Pushkar and Agra

A game of cricket in action - the Indians surely love their cricket and you see scenes like this every day - no matter where in India you are - on a city street, a narrow alleyway, a fortified ghost city, etc...
Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri
Have you ever seen a horse with pigtails? This was a first for me - only in India.

Taj Mahal, Agra
One of the four entrances to the Taj Mahal
Having dinner with Puja and her family
Puja, one of our many Indian friends

Village woman working in rice field
A demonstration of the display of colors found on the streets in India
Mommy - one of our village friends
One of the hundreds of monkeys on the top of the hill overlooking Pushkar - striking a pose
So, you climb all the way up this hill to visit a temple, and you're expecting something organic and wholesome. What you find is a temple, ornately decorated and you go inside to find the shrine encircled with disco lights and outside, a trash can that looks like it belongs in an amusement park (pictured above) Very strange - in my opinion
At the top of the mountain, overlooking Pushkar. You can see the temple in the background, Pushkar lake and the surrounding city below and the farmlands that lie on the outskirts of the city.
At one of the several ghats surrounding Pushkar lake

The next stop on our route was the holy city of Pushkar - a small, magical, desert-edged town surrounding a lake. The lake is surrounded by 400 temples and the holy lake is said to have appeared when Brahma (Hindu god) dropped a lotus flower. It's an important Hindu pilgrimage centre, with one of the world's few Brahma temples. Pushkar is also a very touristy town - filled with loads of hippies and it's one of those places that you can easily stay longer than planned. We ended up staying for 5 nights - which was much needed after being on the move for the past couple of weeks. You can easily pass by all of your time shopping in Pushkar, as the streets are filled with all sorts of shops selling anything from clothes, spices, jewelry, cd's, hats, purses, etc... I think that I got the shopping out of my system there - or at least that's what I'm hoping. My favorite day in Pushkar was the day that we climbed up a small mountain which overlooks the city and the surrounding area. At the top of the mountain is a temple, loads of monkeys, and a spectacular 360 degree view. We met a nice guy from Bombay the previous night and spent the day with him, walking around the lake visiting the temples, climbing up to see the temple and mingling with the local villagers. Since he is from India - and also used to live in New York City - he was very helpful in teaching us about the local customs and what we were looking at in the temples. In addition, he was able to speak fluent Hindi with the locals which allowed us an opportunity to hang out in the village and drink some chai with the villagers. One woman (who is pictured above), who they called Mommy, was infatuated with Amanda and spent the entire time staring at her, laughing and at one point, laying her head in Amanda's lap. We stayed in a lovely place, which only cost us 150 rupees ($4.00) per night for the two of us. I attended a yoga session one morning which was very interesting - as it was literally held in the bedroom of a very well-known Reiki healing master. Only 3 of us could attend the class at one time because that's all that could fit into his bedroom - and most of the time, one of us had to sit against the wall while the other two performed the stretches. Nothing surprises me anymore in this country. I'm not sure if I've touched upon the social etiquette of bodily functions in India - there is none. Hearing people hack of loogies (a.k.a. spit balls) is an everyday occurrence and EVERYONE does it - women, children, men - haven't seen the cows do it yet but I wouldn't be surprised. The same goes for burping - people will burp at any time, anywhere and if it happens to be right in your face or while they are helping you master a pose in a yoga class - it doesn't even cross their mind. This has taken some getting used to. On the trains, anything goes. The entire night is filled with the sounds of snoring, burping, hocking up loogies, farting and last night on the train, it was a man below us who yelled out in his sleep all night. Anyway, had to throw that in there because it is an integral part of the culture here in India. So, back to the yoga session - it got me thinking about all of that because the teacher literally burped in my face at one point.
Besides the climb up the mountain, my other favorite experience was our last night in Pushkar. During a stroll around town, we ended up in an area where most of the villagers live, also the site of the yearly Pushkar camel festival. A little girl, named Puja, befriended us and asked us to come to her house and meet her mom. Reluctantly, at first, and after some serious urging by Puja, we decided to go ahead and meet her mother. She took us to her home, which consisted of a one foot brick wall, about 8 x 8 feet in dimensions and covered with a tent made out of blankets. It was open on both ends and inside there were two beds, made of metal with no mattresses and very few blankets to house her family of 5 (mom, dad and 3 kids). Her father quickly came to meet us and brought out a huge bag filled with envelopes and pictures that other travelers had sent them. It became apparent that Puja brought many travelers home to meet