Grand Overland Voyage (2005-2009)

December 11, 2005 Khanda Guesthouse 150 Rs It has been since weeks ago I wanted to write about this. How I felt guilty of not going to Pakistan as soon as I got my “professional” pakistan visa, and instead I travelled around India. I indeed have something to do in Mumbai that I had to go there for a business. But because of my healthiness, I even didnt finish my business in Mumbai. The trip to Rajasthan was due to relive again my photography instinct. The first days in India was very frustrating for me, with the visa and camera problem that I lost all mood of travelling right after that. And I needed something to relax me up. OK, maybe I am just excusing. And God punished me with this jaundice problem. Anyhow, when I visited the border of Pakistan and India today in Attari/Wagah border to watch the flag ceremony, I felt really, really guilty under the green flag of Pakistan, the Land of Pure. There is an Indian insult, “Calo Pakistan!” which means go away to Pakistan. The Indians always consider that Pakistan is such a bad and dangerous place to go, and that’s where the bad [...]

December 10, 2005 This man looks just an ordinary old Indian man. Owning a shop which sells bicycle spareparts and repair bicycles. His shop looks dirty and dark, with spareparts everywhere. There are several young guys working in his workshop. And yes, his two eyes are yellow. But this old man is so unusual, that almost everybody in Paharganj directed me to him. When I had breakfast in my favorite restaurant (Golden Cafe) I told the guys that I needed non oily food as I have jaundice. The guy then brought me to the old man’s workshop, just two doors next to this restaurant. He insisted that this man was a very strong magician, specially dealing with jaundice. All patients get well only in 3 days. I initially refused. The guy said, “It’s for free. Why not try?” Oh yeah, why not. So I went to the old man’s workshop. He first looked at my eyes, using his both hands. Then he looked at my fingers, holded it with his palms, and start reading mantra. He asked the boys to bring him a cup of milk. Then he read mantra on the milk, spitted something on it, and asked me [...]

December 9, 2005 Hari ini sudah merasa segar bugar. Nafsu makan sudah mulai terbit, walaupun suster masih menyuntikkan vitamin K ke dalam pembuluh venaku. Seperti kemarin, hari ini pun aku menjadi bahan ujian para calon dokter wanita itu. Sebagian besar short case (hanya ujian diagnosa umum), tapi ada pula yang long case (diagnosa sejarah penyakit). Banyak pertanyaan mengganggu dalam diagnosa sejarah hidupku, hiks, misalnya sudah pernah melakukan hubungan seksualkah? Dengan berapa orangkah? Menggunakan alat kontrasepsikah? ….. Apalagi yang nanyain gadis muda gitu. Yang mengherankan ini diagnosa hepatitis pake acara ukur tinggi dan berat tubuh segala. Benar-benar mengagetkan, beratku sekarang cuman tinggal 51 kg Lebih dari 11% berat tubuhku hilang dalam 5 bulan perjalanan ini. Apakah memang aku terlalu mengencangkan ikat pinggang dalam menghemat uang yang aku punya? Dan penghematan yang berlebihan itulah yang mungkin telah membuat hidupku jadi demikian sengsara. Dokter kepala kadang tersenyum saja melihat dadaku diraba-raba oleh gadis-gadis itu. Sambil berkelakar dia bertanya bagaimana caraku melatih tubuhku, apakah aku ikut bodybuilding. Aku bilang cuman berenang. “Angkat besi?” “No. just swimming.” Padahal sudah kurus kering begini masih dikira angkat besi. Tapi setelah 5 kali menjadi bahan ujian, aku sudah benar-benar bosan dan capek. Apalagi gadis yang terakhir juga kurang [...]

