One week in England and...

Things are very different...

The food is different - yay fresh fruits and vegetables! Cheese! Bread! Coffee! Meat! Chocolate! Cake! I've been making the most of it and have suffered more than one stomache ache as a result. Hasn't stopped me yet though...

The climate is different - and not to my liking! Having grown used to 40 - degree heat, I'm unimpressed by typical English summer, which is even worse than usual. Living in sweaters is not my idea of summer at the best of times.

The people are different - ahhhh, family! It is really really nice to see everyone again. The cousins are bigger and more grownup looking (but as heart-meltingly cute as ever), but everyone pretty much is the same as I remember - just the way I always want it to be. I arrived right into the thick of things, with everyone at 102 for the Great Family Picnic the next day.

Despite the dismal weather, it was one of the best yet. A few days later we had a non-wedding Wedding (aka very low-key), which was absolutely lovely.

Has being here been much of a shock? Not really. I'm still away from home, so perhaps there's still time to go crashing back to earth.


I miss India though. A lot. I know I will return, as soon as I possibly can. I desperately want to see everyone again, and there's so much more of the country to discover. I can see why so many people go to India again and again.



(Now that I have access to high-speed internet, photos to accompany previous posts are to come.)

Imagine sitting on the back of an ancient bus with no suspension, driving over endless speedbumps at high speed

That's what it feels like to ride on a galloping camel!!!

These photos are for you, Dad!

Dear Dad,

Thinking of you!

Day 2 of 3 in Udaipur. Love it here so much - just what was needed after the hassles of Agra and Jaipur. It's much more relaxed here, and the people are much nicer here as well. It's a lot cooler, which helps a lot. No lake unfortunately, but it's very green. Not knowing what it looks like with a lake, I have to admit I don't feel like I'm missing much, but I expect it is very different.

We arrived early yesterday morning, and in the afternoon, managed to do a last minute cooking course. We learnt how to make Malai kofta (balls of very mild cheese and potato, deep fried and then in a gravy), samosas, and tamarind chutney. Amazing, especially the samosas. We had so many left over that we took them with us and had them for breakfast this morning (still good, if not better!) We also saw the city palace, which is incredible. I don't think I'd mind being some medieval maharani if it meant I could have lived there. They rent out the palace for functions (including royal weddings), so that may be something to keep in mind for the future. You know, after I've made my fortune and met a handsome prince.

Today we wandered around the town for a bit, and then went to see the Maharana's collection of classic and vintage cars (just for you, Dad!) Very impressive. The entry fee came with a free postcard and juicebox (freebies are always a bonus), and we had a great guide who spent ages with us. Then we've mostly been wandering around, and enjoying being here in Udaipur.

A Quick Note from Jaipur!

Because I always never have enough time on the internet! Common theme, I know.

so, Jaipur.

The Pink City, though (and I know it was never meant to be literal), really it's more brown (doesn't quite have the same ring to it though). Different from all other Indian cities I've visited by being set on a grid, with wide streets and plenty of room for traffic of all sorts (bicycles, rickshaws, cars, people, cows, goats). Much cleaner, too. Full of people who have seen many a tourist before, and lack the friendliness that we've gotten used to in Darjeeling.

I have to admit I haven't been in the best frame of mind for it, as I'm still recovering from slight food illness and a cold that started in Varanasi.

Tonight we leave for Udaipur. Who knows what that will be like?

Taj Mahaaaaaaaaallllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's a song by Sam Roberts where he sings about the Taj Mahal (I think - maybe I'm just making this up), and that song was stuck in my head the whole time this morning.

I am such a tourist (but at least I didn't do the "holding the Taj in the palm of my hand" shot).

The Taj Mahal is so perfect that it's almost hard to fully appreciate its beauty. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood, or was affected by the weather (it would be typical that it would rain - and in the most Vancouver-like grey drizzle as well), but I found I was getting more distracted by other tourists than I was appreciating the reason why I was there. I didn't get much of the romance out of it - all I could see were masses of people around me taking lots of photos ("Oh, look at me in front of the Taj! Now here I am holding it! Now with my partner! Now by myself...").
That said, it is still breathtakingly beautiful, and its beauty isn't weather-dependent, so the rain didn't really matter (and made it much more pleasant to walk around). We went right when it opened, at 6am, which was perfect as it was much quieter than when we left. Our hotel has a really good view from the rooftop restaurant, and so we'd already seen it in a glorious sunset as well.
Someone needs to work on her composition skils

