How to deal with poverty and beggars in India?

"Oh no, I don't want to go to India. I could never cope with the poverty, the chaos and the dirt!". You hear that a lot. More so, I used to be one of the people who used to respond this way, when asked if I ever visited India.

This year however, I was in India for 18 weeks, and yes, I survived just fine AND had a good time. OK, I still find India totally overwhelming, tiring and heavy on all the senses, but is IS doable.

I realise that I am very privileged, staying in India in the best hotels and with enough money to go around. Even then it is tough on the delicate minded, weakhearted and fragile healthed like me.

Your heart must be of stone not to be touched by scenes like these:

The people in the picture above at least have a sort of roof over their heads and 'beds' to sleep in.

Islands in Lake Pichola, Udaipur

Udaipur lies at Lake Pichola and is surrounded by mountains.

This is what Wikipedia says about Lake Pichola:

"Lake Pichola is an artificial fresh water lake, created in the year 1362 AD, named after the nearby Picholi village.[1][2] The lakes around Udaipur were primarily created by building dams to meet the drinking water and irrigation needs of the city and its neighborhood. Two islands, Jag Niwas and Jag Mandir are located within Pichola Lake, and have been developed with several palaces to provide views of the lake.[1][3]

There are four islands on the lake :
Jag Niwas, where is built the Lake Palace.
Jag Mandir, with the palace of the same name.
Mohan Mandir, from where the king would watch the annual Gangaur festival celebration.
Arsi Vilas, small island which was an ammunition depot, but also a small palace. This one was built by one of the maharanas of Udaipur to enjoy the sunset on the lake. It is also a sanctuary catering to a variety of birds, including tufted ducks, coots, egrets, terns, cormorants and kingfishers [4]."

We took a boat tour on Lake Pichola.

Lake Pichola, Udaipur

Udaipur lies along Lake Pichola, surrounded by mountains. In fact there are a few more lakes around.

If you look at my pictures, you will understand why it is sometimes compared to   cities like Venice and Amsterdam. With its buildings right at the waterfront and its bridges, islands and the boats....

Ofcourse there are differences too; I don't think that in Amsterdam or Venice anyone in his right mind would go in the water to swim, play, wash or do their laundry! In Udaipur everybody does. It is very social and lively there at the waterfront, but I wonder if people get sick from the water....

Doesn't it look gorgeous?

Mughal murals in Udaipur

Walking through the streets of Udaipur you will see that many walls of houses, temples and palaces, are decorated with Mughal-style murals. 

Often around doorposts, depicting elephants, men on horses, maharaja's, the mustached sungod and elegant ladies. Here are some examples:

Jagdish Temple, Udaipur

The Jagdish Temple in Udaipur is part of the City Palace (see yesterdays post).

This is what is written on the webpage of the temple:

"Jagdish Temple is one of the famous temples of Udaipur. Located in the City Palace complex of Udaipur, this temple is made in the Indo-Aryan style of architecture. In 1651, Jagdish temple was built by Maharana Jagat Singh, who ruled Udaipur during 1628-53. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu (Laxmi Narayan), the preserver of the Universe. It is celebrated for being the largest temple in the city of Udaipur.
This three-storied temple is a wonder of architecture that comprises beautifully carved pillars, decorated ceilings, painted walls and lush halls. In those times, 1.5 million rupees were spent to raise this structure. The spire of the main temple is around 79 feet high that undoubtedly dominates the skyline of Udaipur. This shikhar (spire) is festooned with sculptures of dancers, elephants, horsemen and musicians making it truly a sight to behold.

When you approach the temple, you will be welcomed by two huge stone elephants at the entrance. To reach the main shrine, you have to take a marble flight of 32 steps. Here, you will find a brass image of Garuda, a figure of half-man and half-eagle. "

So let's have a look then, shall we?

32 Marble steps...check...

City Palace, Udaipur

Udaipur's main attraction, in my eyes, is it's City Palace. Wow, what an enormous complex with a rich history and heritage!!!

From Wikipedia:

"City Palace, Udaipur, is a palace complex in the Indian state Rajasthan. It was built by the Maharana Udai Singh in 1559. It is located on the east bank of the Lake Pichola and has several palaces built within its complex. Udaipur was the historic capital of the former kingdom of Mewar in the Rajputana Agency and its last capital.
The City Palace in Udaipur was built in a flamboyant style and is considered the largest of its type in Rajasthan, a fusion of the Rajasthani and Mughal architectural styles, and was built on a hill top that gives a panoramic view of the city and its surrounding, including several historic monuments such as the Lake Palace in Lake Pichola, the Jag Mandir on another island in the lake, the Jagdish Temple close to the palace, the Monsoon Palace on top of an overlooking hillock nearby and the Neemach Mata temple. These structures are linked to the filming of the James Bond movie Octopussy, which features the Lake Palace and the Monsoon Palace. The subsequent publicity has resulted in the epithet of Udaipur as "Venice of the East". In 2009, Udaipur was rated the top city in the World's Best Awards by Travel + Leisure."

