Arrival in India: Calcuta and New Delhi: 3rd – 4th December 2008

What we thought was going to be a quick stop over in Bangkok to get our flight to India turned out to be a five day delay. Thanks to political unrest in Thailand the airport was closed…yes completely closed. Hoards of protesters calling for the government to step down had taken over the airport and as a result it was completely blocked off. We took the whole thing in our stride however and made the most of our extra days in Bangkok. We even managed to fit in a trip to the famous Chatuchack market for some bargain hunting!! For the last few days of our time there we were even put up free by the government in the Royal Hotel. It was the best hotel we had stayed in during our whole trip….yes I’m talking swimming pool, huge buffet meals etc. So all in all being stranded in Bangkok due to political unrest was not as bad as it may sound! J However we were eager to get to India as each day stuck in Thailand was a day less to explore India. Therefore when Jet Airways, the company we had our flights with, told us we would be bussed to a military base north of Bangkok and flown from there to India, we jumped at the chance. Once again though things didn’t go quite to plan as we were supposed to fly to New Delhi but got taken to Calcutta instead! It was either Calcutta or Mumbai, however seeing as there had been terrorists attacks in Mumbai a few days previous to that, Calcutta was the better option! The airline did however pay for a connecting flight for us to New Delhi which was ok except for the fact that we had to spend a night sleeping outside in Calcutta before getting the connection! Don’t ask!!  As you can imagine by the time we eventually got to New Delhi the following morning we were well ready for a sleep, not to mention a shower! Thankfully a Spanish friend of mine who now lives in New Delhi came to our rescue and sent his driver to collect us at the airport and take us to his flat. Thanks Joaquin, you did us a huge favour. Needless to say our first day in the Indian capital was spent recovering…cosy sofa, DVDs and pizza. We did get active the following day though and used a taxi for the day to take us around the main city sights. Thanks to good tips from Joaquin we managed to fit pretty much all the main things to see in to one day (The Gate of India, Parliament House, The Red Fort, the markets etc). My first impressions of India (apart from having to spend a night outside sleeping in Calcutta!!) were very positive. I was a bit shocked by the poverty but since I had myself prepared for the worst it didn’t seems as bad as I had imagined. After a few days in the capital I was itching to get out into the countryside and explore more.

Agra: 5^th – 7^th December 2008 

We had a very early start on the morning of the 5^th to get the 7.10 train to Agra. Once again Joaquin´s chauffeur Rakesh came to our rescue and picked us up after 5am to take us to the station. We were both sooo excited that morning, we didn’t know what to expect once we left the comfort and safety of Joaquin´s house. However after being warned about the crazy hectic India that lay ahead of us we went prepared with as little luggage as possible. We only took one bag for the two of us and left the main bulk of our stuff with Joaquin. This turned out to be a very good idea seeing as the standard of the Indian buses and trains leave a lot to be desired! Having chosen the cheapest train tickets, we found ourselves immediately immersed in the real India. We were squashed on to hard wooden boards, which barely classified as seats, and surrounded by numerous Indians in the space of  2m squared. The windows were open which helped keep the air circulating but it also let in the cold morning breeze.  Although the most shocking part of the trip to Agra didn’t turn out to be the train itself, or the fact that it was way over packed, it was the sights which we passed along the way. The outskirts of New Delhi are full of shanty towns inhabited by huge amounts of people, people who live in shacks with no commodities whatsoever. These poor people don’t even have water and toilet facilities so have no other choice but to do their business along the train tracks every morning. So you guessed it, yes the main sight which we saw that morning was rows and rows of poor Indians on their hunkers clearing out their bowels! NICE!  We arrived at Agra at 10.30am and after a big of bargaining with the rickshaw drivers we got a guy to take us to a hostel. The hostel (The Tourist Rest House) was far from being The Ritz but we didn’t want to waste the rest of the morning looking for somewhere else so we took it. At last we were in the city of the Taj Mahal!!!! Part of us wanted to run straight to see it but another part of us didn’t want it to be over straight away so we decided to let our excitement build for another day and not visit the Taj Mahal until the following afternoon. There were plenty of other things to visit so off we went for a day of exploring. First we visited the Agra Fort, an amazing complex of red sandstone buildings along the riverbanks. Here we first realised that white people cause quite the stir in India and it was the start of three weeks of getting our photo taken and being constantly asked “what your country?”