Oh my god - as they are so fond of saying here (though we don't know which god they're referring to - there are so many). It's been a hectic, whirlwind dash from one place to another. India has been great so far. We're now really glad that we did hire a driver to take us around. It transpires that Rajasthan is enormous, and we wouldn't have seen half the things we've seen by bus.
The car rides themselves have been enlightening. We've seen so much from our window. Rajasthan is very scenic and colourful.
So of the places we've been so far:
Agra: pretty much a shithole in itself. And the worst hotel we've had. But we did get to see the Taj Mahal. And have you seen the Taj? Have you? No. Well OK Chris and Allen have.
Jaipur: A great place. The pink city - although it's not really pink, more orangy-terracotta. We had a great wander around the bazar, rode elephants to the palace atop the mountain, and played silly-buggers around the amber fort. We also went shopping, and donna had an Indian-style dress made. She looks like an Indian princess in it.
Pushkar: A nice holy small-town. Ruined by a bunch of crusties and phonies. We had to pay 200 Rs to be blessed in the lake. So Brahma has promised us good karma on this journey. But our chakras still feel misaligned.
Udaipur: a really green city, and not quite as mad busy. Sad, but as there has been no monsoon this year, the lakes have mainly dried up. Still, we had a great time sunbathing on a roof terrace, and we ate out in the big Lake Palace (which was seen in the film Octopussy). We like.
Ranakpur: This was such a good idea. Off the main tourist drag, and out in the country, surrounded by snaking mountains; we just relaxed, went for scenic strolls and shot leopards and monkeys. Well they deserve it.
Which takes us to Jodphur: so nice they named an equestrian trouser-ware after it. This city is coloured blue for Hindu houses and white for Muslim. We've seen the fort, and the temple, but to be honest, we're a bit temple-and-forted-out. They're all starting to look the same.
We're off for some tea soon. The food has been really good. And our stomachs have held up (touch wood). We've avoided the meat though. We've seen the shit that those filthy animals eat. hmm.
And we didn't really shoot animals - that would result in bad kharma, and would play havoc with our Dharma. If you kill a cow over here, it's 6 months in the slammer.
Tuesday 22nd October 2002, both write:
Delhi is a mad, weird and terrible place. But you must come here.
We arrived on time, and managed to negotiate the airport ok. We changed some money and were surprised to be presented with two bricks of notes. We feel rich - but it won't last long. Today we've seen the red fort with a very knowledgable guide. Indians find Donna and me hilarious, and keep asking to have their pictures taken with us. Apparently Donna resembles a Bollywood film star.
By misdirection and what may turn out to be serendipity we came across a tourist office with whom we have booked our tour of Rajasthan. As we came out of the office, we met all of the people who had helped us that day - from the tuc-tuc driver, to the taxi driver, to our Rail guide - all in a meeting about who should get which share of our booking commission.
The 3 things you apparently need to drive in Delhi:
Good horn
Good brakes
Good luck
In that order. So far, 2 drivers have told us this nugget.
We don't know if there are PCs in Rajasthan - so if not - we'll update you in Hong-Kong. We arrive there 5/11.
Monday 21st October 2002, both write:
And so we must leave you for foreign shores. As we travel we shall endeavour to regale you with fantastical whimsy of exotic lands and indigestible meats.
Thanks to all who rang/emailed/saw us to wish us bon voyage. It's been emotional.
Please remember:
- We shall try to update the blog as often as we can. If it's not been updated for a while - it's not that we're in trouble - we just can't find an internet cafe
- be good while we are away
- take your vitamins to stave off the inevitable colds and flu bugs of this latitude
- email us lots
We'll see you all in 9 months time - mine's a pint of guiness.
Sunday 20th October 2002, 1.30am, Donna writes:
Firstly; sorry for my lack of contributions over the last few weeks - y'see I've been working hard but now I've finished! I'm unemployed and homeless - Big Issue anyone?
Another birthday has passed me by - thanks for all the good wishes and special treats. Luckily the date passed without upset, I've got a knack of having my birthday close to momumentous ocassions in order to deflect the passing of YET ANOTHER YEAR! How time flies.
So now I'm another year older and wiser and about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Finishing work was weird - it all hit me at once as I left the carpark. I've loved my job (sad but true) but echo Christian's sentiment of being too damn excited to really worry about leaving it behind. Thanks to all the Numeracy team who are (and will continue to be) 'fab'. I got lots of wonderful gifts - diamonds are a girl's best friend!
This time tomorrow I shall be too giddy to sleep!
We've had groovy parties at Shirl and Mikes and also at the in-laws, this going away lark plays havoc with your liver! I will endeavour to play a more integral part in the website over the next few months - I can no longer hide behind work!
6.30 Monday and we're off!
By the way - it's our anniversary today. 1 year ago, we stood in the Palmhouse in front of special people and pledged a lifetimes commitment, this was undoubtedly the best thing I have ever done. I can't wait to spend the next 9 months with Christian 24/7 (how American - I'm sorry!)
From now on this will become more interesting - or your money back!
Wednesday 16th October 2002, Unemployed layabout writes:
So I'm unemployed! For your reference, dear reader; I prefer to be considered a member of the leisure classes, rather than dole scum.
Leaving work was not as emotional as I had feared it might be. Although I did enjoy my job (which was a novelty), and did make some friends there - I'm too excited about our journey to be bothered about leaving.
I did tremendously well with leaving presents: receiving as I did:
- book tokens (£55!)
- a travel guide entitled "No shitting in the toilet": more of which later
- toilet paper (evidently a companion piece)
- a sewing kit
- a box of plasters
I retired to the pub at 4:45 and was bought beers by a charming selection of young librarians. I'm rather afraid I dominated conversation, talking about our imminent travels non-stop. But they did ask. I really am going to be intolerable upon my return.
