Camel Safari's, Snake Charming and battles of colour, Rajasthan, India

Capital City : Jaipur

Population : 68,621,012

Official languages : Rajasthani, Hindi

Money : Indian Rupee

Main Modes of Transport : Train, Bus, Tuk Tuk, Camel, Elephant

Back Packer Budget : 20 US - 40 US per day

Midrange Budget : 30 US - 60 US per day

Luxury Budget : 100 US starting per day

Top Three Experiences

1. Camel Safari into the Thar desert

2. Snake Charming in Jaipur.
3. Holi Festival in Pushkar

Top Three Food Experiences.

1. Mughal Paneer

2. Lamb Kebab

3. Spicey Mughal Chai

Rajasthan is the largest state in India, Its lands cover the inhospitable Thar desert. The province borders Pakistan and its capital city is Jaipur.

Rajasthan means the Land of the Kings, its history consists of many ruling factions between Hindus, Muslims, and other ruling warlords. Rajasthan was the ruling province of the Mughal Empire, a Muslim lead Empire that nearly controlled all of India in its Prime.

My journey began in Rajasthan when my train left the Hindu flats and arrived in the Chaotic City of Jaipur. Jaipur is named the “Pink City”, and its easy to see why, everything from the buildings to the turbans on those moustached men are pink. This city is Exciting, The streets are a mess of camels, Tuk Tuk’s and thousands of people living there everyday lives in this hectic environment. Every corner you turn you are confronted with a jaw dropping temple or a market that is so abundant with spices your eyes water from the air you breath. But one thing is a must is to beware of the monkeys. The monkeys rule this city, they are clambering on the sides of buildings and stealing food from the food stalls, and they will sneak upon you and steal the peanuts right from your pocket…. And trust me they do. I spent my first day exploring these streets and trying the intensely spicy but exhilarating Mughal food. To beat the afternoon heat I strolled into the Emperors palace, interesting enough dig filled with great architecture and moustached men at every corner, But the main attraction to coming to Jaipur, is Jaipur Fort or also known as Amber Fort. Amber Fort is outstanding, its military strategic positioning is a classic example of Mughal power and architecture. To get here just hire any taxi, the going rate for taxi is usually around 10 US for the day, but that depends on your bargaining skills. When arriving to Amber Fort be prepared to be solicited, there are great stalls with everything you could need here as the shop keepers will tell you. One of the salesmen will try to sell you a Elephant ride up to the top of Amber Fort. Its expensive (25 US), but it’s a awesome feeling riding the elephant up a 1500^th century fort, plus it’s a mighty long hot and sweaty walk up. On my way to the top I found a local snake charmer. He Asked me if I wanted to see the Cobra, I replied, I want to charm the Cobra actually. The man seemed thrilled that a foreigner was wanting to attempt the snake charm. He wrapped his turban on me and handed me a jack fruit flute, I tuned what sounded some what like a Indian tune from the flute and to my surprise the lid on the bucket fell off and a Cobra raised into the air. The Man started clapping and telling me what guts I have to do this because Cobras don’t like foreigners usually….. What an outstanding feeling doing this. I then Explored more into Amber fort, its filled with antique weaponry, and hundreds of shiny glass rooms that blind you with an array of diamonds and glamour that would make even the biggest star in Holly Wood feel not so rich. After Amber Fort I paid my driver to take me to the Floating Palace, (it really is a Floating Palace in the middle of a lake), and then off to the Monkey temples. Exploring the monkey temples is interesting, its in a beautiful location in the mountains. You learn much about the Hindu religion and also you learn how to survive monkey attacks. They are tricky guys you can feed them by hand but there will be one monkey behind you stealing from your back pocket. The feeling you receive from the monks at all the temples is of only great hospitality, everyone welcomes you in and lets you partake in Hindu ceremonies you leave with Hindu Bracelets and a red dot on you forehead, but also the appreciation of understanding the religion a little better.

