Cambodia

I am not a natural blogger, finding it hard to get the motivation to jot stuff down (I am keeping a diary fairly religiously so memories won't be forgot).

Anyway Cambodia. I took a bus from Sigon with a chap called Eli. I had met him at the beginning of my Gap tour and we decided to head to Cambodia together. Eli quickly turned out to be a liability. He'd lost his card so couldn't get any money but didn't weem particulalry keen to fix this. Even when I offered to gt money out ofr him if his rent transfered some online to me he passed. the lack of money instantly became annoying. We got the cheapest bus to Phenom Phen, a $5 bribe got us quickly through the boarder (having to bride officals annoyed me, but it seems almost impossible to avoid) and the bus dropped us off 10km outside of town. It was ment to get us the whole way, but the roads were closed due to the water festival. I had given the poor conducter a hard time about this, thinking it was a scam, turns out police were stopping people, and they wanted more money than I was prepared to pay as a bribe to let us in. Cambodian government is corrupt to the core. We mannaged to get a tok tok with two american chaps into town, to the cheep backstreets which Eli had selected to stay at. We haddn't booked (I asked Eli to but he didn't) and low and behold the guesthouse was booked out. We ended up staying at this midrange but nice enough place. I was surprised at how willing the tok tok driver was to help us. In fact everyone was freindly and wanted to help. Turns out Cambodia is a freindly place, people love to chat and joke and are always happy to help, without expecting anything in return. I love Cambodian people.

Phenom Pehn was tainted by 2 things, firstly Eli and secondly the tradagy at teh water festival. The first day there we relocated to a $3 a night place (freindly staff by no lock on the door and only basic fans in a very hot room) and woundered into town. It was stifingly hot, the weather here is very humid and you find yourself sweating buckets within seconds. Eli insisted we walked to the river front, but after 30 minutes of walking about I accepted we were lost and paid for a tuk to take us. Turns out we had been walking in entirly the worng direction. We watched the baot races from the restaurnt we had lunch at. Eli used his credit card (he had a credit card but didn't know its pin) but didn't sign for it properly, instead he just initalled which cause a stir. In the afternoon we went to the S21 meuseum. Eli and I seperated as it took me longer to read the information points. When I came out he had gone, a tuk tuk driver told me 'your boyfreind left' I replyed 'he's certainly not my boyfreind, in fact I don't think he's my freind right now'. so pennyless (as I had spent my money on tuk tuks and lunch and couldnt find an atm) and armed only with the basic Lonaly planet guide i walked back to the hostel in the stinking heat. Predictibly I got lost, although many kind people on the street offered to help. by the time I got back I was fumming. Decidion made, I was ditching Eli. I did need to stay with him for that night so that we could share the costs of teh tuk tuk to the killing fields, plus it would be nice to have a companion on the bus. we didn't go out that night (guess what no money) but for this I should be greatful, nearly 400 people were killed in the celebrations as a mass panic occured on an overcroweded bridge. Cambodia has been in morning ever since. The killing fields the next day were eiry, we went early and were the only tourists there. the tradagy from the night before had shocked the normaly bustaling PP into silence. Later that day we left for Siem Reap.

Cambodia, a bit of recent history. Its hard to belive that only 30 years ago this seemingly happy nation were in the grips of genocide. 3 million people were killed in just 4 years. that was nearly half the population. area s21 was formally a school. pol pot decided to pergue Cambodia of all teaching, education, and percieved intellegance. He turned the school into a prison and tourcher chamber for anyone who was guilty of education, or was a potential threat (however small) to his dictatership. Between the years of 1975 and 1978 more than 17000 men woman and children were held and tourchered at s21 before being taken to the killing fields to be slughtered. only 7 survived (thanks to loanly planet aka the bible for information). Every victim was photo graphed and thier somber black and white portraits are kept on notice boards as a reminder. there are also photos of those who died from tourcher, dignity was even dinied at death. This is humanity at its worst. Its almost impossible to belive that everyday people are capable of such cruiltly, its amazing what the power of fear can make a person do. Whilst I was there i was lucky enough to hear one of the only survivers talk. He was a small humble elderly gentalman but his courage and forgivness made me feel small in his presence. He told us how he ws tourchered 3 times a day, for 2 hours each session. he showed us where they had broken his fingures and pulled of his nails, but he only spoke of forgivness. He said he would shake his gailers by the hand and forgive. I can't imagine being able to go through that experiance and still be able to forgive, its incredible. Its unlikely that he'll ever get to shake his gailers byt he hand, as most were arrested and tourchered to death by thier own kin, such was the crulty of the Khumer Rouge. The killing feilds were equally harrowing. prizoners and thier families (which they were forced to reveal after insesant tourcher) were taked here and bludgened to death and burried in mass graves. I think the thing that shocked me the most was that babies were killed by smashing them against a tree or throwing them in the air and spearing them with bayenets. Thier teath still remain at the foot of the tree. the Khumer rouge had brainwashed teenagers and made them monsters. If any of teh executinores rebelled they were killed horribly, 163 uniformed bodies lie in a headless grave. Brave soles who tried to stop the killing despite the personal risk. In this period, everyone was just trying to survive. I know my entry is a little morbid, but I think its important that people know what happened, to show how easy it is to insite genocide. This could happen anywhere, the people here are not monsters, they are just like us. This could happen to you.

