maybe want go back to india?

maybe DO want.

maybe want to go with a girl - not one in particular, just some skinny tall tanned designer wearing vacant blonde thing that i will tell the old and naive we're married. hey don't take any offense, vacancy is a deep spiritual quality in the east...

i want go to fly in to Delhi, then fly to Jasailmer, and hang out there for er about two weeks. say in early or mid April. when the tourists have cleared out.

stay in the fort, in some old ass building. listen to music on the rooftop, look at children and old people doing their daily errands, wander through the dirty medieval streets and look at the strange urban flora and fauna in the marketplace. buy beautiful things, after bartering and many cups of chai. which we will drink all the time, for hours at a time, under the sun or in a cafe that has cricket on the telly.

no alcohol - why? go to the bhang shop, maybe. maybe hashish for nights, maybe opium. maybe just cookies. but definitely take some on the well-researched five day or so camel trip into the desert.

that will be the centerpiece of the trip. the rest of the time is chilling, getting to know the environs, meeting the (possibly stranger than the indians) europeans

now i just need err let's see -- $1000, $1500 tops -- and a woman. i want to fly in through new york. well looks like it would be better to have about $2000 on hand. just in case. no sweat, though. no need for shots, no need for anything but a toothbrush and the clothes on your back and i'm not even kidding. you can buy higher quality stuff than you can get in the u.s. and for lower prices than you can get here as well. and you can buy anything -- everything -- everywhere. the whole damn country's one giant marketplace.

more: i will smoke a considerable amount of flavored tobacco and hashish and eat watermelon and rice curd. that's all i will need -- it's not like i'll be doing anything, after all. this is the proper indian way. and i will not walk anywhere -- i will travel everywhere by cycle-rickshaw, peering out at the less fortunate with my compassionate face. i will save bhang cookies or (even better) edible majoon for the camel safari, at nighttime.

mother india here i come, but with a companion (er, wife) this time! just please God pick one out for me...

oh, and i will bring a wallet, too. doy. with my friendly ATM card and ID. and of course my passport, as well. so that probably means a backpack, too. Western dress is fine. ok, and we can't fly into Jaisalmer, we have to take the train from Delhi. that IS a big deal. here's the plan: get out of the airport. get in a taxi, ask to go the train station -- or, better, a hotel in Old Delhi that you have reservations at in advance. if possible, if not, just go to the train station -- you don't want to get trapped in Paharganj, for you will never leave. 1. Amber 011/2396 5081, 2. New City Palace (see Rg website for number, they didnt let me stay there when i walked in though), 3. Broadway, 4. Oberoi Maidens. Stay for 24 hours. They'll probably send you a taxi to pick you up, if not 6477 Katra Bariyan is the address to write down in your journal (need that too, in backpack) to show to the cab driver, even though he can't read your handwriting. print it out, actually.

ok, and then the train station: umm i guess go to the New Delhi station. this site will save your bloody life, remember it (http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ write it down in fact -- trains, and ITA software.net for planes -- find the one you want and book through the airline's website). Trains between important stations is the option to choose - there's a New Delhi to Jasailmer express. Go directly to the tourist office on the second floor of the train station, do not talk to any single person outside of the office. they are fleas, ignore them. reserve a sleeper ticket in advance on the internet if you can, i don't know because i've never tried it, but i had unreserved tickets when i tried to go to jasailmer and my shit got jacked because i left it in one seat and then went to sleep in the other. dumbass. well, you'll probably be ok if you don't do that. don't leave your stuff, nobody will mess with you or anything, they will take advantage of stupidity. anyway, don't bother calling the train station in advance or anything. but wait -- DO get 2nd class sleeper tickets. so, i guess reserve online before you leave home. you'll want to sleep like that. ok now i remember what you do -- when you first get in to town, go to the station, and get your tickets -- before going to your hotel. that way no stress, no mess when it's time to leave! and do that everytime you roll into a city, get your outward bound tickets right away. wait NO get a sleeper ticket -- it's fine. just make sure that you DO get a ticket, and don't go unreserved, which will damage your health far more than it could possibly help you in any way. ugh.

also acquire a bed roll, somehow. i think you get it with your tickets, or else on the train itself. no big deal. wait they only have these on the 2nd class A/C. i guess that IS the way to go, then? i can't remember. but it certainly seems like it. fuck it i prefer the sleeper!

moving on...trains are fun, there is lots of food and people to talk to and share chewing tobacco with. jesus christ, i fucking love it!

oh god i want to go back. ok and in jasailmer now -- Jasail Castle number one or Suraj number two.

other options include Simla or Killa Bawahn. See the rg's -- all are inside the fort.
ALWAYS call in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

of course there is, as always, never any need to look for a place to see or eat, except to get your bearings. for that i once again recommend the RG's.

Pretty much all foods are a nighttime thing, except watermelon which is during the day. You have to drink chai of course, after waking up and with all meals and anytime, really. Biscuits go well with it. OH JESUS CHRIST I MiSS ... nevermind.

now, if you want to move up from tea and biscuits, you can have also have bananas, sugar, and curd. for lunch. if you want to eat something else, then it's thali time, and you should get rice, dal, endless roti, and veg.