December 8, 2005 “Selamat pagi.” Dan suntikan vitamin K itu menjurus tajam melintasi pembuluh venaku. Sakit. Suster kembali memasang jarum infus. Selama semalam aku dirawat tak hentinya asupan gula dimasukkan ke dalam tubuhku. Sehingga tanpa makan pun aku merasa cukup segar hari ini. Di sebelahku ada seorang amerika yang juga diopname tanpa alasan yang jelas. (Sakit kuningku juga sebenarnya sakit ringan saja, seharusnya tak sampai diopname). Dia demam saja, selama 1 minggu. Dan dokter bilang mesti opname. Kadang aku berpikir apakah karena aku ini orang asing, sehingga bisa mendapat prioritas opname? Jika mengingat ranjang rumah sakit yang terbatas, serta ratusan orang yang tidur di luar rumah sakit (mungkin menunggu ranjang kosong?) ada perasaan berdosa juga. Hari ini aku dipindahkan ke Ruang Opname Laki-laki. Jarum infus masih tertancap, tapi sudah tidak ada lagi infus bagiku. Aku sudah merasa lapar yang teramat sangat, tapi masih belum sempat menikmati sarapan pagi (yang juga gratis) aku sudah dibawa ke Ruang Pemeriksaan Hepatitis. Di sini ada seorang pelajar kedokteran perempuan dengan jubah putih dan nomer urut di dadanya. Nampaknya seperti peserta ujian. Dan memang benar. Hari ini adalah hari ujian pagi pelajar kedokteran (semua perempuan) di institut Lady Hardinge. Ujiannya adalah melakukan diagnosa. Dan aku [...]

December 7, 2005 Rumah Sakit Lady Hardinge, yah, itulah nama yang direkomendasikan oleh pemilik hotelku ketika aku menanyakan ke mana harus pergi merawatkan penyakit kuningku. Menurut banyak orang, ini adalah salah satu rumah sakit terbaik di New Delhi. Memasuki rumah sakit yang tidak jauh dari tempat tinggalku, aku hanya terkesima oleh keramaian orang-orang yang lalu-lalang. Tidak ada tempat registrasi untuk menanyakan ke mana aku harus pergi. Tidak banyak tempat untuk bertanya, karena semua orang sibuk dengan urusan masing-masing. Di balairung utama puluhan wanita duduk di lantai menunggu giliran. Dan sampah-sampah berserakan di setiap sudut koridor yang gelap. Dengan susah payah aku menemukan ruang konsultasi. Tampak antrean panjang. Semua orang membawa formulir registrasi masing-masing. Tapi di manakah aku bisa mendapatkan formulir itu? Susah payah kembali aku menemukan wanita pembagi formulir, eh malah tidak dikasih formulir. Katanya aku langsung antre saja. Aku kembali ke ruang konsultasi untuk antre, tapi dokter menolak melayani karena tidak ada formulir. Terpaksa kembali lagi mencari wanita pembagi formulir, dan MEMAKSAnya untuk memberiku formulir. Dan dengan formulir ini aku kembali lagi antre dari awal. Total dua jam terbuang sia-sia dan bagi penderita sakit kuning yang lemah ini, dua jam adalah perjuangan. Dokter menanyaiku beberapa pertanyaan. Gejala mata kuning, [...]

December 3, 2005 Delight GuestHouse 250 Rs Today when I went to the post office to settle my account in the philatelic burau, the guy told me that my eyes looked yellow and whether I had infection. I was so surprised to hear that, as nobody told me before. In the morning I looked myself behind the mirror and everything was OK. And this was the first time I heard about jaundice. The man told me that probably I got jaundice, after the long train journey from Jaipur to Mumbai. Indeed I felt very, very exhausted after the train. It’s not common for me, as usually I take much, much longer train journey in China with no sleeper class but I am always energetic. Arriving in Mumbai in the first day I lost my appetite quite significantly. My urine was very thick and tea-coloured. And I always feel tired. Right after the post office visit, I went directly to St John Hospital next to it. The hospital boasts as Mumbai Hospital No. 1 as what is written on the gate. Not far from the building’s gate in the hospital complex, there was an old man, leprae, laying down on the [...]

