Day 103 - Rishikesh

Today we were slightly more motivated to get out and about. We walked through the town again and crossed the suspension bridge known as Ram Jhula, an iconic landmark of Rishikesh.
On both sides of the bridge it is surrounded by holy sites & the Hindu people believe that the swaying the bridge is the gods pushing it.
crossing this bridge can be a bit of an ordeal. Lots of people travel to see the bridge & the crowds coming out fo the temples constrict the entrance ways, as do the people standing in the middle of the bridge taking selfies.

The second time we crossed this bridge, we had to stop & wait for 10 minutes while traffic police came to direct people on how to walk across a bridge & move along. Amazingly motorbikes will cross the bridge causing a lot of the problems & of course the holy cows will cross it as well.

Unfortunately for us the best markets & our favourite cafe is on the other side of the river, so we have to cross the bridge!
The coffee, salad & burgers at the Little Buddha cafe make it so worth it!

Later that night I participated in my first Indian cooking class, unfortunately we made a recipe that I already knew of & that was fairly simple. I didn't really learn much except the reality of the huge amounts of oil that are used in Indian food !!

- Alli

Day 102 - Rishikesh

Today was fabulous.  We did ABSOLUTELY nothing except lie in our bunk beds with the air con and read/watch Netflix. We even fund a super cheap cafe 100 metres down the road. By far one of our laziest days, but I think it was much needed.


Here is a photo of a Hindu Holy cow

- Alli 

Day 101 - Rishikesh

To be totally honest, India has been harder than we expected & we haven't enjoyed it as much as we thought we would. I wouldn't call it challenging, but it has been very confronting and a few things are really starting to wear us down.
After a little bit more than 2 weeks of moving towns every 3 days & being sick, we decided to pick a place and spend most of our remaining time there before moving on to New Delhi, our final stop in India.

The spot we picked based on lots of recommendations from Indians and other travellers was Rishikesh. A holy city in the northern state of Uttarakhand built on the winding banks of the Ganges, in the foot hills of the Himalayan range.  A place well known for yoga & meditation. It is a town of spiritual reflection & study with lots of temples in the district of Swarg Ashram, it is impossible to find alcohol, drugs & meat. It sounded like a great place to hang out for 5 days and hide away from the chaos.

Unfortunately for us, the monsoon has started further up the river and the water that now runs past the town is a dirty brown colour, very different to the clean, clear blue that was described to us & that we saw in photos.  The weather is still very hot & humid, until it rains in the afternoon.

Our first day would consist of a sleep in after arriving so late the previous night,  exploring a small part of the town & eating at cafes!

-Alli

Day 100 - Travelling from Udaipur - Rishikesh

By 1am we were both still wide awake as the train stopped & started on it's way to Delhi. I could hear Tom sniffling from allergies & I was really restless with an overactive mind.

We both drifted off at different points, but it was light, broken sleep that was permanently disturbed at 7am by train staff hawking chai tea & food! Literally they would yell multiple times through the carriage and walk from the front of the train to the back again. Between the water, 2 food options, chai tea & coffee being sold by different staff, every few minutes someone was in the carriage, yelling.

At 8am, we eventually gave up on sleep, brought a vegetable cutlet sandwich & some chai.
Our train arrived in Delhi at 12.15pm at the Delhi Sarai Rohilla station, which is not the main Delhi station.
As we arrived in the outskirts of Delhi we went past kilometers & kilometers of shanty town villages. The poverty in India will never stop breaking my heart. I'll never get use to seeing it.

After departing the train & exiting the platform we were approached by the usual friendly tuk tuk drivers. The first price dictated by the tuk tuk driver to take us 5 kilometers to the bus station was 500 INR. Bloody disgusting & a complete rip off. I told him flat out "that's a rip off, we don't want to buy your bloody tuk tuk" but as usual in this country, I was given a brief glance before he spoke directly to Tom & ignored me. Tom was feeling less argumentative & less patient from the heat & agreed to 250 INR, still a rip off.

We arrived at the ISBT Kashmere Gate bus station at 1am & had another 2 hour wait before our bus was scheduled to depart.
A wait that would be devoted to swatting flies, internally questioning the common sense of people around us & ignoring hawkers trying to sell us balloons, pens & books.
We boarded the bus & took our seats 4 rows from the front just before 3pm & left on time.
The bus was relatively new & comfortable, most notable attributes were the suspension & air con.
We were both asleep in our seats before too long.

