Jodphur and the Elephant Festival

Mandor Guest House


The Temples in Mandor Gardens, Jodphur

A Hanuman Monkey and it's baby, Mandor Gardens

A view over Jodphur - The Blue City - seemingly the blue colour on the buildings keeps them cool and keeps away the Mosquitos.

The water pump at Bishnoi Village

Chilling out at Bishnoi Village

Milking the goats at Bishnoi Village

Some children at their home at Bishnoi Village

The children at Bishnoi village

A Blue Bull - very rare breed that is a mixture of cattle and horse - lovely colour though not sure if you will see it from this!

The cycle rickshaw driver trying to get more money from Anji - or was it her phone number???

The Elephant Festival

A street vender selling the colour powder that is added to the water and thrown at people as part of Holi

Shveta at a burning on the eve of Holi - relates back to an old legend of a wicked king who tried to have his son burnt as he would not worship him, but the son survived and the kings evil sister died instead - so now as part of the celebrations things of importance are burnt to bring good luck to them.

Kriti, Shveta, Kul and Kshity - the family who looked after us very well in Jaipur

Anji got bit on her last day and she is going home looking like the elephant man!!

Spotted this bird at the train station today what amazing colours - the challenge is can someone at home find out what it is???

After the last update Anji and I had our first overnight train journey down to Jodphur (the Blue City). The journey was rather uneventful and I slept most of the way despite the loud snores from my fellow passengers (and no I am not referring to Anji!!). The Mandor Guest House where we stayed in Jodphur was fantastic it was set up like a small village with mud style huts around a lovely peaceful garden (we did of course have electricity and showers!). This was run by a lovely family as well who do a lot of work with the rural villages and travellers staying with them sometimes undertake voluntary work. We were only there for two days so didn't have time for that but will keep it in mind for the future.

We did however go on a half day safari out to the Bishnoi Villages. Bishnoi means 29 and relates to the 29 laws that were put in place in these communities hundreds of years ago. These basically enforce that all life is precious and equal to human life so the local villagers do not kill any animal (including insects which they pick of the veg etc) and they have protected lands. The ccommunity was very welcoming and we got to chat to a lot of the children who were then late for school as they were fascinated by my compass and combination padlock. We spent quite some time with an older gent who was making blankets on his loom - they don't sell anything but trade locally to survive. They are the first recorded tree huggers - with 363 0f them being killed in the 17th century when they were trying to stop some trees being felled!!

We spent hours at the massive Meherangarh Fort which was in excellent condition and had lots of interesting stories around it - won't bore you with them but if you ever come to India this is well worth a visit! Here we had our palms read - as cynical as I am I have to say the guy quite impressed me with the description of my personality traits - yes he could have just been lucky but the first thing out his mouth was 'independent and don't like asking for help' (ring any bells!) and he desccribed my fiery temper and a few other things that were quite apt....he did get a few things wrong like the fact Anji has no kids but it was quite a laugh......have kept a note of the predictions and will see if they come true (though these were much less specific than the personality traits!) but you can all now stop worrying as he said I'm going to live into my 80's so think that means I will survive this trip!! Oh and there was no mention of a rich middle eastern prince like the last time (so definetely much more believable - though that wouldn't have been hard!!)

Only mishaps we had in Jodphur were with the Hanuman monkeys in Mandor Gardens - they were all over the place and I wanted to walk accross a little footbridge to the temples and thought the monkey sitting on it would just move - oh no it bared it's teeth and I had to wait nearly 10 mins until a cow decided it wanted to cross befor the got out of the way!! Wasn't as bad as Anji though as she had one jump on her and pull at her bag......it's not like they are hungry they are very well fed as the locals worship them

We then headed back to Jaipur for the Elephant Festival - it started really well with a parade of painted and jewelled elephants, horses, camels etc and there were loads of dancers in traditional costume. Unfortunately, it was not very well organised and most of the spectators wandered onto the stadium pitch and you couldn't see anything - was very tempted to go down and show the security/police how to control a crowd but I refrained and we just gave up and went home.

