Where's my glasses?

How often do you check your bag before you go - camera, wallet, shopping bag and phone - check. However it's unexpected when you loose things along the way, especially when a monkey steals your glasses! Vrindavan is full of monkeys, living mostly in harmony with people. They have however learnt to take things, knowing that they will get fed as a reward for returning them. I was walking along the dusty road by the Yumana River when I felt a heavy clunk on the head and quickly realised that a monkey had swung over and stolen my glasses. I was panic stricken and screamed for help.... and a couple came to my rescue. Luckily a fruit seller was approaching and they got two tomatoes and another guy threw them at the monkey, who thankfully abandoned my glasses and made off with the fruit. What a shock, and what probably only took five minutes felt like such along time .... and the relief afterwards was huge. I'd only spent 20 rupees to get my precious glasses back and they firmly stayed in my bag until I left town!!

Come to the wedding plese

It's definitely wedding season, the most auspicious time to tie the knot is upon us. The streets are full of processions, bands, grooms on horses and drummers. Even in Samdari where Kamlesh was getting married we ended up dancing in someone else's parade! When we stayed by the bird park at Bharatupur our hotel along with all the others long the main highway were all hosting weddings. So after our mega 25km cycle ride round the bird park, when we get back we're invited to the wedding, as it's the sister of one of the guys that works at our hotel. So we spruce up and head to the wedding, escorted by the brides brother. Rapidly we are introduced to all the family (grandma loves touching my hair!), greet a very surprised groom, who is entering the wedding venue on a horse and get taken round the venue. Hilariously when the couple eventually get on the stage to perch on the marriage throne, the brother insists we gallop up the stairs and have our photo taken with the happy couple ... however we are the first to get photos taken, before family and friends and the bemused look of the new bride was priceless!

You can't disinfect India

It's great to see so many Asian tourists travelling in India, and I was amused to sit opposite a couple of Thai girls on the train to Agra and as they got on the train they sprayed their seats, either to disinfect them, or make them smell nice I'm not sure. However it is impossible to disinfect India, and this is one of the biggest things you have to get used to. The filthy streets, cows wandering around, working camels and water buffalo with carts, donkeys, dogs, open sewers, men pissing on every street corner. It's not for the faint hearted. But it is wonderful, colourful chaos, full of adventure and challenge!

Can you see the Taj Mahal?

The pollution across India is unbelievable. As we got closer to Agra the smog hung low in the sky like a dense fog. It was so sad to see the farmers having to grow essential crops in this situation. You can always see people burning piles of plastic, which is strewn across India, in the rivers, ponds, streets and fields. By the time we headed to the fort to gaze at the Taj Mahal it was lost in the smog. There needs to be a huge education here, as plastic is strangling every village, town and city. It is such a throw away society on one hand. Bottles, bags and wrappers are easily thrown on floor without hesitation as there are no bins. Cows merrily chew the bags, which makes them ill. All the stations are making an enormous effort to clean up their act, so it's a good start!

Dancing on the rooftop

A simple evening walk out to find a tailor turned into an unexpected fun night out. We had been gifted some material from Bandu's dad at the wedding along with 100 rupees, so we wanted to make some pj's etc. We soon found some auto drivers who knew some tailors and we were rapidly all measured and ready for our bespoke clothing to be made. We then took up their offer and were soon dancing at a rooftop club, enjoying a hilariously unexpected night out. It's so interesting to suddenly mix with drinkers and dancers, given the strict vegetarian and alcohol free existence of the majority. When we were with Kamlesh's family we were vegetarian and tea total. Imagde - it was a sober wedding!

Money for photo

Throughout India there are so many incredible photo opportunities, but at tourist attractions they come at a price. I will never pay for a photo, as it sets an incredibly bad president. In Jaipur's city palace the guards are dressed up in all their splendour and cheekily invite you to pose with them and then of course ask for money. They will be racking in the cash, as hoard's of tourists on coach trips know no better than to give. And this then makes them more greedy. Click and dash is my motto in this situation!

Can you see the tiger yet?

When you head to one of the best tiger reserves in India it's going to go one of two ways. Utter jubilation at successfully spotting a tiger in the wild, or utter disappointment at missing out on this sadly decreasing opportunity. I didn't spot a tiger, but did see fresh prints of the mother, who was off hunting for food for herself and her cubs. Then after the morning safari I headed off to the fort, also in the tiger park, and was mystified as to why so many Indians were walking along the road when surely they could be mauled by a tiger!

