The Taj Mahal

After wandering around Jaipur for a few hours in the morning, we caught a 4hr train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. The ticket reservation man had sold us 2 seats, and one on the waiting list, telling us we’d be fine. We were fine, but we inconvenienced many by having to ask them to move, or to keep their beds folded as chairs until we got off. The guys opposite us were heading to Calcutta, 24hrs away on the train. One train. Erk. The man opposite me was a little strage, talking to Kate and Hye Jin while I looked out the window with my ipod on. I wasn’t really in the mood to be social. About halfway through the trip when I’d temporarily taken my earphones out to listen to Kate, he asked Kate, “Why’s she so silent, so serious? What’s wrong with her?” Ha. That just made me want to talk to him less. We finally got off the train with much debarcle about which station we were actually at, and which one we should get off at. One such example of the confusion: (me)“Is this our stop? Should we get off here?” (reply) “Yes. You wait.” Huh? We got off the train and proceeded to a prepaid booth, which we discovered did not exist. About 10 drivers started talking to us all at once, following us and telling us prices and where they would take us. All different, mind you. We finally chose one driver, with a car, to take us to the hotel for a good price. We followed him through the masses of drivers and vehicles to his car, and put our bags in the boot. Then Kate and I realised we’d lost Hye Jin. Crap. I stayed at the car and Kate walked up and down looking for her, followed by constant heckling from drivers and people telling her that her friend already left in a rickshaw. All lies. We eventually found Hye Jin, who had been led astray by a driver who told her that we had already left and he’d take her wherever she wanted. Thankfully we all knew that the one would not have left without the other. We clambered into the back of our drivers car, and he took us to a hotel we asked him to show us. Unimpressed, we said we were looking for another, but he said he’d show us as hotel with “cheap price and good people.” Again unimpressed, we asked him to take us to one last hotel to look at, but he said that he gets paid 30 rupees (75c) if we stay in that hotel. He kept trying to convince us to stay, and I’d had enough, so I said, “If you show us the other one and we don’t stay at the one you want us to, I will give you 30 rupees. Just take us to the other one.” So he did. And we stayed there. He then arranged (persuasively/coercively, take your pick) for us to meet his father who would drive us in a rickshaw around the city looking at tourist sites from 10am. We went and got some food, because by this stage it was 9pm and we hadn’t had lunch, and then went to bed.

Waking up to see the Taj Mahal could have been better if it wasn’t so fricken early. We woke up at about 4:30, alarm went off at 5:30 and we got up and headed to the ticket office to see the Taj at sunrise. Apparently the ticket booth and the gates don’t open until 7am in the summer, despite the guides and signs saying 6am. So we waited in line for about half an hour before the ticket booth opened, and then went to the gate. The lines were still quite short, but there was a delay in us getting in because the head torches that Kate and I had stowed in our bags just in case was forbidden by Taj authorities and I had to walk half a kilometre to the Locker rooms and back. Lame. But we got in just as the sun was coming over the walls and before the major rush of tourists. Got some sweet photos, just like you see in postcards, only there’re people in mine.

After the Taj we came back and had to swap hotel rooms because there was a double booking or something, and then it was time to meet our rickshaw driver, Jalal, the father of last night’s taxi driver. It’s a family affair. He took us to Agra Fort, the Baby Taj, some other places and the garden where the fabled “Black Taj” (a negative image of the Taj Mahal) is said to have been started but never completed. We fell asleep in the sun in the garden for a little bit and then just asked the driver to take us home. He wanted to take us to some workshops or bazaars or something but we just said no. I think he was happy because we’d set a price for the day and it was only 2pm and we chose to go home. We were just all too exhausted. Even now, we’re just on the beds in the room, on our computers, summoning the energy to do anything. I should go find and internet cafe to post this and send some emails: I GOT AN APARTMENT IN CAMBODIA!!

We’re all still a bit sick... I decided to take the first lot of antibiotics yesterday so we’ll see after tomorrow if I’m better. We’re all very paranoid med students and are convinced that we have Giardiasis (worms) but hopefully not. Because I’m not allowed to take my worm tablets until I’ve been sick for 3 weeks. No thanks!!  