The festival was a prelude to the Holi celebrations which are on here this weekend which is a celebration of colour. Most places are closed and everyone wanders around throwing coloured water over each other - as we spend most of the day on the train and managed to avoid getting covered in anything (well so far there is another couple of days still to go!!).

Anji is now sitting at the airport waiting on her flight home and I am back in Delhi for the night before my first solo train journey tomorrow as I start to make my way accross to one of the big National Parks (hopefully to see the Tigers) though have a few stops planned en route. Well to be honest other than my train ticket tomorrow I have no confirmed plans just a rough idea of where I want to stop off. May be less reliable internet access once I'm out the city so thought I better give you another update before then.

Ok I'm away to see if I can find anywhere open to get some food (that is safe to eat) and hit my bed as my train is at 0615 - not so sure about snoozing on this one when on my own as they don't announce the stops on the trains so you really have to check all the time - today we got off at the wrong one but thankfully it was just Old Delhi rather than New Delhi - cost me all of 6p to get the Metro over to the other side of town.......

Who knows where I will be the next time you hear from me.......

Jack :-)

Jaipur and Agra

Anji being chased by a cow as she tries to take it's photo!!!

Washing in the sacred pool at Glata Monkey Palace

A Double Decker!!

Ryan the Tiger enjoying the view over Jaipur from Nahagarth Fort

The City Palace, residence of the Jaipur Royal Family

Flower sellers of Jaipur

A public toilet

A school party at the Amber Palace

Shopping for Sari's

A street kid in Jaipur - the not so nice side of India's Cities.....

Local Transport

Hello again,

We are still in Jaipur, which is also known as the Pink City as all the old buildings are built with a local pink stone although they are pretty run down now. This is seemingly the place to buy luxury gemstones unfortunately that is not within my travel budget.

We have done a lot of the local sites, Forts, Palaces etc and meeting some lovely people and of course a few stories to share with you. After taking some photo's of the local street kids the other day I thought I would buy them some sweets as I don't like to give them money - despite asking three times if what I was buying was sweets the local vender decided to sell me tobacco, luckily a passing local lady intervened and explained what I was about to do!! Don't think the vender dared to argue when I demanded he swap what I bought for some biscuits!!

Then when we were walking through the park and watching some young lads play cricket some of them came over and were speaking to us about where we were from, all very friendly till one decided to touch my bum - don't think he will do that again though as I threatened to hit him with his mates cricket bat so they decided they should return to their game and we left the park quick smart!!

The Delhi belly comes and goes which makes life quite interesting especially when trying to communicate with the locals to find a toilet in a hurry - yesterday Anji had to squat down and demonstrate for our driver

Last night our hosts invited us to join them at a friends who were hosting a meal at a temple to celebrate a religous service. We saw a little of the ceremony which was really interesting with lots of colour, bells and praying to the two different gods of the temple - The Monkey God and the Elephant God (I won't even try and spell their correct names!). This was followed by a traditional meal from the Rajastan area which was delicious and served on leaf plates.

Today we are having a lazy afternoon in the sun at our Guest House before heading out to a local village to see some more local customs and then we catch our first overnight train, which I am sure will be another adventure!!

Below some funny video clips which I hope work and make you giggle as I am hearing how cold and miserable the weather is at home just now ;-)

Jack xx

Galta Monkey Palace



Some more monkeys at the Galta Monkey Palace

Street Life in Jaipur




Elephants in Jaipur

The School Bus

Moving on from Delhi

Me getting on a train

An itchy goat at the gates of Fatehpur Sikri - a ghost town which town which took 13 years to build in the 15th century to only be occupied for 4 years because of problems with the water supply.

A normal mode of transport on a busy India road

Anji holding up the Taj

The Taj Mahal first thing in the morning

Me at the Taj

Islamic inscriptions around the entrance

The coloured stones are sunk into the marble

Getting a shave by a barber in an Old Delhi Street

The snake charmer - who was quite insistent that he was going to show us his skills then get paid!!

The Jantar Mantra - a strange collection of buildings used with the shadow of the sun to tell time, make astrological and lunar charts (don't ask me anything more complicated as I didn't understand!!)