her parents and that they had touched the hearts of most of the travelers they met. They must have had hundreds of pictures and letters that people had sent them. They asked us to read a letter that they just received from someone in the United States and it was a letter from a man to let them know that he had sent $100 over Western Union to the principal of the school so that their children could attend school for the year. We then heard the heartbreaking story that belonged to this family. They had lived in a small house, across the street, for 17 years (or more) and the landlord was a nice man and didn't make them pay rent. The father owned a camel and was in the business of taking people on camel treks. Then, the landlord sold the house to someone else and that man decided to kick them out because they couldn't afford to pay the rent. They literally kicked them out onto the streets - all of his belongings and his entire family. His youngest son got very sick and had to go to the hospital - so in turn, he had to sell his camel to pay for the hospital bill. Now they are living in a tent made of blankets and when it rains, they just get wet. And right now it is winter here in Rajasthan and very cold at night. They have hardly any blankets and no mattresses to sleep on. They invited us to have dinner with them and to come and learn how to cook some Indian food. We accepted their invitation and came back a few hours later. We helped them to prepare dhal and chappati and talked with them at length about their lives and their situation. It was hard to watch as the father sat there shivering from the cold and in bare feet - he was literally skin and bones. They served us first and we sat and ate with the children, while the parents waited for us to finish and then they ate. We brought fruit with us to share and they were very thankful. We sat surrounded by the small fire of the stove and after dinner, the kids all piled up around the fire and fell asleep. It was absolutely heart-wrenching to see such a thing. We ended up giving them money so that they could at least buy 2 really good quality, thick blankets and it is in my hopes that they used the money to get what they need. It was uplifting to see how much they cared for their children and how much energy they put into making sure that they were getting a good education. Puja spoke fantastic English, along with some bits and pieces of other languages. At one point, the mother who was wearing two red bracelets - took them off and gave one to me and one to Amanda. Imagine this - here is a family who has nothing and literally lives day to day - some days not even being able to eat - and they invited us for dinner and then insisted on giving us the bracelets off of her arm. People never stop amazing me, that's for sure. I couldn't hold back the tears as we walked away from their tent, and I was deeply touched and moved by the experience.
After leaving Pushkar, we headed for Agra - home the the infamous Taj Mahal. We stayed in a place that had a spectacular rooftop with a view of the Taj. It was just as spectacular as expected, as you can see from the pictures. We had some funny times while at the Taj Mahal. Another popular thing here in India is to, apparently, have your picture taken with a western woman. People will just randomly come up to you and ask you if they can have just one picture with you. It's a bit odd and at times, you don't know what to say. We had this experience while visiting the Taj Mahal - two men were insistent upon having their picture taken with us and after repeatedly refusing, I finally said ok. We took one picture but it wasn't enough - they followed us all around outside and then asked again - I finally said yes again, only if they promised to stop following us. After they got their picture - the crowd starting lining up to get their picture. It was out of hand and finally, i resorted to walking around with my entire head and face covered with my scarf. Our second day in Agra, we took a bus to a place called Fatehpur Sikri - a magnificent fortified ghost city. It was the short-lived capital of the Mughal empire between 1571 and 1585, during the reign of Emperor Akbar. The palace and buildings are well-preserved and it was well worth the visit, as you can see from the pictures - although it doesn't really do it justice.

Jaisalmer and Jodphur

Me, Nikki and Amanda at the spice shop located outside of the vegetable market, Jodphur
On the rooftop of the apartment that we stayed in at Jodphur - the entire roof was covered with chili peppers - this is where the "spice girls" lie all of their spices for drying, and then later they grind them, mix them and package them for selling at the shops

Usha and I at the Spice Shop in the vegetable market, Jodphur
At the fort in Jodphur - in front of a demonstration on how to smoke opium (no joke)Inside the Mehrangarh fort in Jodphur - you can see the blue houses in the old city behind me which are one of the things that Jodphur is well-known for
Our first lunch break on the desert safari - we celebrated by cracking open a lukewarm beer called Godfather 10,000+
A typical street scene in India - there are city cows (a.k.a Holy cows in India) EVERYWHERE
Standing inside the fort in Jaisalmer, overlooking the city of sandstone houses
Chilling out with an Indian buddy after a very strange yet memorable Ayurvedic massage - the woman who gave me a massage put that sticker on my head - looking really Indian, aren't I?


