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.