At 5pm the bus stopped for a toilet break & it was here we noticed how green everything was! We have left behind the dry, dirt & dust of south India's summer.
We arrived in Rishakesh just before 10pm, nearly an hour late.

Tom once again quickly negotiated a rip off tuk tuk fare to get us to the street our hostel was on. The tuk tuk driver didn't want to drive up the hill to our hostel. Understandably, the tuk tuk didn't feel or sound like it could get up the hill. I've used 2 stroke lawn mowers with more power.
The walk up the hill was blessedly short & before long we had checked in. We both had showers & were tucked in bed before too long! The shower alone was amazing after 23 hours of travel. What a way to spend our 100th day abroad.

My high school drama teacher once told me "never underestimate the rejuvenating effects of a shower" she has been proven right on many occasions!

- Alli 

Day 99 - The Most Memorable Day Ever

What a fantastic day, one that we will always remember! The brief play by play is - We awoke, hungover... checked out of our hotel where I had a fight with the manager. We then had breakfast at a cafe. After breakfast we explored a royal palace & museum before having lunch & beers at a lakeside, rooftop restaurant. After lunch we had a nap at the restaurant!
Then went shopping & spent $600 on his & hers jewellery & one of a kind Indian art.
After shopping we had dinner, desert & cocktails on another roof top restaurant & watched the sun set over the water palace. On our way to get our bags we walked through a bright & boisterous street market, were harassed by children until we got mean.
Were now off to catch our first Indian overnight train to New Delhi, the Capitol of India !

Now for the detailed version! We awoke at 7am to both of our alarms that were silenced, reset & then snoozed till 8.15am.
We had a check out time of 9am, very early by Australian, Chinese, Nepalese & other Indian hotels.
We both showered & started to pack our bags, which included unwrapping our laundry that was delivered the night before.
I was devastated to discover one of my brand new Indian dresses has been destroyed! The hand painted block pattern has been stripped of the dress & multiple areas of seam have come undone & the straps are frayed. I was very upset considering the laundry charge was so expensive! We paid 1200 INR for our washing to be done, 25 INR per item & each item was supposedly, individually  hand washed. That's nearly half the price I paid for the one of a kind dress that was destroyed.

I had a few minutes to compose myself then took the dress down stairs to talk to management about it. My composure didn't last long, due to the hotel managers complete rudeness.
He initially tried to dismiss me, stating he would talk to Tom about this & not me, which infuriated me. Then he told me my dress was a cheap fake, which I refused to believe because I brought it with Rachna, my Indian friend who helped pick it out & vouched for its design, quality, price & traditional meaning. He then told me that my Indian friend was a liar & then tried to tell me that my dress had been washed individually by hand in cold water. Complete bullshit, I told him it was bull shit & asked if he knew what I was referring to, it's all over the god damn street in India from the holy cows! Conveniently I could gesture outside the glass door where a cow was conveniently standing.
I also said I would be seeing Rachna again in 2 days & telling her what he said & what had happened to my beautiful dress, he seemed to loose a bit of steam at this point. But quickly regained momentum & then told me to get Rachna to phone him if there was a problem. At this point I grabbed my dress & pointed my finger in his face while stating there will be a problem & storming upstairs to my room.
At no point did he apologize or make efforts to fix the wrongs done by his hotel & the company he supposedly hired to wash the clothes.
Instead he blamed me, Tom, Rachna, the washing company, the person who made the dress & called the same people liars. I know that if I had washed this dress it would be perfect still. I bet $100 he threw it in a hot washing machine with all our other clothes & a heavy duty detergent.

After packing our bags & going downstairs the same manager once again made a snipey remark at me over Tom's shoulder stating "it's bad quality" to which I just raised my eyebrows, turned away & ignored him.
Once we had checked out & stowed our luggage we went to a local cafe for spinach & cheese subs & masala chai tea for breakfast. My anger was significantly soothed by food & tea. Despite some residual anger, I couldn't deny it was a beautiful day & we both noticed the Indian people we passed seemed extra happy & friendly. Nearly every person waved, smiled & said hello or wished us a good day. Saturday fever, perhaps?

It was then off to explore the palaces of Udaipur! We walked 20 minutes to the Jetty side of the lake to visit the lake palace featured in the James Bond Octopussy film. We were disappointed to be told that we couldn't go see it unless we were staying on the island in the palace, damn!