Me drinking a GIGANTIC beer in the desert - very thirst quenching!!!!
Our desert guides, Mohan and Swai
Fun desert pictures

The head camel, Buddha
Amanda on her camel, Rocket - and me and my main man, Raj
My buddy, Raj - at the sand dunes on night #1 in the Thar desert
On camel safari in the Thar desert, Rajasthan (outside of Jaisalmer)
Amanda and I at a rooftop restaurant in Jaisalmer
The final results of the cooking class - sweet and spicy success!
The Spice Girls - at our Indian cooking class in Udaipur

Well, since we left Udaipur, we've traveled north to Jaisalmer - on our first Indian bus ride. We decided to take an overnight bus to Jaisalmer and opted for the sleeper coach - which is a bed that sits above the seats - sounds good in theory but we quickly realized that it was not a wise choice. The driving was insane, as expected and when you are on the top, it feels even more insane and when we realized that we were basically like sardines in a tin can and if the bus flipped, we'd be history, we decided to move down to the seats - where we'd have a better chance of surviving. Sleep came intermittently throughout the night - even with a good dose of Xanex. It's the first time that Xanex didn't knock me out completely. At one point during the ride, I went up and asked the bus driver if he would please slow down and surprisingly, he did. So, you can gather from my travels so far that the bus rides are my least favorite but a part of the experience nonetheless. We made it to Jaisalmer safe and sound and after a good gorging on a thali (Indian meal), we took a much needed nap in our rooms. We spent the first day exploring and booked ourselves a 2 1/2 day camel safari and hit the town to get some warm weather gear. Unbeknownst to me, it's actually cold here at this time of the year and I came completely unprepared. Guess I should do my research next time. We found a great place that had piles of second-hand clothes which looked to be from the United States and gathered pants, hats, scarves, and a few more long sleeve shirts for our desert adventure. We had heard from other travelers that it got extremely cold at night and to be prepared. The clothes were sold by weight and I walked out with all of my gear for less than $5.00 - not bad. Had a good dose of some delicious street food, packed the bags for the adventure and hit the hay. The next morning, we awoke early to meet our camel guides - there were just 3 of us on the camel safari - with the addition of our two guides - Mohan and Swai. We drove out to the desert where we met our camels, who were already loaded up with gear - camel food, our food, lots of blankets, and water. We had four camels in all - one for each of us and one for the guides to ride on. The camels names were Buddha, Raj (my camel), Johnnie Walker, and Rocket (Amanda's camel). It was a bit intimidating getting on them for the first time - I've never ridden on an animal that tall. After a bit, I got used to the stride and the height and felt relaxed. We took off into the Thar desert, which is very flat and full of scrub brush. After the hustle and bustle of the cities and towns, it was a welcomed delight to be in the quiet of the desert. We didn't see any other tourists for the entire trip - the only people that we saw were the scattered shepherds herding their sheep or cattle. On night #1, we arrived at some magnificent sand dunes, which is where we set up camp for the night. It was a spectacular scene to see the high dunes in the distant as we approached on our camels. We worked as a team collecting kindling and firewood and Swai - our desert chef - went quickly to work preparing chai, handmade chapatis and deliciously spicy Rajasthani vegetables. We were entertained by our guide, Mohan, as he tried to recite english songs such as Paul Simon's "Cecilia", Jingle Bells (except he said Jingle Wells), The Doors "Hello, I love you......", and a few others that I can't remember. In addition, he serenaded us with traditional Indian love and marriage songs - wonder what he was thinking about when he was out in the desert with 3 blonde girls? It was all in good fun. We spent our night lying on the sand under the desert sky and gazing at the millions of stars. It was extremely cold and I was very thankful for all of the warm gear and the several wool blankets that they provided. Day #2, we visited an abandoned village which was very interesting and made our lunch stop - which consisted of Swai preparing a delicious lunch while the girls napped in the sun. Ah yes, and I can't forget to talk about the camels. It was very interesting to spend so much intimate time with camels - a creature that I didn't know much about before this trip. What can I say? They are amazingly strong and have an exceptional endurance - and an indescribable smell that I do not miss at all - and full of an enormous amount of gas. The sounds that came out of those camels was unbelievable. An added factor to our safari was that the camels were in heat. All of the camels that we were riding were males and as you trekked through the desert, you'd occasionally come upon a few females. The lead camel, Buddha, was crazy for the females and it got a bit tense when we approached them. When we would arrive at camp, they had to tie the camels front legs together so that they could walk around to eat, but not run away in search of females. Probably not the most ideal time to be on a camel safari - but all part of the experience. On night #2, we again, camped at some different sand dunes, under the stars. The second night wasn't as cold and we got a great nights sleep. There was one scary camel moment for me and that was when Rocket (Amanda's camel) bit Raj (my camel) in the rear end and my camel starting running which I wasn't prepared for. The guides were able to control him and we had to do a little re-arranging of the camel order - Raj and I decided to be in the back of the line. Much to my surprise, I wasn't too sore after 2 1/2 days of riding a camel - just walked a little bow-legged for a few hours afterwards. It was an incredible experience which I highly recommend to anyone who visits Rajasthan.

