The Adventure Continues

Good Morning All,
Only time for a quick blog today .......This wonderful exprience continues...... Since the last blog we have been for an early walk of th old city of Jaipur - again an astounding experience. We were fortunate to have a local guide - we walked the streets as local people were just getting going for the day....... we encountered many wonderous sights, sounds & smells - mothers preparing children for school, people cleaning their teeth outside, street cleaners going about their work & cows breakfasting on the remain of kites from the previous day's kite flying festival!! (I tend to think the cow's diet & living conditions would not pass muster at Bowe & Lidbury's establishment!!) Visited a number of temples & shrines plus the Shree Sanjay Sharma Museum. It houses a unique & outstanding collection of Indian cultural & art heritage materials collected by the Sharma family - especially interesting were the old textiles - many examples of hand block techniques & minature painting (will certainly make a return visit sometime in the future). The visit was highlighted by a black out - regular events in Jaipur & is it any wonder, this city was built for 100,000 people & now has a population of 3 million! During the walk we also visited a residential home which has been restored by the Jaipur Heritage Trust.
Have also been shopping at the Anokhi Shop - a wonderful range of locally made clothes, textiles & other goods. Will certainly be making a return visit - to spend some money!
Must away to sparkle some more surfaces - our creations are really taking shape - Andrew Logan continues to guide us with great patience & good humour!
Till the next blog .....Nameste

Sparkling Surfaces

Hello All,
This is indeed a grand adventure! Live here is impossible to describe ....words & photos can never do it justice or describe the sounds, smells, sights & swarming masses of people, vehicles, dogs, cows & squirrels! I can only describe Jaipur & the Diggi Palace Hotel as a "bit chipped around the edges" but a wonderful & exciting to experience.
Too much to tell in one blog entry but will provide a few high lights........
Since my last blog the Sparkling Surfaces workshop has began. We started on Sunday evening with an introduction to our tutors, followed by a concert in the Durbar Hall given by local gypsy dancers & musicans. Quite an event! Andrew Logan, our tutor is a flamboyent character by any measure - very tall, brightly dressed & full of grand ideas for our sparkling masterpeices.
We started out on Monday morning with a visit to the bazaars, accompanied by Andrew, to purchase sparkles, beads, precious jewels (of the glass variety) & all manner of things to create our pieces!! It was an event on its own as we had to find our way around the central Jaipur markets & cross very busy streets populated with crazy drivers, even crazier pedestrians, cows & dogs!! (those who know me will understand how difficult & stressful that would have been for me). My strategy was to stand close to a local person & when they moved I moved with them ....a few close shaves but shopping achieved!!
Monday we visited the wonder Anokhi Museum located in the Amber area of Jaipur near the Amber Palace for a viewing of an exhibition titled "The Garden of Unearthly Delights" - modern, abstract & wonderfully creative. Again a high light of the trip was to some extent the sights & sounds of the local people living their lives in very primitive conditions but going about cheerfully & "light of spirit"! We could learn a lot from them!
Tuesday was spent creating our master pieces - mine is bright, cheerful & more than slightly "out there"! Andrew is not into supporting subtle, planned or structured designs!! I intend to hang it on the wall at home & title it "Not Mad Just 60"!!
Today is a public holiday for the Makar Sankranti (Kite Flying Festival) ...... We had lunch today in the old city on the roof of the very up market Saba Haveli - a wonderful vantage point to watch the spectecle of the kites flying from roofs all over the city. It was wonderful & reminesent of the kite flying in the movie The Kite Flyer.
Today have been shopping at shops with names like "Fab India" & "Ridhi Sidhi"!!!
I'm enjoying the excitment & terror of navigating the city in the "tuk tuks"!!
This is a wonderful experience but not for the faint hearted! Life here can be more than a bit overwhelming! Never the less I will be back!! So, anyone out there in blog land who has a creative streak & likes an adventure should put this week in 2010 in their diary!!
Enough for now ....... I'm off to watch the fire works in the distance & enjoy a glass of red (wine from this region is a good drop)! Till the next blog...... Namaste

Hotel Diggi Palace Jaipur, India

My Indian adventure has began. Departed Sydney on Friday 9th & had a comfortable flight. Arrive in Mumbi at 6pm their time & was in for a shock!! I was in not way prepare for the assault on the senses that India is! Mumbi airport is being upgraded & we alighted the plane right into the middle of a construction site! The chaos & noise was unbelievable - people everywhere yelling & screaming at each other. Our customs check such as it was, was done outside the building on the dirt!! Eventually I got a taxi to the hotel. The chaos in the streets was beyond anything I had imagined. People, cars, motorbikes, push bikes & animals all sharing the road & everyone ignoring the road rules & traffic lights. The hotel was comfortable but situated right in the middle of a very poor area of Mumbi ...... all in all quite an experience!
My flight to Jaipur was uneventful - except I arrived at the airport to find that my flight was leaving 2 hours later. When I asked the attendant why it was delayed, he just shrugged his shoulders & said "no delay - scheduled has changed"!!!
Jaipur like Mumbi is a city crowded with people, animals & traffic & numerous pot holes..... Hotel Diggi Palace is charming. It is very old & renovations are in progress ....god only knows when they will be finished! My room is fine .....not luxurious by any means but quaint & comfortable. I slept well, was warm, had a nice hot shower this morning, & the food is delicious & cheap - so what else could one ask for! The door lock to my room is something to behold - I think it warrants a photo. I'm about to join one of the other woman & take a "tuk tuk" (a type of motorised rickshaw) to visit some of the local shops!
The workshops begin today at 5pm when we meet the tutors for high tea. Apparently we hit the markets tomorrow to purchase our sparkling bits & pieces to start creating - can't wait!!
Must away - sights to be seen, adventures to be had & money to be spent!!
Till the next blog ......

Happy New Year 2009

Here it is January 4th 2009. Happy new year to all readers. May this year bring you peace & many happy adventures. The Travelling Goddesses (TG's) have entertained the travelling Austrians to breakfast this morning. All enjoyed Bernadette's hospitality & new patio furniture and the wonderful weather of a Sydney summer morning.

The TG's have one wonderful trip behind them & now looking forward to our 2009 adventures. The first adventure for 2009 is TG Kate's trip to India where I will join the Wonderful Workshops sponsored by the Jaipupr Heritage Trust. I'm participating in the "Sparkling Surfaces" Workshop which inclues making art pieces using mosacis, beads & resin!!! Not sure what the workshop will bring but going along for the adventure!

Depart Sydney on Friday 9th at 10.50am. Workshops commences at 5pm on Sunday 11th with High Tea at the Hotel Diggi Palace in Jaipur. Stay tuned for further installments in this amazing adventure.

Till the next blog.......