OK so hard to come back from that topic into normality but here goes. The bus from PP to SR was 3 hours late, in part due to the tradgady of the previous night. Eli decided to take a sleeping pill as he couldn't afford to eat (I had shouted him the bus fair) and didn't want to be hungry. He spend several hours slipping onto my shoulder. grr. We arrived late in SR but were greated by freindly and helpful tuk tuk drivers so I soon found one to take me to my hostel (Eli was going to the $1 place, i was more than happy to part company with him. For the record he was a really nice guy, just a compleat liability). The Siem Reap hostel is amazing I love it. swimming pool, bar, wi fi, pool tables, tv rooms, air con and a freindly atmosphere - I was in heaven. it was pricey in Cambodia at $8 per night, but to be honest I didn't care. Time for some more flashpacking, the experiance in PP totally put me off counting the pennies.

Siem Reap is a cool but slightly strange place. Its an afluent bubble town, Westeners flock to SR to see the temples, so the town is full of markets restaurnts bars and Mr Fishs (fish foot massage/pedicure). The first day I jumped on a trip to see the mountain and water falls (a 2 hour drive out of town). Within 10 minutes of driving we were back out in the real cambodia, simple houses on stilts, simple hard working lives being lived out. I went with the hostel general manager and her freinds. they were a group of aussies and their enthusiasm was contagious. A proper lift for me as I was beginning to get travel weary. We saw the buddest monks prey for the victems of the PP tradgedy, it was very moving. We washed from the fertility linger (well actually I took photos, it seemed counter productive to wash considering I have invested a lot of time and energy in not being fertile). And swam with apprentice monks and locals in the water falls. brilliant. The next day I went to see the floating villages and petrofied forest. The village was amazing, built on stilts in the water. floating pig pens. It looked like something out of water world. The kids played in baskests, spinning them like teapots in the water. we took a canoe out into the forrest, the twisted trees in the black water were both eri and buetiful. our boatswomans kids were shy at first but soon came to play with me. I attract kids like a magnet, but I didn't mind as they were really sweet. And then I had the temple days. Ankor is just outside of Siem reap and is a huge complex of amazing temples. My favourites were Ta Prohm (the set of tomb raider) where huge trees tower over the acient ruiens, thier giant roots hug the stone walls. Preah Khan, which is in a similar state of disseray, but over time algy have changed the colour of the stone so that the ingravings are a beutiful mix of green, brown, grey and black. And finaly Bayon which is a temple made out of faces, truely spectacular. We had a magical experiance at Angkor Wat where the security garde snuck us in after sunset and we got to walk around the grounds all by ourselves at dusk. Really atmospheric, Laura Croft eat your heart out (though I don't think she would be using the light of her mobil phone to get up and down the stairs). I also made some freinds at Siem Reap hostel. We had one night of hedonistic fun getting drunk in the angkor What bar. I have good memories of the loas dance which got the whole street dancing. It was worth the illness the next day. I felt quiet homesick when I left the Siem Reap hostel. i think i might make a new entry for volenteering as I've waffeled in this one.

GOOD MORNING VIETMAN!

I've finished my 15 day tour of vietnam, now in Siem Reap sitting in the bar by the pool, geeking on my laptop.

So waht to say about Vietnam, its a beutiful counrty with an interesting history. We started our trip in Hanoi, very different to the pristeane Chinease streets. Hanoi hums with activity, people are working every hour of the night and day. The only way to get about Vietnam is by motor bike and Hanoi is full of them. I called upon my India crossing the street experiance and used the walk steadily across without looking tactic - the only way to part the sea of motor bikes. There was confusion over a change of hotel, something about a government booking, I'm still sceptical about this but the other hotel was nice enough. met my tour group, 15 of us, from all counrties and all ages. to be honest this was not what I was expecting, but turned out to make a more interesting trip.

From Hanoi we headed north into Sapa. Sapa was once a quiet village in the north home to tribal communities. Sapa now is a tourist mecca, the tribal woman have been prevented from growing opiem (though they clearly grow a bit on the side) and now occupy thier time plauging tourists:
Sapa woman's guide to selling
1) small talk
'whats your name?'
'where you from?'
'how old are you?'
'you have husband?' (me no) they say 'aw'
'you have baby?' (me no) 'aw' sometimes consilation pat on back
'you my freind?
'you buy from me?'
2) bring your baby if you've got one
3) follow tourist like a shadow
4) if all else fails send in the big guns - the cute kids

the women were unstopable, they waited in groups outside the hotel and buses, picking which tourist they were going to mark, they followed us all the way through our 6 hour treck, they never gave up. Its a shame, I was looking forward to seeing the rural way of life, and Sapa was beutiful, but the insistant 'you buy from me' somewhat ruined the experiance. We did stay in the mountains and got fairly drunk on the home brew. Our guide went into a back room with the family and came out red eyed and wasted - the home brew wa not strng enough for this. We did enjoy his singing, particulalry 'I'm smelling you for the last time'.

From Sapa we headed to Haylong Bay by train. Fairly comfy other than the bi polar airconditioning, very hot, freezing, very hot, freezing. Haylong Bay is stunning. We spent a night on a junk boat, visited some caves, and went cannoing. It wa brilliant, just such a beutiful place to be in.

