India the final chapter

I'm now on my way home. Can't believe how much has been crammed into two and a half weeks.
We've had highs and lows. The major highlight for me was feeding the elephants as well as all the art stuff in udaipur and the gemstone cutting and block printing in Jaipur. I also enjoyed riding in the tuk tuks and trying the Indian food and drinks.
The lows would have to be the awful train journey and the whole culture shock when I first arrived.
The hardest thing was seeing all the street dogs and knowing there's nothing I can do to help them especially the ones who look at you and you can see the hope in their eyes.
India is a place I could never forget from the constant horns to the Masala chai tea. I couldn't have done it with any other group of people and of course the amazing tour guide we had and the first person I met in India I trusted which was the driver who took me to the elephant and bear place.
The bonus of the trip as well not once did I have the dreaded 'Delhi belly'. Or even feel sick.

Goa - Beach day

Today is my last day in India. After arriving we realised fairly quickly that the location wasn't as good as we hoped. The local beach was full of Indian men who were there purely to look at women in swimwear and take pictures. It was the same for the hotel pool men were just wandering in to look and some of the group actually witnessed a man touching himself while watching them.
So we opted to go to a quiet beach the tour guide recommended. It was about an hour taxi ride away but it was worth the journey to be able to sit quietly for a few hours without being watched and having people take pictures.
The beach was a nice way to relax on the final day we found a nice beach bar where you got to use the sunbeds for free as long as you brought any food and drink at the bar. The sea was also really nice and refreshing on a humid day although not cold when you first got in and no seaweed.
The only downside was there was no yoga going on, which was one of the things I was desperate to do in India.
We spent the whole day at the beach before heading back for a shower and a final dinner with the rest of the group who hadn't left.

Mumbai to Goa

Today we boarded a flight to Goa. You wouldn' have thought getting a flight could cause so much drama we checked in at 10.45am we were due to board at 11.15am and take off at 12pm.
All of us except three had our boarding passes so we got sent to security and went through then some of the group disappeared while four of us waited for the last three eventually they got through security at 11.40 so we rushed to the gate when we got there two of us had the same seat number so basically they said there was no seat for a member of our group. Luckily our tour guide argued and argued and eventually they found a seat for her but never have I been that late for a flight like as soon as I sat down they closed the doors.
We then arrived in Goa, again another completely different side to India than what we have seen so far. There's green grass and palm trees here. There's also hardly any rubbish at all around.
There is also a lot of fish dishes on the menus so I opted for prawn Masala which was actually a lot hotter than I was expecting and a lot more sauce as well.

Mumbai

We arrived really early in Mumbai, the train got in at 6.45am and our taxis were waiting to take us straight to the hotel. On arriving we couldn't check in as our rooms weren't going to be ready until 12pm. So our tour guide treated us all to a Masala chai tea before the hotel let us have one room so people could freshen up. We then went for breakfast to a American style diner.

The group then parted ways. Some people went on a taxi tour of Mumbai while the rest of us couldn't face more travelling so decided to wander round the city ourselves. Where we came across a fashion market, 3 games of cricket and book stalls, the book stalls had every kind of book you could imagine it was like a library on the street and he was selling them for roughly £1.50. 

Mumbai is a strange city it's still quite Indian but it's more developed and there's a lot of construction going on where it is still developing. It's kind of in the middle sometimes you know your in India from the markets and the odd street dog and then you look up and there's a double decker red London bus. The other thing we noted was it's a lot cleaner, there's not piles of plastic rubbish on the streets there is also a lot less street dogs and no street cows or goats. Finally there is no tuk tuks instead they have been replaced with small Suzukis and Hondas.

Ahmedabad and the overnight train

This morning we got up and got a minibus to Ahmedabad. It was a long journey with not much air con but it wasn't worse than the train the other day.
In Ahmedabad we visited the Ghandi museum and then we went to a shopping mall for dinner and a bit of shopping. A lot of the whole were what we have at home and wasn't much cheaper.
Then it was time to board the overnight train, luckily it was more comfortable than the last train and it had air con. We were in a large compartment with little booths which could sleep 8 people. We were all mixed up so in my booth there was only one other girl from our group, there was three guys and the rest of the beds were free.