Tomorrow we head back to Delhi on the train at 6am, and spend the 24th, 25th, 26th there before leaving Hye Jin and flying to Cambodia for the next part of the adventure. It’s Christmas!!  And even if I’m not feeling 100% I’m still gonna eat Aussie chocolate, imported Nutella and fruit salad. We’ve found a bakery that sells fruitcake and mince pies in Delhi so we’ll definitely be getting some of that! I’ll wear my sari and we’re looking for a Christmas church service nearby... the internet’s not very helpful but we’ll find something! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I’m looking forward to seeing you in the New Year. I’ll be praying for a safe and relaxing holiday for you, filled with lots of Christmas spirit and love!

Take care xx

Jaipur

After being sickly for the whole of our stay in Pushkar, we welcomed a change in scenery to the four walls of our hotel room. A short taxi (we just couldn’t be bothered with the bus) and a short train trip later, we arrived in Jaipur in the dark and were intercepted by a kindly rickshaw driver, named Ali, who led us to the prepaid rickshaw stand and proceeded to fit the three of us, and our luggage into the back of his rickshaw, which just happened to be the smallest rickshaw in the area. Kate had to sit in the front with one arm around the driver so as to not fall off. He was talkative and really lovely, and convinced us to arrange a meeting time at 10am the following morning for a full day city tour. We told him that if we were well, we’d meet him out the front of our hotel. If we were still sick, we wouldn’t come. So we went in and set up our room, moved the tv out of the way so there was room for a mattress on the floor. Feeling peckish, we set out for a walk to try to find an eatery. Failing miserably in the dark, we caught a rickshaw to a restaurant marked in the Lonely Planet that appeared to be close to other restaurants. We decided to check the menu in a place called “Copper Chimney” but before we could even do that, we see a familiar face sitting at a table for two, deep in conversation. Feeling awkward now, and knowing that we can’t leave the restaurant without saying hi but not wanting to interrupt their intimate dinner, we decided that we just had to say something. We walked up to the table and said tentatively, “Michael?” and he turned to look at us with shock and amusement in his face. What are the chances of running into someone you know in a city in India! We decided to take the table of three next to Mike’s and Hilary’s table, and we swapped stories from our time in India since leaving Jamkhed. Amazing. Not really feeling up for much food, but realising this menu was definitely out of our budget, we resigned ourselves to the fact we were just going to grin and bear it. The girls got plain-ish fried rice, and I chose vegie korma and rice, which I thought would be fine. It was really yummy, and I’d got my appetite back a bit, so it went down a treat. We caught a rickshaw (all 5 of us) back to a hotel that we’d established was quite close for both parties, and turns out we are staying in the hotel next door!! Crazy weird.

Having a bit of a tummy upset before going to sleep and then again on waking up, I decided to skip breakfast and try to get better by not eating anything. The girls were having breaky and running late, so I went to meet Ali out the front so he wouldn’t think we’d stood him up. He wasn’t there so I went back inside. Again I went out to check, and a driver waved to me. He had a hat on, so I struggled to recognise if it was the same guy. He came up the ramp to talk to me, and as he got closer I was less sure: he didn’t seem to recognise me. I said, “Ali?” and he looked really shocked and nodded... it wasn’t the same guy, but he had the same name! He asked me our plans and then I was sure it wasn’t the right guy because our other Ali was set on what he wanted us to see. I went back to see if Kate and Hye Jin were ready, and they came out with me to meet our new guy. We told him we’d arranged with someone else, and he told us that if he said he was coming at 10, he would’ve been there at 9:30, not making us wait to 10:30am. We took his word for it, and at 10:30, started our trip around the city. On the way out of the street into our hotel, we passed what looked like our original Ali on the way in, waving to us. Too late, we’d already started with this other Ali.

