Ranthambhore N.P. & Udaipur

see all photos »

From Agra, Laura, Panchee and I made the 6 hour journey to Ranthambhore Tiger National Park to view the tigers. Well, they should have called it Deer Park because that was all we saw. We had dinner with a guy from Peru who had been on 5 safaris in the hopes of spotting a tiger (this guy really loved tigers) but had yet to see one… poor Carlos, keep trying buddy! It's a long flight back to Peru!

The next leg of our trip was a LONG journey… 10 hours of driving, most of which was on a rough, small gravel road on the way to Udaipur. It was bumpy, yet scenic drive as we got to see the countryside of India. Rajasthan is full of some hard-working, colorful sari-wearing women! Let me tell you, those women would be carting a 3 year old on a hip, sticks in a hand and a bucket of water on the head while all I saw was the men sitting and hanging out on the side of the road. Laura and I both agreed that we would make very poor Indian wives as I was even pissed off for these women!

In Ranthambhore Tiger Park (should be renamed 'Deer Park')
see all photos »

We are told that Udaipur is the most romantic city in all of India. I was so happy to be spending it with Laura (insert sarcasm here)… we laughed off the fact that we were two single women in the 'most romantic city in India' and went about our trip anyways. On our first day we explored around Udaipur's narrow streets and shopped for pashminas and other gifts in the stores. Late in the afternoon we took a boat ride around Pichola Lake (which is quite dried up now due to the poor monsoon seasons over the past few years) and got a close up view of the Palace Hotel. This hotel costs about $700USD/night and is built right into the water. Its very impressive! After there was a great sunset over the lake and mountains… yes, very romantic:)

Stopover for lunch in Bundi
see all photos »

At night we decided to take a cooking course taught by a local Indian woman named Shashi. After 4 hours of cooking, sharing stories, eating and laughing, I was utterly amazed at this woman and her life story. Raised in a nearby village, Shashi was arranged to marry a relative living in Udaipur. At 23 she learned Hindi, had 2 children and was a dutiful wife to what she said was 'a very good husband with a nice nature'. By 33 she was a widow - her husband was murdered by his best friend over roughly $1000USD - and single mother to her 2 young sons. Because she is a part of the Brahmin caste, she was required to mourn her husbands’ death by crying in the corner of her home, face covered and without food for 45 days. Only at night was she allowed to eat and do the duties of the household. Not only that, but to complete her mourning, she was not allowed to leave the house for 1 year. Her young sons had to do all the shopping at the market and also smuggle clothes for her to wash from her home in order to make some money for her family. As a Brahmin, this is a forbidden task - something that only the Untouchable caste is meant to do and an embarrassment to her.

My henna done by a 'romantic' sitar player
see all photos »

After a few years, and considerable compliments on her cooking abilities, Shashi was persuaded to teach cooking classes to the tourists visiting Udaipur. After 2 years she has learned English, developed an incredibley successful business and put both her boys through post-secondary school. The food, the stories and the company were incredible, making this part of my trip one of my favorite.

Today was another fantastic day. Our hotel owners (Rahil and Daniel - who also surprisingly looks like an Indian version of Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20) offered to take us to their village outside of the city. We were warmly welcomed by the village people - especially the children. We took a walk to the local school and the kids just followed us around everywhere. One of my favorite parts of the day was climbing up a small mountain to take in the views surrounding me. It was the first time in 2 weeks that I didn't hear car horns or bump into people/cows/camels/bicycles. The view from the top was incredible and I fell in love with India's countryside. As Rahil said, 'This is the real India'… and I loved it.