. At the start we were very enthusiastic, more than willing to stand for half hour photo shoots and explain over and over to strangers where we came from…however I had a feeling that after a few weeks the novelty was going to wear off! J We also quickly learned that it was better to say we were married as it meant I was out of bounds and it also seemed to earn us more respect. Saying that we were boyfriend and girlfriend was not very well looked upon. However we couldn’t win as once we realised that saying we were married was the “right” answer, the next question without fail was if we had kids, and once we said no to that we got the same disapproving look as for being unmarried. Perhaps by the end of our Indian trip we would be married with a few kids! After our visit to the Agra Fort we went to a small street restaurant for lunch, yes it was basic, yes it was dirty, and no I don’t know how we didn’t both get food poisoning! Finding somewhere decent for lunch did prove to be a bit of a challenge in Agra, and by decent I literally mean somewhere half clean. After lunch we went to see more of the city and walked to the Rambagh gardens and the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah. Now don´t ask me who he is as I’ve no idea but I can tell you he has once amazing tomb. It is in fact a whole building built in Persian style white marble, coloured mosaic, stone inlay and lattice work. (yes I took that description from the guide book!!) It took 6 years to build and is pretty outstanding. When we left the tomb it was starting to get dark so it was time to get back to our hostel. This took almost an hour mind you as we couldn’t get anyone to take us. We had 20 people (I’m not exaggerating) around us staring at us but no one seemed willing to actually help us get back to our place. After numerous attempts to convince rickshaw drivers we eventually got a young guy to drive us, he did get lost along the way but we made it back eventually. That night we were exhausted from all the madness of the day but really looking forward to visiting the Taj Mahal the next day!!!!!! Although Agra has some fab sights to see, the town itself is really dirty, noisy, busy and well quite ugly. Between the fight to get anywhere and to get away from people and the pollution, Agra will leave you tired enough to be able to sleep in even the most uncomfortable bed, and just as well! On the morning of the 6^th we woke up raring to go, we visited one of the city´s bazaars, had a nice encounter with some locals and were invited into their house (if you could call it a house seeing as it was only one small room with a wooden bed where about 8 people slept) and then at midday we got a rickshaw over to the Taj Mahal. I was like a kid I was so excited, as was Antoine, but less than me as he had already been there years ago with his parents. To build up the effect of seeing such a wonder for the first time Antoine covered my eyes and led me through the arch way which opened out to the gardens and the Taj Mahal itself. When he uncovered my eyes my mouth fell open in awe, it really is every bit as impressive as I had imagined. Given the following facts it would need to be. It cost nearly 41 million rupees and 500 kilos (1,102lbs) of gold. It took the efforts of about 20,000 workers 12 years to complete in 1643. Apparently it is an image of the Islamic garden of paradise. I don’t know what the Islamic garden of paradise actually looks like but standing in front of the Taj Mahal definitely gave me the feeling of being in a magical mystical place, something out of a fairy tale. We spent the next few hours there wandering around and taking in the beauty of the place. Not to mention standing ourselves for some photos with random Indians. They have the Taj Mahal in front of them and they want a picture of us?! It was actually quite funny as later that evening when we were in town again we met one group of guys who had asked for our photo and they had our photos printed out already and took a lot of pride in showing them to us. Once again that night back at the hostel we were exhausted but very content with our day. However the day doesn’t end there, unbeknown to us we had yet to take part in an Indian wedding that night! We were having dinner in the gardens of the hostel with a French women we met, when this loud Bollywood style music started to get closer and closer. Not knowing what it was Antoine went out to the street for a look and came back to get us as it was a wedding procession going down the street. We were standing on the footpath taking it all in when suddenly we were hauled by these Indian men in to the middle of the wedding crowd. Nothing would do but we had to dance and partake in the celebrations. First of all we were dancing with them but then they put us together to dance for them as they all stood around clapping and cheering. It was quite a surreal experience and a lot of fun. Once again just for being white we were treated like celebrities. The day we visited the Taj Mahal is definitely one day of our Indian trip that Ill never forget. The following day we got a local bus an hour and a half away to visit Fatephur Sikri. It was a city built years ago but then abandoned before ever being occupied as they hadn’t enough water to run the city. We got talking to a local called Mohammed who offered to be our guide for free. We wondered where the catch was as it isn’t often you get something for free in India. However apart from trying to get us to buy a few souvenirs, he stuck to his word and didn’t look for anything from us. We had a lovely few hours walking around with him, learning all about the abandoned city and the Muslim religion. That night it was back to Agra for one more sleep in Central India before moving on to Rajasthan. At this stage we were both already under the charm of this wonderful country. Yes it is dirty, yes there are piles of rubbish in the street, yes there are animals everywhere, yes the people can be quite overwhelming, yes sometimes the smells can be more than overwhelming, yes you are bound to have a few tummy problems…but there is something special about this country that lets you see beyond all that and makes you fall in love with the place. Plus the people and their enthusiasm are just amazing. 