November 29, 2005 Suddenly I remember this my experience. This happened somewhere in India, sometime during my trip here. I wouldnt like to disclose where the exact place and when it happened. I was terribly weak at that time, with a severe diarrhoea I just layed on my bed. Sleeping. As in this part of India with lack of electricity, everyday there are at least 2 hours of power cut. There was no sun in my room, so I had to keep the door open when I sleep. Suddenly, the manager of the hotel came and asked me of what happening. I was just too weak to answer. He put his head on my stomach, laying. And then I told him that my stomach had been so painful. He, pretended to be a doctor, gave massage from my belly and down. I was revolting as the massage was so painful, but I was too weak also, so I just put my hope on this doctor. The massage continued to the places under my belly. And he insisted to open my underpant, giving massage right on that place. He closed the door. I was submissive at that time. He saw my [...]

November 29, 2005 Melanjutkan liputan tentang pernikahan keluarga Muslim dalam dua hari ini, maka tibalah juga hari H setelah satu minggu penuh yang penuh acara. Yang paling berkesan dalam benak saya adalah pemisahan jenis kelamin yang sangat kentara dalam setiap upacaranya. Para tamu pria dipisahkan dari wanita, dan bahkan, mempelai pria dan wanita sama sekali tak bersanding bersama. Mempelai pria berada di kumpulan tamu-tamu pria. Penghulu pertama-tama melangsungkan akad nikah bagi mempelai pria. Setelah berbagai surat-surat ditandantangani, doa dibacakan, penghulu langsung meninggalkan mempelai pria dan bergegas menuju tempat mempelai wanita berada, yaitu di rumah yang terletak 20 m jauhnya dari tempat para tamu pria ini. Demikianlah akad nikah pun tak mempertemukan kedua mempelai. Daerah khusus wanita pun sebenarnya tak terjamah sama sekali oleh laki-laki, namun dengan posisi saya sebagai fotografer, saya bebas keluar masuk kedua wilayah ini. Acara makan-makan pun tetap membedakan jenis kelamin. Para tamu wanita terlebih dahulu dipersilakan menuju ruangan besar yang dipersiapkan. Setelah selesai, mereka dipersilakan kembali ke rumah mempelai wanita, dan tiba giliran para tamu pria. Pernikahan kali ini agak luar biasa, karena dua pernikahan berlangsung sekaligus. Mempelai pria dan kakaknya bersama-sama menjalani akad nikah ini, sehingga di dalam rumah ada dua mempelai wanita, berpakaian merah [...]

November 28, 2005 Hotel Abhinandan Inn, free Masih menyambung tentang pernikahan kemarin, saya ingin berbincang-bincang tentang adat pernikahan India secara umum. Seperti kita ketahui bersama, sebagian besar pernikahan di India adalah hasil buah karya pilihan orang tua kedua belah pihak, dan bukannya pernikahan hasil perpaduan kasih kedua pasangan. Tak jarang mempelai pria dan wanita belum pernah berjumpa sama sekali sebelum malam akad nikah. Dalam adat India, yang mungkin juga masih berlaku di Pakistan, mempunyai anak perempuan bukanlah hal yang terlalu menguntungkan. Bukan hanya saja anak perempuan tidak bisa meneruskan keturunan dan pada akhirnya nanti akan “diserahkan” ke keluarga suaminya, kewajiban untuk menikahkan anak perempuan adalah beban berat yang harus ditanggung seumur hidup. Tak jarang kita mendengar orang berkata, “Anak-anak perempuanku sudah menikah semua, aku sudah tak mempunyai beban apa-apa lagi dalam hidup ini.” Di India, mas kawin diberikan oleh keluarga mempelai perempuan kepada anak perempuan dari keluarga mempelai pria. “Dowry” atau mas kawin inilah yang menjadi beban terberat bagi keluarga mempelai perempuan. Jika dowry yang diberikan terlalu murah, keluarga mempelai laki-laki akan memandang rendah mereka sebagai keluarga yang tak mampu. Karena itulah, untuk menikahkan anak perempuan, dowry yang harus diberikan mencapai nilai yang fantastis, tak kurang dari 40,000 Rupees (10.000 [...]

