The tour of Udaipur was interesting, but somewhat marginal.  Khan took me to Maharana Pratap Memorial, Princess Garden, Folk Arts Museum, etc, and they were very nice places, but the event of the day was the lunch.  Khan took me to Nataraj Hotel where they served Rajastani Thali.  As soon as we entered the restaurant and seated, the efficient wait staffs came one by one and served us.  It started with potato pakora, and then moved to dals, vegetable dishes and chapattis.  Khan said we had to eat 50 chapattis and I was ready for it.  As soon as any of the dishes fell low, they came and added some more.  That's what I was talking about!!!  This was how Indian eating experience should be.

 I totally out-ate Khan.  I must have eaten 30 chapattis at least and two servings of rice.  I couldn't remember how many times they came to refill my plate.  I was in food heaven.  The down side of the food heaven was that I couldn't do anything afterward.  Khan took me back to the hotel and I rested for an hour and half before I could move.  I went for a walk to less touristy area of the city.  The small streets were filled with shops selling everything and there were no hassle.  People still reacted strongly to my hair style, but I could handle that.  I enjoyed being lost in the market.

Eventually I found a large street, which was familiar.  I stopped at the Tibetan Bazaar.  It was strange because I just came from Dharamsala, which was supposed to be a little Tibet, but the people at this bazaar looked like they just came from Tibet.  The Tibetans in Dharamsala were so westernized that most of them didn't look like they came from Tibet.  People at the bazaar were looking at me funny, because I might have looked like a Tibetan.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at an art gallery because I was impressed by the display outside.  The artist was working inside the store, which was also his studio.  His prints and paintings resonated with me deeply that I had to buy some small prints from him.  There were many artists in Udaipur, but most of them did the traditional miniature paintings.  They were such intricate works of art, but they were everywhere and I was sick of looking at it.  I was so happy to meet the artist and get his works from him that the hassles on the rest of the way didn't even bother me. 

On the next day, Khan took me to a picnic at a small lake, called Tiger Lake.  It was surrounded by small hills and it was very peaceful.  Khan cooked lunch for us and we ate sitting by the water.  It was the Election Day in Rajastan and some of the tourist attractions were closed, so I went back to my room and chilled. 

Khan took me to Jaisamand Lake next day.  It was the largest lake in Asia and it was amazing.  We rented a motorcycle (Royal Enfield Bullet 1967 model) from Munsi Baba and Khan drove it.  The scenery outside the city was just incredible and driving through hills, farms, forests and deserts on a motorcycle was just blissful to say the least.  It was the best day in Udaipur.  The lake was on top of a hill and there were a couple of palaces on the mountaintops.  The lake was calm and clean.  Khan said when it was dry, the water from the lake was supplied to the whole Udaipur. 

We took a boat ride.  The lake was vast and the land, which I thought was the edge of the lake, was only one of many islands in the lake.  There was a hotel resort on one of the island and we stopped by.  The place was big and okay looking, but there were almost no one staying in the hotel.  The place was so expensive and remote that not that many people came to stay.  Also, like in many tourist areas in India, the Mumbai terrorist attack and the problems with the world economy were hitting them really hard. 

On the way back, Khan took me to a dhaba where we had dal bati, a famous Rajastani dish.  A waiter (if I call him that) brought a Thali with 4-5 billiard ball sized balls of dal and flour in it.  They were baked in a wood oven and looked pretty hard from outside.  The waiter started to crush them one by one on my plate and poured ghee all over it.  I was already so excited at this point that I almost forgot the questionable hygiene condition of the dhaba.  Further more he poured a hot dal on top of it.  I mixed them thoroughly, squeezed lemon and ate with raw onions.  Oh boy, it was tasty!  I really didn't care if I get sick next day.  It was well worth a stomachache. 

We also stopped at Khan's friend's place.  He was a farmer and lived in a mud house with his wife and daughter.  He was a gentle mannered man, who welcomed a strange foreigner like me.  He served us a cup of black tea with salt and sugar.  It was interesting.

By the time we got back it was almost 6:00 pm.  I was happy but exhausted and I went back to my room and fell asleep.  Raju told me next day that they were having a huge party on the rooftop restaurant, but I didn't hear anything and slept through.

The last day in Udaipur started quietly.  I sat and watched the lake from my balcony until the checkout time.  I left my luggage with the front desk and went to visit the City Palace.  The view from the palace was beautiful and the history of the place was fascinating.  I also visited Jagdish temple.  Khan brought some chicken and Raju cooked for us.  Khan, Munsi and I ate lunch together on the rooftop.  They looked a little uncomfortable being surrounded by their customers who were already drinking in the middle of the day.  I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with Raju. 