We set off to see the City Palace & museum, the huge series of palace like structures up on the hill that we had been admiring from Pichola lake side.
While walking between the palaces we encountered multiple women & children who seen us coming & approached us to beg for money. None of these people looked homeless or poor. One of the women looked wealthy with bright shiny jewellery, make up, perfume (she smelt better than me) & a beautiful saree on! It was very unusual. We would later find out these girls were probably transgender girls.

At the ticket counter we were given 2 tickets each for the palace/museum & the outside garden. Costing 330 INR each. Tom handed over a 2000 INR note to the cashier & was given 340 INR change with the tickets before we moved aside. Immediately I felt like this was wrong & added up the ticket price clearly written on the tickets before pushing back into the line & telling the cashier he had ripped us off by 1000 INR. He looked shocked & put up very little resistance before handing over the 1000 INR he owed is. Possibly my angry face was the reason for the minimal argument I expected to get. I was in no mood to be ripped off or treated like a walking ATM today.

The inside of the palace was beautiful & regal, though somewhat a bit tacky compared to other Indian architecture we have seen. There were a lot of rooms full of mirrors, bright paintings or wall paper that was peeling off and stained glass that gave us this impression, in comparison to the marble and mosaic art we have previously seen in India.
After the mornings exploration we made our way to the Natural view roof top restaurant, where we had dinner the previous night.
We ordered beer and veggie pizza for lunch!

It was delicious & combined with the midday heat we started to get sleepy ! Having checked out of our hotel room created a small problem as to where we could nap. In the restaurant they had a room with floor cushions where they must show the film octopussy, we have seen signs advertising it all around town. We asked the manager if we could sit in there & both took a nap for 2 hours. I'm not sure if I'm proud or embarrassed by this fact. The staff didn't seem to care.

After our nap we ordered coffee & walked the nearby streets exploring the street art & local shops. It was at this point we realised the general populations extra happy behaviour was due to a festival. Green carpet was laid out on walkways that had been freshly washed, big white canopies were strung up between balconies & walkways, drums & bells chimed while people sung & danced. There was balloons & flowers everywhere!
We went into one particular textile & clothing store where I tried on multiple dresses & brought a beautiful light blue & silver, silk dressing gown. Not what I thought I would buy, but very happy!
After this we strayed into a silver shop where Tom brought 3 rings, including a square one of a Nepalese design & a chain necklace.
I would also buy a small finger ring, a toe ring & an anklet.
Following the silver shop we went into an art shop. One of many we have been into while exploring Udaipur which seems to be bursting with artistic talent.

Tom found an intricate elephant painting done on a carved camel bone. The painting also had a mirror twin & they looked complete as a pair. The detail on the paintings was astounding & we brought them, along with insurance & postage for 5 kilos of other stuff we have accumulated through India, which Tom went back to the hotel to get. I hope they survive the trip, despite insurance it would be a real shame if they are damaged! They are such individual, beautifully detailed & memorable pieces of art. We will have to get some sort of membership at a framing place when we get back!

I'm excited to get home & unwrap all of our packages, see all our worldly memories & give our friends & family the gifts we've brought them.
After organising the postage we went to a different roof top restaurant to have dinner, desert & some cocktails. We had an amazing alfredo pasta with a Greek salad & a sizzling walnut brownie with ice cream for dessert.

It was a beautiful evening & we were spoilt with the sunset & water palace views. A perfect last night in Udaipur.

At 9.30pm, we walked back through town & the festival that was getting busier. I would have loved to observe the festival & discover what it was about but as soon as we approached, swarms of children ran up & started hassling us for money & trying to put hands in our pockets. None of these kids looked homeless or starving & followed us down the road for 500 meters until I got mean & yelled at them to go away. On our walk back to get our bags we would be approached by lots of women, children & priests trying to bless us & beg for money.

We collected our bags from storage lockers & got a tuk tuk to the train station with an hours time to spare.
I was relieved to see no beggars at the train station & we were able to sit in peace until the train arrived.
We were in an AC three tier sleeper carriage, with our booth of 8 beds empty except for us.
We were happy to receive linen & that the train left on time at 11.10pm hopefully sleep would come easy. It our first train ride in India, a 13 hour overnight trip that will take us from Udaipur to New Delhi before we continue on to Rishikesh.

- Alli

Day 98 - Exploring Udaipur

Exploring Udaipur,

Today we were more determined to make the most of our day and explore the beautiful town of Udaipur.  Udaipur is also known as the city of lakes, located in the southern state of Rajasthan, the city is built around artificial lakes with a heavy royal presence. As we explore we can see a large city palace up on the hill, many palace like structures on mountains, temples, forts and 2 lake palaces.