November 27, 2005 Hotel Abhinandan Inn, free Sekali lagi, aku kembali ke Jaipur. Kali ini karena untuk memenuhi undangan pemilik hotel yang menikahkan saudara perempuannya. Aman, pemilik hotel itu, menolak menerima pembayaran kamar dariku. Bahkan di buku catatan tamu dia menuliskan “Family Most Important Guest” pada namaku sehingga manajer tidak bisa memungut uang sewa kamar. Aku nggak enak hati, tapi dia tetap bersikeras untuk memberi tumpangan gratis. Hari ini adalah H-2 pernikahan. Pihak keluarga Aman adalah pengantin perempuan. Kedua mempelai belum pernah bertemu hingga hari ini, pertemuan pertama mereka akan terjadi besok lusa, hari H. Seperti pada umumnya pernikahan di India, pernikahan ini pun adalah buah karya kedua belah pihak orang tua. Hari ini para perempuan dari keluarga mempelai wanita bertandang ke keluarga mempelai pria untuk menghibahkan mas kawin. Kami berangkat dengan bus yang disewa oleh keluarga Aman. Semuanya berpakaian cantik. Berbeda dengan umat Hindu, Musliman umumnya mengenakan shalwar qamees dan bukannya sari. Beberapa di antaranya bahkan membungkus dirinya dengan burka hitam, menyembunyikan kedua bola mata dibalik kain tipis. Selama perjalanan di Rajasthan, tak jarang hati ini, yang masih picik dan egois, berontak, melihat warna-warna muram kelabu burqa-burqa hitam bertebaran di jalan yang dipenuhi oleh warna-warna liar sari dan shalwar [...]

November 26, 2005 Perjalaan dengan bus di India selalu penuh warna. Dan pengalaman saya kali ini, dalam bus dari Pilani menuju Jaipur, adalah salah satu pengalaman yang sangat biasa dalam perjalanan di India. Bus-bus di India didesain untuk menyempalan 50 kursi dalam sebuah bus yang sebenarnya hanya untuk 40 kursi. Akibatnya, sebuah jendela bus terkadang harus dishare oleh dua baris penumpang. Penumpang di depan saya, seorang perempuan berbungkus sari, bersikukuh membuka jendela di samping kursinya lebar-lebar. Akibatnya, separuh bagian dari jendela yang terbuka itu tepat di sebelah saya, mengalirkan angin yang luar biasa dinginnya ke dalam bus. Penumpang-penumpang yang ketiban sial mendapat sapuan angin dingin itu semuanya marah. Bahkan ada ibu-ibu yang membawa bayi, dan bayinya menangis kedinginan. Tak heranlah, musim dingin seakan dipindahkan ke dalam bus, sedangkan perempuan yang membuka jendela itu hanya bersejuk-sejuk saja karena angin tidak berhembus langsung ke wajahnya. Semua orang teriak, histeris, minta agar jendela itu ditutup. Tapi orang India memang terkenal dengan konsistensinya, demikian juga sapi-sapi di jalan yang tak mau peduli dengan kendaraan yang lalu lalang. Perempuan ini pun keukeuh dengan tak mau menutup jendelanya berapa milimeter pun. Dua jam perjalanan yang menyiksa. Saya masuk angin. Dan bayi yang menangis itu akhirnya diam [...]

November 26, 2005 Sebuah catatan yang diilhami oleh perang omelet di Jodhpur. Pernahkah kita menengok betapa hidup kita ini sekarang selalu dituntun oleh apa yang disebut panduan, tuntunan, guidebook, manual, atau apalah namanya. Mulai dari membeli alat elektronik selalu ada buku manual yang menjelaskan dengan detil tentang mekanisme bekerja alat itu hingga bagaimana menggunakan, merawat, serta apa yang harus dilakukan jika alat itu mengalami kerusakan. Demikian juga sebelum tiba ujian UMPTN banyak lembaga-lembaga bimbingan yang menyediakan trik-trik menghadapi ujian. Di Cina ada les TOEFL yang mengajarkan bagaimana trik menebak jawaban dengan probabilitas paling tinggi untuk mencapai hasil maksimal dalam ujian. Bahkan kini sudah bermunculan les-les kehamilan yang melatih ibu-ibu hamil untuk merejang, mengkontraksikan rahim dan sebagainya hingga jika jatuh hari H nya nanti, proses melahirkan akan berlangsung dengan cepat, efektif, dan ces pleng. Hidup kita pada abad ini memang sudah tak terlepas dari manual, bahkan hingga ke detil-detil sendi kehidupan. Yang kita kagumi sebagai petualang, backpacker, traveller pun hampir semua pernah memegang guidebook macam Lonely Planet. Guide book ini berisi informasi tentang daerah yang dituju, hotel-hotel, jalur kereta, bahkan restoran yang direkomendasikan dan lain-lain. Kini Lonely Planet pun mengeluarkan panduan untuk fotografi (Travel Photography) dan menulis (Travel Writing), sehingga pembaca [...]