It was quite noisy with people walking past using the toilet there was also a crying baby so sleeping wasn't great and from about 5 everyone started waking up switching lights on and getting off at various stops.
Now we are in Mumbai.

Cooking lesson

Today we were invited to go to a family home where we could learn how to make 3 vegetarian dishes a bread and a rice.
The family was lovely the lady of the house showed us firstly how to make masala chai tea (yes I will be making this at home). We then got shown how to make vegetable pakoras and had the opportunity to cook them ourselves.

She then showed us kopfa, which is similar to a potato croquette but had cashew, raisin and paneer. She then made a nutty onion paste to go with it as well as chick pea masala. While these were cooking she made pilau rice and chipatties.
We then ate what had been made for lunch. The food was incredible and the spices that went in were amazing.

While we ate her husband told us about their family life and how the lady brought up 14 children and how they had an arranged marriage 35years ago. He said in their family like most Indian families the wife is in charge of the house the man goes out to work he comes home with the money and gives it to her she manages the finances, the food everything he said men are nothing without lady.
We also got an extra treat of ice cream with rose sauce as it had been their sons birthday the day before and even though the husbands mum was ill they had ice cream to celebrate and wanted to share it with us.
They also showed us family albums of his daughters wedding and explained that Indian weddings last for 5 days and the bride has different dresses for each day, he also said in one photo when he gives his daughter away he is crying because it felt like his arm was being removed.
Finally they showed us another house on their land which they have opened up to artists are crafts people to sell their work, inside there was rugs, ornaments, pashminas and wall hangings all with so much detail on and beautiful pieces which were cheaply priced considering how much time and craft must have gone into them.

Udaipur - the city of art

This place is my favourite so far there are art galleries, henna and paintings everywhere.i started the day by having a 2 hour painting session in which they taught a group of us how to draw and paint an animal of our choice. I chose the elephant, they don't use the same paints as we do for example acrylics or oils they make theirs using other materials for example to get yellow they use cow urine and for other colours they use gemstone powder. For the brushes they make them out of camel eyelashes or chipmunk tail hairs, he was quick to reassure us they don't harm the animals to get these pieces. They also paint on things like camel bone mixed with mother of pearl shell and silk as well as cotton.

After the art lesson I opted to have the guy do a henna tattoo on my wrist, I wanted an animal of some kind and he happened to choose an elephant it took him less than ten mins to complete the whole thing and the amount of detail that went into it is incredible.

The thing about this particular art studio is they are all local artists where the skill has come down through generations so they have been doing it such a long time that they can complete the work so quickly it's like second nature to them.

The guy who owns it also painted an image on each of our finger nails so I had a Indian woman on mine others had camels, elephants, peacocks, horses and roses, again he completed these in next to no time and with so much detail on such a small service area.

I then decided to have a palm reading at the same place, I am always a bit sceptical about things like this but decided to give it a go anyway. There were some things he said from my past he got spot on but other things he said I found a bit odd for example he told me my colour was green and I was wearing a green dress and after talking to others he had told them their colour was also the colour they were wearing. He also told me I'm going to live until I am 90 and that I will have two sons, but I think he meant to say two dogs.

The day ended with watching a dance show, which again showed off just how much talent is in this city, it wasn't like a dance show you would see anywhere else yes there was Indian dancing but there was also puppeteers where you got to see them performing their art not just the puppet while to controller was behind a screen, but the highlight was a lady who performed with pots balanced on her head the pile of pots got bigger and bigger until she had 10 balanced on her head and then she danced on broken pieces of glass.
The ride back was in a disco tuk tuk, the best one I have seen music and disco lights we were having a rave in the back.

Tomorrow we stay in udaipur for another full day so hopefully plenty more activities to do.