He took us to the City Palace and warned us not to buy anything in this area because it was tourist price and too expensive. Then we went to the Jangar Mantar (Calculating Instruments) exhibition... where there were heaps of amazing sundials and zodiac calculators built out of stone. Accurate within 20 seconds (with the adjustment of 25 mins to local time, not Indian national time...) they were amazing because they were built in like, the 1700s!! We shared a tour guide with a lady called Liz from San Francisco who was in India for a wedding, and who should be bump into: Michael and Hilary!! The five of us in our two respective rickshaws then set off for the Amber fort, and, opting against to 1000 rupee option of riding an elephant to the top, took the free ten-minute walk up. Our driver asked if it was ok if he went to the mosque for prayer time for 20mins and we said it would be fine! Although a little energy-depleted from not eating breakfast, it was quite fun exploring the maze-like routes around the fort!

Heading back down to our drivers, we had to go the long way around because they’d decided to start building a road while we were at the fort, and the one we came up had incidentally turned into a one way road. We saw elephants and camels on the road!

We took photos at the water palace and then we persuaded to go to the “Moghul Bazaar” which was essentially just a fabric factory selling doona covers and other embroidered, printed or tailor-made items. I succumbed and spent a bit more than intended. But I like what I bought. Then, coming back out to no driver, we were informed he’d just ducked off to the mosque again. We chatted to the factory workers for a little, til he came back. Then to the silver factory, where we decided not to buy anything, but I think our driver still got paid for bringing us there. He took us to a restaurant that we’d agreed to meet Mike and Hilary, and I had a cheese toastie and some chips with tomato sauce. I thought that would be a safe option, but, sitting here writing, I’m still sick L I thought I was better. Damn. If it lasts much longer, I’ll be taking my azithromycin and hoping for the best. Oh, how I hope it’s not a worm...

Tomorrow we’ll be having an easy day in Jaipur, probably trying to find some less touristy shops to go shopping for little gifts and gadgets. If anyone thinks of anything they’d like, which will be easily transported, let me know in the next 4 days so I can go looking!!

Prayers for good health for Kate, Hye Jin and myself would be greatly appreciated, and for tomorrow and the next day in Agra (Taj Mahal): Mike and Hilary said it was very full-on, with hawkers not taking no for an answer.

Much love to you all. Remember to facebook message me or email me if you want to skype for Christmas. Miss you. xxx

Pushkar

In Udaipur, after travelling up to and down from Sunset Point in a cable-car, we had the best rickshaw driver ever who played us pumping Shakira and Beyonce tunes complete with party lighting... but then found ourselves stuck in the middle of a huge muslim festival with 4-storey tall floats of model temple/mosques. We decided it would be impossible to make it to our hotel through the crowds, so we stood on the side of the road and watched a couple of the floats pass.

We got pulled right out of the way by women and girls who feared for our safety. After realising that the festival celebrations would probably go for another couple of hours, we decided brave the crowd in search for somewhere to eat. After about 50 metres, many not-so-sly taps on the bum and women trying to ‘rescue’ us by pulling us aside, we sought refuge with some other westerners in the Jagdish temple, on the balcony where we could watch the frivolities and laugh at the other silly westerners caught in the crowd. After a while, bored by the repetitiveness of the drumming, dancing and tall floats, we decided to brave the crowd again to get out.

After being advised by the police to go back up and wait on the temple balcony, Hye Jin took the lead, Kate and I followed, as did another poor Asian girl who just wanted to go back to her hotel. We managed to find a hotel with a rooftop restaurant (the owner of which had, the night before, told us to come up to watch the festival) and we ate dinner with an amazing view over the lake, with our backs to the crazy festival. Making it safely back to our hotel, I curled up in the foetal position to try to appease my cranky stomach for eating too much.  