Jaipur: 8^th – 10^th December 2008

During the 6 hour bus journey from Agra to Jaipur there was a stop when Antoine got talking to another guy on the bus. It turned out he was an Indian guy from Jaipur called Anis, who now lives and works in Goa. Thanks to the fact that he lives in such a touristy place his English was really good and we got on well with him. He told us how he was going home for some holidays as he is Muslim and the following day was an important Muslim ceremony. In short the ceremony consisted of sacrificing a goat to give thanks to their God. Before saying goodbye he invited us to his home the next morning for breakfast, to see the sacrificing of the goat and then for dinner that night to eat the goat. We were delighted at being given the opportunity to get a closer insight into the Muslim culture and Indian family life so we accepted without a second thought. We agreed to meet him the following morning and in the meantime we found ourselves a hostel and went for a walk around the city. The hostel was strange and it´s owner was even stranger (he was a weird Indian transvestite who would talk to us naked while peeping out from behind his bathroom door!) but it was only 200 rupees a night and the best of a bad bunch. Jaipur is a lot larger than Agra and thankfully it was also a bit cleaner and friendlier. We even saw a Mc Donalds there but we didn’t give in to temptation! It also seemed to be the place to go to buy rare stones, all sorts of silver jewellery and tailor made suits. We did take a look around the shops and bought a few small bits of jewellery but we didn’t get too carried away as we never knew whether the stuff was the real deal or not. Anyways moving on….the following morning was the day of the Muslim festival. It was pretty evident as out on the streets practically all the men were dressed in their traditional Muslim robes and heading off to pray.  India is in fact predominantly Hindu but in the towns we had visited so far, except the capital, we almost felt more of a Muslim presence than Hindu. As arranged Anis came to meet us with his brother. The day before on the bus he had a full head of hair and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, however when he came to collect us he had his head shaved and was kitted out from head to toe in white robes, we hardly recognised him. We got a rickshaw taxi and followed Anis on his motorbike across town to his neighbourhood. He lived in the Muslim part of town which was made up of small streets and alleyways. Groups of men in long white robes were seen everywhere, some wearing turbans as well as their traditional dress. Women covered in black cloth from head to toe were also to be seen walking in the streets, in some cases leaving only their eyes uncovered. There was an obvious excitement in the air and some families were already cooking the head of their sacrificed goat out on the street. Since it is not at all a touristy area, our presence caused even further emotion and glee. It wasn’t long before we had hoards of children around us trying to touch us and asking us where we were from. Anis´s family were very welcoming to us and we got introduced to everyone. As you enter the house there is on open patio lined with doors, each door was the room of some member of the family. Then there are steps leading to two more floors, once again lined with numerous doors, each door leading to the home of yet another cousin or brother. When a girl gets married she goes to live with the family of her husband and whole families live together under the one roof (grandparents, parents, cousins, uncles, aunts etc), with each family unit having one room for themselves. That one room serves as their bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and sitting room. It was nice to see how all the family lives literally on top of each other but it definitely wouldn’t be a good arrangement for anyone who likes their privacy! After being introduced to a never ending line of people we were then invited to sit down for breakfast. We were in the room which Anis shared with his parents, it was barely furnished and we sat on a mat on the floor, the same mat which they then used at night to sleep on. The food (chapatti and raita) was served on some spread out newspaper and we ate with our hands. Only Anis, Antoine and I were eating, the rest just came and went and stood watching us. It was quite a funny situation but the food was very tasty and we were very touched by their generosity. The grandmother passed me some water to drink at one stage during the meal but thankfully just as I was about to take a gulp Anis stopped me and warned me that my stomach would not be able to handle their water. He was really good to us and so kind. Just as well he told me as my stomach was already suffering a bit from something I had eaten the day before!! After breakfast Anis took us to see the sacrificing of his neighbour’s goats. Apparently he was rich and