Long Time No Blog... Goodbye India

Hello all... its been a while a since I last blogged, have you missed me? i am sure you all have withdraw symptoms from my daily blogs, or perhaps not! Well there has been a number of things to explain my absence. Firstly limited access to Internet, even though we have been in hotels with Internet access we have been told there is some issues with the Indian government and WIFI usage!?!?!?! when  I Say WIFI i mean WIFI, Internet is all good but WIFI there is issues? if your sat there thinking what the hell can that be, well I have also been wondering the same and still have no real answers.. so your guess is a good as mine, secondly the last 4 nights we have been bush camping, so that means camping where ever we can with no facilities at all, so no showers and finding a safe spot with no sharp objects, no animals and no insects to munch away at you when taking a crap. Lastly the day after my last blog i came down with a fever and was ill for a good 4 days.

So i am now, after 5 weeks in India sat in Delhi airport waiting to depart 'incredible India'. It really has been a mixed week or so since I last blogged. I know i always say it but i will really try and keep this blog as brief as possible however it has been 7 days since i wrote, so hear we go... I left you having spent the night in the desert in Jaisalmer, it was the morning after the sleep under the stars that i woke up feeling not so great, though i thought it was the whisky, beers and lack of sleep. My body was aching all over and severely tired which for someone who only needs around 6 hours sleep was unusual for me. So the following day we made our to the 'Blue City' of Jodhpur, here we were going to stay in a guest house and shop and cook traditional India food from scratch with the owners. On route though we made an unscheduled stop which Jodie (the tour leader, if you had forgotten) had arranged for us. We were to stop at a school which was run by a n organisation called the 'Sambhaliu Trust'. The trust was set up in 2007 to help to empower women and girls from the under privileged areas of Rajasthan and based just outside Jodhpur. Dragoman actually support the organisation and have done for a few years but this would be the first time a group has visited one of the schools. We arrived around 11am to the smiling and excited faces of about 30 children both girls and boys. We were to spend 2-3 hours with the children and their teachers, it was a fun day and gave the children to interact, play and experience westerners. The school was very basic with just one classroom which was outside, the walls were covered in poems and nursery rhymes all in English. We played games, sang songs and even had a Turban making constant (of which i didn't partake, i volunteered to be photographer) it was the kids against the group. Was very funny and 'Goon bag' some how managed to make such a big turban it looked like he had wrapped a duvet on his head, very funny. The girls than had a saree competition, we then headed outside and randomly played 'tug-of-war' again children against the group, we played more games than i can remember, the teacher kept saying 'just one more', i thought we were going to be there all day, the funniest was when Ken ended up the dirt after falling over. Ken I haven't really mentioned, he is the oldest of the group at 57, Canadian and well travelled. he keeps himself to himself but will join in conversations and has vast knowledge of many things, interested guy but maybe just a little quiet for most of us, though slipping in the dirt in the tug of war certainly got us all giggling. we ate lunch then had some free time with the children, as you can imagine they were mesmerised by our camera's, constantly wanting us to take pictures of them in various poses. We left at 3.30ish later than we wanted to and at the disappointment of the teachers, who got a cob on because we wouldn't stay ,longer, a little strange but i guess they just wanted us o stay and show us more stuff but we had to move on as we had food shopping to do and dinner to make with the guest house owners. It was half way through the this day that i started again to feel a little off, it was a hot day and usually i would be wearing a 2 tone sweat infested tshirt as everyone else was, now don't get me wrong i was hot but not my usual and in fact felt a little cold at times and felt a little spaced out, again i just put it down to tiredness and nothing to concerning. We arrived at the guest house at around 7ish, most went to the local market with the lady of the guest house to get the food for dinner, i really wasn't in the mood and nor was Caz, her eye had got progressively worse and she was in a lot of pain but she was looking forward to the cooking experience so sucked it up and went shopping with the rest only a couple of us stayed behind. We were one room down for some reason and it had to be me that didn't have a bed, however you could sleep on the roof under the stars which i personally didn't fancy, especially after being bit to shit in the desert by mozzies however couple of the guys were up for it so i had a bed, though this didn't work out as it rained and i ended up sleeping in reception on a made up bed! ( I think this was the final nail in the coffin fro me and my 'monsoon fever' which I'll come to later. So the group chopped, peeled and prepared dinner with the guest house owners, they basically gave everyone a lesson on how to make a number of different Indian dishes and then cooked them, not feeling too great i watched and took photo's, Caz also was struggling with her eye. We ate and everyone went to bed, i had a couple of whiskeys to help me sleep better as i was gonna be outside. I slept pretty well and my make shift bed was quite comfy, still not ideal and for the second morning woke up feeling not the greatest. Today we visited ANOTHER fort, however this one was pretty impressive, we all paid for an audio tour which was highly recommended. The tour was to be short lived for myself and Caz anyway, she is in excruciating pain with her eye and i was having freezing spells even though it was in the high 20's. Caz had, had the bad eye now for nearly a week and the pain wasn't subsiding, we decided to make our way back to the guest house and call a doctor. The guys at the guest house suggested an eye doctor, i was feeling better but still not great, Caz really was in a lot of pain now, we grabbed a tuc tuc to the hospital and the eye doc, we both wondered what would await us, we were pleasantly surprised, the hospital was clean and seemed pretty new, the eye doc wasn't busy at all and only waited around 20mins. The Doc confirmed an abscess on her retina, any wonder she was in so much pain, apparently caused by a 'foreign object' getting in her eye. We picked up a 4 different kinds of eye drops and headed back to the guest house.