We then headed to Hue, it wa raining! which is a bit of a shock to the old system. In Hue we had an awesome motor bike tour, it was pissing with rain, and we looked ridiculous in our matching cagools, but it was a briliant way to see the back streets. We stopped in at a little village, and saw how they farmed rice, we visited a one armed hat maker, had lunch with buddist nuns at monistary, saw the kings excessive tomb, took a boat down the river to see a pagodia, and rode up to the hills which overlooked hanburger hill and the ho chi min trail.

Onwards to Hoi An, a shopperholics dream and a husbands worst night mare. Hoi An is entirly populated by tailers, who will make a coat from sctatch in 3 hours, tailoured to your mesurments. there is nothing these woman canot make, and cannot sell. Even little old tight fisted me bought 2 dresses. Hoi An was also very wet, flooded in fact, which added some amusment to the shoping trips as we waded our way to town - neither hell or high water was keeping Elena from those dresses.

And Finally Sigon/Ho Chi Min City. Busy but modern, Sigon has embrassed capotalist industry far more than the still very comunist capitol (hanoi). Western shops cafes hotels and restaurnts are easily found. We visited the war museum, which was truely harrowing. The things this country has been through, and worst of all are still going through. It was a horrid realisation that the cirppled younge people we saw on our travels, the one armed lady, were not a result of an unfortunate genetic twist, but a result of the use of Agent orange. Agent Orange, the most toxic chemical known to man, was spread across vietnam throughout the war. Many people died, and thier unborn children horribly malformed as a result. How can the attrocities that occure during war ever be justified.

So Vietnam in a nutshell. Its beutiful, and going through a period of rapid change. As Vietnam relaxes its policys to allow for forign investors and tourism its greatly improving the quality of life of its inhabitants ('ten years ago everyone was hungy, now we all have full bellys' Nhing our tour guide). But with the good comes the bad, the Vietnam I saw was a tourist trap, everything was geared towards porviding serivces which would make money from the tourists. I fear some of the old culture which makes vietman so rich might be being lost.

China - the quest for the biggest Buddha

I'm currently sitting alone in the hostel in hong kong, one my new laptop (which I still haven't worked out how to use). Alone is a strange feeing after 3 weeks in rosie's company, I'm not sure I like it.

It was nice to be back in the comfortable Beijing hostel (even with its mirrored ceiling). we spent 4 days there, and crammed in all the tourist attions possible. The first day we went to the great wall, it was a long 3 hour bus journey to get there. It was worth it though as we prety much had the wall to ourselves. We quickly lost our annoying yet thankfully unfit tour group and hiked up the wall in solitude. It is breathtaking, it stretchs semmingly endlessly into the mountains, well worth the visit. We also visited the forbiden city, the summer place, the temple of heaven, a silk factory, the olimpic stadium, the Beijing opora and a few parks.

Edit: comp crashed in Hong Kong so I've been putting off finishing the entry until now. I'm in Vietnam, its raining.

Beijing was great. AS you can see we cramed loads into the 5 days we were there, which did unfortunaly mean they were all a little rushed, but great to see never-the-less. Beijing is a proude city, but with good reason. Its spotlessly clean and beutiful. I really enjoyed my time there.

From Beijing we took a horribly slow 20 hour train to Shanghi. A baby was on the bunk below us and I was convinced that it was going to wee everywhere (Babys in China don't wear nappies, instead they just have crotchless trousers and shit and piss wherever they please - its weird oversight in a otherwise higean parinoid cities). The baby didn't pee, and we enoyed passing the time by reading and playing cards. Shanghi was cool. The City was very busy due to the World Expo which was finishing on the weekend we arrived. This made booking a train to get there, and accomodation difficult, but we mannaged to get a nice hostel in the end. We met a lovely chinease girl in our dorm who got us tickets for the Expo on the last day - brilliant! We were going to spend the day with her, but she decided to stand in the que for the Swiss expo (I don't do queing) instead. I took her 6 hours of queing to get in! My non-quing attitude ment we saw African and south american small countries expos, England, India, Peru and Canada which were all cool. Was nice to go to something which had such hype in China.

Unfortunalty Rosie caught a death disease at the expo. The next day we tried to see a temple, but Rosie collapsed on the subway. I had to enrolle five bewildered chinease men to help me carry her off! Well we finally gave them a proper reason to stare at us (other than just being ginger and blond). Luckaly she came round fairly quickly, but did mean we took it easy for the following days. We did see a park, the Jade Budda temple, a museum, and an acrobatics show which was truelly spectacular.

Next stop Hong Kong. A lesser 10 hour journey (I think - Rosie correct me if I'm wrong) to Koolong station. We were a bit worried going through imigration. The Chinease are so scared about SARRS that they have temperature checks at the boarder. They won't let you enter with a fever. Rosie did well, we snuck her through despite her pale complection and she mannaged not to cough. Well done Rosie.

