Ari's Planet

I added some more photos. A few remaining photos from my last days in India in Jaisalmer and Delhi. Also photos from Thailand and Laos. I'm still in Laos so more photos from Laos will make their way up to the site.

I arrived in Bangkok lastnight, the 7th of February, on an Air India flight from Delhi. The flight was supposed to take off at 0845 and arrive at 1400. My plan was to head to some tourist ghetto, get a guidebook, figure out where to stay, etc. What happened instead...

A few thoughts for today.

New photographs from Udaipur, Mount Abu, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer (including an overnight camel trip) are in the India folder.

I happened to stop by a bank today and they had their exchange rates for USD to INR posted. For comparison, here are rates at a small foreign exchange shop (also Internet shop) in Jodhpur as well as the rates on x-rates.com.

Place/Buy/Sell
Bank/39.35/40.25
Forex/38.00/??
x-rates.com 39.35

The forex shop claims "no commission". It looks like you are a lot better off going to a bank to change dollars. I use an ATM and get a decent rate, though my bank charges a hefty "international atm" fee.

Additional photos from Pushkar and new albums from Bundi, Chitorgarh, and Udaipur in India are online.

Paharganj is a true tourist ghetto. The only other place that comes even close, so far, is Thamel in Kathmandu. What a total dump. It's opposite the New Delhi train station. Rickshaws and motorbikes and people and, of course, cows and dogs, run up and down its streets in the crazy sort of cacophony one can find only in India. I headed first for Hotel Rak, rated well in LP, but it was full. Several hotels later I decided to just stop in at Bet Chabad.

I took a rickshaw to my two first choice budget hotels listed in the LP, but both were full. As it was late, I allowed the rickshaw toot to take me to another place. This ended up being, of course, expensive--300 INR--and really bad. The room was bearable, but the hotel was terribly noisy. The rooms are linked by a central column, a wonderful fire hazard and also a wonderful way to conduct all the TV watching and conversations going on in other rooms, including the delightful hacking and coughing and spitting of one resident early in the morning.

In the morning, on my search for a hotel room, I saw a dog and a cow who were friends. Both were warming up in the sun. Cows basically stand around in the sun for the first few hours in the morning to warm up. The dog rubbed heads with the cow, then sat down next to it. Both cast long shadows on the white wall behind them. I crossed the river and looked for Hotel Minerwa, which also had been recommended to me. They were full, but the receptionist led me to Royal Hotel, around the corner, which had a room with bathrrom and filled with windows for 200 INR.

I took a rickshaw to the Bundi train station. Prices started around 60 or 80 but I got this down to 40 INR. It was cold, my hands felt rather unhappy in the chilly air on the ride to the station. Bundi's station is nothing specacular. I got a local ticket to Chittorgarh for 43 INR, a 2 hour ride. I was told the train came at 9:30, as were several other tourists at the station by their guest house, but actually it was scheduled for 1000. In fact, it arrived at 1100, not too bad by Indian standards.

After a quick lunch at Ringo's, right below the palace, I grabbed some camera gear and waited for the festivities to begin. During lunch a couple of decorated platforms marched by, accompanied by drummers keeping a marching time. Drumming was done by children and young men on a row of small white drums on a wheeled dolly. Large drums were held by stouter men who banged them incessantly. When standing in one place they got themselves, after a few tries, into a rythym wherein they synchronized moving back and forth with their drumming. The procession moved down toward the main bazaar road.

I fell asleep on the bus and awoke in a different, quieter place. I got out of Pushkar around 11:30, on the bus to Ajmer (just 6 INR). In Ajmer, I caught a bus to Bundi (101INR), about a 5 hour ride including a half-hour stop. Either I am learning to deal with Indian bus stations, or the bus station in Ajmer was relatively organized. The bus was pretty comfortable, with plenty of room for the knees and none of the bone-rattling I expected based on the LP. Having sent various items home, my backpack fit, just barely, in the overhead rack.

Fatehpur Sikri, a World Heritage Site, is the ancient abandoned capital of the Mughals. They only used it for 10 years or so before it was abandoned, according to the LP due to water shortages. From Agra I took a bus to Fatehpur Sikri at 1330, arriving around 1500. I arrived on Saturday, which was market day. The main street was packed with shoppers, including many women. I stayed at a hotel right next to the bus station. The hotel was ok, but the location turned out to be a mistake. Then I ran up to the huge mosque and then to the ancient palace.

New Year's morning was no early start. No surprise there. On New Year's eve we had dinner at the first place we stumbled upon, right in the middle of the south-gate area. The food was ok, and I especially like the vegetable pakoras. The proprietor was sporting an impressive cast over one hand. He explained that he was accidentally shot in the hand (ouch) while walking at night. In the morning, while waiting for my compatriots, I had a lackluster breakfast at the Siddartha hotel.

More India pictures are online, including 10 extra photos from Agra and pictures from Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur, Delhi, and Pushkar. Amazingly, I somehow managed previously to not upload any pictures from Beijing, including the Great Wall and Forbidden City; these are now finally online.

I uploaded a batch of pictures from Chitwan and Sauraha in Nepal and from India, including Rauxal, Kushinagar, Varanasi, Khajuraho, Gwalior, and Agra.

The story of getting from Agra to Jaipur will follow another day. In Jaipur, I realized one of my remaining wisdom teeth had developed a few cavities. There was only some sensitivity, but it was something I wanted to take care of before it became painful or infected. I asked a friend from Delhi for a recommendation for a dentist (plus a few other recommendations) and got the 10:00 deluxe bus from the Jaipur bus station. The bus cost 460 INR. This is a about $11.50, which is a lot for a bus in India.

We took the train from Varanasi to Satna. If I recall correctly, this was a 6 hour trip on a "super fast express" that was supposed to take 3 hours, though I may be mixing it up with another train ride. Hmm, maybe it was an overnight that was supposed to get in at 7am but got us there at 11am. The folly of not keeping a regular journal!

Going from Sauraha, gateway to Chitwan NP in Nepal, to India, is supposed to be simple. Take a 3 hour bus from Sauraha to Sunauli, cross the border, and go on. Ya, right. First, you have to be ripped off by your friendly hotel staff who give you such great deals. The price of a minibus from Sauraha to Sunauli should perhaps be around 150 Rs plus, so maybe around 200 Rs. Not 400, as the cheating folks in town would have you believe. Ok, no big deal, you're used to being ripped off with a smile. We take the jeep through the morning fog to the bus stand.

This is a pretty important topic, of which I am woefully ignorant. I would like to help the Internet by sharing my ignorance. Ok, so I stick to hot cooked foods or things that are very unlikely to support bacteria (e.g., honey) and to peeled fruits. But my friends were all eating yummy lasis. A mango lasi is one of my favorite drinks. What to do? Well, just drink the damned thing and see what happens. Maybe my doxycycline, which I take as an antimalarial, would protect me. The question remains: which, if any, of yogurt, curd, milk, and cheese are safe to eat?