Melanie and Gavin's Travels

A bit homesick in Jaipur

After two weeks in India it's easy to see why so many people have mixed feelings about it here. While we've met people who love it we've also met people who want to leave and just don't like it. Today we met a guy from Western Canada who loves it, he wakes up everyday with a smile on his face and thinking "I'm still in India." Gavin and I wake up with more of a grimace when we think the same thing.

I think it's safe to say that while we may move south and love parts of it, the country as a whole is just not for us. And I'm okay with that, I was expecting that and I feel alright telling people that. Of course I am a little disappointed, and also feel a little stuck. Part of me wants to fly to Australia tomorrow for a month, fly back to Toronto and then to Banff. But we don't have jobs and we don't have a place to live. Going back in May was going to work so well for us - a place to live for the summer and perfect timing to pick up 'summer jobs.' But not everything always works out timing wise and plans change. We knew they likely would when we booked our flights. If/when we go home a few months earlier that stuff will sort itself out and we will probably be happier for it though. Also, we aren't quite ready to give up on India.

We have spent the last few days in Jaipur, the state of Rajasthan. It's nice here. We did a bit of walking around and saw the Pink City, an area that was painted pink a few hundred years ago when a Prince from England came to visit. A lot of the buildings still hold a redish/pink colour. The architecture is cool. We went to the City Palace and relaxed away from the street traffic. I thought I might be brave and look at diamond rings. We went into 2 of the fanciest stores we could find and they literally did not even have one that was remotely of my taste. I have normal taste in North America but it's not very Indian. I thought that might be likely but stil wanted to try. So I don't think we will be buying an engagement ring here but maybe it's for the best.

At the train station we booked our ticket for today to Udaipur. We met a lovely local couple in line. The woman asked how i found it here in terms of being a woman, I told her I hated the staring and was waiting for a boy to fall off his bike as he'd turned his head to check me out. They cracked up laughing and said yes it was a lot more open here and with less privacy. I don't mean to sound big headed, it's just I'm a Western woman and so they look and it happens to all of the girls. One told me she was looking to buy a water gun and shoot it at them!

I've heard rave reviews about Udaipur. It looks beautiful and that's where a James Bond move Octopussy was filmed. From there we are going to hightail it to Goa, via Mumbai. We will likely fly from Mumbai to Bankok in a month or two so we'll spend longer there later. I think it will be a long journey, at least 20 hours to Mumbai and then a few days there and then over 12 hours to Goa. THE BEACH. A lot of our train rides are 12 hours and the train is pretty good.

I think it's mostly that Gavin and I feel homesick. Christmas is approaching and I miss my family, friends and Canada. In the north of India (where we are) people wouldn't celebrate Christmas and I miss hearing carols and getting excited for it. I think it will be different in Goa as there are Christians and tons of locals who go there for Christmas holidays. After so many years of travelling we both feel so ready to be at home that I think it's affecting our trip. It's easy to think that I'll have all of that stuff soon enough and not to rush it, but it's harder to feel that way. Nepal was the main destination for us so now we are ready to get to Australia. Our culture shock of India has subsided at least.

Gavin still has his cold. We don't have to check out of our room until 4pm so he's having a nap. Our train is at 10:30pm tonight so we will have quite a few hours to kill. Bye for now.

posted by melaniewilkes @ 7:42 PM