Holly & Alexander, India, 2015
21 January, 2015
Hi all!
We have arrived safely in Jaipur after a pretty hairy car ride from Agra, which
our driver must have done at record speed, using the hard shoulder as a means to
undertake slower moving camels and trucks at every opportunity. We are, however,
quite relived to be out of the chaos of Delhi. The Taj Mahal, which we nipped to
on 'the way' from Delhi to Jaipur was glorious and thanks to the fore mentioned
speedy driving we got there so early that we were one of the first bunch in. We
have been up since 5.30am having only left my friend Deeps house at 1pm as he
wouldn't let us go!!! He burnt us a chicken (don't ask) and plied Al with Indian
wine and peanuts until we could make our goodbyes.
I love our hotel here in Jaipur..its quaint Jus, and kind of quirky. I treated
Al to an Ayervedic massage which was lovely, And we just had a lovely roof top
meal at the sister hotel of ours with twinkly lights and even a couple of
fireworks! Al has let me do all the food choosing and so far I've done good!
Tonight was the best meal yet. We scoffed ourselves whilst snuggled under
blankets and Al had his first Kingfisher beer.
Tomorrow we get up and pootle off to the Amber fort and pink city, and then we
are (weather permitting) going to do a balloon ride over Jaipur..I can't keep
this boy out of the sky!!
Tomorrow night we have the luxury of a second class, three bunk sleeper train to
look forward to for 12 hrs to take us deep into the Rajasthani desert and to
Jaisalmer for camel safaris and adventures.
Over and out (and ciao) for now
H&A
X
26 January, 2015
Namaste!
So where did I leave you?? Oh yes!
Jaipur.
Well, the day after our massages we hired a tuk tuk driver called Mo for the day
for the grand expense of £5 and he acted as our tour guide, restaurant critic
and shopping instructor which really was a good bargain itself I feel. We learnt
a lot about Mo during our 8 hours together including having a rummage (at his
insistence) through a book of business cards of his 'English friends'. We learnt
that Mo has been working hard as a tuk tuk driver for over 16 years and despite
the fact that the rickshaw itself had no wing mirrors and kept braking down
every few kilometres, he was immensely proud that he could save up 800$ a year
to pay for both his children to go to 'private' school. He was especially proud
of his little girl, (who most people apparently told him not to bother to
educate), as she was top in her class and working hard for a scholarship so that
her dad could relax a bit. We ended up giving him £10 for the day.
Did I mention it rained that day?! It poured. I got out my very fetching rain
coat and pootled around looking like a plump and lopsided ghost. It cheered up
in the afternoon, but not in time for our balloon ride unfortunately, but to
brighten the mood we did find some nice emporiums and a clothing sale where we
bought a couple of warm mens coats for the chilly evenings. I made Al promise
that we will give them away to someone before we leave.
We ate another delicious meal at Peacock and then headed to the train station
for our over night train.
Al had sense of humour failure when we got to the station and saw the hundreds
of (rather dirty and smelly) people waiting to get on our train. When we did get
on, a family with two small children had pretty much taken over the whole birth
and Al and I had to cramp up with our suitcases and lie in a ball to fit. Come
6am, the baby was screaming and we weren't getting off until 12!
Eventually we arrived in Jaisalmer and our gorgeous little hotel within the
fort.
After a thorough decontamination we set off for lunch and a mozy around the
sights. We had a chilled evening where I didn't do my best ordering and an early
night.
Camel safari day!!! We were collected shortly after breakfast and were driven
about an hour outside Jaisalmer to a village called Khuri, where we were given a
jerky jeep ride around town before a thali lunch and our camels arrived with our
guides - two boys aged 12 & 8. My camel was called Disco and was a frisky fellow
with a mind of his own! Even so, we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon wondering
through the desert, the boys took us to their village where we saw their school
and met a few of their friends (one of whom was trying to get my to give her all
my belongings..she settled for my only pen), let us rest at the beginning of the
sand dunes where we both promptly fell into a snooze, and then took us deep into
the dunes where we stopped and watched the sunset. We had dinner around a
campfire with local musicians and dancers entertaining us, and finally we
ventured off in a jeep, back to the sand dunes, where a chap called Mohinda
built us a bed out of sheets and cushions, set us a fire, and then shot off into
the night, leaving us to sleep alone beneath the stars.
I slept surprising well, Al not so much. We woke up just after sunrise, when we
were collected, and after just managing to escape having our breakfast stolen by
a goat, we were driven back to Jaisalmer.
And that was yesterday! We showered and headed out for more temples and some
unsuccessful shopping (in my eyes) and spent the afternoon relaxing on the
rooftop of our hotel. Dinner was chilled and then an early night as we were up
at 5.30am this morning to get the train to Jodhpur.
We only had an afternoon in Jodhpur and we really made the most of it. We did
the tour of the fort in record time and then did a special zip line tour off the
fort walls itself! It was such a fun thing to do and the views were incredible.
We go pro-ed it and did our best at doing one handed selfies which was amusing!!
I dragged Al out to the antique emporiums and we just finished a delicious meal
on a haveli rooftop, with the fort all lit up on its hill.
Up early again tomorrow for another 5/6 hour train to Pushkar, so will leave it
there for now.
Lots of love to all and ciao for now
H&A
X
4 February, 2015
Hello all
It is now February and as such we have migrated to balmier climes, and it is 34
deg C as I write this from the upper deck of our houseboat in Kerala, whilst we
sip coconut water out of freshly picked coconuts..but I digress.