The palace's of Udaipur have brought a lot of fame to the town of Udaipur with it's scenic presence in the 1983 007 James Bond movie; Octopussy. In the film, you see James Bond in the Shiv Niwas Palace, Taj Lake Palace, The Jag Mandir Palace & the Monsoon Palace.

Walking the streets we soon realise that Udaipur's beauty is a hidden gem & that only by walking through the twisted lanes and streets by the lakeside can we get a true feel for the town.
It is bursting with artistic skill, with is demonstrated on the walls, fences and in the many many art galleries. We also see many stores selling the usual Indian touristy wares and some specific designs to this area as well. There are the usual cow's pigeons, street dogs, chipmunks and monkeys walking the streets and crowding the rooftops and trees, most animals look to be in very good condition.

We stop at a roof top restaurant for lunch and to hide from the storm that has blown in and threatens to dampen our explorations if we dont take shelter! We spent a few hours at the restaurant watching the chaos below in the streets and the calm rain clouds blowing through the sky above us, eating lunch and cooling down with a few beers.

After lunch it was the for some more exploring of the city streets & shops, I found a dress and a pair of hippy pants for myself and 1 pair for a friend who I think will love the design. We had dinner at a different roof top bar, right next to the lake with an excellent view and the ingredients to make a bloody mary my favourite cocktail & the most elusive drink in India.

Once the sun went down we called it a night & walked back to our hotel, another fantastic day in Udaipur!
- Alli

Day 97- Udaipur

Udaipur

Our first day in Udaipur was a day of organising and catching up on life admin. But first of all, we needed to develop the will strength to get out of bed, something that proved to be quiet hard today. Despite the stained & thin bed linen & pillows that needed to be replaced, the bed was comfortable, we had privacy in our own hotel room and we had each other. Something that is taken for granted until you spend your time in seperate bunk beds sharing a dorm with strangers.

The hotel’s WIFI signal unfortunately doesn’t reach into our bedroom & being a hotel there isn’t a common room. All interneting has to be done at local café’s and restaurants, definitely not the worst inconvenience.

We head off at around 10am to a nearby café but unfortunately there WIFI isn’t working at the moment and after breakfast here we move on. We walk through a local park, that looked like it had a lot of potential at one point but is now in a nearly total state of disrepair.  At one point it looks like it must of been a grand garden with a large pool.
We entered the park, with the intention of walking through and out the other side, but when we got to the other side, the gates had been padlocked shut and the pointy spikes ornamenting the top of the fence were a very capable deterrent, forcing us to walk around the whole park and nearly back to the entry point before we could get out. Once out we went to another café that did have WIFI, though it was very slow. Despite this the café offered a nice menu selection, recycled furniture, craft & a nice atmosphere, creating a nice place to chill out for a few hours and drink gin.

Monsoon season is upon us and shortly after we arrived the thunder clouds rolled in and heavy rain fell, disturbing the weak WIFI signal that we did have. At least we got a nice view of the storm and everything smelt fresh & clean afterwards. 

Once we had finished drinking gin (life admin cough cough) We made our way to a travel agent to book an overnight train to New Delhi & get a confirmation straight away. Unfortunately at this late stage, if we book our own train tickets there is no guarantee or way of getting a confirmation. However, we can look up the train times and cost ensuring we don’t get ripped off and only pay a standard commission fee.
After booking our train ticket we headed back to the hotel for an early night. 

The day did go by rather fast but was very productive. 

- Alli   

Day 96 - Pushkar - Udaipur

Pushkar - Udaipur

We started the day as most Indians do with a chai & some breakfast at a local cafe across the road from our accommodation.

We then packed our bags, thanked our host family & left for the local bus station at 11.30am. Thankfully it's only a short walk & as we arrived, an almost full to capacity bus was pulling out but stopped & we jumped on. The bus was very squishy & we stood clinging onto handles, very aware of the open door & the bends & bumps of the road.

We arrived 45 minutes later at Ajmer and walked to the big bus station to find our bus. Of course it was running late, so we found a clean-ish piece of elevated cement to sit on with our bags. Shortly after sitting our bags down I caught an Indian lady of apparent wealth & obviously not poor or a beggar, trying to sneakily open a zip on my bag & put her hand in. I was angry & not very polite about acknowledging her attempted thievery & moving my bag's away.

