ahhhhhhhh!

I was in a real live Bollywood movie! Ahhhhhhh! It was so exciting! I said I'd do it, and I did and it was everything I hoped for and more. So Beth and I were extras in a party scene in the new Aishwarya Rai movie, and we kept getting picked to cross in front of the camera and such. Beth palled it up with one of the stars who then said he's like to show us around the city. We have famous Bollywood friends. I'm living the dream. This is a brag post.

I've had a lot of interest in Bollywood for a bit because of the whole getting a degree in film studies aspect of my life, so it was just such a dream to see the inside of a working Bollywood set. A lot different than I had imagined. Really really productive and fast paced compared to Hollywood. Now I understand how they are able to pump the movies out so fast. We were doing a scene that involved like 40 untrained extras who didn't speak the language of the crew, and they still finished the scene ahead of schedule. Amazing. I can't wait to see the finished movie. Beth and I will have to throw a screening party when we get it back at home.

Mumbai is amazing. I love it. It's got a such a different feel than the rest of India. We've been spending a lot of time just wondering around the streets seeing where we end up. Reading in parks and hanging out on the beach. It's great. We're not sure at this point if a week is going to be enough. I think we end up feeling that way about most of the places we stop for more than a few days. It gives me a lot of hope for the rest of the trip.

Bombay! or, Mumbai!

What up from Mumbai (aka Bombay as the British might call it).

We arrived here last night after a 24 hour train ride from Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal- pretty nice. I was hoping not to be underwhelmed by it after all the lifelong buildup, and it was just the opposite. It was amazing. Breathtaking. Not as big as I would have thought, but more beautiful in person. We only spent one day there, but I could have spent more. I'm a big fan.
The train ride was very... long. Very burpy and farty on the part of the other travelers, and generally stinky. At night I was rocked to sleep by the violent jerks of the train and soothed by a chorus of juicy snores. As usual, there was a lot of staring. Actually, I make it sound a lot worse than it was. It didn't seem like 24 hours, and it wasn't that bad. All the same, we were really really happy to be in Mumbai by the time we got here.

I've been warned a lot about the place, and I was expecting Mumbai to be like a hyped-up, more crowded Delhi, but we've actually found it to be relaxing. The air is a lot cleaner here and the neighborhood that we're staying in, Colaba, reminds me of London or maybe D.C. Very British indeed. It gets compared a lot to New York City, which I think is pretty fair. It's the technological center and a lot more modern than Delhi, but it's also home to Asia's largest slums. We'll be here for a little less than a week, then it's off to check out some cave temples. Better updates and pictures to come when I find a USB port.

Erica Out

Octopussy, Octopussy, Octopussy

Hello All.

Still in Rajasthan feeling like a richie rich with my car and driver. The number of bloated dead animals has dropped off quite a bit since we left Mandawa. (whew)

After Bikaner, we headed for Jaisalmer where we saw. . . another fort! No, it's true. This particular fort was larger than the forts of the past few days and had a village inside. I really don't know what to say about all these forts. I'm at a loss.

After we investigated the fort situation fully we took a jeep out into the desert where there were several camels and a matching number of little boys waiting to lead us out farther into said desert. So we rode some camels into the desert, slid around on some sand dunes (my first time in sand dunes! very exciting!) and camped out in huts to avoid the roving nocturnal desert cows.

I love camels. They stink, but they're really really calm and nice. They have eyelashes that they bat flirtaciously, and adorable squishy feet for the sand. Camels have quickly become my beast of burden of choice.

More cities in Rajasthan, more forts, a few amazing temples. Today we're in Udaipur, which people keep telling me is the most romantic city in Rajasthan. No romance here, but it's still a lovely city with some forts which I've been avoiding, and a palace on a lake. The movie Octopussy was filmed here, so everyone that lives here is really excited about that. They show it nightly at all of the cafes and cinemas. It's really strange having a lot of broken english conversations where the word octopussy gets thrown around. Unexpected. I ate the best food I've had since I've been here last night at a rooftop restaurant. Tomorrow: Pushkar, then we head to Jaipur, then Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

Oh, and check out that picture of me at the Rat Temple.. read about it in Beth's blog. It's a temple with a bunch of rats.. that about sums that up.

Mandawa, where animals go to die.

Hello all, fresh off my picture posting success I've decided to give you a breif on my whereabouts. Beth and New Kid James and I are in day 5 of our 14 day tour of Rajastan, and time seems to be speeding up. The last five days, and four cities, have gone by in a flash.

The tour: Booked in a spur of the moment decision in Delhi the day we got there. This decision may have been affected by the three days we had spent in the timeslip of international airports and the panic induced by our lost luggage. I'll stand by it though. We've got a car and driver, and another half-mini-driver, a driver in training named Ali. We're seeing all the hot spots of Rajastan in relative style and relative comfort, and saving a lot of time and worry over busses and trains.

We spent our first night in Mandawa, a village a few hours outside of Delhi which is famous for it's old houses. Some old houses. They were actually quite beautiful. Mandawa was having some kind of problem with cows and street dogs apparently just dropping dead on the street, so there were quite a few bloating bodies to avoid, but the hotel we stayed at was the nicest we had seen yet in India and beautifully painted. (check it out.. pictures!)



After Mandawa we headed for Bikaner, then for Jaisalmer. Both Bikaner and Jaisalmer (like all of the popular cities of Rajastan feature big giant beautiful old stone forts. Very Large, very.. fortified. ooh, it seems that I've run out of time at the internet cafe, more on Rajastan to follow, and I'll leave you with a picture from the roof deck in Bikaner. Everything's going great out here, and the foods getting better and better.


Next Stop: Jodhpur

Pictures!

Finally, as promised. Here are a few faves to catch you up on the trip so far. They're in a bit of a crazy order as I am horrible at this internet thing.

1. Me at H.H. The Dali Lama's temple in McLeoud Ganj
2. Giant golden Buddah, same temple. No Lama in sight.
3. A fraction of the stairs leading from our guest house to the main street in McLeoud Ganj.
4. Beth on the roof deck in the Ganj.
5. Beth in the Main Bazaar, Delhi on our first day.
6. The Golden Temple, Amritsar at sunset.
7. Dude with a sword at the free dining hall that the sikhs set up in Amritsar.

More to come!