Worst day so far pushkar to udaipur

So today we had another early start to catch the train to udaipur. This time we sat in a different class of the train where the locals tend to sit, which would have been fine for a short journey but we were on it for 6-7hours.
There is no leg room, we sat on what were effectively wooden benches with a cushion which felt just as hard there was three of us crammed on each bench and three opposite. There is no air con on these trains the temperature is 41°c you couldn't even really sleep due to the amount of noise, smells and lack of air.
Since getting off I am severely dehydrated mainly due to the fact I didn't want to drink on the train as everytime the toilet door opened the whole carriage stunk so i didnt like the idea of having to use it. My feet are also swollen so much I can't get my shoes on at the moment.
I'm praying the overnight train we have booked is a better experience.

Pushkar

We arrived in pushkar yesterday afternoon and were pleased to discover the hotel has a swimming pool (the further south we get the warmer it's getting).
Pushkar is a more strict and religious town compared to the rest so there is no swearing, no meat, no alcohol and clothes which don't cover the knees or shoulders are not to be worn.
The rest of the group opted to take part in a camel ride into the dessert and camp out for the night due to me being against riding animals and not knowing the facts of whether they are mistreated I didn't join in this activity and opted to stay at the hotel for the night, after visiting the Brahma temple and the holy lake. We have been strongly advised not to accept flowers off of anyone if we do we have to perform rituals and pay for this.
Today we had a free day so I chose to go to the local market first thing. With markets over here the idea is to barter the price down so we were advised to offer half what they tell you it costs if they say no walk away and they will follow. This did work for a scrap book I brought I managed to get it lower than half but it didn't work for everything. I think the main reason this seems to work is because as your walking a lot of the stalls are the same so they want your business knowing that you can just walk three stalls down and find the same product.
After walking through the market the temperature was getting warmer nearly 40°c so I went back to the hotel and sat by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
In the evening the option was a tuk tuk ride to another temple where we would then walk over 400 steps up to view the town from the top. When we arrived there was an option to take a cable car so we did that instead of walking up. When we reached the top there was hundreds of monkeys and we were advised they can charge and if you upset them it will be worse so we tried to keep away from them. But the view was amazing from the top and you were able to walk all round so you could see each part of the city.

Tordi sagar

Yesterday we went to a tiny village called tordi. We were picked up in 4 x 4 to go off the main roads to get to the village. To be honest i don't think the roads were any worse than the ones in Sussex just felt more bumpy as we hit the potholes at speed.
The hotel was nicer than I expected I was thinking a straw hut but no it had a nice cottage feel but was clean and welcoming. After lunch which they provided lentil soup and rolls we went in a jeep open safari to a local village which is where we saw the true poverty of India they were living in clay houses made from cow manure. There main trade being farming meant there was goats, pigs, cows and water buffalo roaming all round we were strongly advised to keep well away from the water buffalo with locals they are fine foreigners they will attack, in fact one came round the corner towards us our guide turned us round and said now move quickly that way.
We also looked round the farm crops where they grow garlic, tomatoes, aniseed, chillies, carrots and other crops. We were then taken to a damn where they collect the rainwater during the monsoon to supply the village. The damn was empty due to a bad monsoon, which limits the amount of water the village can use.

Finally we went to the sand dunes and had an opportunity to climb up them. Sand isn' the easiest to climb up and I thought I was quite fit obviously not. Coming down wasn' easy either due to it being slippery and my feet sinking into the sand, my shoes still have sand in now.

Today we went on an orientation walk of main village we walked past a temple with a band playing outside and then we went into a pottery place where a local man was making pot after pot he made it look easy but then he has being doing it for 20years.

Finally it was back into the 4 x 4s and on to pushkar.
One thing about the village is the children they run out of the houses or to the windows to wave as we pass if we were on foot they screamed hello and waved. They loved having their pictures taken and played up to the camera and got excited when they got a wave back.

Jaipur

We spent a day and a half in Jaipur and have done loads.
The accommodation is the best so far a family run hotel. The lobby has glass bottles hanging from the stair cases and on the shelves. There's little fireplaces but instead of fires fans with lights behind and they are made out of broken pieces of pottery and whole elephant plates.
We started of with a guided walk through the city and you can see why it's called the pink city all the buildings are like a terracotta pink colour. We went past all the spice and jewellery stalls, the spice stalls smelt amazing although the chillis were very strong and hit the back of your throat.
We also went for dinner and to watch a Bollywood movie on a rooftop terrace of another local hotel. Unfortunately the chosen film was set in Paris and Amsterdam rather than India.
The following day we went to a gemstone cutting place to watch a demonstration or how they shape and cut the gemstones, they do this using metal cutting discs which spin and diamond powder. They place the stone on a metal stick using wax and hold it on the disc to cut and shape the gemstone.