We only had one day together in Hong Kong so we decided to treat ourselves. I bought my laptop and we went to see the MASSIVE Budda on the mountain. The China leg definatly was a quest for buddas. The massive Budda was cool, built fairly recently, but had an education center and I finally learnt something about Buddism. Its actually makes a lot of sence, and its 'truths' have a lot of overlap with therapy for depression which is interesting. We also treated ourselves to a posh meal. I had Rissottoe which was lovely - we were horribly underdressed though, the restarunt had to hide us in the corner. oh well, to be fair I have worn the same trousers for over a month now.

Anyway in summery. China = clean, culteral, a little hostil, very easy for tourists, safe, enjoyable. I think I would have a very different opinion if we had visited rural China but time was short. I really enjoyed our time there but it did feel a little too easy. I hope the next leg holds more adventure.

Wannabe Mongolian

Afraid this is a proper unchecked update from an internet cafe so appologies if it is intirely illegable.

left for Beijing on the 13th arrived the next day. The forbidden city hostel is a quirky place but I liked it. Staff seem very keen to help but totally disorganised. You probably won't get the room you booked and your food will propably arrive 30 mins after your freinds, but the staff will bend over backwards to try and right it. First night I ended up in the dorm room, which worked out well as I got chatting to my friendly hugerian room mate. The next night Rosie arrived and we shared what can only be described as the love shack - single round bed with mirrors on the wall, we both laughed.

And then we flew to Mongolia. We stayed at the UB guesthouse on Jez's recommendation - cheers Jez as they have been awesome. First day was hectic, had to fly in, sort hostel, get to our orientation lesson with ger-to-ger, and work out how to get to the bus stop the next day. I have to admit the oriantation terrified me. It covered manners - don't point your feet or back to anyone or the ideal, near impossible in a seferical ger. Calls - 'call your dogs off', and 'I've broken my leg'. Dangers, including dogs, wolves, and lightening. And they dropped in that we were going by our tod and some families have only had a few visiters before. Oh and that there is no clean water. AHHHH.

All of my fears were uncalled for though. The trip was absolutely amazing. Not sure I can write about it all now, so you'll have to pester me for the details. We stayed with 3 familes. The first were a younge family, in their late 20's early 30's with 2 younge kids. The kids were adorable and I really enjoyed playing with them. The neighbours/relatives drop in often, they basically live as one big family, and all were very kind. They were keen to learn English and we chatted/pointed at the phrase book for many hours. The second family had a more hands off approach. They were an older couple, who had 2 older children who were away at school whilst we were staying with them.This was actually a nice break, and their Ger was situated at the bottom of a mountain which was perfect for hiking. The scenery was spectacular. Whilst we were there 2 other tourist goined us for 2 nights, Kevin and Grace - they were nice, but again wanted to keep themselves to themselves. The third family were again older with children away at school. however the Granny and I think brother and sister and law and their baby were all in the cooking ger with us through out the day. Again this family were faboulous hosts, warm freindly and have a great sense of humor which transcended the language barrier.

On our trip we went camel riding (Mongolian camels are a good deal fluffier and friendlier than Indian camels) Horse riding, and partook in everyday life, to the best of our abilities. Turns out I'm not a natrual Mongolian. Rosie and myself accidentally set fire to her hat whilst trying to stoke the fire with more dried horse poo, smoking out the ger in the process. Due to a shortage of horses I ended up riding a just broken pony on the last trip, and spooked it, making us gallop in circles - whoops. I keep forgetting that these horses don't trust me like Mr T does, I'm a bit out of practice with babies. However a sat to the bucking and galloping so didn't do too badly, still felt a bit silly being lead. I also suck at killing things, not that we were involved in that part of life - thats the mans job. Still, i feel far too much empathy for the goats/sheep/cows. It was fantastic watching the men catch them, and helping by standing in the way, but once the animal was caught and dragged to its soon to be death, I struggled to watch. Still, its lived a good life, and that's how it should be I suppose, much better than the meat factory in England. Its fascinating to watch how the family take care that not a single scrap is wasted. Leftovers are frowned upon, and if they occur they are used in the next meal some how. One morning we arrived at the kitchen ger to find that one of the Goats had been slautered. The meat was hanging on the ceiling to dry - a way of preserving the meat. the innards were being cleaned and prepared by our hosts for lunch, which turned out to be quite tasty despite their appearance. The innerds we didn't eat were made into pasties the next day, we helped make them, the women laughed at our kack-handed approach. Bones that humans could not eat were given to the dogs. The woman also make a huge variety of dairy products from cows and horse milk. We helped them make butter, a process which is painstaking, takes many hands and several days. Everyone works, even the Granny who is bent double, blind and only has 2 remaining teeth, but everyone works together, with respect kindness and good humour.

Their are so many more stories from our 6 day adventure, an epic ride across the planes, Rosie's failed nature wee (had to include it sorry Rosie), the monistary, 'shit shit fuck fuck get up Rosie the alarm hasn't gone off' race to the bus station, the sheep in the boot, pushing the van, 'i think wolves are behind us' walk, and many more but I'll have to tell you them in person.

We are now back in Ulaan Baatar (much nicer than the reputation it is given) in an internet cafe. The novelty of heating, running water, and toilets has yet to wear off. Nothing makes you appreciate a hot shower more than 6 days without one in the country.

next stop china, I can't access my blog there so wont be updating until Vietnam. So until then, tootles

So long fair well

Time for Goodbies in India. Saying goodbye to Pritvi at the orphanage yesterday was the hardest. He was clearly hurt that I was leaving. I wanted to say that I would miss him, but was afraid that preferential treatment would hurt the others feelings and possibly get him bullied. So I said nothing. He was very sullen all lesson, and when we went to leave he ran to to gate to wave me off. Really heart wrenching, I hate that I am also leaving him, like almost everyone else in his life. I'd like to write to him, but again afraid that preferential treatment will cause upset.