was going to sacrifice up to five big goats. Cameras at the ready off we went again out in to the street to face the crowds. We followed Anis down some back streets until we got to a small door, walking in behind him we found ourselves in a medium sized shed packed with hundreds of screaming Indians. Initially we thought the screaming was for the goats but we soon realised it was in fact for us. They were not used to seeing white people and it was a great honour to have us there. It was a bit scary though as the place was busting at the seams and there was practically no space to move. The locals started pushing and shouting among themselves to get closer to us and also to give us a good view of the goats. Eventually we got pushed to the other side of the room where we saw the first unsuspecting goat waiting to meet his end. Soon after that the sacrificing started and the first goat got his neck slit, blood poured everywhere and the people went mad with excitement. Then the second goat went down and the third, by this time there was a small river of blood in the shed. However as the excitement of the people rose they got a bit more lively and the pushing against us got worse. Next I saw a nervous look on Anis face and he told us that we had to go. I looked around for Antoine as in the middle of the pushing he got separated from us, Anis called to him to come quickly and we were taken out of the place as soon as possible. I’m not really sure even now why Anis got worried all of a sudden and got us out of there, when I asked him all he said was “these people aren’t used to seeing white people and sometimes they can get a bit too crazy”! Either way it was an amazing experience and we were so glad to have got such a good insight into such an interesting culture. After we left the neighbours shed we went back to Anis´s house for the sacrificing of their goat. This was done in the interior patio with all the family watching on as the goat was put on its side and killed. Once it was killed it was then hung up and the skin was removed from it, later that night we would be eating it for dinner. That afternoon we went to visit one of the sights in Jaipur known as the monkey palace. It wasn’t far from Anis´s house so Antoine and I went there for a few hours. It wasn’t hard to know where it got it´s name from as there were monkeys everywhere! The palace was pretty special though and involved walking up numerous steps and going right to the other side of the mountain to see it all. Further up the mountain we saw lots of yogis walking about with only some small rags around them to cover themselves and their long hair hanging down their backs. We saw one out practicing his yoga while some others invited us in to their temple to have a sing song. Only a few hours ago we had been in the middle of a Muslim ceremony and now here we were having a sing song with real life yogis, you gotta love India. We were on cloud nine and so happy at having the opportunity to experience in person so many different cultures. That evening we went back to Anis´s house again and after hanging out with him and his friends for a while we went back to his family home for dinner. All the family and us ate in the one room. Rows of newspaper were placed on the floor and the majority of the family ate there. However we were the special guests so we got to sit on the bed in the corner and eat there. Antoine and I were both overwhelmed by how friendly and welcoming the family were to us. They were all so kind, it was a wonderful experience. Then that night after dinner some of the girls in the family painted some Henna tattoos on my hands and arms. It was such a great day, so Anis if you are reading this, thank you for inviting us in to your family home like that and for letting us share such a special day with you all. Our third day in Jaipur was our main sightseeing day. We went to visit the Hawa Mahal in town and from there we got a bus out of the city to the beautiful Amber Fort. The fort was built many years ago and housed a whole city. It really is like something out of a fairytale, with walls all around it and elephants coming and going taking people in and out of the grounds. Then in the afternoon we went back to the city and took a trip to Jantar Mantar. It is one of the largest and best preserved observatories in the north of India. Although neither of us are big in to astronomy we were amazed by the large instruments and how from such pieces of metal etc they were able to tell the time, the positions of the planets, the angles of the stars etc. To bring the evening to an end we went to meet Anis in town and he took us to the jewellery shop of one of his friends. There we chatted with them for a few hours, had some chai and in the end I gave in and bought a few pieces of jewellery. That evening then we said goodbye to Anis as we were leaving Jaipur the following morning. Meeting him changed our whole stay in Jaipur and made it way better.