While at this bus station I also witnessed many men & 1 women urinating in open public areas, in full sight of everyone. Beggars here were sitting around in abundance eyeing us & a group of 5 other western tourists off, calling out & gesturing continuously. Unfortunately in this situation, giving to 1 isn't a possibility because then they will all approach you & sometimes become physical & angry if you don't give anything to them.
As sad as it is, It's best to do nothing.

The exception was right at the last moment when Tom was loading our big packs on to the bus, a man with an extreme disability crippling his legs at terrible, distorted angles, crawled over on calloused knees. He was so skinny, smelly & wasn't able to speak. I'm unsure if he was mentally capable of speech. The sight of this poor man, who had been dealt such a cruel hand in life, nearly brought me to tears. My overwhelming sadness was nearly replaced with the anger that I felt looking around at the people, western & Indian who walked around & over the top of him, either annoyed, ignorant or cringing away like he was contagious. I could see very little empathy or sympathy.

I am deeply saddened to recognize the unconscious reflexes of cringing away in myself, why do people do this ? It's a terrible reflex to have when approached by someone who desperately needs help.
I quickly dove into my bag & handed over a packet of biscuits, freshly bought for the journey & handed them over. I wish I had seen him earlier & had time to buy him a proper meal & water.

I would spend a big chunk of my time on the bus & again later that & the days following our arrival in Udaipur, thinking about this man.
We boarded the bus at 1.40pm and were seated right at the very back of the bus. It was a relatively comfortable & uneventful ride. It would of been more comfortable sitting closer to the front where the bus suspension worked better. The back wall of the bus, where there is normally a window, appeared to be a piece of tin that was conducting heat. We could feel heat radiating through the tin & into our seats & making our backs very hot.

At 3pm it started to rain & clouds hung around cooling everything down.

We arrived at our destination, Udaipur just after 8pm & were able to walk from the bus station to our hotel accommodation. After checking in & briefly freshening up in the cleanest hotel bathroom we've seen in India, We set off to get dinner. We found a pizza store that looked busy & clean which suited us great! Following dinner was one of the best nights sleep we've had in a long time.

-Alli 

Day 95 - Exploring Pushkar !

Exploring Pushkar

I woke up today feeling dramatically better than the previous day, but feeling a bit disgruntled and tired still. There has been multiple days now where I haven’t been able to eat anything in a 24 hour period and have been forced to stay in bed missing out or delaying our adventure. I can feel and see that I am loosing weight, I really hope this recent bout is the last time. 

Tom must have been feeling a bit dusty after yesterday’s consumption of beer. It was well past 10am before we emerged from our dorm room and made arrangements to stay one more night so that I could explore Pushkar. The first stop was a nearby café on a small but busy Indian street to enjoy breakfast. I enjoy a small success by being able to  eat a piece of toast, some fresh fruit and  fruit juice. I feed most of my leftover breakfast to some street dogs & take a piece of toast that I shred and put into a cup. Tom is very amused by this and knows that I plan to use it to make friends with more of the local animals. 

We explore the streets of Pushkar that consist of market stalls selling a huge range of bohemian clothing, bags, jewellery, cushion's and leather bound books. We stop at one such book store and buy a green leather bound book that catches our eye. We then head down to the ghats and walk around the holy lake that Pushkar is famous for. The ghats here are still considered holy and there is a heavy Hindu presence in this town, which we can easily see by the shrines, street art & holy cows that roam freely. There are no cremation ghats here at Pushkar. 

While roaming bare foot along the ghats and temple ground we see many Hindu people bathing in established enclosed cement areas & praying. We also see lots of street dogs, cows, monkeys, pigeons (including one in the mouth of a cat) and goats, proving my cup of bread very helpful in my friendly advances. 

About halfway round, we sit down on a shady bench to have a break & photograph some more of the Gray Langur monkeys, but are approached by a man claiming to be a priest. He insists on taking us down to the lake side to put flowers in to the lake. A seemingly harmless request from a priest. Initially we are concerned for our bag which has my shoes tied to the outside & is a reason for the priest to insist it shouldn’t come down the ghats to the lake & should be left on the bench. When his back is turned I move it down anyway so we can see it and make sure it isn’t stolen, which was our concern. 

