Day 57 (2 August): Jain Temples and Camel Rides
After waking at 5:30 and getting to a safer hotel, I finally got in some sleep, since I couldn't the night before. Today turned out to be much better; most of what I did today was at the suggestion of my friend Umung's mother who I stayed with in Dehra Dun.
I went to a town called Sanganeer which is south of Jaipur. There I saw a bunch of small Jain temples that foreign tourist apparently never go to. The people at each were very friendly and excited that I was interested in Jainism at any level and knew what it was. In Sanganeer, I also saw a couple textile shops as this is where Indian 'wood' block textiles come from. From there, I went further south about another 30 km at the suggestion of one of worshipers at the temples in Sanganner to see a 'Jain Cathedral.' The building which was out in the middle of nowhere turned out to be one of the most spectacular and pleasant sights in India so far and was probably even nicer looking than the Taj Mahal at Sunset. There were a number of people in prayer when I was there and a lot of music and even a couple of people who were in states of trance which made it really interesting. Anyone that spoke a bit of English there wanted to talk to me, so I had a couple broken English conversations about where I'm from, what I do, whether I like the temple or not, etc.
From there I went to a place called Choki Dhani which is a 'replica,' '5 star' version of a rural Rajastani Village set up for upper-middle class Indians. There I saw some typical Rajastani dances, kids doing acrobatics, and even got to ride a camel. That was followed by one of the tastiest meals I've had in India so far and actually at a relatively cheap price. It was also nice, since even though it was touristy, it was meant for Indian tourist, not foreign ones like me. And finally I could eat some 'Indian Street Food' that wasn't safe to eat elsewere but looked tasty elsewhere.
Observations:
1) The world is small. For the second time on my trip I met some people who I didn't know before but lived within a couple blocks from where I did in San Diego. This time the family was an Indian one that had moved to the US, so the father (originally from Mumbai) could work on Oceanography at Scripps (which is affiliated with UCSD.)
2) Non-resident Indians don't invest in India. That was a headline in the Times of India today. Interesting, but seems obvious why to me after being in India for this long. They just send money back to their families instead.
3) Lack of computer skills. I also spent time today trying to get pictures from my digital camera onto a CD. It was shocking how incompetent the people were at the internet cafe at using a CD burner and a SD memory card reader, especially since two of them who were working on the 'project' claimed to have degrees in computer science; obviously not very strong ones.
4) My rickshaw driver today was rather friendly. I decided that when I was stopping for dinner that I'd give him 40 Rs to buy his own dinner across the street, since he had gone out of the way to help me find random, hidden Jain temples. He was more appreciative than anyone I have seen before and ended buying a beer to share with me once I got back to Jaipur in appreciation. He then went on and on and on about how food is all that matters in life and that food is why there is war, etc. Kindof interesting insight into the life of a rickshaw driver which isn't the easiest.
I went to a town called Sanganeer which is south of Jaipur. There I saw a bunch of small Jain temples that foreign tourist apparently never go to. The people at each were very friendly and excited that I was interested in Jainism at any level and knew what it was. In Sanganeer, I also saw a couple textile shops as this is where Indian 'wood' block textiles come from. From there, I went further south about another 30 km at the suggestion of one of worshipers at the temples in Sanganner to see a 'Jain Cathedral.' The building which was out in the middle of nowhere turned out to be one of the most spectacular and pleasant sights in India so far and was probably even nicer looking than the Taj Mahal at Sunset. There were a number of people in prayer when I was there and a lot of music and even a couple of people who were in states of trance which made it really interesting. Anyone that spoke a bit of English there wanted to talk to me, so I had a couple broken English conversations about where I'm from, what I do, whether I like the temple or not, etc.
From there I went to a place called Choki Dhani which is a 'replica,' '5 star' version of a rural Rajastani Village set up for upper-middle class Indians. There I saw some typical Rajastani dances, kids doing acrobatics, and even got to ride a camel. That was followed by one of the tastiest meals I've had in India so far and actually at a relatively cheap price. It was also nice, since even though it was touristy, it was meant for Indian tourist, not foreign ones like me. And finally I could eat some 'Indian Street Food' that wasn't safe to eat elsewere but looked tasty elsewhere.
Observations:
1) The world is small. For the second time on my trip I met some people who I didn't know before but lived within a couple blocks from where I did in San Diego. This time the family was an Indian one that had moved to the US, so the father (originally from Mumbai) could work on Oceanography at Scripps (which is affiliated with UCSD.)
2) Non-resident Indians don't invest in India. That was a headline in the Times of India today. Interesting, but seems obvious why to me after being in India for this long. They just send money back to their families instead.
3) Lack of computer skills. I also spent time today trying to get pictures from my digital camera onto a CD. It was shocking how incompetent the people were at the internet cafe at using a CD burner and a SD memory card reader, especially since two of them who were working on the 'project' claimed to have degrees in computer science; obviously not very strong ones.
4) My rickshaw driver today was rather friendly. I decided that when I was stopping for dinner that I'd give him 40 Rs to buy his own dinner across the street, since he had gone out of the way to help me find random, hidden Jain temples. He was more appreciative than anyone I have seen before and ended buying a beer to share with me once I got back to Jaipur in appreciation. He then went on and on and on about how food is all that matters in life and that food is why there is war, etc. Kindof interesting insight into the life of a rickshaw driver which isn't the easiest.
posted by Traveling Brian at 4:07 AM
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