The Streets of Fatehpur

The town of Fatehpur: nothing to get excited about. The first time I saw it, I said to myself: "What did you get yourself into?"
The first shock were the garbage collectors: everywhere you see pigs and cows eating the rubbish that people just dump in the streets.
At least they work all day and never go on strike but one big disadvantage: they don't eat plastic!
And plastic bags are everywhere.
The cows are gentle, but they have priority and one day one of them tried to steal my pineapple.
Indians feed all stray animals: dogs, cows, even birds.
But worse than all the animals are the motorcycles and the "tuk-tuk", sort of motorized rickshaws which speed down the streets with their horns blaring. Before ten o'clock in the morning, the streets are fairly clean, have been swept. But after a few hours, you must watch where you place your feet: besides the regular filth, there is cowshit and spit everywhere. Some people chew betel and spit the red juice that looks like blood.
I try to go as early as possible to the market to avoid the worst. Sometimes we go back to the market at night; it's closed most of the afternoon. At night, all the cats are grey as the French say so you don't really see how disgusting the streets are. I still wash my feet when I get home and take a shower every night before going to sleep, just because I always feel covered with dirt and germs whenever I go out. I wonder how long this will last... Already the streets seem less shocking to me.
 

Ready to go on my Royal Enfield, taken in front of the haveli.
You can see how much garbage there is in the street and how flooded the street is after the rains.
Still very hot here and the sun shines every single day. No rain for more than a week now. Can the monsoon season be over???

More Amber Palace

So far, my favourite moument in India.  I think it was the contrast between what I see every day in Fatehpur and the cleanliness and the spaciousness of this palatial jewel; it was such a pleasure to just wander around and admire. The only negative point was the insistance of the hawkers who try to sell you poor quality merchandise at outrageous prices!   I also saw my first elephants here,if you don't count the ones in the various circuses and shopping mall parking lots. I didn't splurge and spent the 900 rupees to ride up to the palace in splendor though... I enjoyed walking. Don't get a lot of exercise in Fatehpur, except for walking up and down stairs about a hundred times a day. But I am getting used to Fatehpur and have taken to wandering about on my own, exploring the town and finding lots of other interesting havelis.

Amber Palace

Just outside Jaipur is the ancient palace of the Maharajas of the area. It's a magical place, surrounded by mountains, crowned by hill forts. I actually got a sunburn here because it was so beautiful that I forgot to put sunblock on!
You can walk up yo the top or ride up on an elephant if you're a wealthy tourist, but they esploit the poor elephants and treat them badly.



Once at the top, you are struck by the simple beauty of the place and you want to stay there.

The women's gardens were so quiet and refreshing. Harmony seemed to ooze out of every corner of this beautiful monument.

The ancient and the modern, side by side in India are constant sights in India. The city palace in Jaipur was lovely for its clean grounds and spacious courtyards. Otherwise, the older palace of Amber is much more breath-taking, but you'll have to wait for the next post for those pictures. Next to the city palace is the remarkable Jantar Mantar with its enormous sundials and other astronomical instruments which are still used today. I especially like the women in saris who sweep up the leaves and dig out the weeds. Not the most practical garment for gardening, but they are an added attraction, like colorful flowers. I enjoyed my visit to Jaipur even though it's dirty, dusty, noisy and almost impossible to cross the streets due to a constant flow of traffic.
And I was surprised myself that I was actually happy to return to Fatehpur and the quiet calm of the haveli.

Our cook, Lakshmi, makes the most delicious chapatis. I'm trying to learn but she has quite a technique. Very friendly, not always on time, a good cook, it's very difficult to understand her sometimes because she mixes Hindi and English and you're not always sure of which words are English!

When the Indians don't understand you, they think that YOU don"t speak English very well. And I find it difficult to reduce my speech to just nouns, verbs and adjectives, but those are the words that work the best.
Anyway, I've started learning Hindi and succeeded in going to the market and buying all the fruit and vegetables for two whole days. I can say spinach, tomatoes, lemons, bananas, green beans, sugar and "how much", as well as one kilo and half a kilo. Not bad, eh?

This is the cultural center where I will be working for the next few months. The house is a haveli,
and was built by a rich silk merchant in 1802.

Well here I am in India and finding the place at the same time fascinating and a bit squalid. My room is a haven of peace and I really feel like I have gone backwards a few centuries in time, except for the air conditioner and the shower and the toilet and a few other amenities.

Hello everybody!
In a few days, I'll be going off on a great adventure: something I've always wanted to do.
Stay tuned and I'll fill you in with all the details.