Once down at the lake side he asks us questions about our family member to bless them, our journey, our relationship and future marriage. The blessing seems to go on for a long time with several phrases needing to be repeated back to him, slowly the blessing seems to change and become less about us and more about his temple, charities, donations and good karma. This is feeling less and less like a true blessing and more like a wordy scam. He finally finishes and then asks us for our donation to achieve good karma, insisiting on 1000, 2000 or 3000 INR, which he insists we must have and must individually give to him to achieve good karma and bless our families. At this point I’ve well and truly had enough of feeling like a dumb & easily scammed walking ATM. I march back up the ghats while Tom tries to shake him by offering him 200 INR, more than he deserves in my opinion. The priest (?) has the audacity to turn down 200 INR insisting on receiving a sum in the thousand range. He is seriously infuriating and I snap that if he won’t accept 200 INR he gets nothing and we don’t care about blessings because that’s not how karma works & we never needed his blessing. He accepts the 200 INR, realising he won’t get more from Tom but then has the nerve to follow us back up the ghats and ask for 200 INR from me to validate my blessing. I say No and not politely march off. 

What a shit head, never again will I allow us to be blessed! 

After this we continue our way around the ghats and back into the main streets of Pushkar, exploring and searching for an ATM. We are successful in our search and locate an ATM not far from our hostel. Disappointingly the ATM distributes a 2000 INR note with a rip in it that has been taped back together. We have already learnt our lesson about damaged Indian money in the form of a 10 INR that had the corner ripped off. We’re not sure who gave it to us, but it’s useless, not even beggars will accept it! The ATM is luckily located next to the bank itself so we can go in there and ask for a replacement, for a brief moment I thought the teller was going to deny our request because the ATM didn’t give us a receipt, even though we requested it. Thankfully she did, I was in no mood and would have argued with her and made all sorts of threats to get the bill replaced. 

After the bank we started to head back to the hostel but I was approached by an Indian lady holding a small child and asking for me to go wither to the chemist and buy her child some formula milk. This is a scam that we had read a lot about but had not yet encountered, we also have had the pleasure of meeting a girl in Nepal who warned us about this particular scam because she had been caught in it. 

The Woman with the child did not look like a beggar, her saree looked immaculate and she wasn’t skinny. Her child looked clean and healthy as well as too old to be on formula. I straight away declined to go with her, despite her insistence she wasn’t asking for money, just formula while gesturing towards her child’s mouth. The only way to shake her was to tell her that I knew it was a scam and to go away, this cost me a very dirty look but she left me alone. Having got her way I would have been taken to a chemist that was part of the scam & pressured into buying over priced formula milk that would be resold back to the chemist later on. 

Feeling very tired now and grumpy, we decided enough was enough and retired at a local café across the road from the hostel, close enough for the WIFI to reach our appliances, but close enough for the toilet should I need it. 

At 6pm we ordered some pasta (bland and boring for me) at the café & made plans to see the sun set over the lake. Surprisingly If there’s one thing that Indians do just as well as their curries, it is Italian! We have eaten pizza and now pasta in simple Indian cafes that has been better than some of the food we have eaten in Italian restaurants back in Australia. 

As we go to leave the restaurant a young male calf wandering the street puts its head down and tries to charge me, something that has been occurring a lot with the male cows in India. I am able to wave my arms and make loud scary noises while jumping onto a ledge. I'm not entirely sure that I have been scary enough to force the cows retreat or if it's the barking from a small, tan street dog that I patted earlier on. This brave little dog chases the cow away from me, cornering it in a corner of the street before it whirled around and ran in another direction. On her return she looked so proud of herself as she trotted up and I gave her a big pat in thanks. This is now the 4th time a young male cow has seriously tried to ram me with its head in India & I'm starting to get scared of them which I'm sure they can tell & which will create more incidents. Tom is finding it hilarious which is not helping the situation. Being mauled or crushed by a cow in India is not on my bucket list and the fatalities that happen every year from cows in India is a serious thing. 

The sun set is at a weird angle to the ghats and the cloud formation doesn't give us anything special, it's still nice to sit by the ghats and take in the beautiful sight of the holy town, knowing we will leave tomorrow and likely never be back. 

- Alli 

Day 94 - A Day Of Sickness & A Day For Beer

We awoke multiple times through the night and this morning to Allisha's continued stomach upset. We lay in untill 10am hoping it would settle but no such luck. So Allisha decided to stay home and rest while I ventured out to investigate the town.

