Category Archives: India

Wedding Crashers

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It doesn’t take a Vince Vaughn scheme to crash a wedding in India, especially during wedding season. We actually had one gentleman befriend us on the streets of Udaipur to “practice his English” and subsequently invite us to his wedding party the following evening.

It’s pretty common to stumble onto a wedding – or at least part of the three day event – in the streets. Actually, it’s hard to miss the festivities with sound systems thumping on the back of a truck bed in the middle of the street.

On our walk home from dinner one night in Aurangabad we came upon quite a little party in the street. The groom was decked out in traditional attire on horeseback, while a few dozen young men were dancing in the streets ahead of him. They were all following a very noisy truck full of speakers playing wedding music. Dave pulled out the camera to capture some of the festivities, and within seconds several of the men picked him up and carried him into the middle of the “dance”. Here’s the topsy turvy video to prove it! Unfortunately, I didn’t have a second camera to capture Dave jumping up and down amid the sea of Indian guys.

Coming From? – Common India “Engrish”

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One Pen

One Pen

There are a few phrases that any visitor to India will become familiar with rapidly. Here’s a quick run-down of common “Engrish” you’ll come across:

Coming From? – The most benign, they just want to know what country you’re from. You’ll get this from interested people in the country, cabbies and people that are generally interested in where these strange Westerners come from.

One Pen? – Carry a bag of US Pennies around India and you will instantly win friends among the countries youth. One Pen, or One Penny? is a common request for a coin from your home country. Almost always from the cutest little non-ragamuffin kids you’d ever want to meet.

Pleez Maydamn, Pleez Seer… – Speaking of ragamuffins. This is the common cry of beggars, usually with one or more dirty children in town. Responding in any way is a form of encouragement to them.

Come Shee My Schop? – Walk down any street and you will be invited in to look at …well crap. Usually a Shawl, Pashmina, or jewelry. For some reason, these are always directed to me instead of LeeAnne. I’m not sure if that’s because the think I wear the pants in the family or if …well, let’s move on.

No Baksheesh? – This will come from the guy in the museum that approached you, was a little too friendly, and knew a little too much about the exhibit. You may not know it, but he has decided that he is your guide, and you owe him a tip. Before you leave the exhibit, he wants his, it makes no matter that he approached you, not the other way around.

There are certainly many more, but I just wanted to give you a kind of top 5. Remember, bring Pennies – make Friends.

The Cult of Lonely Planet – Lodging in India

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Our time in India is starting to wind down, so we would just like to pass on a few words about lodging here. We’re using the latest edition of “Lonely Planet – India” as our main guidebook and it’s great of course, very well documented, written, and well thought out. The trouble is it’s a bit too good. Every tourist here uses it and as a result everyone starts to visit the same sites, restaurants and hotels.

The hotel situation can be frustrating, because once a place gets in the book, it’s like getting “Made” in the Mafia. They can do whatever they want, raise their prices, stop taking reservations, whatever; if you don’t like it there will always be another tourist getting off the next train holding a Lonely Planet that tells them to go to hotels X, Y, or Z.

At the start of the trip, I never thought I’d say this, but sometimes it’s better to listen to the Touts at the Bus or Train station and check out the people they want to take you too. A perfect example for us was in Rishekesh. All the hotels that LP recommended were booked, all of them – I have no idea what was going on – so we ended up following a tout to a home stay a few doors down from where LP had sent us, and it was great!

The guy was just starting out, all the rooms were brand new and clean, it had a great bathroom and it was cheaper than anything Lonely Planet had recommended, we scored. Sometimes it pays to Zig when LP Zags. Rather than the overpriced room with no AC and a shared bathroom that Lonely Planet has recommended, sometimes you need to check out the place next door that has AC, is cheaper has a private shower and a staff that want to make you happy. Just because it’s not in Lonely Planet doesn’t necessarily make it a hole in the wall.