Let's have a look, shall we?:

What a glorious sight, lit up by the sunlight!

Chunda Palace, Udaipur

So after our stay in Jaipur we arrived in Udaipur, another city filled with palaces and Maharaja heritage.

The hotel we had chosen was the Chunda Palace Hotel.

It looks beautiful, inside and out; very richly ornamented and decorated. Totally up my alley, but maybe too much for others.

Let me show you around:

Quite impressive, isn't it?!

One hour in Pushkar

We decided to break up our drive from Jaipur to Udaipur by making a small detour to Pushkar and look around there.

From Wikitravel and Wikipedia:

"Pushkar is a holy town in the state of Rajasthan famous for the Pushkar lake, various ghats and temples spread all around the lake.

The word 'Pushkar' means blue lotus flower, which is said to be the seat of Brahma, one of the Hindu holy trinity, who is worshipped as the creator of this world.  Pushkar is the only temple city for this important deity (Brahma) in the world. It is often called "Tirth Raj" - the king of pilgrimage sites - and has in recent years become a popular destination for foreign tourists.

Pushkar is one of the oldest existing cities of India.  The date of its actual origin is not known, but legend associates Lord Brahma with its creation.

Pushkar has many temples. Most of the temples are not very old because many temples were destroyed during Muslim conquests in the area. Subsequently, the destroyed temples were rebuilt.

Pushkar is also famous for its annual fair (Pushkar Camel Fair) held in November, and for camel safaris and shopping."

My pictures illustrate the above:

temples (blue), priests (orange), camels, tourists and shopping;-).

This mural encompasses the essence of Pushkar well: orange priests, light blue from the facades of temples and buildings, and lots of cows. Maybe the guy with the ghettoblaster stands for the tourists?

From Jaipur to Udaipur by car

The distance between Jaipur and Udaipur is only 400 kilometers, yet it takes about 6 to 8 hours by car.

Fortunately we did not have to drive ourselves. We hired a car with driver; what a luxury! Seated comfortably, with air-conditioning and a nice and safe driver; what more can you ask for?

It took us a bit longer, since we decided to make a detour via Pushkar. (More about that in tomorrow's post.)

Frits was able to work on his laptop and phone for hours, I just looked out of the window and took pictures, 8 hours long. Ofcourse taking pictures in a speeding car through the closed window does not result in the best possible images. But they still give a good impression, I think.

The road led us through a beautiful scenery.

An hour in Amber Town

The hour between our visit to Amber Fort and our afternoon at Elefantastic we spent at Amber town.

We had a look at a gorgeous temple, where we both received a bindhi from the 'residing' priest there. And we looked around the streets.

Let's first look at he Sri Jagat Siromani Ji temple, dedicated to Krishna and beautifully decorated with stonecarvings:

What a glorious entrancegate with all those beautiful carvings!

Elefantastic; up close and personal with elephants

Being a huge animal lover AND THUS being against all animal cruelty, I tend to stay far from tourism or attractions that exploit or abuse animals.

Unfortunately it is not always clear or visible how the animals are treated. What happens to them when no tourist or spectator is around?

In Malaysia we visited an elephant resort, Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary,  initiated by someone who is into rescuing and relocating elephants into the wild. It sounded like a good cause and tourists visiting the elephant place get a nice experience, while their money is helping the elephants. 

It was a nice day indeed, feeding the elephants, and going into the river with them. We enjoyed that. It was also not expensive.

What did bother me were two things: the number of visiting tourists per day turned out to be quite large. Massiveness is never a plus for any experience. But moreover, the realisation that the there present elephants had to work every day, to entertain so many people, hurt me.
I DO understand that a number of elephants  pay the price this way, in order for the organisation to be able to rescue others (and these elephants as well, of course), but it still gave me mixed feelings.

This time, I stumbled via Tripadvisor upon Elefantastic in Jaipur/Amber where it is reviewed as the nr 1. attraction. 

I checked out their website and the reviews and it sounded good! Very expensive, but it seemed that thanks to that money,  tourists have a personalized close contact with the elephants and in return the elephants have a work- and care-free life. A win-win-situation. Fine with me!
And that the owner of this elephant farm, Rahul, maybe earns quite a buck on this? No problem with that. Tourism is a good, reputable business, as far as I'm concerned, as long as it is of good quality, value for money and scam-free. So far so good, so we signed up for a day (in fact a half day).

This is what it was like:

We could have been picked up in this beautiful horse carriage, but we came by a very normal autorikshaw;-). Many aspects of the Elefantastic experience are borderline cheesy (or even over the top;-)), but I find it colorful and charming as well. I don't mind at all !

Amber Fort

We spent our second day in Jaipur in Amber, also called Amer. Amber is the former capital of Jaipur state.

The main attraction in Amber is the Amber Fort, so this is where we went in the morning.

