Roasting Rajasthan

So... after a neglected blog, we return with the next fun filled installment...

1. Jodhpur heat

After Udaipur we made the ill fated decision to travel local-style on the bus, overnight, to Jodhpur. We bought our tickets then headed for the best Thali we had in India... and then made the short walk the bus stop to wait for a bus that turned out to be delayed by an hour. When it arrived we piled on with the excitement of seeing the bunkbeds that were situated above the seats below. We had booked a double and single, and at this point Cal E realised again he is too tall for India when he couldn't lie down in his bed.
The next 12 hours were a mixture of extremely loud horns and the bumpiest ride any of us had ever had. Needless to say no sleep was achieved!

But the next day brought us to the heat of Jodhpur. Arriving at 6am, we found a great guesthouse named Yogi's. Their rooftop restaurant turned out to be a great place to meet people, as we spoke to the first travellers we'd come across since arriving in India!

Jodhpur boasts an impressive fort, moulded out of the surrounding mountain, and a bustling market with the best omlettes and lassi's to be found! (The inspiringly named "Omlette Shop" turned out to be one man at a stall who had been making omlettes for 34 years, and goes through 1000-1500 eggs a day!). It was ace. To be honest Jodhpur was best spent on the rooftop out of the heat, meeting some really cool people.

2. Pushy Pushkar

Next on our whilstlestop tour of India was the pilgrimage town of Pushkar. The first night was the most relaxed as we sauntered along the main shopping street and chilled with another rooftop beer. The next day however Pushkar turned into a touts haven, with everyone (mostly unofficial) trying to get you to buy flowers for the lake that Pushkar is based around. Let's just say our "Pushkar Passport" (a red string bracelet) cost us more than we bargained for! (although a spot of haggling meant we weren't completely ripped off).

Then the rain started. Whilst enjoying yet another rooftop beer... the heavens opened and we got to see the Indian monsoon in all its glory. Although most roads were okay, the town square we looked out onto was filled with a foot of water within half an hour. It was an unbelievable sight - with everyone adapting like ducks to water, wading up to their knees. We were not quite so graceful.

3. Bollywood dreams in Jaipur

After a random guy flagging a 6am bus down for us to get to Jaipur, we were on our way to the Pink City. The biggest city since Mumbai, our usual walk around town took longer than usual! After braving the oncoming motorbikes, we found the main bazaar in the old city, which was even more cramped with bikes, shops, and cows!

The next day we had arranged a tuk tuk driver to take us to the main sites. After visiting the city museum, we were greeted by some unexpected company - our driver's french girlfriend Paulette. Although three was a squeeze in the seat anyway, we somehow made four work. It worked out well though, and she became our unofficial guide for the day, seeing the water palace, wind palace, elephants walking down the road, and the monkey temple. At possibly the hottest time of the day, we walked up to see the home of hundreds of monkies. Worth it.

That night we decided to embark on our first Bollywood adventure. We bought our tickets for 'Rowdy Rathore' and headed into the unbelievably ornate cinema foyer then took our seats in the grand theatre.

It was amazing fun... shame we couldn't understand a word they were saying! But the singing and dancing on screen and off made up for it. It makes me think that we need more whooping and cheering in our cinemas back home! Highly recommend it to anyone.

On our final day we got up early to go to the Amber Fort. The best so far, those who felt so inclined could get an elephant ride up there. We headed up on foot, but walking beside a two tonne creature was still an experience! We got some great pics there (including a shock when we found hundreds of sleeping bats).

Next up, Agra and the Taj Mahal.

So, as we sit here in a very hot Indian internet cafe, careful to choose a time when there power wasn't cut off, we begin our tale... so far.