Coming back to the city was a rude awakening as you dodge the honking cars, motorcylces and rickshaws but this is India. India is an absolute ASSAULT to every sense on your body. Whether it be the incessant, and often unnecessary, honking of horns, the permeating smell of urine in the streets, women adorned in the most vibrant colored saris, dodging piles of cow dung - along with cows, the constant hastle of street touts asking you your name and where you are from, the temples and shrines, smell of incense and spices in the air and lastly but not least, the delicious taste of Indian food, of which I will never tire. Everyone should experience this at least once in their lifetime. There's no place else like India, at least not that I have seen. Much to my surprise, the people have been extremely friendly and non-threatening. I say to that this is to my surprise because before arriving, I heard a lot of stories of women being groped and the hassle that you would get from men as a woman traveler. So far, it hasn't been that bad - I've gotten used to being stared at excessively and have learned the technique of staring ahead into dead space and acting like I don't see them - it works well.

Before leaving Jaisalmer, we spent our last day visiting the fort which sits above the entire city like an enchanted sandstone castle. Sadly, the fort is on the World Monuments Watch list of 100 endangered sites worldwide, due to the fact that 25% of the old city's population is living within the fort and it has turned into quite a tourist trap - with loads of guest houses, restaurants and shops. Due to the pressure of the people living and visiting it and the amount of wastewater running throughout the fort, it is slowly falling apart. So, it was a neat place to see but we didn't spend too much time in there because it just felt like a big tourist attraction and we didn't want to support any business inside of there. We did visit a haveli - which is a luxurious house that was habitated by rich families - many of these families are still living within them but this one was turned into a museum. It was called the Patwa Ki Haveli and it was built in the 1800's. The intricate sandstone carving was impressive, as was the elaborate and decorative rooms inside. There are so many temples, havelis and forts to visit in India that it becomes a bit overwhelming. We had some extra time after all of the sight-seeing and before we caught our night train to Jodphur, so we decided to get an Ayurvedic massage from a woman who was advertising on the street. It was quite the experience. Ayurvedic massage is very popular here and I wasn't very familiar with the technique - it involves a lot of oil and rubbing and not much deep tissue work. It was quite hilarious because we basically went upstairs into the woman's living room where she called her friend to come so that we could both get massaged at the same time. We later found out that it was her friends first massage. It was the least relaxing massage that i've ever had and a bit awkward, as they pulled our clothes off and the room was freezing cold and the woman kept stopping to yell out to someone on the street, in between asking us every 2 0r 3 minutes if the massage was good and if we liked it. They also made jokes about our fat thighs and the camel rash that had formed on our bums. Very awkward, yet funny at the same time. That night, we took an overnight train to Jodphur - another bustling city in Rajasthan.

