"What Country You?" has possibly beaten out "May I have your Photo?" for the most asked question here in India.
First, a Photo update: at the Golden Temple in Amritsar I was asked this question 32 times in 3 1/2 hours (2 at night, 1 1/2 the next day). Every time I have said yes and had my photo taken. And it's rarely one photo, it's always multiple pics and almost every combination of the group of people who asked and me. And once those floodgates open it is photo after photo after photo. As I mentioned before... I really think I know what being famous will feel like. It's crazy. I've even had a family hand me their 2 year old to hold in a photo!
Now, this is all usually pretty friendly. But I've talked to some female travelers who started to charge for photos when groups of men come up because there are so many and it can be uncomfortable. But there's more than that. Occasionally men will just come up and stare at western women. They stare at me sometimes too. But travelers have told me stories about being on the beach in Goa and a group of men just standing there, 10 feet away, taking pictures and staring. It's a strange culture thing.
And this brings up the Touts.
Ugh.
It is almost unhalting. Walk down the street... people say "Hello! What country?" and thus begins the tout. Maybe a rickshaw ride. Maybe a magnet. A trinket. An invite into their shop to "Just look! How can you know you don't want if you don't look!". To the guy outside the Agra Fort who was shoving this handmade travel chess set into my hand and following me to the rickshaw and who would NOT take NO for an answer. He was saying "Twenty. Twenty. Okay Fifteen" and I thought "25 cents for that? I might take him on it. Until he said. "Okay 2 for twenty dollars."
If I step out of my hotel here in Khajuraho, a small, dusty one street feeling town, I have MULTIPLE people rush up and ask if I want ride, rickshaw, whiskey, beer, food, transport, drugs, massage etc etc etc. Hell it even happens INSIDE the hotel. The Massage guy, the rickshaw driver, the shop guy attached.
And I would be lying if I didn't say it was really, really annoying. And really really tiring.
Look, I get it. The hustle is how you feed yourself. Feed your family. Make a living. And right now things are slow. There aren't so many tourists this time of year. But the sad thing that has happened is it has become very difficult to trust any Indian that starts a conversation on the street. I have been conditioned to think that everyone wants my money. And I'm not the only traveler who feels this way.
And it's sad. Because sometimes the person really is just saying "Hello" and wanting to meet me. Sometimes they don't want anything and just want to be helpful. The delimma is everyone starts with the same question: "What Country you from?"
Followed by, in no particular order:
"What state?"
"You alone? Where's your wife? Your girlfriend?"
"You're not married? Why you not married?"
"How long in India?"
"Where you been in India?"
"Where you going?"
"You need a rickshaw?"
I almost want to make a sign with all the answers. :)
Compound this with the continuously honking horns (though not so much here in Khajuraho), and the fact that it's getting hotter and hotter, (Yesterday was 102. In my next stop, it's supposed to be 108) and you've created some rather unpleasant moments.
But that's part of what it's all about. Because even if this is annoying, it is part of the experience. It's part of being here. And likely, by the end of the trip, and probably sooner, It'll slide right off my shoulder and I can focus on the things I enjoy.
Backpacking/Travel isn't always easy. And it's not always fun. But in the end it's always worth it...
Now it's time to tell you about the "Kama Sutra" temples here in Khajuraho. Yep. 1000 year old temples with erotic carvings all over them. Amazingly intricate carvings. Thousands of them over many temples. They often features sexy, buxom naked women and fit, strong naked men. And sometimes horses. And elephants.
Sometimes posing. Sometimes engaged in intimate acts. Yes sometimes with the horses and elephants. There are some rather racy positions (3, 4, 5 people. Why not!). Some things you probably would want to try (THAT looks like fun)... And some things you probably wouldn't... (Is that elephants trunk really going there?). Then again, Why not? It's on a temple to Shiva!
It's rather fascinating really. Because India is a very conservative society. The movies contain no kissing, let alone nudity or sex. So to see these in India looking is amusing. There are men and women of many cultures going through the temple complex. Its fun to watch people's reactions. Some of them are quite explicit, and I try to imagine the culture that created these images. AND the fact that the carvings are incredibly detailed. It's fascinating to think of how long it must have taken to do it.
Temples are everywhere in India... and though it is not a temple. The TAJ MAHAL is, undoubtably the queen, king and everything in between.
Everyone has seen photos of it. And it is indeed every bit as amazing as you'd imagine. It's fun when something actually lives up to the hype. It's a mezmerizing building. The details are unreal. The intricate stone flowers in multiple colors, hand carved. The layout. The way the sun plays off it in the morning light. It really really is something awesome to see. I stayed at Hotel Suriya and had a view from the rooftop restraunt. AND... from my pimpin roof top room! It was the bomb! And cost $12 USD a night!
There's no words to really describe the Taj. It's just awesome. You have to see it. Go early. Enjoy the beauty. Imagine the story behind it.