We arrived in Agra early yesterday morning. It was hotter than Varanasi, and there are a lot more pushy rickshaw drivers (can you tell that I'm not a huge fan of Agra?). In the afternoon, I went to Fatepur Sikri, which is about an hour out of Agra. It was built by Emperor Akbar, and was to be his new capital, until water shortages meant that it was deserted not long after it was built. It is so beautiful, and I'm really glad I went. This is apparently the largest gate in Asia. And I need to get used to being such a tourist (the nice thing about it being so far away is that you can't see my embarrassed smile)
Inside Fatepur, which is a massive courtyard with a mosque, cemetary, and a tunnel that supposedly goes all the way to the Taj Mahal.
Inside a tomb. People make leave cloth and flowers inside (on the right), and tie a string around the windows to make a wish.
I just tried to add more photos of Sikri but they didn't work. Sikri was even more beautiful. Right bfore I left a big wind storm suddenly whipped up, which was quite dramatic.

Anyway, now that the rain has started, it's much cooler, and much more pleasant. Tomorrow we leave bright and early (on a 6:30am train) to Jaipur. Can't wait!
ps - a full update of food adventures (including details of the best veggie burger I've ever had - trust the Indians to be able to take something tasty and make it even tastier!) to come! Both feeling a bit dodgy stomache-wise, so not really into food at the moment (a rare occurence).

The past few days in visual form (Varanasi, July 6th)

One of the benefits of travelling is regular access to internet (with connections that are considerably faster than in the hills), but it seems that power cuts are common throughout India, and it cut out right before I managed to post this. This is from Varanasi, and then I'll hopefully manage one for the past couple of days right after! That is, if the light doesn't go off suddenly here in Agra!

We're still in Varanasi now, having a really good time just taking it slowly (it's hard to do anything otherwise in this heat). It's so hot that I've stopped noticing the heat and am just always dripping with sweat. Putting on sunscreen always seems pointless, as it barely rubs in before I'm sweating it all off. We walk around with umbrellas all the time (something I picked up in Ghayabari), which gives the guys hanging around something to talk to us about ("Hey madam, nice umbrella! "), but it keeps the sun off.
Faster internet connection means a chance to upload pictures! Already I've taken absolutely masses, so here are just a few...



Wednesday afternoon, madly scrambling to catch the bus down from Ghayabari to the train station. Yesterday was the first day that I started to get into the excitement of travelling, instead of just moping about how much I missed Ghayabari.

Kolkata - Howrah train station. Love the yellow cabs so much!!!
Evening puja ceremony on the banks of the Ganges
We did a cooking course yesterday - we made a veg thali - rice, dal, roti, and veg curry (subji). It was really good fun, especially the meal afterwards.
Boat trip on the Ganges (Ganga). I need to learn how to take self-portraits without cutting people's heads off. We did two boat trips that day - the first one in the morning, and then again in the evening to watch puja from a different angle. Both were really nice, but very different. In the morning it was really relaxed, and we watched everyone go about getting ready to start their day (washing clothes, splashing about in the water, playing games, washing themselves). In the evening we went on a bigger boat with a bunch of other people, including these two Indians from Delhi who were hilarious (urban Indians seem very different from rural Indians), and watched the various puja ceremonies along the ghats.

Quick update!

Long gap due to no internet access for awhile. We're in Varanasi now, so travelling adventures have begun! So far everything's going smoothly, lets hope it continues this way.

Unsurprisingly, the week after going to Nepal flew by. I don’t think I could have been more aware of how temporary my time was (sleeping under a giant poster of all the previous volunteers kind of puts you in your place), and yet I was still a bit surprised about having to go already. It felt very bittersweet to write goodbye notes to everyone instead of writing lesson plans! We spent the last couple of days visiting everyone to say one last goodbye. It was really sad. Already I miss these people so much. Leaving everyone on Wednesday was really hard, and we've been feeling a little bit low the past couple of days. I know I will go back there, hopefully soon.

On Wednesday we took the train to Kolkata, spent a day there, and then took another train to Varanasi. It would have been possible to go straight to Varanasi, but in our usual way we left it too late to book train tickets! Oops! It looked like we would have to fly there, but managed to find train tickets in the end. It was actually really nice to go back to Kolkata, and visit it on our terms. When I left in February, I had a bit of a negative impression of it, but now I really like it. Lots of good street food around as well!

Varanasi is very different from what we're used to. It's much more "Indian" than our area was - it's HOT, on the banks of the Ganges, and full of people and cows and goats. So far we're really liking it. We walked along the river early in the morning, and it was really peaceful watching everyone go about their business, washing clothes or themselves, playing in the water, doing puja, or just sitting and drinking tea. We're planning to stay here a few more days, and then on to Agra on Tuesday