Before departing Homer, I met with a friend (those of you Homerites know Zen) who started a Chai business in Homer many years back (Zen Chai). He and his wife, Jen, traveled to India many years back and during his travels, he came in contact with a man named, Mohanlal Verhomal, who had a very well-known and respected spice shop in Jodphur. It is from this spice shop that Zen later started importing the spices that he used to create his chai - and to this day, the spices for Zen chai still come from this shop. (If you're reading this Zen, I hope that I am doing your story some sort of justice because I don't know all of the nitty gritty details). I met with Zen before leaving Homer and he suggested that if I were in Jodphur, that I should visit this family and gave me their email address. I wasn't quite sure about going to Jodphur but we were craving an intimate Indian experience so we decided to go for it. I emailed Usha, the oldest daughter of Mohanlal, and she emailed me back very quickly to let us know that we were welcome. We arrived at Jodphur very early in the morning and made our way to a restaurant to wait for the vegetable market to open so that we could go to her spice shop. It ended up that someone knew Usha and called her for us and she sent her sister, Nikki, to pick us up. From the very moment that I started emailing with Usha, the hospitality that she extended to such complete strangers was remarkable. I am consistently blown away by the people that I meet traveling. Her sister picked us up and we made our way to their house in a rickshaw - which she refused to let us pay for - and we were welcomed like old friends into their home where they served us chai and cooked us a delicious Indian meal. The family consits of 7 children - all girls. Their father started the spice shop many years back and it became very well known - they said that he made spices famous in Jodphur. The business became very successful and 3 or 4 years back, their father died suddenly of a heart attack. In India, it is extremely difficult for women - the men do most of the working and bringing in the money. So, when their father died - they had to figure out how they could continue to bring in money for the household. The family pulled together to keep the spice shop going and continue their father's legacy. They are unbelievable women - with the 3 oldest girls ( ages 24, 21, and 19) running the 2 shops in town and doing all of the accounting work. They work all day, every day - 365 days a year. And it is obvious that they are very successful and strong-willed, respectable women. They took us in like we were their sisters and treated us like royalty. We stayed in our own apartment while there - it was a house that their father had bought before he passed away and his dream was to open it up as a guest house. We were the very first guests to ever spend the night there and therefore, a small Hindu blessing was performed at the doorway before we entered - to bless the space and for good luck. We spent most of the day there exploring the Mehrangarh fort, which was quite impressive. This fort, as opposed to the fort in Jaisalmer, is well taken care of and serves only as a tourist attraction and museum. The elaborate sandstone carvings and the majestic rooms inside were absolutely stunning. You can't help but think about what it must have looked like and been like back in the day when the maharaja ("king") lived there with his numerous wives. We spent the other part of our day there hanging out in the spice shop with Nikki while she explained, in detail, each of the most popular spices available. I couldn't resist stocking up on some authentic Indian spices and look forward to cooking some delicious meals when I get home. This is something that I've been missing quite a bit - cooking, that is. I envision a huge potluck Indian dinner when I get home - so get ready, fellow Homerites. We departed Jodphur the following morning after a delightful sleep and headed on to the holy city of Pushkar. Details and pictures coming to a theatre near you soon.

Bombay to Udaipur, India

This is a girl named, Haley and her boyfriend Steve. I met Haley last year in South Africa - we jumped off of the world's highest bridge together and I was sitting in a cafe in Udaipur when she walked in with her boyfriend - it's such a small world.
Architecture in Udaipur

Sunset from the rooftop of our hotel in Udaipur

The view from our tuk-tuk ride through the narrow streets in Udaipur

Local boy selling bananas

A very typical scene in Udaipur

View of the lake in Udaipur and you can faintly see the women on the ghat bathing and washing clothes.