From Wikipedia: 

"Amer Fort ( also spelled and pronounced as Amber Fort) is located in Amer, a town  11 kilometres  from Jaipur. It is one of the principal tourist attractions in the Jaipur area, located high on a hill. 

Amer Fort was built by Raja Man Singh I and is known for its artistic style, blending both Hindu and Rajput elements. With its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks the Maota Lake, at its forefront.

The aesthetic ambiance of this formidable fort is seen within its walls on a four level layout plan (each with a courtyard) in a well turned out opulent palace complex built with red sandstone and marble consisting of the Diwan-e-Aam or the "Hall of Public Audience", the Diwan-e-Khas or the "Hall of Private Audience", the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) or Jai Mandir, and the Sukh Niwas where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over the water cascade within the palace. Hence, the Amer Fort is also popularly known as the Amer Palace. The palace was lived in by the Rajput Maharajas and their families.

This fort and  Jaigarh Fort, located immediately above, are considered as one complex, as the two are  connected by a subterranean passage. This passage was meant as an escape route in times of war for the royal family members and others in the Amer Fort to shift to  Jaigarh Fort."

We did not visit Jaigarh Fort, since our time was limited. We had other plans for the afternoon. (More about that in tomorrow's post.)

Let me show you around in Amber Fort:

There it lies, Amber Fort, reflected in the lake in front.

Jaipur: City Palace and Hawa Mahal

As I promised yesterday,  I show you now Jaipur's main attractions; Hawa Mahal and the City Palace.

From Wikipedia:

"Hawa Mahal (translation: "Palace of Winds" or “Palace of the Breeze”), is a palace in Jaipur, India. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, and designed by Lal Chand Ustad in the form of the crown of Krishna, the Hindu god. 
Its unique five-storey exterior is also akin to the honeycomb of the beehive with its 953 small windows called jharokhas that are decorated with intricate latticework. 
The original intention of the lattice was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen, since they had to observe strict "purdah" (face cover).
Built of red and pink sandstone, the palace is situated on the main thoroughfare in the heart of Jaipur’s business centre. It forms part of the City Palace, and extends to the Zenana or women's chambers, the chambers of the harem. It is particularly striking when viewed early in the morning, lit with the golden light of sunrise."

Let's have a look at this unusual structure:

Five stories high, shaped like a crown and with almost 1000 tiny windows.

Jaipur, the Pink City, in fifty pictures

Since our trip was a short one, we only had two days for Jaipur and neighbouring Amber.

Today's I present to you Jaipur, the Pink City, in fifty pictures.

It is Northern India's first planned city, built in 1727 and painted pink in 1876. Pink is traditionally the color of hospitality and the then reigning Maharaja with this gesture welcomed the visiting Prince of Wales.

Even today, all residents of the Old City are compelled by law to preserve the pink facades.

In my pictures the color may appear to be orange or ocre, due to the sunlight (and my camera), but in fact the color is more 'old pink'.

We found ourselves a nice auto rickshaw driver. Although he compared me to his mother AND quickly determined me as the boss lady of the couple....hahaha.....

One of the eight gates of the pink old city walls.

Well, you get the picture, right, of the pinkness of the Old City inside the City Walls.

One of the things Jaipur is famous for is shopping! They have awesome, colorful stuff, like cushions, bangles, clothes, bags and a whole lot more...

I would luv those at home!

And these too!

The stitching through the fabric is typical for this region, I was told.

Bangles galore!

This intrigued me: al those turbans (for sale, I guess?) and the sign 'Antique Drinks'...?????

This city is also known for its gems, but there are a lot of scams going on, I read. 

Like everywhere, the vendors are grouped together, like the street of the jewelry, of the pots and pans, etc.

The streets are lined with street vendors of all sorts:

Like everywhere in India, means of transportation are loaded and overloaded to the max in every imaginable way:

How much can we load on a bike?

Big cargo on bike.

Walking through town you sometimes get a glance inside a small temple or room or at old doors:

Temple.

Men sleeping.

I like rustic old doors.

Cows, bulls and dogs roam the streets and the garbage. We have sort of gotten used to this, after all those months in India now. Although we have not completely lost our western amazement completely and probably never will;-).

Everybody tries to make a living somehow, from snake charmers to musicians. This man did a soloshow; singing, playing his instrument and dancing at the same time. Unfortunately for him I was the only tourist not to ignore him. I found it  nice to hear and see. Knowing that something is presented to make money from tourists does not always bother me. If it's nice, it's nice and worth a bak shish.

The women's sarees and the men's turbans have the most wonderful and vivid colors. I did not succeed to capture the most spectacular ones, but here are a few:

The more you get to the outskirts of the city, the more you see camels and elephants. They are 'work'-animals here, used in various ways.

Water Palace between Jaipur and Amber.

Pavillions belonging to the same Water Palace.

Water Palace by night.

Jaipur's biggest attractions are the City Palace and Hawa Mahal. Tomorrow's post will cover these two historical buildings.

Have a nice day and till tomorrow, I hope!