Meeting local people

The tractor to work

Anji arrived on Saturday and we spent another day in Delhi so she could do the whistle stop tour. We managed to get to Old Delhi and back using the Metro which is amazingly clean and at a cost of about 15p per ticket (and the bonus of no haggling) is great. Only problem is the limited area it covers at the moment as they are still building it so it is not always an option.

We have now managed two India Rail train journeys, the first went very smoothly (other than my need to keep visiting the toilet with a mild touch of Delhi belly!!). The second which was this morning was rather more interesting. On getting on our very early train everyone was still asleep (the seat benches turn into bunk beds at night) and the train was in darkness so we couldn't see the seat numbers, then when we did find our seats there were people sleeping in the bottom bunk where we should sit. I ended up climbing up onto the top with my big rucksack. Of course we were not quiet, laughing and falling about, surprisingly enough no one told us to shut up (much more tolerant than the British). I went for a nap (curled up next to my rucksack) and when I woke Anji had made friends with the nice family that we had so rudely disturbed.

We spent a day and a half in Agra with a whistle stop tour of the main tourist sites. The Taj Mahal as expected was amazing, unfortunately it was quite misty so we never saw either the sunset or sunrise but we did get there very early to beat the crowds and it was worth it. I think we were both surprised at how much colour and inscriptions are actually on the walls of the TM, the detail is amazing (have put just a couple of the hundreds of photos I took of it on for you!!).

I've had a touch of Delhi Belly for about 4 days, all things considered it isn't too bad as I haven't been feeling unwell and I have still been out. I'm just avoiding food during the day and drinking lots of water when we are out and about and in the evenings having a sensible meal as I then have quick access to a usable toilet!! Think I have just about flushed it out of my system now, though Anji is now suffering a little.We have just arrived at our second Homestay, these are local government approved Guest Houses. They are excellent, the families are very friendly and helpful the houses are spotless and have good facilities, better than any B&B you would stay in at home.

There is a constant noise in India , with the trains, rickshaws, animals, singing, chanting and praying but I quite like it - very atmospheric. I'm sure there are loads of smells as well but as my nose doesn't work then I avoid those (good and bad!!). On the streets you see everything, barbers, shavers, ear cleaners (three times I have been offered this service but declined!!), henna painting, snake charmers, monkeys, chipmunks, parrots, camels, donkeys and so far one elephant! Nothing would surprise me but hopefully some of the photos capture this so you can get a little taste.

Glad your all enjoying the blog and photos, I love getting the comments it's good to know that your all following my trip (or checking in to make sure I'm ok) - if I'm missing anything out you would like to know about then just ask and I'll fill you in. I can also send things home easy enough (thinking of ditching half my rucksack - though it is a a lot lighter now I've used half my Diarolyte!!) so if you want anything sent home let me know - I only charge 10% commission :-)

Till the next time.....

Jack xxx

doo

ook ok

Delhi

Ryan the Tiger at Nila Gumbad (some dead dude's tomb who built bits of Delhi a long time ago)

Try reverse parking that thing!!! Main Bazzaae at Pahar Ganj

Different view of Pahar Ganj.

A main road in Delhi.

A Mosque inside the fort of Purana Qila
Humaun's Tomb (another very long time dead person who was important in Delhi history)

India Gate as the sunsets

Inside the Lai Qila (Red Fort)

(I struggled to remember which photo's came from where and that is only a week - how am I going to remember all this after a year and that's with a journal and guide book!!)

Feel free to stop at the photo's but for those of you who I promised more detail to when I had the time please read on......

I arrived in Delhi last Saturday and got met at the airport by a driver from the hotel, the initial hotel I had booked was overbooked so I got shipped round the corner. I was initially a little dubious to this but it turned out fine and the hotel was clean and tidy and the staff were fine. I slept for the best part of the first 24 hours - I don't think it was so much jet lag (given that I had slept a fair bit on the plane as well) but more exhaustion from the last few weeks of running around.

Well this is certainly some place, it is comfortably hot at the moment here and I am being very careful with everything that I do, factor 50(no tan!!), bottled water, no meat, padlocks on my bags (both those left at the hotel and my day sack) so yes I did listen to all those warnings you all gave me. I carry my whistle and haven't wandered off anywhere too remote on my own.

