Namaste from Jaisalmer, India ! We have been travelling since last Tuesday and will return to Amdavad on next Wednesday night after a world wind eight day trip to Rajasthan, a neighboring state to Gujarat. Here is an image from Google Public Domain that begins to give you an idea where gets its name. It is just about 5 PM and we all anticipate the golden color of the sandstone in the setting sun.
We have just arrived after a 6 hour trip from Jodphur on many bumpy roads reminiscent to paths in other places in the world. With the cattle, goats, camels and feral dogs and huge buses, and trucks all on this path -like road, we saw our first terrible accident. Well, we saw the aftermath of the accident. . . .a mangled motor bike with a body covered next to it. Many people had gathered in the area and were standing silently, in shock.
We had some much pleasanter experiences on the bus, laughing and talking to this new, different , but equally as special group of students as the ones in 2013. The first week or so everyone is just in shock but that has worn off as they become more comfortable with India, the other students, David and me their humor and teasing us all, has made a very congenial group.
Yesterday, we drove through village after village where the people were gathered, signing in and voting in a Rajasthan wide election. Voting is not only a responsibility here but also a celebration. The women had on their most colorful sarees for the occasion. In the huge election in May 2014, Indians made their voices heard for change in the country. The Indians, in their Democratic Republic only 60 years old, know something we in America have forgotten. The Indians wanted a change and stood in line for hours to vote. The percentage of the eligible voters who voted was a staggering 66+ %! I think the % of voters in our last election in the US was in the 30s! We get the government , we deserve!
Anyway, in upcoming posts I will share with you the tale I learned from our guide in Jodphur with the explanation to our question as to why Hindu women, not just Islamic women cover their face in public in Rajasthan. I will tell you about the white , blue, pink, and golden cities and their magnificent fortress structures. There is a reason that so many tourists visit Rajasthan, and this area is one of the most prominent areas uniquely Indian in all this customs.
Tomorrow, we will tour this fort and discover the windy, narrow streets and visit the markets! And we will stay the night tomorrow, so I hope I can post another time before we end the trip in a spectacular way. . . . . all this amazing Indian experiences . . . we will spend the last night in Rajasthan, before the long, long trip back to Amdavad. . . . .sleeping in a tent in the desert, seeing tribal dances performed to authentic music. . . . ride camels and dream of the Arabian Knights! Touristy , absolutely. . . but we are absolutely that and can hardly wait, even dbell!
Images from Google Public Domain
Ta ta for now from T I I I ! This Is Incredible India!
Love to hear your comments !
TalesAlongTheWay 
It all sounds so exciting Anne. I wish I could be there, but you will have to be my vicarious tour guide and tell me what we are seeing each day. We could certainly learn a lesson about voting from the Indians, but have just become too lethargic, or just too darn lazy, and you are so right, we get what we deserve. It;s just too bad those of us who vote have to live by the standards of those who don’t vote. Ah, well, we the sheeple.
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Always good to hear from you Angie! Yes, there are too many of “We the Sheeple!”
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I can’t understand why people have stopped voting. Even the people in my building who only have to go downstairs don’t bother to vote, yet they continue to gripe about the ones who get elected. I think if you give up the right to vote, you have given up the right to complain.
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I am so afraid we will wake up someday having lost the right to vote as well as many other things we take for granted!
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I’m afraid I stopped voting when I stopped believing. It is always invigorating to witness the faith and belief of those who still listen to the promises and remain so sure they will be kept! But that is a feature of India, is it not, that supreme optimism? Lovely people in an exotically wonderful country. Bon voyage!
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Frederick, that is a natural tendency for sure to see the futility in it all. But for me, I try to find the candidates who have the least bad qualities and the most positive ones. Sadly, there are none perfect as we know too well. Husband calls me a “hopeless Polyanna” which is a contradiction in terms, but true, I guess! Thanks for reading and commenting ~
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