I have 12 hours to say good-bye to India, then I return to my Salvation Army hostel, pick up my luggage, take a train to North Mumbai, take an auto to the international airport and wait 4 hours to check-in for my flight to Istanbul. From Istanbul, I board a plane for Tel Aviv, Israel.
I reserved my flight while traveling in Varanasi. My shoes had turned to mold in the rain and the open sewers; my skin smelled musty from the tap water, always a film of mud and shit on my feet; and my schedule was over-full with music, friends, luncheons–rich, eye opening, but suddenly overwhelming. I was relieved when the cheapest flight to Israel turned out to be the earliest flight: September 6th, just in time for the Jewish New Year. And in this case, the word “flight” is fitting, since it is a literal escape from the pressures of traveling in India–and at the same, the pressures have given me freedom. I’ve learned to be friendly but cautious, adventurous but staid, self-sufficient but always surrounded by tourist friends (or if possible, Indians…although that’s much more difficult when traveling alone, because it’s usually Indian MEN who want to be friends–with hopeful benefits). I feel I can go anywhere and do anything, and if I lose the gamble, it’s karma…to repeat what half the hotel managers, restaurant owners, shopkeepers, and horny men have told me in sentimental heart-to-heart sessions: “Who knows what the future will bring? Best to be honest and kind now and good luck will follow.”
Before I go, here are some highlights of my last month of travel (I’ve been recording my travels by hand because using a laptop in public in India is asking for trouble. So, brief notes will have to suffice until I get to Israel):
1) Hyderabad: met a wonderful French tourist at the train station and ended up living with her in the Hyderabad YMCA. She was a world traveler and French lit teacher, and under her guidance, I began to enjoy exploring India as a Westerner for the first time. We visited the Muslim quarter, Chowmahalla Palace and Golconda Fort…
2) Hampi: Decided to visit the ancient capital of the Vijaynagara Empire (14-16 century) with a friend of Kiki’s from Bangalore. Two days of hiking and visiting temple ruins and learning about the NGO scene in India.
3) Varanasi: Made friends with a tailor, who invited me to lunch twice. He lived in a one room flat in the old city with his wife and two children. The wife was only 29 and her oldest kid (a son who played tabla like a magician, hands moving so fast they blurred), was 11. Both the son and daughter were smart, bright, engaged…and I wondered what they would become in Varanasi. Then I wondered what they would have become in my life and my home in the USA.
4) Varanasi: took tabla lessons and watched a sitar performance.
5) Delhi: visited Nitz in her fabulous home in Gurgaon, went to malls that look like they came from upscale New York or San Francisco, and lived with Kiki’s friend in the trendy suburb of Lajpat Nagar.
6) Delhi: spent 6 hours trying to mail a package home, then got ripped off by a travel agency (to the tune of USD 200). While waiting for an early morning bus arranged by said travel agency, a man sexually harassed me. I missed the bus, but reported the whole affair to the police and got all my money back from the travel agency.
7) Agra: Saw the Taj Mahal with three French hippies.
8 ) Jaipur: traveled with two Italian tourists and learned how silk dying works. In the evening, I found myself in a boutique that sold Rajastani miniature paintings and marionette dolls. I pretended to speak French, to have a husband back “home” in Montpellier, and to have “very little money.” The owner of the shop undercharged me for a miniature painting and a doll because I was his “good friend” but he did offer to give me a breast massage and was very upset when I declared that my breasts were for my husband only.
9) Jaisalmer: the highlight of my trip to Rajasthan. A beautiful city built of yellow sandstone that looks like a part of the desert, rising out the sand like an intricate, catacombed dune. Went on a camel safari and spent the night in Great Thar Desert; woke up covered in sand and looking out on the scrub and a trace of smoke where my camel driver was cooking chai.
10) Udaipur: the city of lakes, the Venice of India: a very touristic town that features the largest palace of Rajasthan, cradled in a mountain valley and overlooking a large lake dotted with hotel islands. Met the most lovely French and German girls, also traveling alone, and relaxed with them in a variety of European bakeries, gorging on chocolate balls and discussing different cultures.
11) Mumbai: one last visit to the doctor to get a health certificate that says I’m physically and mentally fit to work on a kibbutz in Israel. Exploring South Mumbai–India Gate, the Taj Mahal Hotel, and Malabar Hills…then good-bye India…