Our friends on the train to Rajkot

In my traditional, tailor-made Indian outfit on the train journey to Udaipur

Transcending continents has been quite the experience - very unusual, inspiring and head-spinning. If I can conclude that Africa has embedded itself into my soul - then I will conclude, though it's only been 5 days, that India has rocked my world. The journey here went suspiciously smoothly. Upon arrival into Bombay, we quickly exchanged money and got ourselves a taxi to the Sea Shore Hotel - a funny name for a place that is not really on what I would label the sea shore - but that is India. Anyway, the taxi drive to our place was as expected - insane. When we met our driver - an elderly man - we were relieved. The thought was that he might drive a bit more cautiously and being 4:30 a.m., it seemed as if things would be, can I say, tame. As it turns out, I think that he was nearly blind and couldn't see much and therefore, honked his horn at any given object along the way and drove straight down the middle of the road. Luckily, having Africa to break me in to the roadways, I was able to laugh for most of the drive as I thought to myself, "Yep, now you're in India." As it turns out, his horn habits were not out of the ordinary, as this is how it works here in India. There are NO such thing as road rules - it's a free for all around here and to sum it all up in one word - it's complete CHAOS. You have the oldest school-looking cars for taxis (they're actually quite charming), tuk tuk taxis (3-wheeled vehicles, if you can call them that), buses, motorcycles bicycles and pedestrians all on the road together and when you arrive at an intersection - you just go for it. You are dangerously close to every other moving object (I'm talking inches here) and amazingly, it works. Don't ask me how, but it does. Our first hotel in India proved to be quite nice - it was 4 floors up and the guys who worked there dressed in bell hop uniforms which i found to be very entertaining. We had a decent room with air coniditiong (what a luxury!), TV (another unnecessary luxury) and a view over the bay. We took full advantage of our humble abode to catch up on some much needed sleep and to ease our way into India. I didn't think that I would like Bombay very much but I grew fond of its craziness and enjoyed the hustle and bustle. My time there was spent eating, sleeping, catching up on business and shopping - of which there is endless amounts of all of the above. I knew before I came here that the food would be my favorite thing and thus far, it has proved me right. You can eat the most delicious meals for around $2.00 and the street food is outstanding. Perhaps one of my favorite things is the endless amount of chai available at any time, anywhere. For just a mere 5 rupees (1/8th of $1.00), you can stand on any street corner and sip chai with the locals. After 3 days and 2 nights in Bombay, it was time to move on. The day before our last in Bombay, we were approached on the street by a guy who gave us his business card and asked if we'd like to be extras in a Bollywood film. We were quite intrigued - being that we just got "spotted." The shooting was to occur the following evening and he said he'd pick us up at 5 p.m. and the shooting could go until 5 a.m. We didn't feel very good about being whisked away to some unknown place for the entire night so we discussed it with the owner of our hotel, who informed us that it was legitimate and safe. He offered us another shooting that was to occur in the morning and would end in the evening. We decided to go for it but then after purchasing our train ticket for the following evening, we found out that we would not have enough time to make our train and opted to not become a Bollywood star - oh, the missed opportunities in life. I was feeling really confident about India and thinking, "What's the big deal about traveling in India. This isn't so bad." Well, I was about to get my world rocked soon enough.

