Day 27: postcards

On my last day I finally got myself to write some postcards. I’ve been carrying them around for days but every time I tried to write them I couldn’t. Such an odd thing, we go around the world and send to friends a little card with one or two lines, what’s the point really? And what would you say in such a brief statement? Then the question of who to send a postcard to. On top of all that I hated the postcards in India, there were hard to find and when I found them they were so uninspiring I felt pathetic buying them. But today I had some inspiration and I wrote them all in a matter of an hour. I also bought some stickers of Hindu deities and spruced up the bland cards. I sat with each card like it was a representation of the person it was to be sent to “if I had to tell this person something right now what would it be?”

After I checked out I went to Andrew’s place and did the usual. We had something to eat and we smoked some more. The sun was setting and it was time for me to go collect my bag, take a taxi to Ajmer to my overnight bus to Udaipur. I was high and dehydrated and felt like everyone along the way back to my hotel knew. For the past few days I didn’t have to do anything after smoking other than stay still in the hammock. Today I had to walk down the street with all the lights and the people and I had to make sure I was on time. It was a total change of pace. I was sitting in the back of the taxi to Ajmer not sure where I was going putting complete trust in the driver. The road sneaks over a small mountain range that sits between Pushkar and Ajmer and the bright lights of incoming cars was blinding. It all extenuated my high. Once in Ajmer I was looking out the window and watching life go by, people walking, on motorcycles, in buses. The driver put on some music, it sounded like Hindi music from the 60s or 70s. it was very atmospheric and in a way it was a perfect ending to the last few days in Pushkar. Here I was dazed and confused in the back of a taxi watching the India that I escaped for a few days by hiding in a small town. It was like watching a movie out the window and the music was perfect.

We stopped at the side of the road. This was the pickup spot but the bus wasn’t there. The street lights were flickering so it went from pitch black, with glaring car lights, to lit. I was scared, paranoid that I wouldn’t get on the right bus and I refused to let the driver go until he puts me on the right bus. Being a little under the influence didn’t help the situation. I got on the bus, it was a sleeper, and slept with the window wide open next to me. It was hot and dusty and my throat was scratchy. I was still dehydrated from earlier but I had to hold out for the 8 hour overnight bumpy ride to Udaipur.