We’d heard amazing things about Pushkar, but unfortunately we haven’t had much chance to experience it. Still too full to eat anything when we got on the train to Ajmer, I slept for a few hours before my stomach produced an amazing ‘safety yellow’ colour that it forcefully ejected via my mouth into a squat toilet. Feeling heaps better, I had a butterscotch-type lolly and continued the journey. Minutes before we stopped in Ajmer, I was standing outside the bathroom deciding whether or not to throw up again... As we were at the stop, I had to postpone for half an hour, when the taxi stopped in Pushkar. Brilliant colours again flew from my mouth into the mud at the foot of a Hindu shrine (bad karma??) We found a hotel and I stayed in bed there too afraid to eat or drink anything until this morning. Kate and Hye Jin had tummy problems of their own so we all had a very lazy day pretty much in bed. Waking up this morning, I felt fine, but not hungry so I just had a butter-menthol (they fix everything) and went for a walk with Hye Jin to explore. Having ‘sucker’ tattooed on my forehead, I was convinced by a Brahmin (priest) to get myself some good karma at the Ghats. I actually probably wouldn’y say convinced because I had very little idea what I was doing... Mum, Dad, Ash and Sam: I’m very sorry if bad stuff happens because I think I prayed for your good fortune, but I’m not entirely sure... I know I said “Om” a few times.  Sticking a red dot of paint and some rice to my forehead, he asked me to donate money on a holy coconut to appease the gods... apparently I only paid enough to feed 2 out of 5 of them so I’m not sure what happens now.. He said that next time I come back, I must bring my husband (that I will have because he prayed for one for me) and children (ditto) and pay more money. Ha. Leaving there with the red dot actually screaming ‘sucker’ on my forehead, I made sure I said no to everyone else who came along.

Exhausted, I came back for a lie down after scouting the marketplace for bargains and bartering with a kid for cheaper bottled water. I woke up and went up to the roof for a chai and a plain chapati (with vegemite) and decided to go exploring again. I was too tired so I had another lie down. It’s now 4pm and both the other girls are asleep. I’m feeling alright, and when my computer battery has charged, I’m going to find a wireless cafe to post this and check my emails.

I’m going to WANGARATTA next year semester 2 and semester 1 in 2012! Yay J

We’ve only got a week left in India, before Kate and I arrive in Cambodia on the 27^th Dec to move into our apartment. I will get the address as soon as I can, but I’m not sure how reliable the post system is.

Much love and prayers. Will spend a lot of time on Christmas day on skype if anyone wants to chat, add me: hay_la_belge

Xx

My tummy hurts. it's a little uncomfortable feeling like this in an internet cafe a fair hike from the hotel. but i'll survive.. prayers please??

Delhi, take two...

So travelling in touristy India is a little more intense than visiting a village in Maharashtra, as we discovered during our trip to Old Delhi on Tuesday. We started with a lovely calm breakfast on the roof of our hotel in “Sam’s Cafe” and met up with Josh and Anna to head to the famous Red Fort in Old Delhi. Catching a couple of rickshaws, we found our way inside then wandered around the beautiful fort (after paying the foreign tourist price of 25x more than the local tourist price!)  

 We left the fort, and decided to take a stroll to look for food before going to the mosque. What a stroll! Shoulder to shoulder people, pushing in all directions, getting yelled at by street vendors trying to sell you stuff... it was intense. You know how bad I am with crowds... the Whitley swot-vac supper crowd makes me get a little panicky when people start bumping me... this was like a million times worse but I knew there was no point freaking out, I just had to push through the emotional barrier and keep walking. Several blocks into it, I had tuned out all the street hecklers and managed to navigate a fairly clear path through the swarms of people.  We found somewhere to eat and had amazing ‘thali’ (rice, bread, two curry/dal dishes, yoghurt) then braved our way back through the streets in the exact same direction (to my disgust) because we hadn’t made our way any closer to the mosque. We’d saved the leftover bread from lunch so I gave it to a man lying in the street with flies everywhere... he didn’t really stir when I touched his arm but he nodded when I said “chapati”, so I left it on a rock within his reach... I hope he wasn’t too disappointed when he found out it was naan, not chapati. On a serious note though, it’s so sad. I have never before been exposed to so much poverty and injustice. It’s just so shocking that there can be people who are the richest of the rich, and then those who are the poorest of the poor. I wish there was something more we could do.