It is a strange but interesting city. You have a centre called Connaught Place which is commercialised and could really be in any big city (with the compulsory McDonald's/Pizza Hut no Starbucks as yet - and no I haven't given in and eaten here yet). Here you have modern cars and business dress. Then less than 10 mins walk away you come accross Pahar Ganj where there are these little winding streets with open front shops where you can buy anything. It is a constant barage of tourist touts trying to sell overpriced trips, shopkeepers trying to persuade you that you do really want to buy a pair of shoes etc, and of course the constant stream of traffic - auto rickshaws (tuc tucs), cycle ricksshaws, cows (who are the only things that anyone gives way to), taxi's, small vans, hand pulled carts - the only thing I haven't seen is a double decker bus!!! As this area is very central, cheap and seemingly on the backpackers map I moved to a budget hotel here a couple of nights ago - it is very basic - clean enough (with a little help) and secure and at 5pounds (no pound sign on the keyboard!!) a night it is within my budget range - added bonus is the TV with HBO so I get old movies!!

Surprising thing is that the streets altough dusty and run down are actually pretty clean - less litter than at home - downside is that the footpaths are generally used as toilets forcing you to walk on the roads - trying to cross the road is an adventure in itself - last night after waiting 15 minutes for a break in 6 lanes of ntraffic (and no crossing point at least mile in each direction) I took my life in my hands and went for it - but I am here to tell the tale!! Think my driving would be ok here as everyone just moves out of the way - most stubborn wins.

Talking of stubborn I don't think the touts and beggars banked on the most stubborn scottish woman arriving in their country as I smile nicely and keep walking if they want to follow me for a mile hey who am I to stop them - they are still not getting my money (as a few have learnt). To be honest although there are beggars in the city it is not as bad as I expected (though from all the warnings I had my expectations were very low), the kids are heartbreaking but being the cold hearted b**ch that I am I still refuse to give them money. I did see people give food to the kids the other night and I offered them money to buy some more - turned out it was some religous ceremony and I was sent off to buy some food then had to have it blessed (along with myself!) and give it out personally- was all a bit weird as these grown men (who were not beggars) then started putting their hands out for some as well -think it has some religous significance but I was a little overwhelmed and tried to make my escape but they tried to get me to go back into the mosque - I didn't understand them so I just smiled and legged it........... so much for trying to help!!

The beggars are probably less of a problem than everyone else as it is acceptable to just avoid them - bit harder not to give a few rupees to the security guard/hotel staff/information people who willingly show you things you haven't asked (or want) then expect some Baksheesh (tip) which they will blatantly ask for!! The tuc tuc drivers just keep trying to get you to go to shops as they get commission if you step in the door (have given in a couple of times for the nice drivers). Westerner = unlimited money making scam!! It's a shame as you become so wary of everyone and a lot of local people are really genuine and I have actually had a few step in and assist when I have been negotiating prices (or last night when someone tried to short change me - I think not!!) and some are just interested in what I am doing here. I have to say though my fictational husband/boyfriend comes in handy from time to time when I want to get away (never had an imaginery friend as a child but might make up for it now!!)

I also seem to be a bit of a novelty when in some areas where Indian people are siteseeing from other areas in the country - don't think they are used to very pale woman with mad frizzy hair (it's even worse here) the kids stare and people keep asking to take my photo - if I run out of money I am going to start charging!!! I did meet a lovely couple today when at the Red Fort - they have been introduced for an arranged marriage and were meeting in secret to get to know one another better before. I haven't met any fellow travellers as yet (a few holiday makers when at tourist places) but those that I have seen floating about seem quite 'New Age' (hippies!)

I have now visited most of the big tourist things in Delhi (some photo's attached) - some lovely peaceful parks and grounds to old monumnets right in the city which is a good escape from the chaos of everywhere else. I am now looking forward to Anji arriving in a couple of days as I have to be honest and say I have now just about had enough of Delhi itself and yes I have had a few moments of - 'what the hell are you doing' but they pass fairly quickly!!

Once Anji arrives were off to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and some other towns for a couple of weeks then I will start my own trail down south. So till the next time.........

Jack xx

PS Hope your all well :-)