We were leaving at 3pm and made it back in time. We had a short journey still within Jodpur to a home stay, where we were going to be spending the night. The home stay was like luxury, it certainly was the nicest and largest house i had seen in India. The family run home stay had been used by Dragoman for many years. I was sharing with Caz which worked well as she was feeling the effects from various painkillers and antibiotics. She was tired and just wanted to sleep but doc said she had to have her eye drops every 30mins, so i would leave the communal area wake her for her drops and then leave her be, in the mean time we all chatted with the owner who told us history of India, religion and anything else we wanted to know. I was still going my hot and cold spells and gradually getting worse, however this didn't effect my appetite and enjoyed a buffet dinner. That night I the fever really kicked in, i had a fleece and the air con and fan was off yet i was shivering most the night, Caz was feeling a little better and provided some warmth but i had little sleep.

The next morning both myself and Caz feeling worse for wear really could have just stayed in bed but it was another early start and back on the road, this time to Pushkar. The journey was around 6 hours, we still hadn't got Josh back but had news from Jodie that Paul had made to Pushkar, we would be back in the Overland truck, we had all missed it. The journey dragged for me, my fleece was on and off more than a prostitutes knickers. The fever had taken over, i ached from head to toe and had no energy, i think i had been fighting it and looking after Caz also helped, now i had couldn't fight. We arrived in Pushkar and i decided that it was time to call in the Doc. With all the mozzie bites i had got over the last 4 weeks, i had to make sure it wasn't Malaria or the start of it anyway. The doc came out, he suggested a blood test of which i had to make my way into town to the medical center. Caz, Paul and Jodie came with me. The medical center where they took the blood certainly was nothing like the hospital in Jodhpur. a small, dark, mouldy room with a middle aged man in a white vest with stains all over it. I paid just under a RS1000 and thought i was waiting in the waiting room and that i would be asked to go to the back for the blood to be taken, nope this is India, it was taken there and then. We were told to come back in an hour, by now i was fighting to stay awake and kept passing out, not sure what from. Caz took my back to the hotel and Jodie and Paul said they would get the results for me. 3 hours later, Jodie and Paul returned, it wasn't Malaria but something the locals call 'Monsoon fever' which is common even with locals. I had a bunch of tablets to take, rest and water was advised, i had slept a little and was feeling a little better. Caz feeling better but far from 100% still just wanted to sleep, we ordered room service and rested. We had seen only a medical center in Pushkar and that was it, we had been advised before shopping was good and i was hoping to do some myself, that definitely did not happen. Again we only half a day and 1 night in Pushkar, not of course that i had seen it. We were now heading to Udaipur. For those James bond fans out there, i am sure you will know that 'Octopussy' was filmed here. Jodie promised a great hotel in a great location, she wasn't lying the hotel was lovely and the roof top restaurant overlooked a huge lake which hosted in the middle a Palace. Was amazing views and sunset was something to savour ( i do like my sunset and sun rises). We ate great food and had a few drinks, i was feeling and looking human again and so was Caz, it was great to feel back to 100% again. Just like Pushkar, Udipuir was a shoppers paradise. The next day we took a boat trip round the lake and the pretty much shopped all day. We all bought lots and for the first time on the trip so did I. Not that it was a lot but at least i had put my hand in my pocket for something more than alcohol. We ate dinner and i finally was able to book a flight from Mumbai to Delhi, which i had forgot to do since changing my plans and deciding to stay in India longer. The next day was an early start, 6am leave from the hotel, we now going to be bush camping for the next 4 days. We set off towards a