The next day I boarded a train to Pushkar, not direct but pretty close. Pushkar is one of the oldest and holiest cities in India. Its hundreds of Cow filled temples surround this holy lake making it one of the top spots in India for Hindu Pilgrimages. Its hard to get over how everything is written in Hindu, English, and Hebrew because of the hundreds of Hippy Israelis who descend here trying to find enlightenment. it’s a great stop for a few days but the reason I came here was Holi festival. Holi festival is the religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Its basically a giant party in the streets where everybody partakes by throwing coloured dies at each other, it’s a colourful epic battle filled with Bolly wood music and Holy parading cows, experiencing this is a must in any trip to India I highly recommend planning your trip during its time. Holi festival is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month it usually happens in the later part of February or March. I spent the next few days in Pushkar exploring the surrounding mountains and the beautiful temples in Pushkar lake. One of the Top highlights in Pushkar is the Brahma Temple built during the 14th century AD. Very few temples to Lord Brahma exist anywhere in the world. Another great stop is climbing Pushkar hill, not many tourists do this and it is a steep climb but you are rewarded with a beautiful temple and outstanding views. While visiting the temples you will be asked to take part in a ceremony by the lake, it’s a great experience but its very touristy meaning you should arrange the price before hand or else you will be asked to pay a large sum of money to a man your not even sure is a monk.

Leaving Pushkar was not so great, I landed myself on a very hot, sweaty and dirty bus for nine hours, the bus seated thirty six people, but there were over one hundred in the bus along with a few dozen more people on the roof, and a few dozen chickens and goats situated near me… its all part of the experience. My bus stopped in a City called Jodhpur, Jodhpur is “the Blue City”. The entire city is blue and in the centre of the city is a fairy tale looking citadel,( Citadel means really big ass Fort). Exploring these small blue crowded ally ways is a great way to spend you days here, and I did just that. Another top highlight in Jodhpur is searching for antiques. Jodhpur is home to some of the largest Antique markets in India, I purchases some five hundred year old gold coins from the Mughal empire for about five dollars a piece. On my second day here I ascended

Jodhpur’s fort. it’s a long walk but very worth the effort. The fort is filled with beautifully decorated rooms filled with sparkling diamond studded lamps to handmade Persian rugs the size of your house. Another great stop in the fort is the weapons museum. Here you can find rifles that are about ten feet long, and a abundance of sharp fancy swords and spears. I spent the next few days Exploring Jodhpur’s interesting history and meeting many interesting people, one by the name of Raj let me take his motorcycle in the crazy Indian traffic.

It’s a short bus ride from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, Jaisalmer is the final desert out post before the open sands of the Thar desert to the Pakistani border. Jaisalmer, like the other Rajasthan cities includes a giant yellow for in the centre, but Jaisalmer has a different feel from the other cities. Its building are built from mud brick and what looks like yellow sand, one of its main industries is Camel leather, and it houses a holy desert oasis lake. Jaisalmer’s sand and camel filled streets make you feel as if you’ve really ventured straight into the heart of the Thar desert. My hostel was pleasant enough, its name was the desert outpost and its rate was about 10 US dollar per night, its lush oasis looking garden, and 1001 nights architecture made you feel like you were living the life of Aladin.

The owner of the hostel arrange a trip for me into the Thar desert. His brother owns a few Camels and frequently takes tourists on Safaris for 25 US dollars a day. The next day The brothers other brothers uncle arrived to pick me up in his jeep. We drove for about three hours straight into the desert. I became good friends with my new travel companion his name was Sanjeev. We arrived at Sanjeev’s camel farm, we roped a few camels and after a one hour riding lesson we set off into the Thar. We passed through countless villages where all the villagers came out to see us. Everybody was dressed in such vibrant colours and all welcomed us into there tents for tea. Slowly the villages became fewer and fewer until there was nothing but me my camel and large sand dune structures around me. it’s a real surreal feeling knowing that you are really in the middle of know where. The nearest town at this point is a full days camel ride….. And out here there is no other form of transportation. At knight we would roll our rugs out (our beds), and prepare Mughal chai tea and supper. Sanjeev was a masterful cook, he used a abundance of desert spices and created some of the best Indian food I have had from very little provisions. Sleeping in the middle of the desert is amazing, I have not seen the stars this good since I was a child living in the Tundra of Canada.

