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Delhi Belly

Here's a traveling tip for you: If taking a cooking course, use an instructor that doesn't cook with her feet.

In China there's Ghengis Wrong. There's the Thailand Throne, Laos Wow, and Cambodian Can. I've been fortunate enough to have avoided all of those, but now after 3 months of traveling I have finally encountered Raj's Revenge. And really I shouldn't assume it was my instructors feet that graced me with this resonating pain. It could have been any number of things, the silverware on the floor, the reused chai pot, it's hard to pin it down. I have a feeling this is going to raise some eyebrows back home, where one of my friends was still feeling the effects of Raj some three months after returning. Not to worry though I'm already feeling better...for the moment.

I have been in India now 7 nights, 3 of those have been spent on overnight busses, and tomorrow night I will add to that experience an overnight train. Currently I am in Jaisalmer in Western India. The main reason people visit Jaisalmer is for the Camel safaris. However, to get to here from Udaipur(the city I was in prior) a person must take an overnight bus to Jodphur(9 hours) then catch another bus to Jaisalmer (another 4-5 hours). I'm 98% positive that our driver was not the same one as the taxi driver who choefered me the first night in India, but there is still 2% that says, "but they drive exactly the same".

Perhaps it's to prepare the tourists for the camel ride which is not known to be a smooth, comfortable one, but the bus ride might rank as the worst one yet. And I've been on quite a few. Let me give you an idea. Ofcourse there are bumps, nay craters in the roads. Yes, you have to swerve to miss roadside pedestrians and then swerve again to avoid the head-on collisions with another bus doing the same. But I think what crowns this bus ride as the king of "Worst Bus Ride Ever" is the horn. When I say horn, you think, "Oh 10 hours of horn honking..." You are correct, but what you don't, nay can't understand is the horn.

These horns are not the standard air horn you might find on a bus. Somehow India has designed a way to incorporate a train whistle, ambulance siren, and the sounds of Pac Man into one powerful weapon. They also can change the patterns of the honking notes, tempo, etc. The one thing that never changes is the deffening force which I think is designed to alert the next town that the bus is 40 miles away.

Once to Jaisalmer, there are two places to stay, in the fort or outside. Naturally I wanted to be a part of the "in" crowd. So I found this great guest house in side the walls of the fort, with a view overlooking the city below. The town is desert and has some real style. It's the kind of India I had in my mind. It sits right at the base of these magnificent fort walls. Unfortunately, the only walls I got familiar with were those inside my own little fortress, which I hunkered down in for most of the day, taking only short breaks to rest and rehydrate.

Thankfully, I am feeling much better. Fortunate, because I saddle up my camel in about two hours, and I don't think they have restrooms on the camels. I only spend one night in the desert, then return to catch my overnight train to
Delhi then up to the Himalayan Mountains. Wish me luck.

Whelp, pardon the pun, but I gotta run.

posted by Travelin' D @ 11:19 PM