The school today was much easier. the kids are too young to work out what was going on so we just had fun colouring in stuff. I have to confess my mind is not on the job today. In full worry about flights mode. Still got some nice pics, including our young love birds (Pooja and Ramesh - they are so cute).

Ooo forgot to write about our Dandia party. We all got dressed up and Fiona taught us Dandia dancing. Was really good fun, and I enjoyed looking like a girl for once (I know very unlike me).

And onwards to Beijing then Mongolia. Looking forward to seeing Rosie, and hopefully the end of curry (not that I have high hopes for mongolian food). Lets hope I don't eat horse.

Hidden Tiger Munching Dragon and the Greatest Wonder of the world - Ranthanbourg and Taj trip

We took the sleeper train from Udaipur to Ranthanbourg. Was actually really good fun – we played some card games before climbing into our respective bunks. I slept surprisingly well and was quiet startled when Ravi woke me up to say its our stop. It was 2am when we staggered out onto the station and waited for our lift. About 200 people were sleeping on the floor of the platform and outside the station, was a very odd sight, not something you’d see in England. Soon enough the rickshaw drives spotted us and charged over in force, luckily our jeep arrived in time to save us and they despondently walked away. The jeep ride to the hotel was great fun.

The fist day we enjoyed doing very little by, and in my case, in the pool. It was only half full but still considerably cooler than the 38 degree heat outside. After some lunch and faff we went on our first safari – hidden tiger munching dragons. There was no room for Ravi on our truck and seeing as he’s been many times before he decided to cancel and stay at the hotel. We boarded the massive truck all excited. The truck needed to pick up some more passengers from down the road. Our hearts sand when several young teenagers boarded, equipped with rustally bags, fizzy drinks, and shrill voices. Chances of seeing a tiger had fallen from slim to non. Bloody kids. We had to endure their company for the next 3 hours. It would have been a pleasant trip through beautiful jungle except the kids insisted on standing up thus blocking our view and falling on top of me on regular occasions. They also spoke loudly all trip and shouted every time they saw an animal. Grr. Just kids being kids I suppose.

In the evening some local dancers came to entertain us. There was also a group of Indian nurses staying at our hotel, and in true Indian style were fascinated with us. When they saw as sitting on the lawn waiting for the band to start they were quick to also pull up a pew, soon we were surrounded by 30 of them. The addition of the crazy Indian ladies actually made the whole party more fun. The chap showing us how to dance was seriously more feminine than me, and I completely failed to master and of the moves. Some of the nurses then decided to take the stage by forcibly removing the poor bewildered dancer. Soon we ended up in an Indian style dance off, was all highly amusing, we lost horribly – all of us bar Anna were but bounced off. The ring leader took a liking to Claire and invited her to their after party in their dorms. Feeling a bit out-numbed she declined. In hindsight we should have all gone it would have made a brilliant story.

The next day we visited the fort. It stretched for 5 miles across the mountain. A true symbol of strength and determination, both of which it took to climb to the top of the bloody thing in the crippling heat. After many breaks and photos we reached the top. From hear we could view a good deal of the national park, including the huge lake with two large crocodiles circling – they looked like matchsticks form the top. The fort included a mix of Hindu and Muslim temples. At the Hindu temple there was a great deal of activity. Footstalls and their merchants, many tourists and loads of monkeys. The monkeys at the entrance which we had ‘awwed’ at were passive mothers and their fluffy babies. The monkeys at the top however were food stealing ninjas, waiting for an opportunity to mug you. As we were leaving the temple Sabrina was just contemplating what to do with the sweet she was given when a large mother monkey solved her dilemma, by snatching out of Sabrina’s hand. This made us all the more weary as we had to walk through the crowds of monkeys back to the entrance.

In the evening we had our second safari. This one was just us (bar Ravi) on the jeep and much nicer. The drive was a beautiful mix of savanna type planes, woodland and jungle. We saw many animals on route as well as laborers sweating away in the sun. in the jungle we saw foot prints of a male heading one way and a female with tiny cubs heading the other – eee excitement. We silently waited by the river, but no joy. On our way back we saw fresh male tiger track over our own, we must have just missed them. The thrill of seeing evidence of such a beautiful animal alive and breading was enough for me, we were all very happy on our return.

One uncomfortable night train later we arrived in Agra. We made a short pit stop at our hotel to freshen up and have breaky then we were off to the Taj! The Taj really does live up to its reputation. So much thought went into it. Its perfectly symmetrical in all aspects. The Tomb is 8 sided for the 8 children who died and when you shout at one of the pillars you will hear your voice echoing a perfect 8 times. The stone sparkles under light like its glowing from the inside. Tragically the English took the gold which crowned the top of the Taj, it does make me feel a bit ashamed that my predecessors failed to see the Taj for the untouchable wonder it is. Nearer the end of the tour, after all the necessary cheesy photo’s were taken, we were ushered our by the armed guards. Some of the athletes from the commonwealth games had arrived and they were granted a private tour. I was no too upset as I was begging to lag in the 40 degree heat. Back the apartment, lunch at Pizza hut then sleeper train home. Brilliant trip!