Pushkar: 11^th – 13^th December 2008

After getting a bus from Jaipur to Ajmer, we then got another local bus to take us on to the pilgrim town of Pushkar. The town gets it´s name from pushpa meaning flower and kar meaning hand as it is believed that the lakes around which it is built were created from the petals that fell from the divine hands of the Hindu God Brahma, the Creator. It is quite an idyllic place with lakes and over 400 temples. Lots of both tourists and Indians come here every year to pray and wash away their sins. The first day we arrived we went with another couple in taxi to a hotel called Hill View. It turned out to be very good value for money as we got our own room with a small balcony for only 200 rupees a night. That day we took it easy and just went for a walk around the town centre. Although it isn’t very big it is very touristy so there are also lots of touristy restaurants and shops. The town is built around the main lake which is known as Pushkar Lake, it is in this lake that the pilgrims wash themselves and pray to wipe away their sins. There are numerous step areas known as ghats which lead down to the water and are normally covered in the rests of flowers etc which people have been using as offerings and throwing in to the lake. All tourists usually go through the prayer ritual as well, giving an offering of money and in return going through a small ceremony with one of the holy men known as Brahmas. Antoine and I didn’t realise that you had to pay so we let one of the men come over and pray for us. He also gave us flowers which we had to throw in to the lake. At the end of the short ceremony he more or less demanded money from us so we gave him a small offering, however he got angry with us as it was not enough. Immediately we saw the truth of the whole matter, yes it is a religious ceremony for the Indians but it also a money making scheme to take advantage of unsuspecting tourists! However we did the ritual and got our bracelets, known as your Pushkar Passport. Pushkar is quite a funny town to walk around as it is full of cows. Cows are sacred in the Hindu religion and so they can not be harmed, as a result they walk around freely. Don’t get too close to them though as one day one of them gave me a head-butt as I was walking past! We went exploring again on our second day in Pushkar. In the morning after breakfast we walked up the small hill behind our hotel to visit the Gayatri temple. Then we returned to the town centre and decided to go for a walk around the whole lake. What an interesting walk it turned out to be. First of all we came across a group of Hindu women in their bright saris and heavy jewellery carrying out a religious ritual which involved walking around a tree which they tied little ribbons and incense on to. It was quite the colourful sight with all the colours of their different saris mixed with the ribbons and colours on the tree. The woman were also heavily laden down with jewellery, they had huge bangles on their arms and legs, as well as large earrings and nose rings, some even had chains going from their noses to their ears. Just after we left them we met a yogi outside the temple where he lived and he invited us in to look around. He was only in his 30´s but had cut all contact with his family and friends to dedicate his life to the Hindu religion. He lived in the temple and would spend his days doing yoga and praying. It was really interesting to talk to him and learn about him and his beliefs and we also practised some yoga with him. That’s India for you; you set off for a quiet walk around a lake and next thing you know you’re doing yoga with a yogi in a Hindu temple. No wonder we fell in love with the place. Just before we left him he read our palms for us. Apparently I’m going to marry once in my life, have two children and a steady income. Antoine on the other hand is going to marry twice and make loads money!!!! Let’s hope he isn’t as good at palm reading as he is at yoga! We finished our walk around town with a visit to the Brahma temple and then had dinner that night in a cosy restaurant called Enigma. Since Pushkar is a holy pilgrim town we were told that no alcohol could be served there. However we discovered in Enigma that you can get beer if you ask for it in certain places but that it has to be done on the sly. Since we hadn’t had a beer in a while we took one that night with dinner and then saw that it came up as apple juice on the bill! There is always a way around everything! haha