After much contemplation about where to go next, we decided to head north and go to a beach town called Diu. We should have known when we booked the ticket when the woman at the counter said, "Why do you want to go there? I hardly meet anyone who goes there?" For me, this was a sure sign that it was something to see and the description in our Lonely Planet was enchanting. We got to the train station the following evening, with plenty of town. All of this was done after we got ourselves a tailor made India outfit. We went to the fabric shop and picked out our fabric and then went to the tailor and had him take measurements and in a mere 4 hours, he constructed 2 complete outfits for us - pants, dress and scarf and to my amazement, they fit perfectly! The clothes that the women wear here are stunning and the colors are dazzling - it's truly a sight to see. Back to the train station, we made it there and boarded our train for Rajkot - which was the furthest place that we could take the train - after which, we would have to succumb to the dreaded bus ride. We got ourselves a sleeper seat on the train - the train system here is extremely good and you can get trains just about everywhere. You have your choice of 1st, 2nd or 3rd class. We got ourselves a 2nd class ticket and it proved to be relatively good. We shared our small area with 4 other people - so there was basically 3 bunks on either side - top, middle and bottom. We lucked out and shared our space with a very friendly Muslim family whom we picked their brains about their religion and lifestyle and they kindly shared their food with us and proved to be great companions. The ride itself was not so enjoyable as the window would not stay closed and it was very chilly throughout the night - I did not come prepared for cold weather so i spent the night freezing my butt off and waiting for the almighty sun to rise. We were quite entertained on our journey - from random people coming up to us and asking to take their pictures with us - one woman just putting her small daughter on our laps and taking pictures to a Indian man who had dyed his hair red (this is a strange phenomenon here - you see lots of men with their hair dyed red and it looks very wrong) - to people parading through the train singing and playing instruments, to the guy who went up and down the train yelling, "Chai Masala", the sound of children crying, and the steady sway back and forth of the train throughout the night. In the rare moments that I actually fell asleep, these sounds were weaving their way into my dreams and I would wake up thinking, "Where the hell am I?" It was as if I had taken a hallucinogenic and been transported to some faraway land. That's the only way that I can describe it. So, back to the story - this is going to take awhile. So, we arrived in Rajkot and got a tuk tuk to the bus station - where we were abruptly reminded that we were indeed in India. All of the signs were in Hindi and therefore, unreadable to us. No one spoke English and if they did, it was very broken and we couldn't understand. We walked around in circles trying to figure out which bus to take while the masses of people were stopped dead in their tracks - both staring and laughing at us. We finally figure out which bus and it arrived and we jumped on. I asked a man sitting next to us how long the journey was to Diu ( we had been told 4 hours) and he told me that it would take 8 hours. Looking at the bus, I realized that we were not on a direct bus and in fact, we were definitely on a local bus which means that it stops each and every place that there is someone who needs to get on or off and it will take a very long time. Having been traumatized by the bus journeys in Africa, a discussion began as to whether we wanted to endure the bus ride and whether or not it might be better to just head north. We decided to be defeated and got off of the bus before it left and ventured back to the train station. Train stations in India revolve around standing in queues to get anything accomplished and we waited our turn. We decided to head to a place called Mt. Abu - a nice, serene place around a lake in the moutains. So, we got back on our train and headed right back to where we had been that morning - a city called Ahmnebad. We befriended a delightful young woman who helped us find the train and get a seat - which was a mission in itself. When the train arrives, people go in hordes and try to get on the bus all at once, the poor people who need to get off of the train can't even get off because people are practically trampling each other to get on and get a seat. Our friend took great care of us and got us on and reserved a seat. I spent most of the entire journey passed out on one of the upper wooden benches - during which time, Amanda told me that the train actually hit a railway worker and seriously injured him. Apparently, this is a common occurrence here in India. The accident delayed our journey a bit and we arrived in Ahmnebad at around 7 p.m. Once we got there, we stood in the delighted queue to try and reserve a seat to get to Mt. Abu. Upon finally arriving at the window - which is a feat in itself because everyone just pushes their way in and jumps in line - we found out that there were no seats availabe and were told to come back in the morning. Not pleased with the option of spending the night in Ahmnebad, we resigned ourselves to sitting on top of our backpacks and searching through the Lonely Planet for another destination and trying to figure out the train schedule - which proves to be impossible for even an educated person. We decided to try for Jodphur - a city further north and again, waited in the queue. We had several men wanting to help us figure it out and after arriving at the window, we wer again told that there were no seats and to come back in the morning. There was no way to buy a ticket ahead of time so we would possibly have to spend the night and come back in the morning only to find that there were no seats. Amanda was convinced that we would be in Ahmnebad for the rest of our stay in India and I was considering the options in my head - the most obvious one for me was to get myself to Delhi and catch the next flight back to Zanzibar. We resigned back to our backpacks and searched and when I looked up, I realized that we were now surrounded by 30 men who were just sitting and staring at us - as if they had never in their lives seen a white person. It was harmless but uncomfortable, to say the least. I've never been stared at so hard in my life and I think that my face must have been bright red as I didn't exactly know how to react to such a scene. I was well informed that this would happen in India but I guess that you can never be prepared. At one point, Amanda just stood outside the queue and yelled, "Help, somebody please help us." It was all in good humour and it worked - people helped us. Then, something miraculous happened - just when we were thinking the worst - I spotted two white women. Unreal. I asked them where they were going and they said Udaipur -and they recommended a place to sleep in Ahmnebad for the night. Then after that, we spotted another white person - this time a guy and we asked him where he was going and he said Udaipur. We read up on it in our trustly guide and it sounded splendid. We decided to give it one more go and stand in yet, another queue, and this time, we pushed our way up along with all of the other savages. When we arrived at the window, the guy looked at us and shook his head. It had now been 3 hours since we arrived and I can't count how many times we had begged for a ticket out of Ahmnebad. We told him we wanted to go to Udaipur and miraculously, he had seats for us - sleeper seats even. The joy overtook us and we literally jumped up and down screaming with glee - not an easy task with