This was followed by a visit to a block printing demonstration where we saw how block printing is done in layers using different blocks and different colours to create a final piece which is then dried in the sun and fixed.

In the evening we went to Amber fort the largest fort in India and the highest point in Jaipur so it was long walk up, but better than riding on an elephant up to it.

The best and most eye catching bit in the fort was the mirror room. The walls are covered in tiny mirrors so when the light catches them they look like the stars.

Also in Jaipur I tried chai tea which is absolutely amazing it's diffcult to describe but its a must try for anyone who ever gets a chance to go to india, as is a lassi, a lassi is a yoghurt type drink with spices and sugar, plain it tastes a bit like yakult but often they mix with seasonal fruits as well.
The best bit about Jaipur though is that all the travelling was done in a tuk tuk. They are so cute and fun like Mario cars they just dart in and out and around the traffic. I definitely want one for home I can see me rocking up to work in one. Some of the drivers here decorate theirs with sparkly streamers or stars. You just know mine would be the best decorated I would have fairy lights and all sorts going on.

Indian buses

Today was another early start to get a local bus to Jaipur (the pink city).
We caught the bus at 7.30am, being a local bus we had no air con it was basically like a old school bus quite dirty and smelly we had prebooked seats so I sat back and slept until the 20 min stop at 10.20am.
It was quite rickety and some of the seats reclined on their own others you couldn't get them to recline.
After the break we then got back on the bus until 12.50before we caught a cab to the hotel.
There weren't many other local people on the bus which was surprising I expected it to be full. 

Agra fort and the Taj Mahal

This morning after we arrived in Agra we had the option to go on a guided tour of Agra fort the 2nd biggest fort in India which is over 450years old. It is made out of red sandstone and still visible throughout the different rooms are remnants of the paintings which were on the walls at the time.
Part of the fort is built in marble which was built after the Taj Mahal and it was built to keep the king who built the Taj Mahal imprisoned by his own son who felt his dad was wasting all his treasure constantly building monuments.
The marble walls have gemstones built in them in intricate patterns. When you compare we were building the tower of London at around the same time the architecture doesn't compare.

Then layer we went to the famous Taj Mahal, it is like nothing I have ever seen and it was crazy busy.
The Taj Mahal was built by the king after his wife died. On her deathbed she had three requests of him to look after her children to look after the family and to build a palace for her and Taj Mahal is that palace her grave is inside after he died his body and grave is inside next to hers and once a year in the summer they open the tombs cover them with cloths and flowers to celebrate her life.
Taj Mahal like agra fort has the similar patterns all made with the gemstones.

Also at the Taj Mahal I learnt what it feels like to be a celebrity. Everyone and anyone wants ththeir picture taken with you and once one person asks if it's ok a crowd come over and you stood or sat smiling at cameras for like the next 10mins you have children shoved at you family photos all sorts it's crazy.

India train

This morning I was up at 4.15am to go and get the first Indian train on the journey.
We caught the train at 6am. The journey was Delhi to Agra which was due to take 2-3hours. Luckily the train was on time as we had been warned trains are delayed regularly sometimes a few minutes sometimes 24hours.
After being in the queue for a few minutes we turned round and saw the queue behind us now was massive.

The train pulled in it looked nothing like the ones you see on tv with people hanging off and climbing on the roofs and we all had assigned seats.
The only way to explain the inside is it was similar to the English old slam door trains slightly outdated but not too bad.

We got served breakfast on the train which was two savoury doughnuts and something which was similar to a vegetable cous cous a spicy soup and a chilli milk.
We were also given tea biscuits and juice.
As we exited at Agra station taxi drivers attempted to approach everyone obviously trying to get the fares first military police quickly pushed them straight back onto the pavement to prevent them hassling people leaving.