November 23, 2005 Hotel De Luxe, Station Road, 90 Rs (24 hour room rental) Arrived in Bikaner in early morning, 5:30 pm, when the day was still dark and dozens of rickshaw wallahs welcomed me with the annoying hassle of hotel recommendations. Touting is very common in India, where the drivers get commision from the hotel owners if they bring you the hotels. It was frustrating at the first time, but now I am used already to deal with the rickshaw drivers. But still, my arrival time was not that good as I didnt have so much choice wandering in a completely stranger city in a complete darkness. So, have you ever read any folktale of a world occupied by rats? Here, in this corner of Rajasthan, there are only rats rule. In the temple of Karni Mata in Deshnok village, 30 km from Bikaner, the holy rats occupy the temple and people pray for blessings from the rats. As I have difficulty in descripting the temple, a quick online search will bring you to this temple. Thousands of black rats running and flying from every corner, resting, hidding, kissing, smiling to welcome people, eating the corns from the devotees, [...]

November 22, 2005 On the bus This is another story of travelling in India. A quite common one, I bet. Directly speaking, I have got a booking ticket for a night bus from Jaisalmer to Bikaner from a travel agency, 150 Rs. I understand completely that the price of the ticket can vary greatly depending on from whom you obtain the ticket. The bus departs at 9 pm from Hanuman Travels. So I departed from my hotel at 8 pm directly to the Hanuman Travels in Hanuman Square, Jaisalmer. Once I arrived in the travel office, the guy there, without seeing my ticket, told me that the bus was cancelled, I had to change my tikcet, I had to pay another 50 Rs for a better bus, bla bla bla. Of course I was very suspicious with this scam, as how he knew how much I had paid and how much I had to add more, and moreover, I even had not told him yet where I was going to go. Being cool, pretending not to care so much, I just told him that I didnt care if I couldnt depart. He grabbed my ticket, changed my seat number, added [...]

November 22, 2005 Titanic Hotel, free This is my second day in Jaisalmer, the golden city, a town in the middle of desert with all houses honey coloured. The hotel I am staying was recommended by Samkar, the owner of Sai Baba restaurant in Pushkar (what a splendid food). Polu, the hotel owner, speaks Korean very well. It seems that he is really used with Korean tourists and bets all Asians are Koreans. Not blaming him, as even the Korean tourists always think that I am also their countryman. Polu lets me stay in underground room of him, for free. The fort of Jaisalmer is the most “lively” fort in India with people living inside. But the feeling is that almost every single bit of life inside the fort is for tourism. The houses of the people have been turned to be hotels, restaurants, shops, and internet cafes. Even an old lady in a very untouched corner of the labyrinth-like fort inside town asked money to be photographed. The town is pretty much like Khiva in Uzbekistan (see gallery Uzbekistan for photos) for the colour, the buildings, and the life inside (the tourism oriented life inside an open museum). The [...]

November 19, 2005 Gopal Guest House, 150 Rs Some 20 kms away from Jodhpur, there are several villages where the Bishnoi community live. This is a special sect of Hinduism, of which the followers have such an incredible love towards animals and plants. They dont burn their body after death, as cremation would require wood from the trees. Instead they bury their body. It doesnt need to mention that all of them are strict vegetarians, and they even wont kill any small insects. We visited one of the villages today. In 1815 when the maharaj of Jodhpur planned to build a palace, he requested to cut some trees from the village. The people defended the tree by holding hands around the tree. 363 people were killed in the accident, and the maharaj decided not to cut those trees. Some years ago, Salman Khan, a Bollywood star, came to the village to make a movie, Hamsathsath. One of the shoot was of him doing hunting during night time. He accidentally shot a deer to death, which angered the whole villagers. The whole crew of that movie was forced to leave ASAP and the case was brought to court also. More about [...]