In the evening, some of the Israeli tourists showed up and it was getting loud.  I felt that I was ready to leave.  I said goodbye to Raju and went down stair to wait for Khan.  Khan was late because he had a customer who was watching a performance nearby.  Khan finally showed up and took me to the bus station.  We had a cup of tea there, but it was time for him to go home.  He asked me to call him when I reached Jaisalmer.  He was such a nice person.  We only knew each other for a few days, but he treated me like a friend.  Maybe he treated all tourists like that, but I doubted.  Most tourists were just interested in themselves and their friends.  They paid little regard to an auto driver.  I knew that I might never see him again and it was difficult to maintain our friendship, but the memory of people in Udaipur will always stay with me.

I left my room around 10:45 am.  I saw a few people from the village and they looked mildly amused by my make up.  I had a bag with my make up, props and costume on one hand and a bucket with colored cornstarch goo inside on the other.  I went down the mountain to the river and headed to my location. 

My stage this year was a cave made by large rocks right next to the stream.  I dressed up the rocks with the colored goo.  Actually, I came a day before to apply some goo too.  I did conditioning on a rock to get ready for the performance.  Around 1:00 pm, I fixed my make up and set up my costume.  I was combing my wig when I noticed Hari watching me from a large rock.  He said he could only come around 2:00 pm because he had to pick up his children, so it was a nice surprise.  I was only wearing a loin cloth and my body was painted white.  He had never seen me perform or seen me in my make up.  I wondered if he would still talk to me after the performance or he would run away…

People began to show up around 1:15 pm and Lee did a short conditioning to prepare them for the performance.  I thought of starting around 2:00 pm, but everyone was there, so I started at 1:30 pm.  The performance lasted an hour and 12 minutes.  I honestly couldn't say if it was success or not.  I did my best and the performance went smoothly without major accident.  What else could I ask?  After the performance, Lee laughingly said "You found a very nice location."  People left to go back and I gathered my stuff and left with Hari.  I asked him what he thought of the performance and he said, "I don't know yet."  Good answer!  It was the first time for Hari to see a Butoh performance or any dance performance for that matter.  I would be surprised if he had an opinion about it.  At least, he was talking to me.

Hari invited me to his house for a cup of tea.  I still had my make up on and I wasn't sure if his young children might freak out.  They were curious, but they didn't seem to get traumatized by the strange looking man.  Mo, Hari's wife, served us dal and rice and a cup of tea.  I was fasting for the performance, so it tasted so good!

Hari and I planned to celebrate in the evening.  He said he would pick up a bottle of whiskey, so I said I would cook his favorite noodle dish.  I took my make up off and took bath.  I had a tiny scratch all over my body and it stung!  But after cleaning up I felt really refreshed and relieved.  I went up to McLeod for shopping.  I didn't have much at home because I was leaving on Sunday.  I needed some veggies and fresh noodle to make my noodle dish.  On the way I stopped at Tibetan glass beads shop and I spent near all the money I had on me.  Actually I didn't have enough and I promised the shop keeper to come back next day to pick up the rest of the stuff.

I skyped Mike and we talked for a while.  I noticed our friend who was in Kabul, Afghanistan was online and three of us did skype conference call.  It was strange, but fun.  She told us about an Indian gay movie which was all the rage right now.  It called "Dostana" and there were riots because of the gay theme.  It was so India.

I picked up veggies and noodle and went home.  There was a bottle of whiskey and a bag of chips on my door step.  I thought Hari might get a customer and asked his friend to drop off the liquor and snack.  What could I do?  He had to work.  I was just about to start cooking when Hari showed up.  He came home early because he couldn't find any customer.  He brought fried rice and saag (Indian spinach dish) for us and we started our celebration.

And…WE GOT DRUNK!  I was relaxed after my performance and I was happy to be with my friend.  Anu, Hari's friend, showed up and we finished one bottle.  Hari was piss-drunk, but he still managed to go home by 10:30 pm. 

I was alone in my room, sitting on the bed.  I felt that I completed my study at Subbody Butoh School this year and I felt good.  I had a lot to take home from here.  I would be leaving here on Sunday for Delhi and I would go for a trip in Rajastan, then I would go back home.  I already missed Hari, though we still had a few days together.  I was planning to come back next year, but who knew?

I woke up this morning and my body hurt.  I went to school to transfer my videos and photos to my hard disk   I may attend a few more days of school, but I felt a bit checked out.  I was also planning a road trip with Hari to Amritsar, Punjab for a couple of days.  I would rest for a day and see how I would feel. 