Relaxing lassi break In Pushkar

Pushkar Lake is one of the holiest in India and consequently Hindu's should visit there once in their lives. I visited here over twenty years ago, on my first trip to India and it's changed a lot. Touristy stalls now line the street by the sacred lake and Israeli tourists have taken over the town. But magical rooftop restaurants offer views of the bathing pilgrims and shade from the searing sun. On offer too are magic lassi's to aid your relaxing afternoons watching the world go by.

I'm a playboy

The more you travel the more you realise that it's not just about the things you see, it's about the people that you meet. Got chatting to the attendant on the ac carriages of the train, he travels from Jaisilmeer across Rajasthan day in, day out. What a crazy life, little time for family and friends yet you're surrounded by people all the time. These little insights into people's lives are fascinating and are always the highlights of my travels. No wonder when I asked if he was married he replied that he was a playboy!

Your card is declined due to suspicious activity

For years I've always used travellers cheques. Great for travellers, as if they go missing you are guaranteed replacements. I've previously only needed this once, when a bunch of cheques were stolen from my room when travelling through Java. So before I left I loaded cash onto my card at Heathrow, stating I was travelling to India - only to find that on using it in Delhi it was blocked! Thank goodness I had another credit card. Then came a painful game of ringing tag, as I had to arrange for master card to call my hotel to sort this out. Now I can get rupees at ATM - hurrah!!! So much for suspicious activity when I told them where I was going...

I've never been so excited to head to a kebab shop

In most towns and cities across India there are so many religious restrictions on food and alcohol. We've been veggie since leaving Delhi and tea total and absolutely loving it. The home cooked food at Kamlesh's was fabulous, but the time has come to search out a great nonveg option and trip advisor recommends a kebab shop in a dusty alley by the old Jodhpur cinema. So given the location, we head to the movies on a Saturday afternoon and sit in a beautiful old cinema devouring our masala crisps and ice cream. We then head out to have the most incredible kebab and are thoroughly cared for by the owner, who takes time to make sure that we order the most delicious things!

And the bride is welcomed into their house

Being so close to the wedding and getting to understand more about the traditions surrounding it has been so fascinating. Each bride leaves their family home to start a new life living with her husbands family. On the couples departure from the wedding, before embarking on the four hour trip back to Samdari Bhanu, the new bride, wails at leaving her family. This feels too personal to watch and so I sit back in the car. Little does she know how fortunate she is to be marrying in to such a fantastic family. We were then so privileged to be there at the family house the following day when they undertook the welcoming ceremony and the new extended family life begins as we depart - perfect timing!

Lock the car door

The wedding was a four hour drive along winding dusty tracks and when you're lucky tarmac road that hasn't been washed away during monsoon. We left at 5 in the morning on the wedding day and on the return left at 11pm, with Kamlesh's brother driving. Throughout the journey we were constantly forced off the single track road until eventually we got a flat back tyre. Stopping on the track road almost immediately we saw torch lights coming towards us through the fields  either side of the road and then they stopped and the farmers then communicated with duck calls. So we got back in the car, locked the car doors and slowly drove up the rod to Rhaki, the village that we had previously been on motorbikes and between us all successfully headed home, and got to be gone 3am. An amazing wedding day together with an unexpected challenge. Who knows if the farmers would have robbed us, but better to be safe than sorry! 

You're a little bit fatty

On the night before Kamlesh's wedding there's huge celebrations planned and the inevitable happens and we're ushered into a house and dressed in a sari! His wonderful sister Julie is dressing us and hilarious decides to comment that we're a little bit fatty when we're squeezing into the underskirts! It's a real experience living with them as vegetarians and non drinkers. Perhaps we'll come back a little less fatty! 

Don't go further than the end of the street

After each meal there is a rest factored in, but our western unyoga posture is not suited to spending all this time sitting on the floor, so I'm always keen to walk around and explore. However we're now under the care of the family, who along with their warmth, feel responsible for us. But they're not used to having lone females wanting to wander the streets. So I'm advised only to walk to the end of the street. Of course I then head to the market and come back with pictures galore and know that our staying here is going to be a real cultural exchange, as they are also learning from us and watching how we do things. 

