensively philosophized in “India on my mind” , so now I go to the point.