From Micelle Angelo to Zero, fun and the hospital, and no longer the newbiee

Life has been ticking over in this new found normality. I’m feeling more at ease with India and teaching. Three things to note:

• Teaching
• Hospital visit
• Two new arrivals,

Teaching

Year one school kids are hard work, some are seriously hyper, I’m tempted to slip them some Ketamin at times. There is a particular boy I’ve taken a dislike to, Chinural (not actually how its spelt or pronounced but its all I manage to get out when I’m shouting at him to stop whatever he’s doing). His nick-name between Laura and myself is Mr Grabby hands as he’s always snatching, and when he’s not doing that he’s fighting. Nothing we’ve tried so far seems to deter him from his mischief. I realize that it’s perhaps unfair to form a grudge against a 4-6 year old, so try not to show my contempt, but I must confess my heart sinks when he shows up for class. I do also have my favorites, bright unassuming kids, perhaps because they remind me of myself as a child. Poojar is exceptionally sweet with big brown eyes and a quiet manner. Rahul is very bright and spends him time helping teachers and his class mates. Rajsuta is cute, gappy teeth but a big smile. Gampak is naughty, but essentially desperate for attention. The past couple of lessons he’s been an angle to please me, I can’t help but like him for that.

The orphanage boys have made less of an impression. Perhaps because I’ve seen them less, or perhaps because Claire takes more of a lead. Two boys stand out however. Dinesh (nice but dim) and Pritvi Raj (frighteningly cleaver). I may have inspired a slight crush on me when I drew Pritvi’s portrait. It was drawing time and as usual Pritvi have found something to entertain himself with whilst the others were finishing their worksheets. Unfortunately Pritvi was so immersed in reading the syllabus (our book) that he missed the handing out of drawing books. They were all gone by the time he decided he wanted to draw. This resulted in a mild sulk and Pritvi is not a boy you want to leave unamused, so I offered to draw him whilst he drew me. The picture I drew wasn’t bad, if I do say so myself, but to Pritvi it was clearly the best drawing he’d ever seen, I was Micelle Angelo, and he spent the rest of the afternoon staring at me with awe. This idealization was short lived. The next day was spelling and Pritvi monopolized my attention by getting me to help him with his worksheet (he didn’t need help). It was soon apparent that Pritvi could spell elephant and I could not, and the spell was broken. Still nice whilst it lasted.

my orphanage class

Boys playing games at orphanage

Hospital visit

I’ve been having jip with my stomark since I arrived and was getting a bit fed up. Laura was going to the doctor and I decided I should try going along myself = error. Turns out doctors = hospital. Laura went first and was seen immediately. The doctor wanted to admit her, but after some protest let her leave with some tests and drugs. He was just about to see me when an emergency case was rushed in. A young woman had taken poison, the family were understandably upset and it was all hands on deck as the hospital was short staffed that day (due to yet another festival). We ended up waiting for an extra hour before another doctor was available. I did feel rather daft as I wasn’t even that sick. At any rate when the doctor did see me he agreed with me that it was most likely to do with change in diet but put me through a blood test, stool sample, and drugs just in case. Joy. The drugs were worth it though, I feel 100X better now.

The day ended much better than it started with a visit to the monsoon palace (the set of octopussy) to watch the beautiful sunset and then a dancing/puppet show in the evening.

The two new arrivals

I’m no longer the newbie, Lindsey and Anna arrived on Sunday. They had quiet a first day! They arrived in the morning and after settling in they came into town with us. On the public rickshaw they were introduced the Indian concept of private space – ie there is no such thing, 9 of us were rammed into the tiny cabin. I was just commenting to Anna that ‘it’s amazing that more traffic accidents don’t happen’ when low and behold there was some commotion and a woman was carried off the street unconscious. There was a puddle in the road, I hope it wasn’t blood. Once we got into town we found that most of the shops were closed including ‘bangle man’ and ‘jewelry lady’. A little deflated we decided to head to big bizarre (the supermarket). A 22 public rickshaw did a U turn and offered to take us there. The keenness of the young male driver to have one of us sit up the front should have rung alarm bells, but good natured and trusting Fiona obliged them with her company. When we got off she was furious, they had ‘copped a feel’. Bastards. I think it should be pointed out that not all Indian men are like this, there is a bit of a misconception that white women are whores here, but a lot of the guys are still very courteous, this was just on of those bastards who isn’t. I suppose you get them everywhere when you think about it. Anyway, we arrived at big bizarre and ease our minds by shopping, was nearly forgotten by the end of the day.

Looking ahead.

Today we head off to Ranthanbourg (probably not spelt right) on the quest to see tigers. After that we are heading to Agra to see the Taij – ee the excitement. I shall update with photos on my return.

P.S Than you Ben for the photo’s I’m about to steal.

