Varanasi...

...is a stressful place!  I got here, eventually after a 15 hour train ride, on Sunday evening.  The hotel is good as it's full of other travellers which is a good sign.  I got up super early (for the 3rd morning in a row...) yesterday to watch the sunrise over the Ganges from one of the ghats.  It was a really clear morning so it was beautiful, and great for people watching.  The water of the Ganges is considered super super holy so people come on pilgrimages here to bathe in it, which is said to cleanse you of your sins.  I took one look at it and decided I was going nowhere near the water...At the moment, it is 'Kanwar Yatra' which is a Hindu pilgramage in which people (known as kawarias) walk from their villages for hundreds of kilometres (often in bare feet) to collect holy water from the Ganges.  They all dress in orange and carry decorated sticks on their shoulders with containers at each end for collecting the water.  They sing and chant as they go along and there are camps set up for them along the way to provide food and rest.  Many of them don't carry anything with them so rely on these camps and the generosity of people along the way for food, drink and a place to rest.  I went to see two temples in Varanasi yesterday and then went back to the Ganges to watch a ceremony that was taking place on one of the Ghats, although I couldn't really see it properly to get an idea of what it was about! 

As it's so hot here (I read in the paper today that Varanasi is pleased to have some respite from the humidity as it has gone down to 92%....) it's really tiring to do anything and I've been getting loads of hassle from street vendors and beggars.  So I decided to have a relaxing day today.  Well it was supposed to be relaxing before I tried to do the simple task of topping up my phone... 2 hours, 1 Airtel shop visited, 4 phone calls, 1 try on the internet and about 10 different Airtel employees spoken to and I've finally managed it..... through a guy who happened to be standing in the internet cafe as I was breaking down through sheer frustration and who just did it on his phone!  I tend to go through several changes a day of 'I love India, I hate India, I love India, I hate India' and today has been particularly like that!  So, I'm looking forward to heading up to Amritsar tomorrow as it's supposed to be a bit calmer and less hassly than here I think, although I have got a 24 hour train ride to get there, it's a good job they have men who walk through selling chai every half hour, the man on the train on Sunday actually started stopping to ask if I wanted another one....

 mind the gap......

end of trip :(

Yes, the comfort blanket of travelling in a big group has ended and it's almost time to go it alone for the next 2 weeks.... the trip has ben incredible, it has exceeded all my expectations by far.  Our tour leader was great, not only at keeping 16 people all in tow and not losing any but also good at doing impromptu things to make our trip really memorable.  I think the highlights have been Udaipur in general which was just too beautiful for words, seeing the Rajasthani cultural show with all different types of traditional dances, Jojowar which is a tiny little town not used to tourists so we were able to get a proper idea of a traditional Indian town, stopping the bus on a derserted highway to help Indian women dressed in beautiful clothes build a road by carrying rocks on our head, and of course seeing the Taj Mahal which we did this morning before sunrise which was even more spectacular than I imagined. 

Lowlights have been getting even more ill than I was in Pushkar- it got worse and in Jaipur the tour leader made me see a doctor, a lovely man called 'Dr Panicker' who came to the hotel and gave me 8 DIFFERENT DRUGS!!! And finding out about the bombings in Mumbai when we were in the middle of nowhere, when these things happen it always feels wrong that everything just carries on as normal and yet I know that it has to.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Varanasi on a 6.30am train for some more exploring so will update when I get chance.  Here's a few of my favourite photos of the trip.....

 Eating paranthas in a tiny cafe in old delhi

 Sleeper train

 Jodphur

 The blue city of Jodphur

 Having a minature painting on my nail in Udaipur

 Rajasthan cultural show in Udaipur

 Jaipur

 Painting class graduates of 15th July, Udaipur

 Jojawar

 The group

 The ladies who build India's roads, M6 workmen take note...

 Monkey temple, Jaipur

 Making a wish by tying string to the temple at Fatephur Sikri

 Taj Mahal, the romance of it is enough to make your heart melt...