We got our third and final day in Pushkar off to a nice start with breakfast in the hotel´s rooftop restaurant. Then we headed out on an hours walk up to the Savitri temple. This temple is built on top of a large hill over looking the whole town. The walk up to it involves numerous steps and with the sun beating down on us we were ready for a rest at the top of it. After visiting the inside of the temple we got some cold drinks and sat outside enjoying the views over the town. We ended up talking to some other people and in the end passed most of the day with them chilling out in the sun at the hilltop café. It was such a nice relaxing day, plus the people we met were very sound, so a great way to end our Pushkar experience. That night we went for dinner again in Enigma before getting our 10 hour night bus on to Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer: 14^th – 17^th December 2008

We were curious to see what a night bus Indian style was going to be like and thankfully it wasn’t too bad. It was a coach size bus with normal seats on the bottom and then small sleeping compartments on top. We got a double sleeping compartment, it was like sleeping in a small box with a sliding glass door. However we were so tired out from all the excitement of the last few days that both of us actually slept quite well. An English lady we had met in Pushkar had recommended us a hotel in Jaisalmer so once we got off the bus that morning we went straight there. The hotel turned out to be great, it is called Moti Palace and it´s owner is a funny character who calls himself The King of The Desert. The hotel is done up like a desert palace and most of the rooms are fab. For our first night there we splashed out and took the special Maharaja suite. Well when I say splashed out, I mean splashed out for us. Instead of our usual 200 rupees we paid 500, still not very expensive! That first day we went for a walk around the fort part of the city and visited a Havali (typical house built centuries ago). The city is just like something out of a film. It is built in the middle of the Thar Desert, the desert which runs along the Indian border with Pakistan. Apart from the city itself there is nothing else for miles and miles but sand and stone. The city was built years ago as a strategically located point along the busy caravan trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia. It´s earlier rulers grew rich by looting gems, silk and opium from the caravans. However nowadays with the use of sea for transportation it is nothing but a remote outpost in the Thar Desert. However it is well worth a visit as all the buildings constructed during it’s glory days still stand, clustered around a fabulous fort. That day we also reserved with “The King of The Desert” a two day camel safari leaving the following morning. The next morning we had to get up bright and early and along with an English couple who were in our group (Emma and Trader) we headed off with The King of The Desert to start our camel safari. After a 30km drive deeper in to the Thar desert we arrived at a spot in the middle of nowhere where two young guys were fast asleep under some blankets on the ground. The only other thing nearby was a small group of camels, we had arrived at the starting point. Once the two guides woke up they made us breakfast over a small fire and then we were each given our own camel. My camel was very quiet while Antoine´s was HUGE and a bit more independent. Once all our material (blankets, food etc) was loaded on to the camels the four of us and the two guides headed off further in to the desert. After about three hours of camel riding we stopped below a tree for lunch. I think we were all glad to get down for a walk as our bums were getting a bit numb!!!! I couldn’t believe where I was; on a camel in the middle of the Thar desert on the border between India and Pakistan, I felt so lucky. We were all loving it, it was such a fun adventure. For lunch the guides made another small fire and cooked us chapatti and vegetables, followed by some chai and biscuits. Although we were literally in the middle of nowhere and miles from any kind of a town, the guides managed to provide us with fresh milk by catching and milking a wild goat. After lunch we had about another hour and a half on the camels to get to the area where we set up camp for the night. It was such a beautiful spot in the middle of amazing sand dunes. We had a few hours to explore the area before it got dark so Antoine and I went off to play like kids in the sand dunes. The English couple were less energetic and stayed close to our campsite drinking beer they had brought with them and getting stoned. At one point when we were quite a good bit into the sand dunes we heard the roar of a fighter jet overhead. Given that we were on the border with Pakistan, and there were rumours of war between the two countries at that time because of terrorist attacks in Mumbai I did wonder what was going on. However it was the first of many jets which flew over us that night and the guides told us it was just normal border security checks. Once it got dark, and it gets real dark in the desert, the guides made another fire and prepared dinner. After dinner we had a sing song round the fire before all heading to bed early. Bed was literally a blanket on the sand and then another few on top of us. The sky cleared later on into the night and we got to see tons of stars. It was an amazing experience to be there sleeping under the stars in the Indian desert.  