Adjustments

I just realized that I'll be heading back to the States soon, and I won't know how to deal with it.

It'll be weird to wake up and not have to plan for bus, train, or plane tickets.  Doubly weird to think that one day could imitate another day so closely.  To wake up and realize that there are no new temples to visit, no new mountains to climb, or new cities to discover... weird.

And I suppose when I walk down a street, it'll be slightly disjointed not to see cattle or monkeys on the road -- even the fact that most vehicles in the States are of the 4 wheel kind, whereas most of the poor world has only two, or maybe three wheels... and it'll be a strange thing to actually see clean streets, where peeing on a street corner is not a common thing...

We hired a car to drive us from Udaipur to Jodhpur today.  Catching a night train to Jaisalmer, a fortress town on the edge of the Thar Desert.  Udaipur was good. Lots of palaces (one of them was Bond's getaway in Octopussy) fringing a huge lake – there was even a palace that took up an entire island in the middle of the lake.  If you ignore the street level stuff, the town's pretty nice – candlelit cafes and restaurants, mountain views, etc.

Went to my first Jain temple today.  Crazy wowee.  All white marble. A thousand gazillion carvings, from sex scenes to dancing spirits to elephants. Jains, by the way, respect all life (I think they're vegan)  -- to the point that some members walk with dusters in front so they can avoid stepping on ants. Talk about taking non-violence to it's ultimate.

I'm glad to have gotten into Jodhpur, though.  Although anything can happen.  Our car broke down during the ride – it took some random men passing by on a bus to help us push-run-start/ignite the engine to get it going again in a puff of black smoke.

And when we got to the train station, the ticketing system was down. Go figure.

weeeee! can't wait til you come back to the states!!! :-)

Posted by: sweetestcutie | November 18, 2006 at 08:17 AM

whoa when are you coming back? and to where? ny or houston? ny prob huh?

Posted by: jojo | November 19, 2006 at 06:28 AM

i dunno. hoping to find a job in nyc or the bay area. but i'll be in houston late december and part of january to get adjusted. mmm.. tex mex...

Posted by: j.fisher | November 21, 2006 at 08:30 AM

Jains are actually semi-vegan in that they still drink cow's milk (my grandma is Jain, though she's been known to swat any flies that dare infiltrate her kitchen!). Your travels in India seem fascinating...I've barely seen any of my country of birth. When will you be off on more adventures?

Posted by: Preya | November 25, 2006 at 11:50 AM

Hi Preya – yer pictures rock.

I'm always looking at deals to take off.. but I dunno when my next big trip is gonna be.. have to work on that 'respectable career' part for the 'rents when I get back.

Posted by: j.fisher | November 26, 2006 at 01:34 AM