Guidance

I arrived in Bundi about midnight on the Marwar Express from Udaipur. I hadnt booked a seat, just paid for a general class ticket when i got to the station, and it was less than 2 dollars. This entitled me to a seat in the crammed non AC non sleeper carriages so I squeezed on board expecting a pretty hard trip but it ended up lots of fun because a group of 6 young men immediately insisted i sit with them and we had a great time, the 10 or 12 of us altogether crammed packed into that cubicle.

 First of course they all insisted on having their photo taken with my hat on, and then they wanted to scroll through all the pics in the camera, then they wanted to look at my little book of NZ photos and then they wanted to know all about me and my wife and children - which I will have to confess was, as it always is over here a somewhat simplified - shall we say- version of the truth. (apologies to various relatives and the like) And we talked cricket and one of then rang his brother  at intervals to get the ODI Score - India was playing Australia and did very well but was beaten by an even more impressive India , so the carriage was very thrilled about that. We even tried arm wrestling, and at a couple of stops bought fresh cooked food and chai through the train window from hawkers walking up and down outside. The trip had gone quickly but the seat was hard and my backside ached. Towards the end I started to get a bit worried about them as they were planning to get off at Bundi with me and share my hotel room and make sure I had a good time, but in the end they shoved me off at the right place as they carried on to Kota, which is where i will go tomorrow, and perhaps meet up with one or two of them before I get the night train to Agra.  Yes, Agra and the mighty Taj Mahal just around the corner. I had enjoyed my stay at Udaipur.

The view from my room, Kasera heritage, Bundi

From Bundi station I took an autorickshaw to Kisera Paradise Haveli, who were expecting me. I had a minor issue with the driver who wanted 80Rupees once we got there, having agreed to 50 at the station when the competitive pressure of the cluster of drivers wanting my fare led to his bid getting my custom. I always clearly state and repeat the agreed price and the agreed place before getting in. He wouldnt take  the 50 from me so I said "Ok if you dont want it...." and I walked off, but a few steps up the road he relented and came and got it. ....well it was midnight and I was worn out, and as I said to him "A deals a deal..." The stupid thing is that 30 rupees is about 80 cents so you might ask well whats the point of getting shitty?  and its a good question - I remember once watching a tourist carefully picking over some bananas and eventually picking two or three and then when the guy wanted 10 rupees more that she reckoned she should pay, she walked off - no bananas! And all that for 25cents....so sometimes its clearly dumb to go without the bananas for a trivial amount. I still regret not paying a tiny amount more that a guy wanted for a wooden statue of the Buddha in Bali many years ago so I have learned that lesson I think. But what happens after a while as a tourist here is that you develop an appreciation for what things are worth here, in this place to these people, and you start to resent the guy who quotes a price  perhaps three times what you know everyone agrees is a fair one, you start to recognise which guys are for real and which ones are having you on. Usually I laugh a lot and joke with these guys but sometimes I get sick of the hassling and I dont feel like laughing.

A Temple on the Bundi Hillside

So today I woke to almost complete silence for a change, and pushing open the shutters looked out and up at the fort high above and down at the street below which slowly filled with traffic but it was never heavy or terribly noisy. I read the Times of India and had my breakfast in my room because  I couldn't stand listening to the two unfriendly american women at the rooftop restaurant who were loudly gossiping about their friends back home ..." and I'm like wow, I mean I'd rather work at  Starbucks than do nothing like she is" said one! I try to be friendly to other travellers - me being all alone and everything - but most dont even return a smile - mind you because of the hat I'm wearing they probably think I'm an Australian.  Actually I had a long chat one time to an Aussie woman travelling alone who has had enough and is heading back home - she complained to the guards on a train about a guy who wouldnt stop bugging her - nothing too serious but it needed to stop - and when the train arrived, "Cops" were there to take the guy away and a few days later someone showed her his photo and an article in the paper about what happened to her....and then a few days after that the Australian Embassy called her on her mobile and were most concerned and offered all sorts of support.

The Way  up to the Palace



A Step Well and one monkey

 

Crumbling ruins of former glory

After breakfast - "milk coffee" fresh juice and a banana pancake - I walked up to the City Place and the fort towering over this town. It was drenchingly hot, and for once I took a guide to show me the palace, a really nice excitable old chap - said he was 65. This palace and fort are different from the others Ive seen because this one is empty and not being preserved - its just crumbling away, and some parts are too dangerous to visit but much is still intact, including many murals and painted ceilings and doorways. My guide would have taken the shortcut from the entrance to the exit if I had let him, but whenever I asked him something he responded with all sorts of interesting stuff.

I asked him to tell me the story about this crumbling mural and he explained how it showed Krishna - who is always depicted playing a flute and in the company of lovely women - hes the blue guy - demonstrating how powerful he is holding up the world by the very tip of his little finger and standing on only one leg! (You might need to click on the image to expand it to a decent size to see the detail) Above the world are various other Gods such as Shiva - who is usually depicted wearing not much and draped by snakes - which denote his virilty as the Creator - and also Hanuman the monkey-god - mostly showering stars and flowers and blessings on Krishna, but the guy on the seven trunked elephant - whose name I forget - is the god of rain and is trying to spoil things and whip up a giant storm. At the bottom you see him off the elephant and bowing to Krishna, having seen the mighty ease which all his efforts were defeated by him.The guide really told a great story - could have stayed there for hours except for the heat. Eventually he went back down from the palace and i trudged up much higher to the fort.

At the top I came across several massive "step wells" called baoris. They are huge water storage constructions with extraordinary stairways going down to the water. These ones of course are abandoned but still collect water. At one I spent ages watching dozens of monkeys drinking and even diving in from quite a height and swimming around - they disappeared when I first arrived but gradually crept back.

I didnt see a single human being up there as I walked through rusting gates and up and down crumbling stairways and along silent halls and battlements - it was quite eerie.