We all slept really well until around 5am when it started to rain a little…rain in the desert?! At first I thought I was dreaming!! However it was no dream and soon it started to rain heavier and heavier. Antoine and I were wondering if the guides had anything to use as cover and feared they hadn’t as they didn’t seem to budge at all. Thankfully though as the rain got heavier it woke them also and they got out a large sheet of plastic which they pulled over us all. Soon the rain was pouring down and there we were all lying under this huge sheet of plastic. The guides couldn’t believe that it was raining and told us how it was great for the desert and how we had brought them good luck. We didn’t feel so lucky mind you!!!! Before long the rain turned to hailstones and they battered down on top of us. Once again the guides couldn’t believe it, they hadn’t seen anything like that in years. In the end the plastic wasn’t even enough and the rain / hailstones started getting in under and wetting our blankets. The whole thing didn’t start clearing up until around 8am! Once it did start getting drier we packed up the camels and the guides took us to their village to get dried and heated up. After about 45mins we arrived in Barna where they lived in a small village with about 10 houses. Although the rain was unexpected it had it’s advantage as we got to go to their house and see how the desert people live. Otherwise we would just have been continuing with our camel ride back towards the meeting point of the the first morning. Visiting the village was one of the highlights for me of the whole safari. It was like entering another world. We went to the home of one of the guides where we were welcomed by his parents, his older pregnant sister and his two younger siblings. His Dad was an elderly desert man who had been a camel driver his whole life. He was dressed from head to toe in robes and wore a matching large turban. His mother, with her tough wrinkled skin from the harsh desert sun, was skinny and aged due to the tough desert life she lived. All the woman were dressed in bright saris and heavily laden down with think silver jewellery. We were escorted on to the roof of the house to sit in the sun, thank goodness the rain had stopped, and they brought us warm chai and chapattis. However the rain started again after breakfast so we had to go inside the house and wait there. In the end we spent the whole morning there talking with the elderly father who spoke some English (he was also a camel safari guide when he was younger) and watching the family go about their daily chores. The house was built from mud, it had an open interior patio and some small rooms leading off it. None of the rooms were furnished and the whole family slept on the floor of one of the small rooms at night. Another room was used as a kitchen where the women cooked over a fire on the ground and then another room was used for keeping the camel feed etc. They didn’t have any running water, electricity or toilet facilities. It really opened my eyes to the fact that not everyone has the home comforts that most of us take for granted. We did manage to go out for a walk around the village in between showers. There were no more than 10 mud houses and a small school. All the families which live there are tough desert people who mostly work with camels. You can see on their faces how they are burnt and worn down by the tough lifestyle they live. In the afternoon, after having lunch with the family, we had a 30 minute camel ride back to a meeting point where a car came to pick us up. Due to the unstable weather we couldn’t go back the whole way by camel. However the fact that we got to spend part of the day in the village more than made up for that. All in all it was a great trip and Id definitely recommend it. The next day was our last full day in Jaisalmer. After the adventure of the camel safari we decided to have a lazy day and apart from going for a walk around the outside the fort, we took it easy, treating ourselves to banana and chocolate cake and a cosy dinner that night. We both really loved our time out in the desert, both in Jaisalmer and on the camel safari. If anyone is going to India Id definitely say to go there, it is so different and unlike anywhere else Id ever been.