At the gates of the mosque, the 5 of us girls put our long sleeves on and wrapped our scarves around everywhere but our heads, and headed up the steps to the entrance. We took off our shoes and then walked past the man telling us to pay to put on gowns to cover up. The sign said “semi-clad women must wear a gown” but none of us were by any means semi clad... we just walked past him while he was serving someone else. Then he lost it. He chased us into the mosque courtyard area, screaming at us in Hindi or similar. We told him we weren’t paying to put anything on. A crowd formed, and a man stepped in to try to take our side. Another man stepped in and explained to us we had to pay for our cameras (200 rupees = $5) and also put on the gowns free of charge. He searched our bags and pockets for cameras (not Josh) and made us pay even when we said we wouldn’t take photos. Then he made the five of us put on these ghastly bright blue or orange gowns that covered us from neck to toe. They were ridiculous, and boy did they draw attention to the ‘tourist girls.’ I have never felt so humiliated in my life, nor as frustrated, especially because we had made the effort to dress appropriately. The mosque itself was unimpressive, not even worth taking photos of, but I did just because I’d paid for the camera. I was so disgusted by the religious bureaucracy and hypocrisy that they were using religion to exploit and discriminate. You know what happens when I get tired and frustrated and angry... I had my first real cry of the trip. I knew it was bound to happen...

In order to regain composure and restore a little of our sanity, we took a rickshaw back to familiar New Delhi and got a coffee at a chainstore. It did wonders!! Then Hye Jin and Anna Lien went back to the hotel, while Anna T, Josh, Kate and I wandered around the inner circle looking at shops. Anna bought a few little bangles because a man chased her more than a block with the bangles she’d refused to buy because they were too expensive. He met her price.  

We went out to a lovely place for dinner, the four of us, and then headed to bed. It was quite a big day for all of us, especially for Anna, as it was her first day in India.

Anna Lien said goodbye at 8am, and so the 5 of us, yesterday, decided to steer a bit clear of Old Delhi, and went to the Baha’i Lotus Temple, keeping our fingers crossed we wouldn’t be exploited again. We had nothing to worry about, the temple (and the Baha’i faith) welcomes people of all faiths and backgrounds to sit in the silent temple hall and pray or meditate for as long as they like. It was really nice to sit down in silence and just pray. I’ll have to find more places to do that.

We then went to Hanayan (I can’t remember his name)’s Tomb, and we were stalked and pestered by school groups and even teachers for our photos. They were more interested in us than in the tombs themselves. The main mausoleum looked like mini Taj’s. Cute.

Anna and I broke off from the other three to have a late lunch with just the two of us, and it was really nice to chat to her in person, although it made me realise how much I’m actually missing everyone at home, and how said I am that she and Josh are doing very similar sightseeing stuff to us, they’re just going a different way. So she’s so close (same country) but yet so far! It’ll be a great adventure for all involved! Lots of learning to do!!

Hye Jin, Kate and I caught the 7pm night train in sleeper class (the lowest, I think) where we had three lightly-padded planks for bed and not enough room above to sit up straight for 12hrs. It was awful... I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t get comfortable... I was paranoid someone was going to cut through my chain and steal all my stuff... it was cold and noisy and.... *sigh* it was a pretty cool experience to survive though. We arrived in Udaipur at 7am this morning, caught a rickshaw and then went into a hotel (after being pushed inside another by our rickshaw drivers) and crashed on the beds. We didn’t allow ourselves to sleep though, went and had breaky on the roof to revive ourselves. After sending back my boiled eggs twice because the white was still runny (turns out the guy wrote part-boiled, not hard-boiled) we finished breakfast and then wandered down to find ther city palace. We stopped in at a temple, donated some money for food for the poor/needy, and gt convinced to go with this guy to look at his school of art that he’s taking to Camberwell, Melbourne on the 22^nd December. “You no pay, I want no money, just look.” He was fine, but then he handballed us onto a teacher who proceeded to show us his students’ works and telling us that he’d normally sell them for this much, but we should name our price, from the heart, student to student. I think we paid more than we should have, but Kate and I got a nice little one each. It’ll become a present, so I won’t tell much more about it. Except that it’s really nice.