November 18, 2005 Gopal Guesthouse 150 Rs/double bed room Today, together with Lam Li – the Malaysian traveller, we tried to smuggle into the Jodhpur Fort. The ticket for foreigner is 250 Rs, which is quite expensive for us. So, instead of directly entered the main gate, we tried the small path, climbing up and down the rough terrain behind the fort, and suddenly found that it was actually quite fantastic already outside the fort. On the back of the fort, we met two young boys. One is 17 and the other is 16. They are skipping the class today, as one of them didnt do the biology homework, and the other did accompany him as sign of solidarity. They are both Brahmin, who are supposed not to eat meat and smoke. But the guys, on the top of a small hill, smoked together without anyone knowing. The boy told me that the parents were very strict, and surely would beat him if finding him smoking and eating chicken in a food stall. As anywhere in India, the guys suddenly drive the conversation to “sexual matter” right after 3 minutes. “Are you married?” “Do you have boyfriend? Do you have [...]

November 17, 2005, The friendly old man from the wedding yesterday who gave me an Indian name, invited us to the water hut where he works. He is an old man of 56 years old, owning a water hut between the forts to give free waters to thirsty folks. And the water is free. The hut was operated since 3 generations, and his father was a very famous holy man in the area. As the omelette shops and rickshaw drivers, the water hut also have guestbooks. But this one is really different. Compared to the one liner comments in the omelette shop guestbooks with boring praise to how delicious on earth the omelette was, the collections of the water hut is much, much more interesting. This is a free service, nobody paid for the water given. And the collection of comments were from the letters from various countries on earth, from 1960’s up till recent days. It was really amazing to read how this holy man, working with full of his dedication, just to give water to the people from the simple hut in the junction of the street. “My Indian father, you are really the spirit of my life” [...]

November 17, 2005 Gopal Guesthouse 150 Rs/ double bed “The boss should be taught that Taiwan is part of China” write a message in Chinese characters in one among the guestbooks of the Omelette shop recommended by Lonely Planet. It seems that this fellow mainland Chinese traveller was not happy being asked by the owner, “From China? From Taiwan?” Then this message was responded by a Taiwanese, with big English letters “Taiwan is always a free individual!!!” The respond aroused anger in other mainlander “What a bull-shit!!!” in big Chinese characters, followed by reasons of why Taiwan was part of China. And there were another responds by nationalist Taiwanese complaining “these ugly mainlanders”. What a phenomenon. A guestbook of an omellete shop in the middle of nowhere in Rajasthan became a political written war between the mainlanders and Taiwanese. BTW, the owner of the shop, being proud of featured by the book, keep showing us the guestbooks, pictures, postcards, and also photos he got from the guests. But we just wanted omellete. As I was also asked to write in the book, I wrote, “The omelette was nice, but would be nicer if I wasnt forced to write. I just [...]

November 16, 2005 Gopal Guesthouse 150 Rs/ double bed room Yesterday, when we were invited to a family house, we were shown their family photo album. It was a big album full of photos of a grand marriage ceremony in Jodhpur. This family should be one of important families from the highest caste, ane the wedding was so grand that there were more than 4000 guests invited in the reception. We just adored how fantastical the marriage was, the rioting colours of the costumes of people attending the party. Today, when we walked around the small alleys of Jodhpur, we heard noise from a band group. And suddenly we found that there was another marriage is happening. The owner of the house, seeing us taking pictures of the band, suddenly asked us to take pictures of themselves also. Then, the old couple invited us to come in to their house. Everybody was dressing in beautiful costumes, and everybody was excited. This is the groom’s house, and there was a ceremony in another floor. Then the mother of the groom, tranced look like, let the groom out of the house. There was a horse, beautifully decorated, waiting outside. And also a [...]