11 JAN 99

Hello from the city of Pushkar in the state of Rajisthan in the country of India. I found a nice cheap Internet place and went there to write a really long account of my recent activities and thought.

After my last update, I went on a camel safari from Jaisalmer. With a Belgian, another American and two Italians and a few Indian guides we got onto our camels and headed for the desert. I quickly learned that camels have one very fascinating habit. They regurgitate their food back into their mouth so that it can be chewed again. In the process some large inflatable organ pops out of their mouth and makes really fun wet blowing sounds.

For the better part of four days we rode the camels and stopped at small desert villages to look at the people. We spent the second night on some small sand dunes and the third night on the roof of our main guides house in his village. We did not go to all of the places we were supposed to and the safari was not worth the nearly eleven dollars per day that it cost. But, it was enjoyable.

The safari finished on the 31st of December. With three Belgians and an American, I went to dinner in the old fort of Jaisalmer. The fort has 99 bastions in its wall and the restaurant we ate in was in one of them. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and climbed up to the roof. At midnight we watched the fireworks over the brightly lit fort and greeted the new year.

I spent the first day of the year eating. I wanted to eat a lot to make up for the camel safari. I also think it is important to spend a day concentrating on eating every once in a while. Between meals, I looked at the havelis. Havelis are several story buildings in the old city that maharajas and rich people used to live in. They have very intricate stone work and and good views. Pretty much this whole state is saturated with great forts and beautiful stone work.

On the second, I took a bus out to the Sam Sand Dunes with the three Belgians. I had loaded up my backpack with three days worth of food because I felt like getting a little exercise. After leaving my friends, I walked for a few hours in the evening, scared a few deer, and then spent the night on some sand dunes.

After a late start the next day, I decided to walk back to Jaisalmer. I walked about 12 miles that day. I saw very few people. I did run into two guys with guns. The guns were about five feet long and about eighty years old. I explained what I was doing and they told me something in Hindi or Rajisthani. That evening I found a dry river bed to sleep in. I had no sleeping mat, so I had to look for a patch of sand each evening. I walked through the desert and avoided the road that day. The ground was mostly sand or hard dirt with very occasional trees and fields.

On the 4th of January, it was very foggy and cold. I set off at about 8:30. I walked for an hour and found the road. After walking from one distance sign to the next I knew which way Jaisalmer was and decided to get away from the road so that the occasional jeeps and trucks would not honk at me. I had lunch and headed back into the deserted desert. I soon came upon my footprints in the sand and wondered how some one with my same shoes had gotten here. I followed the footprints for a few minutes and quickly found my sleeping place from the previous night. The night and morning had been so foggy that I could not see any stars or even the sun to get my bearings. So, after about three hours, I was right back where I had started the day.

Now I was going in the right direction and decided to finish off the rest of the 18 miles this day. By about five in the afternoon I was getting a bit tired, but the hardest part of getting near the city was explaining to all of the rickshaw drivers that I did not want a ride, even for free. I returned to my previous hotel, but could not stay there. They have very cheap rooms and expensive safaris. They are good at selling the safari, but upon your return they are not very friendly and want you to leave as soon as possible. I moved over to Hotel Swastika and spent the night there. The 5th was another eating day.

Khuri was supposed to have bigger sand dunes than the disappointingly small ones at Sam. I took a local bus out there. Khuri was as far as tourists are allowed to go. After that it is a sensitive border area with Pakistan. This is also near the area that India tests its nuclear bombs. I went out to the bigger sand dunes for sunset and saw a bunch more deer. These sand dunes were also not big enough to inspire me to spend a few days on them so I went back to Jaisalmer the next morning.

Before Jaisalmer I had avoided tourist cities pretty well. Here there were quite a few tourists and I wondered why I never saw many in one place. Then I saw a crowd in front of a drinks shop. They were selling marijuana milk shakes (bhang lassi). Now I new how to find the crowds.

The next morning I took a bus to Jodhpur. This is the town that the horse riding pants are named after. Their fort, Mehrangarh, is one of the most impressive I have ever seen. It is on a very high hill and quite large. From the fort you can look down on the old walled city. Nearly all of the houses are painted blue and it was one of the most impressive sights I have seen in India. In the fort museum I looked at some three hundred year old paintings of princes having water gun fights.

As usual, in Jodhpur, I was the most popular man in town. Dozens of people said 'hello' to me as I passed. Quite a few people took me into their homes to give me tea and show me their collections of foreign currency. Most could only say 'hello' and ask my name and country, but some wanted to discuss President Clinton's troubles and ask me what the U.S. is doing in Iraq. Since the Indian Prime Minister is a celibate virgin for religious reasons, the Indians seem to have an especially difficult time understanding Clinton's actions.

Now I am in Pushkar. This is another holy Hindu city, which means no meat or alcohol and plenty of Hindu pilgrims and holy men. This is also one of the most popular places for neo-hippy freaks and Israelis on motorcycles. There are hundreds of travellers here with dredlocked hair and blankets over their heads. The restaurants play rave/techno music and serve nice cakes. Of course, the most popular places are the bhang lassi shops.

Puskhar is a smallish town and has a nice feel to it. Tomorrow I will move into my new hotel with a room over looking the lake and the area where pilgrims take their ritual baths. I expect to stay here for a few days.

I also have a bunch of observations of India to record.

Rajistan is one of the most colorful areas of India. The women wear brightly colored veils and the men have pretty rose earrings. The women's dresses and veils do not prevent them from working on construction sites and carring things on their heads.

In Nepal it was a national pastime to loudly bring up something to spit and send it on its way as often as possible. Here, in India, people don't spit as much, but those who do make up for the others. They put flavored betel nut (pan) into their mouth and suck on that. Then, when they are tired of looking up when the speak so that the bright red juice doesn't leak out, they spit it out onto the street or floor. Needless to say, the color of their teeth suffers from this abuse.

One thing I like about India is the public urinals for men. Here you don't have to look for a shop or a restaurant when you have to go. If you want you can just go up to the nearest wall, but if you can wait a minute they have a special treat. Along many walls, next to the street, they have partitions, just like in a men's room. You can just turn your back to the sidewalk and take care of business.

I have been surviving quite comfortable on about ten dollars per day. Much of that goes towards books and Internet. Rooms are usually two to three dollars per night and food about the same per meal. Buses usually cost about one dollar per hour, which is about 40 miles.