Diving in head first

This is the first time that I am able to update because every other time that I have tried, the electricity has gone out.  Just as a warning, this would be a very long post if I wrote about everything that has happened so far, so this is going to just be about my arrival and later posts will have different topics.

Arrival

As I was boarding the plane in NJ I noticed two other people from my class getting on the plane as well.  They were heading to Nepal, but were flying through Delhi.  They weren't allowed to leave the airport because they didn't have an Indian visa, so we planned to all spend the night in the airport together.  However, when it came time for me to board the plane it turned out that all of the overhead space was taken, so I had to check my bag.  Baggage claim was through the passport check in the international airport and I couldn't get back in because my ticket for the next morning was for a domestic flight. I ended up grabbing a prepaid taxi to a hotel that was mentioned online as a good place to stay called the Delhi Airport Inn Hotel.  The room was small, but clean. I didn't see much of Delhi because I went straight to the hotel and then left early the next morning.


My flight arrived in Jaipur at about 8am and I took a taxi fro the airport to the train station. Up until this point I had been in places where there were a lot of foreigners, but I drew quite a few looks as I entered the train station as a single white woman traveling alone with a massive backpack.

I went to sit outside on the platform to wait for my train. As I had quite awhile to wait I decided to get out my cards and play some solitaire. Apparently that is quite a novelty as I soon attracted a crowd of about 10 people all wanting to learn how to play. Most of them were very interested to know where I was from and what I was doing in India.

The train arrived (only 10 minutes late) and I boarded with a few other people.  The train, at least the car I was on, was fairly empty, but there was a very nice family with a few kids who were learning English, so I helped them with their English and they helped me with my Hindi.

I got off the train at Ajmer station, which was incredible crowded and where I got my first real taste of the poverty here.  There were people sleeping on the platform who looked like they hadn't eaten in weeks. As you exti the train station,. you cross a bridge and go down some steps. At the bottom of the steps were about 30 autorickshaw wallahs who all start yelling various destinations and prices.  I finally negotiated a price to the bus station with one of them and we took off.  On my ride I was able to figure out the traffic law in India, which seems to be...We drive on the left, sometimes, and if we aren't going to we honk.  Another person told me that there are 3 things that you need to drive in India: good brakes, a good horn, and good luck.  That does really seem to be the case. 

I was dropped off at the bus station and everything there was in Devanagari (the Indian script), which thank god I took the time to learn before coming here. It meant that I was able to locate the sign for the counter for tickets for the bus to Pushkar, which was my final destination. Unfortunately, the bus leaving right then was full, so I was going to have to wait another 15 minutes for the next one.  That wouldn't have been such a problem, but it was really hot and there was nowhere to sit.  About 5 minutes later someone shouted something about Pushkar, but it was all in Hindi, so all I could understand was the place name.  I must have looked very confused because a man came up to me and told me that the bus that had just pulled in was going to Pushkar and that I could buy my ticket on board for Rs 10 (about 20 cents). I got on and sat down, which was a relief, and then we set off about 5 minutes later.

The way to Pushkar is through the hills up and then back down a very winding road, which I was amazed the bus could navigate. When we reached Pushkar it turned out that the bus that I had gotten on went to the wrong bus stand.  There are two in town. One is in the north of town and the other is in the east, which is closer to the hotel where I am staying. Luckily the town isn't very big, so I was just planning to walk to my hotel.  However, the man who had been sitting next to me on the bus told me to wait and he would arrange a ride to the hotel.  Little did I know that that would mean that he would come back with a motor bike 2 minutes later and have me ride side-saddle on the back. I accepted the offer since it was a very hot day (easily over 100 degrees).  There isn't a lot of traffic on the roads that go around the edges of Pushkar, so there was little chance of an accident and he was an excellent driver. When he dropped me off I offered to pay him, but he wouldn't accept anything.  I have never been so happy to get to a hotel in my life.  I was absolutely exhausted.

Next time...the clinic.