And off to school

Kamlesh is the headmaster of a local private school, so on our first morning we headed over there and was greeted by over 200 children all in unison welcoming us, followed by the brave ones coming up and shaking our hands. Heading into the small class rooms was interesting, with the boys and girls sitting separately, standing up and saying good morning and the settling down quietly. Here they all seem to want to learn, with their hearts set in being teachers, doctors or soldiers. Big aspirations for such small kids. 

A warm welcome

After a long day of traveling, and wedding shopping in Jodhpur we make the bumpy journey back to Samdari to meet Kamlesh's family. When we arrive their road is decorated with tinsel and lights, but we have to patiently wait to be allowed in. Then suddenly we're beckoned to the house and get a warm welcome from mum, dad and grandma. We're given Rajasthan turbans, a necklace for the wedding and a red paste bindi. And then we're fed, and fed some more. And introduced to the custom of feeding each other, so this is going to be an incredible leaning experience of ready getting into the customs and traditions of family life and celebrating a wedding. 

And you are lovely too

There's always hilarious moments when you go through airport security in different countries. Ages ago when travelling in China the security guards were laughing in anticipation of patting down both me and my tall travelling companion. So when we left Delhi to get on air internal flight we joined the security queue, got body scanned and then had to go into a small cubicle to be parred down .... hilarious woman obviously loves this job, and after doing her security check says my necklace is lovely and I'm lovely too and gives me a big wink. Time for a quick exit! 

Dazed in Delhi

Normally the cheapest flights I've taken to Delhi are via the Middle East. So hurrah for jet airways, making direct travel to Asia affordable. Anyway my relief of actually getting to the airport to catch the plane was huge, but I was seated in the last row, so couldn't recline, hampering a great nights sleep. 

As we all experience the first day of travel is always weird, over tiredness, jet lag and over heating resulted in a lovely reunion moving on to shuffling round the dusty streets in search of suitable outfits. For this isn't just any old holiday, we're here for a wedding!! 

Nightmare on the M3 - fancy a lift?

Now that I live in far flung Falmouth, just getting to Heathrow is a huge logistical challenge, unlike before when I lived in London and it was 30 minutes away in a taxi. So yesterday I worked half a day, drove four hours to Winchester and stayed with a friend, inching ever near Heathrow. 

What was meant to be a relatively short coach journey to the airport turned sour when I was dropped off at the coach stop by my friend's husband and quickly got chatting to a woman who looked frozen cold. Turns out her 2pm coach to Heathrow was an hour and a half late and still no sign of arriving, so lordly knows where my 3.30pm coach was. Luckily her son-in-law drove up and they offered me a lift  -hurrah !!!! Turns out me and Angela are in the same flight to Delhi .... what a coincidence. So I've arrived here in style and celebrating with a cool pint of Guinness. Let the adventure begin. Cheers. 

It's not our place

 

One of the must see's in Varanasi is to go along the Ganges at dawn, to see all the devout start their day with a refreshing dip in the river. Given the high level of pollution there although I would love to have my sins washed away, however it's a health hazard, so I'll just watch from the boat. As the Prime Minister is from here there have been good improvements over the last few years and a new dawn arti is now performers at Assi Ghat, at the end of the ghats to the south. It was well worth leaving at 4am to take a boat along the river as the city slowly woke up, and then see sunrise behind the arti ceremony. I was on a shared boat with the hotel and when we went to sit down the German woman resisted sitting at the front, saying 'it's not our place'. It's so interesting meeting new people and sharing experiences and plans. I always love to sit near the action ( apart from stand up comedy, when you are more likely to be picked on!). So it's great to have someone's else's take on the situation. What did I do? I sat in the middle then got up to go to the side to take photos. 

Then afterwards I meet Sonu, our guide from the Sunderbans and we walk along the ghats back to Assi Ghat for much needed refreshments and shelter from the 40 degree heat. It's great to have friends in India! 

The best Lassi in Varanasi

It's my fourth time to visit Varanasi, some say never go back to places that you have already visited, but this place is like no where else on earth. It is full of life, death, spiritually and is an assault on all the senses. In the narrow street by the ghats you jostle with cows, monkeys, funeral prosessions and motorbikes, so you always need to keep your whits about you. There the most incredible lassi shop that's been passed on from generation to generation found in the backstreets. The Blue Lassi Shop takes the most care and attention to prepare your lassi, and it is well worth the wait. And the shop is on the route to the main burning ghat, so it not for the fainthearted, as the all male chanting processions carry the bodies on bamboo stretchers though these narrow passageways.

