Website Redesign!

I have updated my website with my new logo and changed the menus to flow better in the design. Let me know what you think of the new design. I will continue to edit the website as I go.

Click on the image.

Rajasthan Part I: Jodhpur

Friday, Sept 17th

The golden Fort, Jaisalmer, Western Rajasthan

I can hardly fathom that I left for the airport a week ago; it seems like ages. But a week ago I started my last foray into the vastness of India, at leas for now. And it's crazy thinking that, with this train's departure, I am beginning my journey back to the United States. It will take me from Jaisalmer – the edge of the Thar Desert – through Jodhpur and Ahmedabad before my flight leaves the ground late Sunday night from Mumbai. With the tires final touch of the tarmac my great Indian adventure will effectively end for the foreseeable future.

It has been a crazy ride. One year and three months before I stumbled off my flight from Chicago only expecting the unexpected. My plans stopped at the Hyderabad airport. I wanted to work internationally. I wanted to travel. I did not want to be in Indiana (note: commonly confused with India). But to me India has been many things: A great love, a great wonder, and a great frustration are among them. I experienced many things: great friendship, journeys, sicknesses, hunger, joy and depression. I found love, but might have lost something I've known to be true for 25 years. In the land where everyone is spiritual, India has left me with lots of questions. But I finally found a focus.

I decided to spend my last week in India traveling to one of the many areas I had not yet been. I picked Rajasthan because of the unique landscape and the distinctive people. I wanted this to be a trip solely about photography. I feel like I have failed to really capture my experience in India with my camera. There is always more.

But there is always next time. I may return someday: India seems to have that effect on people.

Saturday, September 11
In a mix-up of planning I end up taking an overnight bus from Ahmedabad to Jodhpur instead of a train. In India you can expect one thing: the road will be bad. You will not sleep on a bus.

Sunday, September 12
Jodhphur, Rajasthan
A rickshaw drops me off at the clock tower, a central market of sorts in Jodhpur, and I wander off in the shadow of the immense fortress to find a guesthouse among the blue colored buildings along the ancient streets.
"Come to my guesthouse. Very good. Cheap."
"My hotel is highly recommended by the Lonely Planet"
"I have great views of the fort,"
men call out to me as I walk past in the early morning light. I enter Anil's Sunrise Hotel and take a small, bare room. And with breakfast in my stomach I pass out for several hours making up for the sleep lost on the bus.

Jodhpur is a magical city where your imagination can run wild. You can almost put yourself back to the time when the fort was not just a tourist attraction, but defended against attacks from foreign invaders.

[[[Side Note]]] People that snore should not be allowed to sleep, at least not in a public setting. They should either be arrested for public disturbance or rough up enough by the annoyed bystanders that they wouldn't dare utter another snore.[[[]]]




Jodhpur is called the Blue City because many of the buildings are painted blue, apparently to keep out the heat?



More Stories & Photos After the Break! Don't Stop Here! ---->

Part II The Real Adventure Begins!

Wednesday, September 15

A lone tree on the dunes near the village of Khuri in Western Rajasthan.

I get started late Wednesday morning after renting a small 135cc Bajaj Discover and taking care of some things in the city. I clear out of the 'storage closet', asking the man with the red paan stained teeth and immature 14 year old's bowl haircut, "Where can I keep my pack till I return?"
He snidely replies, "Take it with you on your bike."
"Yea, it won't fit and I don't need it. You have storage for people's luggage. Where is it?"

Background: This man manages the Jaisal View Hotel, the place I am staying, NOT the Rajdhani Hotel, which is a completely separate hotel with no connection. They had deceived me to get me to go to their hotel. The man with the bad teeth lied about the Brit's camel safari and about getting me an actual room. I have a very hard time trusting anyone with bad teeth, especially tobacco stained. I had purposefully avoided a handshake with this man and he had rightfully taken offense to this and cursed me.

The man with the red stained teeth and bowl haircut says, "I do not like you. You Americans are very mean."
I calmly respond, "Well, that's alright. I do not like you."
"Actually I hate you," he added. "You are a bad man (Take note: He said this because I wouldn't shake his hand). I hear you talking bad about me with the other guests."
"You lied to me. Everything about this place has been completely dishonest. If you do not respect me enough to deal truthfully then I will not respect you."

I think only a dishonest man will get upset at the truth being stated.

I grab my bags and head across the street to the Prithvi Palace Hotel, where they agree to hold my bags and rent me a nice room for a good price when I return. Lesson: When in Jaisalmer do not stay at the Jaisal View Hotel or trust men with bowl haircuts and red stained teeth.

I take off on the bike in the direction of Khuri Village, asking directions along the way. One man I ask says he needs to that way. I say, "Get on. You don't mind holding my backpack?" I drop him off at a huge resort under construction made to look like a large fortress. Not five minutes later a young man, named Sitah, hiding from the sun in the shade of a tree flags me down. He needs to go to Khuri. "Get on."

More Stories & Photos After the Break! Don't Stop Here! ---->

Rajasthan Part III: Out of Gas & In the Sun

The spectacular Sam Sand Dunes in the late afternoon sun in western Rajasthan.


After taking care of some things in at the hotel I take Sitah to get a drink. I can't find any juice stands nearby so I go to the nearest restaurant, Café Trio. It is a bit classier than I was expecting and the two of us stand out wearing our dirty, trail beaten clothes in the elegant eatery. Sitah acts nervous, looking around. I hand him a menu, "What do you want to drink?" He stammers a response, "I'll, uh, have what you have. I really…I, I don't know what to do. I've never been here before. I've never been in a place like this." It hadn't really occurred to me that this would be a new experience for him. I love Lassies (yoghurt whipped and mixed with ice and sugar), so I order two without much thought. Only after do I think about it. That forty rupees I flippantly spent on a cold drink to be downed in ten seconds could easily have paid for two meals for Sitah. I know he appreciated the gift of the drink, but I can't help but feel that I was somehow being flashy with my money.

More Photos and Story After the Break! Don't stop here! --->

Quick Redesign

If you haven't noticed already I did a quick redesign of the blog to incorporate my new logo. Let me know what you think.