Just Once, I Would Like To Try Mughlai Food, Too. Before Leaving, Perhaps. At Trio.

also, you must have a hot glass of milk before bedtime, you simply must. with your rice curd. watermelon is what you eat (spiced of course) when you're walking around outside and you're hot. fuck water, man, who needs it?

bathing is unnecessary...i recommend bringing cheap Western clothes that you don't care about getting all shitty, cause your clothes are gonna get really shitty looking. fast.

that about covers it. of course you don't actually HAVE to have tea or biscuits, or even banana curd with sugar. those are just the basics. OH AND I FORGOT SWEETS! ANOTHER NECESSARY ADDITION TO THE DIET, THOUGH OF COURSE NOT ESSENTIAL, IS THE GOOD MILKSWEET, YUM, HAVE IT AFTER LUNCH, WHETHER OR NOT YOU EAT A REAL LUNCH OR JUST BANANA CURD!!! normal Indians who work on a daily basis will have chai and a savory (such as chana puri, mmm, greasy...) at 6 am, then at 2pm they have their thali lunch, the 40R option, with cheese and yogurt. and chai. 5pm is time for a sweet, such as ummm gosh Gulab Jamun...mmm syrupy

9pm, if they eat dinner at all, comes around with the 20R thali, just rice, veg, and dal. and chai.

it's more important to eat the basic Indian diet; however, if you do get the chance to eat Mughlai, and you should.

get good opium, and good hashish, and good bhang cookies (half of one before bedtime will cure what ails you), and good paan from the marketplace, if and when you must. do not drink alcohol or eat meat, except at the Mughlai restaurant (fukken kebabs mang). do not EVER buy ANYTHING from ANYBODY who EVER is trying to sell you something in English -- you pick who YOU want to buy something from, and you DO IT. you're not a helpless little lamb, you can do what you want. bhang and opium should be bought only at the government store, ideally, but certainly NEVER oh GOD never from people you met on the street! if you can get it where the locals get it (you can't), good. paan is legal, though, as are bidis. why would you want to smoke that shit? for that matter, why would you want to eat any of this crappy Indian food? you wouldn't, but you must give it a try all the same. when you get invited into someone's home, then you're friends with them -- and then you can get the good sweets, bhang, opium, hashish off the street... curd, bananas, milk, chai, biscuits, sugar are all pretty standard so no sweat there! that's a diet you can live on, in india at least. the place to go to try the thalis and breakfast food and shit is Vyas Meals (see rg). at least once, that is.

RG is telling us to go get hot badam (milk flavored with almonds and cardamom) in the bazaar at night, after eating at the lil pao bhaji stall opposite the bhang lassi wallah in the evening. if you can find it (you can't), that should be a few days in to your stay, or not it really doesn't matter at all.

don't get shots, don't take medications. pussy. drink the water, though, and you're , i ain't gonna lie. not that i enjoy bottled water or anything, and ideally you shouldn't do both, but drink the water and you're fucked, straight up.

wear jeans, t-shirts and flip flops. Bookstores, internet cafes, and ATM machines will all figure a great deal in your daily life.

Ideally you should spend also at least a week in Udaipur, but the damn place is way down in the south...i'm too tired to figure it out right now. you do it. you'd have to take a bus i think. fuck. i hate buses! i dont know, man. fucking rough guides, i dont have to do what they tell me, so.

at any rate, go there after Jasailmer, not before. 10 days in Jasailmer ish and the fucking remainder in Old Delhi, is what I say mang. The Old Delhi is worth exploring for sure, and you're supposed to see Agra too so maybe you can fit that in and spend the day at the Taj watching the sun go down. that would be a good last-day thing.

if you want to go to Pushkar on your way to Jasailmer, I guess you can, though why you would want to is beyond me. it's only a full day's trip from Delhi to Jasailmer. i guess it might make sense to stop somewhere rather than trying to travel all the way through, but that is a whole can of worms, you know? fuck pushkar, i don't want.

other things to keep with are airline tickets (return) and also get the visa. imprtnat. Denver to Chicago to Delhi awright. $2000 in toto (per person of course). that's frankly worth the cost to fly from Denver -- an extra $200 than from New York. see rg when it comes to the camel treks.

you can stay up to but no longer than two months in india, and a good thing to do would be to get another extra 500-1000 and spend the time in varanasi and calcutta. (two weeks respectively). the hotels are the Salvation Army in calcutta and the one place in varanasi.

if you want to party, go to Mumbai and Goa. please don't. but if you must -- it isn't a bad idea. Vagator? i can't remember... it does seem pretty fun and countercultural, though. i recommend it. more than jasailmer and varanasi and calcutta. goa would be fun. that is what we should do doy. 1. goa 2. ladakh 3. jasailmer 4. varanasi and calcutta (as an adjunct to jasailmer). no ladakh, actually, i prefer delhi. though it would be possible and nice to do both, i would prefer jasailmer. i think... yeh of course. the sind. pakistan but not. goa == patnem beach. far far better i think is mexico - zihua. yes this is the truth. it is mexico time babe.

this beach stuff is actually honeymoon material so first i would do the north of india...

but mexico: i know where i'm gonna go -- huatla. you need the people's guide to mexico or at least a map and you will get there by hook or by crook. next destination:




actually, the best trip of all -- of all -- of all -- is fucking ladakh man. skip india altogether, go straight to the silk road. you know this is the best man. the romance will be incredible. incredible. it's not really india, but.

what is? that is a good goddamn question. but it isn't because none of the rules given above apply so. go to ladakh i forget when in the summer perhaps. god i love india and want to go back so bad. so bad. mother india!