The inconvenience is deeply regretted

There's always quite a lot of confusion at train stations, last minute platform changes, where's your carriage going to be, as the air conditioned carriages are sometimes towards the front or back of the train. But the biggest issue is any delays, unless you are at the beginning of the route, these trains travel enormous distances, picking up delays along the way. The longest I've had to wait one night was three long hours, so there was nothing so bad this trip, but you are serenaded at every station by the same recorded woman's voice used to make the train announcements. Funny as women are seldom seen or heard at the forefront of things, so her calm tone of announcing a delay, but then following with 'the inconvenience is deeply regretted' makes it easier to bear. 

He's a dirty man

In India you are never alone, there's always someone who is starring at you, or begging, or trying to talk with you. When it gets difficult is when  the following and the starring takes on another level. At the Lucknow Residency famed for the siege of 1857, we too we under siege from a creepy guy who just followed us and was rubbing himself, so I reported it to the stewards, who through 'lost in translation' initially thought I was asking for directions to the toilet! We point out the guy and they take him away, and we carry on looking round. Then when we leave they get him to apologise to us, which I block, not so interested as he knows this is wrong, then the tourist police say he is a dirty man and will hand him over to the police. What will happen to him I don't know!  

Then hilariously they ask us to fill out the visitors book, to which I write 'a very interesting visit' 

Lucknow cuisine

Before I left I saw an episode of a Rick Stein in India, and a whole programme was dedicated to the cuisine of Lucknow. From the vegetarian options of previous destinations here you eat wonderful rich Narwab cuisine, and drink! So we treat ourselves and head to a roof top restaurant at Clarkes Hotel, and have our first taste of Lucknow kebab, and it just melts in your mouth, amazing! Then we have the wonder light desert, that is served on the streets and covered with edible silver paper. On the last night of our travels together we make a reservation and head to the Exquisite Taj hotel. We have a beautiful three course meal, mojitos and toast another wonderful trip. 

Holy waters

Our journey through Uttar Pradesh takes in some of the most Holy sites in India, here in Allahabad the Ganges meets the Yamuna, two of the holiest rivers in India. Here pilgrims take boats to the rivers joining point and bathe, whilst we dip our toes in. Joyous devotees chat and smile, full of joy at being here at the holy Sangem. It's hard to imagine how in the Kumbh Mela this city hosts almost 100 million people! We then leave our boat and head to the fort, which is occupied almost entirely by the army, but you can visit the underground temple. Wanting to head to the ghats, we start walking, but soon grow tired, as the heat has definitely risen. We flag a rickshaw, and two motorbike riders stops to help. Soon we are on the back of their bikes, and at the ghats, our chosen destination.    They come back to drop us back into town, pleased that we are enjoying their city. They are both advocates, well educated and very polite, and it's great to have bumped into them. When we leave they both come to the station to see us off, an unexpected treat!

Beer and meat

Our next stop is Allahabad, and being in a larger town gives us more options. We have been on a vegetarian diet for almost a week, with no opportunity to drink, as we have been in highly religious areas, with restrictions imposed. So after an long afternoon of walking round the city, we head to the Grand Continental Hotel and are treated to live Urdu music, and have the most amazing chicken and chilly potato dishes wages down with crisp cool beer. The entertainment also comes from drunk dancing customers, who are swiftly told to sit down and the police guy who takes the microphone and sings 'we don't need no education'. Only in India!

19 in a rickshaw

Early morning trains are always a pain, early starts, hotels having to unlock gates, but they are a part of the travellers lot. Mostly I take auto rickshaws alone or with friends, but it's great to mix it up and travel with more locals in shared rickshaws. So when we arrive at Chitrakoot we get chatting to an older guy sitting on the reception sofa and after asking him directions to head out on the holy walk, around the sacred hill. We joke about him joining us, and he says yes .... he works for the government in the tourist department! So we get a auto to the sacred Kamadgiri hill, where pilgrims walk along with monkey infested paves sacred path. Lord Rama spend over 11 years here in exile and Bhrama, Vishnu and Shiva took there incarnations here. Temples and shops line the paved circuit around the hill, and monkeys hang from the electricity wires, trees and fences. 

On the way back we get a shared auto with 19 of us squeezed on for the journey. A different experience than just taking one alone at ten times the price. Later that evening we head to Ram Ghat, and take a decorated boat with sofas along the river, and rabbits laze around on the boat!