Wildlife sos elephant sanctuary and bear sanctuary

Today was the day I was most looking forward to which was going to the wildlife sos elephant sanctuary and then onto the bear sanctuary as well. After watching Paul o'grady go to both places last year I knew it was something I wanted to do as soon as I knew I was coming to India.
I was up and down in reception by 7am to be picked up by the taxi. The journey took forever we finally arrived at 11.40. My god the amount of toll roads in India it seemed like we were stopping all the time.
We finally made it to the elephants first I started off by signing the declaration then going out to meet the female elephants (visitors aren't allowed to meet the males due to them being overly aggressive at the moment due to too much testosterone).
I started off by meeting 5 elephants Suzy, asha, Priya peanut and coconut. The wildlife sos employees explained how each of them had been treated in the past and which ailments still affect them now for example asha looks after Suzy who is now blind.
We then went to meet maya who I got to hand feed vegetables to. They are such intelligent animals she doesn't like carrots as much and as soon as you place one in her trunk it's thrown on the floor until there is nothing else left.

Feeding maya.

We then went on to feed the other elephants and watch them being bathed again we learnt more about their intelligence, in a pen of two one loves baths and goes straight in when it's her turn the other walks to the other end of the pen to try and keep away from it.
We then moved onto laxmi who is one of the smallest elephants she's 21 and was used as a begging elephant so therefore was fed on junk food until she was rescued she has now lost all the extra weight but still has saggy skin (I think most of us know all about this). Again we got to feed her some fruit vegetables and sugar canes.

After feeding and learning about the elephants it was onto the sloth bear sanctuary.
Sloth bears otherwise known as dancing bears were used in India to provide entertainment to tourists, however, to provide this entertainment they were subjected to being poached from their mothers at just a few weeks old they then had their nose pierced and a hot poker shoved through making them stand up right and 'dance' for the public to watch. Resulting in the bears being kept up on two feet meaning most of them have arthritis and the scars from the piercings will never heal.
Also a lot of them are so traumatised they still sway now when they hear music. Luckily this is now illegal in India but the bears are still being poached for other uses.
As we walked round the sanctuary you leave that wildlife sos don't just rescue bears and elephants but lots of endangered wildlife for example they have deer running round the park which eat the bear poo they also have a 24hour emergency line to rescue any wild animal which is injured or remove it before locals injure it.

Johnny the sloth bear enjoying a nap the scars visible on his nose.

One of the many deer running round the park.

After visiting the two places it was time for the long journey back but my driver had other ideas he decided I needed lunch so took me to a restaurant he knew called pinch of spice. The food was amazing I had cottage cheese which was more like hallomi in a tomato and gravy curry sauce with butter naan. The naan bread is nothing like you get in the UK it's so thin compared to what we are used to and much more toasted.
Finally now was the journey home he decided to go on the express highway which was less busy and no horns until we got back to Delhi which is now in rush hour so the traffic is 100times worse than normal horns blaring the whole time, but we got back to the hotel just a bit longer than 12hours after we left.

Arriving in Delhi

My journey started yesterday when I left Heathrow airport. I have now just arrived in my hotel in Delhi for this part of my journey I am staying in the c park inn hotel. I had asked the hotel to send a driver but for some reason they didn't. So I had no choice but to use one of the prepaid cabs enter the first scam of the holiday after paying for my taxi a man who had followed me over grabbed my suitcase and walked me to the taxi rank he then demanded a tip all I had was 50rupee but he spotted a English £5 note and wanted that I firmly told him he took the 50rupee or nothing so he took it and left.
The journey to the hotel was interesting there appear to be no road rules it's every driver for himself if they want to move lanes they will no matter who is in the way if a lane isn't free they will just invent their own lane. Horns are used the whole time as well all you will hear is people beeping at each other.
The hotel is small and basic but at least it's somewhere to sleep.
Ventured out briefly on foot there isn't too much around the hotel.
So far the worst thing I have encountered which I knew and expected was a stray dog now anyone who knows me knows that dogs are my weakness but I came face on with this poor creature who gave me the saddest pleading eyes it broke my heart but I had to walk away from the poor little thing.