 Pushkar is a quaint but attractive little town. With many small alleyway's lined with stalls selling various items. In the center of town there is a large body of water that has Ghats (steps) lining the perimeter. After having a quick look around town it quickly became too hot to be outside so I popped into a restaurant that I could see had a large outside area out the back and a thatch roofed concrete pagola. I was soon greeted by one of the staff who sat down to have a chat. I ordered a beer and we sat and talked about our travels and life experiences. Later some of the others who worked there joined us as it was the middle of the day and very quiet. 

We talked about many things. My time in Mongolia and China being of interest. One of my new companions, and the restaurants chef, said he had recently orchestrated a 30 person tour with him being the guide from India into Nepal. I was interested to learn how he was able to organize all this on his own, it sounded like a monumental task! After a few hours and a few beers Allisha wanted to grab some food, being more than 24 hours since she had eaten, so I went and picked her up amd we came back to the same restaurant and had some bland food. Afterwards I dropped Allisha back to the hostel amd returned for a couple more beers and to continue the conversation. 

The guys showed me some of there local music on a Bluetooth speaker and eventually we ended up listening to some Indian trance which was very interesting. I saved a bunch of the things they played on my youtube account and will be downloading them to listen again! Suddenly it was midnight, and the restaurant owner was wanting to go home. So I walked home, dodging the many cows that rule the streets after dark. Once back at the hostel fortunatly Allisha was still awake to let me in otherwise I would have been locked out! 10 minutes later I was asleep.


- Tom

Day 93 - Jaipur - Pushka

Today we leave Jaipur for the small town of Pushkar. We woke up and asked our hostel reception where a good place to have breakfast would be. They directed us to a local cafe and we set off eager to fill our bellys. Outside our local friend who we had been speaking to yesterday was waiting in his 'helicopter' (tuktuk). He drove us the few blocks to our cafe. Once we were there we accidentally walked into the adjacent restaurant. Which turned out to be a chineese place.

 A little strange having Chinese I do admit. But we do miss the Chinese food so we ordered some dim sims and delicious tofu dishes. Once we were finished we headed back with our new friend and having already packed that morning we decided to hang out in the common room and rest a while before heading to the bus stand. Around 3pm we dragged ourselves off the airconditioned couches. Shouldered our packs and walked the 500m to the Sindi Camp bus stand, receiving the usual 100 offers for a tuktuk ride along the way. 

Whilst walking I got talking to a local guy who asked where we were from and where we were going. He offered to help us find the correct bus, eventually waiving one down that was just leaving. We quickly thanked him and jumped aboard. Paying 500 rupee for our ticket. A little more than expected but the bus turned out to take us all the way to Pushkar without having to change over at Ajmer as expected. Once aboard the bus conductor was quick to move everyone around so we could sit uo the front. 

We would have been happy to sit anywhere and felt really awkward when he moved people for us to sit. Trying to explain we were happy to sit up the back did'nt work and he couldnt understand. So we just followed his direction. I will never fully understand how these systems work! Seems like a massive fuss just because we are western. Or perhaps we paid a premium which would'nt surprise me! The journey was only about 3.5 hours so nothing too crazy. Dispite not being an a/c bus it was dry enough that it wasn't too uncomfortable. We passed the time by reading and watching tv. We arrived around 6.30pm and it was still bright outside. After getting off the bus we headed to the back to collect our bags. Tuktuk drivers buzzing around us to try and get a fare. A guy from the bus opened the back and then allowed us to get our heavey bags without any assistance. He then turned to us and tried to extort 50 rupee from us for the privilege of stowing our bags.

 This is a pretty common scam. And after I got pretty mad and argued with him. He 'checked our ticket' and backed out of the confrontation. It truly is a daily battle not to get ripped off in this country. Constantly having to feign disgust at the prices and services being offered in order to get the standard rate and not the 'western price'. We decided to walk to the hostel. It was less than 1km and we have legs so we might as well use them. 

We soon arrived and were greeted into a small communal area for some local apartments. We were shown to our dorm which was a seperate room off the common area that was fitted with lockers and bunks. Already starving and dying of thirst we dropped our bags and headed straight out to a pizza place a couple of doors down. Ordering 2 large pizzas and a mango milkshake and a ginger beer (homemade). There was some confusion with our order and we ended up scoffing someone else's pizza, turned out to be cheaper than what we ordered and was pretty tasty so no harm done! The manager only asked us to pay for what we had eaten and didnt seem worried. He probably ate the spare one himself! By now it was almost 9pm and we returned home to bed. Allisha had still not been feeling great so we turned in for an early night.

