Going North

India, more than any place I have ever known, has a special way of consuming you. It takes you in completely, chews you up, and then spits you back out. At that point, you have two choices: you can either remain defeated and spent, as if you were actually spit out, or you can pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start over. It is usually right when you are about to make that decision, (or when you are sure you have chosen the former), that something postively outlandish and beautiful happens. And then it is done- you can already feel yourself getting back up and starting over. Because, against your better judgement, you have fallen in love with India again.
Or so it goes, at least, with Matt and I on this trip.
After a 36-hour train ride that was at times mellow and accommodating and at other times downright frustrating-(There was a snorer. Sawing logs would be a gross understatement. More like chainsawing logs, right next to my head. All night. Both nights.)- we arrived in North India, in a town called Kota. I was spent- chewed up and spit out for sure, and ready to stay that way. After a brief nap we woke up to a concert that I think was taking place about 15 feet from the head of our hotel bed. Sigh. So..if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? We went for a walk. At the beginning of the walk, I was honestly about ready to call it quits. We both were. At the end....well, you know the story. We fell in love again!
Kota's main features are an old fort and a grand palace. We went walking to find the fort and ended up inside of it, meandering through the streets and marvelling at the ancient architecture. We also drew quite the crowd everywhere we went- let's just say I don't think Kota gets a lot of foreign visitors. Halfway down one street and trying to figure out where to go next, we looked up from the map in our book to see a parade coming our way. Sure, why not? And it wasn't just any old parade: we're talking camels, elephants, horses- all decorated with day-glo fabrics and beads, and with women sitting on the carriages the animals pulled. The women also wore the same types of fabrics and beads and crazy make-up. One of the camels had a loudspeaker rigged up from his neck, and from it blared traditional Indian music. The women in the carriages passed out crackers, and they were accompanied by holy men wearing orange robes and walking along them on the street. The whole thing lasted about ten or fifteen minutes. People came out from everywhere to admire the show- and to watch us admiring the show. We took lots of pictures, and lots of kids pleaded with us to take pictures of them- "One photo, please?" They loved to have their pictures taken and then shown to them on the digital camera, so much that we had a little gang of kids surrounding us by the parade's end. It was fantastic!
After that crazy interlude, we headed to the riverside park in town, where we were greeted by more Indian families that wanted us to pose in a picture with them. One mom even handed me her baby so she could take a picture of me holding her! (the poor baby wouldn't stop screaming!)
We then went to the palace, and since we showed up right before closing time, we were able to pay a few more rupees to get a "special after time tour". Basically we had the run of the place with a few guides showing us around.
With all the activity of the day, we worked up quite an appetite. Not knowing quite where to go, and not being able to find the place mentioned in the tour book, we stumbled upon a restaurant touting palace views and decided to go there. I can't quite describe to you how bizarre this place was. As Matt said, it was in the "top 10 strangest places I have ever been". We walked in to find an outdoor banquet hall set up on a basketball court. The front of the banquet had chairs set up with an aisle down the middle, all facing a stage. It looked like it was set up for a wedding. The back part of the restaurant held many tables on the basketball court. On the edges of the court were long tables with seating only on one side- kind of like where the bridal party would sit at a wedding. We were sat at one long table, underneath a basketball hoop, and facing all of the other tables that were full. Needless to say, two factors were at play: 1) we were the only foreigners, and 2) we were being stared at. Big time.
We ordered our dinner and tried to- uhhh- act naturally...? There were palace views, as promised, so we took those in as we waited for our food. Then, we got lucky- an Indian teen got up from her table, came over, and started talking to us. After we answered all the usual questions and exchanged pleasantries, we found out the deal with the place. She told us that there was a wedding happening there that night, at 7pm. Matt looked at his watch- it was 5:45pm! So, our food arrived and we decided to eat as fast as we could so as not to disturb the rest of the wedding preparations. As we ate, a few other people wandered over. We found out that the wedding ceremony had taken place a few days earlier, and what was happenning that night was merely the family reception! ha! Regardless, we ate, paid our bill, said our thank yous, and moved on out of there. Honestly, I am not sure if we would have ever been asked to leave, but I know I would have felt pretty uncomfortable continuing to sit at what was clearly the head table! On the way back to our hotel, I noticed the moon was full. That explains a few things, eh?
So there you have it. We are back in the swing of things now, and ready for more adventure. Matt is on the mend, and although I caught a tiny bit of whatever he had, it is minor and I am sure we will both be in tip-top shape in no time.
India is a wild and cray ride, that is for sure!