Patan, Patan, Patan...I'm so happy that I decided to go there. I wanted to see more of Gujarat during my short stay there... and by what I read from Lonely Planet, Patan seemed like an interesting enough place in the close vicinity.
It's not a place usually visited by tourists, and it's not a place you really pass on the way to somewhere.
Patan is a dusty town with a little over 100'000 people, but is still very hectic and lively. The foreign visitors that come, usually do it because of the Patola silk work made weaved in town. It's hand weaved fabrics that are made in a 1000 year old traditional way.
Less people here speak English, and most things are only written in Gujarati... and has a different alphabet from the Hindi one. So getting around was a lot more complicated.
Patan seemed to have even more cows per capita than even Ahmedabad, plus they have camels on the outskirts of town (the ones with one hump on the back). The town felt so exotic, and at times it was like I stepped in to an Oriental town 100 years ago.
The looks people gave me here were even more different than in Ahmedabad... and seemed to be more surprised to see me, and more curious. I went around town in the afternoon by auto rickshaw and saw some of the sights there while it still was daylight. I visited an other baoli (see my last post). Very interesting, but not really cool as the one I saw in Ahmedabad), and I watched an other Jain Temple, Panchasara Parasvanath. This time I was able to take photos inside.
When it became dark I walked around the city the way I like to do it the most ..randomly choosing streets to walk on. I walked through dark and dusty narrow alleys where people lived, passing curious kids, stray dogs, and occasional cows. I walked through long market streets. I bought a couple of saris (not for me, but as gifts... I promise).
Even here random people greeted me all the time, using the same phrases as in Ahmedabad.
I ate dinner at a place called Hotel Alpha. When I walked in, the entire bottom floor turned around looking at me as I walked in (all men). I thought that I would be more private up in the AC floor (air conditioned), but when I was about to order, seven waiters stood around me watching. Not sure about the purpose for that... other that I might have been the first white person ever eating there and I became a some type of novelty.
Then I was about to look for my hotel. I knew what street it was on, but didn't exactly remember where. The fact that almost everything was in Gujarati letters didn't help ether. I heard some singing and music being played across the street, so I went there to check out what it was. It turned out to be a a local neighbourhood celebration as part of an other of all these festivals. When they discovered that I stood on the side observing, I was invited to join in.
They were so friendly and open, and very excited to have me there. I had so much fun dancing with them. They taught me the steps to some Indian group dance done in a circle. It took a while to get the hang of it. Then they wanted me to show them some of my native dances, so I showed them the Swedish "frog dance" (sma grodorna). They liked it and thought it was very funny. I danced with some of the kids first. I did the singing, but they joined in the dancing part. After a while I convinced even some of the adult men to join in, and they did. There was a lot of laughter. Never did I imagine that I would see random Indian men dance the Swedish frog dance.
After a lot of dancing I was exhausted and sat down. I socialized with them for a while. They were very curious about me. The brought soda to me, and some of the younger boys brought me candy and Indian Sweets. I even signed a couple of autographs for some of the kids. Not sure that it will be all that much worth in the future, but hey, why not? The boys also wanted me to come back next year. The local TV station and local newspaper was there.. so I might have been on TV and in the newspaper... but not sure since I didn't have time to check it out before I left Patan.
At night, after getting help to find my way back to the hotel I discovered a spider hanging from a thread. Not sure it was poisonous, but I killed it just in case. In bed later I started to have these thoughts about having poisonous spiders crawling in through the window ..and these thoughts developed to the images of green poisonous snakes. It got me little nervous, so I started to think about more positive things. Until the shower suddenly went off in the bathroom and the spooky feeling came back. It had a natural explanation though. The water stopped coming when I showered earlier, and when the water came back on a few hours later... the shower started again.
The next day I went to VK Salvi, the the place where they weave the Patola silk saris. I got a private tour where they showed me how the silk was made. They are award winning weavers, and have done it for many generations, and this is the only place where they sell there work. So people from various parts of the world comes here to by the hand made silk works. I bought four pieces. Two of them were silk shawls that took one month each to make. ..and yes, they are also meant to be gifts. At least the shawls. I needed to take out money in order to pay for them, so I got a ride on the back of a scooter to an ATM. That ride was the coolest thing ever. I got such a rush to cruise through those dusty Patan streets, dodging cows and people and rickshaws.
I decided to walk back to the hotel, so that I could experience more of Patan before leaving it. I found myself a nice bamboo walking stick (and got even stranger looks when I walked around with it). When I looked at some bracelets that a lady sitting on a blanket was selling, I was soon surrounded bu 10-15 curious townspeople staring at me, both men and women. Now I got a little annoyed. This was crossing the line and I felt it was too much. I didn't want a crowd standing next to me staring when I am shopping.
After buying some bracelets some village idiot started to follow me down the street mumbling something in Gujarati. When I though that I shook him off, he suddenly appeared from nowhere and continued to follow me. Not only that, now a second weirdo started to tag along. He was an older bald man with a red mark on his forehead, and he wore a white robe, and cane, and looked like some type of guru. I did finally get rid of them with some local help.
Before heading back Ahmedabad and the train to Bombay I decided make a stop in the state capital of Gandhinagar. Gandhinagar is India's second planned city, and varies greatly from any other place that I have visited in India. Quiet frankly, it was probably not worth the visit and more of a waste of my time. I wasn't really that impressed by that city. Sure, it was by faaar calmer than any other place that I have visited. But the city was so spread out with these broad green avenues everywhere. It was a bizarre, eerie, and boring town. I felt like I was in some sci-fi movie where some type of virus killed 90 % of the population in the city, and where the remanding 10 % tried to live as normally as possible. The only real sight I cared to visit was the Akshardham temple. It was nice... and interesting, and beautiful. But no photo was allowed, and with all the other temples and site that I have visited in India, I have sadly enough forgotten how it looked like now. ...yeah, already. But I remember it to be beautiful. Still not worth the visit to Gandhinagar though, in my opinion.
I took the bus in to Ahmedabad, and killed some time at the train station before taking the train back to Bombay. On the train I got to know a man named Daniel that was from Israel. He had spent some time visiting some spiritual center up north, and was now headed to Pune. We sat up for a while talking about life, religion, travel, love and relationships. It was quiet interesting.
Back in Bombay I went back to the hotel where I usually stay at, Seva Niketan, and rented a room just for the day. I needed to shower, a place to sleep, and a place to store my things for a few hours before heading for my next journey, in the evening.
This journey to Gujarat was so great as a whole. It was so darn refreshing, and gave me lots of strength. It was not just the adventures and the experiences themselves, but it was also a time where I could ponder about my future, and other things that was bothering me. This trip was also a spiritual rush for me.
Three of the things that help me during times of frustration are spiritual matters, dancing, and traveling. I was able to do all three of them.
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