We spent the next day heading further and further into a span of nothing. The simplicity and beauty of the desert is revealed to you at this point, all you can do is stare into its dunes and wonder about its mysteries. The next day Sanjeev told me we have to find a well or our Camels will die, so the race is was on. We hushed our camels further into the large flat space until finally what looked like a pile of rocks, we found our well. Sanjeev through is satchel made from a goat and pulled a large sack of water and our camels were suffice. Later we arrived at a Gypsy village and they greeted us with the usual tea. They showed us around and how they love there simple life. That day we arrived in another small town where Sanjeevs relative picked me up and I sadly left my camel and new friend. After about four hours we arrived back in Jaisalmer. I spent the evening in Jaisalmer’s smoky bazaars bargaining on camel skins and Persian rugs, then i finally made my way down to the holy lake to feed the giant holy catfish that lay beneath its murky waters. Next morning my hotel owner offered me to rent a motorbike from his other uncle. I rented a Baja 200cc motorcycle for about 5 US. Ripping through Indian traffic in the desert was great. I ventured to small desert oasis’s and towns and was always greeted with smile and curiosity. The traffic does get scary but as long as you keep your mind on the road all goes well and the experience is worth it. I had gone from Bus to Train, Train to Camel, Camel to Motorbike, with a few elephant rides in between, Rajasthan is truly amazing. If your looking for pure adventure and fun this is the place to be, here you will be rewarded with rich culture and new experiences that will stay with you for the rest of your life. This was the end of my Rajasthan adventure, but only the next step into another part of India……..

 

 

 

 

Boldly Going Where No Tourist Goes, Darien, Panama

Darien, Panama

Population : 48 378

First Discovered by Europeans in 1501, Then Christopher Columbus on his fourth voyage on 1503, not much else is known about Dariens history. It is inhabited by the Embara Indians who fiercely take pride in there independence.
Daily Budget : 20 - 30 US dollar per day.
　

　

　
Everyone looks at you as if you were a mad man when you mention travelling to Darien.

Some say the Colombian drug cartels will get you, others fear of long lost tribes who still use blow dart guns protecting lost cities of gold…..

It was like a seen from Jurassic Park, I boarded a small bush plane in Panama city connecting to a town near the Colombian border. Here Roads are replaced with small water channels that barrelled out canoes rip through, and colonial houses are replaced by grass huts held up six feet of the ground because of the numerous deadly snakes who try to bunk with you.

My plane first flew over blue waters then dense jungles spotted with volcanoes all over the country side. It truly felt like going back in time. Out of the jungle what appeared to be a half dirt half concrete landing strip. The plane made some shaky noises but all was well on the decent. As we landed all the bewildered chickens scattered off the landing strip fearing for the life from the giant metal bird landing. Planes only come here…. Well sometimes come here twice a week, and the plane only holds four passengers, so its kinda a big deal when a plane lands, the whole village comes out to see. What’s even more exciting is when a foreigner gets off that plane. I was greeted by the entire village… o and also a military police who felt the need to bring there machine guns and escort me to the police station, on the way there I watched my last way back to civilization fly into the sky.

“What’s your name“, “what’s your passport“, “what’s your point in coming here“, these are the questions I think I understood from the police, only problem is I only speak half ass Spanish and so do the locals. The locals all speak a language called Embara, it sounds like Canadian Cree mixed with Chinese and the odd Spanish word. After being interrogated the police finally gave up speech and pointed at a map, every area on the map that reveal dense jungles with small towns they pointed at saying no good. Then they taught me the word, “Beeua Beuu” wich in Embara means “thank you”, and I was on my way.