Tom

Day 92 - Shopping in Jaipur Markets & The Hawamahal

During last night’s conversation with Rachna we agreed to go shopping today to spend more time together. I was feeling the need buy a few more things to represent India for our future house & to be tutored on how to bartar in India.

Rachna was shocked the previous night to hear about how badly we were getting ripped off, the only thing she could genuinely confirm for us was the quality and price we paid for my saree’s, thank god!

We set off at around 11am, leaving Tom at the hostel. A later start than planned, my stomach has a way of disagreeing with early starts & Indian food, but thankfully seemed to settle down quickly with no intervention.

My first lesson for today was how to bargain for a tuk tuk. Being from Indian and having visited Jaipur before, Rachna was more aware of the general costings and distance we would be traveling. With this knowledge & her own experience she drove a hard bargain, refusing 3 tuk tuks until finally finding the one that would take us to a local market at her price.

Unfortunately the local market would be closed down due to a Muslim celebration called Eid, symbolising the end of Ramadan. I had noticed before this the presence of police & the army walking through the streets, a measure taken to diffuse and tensions between Hindu and Muslim people on this day of celebration.

We hopped into another tuk tuk headed into the centre of Jaipur and another market next to an iconic landmark for Jaipur called the Hawamahal. Rachna was shocked we hadn’t seen this yesterday in our sight seeing & was determined I should see it today to complete my Jaipur experience.

Built in 1799 AD by the Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, the Hawamahal, or also known as the palace of winds is a sight of architectural splendour overlooking on of the main streets. The palace is in honour of lord Krishna & is shaped like the crown that adorns Lord Krishna’s head. It is 5 stories high and full of intricately carved and strategically placed windows and corridors, you instantly realise why it is called the palace of wind. Each level has its own name and story, the real treat is the city view offered from the top of the building as well as the view from the front of the building.

I was very grateful that Rachna has shown me this.

The day passed by rather quickly with my successful purchases from 3 markets being 2 dresses, 1 a traditional Rajasthani print, a pair of traditional pointed leather shoes, souvenirs and some traditional Rajasthani puppets. Rachna is a fierce lady & I learnt a lot about shopping, bartering & realised how badly we must have been getting ripped off. Rachna explained even an Indian shopping with a westerner will not get the best deals in comparison to an Indian shopping by themselves.

At the third market we stopped for some cold lemonade that an Indian lady was hand making. I was confused by Rachna questioning me about how I like my lemonade, my reply must have been confusing for her when I simply replied “cold”. My lemonade was cold, as well as sour, sweet, refreshing and shockingly spicy! The first mouthful was rather unexpected & I couldn’t help but screw my face up in shock! Of course lemonade in India would be spicy. I was able to finish & enjoy the rest of my drink with no more uncontrolled facial expressions.

We returned to the hostel just after 2pm, which was enough time for a nap before going out at 3pm with our tuk tuk driver.

3pm arrived and our tuk tuk driver wasn’t where we had agreed to meet him, we waited another 10 minutes before leaving a message with the hostel reception & going to get something to eat. I had started to experience some stomach pains again which I thought was hunger pains. We decided to try some western food & avoid spice for a day or so, heading to a local pizza hut for pizza & pasta! A delicious meal with no regrets. Unfortunately though not the cure for my stomach pains which continued & intensified.

When we arrived back at the hostel just before 4pm the tuk tuk driver was waiting for us. He had received the message from reception about our abscense which also insisted that he not wait around for us. He was being rather argumentative, contradicting his original story by lying to us & stating that he had been waiting since 2.40pm and complainng about lack of business. With my stomach pains & his behaviour the previous day & now arguing with us, despite our generous tip, I decided that I didn’t want to go out this evening or give him anymore business. Tom backed me up & we firmly declined all of his offers for that night and the next day.

We retired to the hostel’s roof top balcony for some cold drink’s, Tom drinking beer of course while I drank water or juice & watched the sun set. After the sun set we ordered some houka, simple grilled sandwiches & were joined by Rachna. We spent a good hour or so chatting about school life and the traditional vs slow changing progressive upbringing of some Indian Children. All of a sudden I was seized by an overwhelming wave of nausea that had me running to the upstairs bathroom. The visit to the bathroom would not provide me with any relief and I would have to retire to the dorm room and sleep, which was disturbed multiple times that night by my bodies need to vomit or diarrhoea.

Tom's night proved to be a lot nicer by his admirable gut immunity & easy ability to make friends anywhere in the world and drink beers in abundance. It was not long after midnight before he would join me in the dorm.

- Alli