So now I write from my own mother's computer. I've just scootered over from Liverpool, which took just over an hour, and brought me a rather pleasant route through such places as Melling and Bickerstaffe that I had never heard of before.
Not long now. Does anybody know of a good place to stay in Tokyo? It's proving hard to find anywhere affordable and OK.
Monday 14th October 2002, Christian writes:
Just a quick update really. Our tickets have arrived! I think I’ll need to examine them in further detail – they look tremendously complicated.
Also, I’ve just managed to buy a Japan Rail Pass over the phone through JTB travel. Apparently, Liverpool Lime St. station used to sell them, but it proved to be a popular and valued service: so they stopped. We’ve booked 2 weeks 2nd class, and this is a part of the journey I’m very excited about.
We had a bacchanalian send-off party in Irlam this weekend: many thanks to the in-laws for a great night. We sat around until the early hours talking, although I can’t remember what about. Hmm… this is becoming a pattern. I must remember to remain sober for some of our travels: my memory is not what it once was.
Finish work tomorrow. Yay!
Friday 11th October 2002, Christian writes:
Donna’s birthday yesterday was a real treat. She’ll fill you in with the details later. But I must just tell you this: As yesterday was also National Poetry day, a stage was set up in St. Peters Square outside Manchester Central Library. Upon this stage, young amateur poets were reading their wares in an “open-mic” forum. After much giggling and cajoling on our part, I managed to persuade Donna to take to the stage and deliver her famous ode “Forty tampons super”.
Embarrassed, she walked to the compere, took the microphone, and began:
- This is called Forty Tampons Super… (Some uneasy shuffling amongst the parents in the crowd, the poet shoots a quick glance to her husband, who beams back. She begins:)
What’s so super about a tampon?
They’re disposable,
Like life.
Forty disposable friends and lovers,
Each designed to do the same job:
Fill a gap.
She is a genius.
Wednesday 9th October 2002, Christian writes:
Oh no! More from And Figs Might Leaf. If you remember, in our last extract we met the lachrymose Susan, at her kitchen table. This new extract is from the second act, and features a different Susan - I tried to get this idea across in the text.
Tuesday 8th October 2002, Christian writes:
Funny conversation between Donna & my brother M. this weekend:
D: Have you checked our website?
M: Yeh, I had a look at it initially
D: Oh - you should take a look, there's new stuff on there all the time
M: Yeh, to be honest; at the moment I'm not that interested, I'll have a look when you go away.
Fair point. The site will be more interesting in 2 weeks time.
Oh crap. 2 weeks. I've still got a lot to do.
Friday 4th October 2002, Christian writes:
Christian & Donna are real tired after a week's sustained drinking with Shirley & Mike. As soon as their brains begin to approach normal processing speed, they will add something more to the blog. But it probably won't be until next week.
In the meantime; fans of The Office, check out David Brent's newsletter.
Wednesday 2nd October 2002, Christian writes:
Belief-o-matic is a fantastic title. It claims to accurately tell your religion just by answering a few questions, but I am a little dubious about my results:
Unitarian Universalism (100%), Secular Humanism (93%), Liberal Quakers (91%), Theravada Buddhism (90%), Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (82%), Neo-Pagan (68%), Taoism (67%), Nontheist (67%), Mahayana Buddhism (65%), Bahá'í Faith (59%)
It has long been my belief that Man has an innate need for spirituality in his life, and that this need can take many forms. It stems from an attempt to make sense of the incomprehensible (ie death, unjustness), and in part, a desire to relinquish control of one’s own life to fate – to delegate this curse of freedom.
Religion, of course, cannot provide answers to the unanswerable: this is where faith comes in. But to believe – however blindly – must be comforting. Like a parent figure taking you by the hand and leading you: anodyne and soothing.
Just as many people turn to religion to fill this need, many others turn to political beliefs. I think that, although a person may adopt a political alliance as a reaction to external events or situations, there is also an element of internal satisfaction in believing. A belief that there has to be a better way. To take the example of Communism, we could simplistically reduce the belief into the tenet that all are equal, and that people can work together for the greater good. To misquote Sartre entirely, Communism is Humanism.
I make no bones about my own spiritual void. Long since given up on God, and too confused about politics, I ache (along with everybody) for something to believe in.
And I think that this desire can, in no small way, be connected with my decision to travel.
Odd, how many times the idea of spirituality has accidentally cropped up as Donna and I have been planning our journey: Donna’s Mam has implored us to visit the Taj Mahal, because of her own divine experience within; Matt demands that we see Ayers Rock after his own personal epiphany there. I too, have been subliminally making the association; planning as I am to bathe in the Ganges, and to visit the Buddhist retreats in Japan.
De Botton touches on this in his Art of Travel when considering the sublime. Faced with the enormous expanses of the Sinai Desert, the author finds it hard to believe that there was not some greater force responsible for this. The enormity of what is before him makes him feel small, in a good way. De Botton realises "it is no coincidence that the Western attraction to sublime landscapes developed at precisely the moment when traditional beliefs in God began to wane… The landscapes offered [the Victorians] an emotional connection to a greater power, even as they freed them from the need to subscribe to the more specific and now less plausible claims of biblical texts and organized religions."
To travel is to search for something, as is spirituality. The irony is that even the most enlightened will never find it. Perhaps all I can hope for is to better find my own place in the big scheme of things.
“Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.”
--Eudora Welty
"If an Ass goes a-travelling, he'll not come home a Horse."
-- Thomas Fuller (1654-1734), Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, 1732
Tuesday 1st October 2002, Christian writes:
I was just tickled to find LQQK - the World Wide Wigan site. Check out the links for Dialect and Wigan speyk.
Alsithy.