The Jodhpur trip – sightseeing, camels and toilet violation

Decided to go on the Jodhpur sight seeing trip at the weekend. The 7 hour bus journey on the way there was actually quite pleasant. Was nice to see the country side and enjoyed the novelty of seeing monkeys by the side of the road. The constant sound of the bus’s horn was the only thing which stopped this journey from being truly relaxing. We arrived at our hostel and had dinner, um not 100% convinced of the hygiene of its restaurant but go with the flow anyway.

In the morning my suspicions were proved right, the day started with a good bit of toilet violation. Then we went t o see the memorial and fort which are situated on the hill overlooking Jodhpur. Both were spectacular. The fort was a testament to India’s many civil wars – though saying that England has had quiet a few over the years. Conclusion: people like fighting, regardless of culture. Having flavored the delights of the hostel restaurant we decided that we might go to Mc Donald’s for lunch – in part because we enjoyed the irony of a Macy D’s in a Hindu country. It was surprisingly up market, cleaner than English Mc Donald’s – but needless to say beef was not on the menu.

After lunch we were taken by jeep to the desert. Was a 1hour 30 minute bumpy journey, but a lot of fun. We were chatting and listening to music on route. We visited yet another temple on route. Again wonderful architecture, but the experience was somewhat mired by the now excruciating heat, and general level of filth that is standard in India. Finally we arrived at our home stay. We drove over the dunes until we finally stopped at our hut. We were greeted very warmly by the head of the family who made us all chi. The family had the obligatory set of animals – cows, camels, dogs, goats – every house/hut has at least on of each in this region, but our family could boast they had several. The baby goat was very friendly, we spent some time cuddling it whilst hoping it wouldn’t end up being our dinner. We then had a mad dash up the dunes to watch the sunset, made it just in time. Sunset was beautiful, was really nice to be away form the hustle and bustle of town. I really am a country girl at heart. The rest of the group was not however. We had got covered in sticky burs on the way to the dunes which were prickly – earning them the name of ‘spiky bustards’ and by the time we got back to find we would be sleeping outside with the animals, the others were starting to dismay. We were fed and then treated to traditional dancing and music. The locals came round to join in with the party, much merriment all round. The two women made us dance with them, I think they regretted this decision as the dance moves required us to raise our arms, and being armpit height, I think we must have stunk them out. After dancing it was time for bed. Sleeping under the stars was great – the dogs fighting woke me up but other than that a very peaceful evening. And the camels didn’t lick us, which was what the others were worrying about.

At 4.30am we were woken with chi ready for our camel ride. Laura was not in the best of moods, she had been up all night violating the toilets, which had given up the ghost after her onslught. Laura and myself were the first to tackle our camel. I was on the front, getting up was interesting but not as bad as I had anticipated. I was still glade that it was dark as I could not tell how high up I was sitting. Camels are a bit taller than Mr T. Clair and Sebrina were next, unfortunately their camel stood up before Sebrina had got properly into her seat, which resulted in a nasty tumble. Fair play to her she got right back on, but it made the rest of us even more nervous. We rode in the dark for 40 mins until we reached the top of the dunes to watch the sunrise. The camels took the opportunity to fall back asleep whilst we waited. My stomark took the opportunity to complain now that I was safely out of reach of a toilet. I ignored it, and hoped that I wouldn’t end up violating the camel on the way back. The Sun rose, many photo’s were taken, and then we headed back home for breakfast and toilets (broken toilets are better than no toilet in a desert of ‘spiky bastards’). Our camel herder – which was in-fact a small child – decided he couldn’t be bothered on the way back and refused to lead our camel, or even give us on the reigns. This left Laura and myself at the mercy of the camels good will. Luckily it just followed the others and took the occasional snack, never-the-less we were a little bit nervous to say the least. After breakfast we packed up to head home.

Fist leg sweaty jeep ride to Jodhpur, then horrid hostel lunch with complementary mice at our feet (god knows why we went back there). The service was so slow that it made us late for our bus. As a result we had a terrifying rickshaw ride to the bus station. Ravi must have told them we were in a hurry. Our driver seemed to think he was something out of grand theft auto and drove accordingly. The girls screaming just seemed to spur him on! We were charging the wrong way down the duel-carriage way, head on into a stampede of oncoming traffic, weaving through them, then swerving into the other side of the road through a gap in the central reservation, I’m pretty sure we were only on two wheels at that point, and our driver was smiling all the while. Actually mental! He only slowed to ogle the girls we past. Still we made it to the bus, in once piece amazingly. The bus home seemed to only travel at 10 miles per hour which meant no breeze to cool the unbearable heat. A horrible 8 hours later we arrive in Udaipur, particularly horrible for Laura and now Ben who were feeling the effects of the hostel. God bless Imodium.

Channel youth, the rainbow song, and a rude cow

OK, diary extracts will possibly take too long, so I’ll just do a summery of the last few days.

Actually I should start by filling you in on the project. I signed up via GVI, but the project is actually run by channel youth. The staf that are working directly with us are Gaurav, Ritu and Ravi, all enthusiastic 20 somethings who really believe in bringing education to Rajethstan. We also have a cook Meena Ji, her helpers Tulsi, Pinki (I think are her kids buy not sure), and Kaniya Ji (her husband) is our driver. Atm there are 5 other volunteers, Ben, Fiona, Serina, Clare and Laura. Sometimes there are as many as 25 volenteers working so its pretty quiet atm. Currently we are working on three projects. The day school in the mornings, the boys orphanage on Monday to Wednesday evenings and a disabled kids school Thursday and Friday evenings.

