This morning a train
safari was scheduled. We left at 9 am in two Chev jeeps. They looked like they
could have been antiques but they were beautifully maintained. We drove out of
Jojowar, through the town, and out onto a highway.
It was paved but
narrow, and two big vehicles couldn't share the road without one or both going
off-road a bit. We passed kids waiting for transportation and some walking to
school.
After a while, we turned off that road and changed direction heading
for some hills. It took about an hour to get to our first destination, a train
station.
The train was 30
minutes late in arriving.
There were no assigned seats and we all got into one
car. Four of us joined a family of 5: a woman with 2 children, her husband
(sleeping on the luggage rack above her head), and her mother-in-law (sleeping
on half of the bench across from her).
We took photos, showed
photos and communicated as best we could. I think they understood a bit of
English but I wasn't sure of how much. The terrain outside the window was
interesting - lots of rocks, trees, a big valley and monkeys. The lady and her
daughter had moved so I could sit by the window and take pictures. The monkeys
gather where the train stops hoping to get food and garbage from the people.
At one brief stop I was
intent on taking a picture of them when suddenly one leapt toward me into my
open window. I reacted instantaneously, screaming and jumping to get away as
quickly as possible. I have no idea what happened behind me because I was too
busy leaping over people. I'm sure the scene would have made for a great video!
The jeep ride back to
our hotel was about 10 - 15 minutes long. A lunch had been prepared for us and
we ate outside on a patio under a canopy. After eating, we headed towards the
city of Udaipur.
It's about a 4 hour
drive without stops, but besides a coffee break, we made two very interesting
photo stops. The first one was at a school with about 350 students.
It was a
public school and we went into a grade 10 science classroom first. The boys
were all wearing their street clothes while the girls had on uniforms. I was
rather surprised to see only 5 girls compared to about 15 boys. The students
shared a desk with 2 to 3 per desk and the girls were on the opposite sides of
the room from the boys.
We then went into a
grade 1/2 classroom and everyone wore a blue uniform. Again, the girls and boys
were separated and they were seated on the floor. Like any primary class at
home, the walls were colorfully decorated with number charts, the alphabet and
other learning aids.
We saw a grade 4 class seated just outside of the building protected from the sun. They were
also sitting on the floor and faced a portable chalkboard.
A school lunch is provided
in order to encourage attendance.
The schoolyard was quite large, with brown
dry dirt. We walked by another small group of students who were sitting in the
shade of a large tree. They were in rows, separated by sex, and on their own
with no teacher in sight.
The second interesting
stop was watching a man harness up oxen to a set of gears. As the 2 animals
walked round and round in a circle, a mechanism raised water up from a very
deep stone-lined well. The water is used to irrigate the small piece of farmland.
We reached Udaipur at 7
pm. It is a city of a million people and
is known for its 7 man-made lakes. We are staying at the Hilltop Palace hotel
and we were greeted at the door with white and yellow flower garlands.
There is
a rooftop bar overlooking one of the lakes and from another direction we have a
good view of the city. I was surprised how warm it still was at 8 pm. Tomorrow’s
going to be a scorcher! Another lady and I shared a beer as well a delicious
chicken dish, some lentils and naan. The service was quite slow and so was
getting the bill. This process always seems to be a big production and I'm not
sure why.
There is loud music
playing outside again tonight. Last night in Jojowar it went on past midnight
and I was able to drown it out by putting the ceiling fan on. I hope that works
tonight.