Love and Loss do indeed give us the worlds most powerful, most amazing things.
First, a Photo update: at the Golden Temple in Amritsar I was asked this question 32 times in 3 1/2 hours (2 at night, 1 1/2 the next day). Every time I have said yes and had my photo taken. And it's rarely one photo, it's always multiple pics and almost every combination of the group of people who asked and me. And once those floodgates open it is photo after photo after photo. As I mentioned before... I really think I know what being famous will feel like. It's crazy. I've even had a family hand me their 2 year old to hold in a photo!
Now, this is all usually pretty friendly. But I've talked to some female travelers who started to charge for photos when groups of men come up because there are so many and it can be uncomfortable. But there's more than that. Occasionally men will just come up and stare at western women. They stare at me sometimes too. But travelers have told me stories about being on the beach in Goa and a group of men just standing there, 10 feet away, taking pictures and staring. It's a strange culture thing.
And this brings up the Touts.
Ugh.
It is almost unhalting. Walk down the street... people say "Hello! What country?" and thus begins the tout. Maybe a rickshaw ride. Maybe a magnet. A trinket. An invite into their shop to "Just look! How can you know you don't want if you don't look!". To the guy outside the Agra Fort who was shoving this handmade travel chess set into my hand and following me to the rickshaw and who would NOT take NO for an answer. He was saying "Twenty. Twenty. Okay Fifteen" and I thought "25 cents for that? I might take him on it. Until he said. "Okay 2 for twenty dollars."
If I step out of my hotel here in Khajuraho, a small, dusty one street feeling town, I have MULTIPLE people rush up and ask if I want ride, rickshaw, whiskey, beer, food, transport, drugs, massage etc etc etc. Hell it even happens INSIDE the hotel. The Massage guy, the rickshaw driver, the shop guy attached.
And I would be lying if I didn't say it was really, really annoying. And really really tiring.
Look, I get it. The hustle is how you feed yourself. Feed your family. Make a living. And right now things are slow. There aren't so many tourists this time of year. But the sad thing that has happened is it has become very difficult to trust any Indian that starts a conversation on the street. I have been conditioned to think that everyone wants my money. And I'm not the only traveler who feels this way.
And it's sad. Because sometimes the person really is just saying "Hello" and wanting to meet me. Sometimes they don't want anything and just want to be helpful. The delimma is everyone starts with the same question: "What Country you from?"
Followed by, in no particular order:
"What state?"
"You alone? Where's your wife? Your girlfriend?"
"You're not married? Why you not married?"
"How long in India?"
"Where you been in India?"
"Where you going?"
"You need a rickshaw?"
I almost want to make a sign with all the answers. :)
Compound this with the continuously honking horns (though not so much here in Khajuraho), and the fact that it's getting hotter and hotter, (Yesterday was 102. In my next stop, it's supposed to be 108) and you've created some rather unpleasant moments.
But that's part of what it's all about. Because even if this is annoying, it is part of the experience. It's part of being here. And likely, by the end of the trip, and probably sooner, It'll slide right off my shoulder and I can focus on the things I enjoy.
Backpacking/Travel isn't always easy. And it's not always fun. But in the end it's always worth it...
Now it's time to tell you about the "Kama Sutra" temples here in Khajuraho. Yep. 1000 year old temples with erotic carvings all over them. Amazingly intricate carvings. Thousands of them over many temples. They often features sexy, buxom naked women and fit, strong naked men. And sometimes horses. And elephants.
Sometimes posing. Sometimes engaged in intimate acts. Yes sometimes with the horses and elephants. There are some rather racy positions (3, 4, 5 people. Why not!). Some things you probably would want to try (THAT looks like fun)... And some things you probably wouldn't... (Is that elephants trunk really going there?). Then again, Why not? It's on a temple to Shiva!
It's rather fascinating really. Because India is a very conservative society. The movies contain no kissing, let alone nudity or sex. So to see these in India looking is amusing. There are men and women of many cultures going through the temple complex. Its fun to watch people's reactions. Some of them are quite explicit, and I try to imagine the culture that created these images. AND the fact that the carvings are incredibly detailed. It's fascinating to think of how long it must have taken to do it.
Temples are everywhere in India... and though it is not a temple. The TAJ MAHAL is, undoubtably the queen, king and everything in between.
Everyone has seen photos of it. And it is indeed every bit as amazing as you'd imagine. It's fun when something actually lives up to the hype. It's a mezmerizing building. The details are unreal. The intricate stone flowers in multiple colors, hand carved. The layout. The way the sun plays off it in the morning light. It really really is something awesome to see. I stayed at Hotel Suriya and had a view from the rooftop restraunt. AND... from my pimpin roof top room! It was the bomb! And cost $12 USD a night!
There's no words to really describe the Taj. It's just awesome. You have to see it. Go early. Enjoy the beauty. Imagine the story behind it.
Love and Loss do indeed give us the worlds most powerful, most amazing things.
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