A bit of background. Udaipur is a very poor area with 90% of the population below the poverty line. The policy of ‘more hands to more work’ stands here, so families are large. Girls are sen as expensive/liabilies due to dowerys, so arranged marrages with fixed doweries are common and sometimes baby girls are even killed so familes don’t have to deal with theexpense. Many parents are alcoholics. Children are regularly orphaned from disease or poverty. Its preety intense. The channel youth project was set up to improve education. Education is not valued here, so kids had to be lured in with the offer of a free meal before their parents would allow them to stop working and attend. But the kids are lovely and really happy to learn. They are the first in their families to do so.

Conditions at the school are basic, just a concrete room, the doors don’t close so occasionally the wild dogs wonder into the class room. The orphanage is far worse. 90ish boys live in very basic conditions, 25 beds are crammed into rooms with ½ a foot between them. There is only 1 family looking after all 90 boys, so parenting is non-existant. The orphanage boys are understandably a little more rowdy then the school kids. What really surprised me was how nicely the boys played together. One boy voluntarily wrote ‘I love my friends and my teachers’. If I was locked up with 90 boys day-in-day out I don’t think I would be writing words of love. The disabled school is far nicer. It is funded by a private charity. Rooms are still basic, but they at least have a rug, and there are enough staff to look after the kids.

I’ve been thrown in the deep end as a teacher. I teach year 1 at the school with Laura. Tuesday did not go so well, 18 6 year olds turned up, we were out numbered and it all went the way of lord of the flys, ending in blood shed. Yesterday and today however were much better, we were given a bigger class room and split them up which helped. I think I’m making progress at teaching them the rainbow song, we had some mumbling today. See I’m helping – even if it is only by teaching the rainbow song, which is actually inaccurate, but hay ho.

What with teaching, lesson planning, Hindi classes, cooking workshops and meetings I’m a very busy bee – has been good as I’ve yet to even have a chance to feel properly home sick yet. Oo I forgot to mention the trip into town. The dirty bustaling India I enjoyed viewing from the security of the truck is far less enjoyable when your walking amongst it. They do not drive on the left in India – they drive everywhere! The constant beeping makes me jump out my skin, but at least you have fair warning that they are about to run you over. The cows give you no such warning unfortunately. I was unceremoniously chucked into a gutter by a wondering cow. The dirt was the thing that got to me. Dust and the smell of open sewage fills the air and force me to close my mouth and hold my breath at times. Just a bit intimidating right now, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it with time.

Oo forgot to say my bag finally cought up with me, unfortunalty not all it contents came with it. Lesson one in India – if Its not bolted down, it will be stolen.

I’m leaving on a jet plane, I hope I make it back again

So first post, I’m in India, safe and sound. Not sure how to write a blog so I thought I’d just take extracts out the old diary.

On the plane and it STILL doesn’t seem real. Currently focused my attention on the time zone difference but am baffled. My in-flight interactive screen tells me ‘local time at destination:1.36am, but hasn’t changed for the last 5 minutes. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is wrong. This is all rather academic anyway as, even if I did know the time in India, I have yet to work out how to change the time on my watch…Today has also been strange as I’m not looking forward to the trip at all. I feel sad and scared which is odd as this is something I’ve planed to do for so long. I suppose I’m sad because I’m leaving so much which I love so dearly and scared as I’m undertaking my biggest challenge yet. I am for the first time in my life, really alone. If I get into grief it falls to me to fix things and I don’t feel capable to be honest. Still if you never try, you never learn. I hope that by the time I return home I will no longer doubt my ability, no longer look to others to sort out my problems and never again worry about being alone. I also hope to appreciate what I have and know more about other cultures and ways of life.

Its now 7.58 Indian time, 3am ish English and we are about to arrive in Delhi. I’m tired. I’m going to see if I can steel the Jet airways blanket.

One blanket stolen, unfortunately my hold luggage predictably didn’t make it. Kalama I suppose. I have a 2 hour wait for the next flight and just want to get there now, feeling very alone in the airport. Its raining which is disappointing in a way, although it might work in my favor as it will keep the mossies at bay now I don’t have any deet. Right, going to read my trashy book before my thoughts wonder too far down the ‘should have stayed at home’ route.

And then I arrived. Met Claire at the airport arrivals. We soon worked out that as the only white people at Udaipur airport we were probably both waiting for GVI. We were met by Raj and driven in a bus with plastic sides the 30 min drive to the house. This was the India I wanted to see. The calm clean cold environment of Delhi international airport was replaced by the hectic dirty madness which is the Indian road system. Cows in the road, while families on one bike, breaking replaced with beeping, people driving the wrong way down the duel carriage way. Bright saris and stools contrast with the dull dirt on the roads and the half finished houses. Wild doge roam with cattle, some tied, but most free to amble where they please. Somewhat overwhelmed we were given a tour of the house. The facilities are pleasant, the house can house about 30 people but only 10 are here at the moment. The other volunteers then came back, they seem really friendly. We are just about to head out for a meal. My spirits are cheered, lets hope I don’t get food poisoning on the first night. 

just playing about

testing testing 1, 2, 3