As I heard the approaching footfall of the Indian paparazzi approaching my tree, I knew this would have to be the fastest tinkle I'd ever taken in my life; I was already midstream. There was no turning back (I'm trying something new, America, because these posts aren't already ridiculous enough. It's called in medias res).
Backtracking, this weekend I visited Aurungabad, home of the Lonar Meteor Crater and the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. A few fun facts about last week that I forgot to mention last week in the excitement of traveling:
1. When we were in Mumbai, this guy at the hostel asked us to be in a Bollywood film, to which we immediately said no (we've been warned that working in a Bollywood film usually means you waste a day standing around in the sun, and sometimes they just want white girls because they think white girls will wear things that Indian girls won't.) Then an hour later, a man came up to us on the street and asked us if we wanted to be in the Bollywood film. Then he said, "wait, you're that group of 12 white girls, right?" Word had gotten around. So, alas, my dream of Bollywood stardom will not be coming to fruition (which is too bad because as I mentioned earlier, they're better than Troll 2.)
2. Sure enough, when I talked to some girls at the hostel later, they told me that they had agreed to go to an Indian wedding (they're supposed to be amazing) and walk around gretting people (weird, but actually believable). When they got there, the people who had hired them, gave them the "beautiful Indian dresses" they'd been promised, which turned out to be extremely skimpy outfits, so they snuck away. 95% of people I speak to in the country are unbelievably friendly and helpful. But the other 5% want to destroy me.
3. We had our football/soccer match on Wednesday night at 8:10 PM (10 PM India time), but the authorities failed to mention that we could not wear cleats until 9:50 PM, which could have meant bad news, but actually meant I got to ride on the back of a motorcycle to retrieve my sneakers from the international house in time. I did not realize this game was going to be a big deal, but there were lights, an announcer, and a good amount of spectators. It was really fun, and very luckily only a 20 minute game because I've had a pretty bad case of Delhi Belly (look it up) since I got back from Mumbai, so the entire time I was hopping around in the giant spotlights on the field, trying to pretend that it was part of American soccer strategy. I probably needn't have worried though. The announcer could not tell myself and the only other American on the field, my six foot tall friend, Judith, apart.
Anyway, you must be dying to know the outcome of my literal piss race in Aurungabad (I just now reflected upon how much I talk about going to the bathroom in this blog, and I don't like what I'm discovering about myself. To be fair, though, using the toilet in India is actually a rather treacherous adventure, especially compared to the banality of Western restrooms... India is changing me). So I'm moving on to my Aurungabad trip. A group of 10 girls this time, we caught the train from Secundrabad on Thursday afternoon and split into two separate compartments. Again, through some glitch, we failed to procure our own seats, and ended up sharing a seat apiece. However, this train was infinitely cleaner, smelling only faintly of urine, and the three boys sitting next to my compartment were very friendly and did not try to sell us anything, get our numbers, take our picture 3 million times, trick us into giving them money, or stare at us while we slept. (They taught me how to play cricket! It is a delightful cross between baseball and Quidditch. They also seemed equally confused by the twitching turbaned gentleman who kept gliding by like a train ghost singing to himself at strange moments. I found this oddly comforting because it proved that they could also see him, and he was not a manifestation of my crazy malaria dreams making its way into real life, as was my original fear) It was an excellent journey.
We arrived at 4AM to discover that only 1 two-person room was open, so we piled the ten of us into it anyway and slept until a normal hour. Then we got a taxi to the Lonar Meteor crater another 3 hours away. You would think a giant hole in the ground couldn't possibly be worth it, but it was awesome.
We stopped to have lunch under a tree and were immediately swarmed by cows, goats, dogs, and fire ants. After that we decided to explore. There was a small village built around the lake, so as usual, everyone around stopped what they were doing, stared at us and took pictures. Several gentlemen took it upon themselves to follow us in a parade like fashion all the way down the mountain, taking our pictures. This combined with the fact that we had just spent 3 hours in a taxi without stopping (except for the obligatory chai break, which does not include anything toilet-like) nor were there any enclosed spaces posed a unique problem for my bladder, which brings us back to my tree. We had managed to shake our caravan of followers momentarily by looping around the trail and I took the opportunity to execute the speediest tinkle the world has ever seen. I finished just before their line leader rounded the bend, one of the prouder moments of my life, and I can't say that I didn't watch with a little bit of sadistic satisfaction as our stalkers traipsed through my freshly made puddle, still photographing all the while. We reached climbed to the top again and bought some water and I turned around to discover a row of silent school children, at least ten, staring unblinkingly at us about 1 meter away.
For the remainder of the day, they followed us in a single file line that a first grade student teacher would sell her soul for, and I momentarily tinkered with the idea of leading them into the same cave that I took all the rats in the village to earlier that week with my magical flute (Disclaimer, oh virtual forum of waning privacy: This is a pied piper joke. I am not a kidnapper. Nor am I comparing children to rats.)
Ajanta and Ellora Caves, were if anything, even more gorgeous/amazing/etc. than Lonar. They're man made caves filled with Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain carvings and statues.
Backtracking, this weekend I visited Aurungabad, home of the Lonar Meteor Crater and the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. A few fun facts about last week that I forgot to mention last week in the excitement of traveling:
1. When we were in Mumbai, this guy at the hostel asked us to be in a Bollywood film, to which we immediately said no (we've been warned that working in a Bollywood film usually means you waste a day standing around in the sun, and sometimes they just want white girls because they think white girls will wear things that Indian girls won't.) Then an hour later, a man came up to us on the street and asked us if we wanted to be in the Bollywood film. Then he said, "wait, you're that group of 12 white girls, right?" Word had gotten around. So, alas, my dream of Bollywood stardom will not be coming to fruition (which is too bad because as I mentioned earlier, they're better than Troll 2.)