town called 'Mandu' we would camp 20K's just outside somewhere and the next morning spend the morning exploring the 'ghost' town of Mandu. Josh had other Idea's, we had the truck back for 3 days and on the way to our first bush camp Josh decided to blow a head gasket! bad times.. so after waiting on the road side for a few hours the cavalry arrived in the form of 3 jeeps to take us on to Mandu.Of course without the truck we had no camping or cooking gear so it would be a hotel upgrade courtesy of Dragoman. Again the truck had let is down and we were all disappointed but fair play to Jodie and Paul who quickly arranged alternative transport, it may not have been the truck but it got us to where we needed to be. So the next day we explored Mandu, that took all of a couple of hours. I am now going to skip the next few days, purely because this blog will be so big and i am so behind with it so here is a summary. We bush camped in Aganta were we visited some caves and then following day we bush camped on a hotel grounds in Ellora, where we also visited some caves. Though i must admit Ellora was the final day of my trip in India so i decided to upgrade to a room with Caz, the following day was a whole day driving to Mumbai, of which i would arrive have dinner and then shoot off to the airport at midnight to catch a 2.45am flight to Delhi. We had a good last night camping, by the way i had forgot to mention for the bush camping we had picked up a local cook in Udaipur who was going to spend 3 nights with us cooking traditional India cuisine. His name was Rafiq and he good whip up a curry in no time, as well as pakora's, fried chicken and chapatti's, he was an awesome cook and definitely saved us from pasta, tuna and banana's for dinner. We were up at 5am the next day as it was a long, long drive to Mumbai. Josh was back with a new head gasket, however it would seem he didn't like this one either, with 150KM to go, the head gasket blew again and again we were stranded on the side of the road, this was getting a little ridiculous now. This time we assistance from the local RTO (road traffic officers) they arranged a minibus for us, our bags and many bags of shopping that people had accumulated along the way. We were on the road side for around 3hours. It was another 3 hours to Mumbai and we arrived at around 9pm. I had lots to do, as i wasn't staying i didn't have a room so i shared a room with 2 of the other guys, just so i could shower, use the Internet to transfer some cash onto my global travel card and just relax for 30mins, i had no such luck, time flew by and before i knew i was saying my goodbyes to the group, i had little time to spend with Caz which was a bit gutting but we had, had some time the night before.

I was soon on the plane to Delhi, i then had a 4 hour wait in Delhi before my Singapore flight, which given i was shattered and exhausted went pretty quick. So I boarded my Singapore flight at 8am and after 6 weeks was saying good bye to India. Was I sorry to leave? i don't think so, i had, had an amazing time, 'incredible India' was incredible. India truly is world away from England and even from anywhere i have been on my travels, however its hard to love the culture, the people and some of the sights. I wont miss pissing/shitting in holes in the floor, i wont miss the constant beeping of horns, I wont miss the smells, the dirt and the rubbish but there is something i will miss but as yet not sure how to describe it. Kate as she did for the leavers on the last trip wrote another poem, i think she sums up India very nicely and what we have seen and done the last few weeks. I will miss the people i have been travelling with, some more than others and i am sure I have made some long lasting friends. So i bid farewell to India, on to Singapore of which i am sure will a complete contrast to India.

Just want to say thanks to Jodie and Paul the Dragoman leaders for making the trip so great despite the issues with the truck. Also thanks to the rest of the guys and gals on the trip for making it so memorable especially Caz, Kate, Joe and Goon bag, the 'party group'.

And a special mention has to go out to Carlotta, i hope she one day finds out whether she has a 'growler' or not!!!

And also Joe.. we all missed you very much, and we saw some Don-keeeeyyssss!!!