I left you the night before we boarded another train to Pushkar and it is there
that I shall pick up from.
We arrived in Pushkar at about lunchtime (me somehow having contracted the flu)
and did our now ritualistic decontamination from the train. 6 hours of lying
flat on a bunk in a filthy train with what we now refer to as BFGS (initials of
four pretty disgusting and noisy bodily functions that fellow travellers seem
happy to put us through), doing their thing non stop, can make even a cold,
dribbly shower feel like heaven.
We had lunch at Baba's rooftop restaurant, where we quickly learnt that neither
meat nor alcohol would be consumed for the next three days (I am, as it turns
out, unequivocally a carnivore). We took the rest of the afternoon to wonder
around the bazaar and to settle into our quirky (Jus) hotel.
Thanking the universe that we didn't have to heave ourselves into another train
for a few days, we slept in the next day and after more vegetables, we hit the
ghats (including Ghandi ghat where the forementioned was scattered post
cremation) and local temples before climbing up 1k to the top of a nearby mill
(our new word for a small mountain or large hill!) to the temple at the top. The
views were incredible and Marge, it was no easier doing it the second time
around!!! We were thoroughly pooped after that, so relaxed the afternoon and
evening away.
Our final day in Pushkar had some excitement in store! When I lived in India I
spent a lot of time on the back of various friends Royal Enfield Bullet
motorbikes and we had been playing 'spot the bullet' ever since we arrived in
Delhi. Today was the day that we would rent one of our own! Now Marge and Pops,
you may want to skip reading this bit..Al decided that a 350cc wouldn't do so we
went to whole hog and got a 500cc which backfired and blasted as soon as you
managed to kick start the damn thing. Anyway..it was a beautiful machine..old
and needing a bit of tlc, but it was ours for the day. Al drove us out of
Pushkar until we found a little slip road with barely any traffic so that I
could have a go 😃. I did so well that soon I had Al on the back and I was
negotiating my way onto the main road, up the windy, steep mountain road towards
Ajmer. Fellow motorists could barely contain themselves at the sight of a GIRL
driving a BOY on a bike. We got hooted at (more than usual), given thumbs up and
even cheered. People stared so much that for their own safety we decided to swap
back over!
Al rode us back into Pushkar and along a road that stopped abruptly and around
dirt tracks for a while, where I fell in love with a little puppy with a broken
paw and cried when Al wouldn't let me take him to the local animal hospital.
That night we returned to Babas and repacked our bags for yet another train
journey.
The train to Udaipur was at a much more social time than previously and this
time we even had seats! 5 hours later and not feeling like we had the onset of
bedsores, we arrived in Udaipur.
It is my first time in Udaipur and I love it. Al says it's his favourite place
in India so far, although I'm not sure that means much as he has said that at
nearly every place we've been to.
Udaipur is very different to the very dry Rajasthani cities we've been to so
far, it is lush and the efforts of the royal family to better the city for the
sake of tourism is notable in comparison to some of its northerly cousins. Our
hotel is a lovely heritage haveli and looks out onto the lake. Al is obsessed
with the Taj lake palace hotel and is determined that we stay there when we next
visit. We indulge in a late lunch of chicken thali (CHICKEN!!! Hurray!!) and
then take a boat tour around the lake just before sunset..it is beautiful.
That night we dined at the best restaurant in Udaipur and as Al was rubbing his
hands together at the thought of their 'extensive wine list' the waiter came
over and announced that it was a national dry day.
Al was not amused.
Not even vaguely amused.
The food was delicious (fish, chicken and what I was desperately trying to
pretend wasn't goat) and despite the waiters snooty attitude to a women doing
the ordering and als insistence that it was the waiters fault that he couldn't
have a drink, we passed a romantic and relaxing evening looking out at
Octopussys lair.
The next morning we breakfasted at a place that served healthy food that made us
feel odd and then went to take a tour of the palace..our favourite so far. After
admiring the opulent crystal collection, we ate more food and then perused
through a few shops and bazaars. Dinner was on the rooftop of the hotel that we
were meant to stay at but at the last minute realised that they had never
confirmed to us, which was our favourite meal so far! Absolutely delicious and
Al got his long awaited glass of wine.
The next day we had the morning to relax and wonder and then we flew from
Udaipur to Mumbai and then Mumbai to Kochi, running to catch our connection and
praying that our luggage made it through the transfer (it did). We arrived at
our hotel in Fort Cochin at about 10.30pm.
Cochin is beautifully warm and sunny. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then
went exploring. We walked up and down the Chinese fishing nets, drank our first
coconut, and walked along to Ghandi beach. After the tastiest fish thali lunch,
we sat a while looking at the water and then hired a tuk tuk driver to take us
to Mattancherry and Jew town. We had drinks and then dinner in what the guide
book described as 'movie star surroundings' and ate posh and slightly
pretentious, but by no means not delicious food and walked ourselves home.
And that was yesterday, although I'm not sure exactly when you will get this as
there is no wifi on the houseboat.
We have been drifting through the backwaters of Alleppey since this morning and
have so far eaten some local fish that we bought from a fish seller and have
some scrummy prawns to have for dinner. It is incredibly peaceful here and Al is
even having a snooze by my feet.
Actually..that seems like a very good idea right now, so I shall leave it there
and join Al for a sunlit nap on the floor.
Lots of love and ciao for now
H&A
X