Madhya Pradesh

Sorry, its a bit long; i have been in the countryside....

Wednesday 1st December

December already! Today, I left the state of Rajasthan and entered the state of Madhya Pradesh.  I said goodbye to the guys at the Rainbow Cafe again.  Tuk-tuk and bus and tuk-tuk to Kota station. Slightly painful conversation with older local guy on the bus who is also an English teacher, but it took him a long time to get warmed up, i couldn't understand him for a lot of the time.    And I certainly wasn't taking any prisoners today, having made this trip the other day, so i just told the tuk-tuk drivers what i knew to be a fair price and walked off if they were unreasonable, and got a fair price in the end.
Not so much staring at me on the train today which was good, and a Spanish couple that I had seen in Bundi were in the same carriage so chatted to them. It was a long 7 hour journey, arriving here in Indore at 10:30pm, but easy walk to LP recommended hotel. Its a proper hotel and not too bad, has a fan and a TV, although I dont think the bathroom has ever been cleaned.

Thursday 2nd December

Today I headed to Mandu. I took a tuk-tuk to the bus station, straight onto a bus to Dhar for 3 hours with the locals. At Dhar, straight onto a bus to Mandu, one hour. Mandu is a small town in the Inidan countryside, population 9000. The countryside looks good I am looking forward to exploring tomorrow on a bicycle. The people on the bus today, countryside people, just treated me like another passenger, as opposed to the city folk who like to stare. I would have expected it to be the other way round really. Have seen only 5 tourists today, so i feel like i am off the tourist trail a bit, although the guys who hawk for passengers at each bus station today knew exactly where I was headed before I even spoke to them.


Friday 3rd December

Lazy sleep in. Deep fired spicy potato for breakfast - very filing. Hired a pushbike again. Again it had no gears and it was like being stuck in 5th gear, had to push it up some of the hills. First I headed north through a couple of 'gates' - stone archways - and down to a lookout across a forested canyon, and a big dinosaur. Some guy showed me a scar on his leg and asked me for money; it wasnt much of a scar! Stopped at a lookout over a lake and the valley and read my book for a while in the peace and quiet.
I came back through town past monuments and tombs. Most of the architecture here is Afghani. Out to Baz Bahadur's Palace where I, honestly, got mobbed by guys, about 18 years old, wanting to take my picture with them. I was a bit annoyed because I just wanted to enjoy the palace but let them take one of them take a picture.

I moved on to Rupmati's Pavillion which is on the top of a cliff with a view across the plains. I sat there for a while enjoying the view until some other guys started being annoying so I left. Of course I shouldn't complain too much about people wanting to take photos of me cos I sometimes take pictures of the locals if they have not noticed me, but if they can see that I want to take their picture, I always ask first.
Anyway, went down to the Lohani caves which were not much to look at. Played cricket for a while with some older kids, then back to the Caves overlooking a valley, for the sunset. It was red for a while then disappeared behind the haze. Chatted to some Germans and a guy from Quebec. Maggi noodles in the only cafe here. Couldnt find any local food.

Saturday 4th December

Buses, a tuk-tuk and a truck today. I left Mandu on the bus at 7:20am; just a couple of old guys, a couple of kids and me on the bus. They dropped me at Ooneera to get my next bus to Dhamnod. While waitng at the tollgate for a Dhamnod bus to come through, one of the trucks offered me a lift to Dhamnod. So I heaved my bag and myself up into the high cab where there was the driver, his mate and another guy sleeping behind. They didnt speak much English but were very friendly and the trucks are much better suited to the bad roads than the buses are. We passed some nice scenery, and stopped at a roadside cafe for chai; no greasy spoon, but we didnt have to pay so maybe it is like a 'stop, revive, survive' place. we then passed two turnoffs to Dhamnod before they dropped me a couple of kms away in a smaller town, which was fine. I got a tuk-tuk to Dhamnod, then straight on a bus to here, Maheshwar. About a km walk to the hostel but friendly locals gave good directions.

Got a couple of samosas for early lunch and walked back up to the main road. Sat on a step to eat a samosa, and a couple of guys came out to chat. We talked about the cricket, which they had been watching on TV, and they invited me in. Turned out to be the guys house and we sat in his living room with his son and daughter and watched some of the one-day match between India and NZ. The son is studying to be a software engineer and his daughter is studying 'home science', which means cooking and making religious decorations for the house.

Walked back and to the 16th century fort, which leads down to the ghats and the holy and mighty Narmada River. A few people were bathing in the river (which is said to be cleaner than most rivers), while others washed clothes and some went out on boats. It was a nice place to sit and people-watch. I got surrounded by school girls and we had our photo taken together (another 15 minutes of fame). Chatted to a self-proclaimed guru (not sure how you qualify) and an Austrian guy. We smoked a chillum with the guru but I only had a couple of puffs. The guru came with me towards town and I wondered if he was just going to follow me around, but then he wandered off his own way.