1. BA Bonanza
After an awesome day and night in London with the gang down there, we headed to Heathrow on the evening of Monday 4th June to fly to Mumbai, still feeling a little worse for wear. Calum, Calum and Sarah about to start their epic adventure. We get to the first check-in desk, giddy with excitement, only to be met with a strange message. Apparently... we did not have allocated seats on the plane. As we booked them 8 months prior, we were a bit perplexed. Off we trot to the BA Flight Management desk, only to have this news confirmed (as they had overbooked the flight - silly BA!). The news was however softened somewhat by the offer to fly in the morning. Provided with over night accommodation. And 500GBP. Each. Ca-ching!! Not bad we thought. So we thought we'd see how far we could push this... and see if we could go on "stand by" for the morning flight as well, therefore arriving in Mumbai 24 hours later than planned. Turns out we could, and would receive another 500GBP each if this was also overbooked.

So, we went to the hotel with our 500GBP cards, had some kip, and headed back to the airport in the morning to see what twist the story would take next. And guess what - overbooked again. A further 500GBP each. And suddenly our travelling budget had an extra shot in the arm.

So after a lunch with friends in London, we headed back to Heathrow on Tuesday 5th June, to finally set off - with upgraded seats to boot. Not much more to report other than nearly missing the flight as we lost Cal E in the airport as he made last minute phone calls to his nearest and dearest.  

Moral of the story - find overbooked flights and make a living off of BA - also - keep your eye on Calum E in airports!

2. Arrival in Mumbai (not for the faint hearted)

Mumbai was smaller and calmer than we expected.....NOT!!!!!!!!!

The chaos began with a 1 and 1/2 hour taxi trip to our hotel.  We passed many interesting things along the way - farm animals, shanty towns  - some with multi story lodgings, millions of people and of course hundreds of cars and tuk tuks attempting to navigate their way in the traffic with no lanes and no order or indicators -  only the peep peep peep of the horns could be heard above the din of the traffic.

The banter started slowly - the 3 of us sat in silence during the entire trip - taking in what was going on around us. Cal Y was dozing in and out, Sarah passed out early, Cal E sat in wide eyed shock trying to comprehend what we had got ourselves into........

After helping the taxi man to find our hotel with the help of our bible - lonely planet - we found Hotel Lawrence - which from the outside looked like a dilapidated shack - but appearances can be deceptive and it was basic but did the job.  We spent the first day wandering about and went to the Gate Way to India and tried to find our bearings in the madness.  We thought we would treat ourselves on the first night and found a lovely restaurant to ease our way into the local cuisine.  After that - bed to re-charge and get ready for exploring some more.

Over the next couple of days we ventured further afield and became more comfortable with our surroundings - even with all the dodgy looks we were still getting despite Sarah buying a new wardrobe to cover up.

A memorable moment from Hotel Lawrence was Cal E attempting to brush his teeth in one of the bathrooms only to find the sink on the floor.... he reported this one probably best avoided for now!


3. Udaipur - this is more like it!

And relax..............

Our next stop is Udaipur via Ahmadabad. This may sound a simple journey but we managed to get lost in a slum in "Bandra" (small town in Mumbai) and only just made it out in time to catch the train thanks to a handy tuk tuk. Then if we thought Mumbai was mental wait till we got out the station at Ahmadabad - wow! Thankfully we only had 3 hours to wait for our train to tranquil Udaipur so a quick bite and we were back on the sleeper train.

Upon our arrival we were met by a very kind tuk tuk driver named Jamil who treated us to our first chai and delivered us to our hotel. He was a very useful find as he then offered to take us around Udaipur and show us the sights including palaces, art schools, monuments, street markets ending with a view to die for from the top of the cable car and a sunset boat trip on the beautiful lake Pichola, the setting of the bond classic "Octopussy". We also saw some amazing, absolutely massive, birds feeding in the lake...........only on closer inspection to discover they were in fact huge fruit bats!!

Udaipur was an amazing, relaxing and friendly place and a great place to chill after crazy Mumbai. The highlights here included Sarah getting an arm length Henna, the boys getting some Indian shirts tailored for them and drinking beer from a tea pot (as nowhere really has an alcohol license - but this is India "where anything is possible")

We met some great local people and finished our stay with a rooftop swim (as in fairness the lake looked a bit too toxic for a dip!!)

Next stops Jodhpur, Pushkar and Jaipur..........