The performance photo link: http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/21039449

Lee's comment link in Japanese: http://subbody.com/

Lee's comment link in English: http://subbody.net/

On last Wednesday, I skipped school in the afternoon and went Gagal with Hari to fix his car.  There were few maintenance things he had to do and mechanics nearby screwed him up last time.  At the shop, a mechanics pulled driver and passenger seats and the engine was right underneath.  No wonder my ass got so warm after riding in his car for long period.

It was always fascinating to watch how they fix things in India.  Also, it was fun to see how Hari's car was put together.  He fixed his doors, changed oil and spark plugs, adjusted breaks and got some cosmetic parts.  At the end, Hari paid the bills with a sad expression on his face.  At least his car was happy!

On the way home, we stopped by at the marked and picked up rice, flour, lentil, sugar and vegetables.  He spent so much money on that day that he said we needed to get drunk a little.  We picked up some tandoori chicken and a ¼ bottle whiskey and went home.  As they say in India, "When the water passes nose, it doesn't matter how high it gets."  Cheers to that!

Ramesh is a helper at the school.  He is a master cook, craftsman and ayurvedic masseur.  Lee has been promoting Ramesh's massage because one of Ramesh's daughter is getting married and he needed to raise money.  I wanted to try Ramesh's massage for a while so I took this opportunity.  My God, it was good!  Not only he know just the perfect pressure, he also knew where I needed most.  After all, bodywork is all about how to resonate with a person's life and Ramesh was just natural.  

When I had a diarrhea, I asked Ramesh to treat me and I was fine next day.  There were a lot to learn from him.  I wished I could give shiatsu like Ramesh giving massage.

Obviously, Lee's promotion worked and many students are getting Ramesh's massage.  I will be getting one every week until I go back.  What a treat!

Last Sunday I woke up early and went up to McLeod.  Mike was in Hawaii and it was the only time we could talk.  I was at my internet café by 8:30 am.  Mike was already on skype and we connected right away.  He was having good time in Hawaii with his friend.  We talked about the election results.  It was just amazing that we could connect almost anywhere in the world through internet.

After talking to Mike, I met up with Hari for a breakfast.  He took me down to a little Tibetan restaurant where they served excellent momo.  It was a bit early for a plate of momo, but the restaurant was so popular among taxi drivers that they usually ran out of food by 11:00 am.  So, we had a half plate of momo and a half bowl of Thukupa each for breakfast.  The momo was excellent, but Thukupa was okay.  Anyway, I ordered another half plate for myself. 

Over the breakfast, Hari and I talked about the day's plan.  I wanted to go to a temple on the top of a mountain in Kangra.  I saw the temple a few times when I visited Kangra fort and I always wanted to go up there.  I asked Hari if he could make it to the top with me and he said sure.  He claimed that he was a mountain boy.  But I sort of knew how out of shape he was…

We drove down to Kangra and drove through a mountain road with fabulous views to the bottom of the mountain where the path to the temple began.  As we got closer, I could see that Hari's confidence was waning.  "Do we have to climb up there?  That's so high!" he said.  He looked weary at the beginning of the steps to the temple and he was hyperventilating around 30^th steps.  At 50^th steps, he was sweating like a sprinkler system and he looked like he would die.  Well, it was a bit embarrassing because there were many people – many fat old women and children – passing by us without breaking a sweat.  It was rather steep, but the steps were good and there was a railing on the side.  Compare to the path to Triund that I went up a few weeks ago, it was easy for me. 

It was slow going, but we made to the top.  There was a line of people waiting to get in the temple.  It was nice to stand in the shade as we waited the line to move forward.  We stood in line for 45 minutes and finally went inside the temple.  We went in, prayed, gave 10 rupees, got sweets from the attendant and we were out.  It took about 5 minutes to go through the temple.  Well, I guess it was "getting there" that was important.  I wanted to stay there for a little while, but Hari wanted to go down and smoke.  Going down the steps was a lot easier and Hari finally relaxed and lit up a little.  People were giving away free tea and snack on the bottom and we got a handful of crunchy snacks. 

I wanted to stop at Kangra, but stores were closed on Sunday in Kangra.  On the way back, we stopped at Himalaya Wonder World, an amusement park…well sort of.  We ate Tiki, which was like a potato croquette.  Hari looked really tired and he said, "Thank you for the exercise today.  I will never forgive you for that."  I laughed so hard.

In the evening, I got a diarrhea.  It was the first one this year.  I suspected the Tiki.  I remembered that we weren't supposed to going to a temple after eating meat.  Hari almost didn't enter the temple, except there weren't any other way to go out.  Maybe it was a punishment of Druga for going into the temple after eating momo.  Or it could be the curse of Hari for making him work so hard.  Who knows?