After a cat nap, and setting up mozzie net in my room, walked down to the ghats again where there were a few candles on the water. Another walk around the welcoming town and then to the 'restaurant' that the Austrian guy recommended. It's more like a small village hall with a few religious posters on the walls. There were others waiting and they invited me to sit on the plastic mats on the concrete floor and wait. They then served us together. Thali, but mostly chapati and rice. I was sat next to another holy man so I was especially careful of my etiquette, using only my right hand to touch the food. The only thing he said to me was "Are you from Japan?". And I ate rice with my hands for the first time; a bit mucky. French lady with her son.

Sunday 5th December

So I have been here for four weeks now and spent about $400 which is good going. I expect the next four weeks will be more expensive with the festive season and all that. Up at 6am and down to the ghats to people watch. Not that many people and many were just washing their clothes, but some were swimming and there was some singing and praying. Definitely a spiritual place, even as a non-believer.
The chemist helped me to get on the right bus this morning, to Omkareshwar. Almost 3 hours, mostly standing, squashed against smartly dressed Indians. Walked to guest house then for a wander. Down to the ghats and coloured boats. Across the old bridge to small cave temple. Up 238 steps to some other temples and a new 30 metre Shiva temple. Met some local guys and walked up and down to the Siddhanatha temple. Got a photo of a very happy dude in just a jock strap. Had chai with the guys at a chai stand. A cow was behind us as we sat, with his head almost in our circle. Meanwhile, a lady came past, patted the cow and then touched her chest with the same hand. She then gently held the cow's tail and brushed the end against herself. I wonder: if cows are sacred and holy, do they know??  The guys went to another temple but I didnt want to pay tourist price to get in so came back. Cold shower, and Thali for dinner.
My room had some nasty-looking flying wasp/ant type things so i killed two of them. But bad karma. I am sure that the third one I had seen was the one I acccidently trod on with bare feet. The bugger stung me. I think it was after revenge. A got a red mark on my foot but nothing in it. It throbbed and stung for about 15 minutes and I made sure the staff knew what had happened. They gave me another room, underneath the renovation with bits of plaster falling down in the corridor; and I had to pay a deposit!

Monday 6th December

The plan today was to get as far as I could on the way to Aurangabad. Not sure of bus and train connections so didnt know how many hours or days it might take. So, up at 6:30am (on a monday morning!) and the bus left Omkareshwar at 6:45. As hoped, the bus arrived at Khwanda at 9:30am. Went to the train station and helpful staff got me on a train an hour later to Manmad and from there to Aurangabad, arriving at 6pm. So it was quite a successful day.

The ticket office gave me an unreserved seat, which means a free-for-all at the front or the back of the train. (if you can find him, you can ask the conductor for an upgrade, but I just wanted to get on the train). So I found myself in a compartment about the size of a small lounge room, with two occupied bunk beds and about 30 people sitting on the floor. After standing for a short while and trying to stop my bag falling into the toilet cubicle, a guy, Ahmed, gestured for me to sit on the only bit of available floor space, which was very kind of him. I didn't get stared at much and the ladies giggled (maybe cos they realised I had my t-shirt on inside out before I did), and Ahmed and a girl and I chatted a bit and Ahmed gave me his Indian Railways map. It was a bit uncomfortable on the floor but I enjoyed the company. Changed at Manmad for Aurangabad. Later realised that nobody had checked my ticket today; I could have travelled for free.
Lots of tuk-tuks at the station, but no hassle. Stubbornly walked a km in the dark and the dust from the station to the youth hostel. Back to the noise and pollution of India. Dormitory room, only 1 other guest. Went for a walk and found a Korean guy and helped him find the hostel. At the internet cafe they take your passport details; this is since the terrorist attacks, apparently. At the hostel, watched some of India's "Who wants to be a millionaire'; at first I thought it was Slumdog - der. The questions were on the screen in English but I had no idea about the answers.

Anyway, so today I have crossed from Madhya Pradseh state to Maharashtra state.


Tuesday 7th December.

After omelette and bread for breakfast, went to the local bus stand hoping to go the Ajanta Buddhist Caves, a well-known tourist destination. The tourist bus is 400 rupees which seemed like an unnecessary rip-off. At the bus stand, a guy led me to a large private minibus going the same way for 100 rupees so once it was full, off we went. But after an hour it got a flat tyre. Unfortuntely, the spare tyre was also flat, as well as bald so we were stood around for ages. Eventually I got 50 rupees back and decided to head back to Aurangabad. I felt a bit slack not going on to the caves but it was midday by then, and I will still go to the Ellora caves tomorrow, which are supposed to be even better. I hitched a lift back with a brother and sister. He works in a factory, she is beautiful and has a husband in the army and 2 children. They dropped me off a km from my hostel, which is fair enough.