Poorly in Pushkar :(

I have missed a day of the trip today as I have been poorly all last night and today, most gutted I missed out on a shopping day!  But am feeling a bit better now so hopefully by tomorrow i'll be fine and dandy again.  Since leaving Udaipur, we have been to Jojawar, which was brilliant as it's a tiny town and not toursity at all.  We went for a walk around the town and it was like we were celebrities- everyone came out of their houses to say hello, it was the friendliest place ever.  And the hotel we were staying in played the drums and scattered flower petals on us as we arrived- arriving at a hotel wiggling is the way forward.  We arrived in Pushkar yesterday, on the way we were driving down a really bumpy road which sme people were in the process of laying so we stopped the bus and helped them for a bit.  Carrying rockson your head is really hard!  The women who were laying the road told our tour leader that we were the first foreigners they had ever met and the first to get out of a tour bus and help!  On the itinerary today was a camel ride, I didn't go on it as it was a couple of hours but I did manage to have a quick 2 minute ride up and down on one, they are the funniest animals I have ever seen.  Tomorrow we leave for Jaipur, I will update again when I get chance x

Trip so far.....

Wow, the first few days of my trip has been amazing.  The group is a really good mix of ages and nationalities (English, Indian, Canadian, Australian, Danish, Austrian and Icelandic!) and everyone is really friendly and getting on well.  After starting in Delhi, we have been so far to Jodphur, Ranakpur and we are now in Udaipur.  The trip is so well organised and so we have seen some amazing things already, including a Rajasthan cultural show with all of the traditional folk dances, we visited a traditional family home of the bish noi sect of Hinduism and were given opium water, I have had a minature panting done on my nail and taken part in a painting class where we were taught the art of traditional Rajasthan minature paintings, I helped make chapatis in a Sikh temple and we have seen some amazing old forts and palaces with breathtaking views.  It is very hot up here, much hotter than Goa, it was 42 degrees in Jodphur.  I have taken my first sleeper train from Delhi to Jodphur which was actually ok, apart from the people that get on the train in the middle of the night and start really loud conversations! This is my artwork from the painting class today, I was quite proud of my little self!  I will put up some more photos when I have more time.....

Arrived in Delhi...

The journey up here from Goa was fine and you can always tell it's a good hotel when amongst their instructions they instruct that "lady guests of ill repute are not allowed", brilliant.  Just about to head out and explore for a bit before the 'gap adventures' meeting later where i'll meet everyone else on my trip.

mango house no coming, delhi coming!

On Friday I waved goodbye to everyone at CWT after having a lovely last week.  We had the usual end of the month birthday party on Thursday which we managed to hire the open plan roof terrace of someone's house for which was perfect, especially when it thundered it down outside which it has a habit of doing presently... it was the usual chaotic mix of music, dancing, cake and games with the addition of a broken arm :( One little lad who is usually the most boisterous boy you could ever meet broke his arm the day before and so spent most of the afternoon just wanting to sit on my knee and take pictures with my camera.  It was hard to see him in so much pain but we managed to get some ibuprofen to his sister the day after and give her instructions as to when he has to take it.  The pain didn't stop him lying to try and get more cake and ice cream and cheating at bingo the next day when he realised there was dairy milk involved, a boy after my own heart... as far as i'm concerned anyone that turns their '1' into a '7' is just showing initiative...

We also managed to take an updated photo of morning school on Friday to go in the school room.....

 

And that was it!  End of Children Walking Tall for me, it wasn't too sad leaving as the children are very used to volunteers coming and going and I've had an amazing time with them over the past 3 months.  And I managed to fit in a last 'penguin dance' before I left, just for you casey.......

 

 

So this week I'm just packing up my flat, sorting out what to take on my travels and what to post home in a big parcel and doing odd jobs (including applying for a job back in brum which feels quite surreal sat here in Goa...)  I head up to Delhi on Sunday to join my tour group which is exciting but a bit daunting, I've got so comfortable here, but I keep reminding myself that this seemed daunting before.  I will try and update my blog as much as possible while I'm travelling but it may just be short posts rather than the essays I've been writing recently you'll be pleased to hear!  That's all for now folks, over and out ......... xx