a huge backpack on your back. We hopped the train and quickly made ourselves a stiff beverage to celebrate. The journey was great and we slept like babies - this time, properly bundled up in as many clothes as possible. We arrived in Udaipur this morning and I now realize that it was all a blessing in disguise - as this place is miraculously magnificent. We have a room that overlooks the lake - in which there are 3 temples - one of which is lit up at night and it looks like something out of a fairytale. There are crooked alleyways at every turn, the air smells sweet with incense and spices, the people are friendly, the colors are mesmerizing and there are loads to offer to a traveler here. We are planning to take an Indian cooking class tommorrow and there are free (donation only) yoga classes every day - 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a rooftop overlooking the city. It's exactly what I pictured India to be - cows in the road sleeping or eating trash, crazy traffic, a plethora of restaurants (most on rooftops) to choose from, fabric shops, spice shops, vibrant colors and a lake where you can watch the woman literally beating their clothes to wash them and bathing. I only arrived this morning and I am entranced. It's nice to have a retreat from the train station and i think we will stay put for a few days and take advantage of all that there is to offer here. We venture to a locals place for lunch today and were treated to an amazing thali (this is a traditional Indian meal in which you are served small portions of different dishes) and they just kept filling our plates, as soon as you finished something, they came and re-filled it - and all for $1.50. I don't think India is going to be good for my figure, but surely good for my soul. Only time will tell and I'm confident that there will be many more adventures to tell.

Serengetti and Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Sporting a pair of cheap sunglasses - these glasses were less than one week old - ahh, Africa
Mama lion and cub in the Serengetti
Lion with his zebra kill in the Serengetti
Amanda and I in front of the Ngorongoro Crater
Close encounters with an elephant in Lake Manyara, Tanzania
An African Christmas tree - gotta love it!


I think it's fair to say that I left Africa with a bang! We went on a 4-day, 3-night camping safari in Lake Manyara, the Serengetti and Ngorongoro Crater. There were five of us in the vehicle and we had a great group. Although our guide was lacking in his knowledge and didn't provide us with much information - we made the best of it and managed to see an enormous amount of wildlife. The highlights of the trip in Lake Manyara were the baboons - at one point, we were surrounded my them in our vehicle and they just all stopped (around 50 or more) and sat down and started grooming each other. It was quite a sight to see. There were newborn babies hanging on to their mothers' bellies and riding on their backs and they just kept coming out of the trees and crossing the road. We also had the opportunity to see lots of elephants up close, along with hippos, an array of birdlife and lions. The real absolute treat however was the Serengetti - a lifelong dream of mine that I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do. I feel extremely grateful and lucky for the opportunities that I have in this life - especially after visiting a place like Africa where people can't even imagine having the opportunity or freedom to travel as freely as us. Most Africans that I met have never even been to the Serengetti or even far from where they've lived all of their life. The Serengetti was everything that I imagined and more. The mere size of it is astonishing and the abundance of wildlife that moves through there is unimaginable. We happened to be there during the wildebeest migration and saw literally hundreds of thousands of them grazing and passing through. Most times that we saw them, they were accompanied by thousands of zebras as well. In addition to that, we saw so many lions that I lost count - and a lot of males which was my dream come true. We saw females sleeping lazily in the hot sun while their cubs played cheerfully around them. I never imagined that I would see lion cubs - it was a real treat. We spotted cheetahs from a far distance as they stealthily crouched in the grass to plan their next attack. I was holding out for a kill but didn't get to see one. We did approach a lion and lioness on the side of the road after a zebra kill and they looked extremely exhausted and had already devoured most of the zebra by the time that we caught up with them. On the last day, we visited the Ngorongoro Crater which was also very spectacular - as it is the fourth largest caldera in the world. It's immense and due to the topography, it allows for great wildlife viewing because all of the animals are condensed into the caldera. We saw a lot more of the same animals there - except we saw hundreds of flamingos in the lake which was quite a spectacular backdrop. We spotted 3 male lions together - one of which was right on the road next to our safari vehicle. The only animal missing from the Big 5 was the leopard, which we, unfortunately, did not get to see - next time. Overall, the safari was outstanding and very glad to have done it. I spent New Years Eve in Arusha and we whooped it up at a local hostel with the people that we met no the safari. The next morning, we arose bright and early to catch our shuttle to Nairobi and all went very smoothly. We were cutting things very short but it all worked out. Not sure if anyone has been following the news but things in Nairobi are pretty bad at the moment. They just had elections there and the elections were rigged and people are really up in arms - burning down houses, cars, killing each other - lots of violence. We were glad that we ended up spending New Years Eve in Arusha and not in Nairobi, as originally planned. Flights went smoothly and I am now in Bombay, India. Not too much to write at the moment - it's a sensory overload and I'm still trying to adjust to being in a completely new place. I've been here for a few days and looking forward to hopping on a train tommorrow and heading north. Look forward to updating you on my travels here.