2. Sure enough, when I talked to some girls at the hostel later, they told me that they had agreed to go to an Indian wedding (they're supposed to be amazing) and walk around gretting people (weird, but actually believable). When they got there, the people who had hired them, gave them the "beautiful Indian dresses" they'd been promised, which turned out to be extremely skimpy outfits, so they snuck away. 95% of people I speak to in the country are unbelievably friendly and helpful. But the other 5% want to destroy me.
3. We had our football/soccer match on Wednesday night at 8:10 PM (10 PM India time), but the authorities failed to mention that we could not wear cleats until 9:50 PM, which could have meant bad news, but actually meant I got to ride on the back of a motorcycle to retrieve my sneakers from the international house in time. I did not realize this game was going to be a big deal, but there were lights, an announcer, and a good amount of spectators. It was really fun, and very luckily only a 20 minute game because I've had a pretty bad case of Delhi Belly (look it up) since I got back from Mumbai, so the entire time I was hopping around in the giant spotlights on the field, trying to pretend that it was part of American soccer strategy. I probably needn't have worried though. The announcer could not tell myself and the only other American on the field, my six foot tall friend, Judith, apart.
Anyway, you must be dying to know the outcome of my literal piss race in Aurungabad (I just now reflected upon how much I talk about going to the bathroom in this blog, and I don't like what I'm discovering about myself. To be fair, though, using the toilet in India is actually a rather treacherous adventure, especially compared to the banality of Western restrooms... India is changing me). So I'm moving on to my Aurungabad trip. A group of 10 girls this time, we caught the train from Secundrabad on Thursday afternoon and split into two separate compartments. Again, through some glitch, we failed to procure our own seats, and ended up sharing a seat apiece. However, this train was infinitely cleaner, smelling only faintly of urine, and the three boys sitting next to my compartment were very friendly and did not try to sell us anything, get our numbers, take our picture 3 million times, trick us into giving them money, or stare at us while we slept. (They taught me how to play cricket! It is a delightful cross between baseball and Quidditch. They also seemed equally confused by the twitching turbaned gentleman who kept gliding by like a train ghost singing to himself at strange moments. I found this oddly comforting because it proved that they could also see him, and he was not a manifestation of my crazy malaria dreams making its way into real life, as was my original fear) It was an excellent journey.
We arrived at 4AM to discover that only 1 two-person room was open, so we piled the ten of us into it anyway and slept until a normal hour. Then we got a taxi to the Lonar Meteor crater another 3 hours away. You would think a giant hole in the ground couldn't possibly be worth it, but it was awesome.
We stopped to have lunch under a tree and were immediately swarmed by cows, goats, dogs, and fire ants. After that we decided to explore. There was a small village built around the lake, so as usual, everyone around stopped what they were doing, stared at us and took pictures. Several gentlemen took it upon themselves to follow us in a parade like fashion all the way down the mountain, taking our pictures. This combined with the fact that we had just spent 3 hours in a taxi without stopping (except for the obligatory chai break, which does not include anything toilet-like) nor were there any enclosed spaces posed a unique problem for my bladder, which brings us back to my tree. We had managed to shake our caravan of followers momentarily by looping around the trail and I took the opportunity to execute the speediest tinkle the world has ever seen. I finished just before their line leader rounded the bend, one of the prouder moments of my life, and I can't say that I didn't watch with a little bit of sadistic satisfaction as our stalkers traipsed through my freshly made puddle, still photographing all the while. We reached climbed to the top again and bought some water and I turned around to discover a row of silent school children, at least ten, staring unblinkingly at us about 1 meter away.
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| They were actually really excited about having their picture taken. |
Ajanta and Ellora Caves, were if anything, even more gorgeous/amazing/etc. than Lonar. They're man made caves filled with Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain carvings and statues.
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| As Travel Buddy Holly (who very rudely decided to remain in England, land of beaucracy that runs like clockwork compared to India, rather than buy an expenisve last minute plane ticket to Hyderabad and ditch her studies), so eloquently put it (because she is an English major. See liberal arts are useful! One day I will be employed...) Indiana Jones lives here (you see how I cited that? Another useful skill liberal arts college has taught me, oh potential employers who will undoubtedly look me up on the internet and find this incriminating blog despite my attempts at privay. Also notice my liberal artsy ability to convey my thoughts so concisely... stupid inevitable real world.) Public transportation was a huge plus on this trip. I got to talk to a lot of really nice people on the bus and trains. I complain about Indians trying to rip me off / take my picture constantly / trick my countrymen into dressing like harlots all the time, but like I said 95% of people I talk to are actually unbelievably friendly and helpful. It's a pretty intense contrast. One woman on the bus gave me bangles after I talked to her for 5 minutes, and every person we talked to on the train ride home insisted upon sharing their food with us. One of the guys we talked to on the train ride up just emailed my friend today inviting her to his friend's wedding because she had been talking about how much she wanted to see an Indian wedding. He even said he could have one of his sister's dresses tailored for her so she'd have something to wear. Nice is an understatement. I've also realized that the advice CIEE gave us about not making eye contact with men is slightly insane and really overcautious (but actually not insane for the 5% of people who are not unbelievably friendly and helpful. They are actually out to get me. India is a paranoid person's Candyland.) |
Oh Jesse, I love you and your blog, and your amazing citation skills. I miss you, travel buddy, but keep those incredible stories (and commentaries) coming!
ReplyDelete-Travel Buddy Holly