Jodhpur: 18^th – 20^th December 2008

Another bus journey, this time 6 hours and we were back out of the desert again and in the city of Jodhpur, the second largest city in Rajasthan. We got a rickshaw to a hostel recommended to us by The Kind of The Desert. It turned out to be as good as anything going so we took a room for 200 rupees. How are we ever going to be able to get used to European prices again!!!! That first evening there we walked to the train station to get our train tickets to New Delhi. A local guy started talking to us saying how he travels lots and could help us get our tickets. In the end Antoine realised that something was dodgy about him and told him that we didn’t need his help. Just as well too as we soon realised it was a whole scam. He was telling us that there were no tickets left to the capital but that he knew a way to get us some, paying a lot more obviously. However it was all a load of rubbish to try and do us out of our money as when we went ourselves to check we got normal price tickets without any hassle at all. Good thing Antoine had his eyes open or else we would have been done!!! After that first day we spent another two full days in Jodhpur and really liked it. We visited the Mehrangarh Fort, a huge fort built out of 125m of high rock. It is a very impressive building towering over the whole city, in fact it is known as perhaps the most majestic of all Rajasthan´s forts. The views over the city are beautiful as well as there are many blue washed houses around the fort which give the city a lot of character. As well as that we visited the clock tower, the city bazaar and The Royal Palace. Part of the palace is a hotel which we were refused entry to but it looked fab from the outside!!!! J We also met a sound French guy there who we had dinner with one night. He was a professional photographer who pretty much spent his life travelling. He told us that travelling made him feel immortal, in a way it kind of does as you lose track of the concept of time, what day of the week it is etc. It was during our last day in Jodhpur that Antoine had to break the surprise to his family that he was coming home for Christmas. I told my family but Antoine was hoping to keep it a surprise and arrive on their doorstep. However during an internet chat with his Mum just two days before arriving home she told him how they were planning to spend Christmas at a friend´s house. So he had no choice but to tell her that he was coming home!!!! Speaking of home, our time in India was getting close to the end and on the night of the 20^th we got a night train all the way back to New Delhi.

New Delhi 21^st – Flight home 22^nd December

The night train was….no, not comfortable….no, not cosy….lets say…interesting! There were six of us in a small space with a hard bunk bed each, three on one side and three on the other. No space was left unused and luxury was kept to a minimum. No one really talked to each other and when Antoine and I started playing cards we were the main attraction. However we did manage to sleep ok (probably thanks to 15 months of travel!) and only woke up around 5am as we thought we were getting near to New Delhi. Since we thought we were close we got down from our bunks and started to organise ourselves. However it wasn’t until two hours later that we actually did arrive in Delhi, so for two hours we were awake and waiting for no reason! DUH! Once we got out of the train we immediately went to get a taxi to Joaquin´s house. This turned out to be a bit more complicated than we thought and we ended up getting lost in the taxi for about an hour. What should have taken us about an hour took us two hours! However it was our own fault as we hadn’t taken down the complete address of his flat. Once again DUH! Plus we didn’t want to call Joaquin to ask him as it was Saturday morning and he was probably enjoying a well deserved sleep in. Anyways we got there in the end and spent a nice last day in India at his house. What can I say about India, it is an amazing country. Nothing is ever simple, nothing is ever as you´d expect and basically you have to see and life it to believe it. Of all the countries we visited, it is definitely among my favourite and I have no doubt in my mind that one day we will go back. I think it is probably a country that you will either love or hate, but it wont leave anybody indifferent. We both loved it and it´s people. We arrived the morning of the 21st in New Delhi and our flight was early the morning of the 22nd so we had to get everything organised and packed. We were getting very excited at this stage, going home for Christmas after being away travelling for 15 months!!! Going home for Christmas is always exciting anyway, so imagine how we felt going home not only for Christmas but for the first time in ages! That night after we said goodbye to Joaquin and thanked him for being so good to us, his driver Rajesh took us to the airport. We got to the airport around 23.30, well on time for our 03.30 flight to Heathrow. Both of us were really excited although we found it hard to believe that our adventure was coming to an end and we were actually going home. In a way it all felt a bit surreal. The flight went smoothly and we both managed to sleep a bit, however given the excitement we were wide away long before arriving in London. Being back in Heathrow was strange, it was the place where our whole trip started 15 months before that on the 7^th October 2007, and it was were we had to say goodbye after spending possibly the best 15 months of our life together. We landed in Heathrow around 7.30am and an hour or so later we had to separate, as Antoine took his flight on to Madrid, and I waited for mine to go to Belfast. We said an emotional see you soon and off we went, each one back in to the arms of their family for Christmas.

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