I managed to find lodging in Sambu, well it was more like a villagers house who made some creaky wooden rooms on top of the first floor of his wooden box. He charged me eight US dollars a night, which included a hard bed, a fan, and a hole in the wall that spurts brown water from it, ( The Shower). I ventured into the village and attracted many people who just starred in awe at the sight of a foreigner, but when I glanced at them they all greeted me with a big smile and wave. In the hot sauna like heat of the afternoon I was enjoying a local fruit thinking I will not speak English for another week, when to my amazement two American explorers showed up in a barrelled out canoe, equipped with giant SLR cameras and travel gear to take them all the way to Colombia. There names were Paul and Joice, they were professional explorers who have been doing hard core trips around the world for the past thirty years. They hired a guide to take them up river to here, but this was there final destination. I became good friends with the two, I think because we both spoke English, and the fact I was spellbound by the stories they told me. I purposed we stick together and go further up river to where it only gets more remote, more dangerous, and of course it would piss the police off…. Done deal we were going. The next day I hired a local man for fifteen dollars to take me to what he called a “Mystical Crocodile lagoon”, that was further into the jungle. After about three hours hacking through the jungle we arrived to this lagoon. It was absolutely amazing, there were hundreds of crocodiles filling this lagoon. I have never seen anything like this before, it made no sense why there were so many crocodile, and not even my Embara guide could explain this phenomenon. Our guide showed us survival techniques of the Darien jungle afterwards, several different medicinal leaves and insects to make life less hard. We retired for the evening checking out Sambu’s bar…. Yes there is a bar but its just a hut on stilts in the river serving two kinds of booze and blasting salsa music so loud it could blow the town away. That night we met a school teacher named Marco, we quikly became his friend for he could speak English and Embara, and after a few beers he happily agreed to take us further into Darien as a guide…. Under one condition!! And that was only if he gets to practice English with us… we accepted. After a short sleep filled with many midnight bug attacks from the biggest bugs I have ever seen we awoke early to hop on the only mini bus to follow the only road in all of Sambu and probably the whole Darien province. The road went deep into the densely thick jungle and spotted farmlands to a town called Bayamon. Bayamon is inhabited by a couple hundred Embara who only speak Embara, and where the traditional grass skirts and no tops…. The men where even less, Bayamon really feels as if your reliving your Indiana Jones dreams. The Village elder greeted us and asked for a small fee of ten US dollars, after we paid he gave us a tour of his entire village, we entered homes and he showed us Embara life. Later in the evening he invited us to come again tomorrow and his son would take us further past Bayamon. We spent the last of the evening watching the town play soccer before we retired into our shack for sleep.

The next day The Elders son took us deep into the jungle towards unexplored territory. The jungle was intensely thick and noisy from the monkeys birds and strange insects. He brought us to a bright blue river for us to swim in, although it was full of tiny piranha like fish who constantly snack on your dry skin. After we arrived back to the village and I was brought into the boys mothers house. She had prepared traditional Embara body paint for me and I was getting painted in the Embara style today. The elderly women painted my chest, back and arms in all kind of designs, apparently the dye is created from the Jagua nut and it’s a natural bug repellent. In the evening we walked around the village and I noticed all the villagers creating bowls and masks out of reeds, we politely asked if we could purchase some and they agreed…. I bought a really sweet crocodile mask!!!!!!.

The following day was going to be a adventurous one. We hired a canoe to take us so close to the Colombian border you could see it. The canoe trip was amazing our small barrelled out tree found its way through the tight water channels with jungle canopy hanging over the river banks. At times we jumped out of the canoe and had to walk because the river tide was so low, scary because these waters are crocodile filled. After about four hours we arrived at a small settlement called Boca De Trampa. The village consisted of seven small grass huts and a small handful of Embara families. Marco who had tagged along explained this was the village he grew up in, he had not been here in twenty five years. Not much has changed he said. The people gathered strange animals for us to see and numerous strange types of food that only grow right here in this village. We ate a nut that tasted like an egg, and a square banana that tasted like cream pie, best of all was the Bodohol. There is no way to explain how Bodohol tastes like, but never the less… its really good, not to mention its medicinal and apparently cures everything from upset stomach to near death diseases like malaria. The best part of being here was just thinking in your mind how far out you were, as you look around you realize you’ve ventured to where only the most extreme adventurers go to. The experience is like nothing else!. The sun dropped quickly and so did we for the night.

The next day my American friends departed back to Panama, and it was me and Marco left to explore some more. Marco found me a peddle bike and we road on a dirt road towards his school where he teaches. To my surprise I was promoted to teacher for the day. It was a great experience and honour teaching the kids how to speak English. These kids devoted much hard work into there learning more than I have seen in any North American school. After a hard days work we rode our bikes to Marcos farm. Here I was promoted to farm hand. We climbed trees and gathered fruits of all kinds. Then we visited the sugar cane smelter and Marco took me too one of the best views in all of Darien from here you could see volcanoes and small settlements dotted though the jungle. Exhausted we went to Marcos parents house, and his family made us dinner, the food was great, fried plantains and some kind of deer meat only found in Darien.

 

 The next morning I packed my stuff and stood by the airstrip wondering if today was the day a plane was going to land. Sure enough after about a five hour wait a small two seated plane landed and I hitched a ride. As the plane ascended I watched the dense jungle with its snake like rivers turn into pristine blue waters then the high rise landscaped city of Panama city. This was an adventure like no other!.