Then we went to the city palace and got student discounts to the museum. We pretended to have only one camera between us so we wouldn’t have to pay, and hid them from the not very thorough bag searchers. Hye Jin took charge of the camera. After being mobbed again by school kids (a girl even sat on Kate’s knee) for photos, we bought tickets on a boat to see another temple. The temple wasn’t much, but there was a film crew in the centre of the temple, filming for an Indian TV series. Lunch at about 4pm, then a quick nap before catching a rickshaw to try to see the sunset from “Sunset Place.” We missed it, and the rickshaw driver ripped us off, but it wasn’t that bad. We’ll go tomorrow, and we’ll know not to pay that much.

For those playing at home, we’re leaving Udaipur (in Rajasthan) for Ajmer on the train and then a bus to Pushkar. Staying 2 nights there (I think) then onto Jaipur for 2 nights, Agra (Taj Mahal) for 2 nights then back to Delhi on Christmas Eve until Kate and I fly out on Boxing Day for Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It’s going very quick.

Happy Birthday to Mitch Blizzard (yes, his real one this time) for today!!

Much love to all, prayers and your news would be appreciated.

Xx Hay

Delhi

I'm on an old PC in  the hotel lobby cause i'm too cheap to pay for wi-fi in the room. Here's one I prepared earlier. For the record, the mattress arrived.

Visiting Jamkhed CRHP was a fantastic experience, on both a professional and personal level. Being able to watch Dr Arole (who started the project with his now late wife) and his team in action was really encouraging to see that big things can be achieved if motivated people persist patiently with a community, and it was also challenging but inspiring to watch the spiritual aspect: that they ensure the place God at the centre of their lives. During the reflection session that Kate, Jason and I had to organise, one of the girls in our class told us about one moment at the funeral for Dr Arole’s brother, where a lady gently wrapped a scarf around his shoulders to keep him warm. She told of how in that moment he appeared as a vulnerable human being, as one of us mere mortals, and it was really overwhelming because we have always viewed him as someone incredible and ahead of his time, someone less human, more god-like, more capable than the rest of us. It showed that he, like all of us, is human, and in that it proves that we can do anything we set our minds to.

After performing our group projects that we had spent days and nights agonising over, we were able to relax with an awards ceremony where we were presented with a scarf/shawl for scholarship, a candlestick holder for passing on a spreading the light with other people, and a garland of flowers which I forget what they represented, but I know Dr Arole said that although they don’t look very nice, they smell great. I thought they were pretty. We sang a few songs for the Village Health Workers who had come to the presentation ceremony, and some of the others performed a circus act. We spent the next few hours chilling out, then had beer and dinner on the roof of the mess hall with music to follow to celebrate the end of our stay. I wore my sari, which proved to be a source of amusement for many people. At lunchtime when I wore my sari to the clothes shop to go looking for a present, the man behind the counter took one look at me and gestured for some of the women on staff to accost me, drag me into a 1m square changeroom and the two of them untied and retied my sari for me. After the presentation, I packed my bag and had a bit of a lie down, assuming my sari would be fine. When I arrived at the dinner, two of the ladies again dragged me away to a private room off the kitchen where 4 or 5 ladies hovered around laughing at me. Both sets of ladies tied it significantly differently so now I’m really confused. I’ve got the basic gist, I think.

On Saturday we got the bus back to Pune, where we said our farewells, and our original group of five that went to Nepal broke up, with Sammy and Mike going their separate ways. We lost our adopted group member Jason also. It was a sad day, having spent most of the past seven weeks with Sammy and Mike, and I am currently going through withdrawals.

Josh, Kate, Hye Jin, Anna (from the course) and I stayed the night in an uncomfortable but cheap hotel in Pune, with Ben (from the course) before leaving him to catch a train, and we caught the plane to Delhi.
We arrived in Delhi yesterday, and it wasn’t anywhere near as busy or overwhelming as everyone said it would be. We caught a prepaid taxi from the airport to a hotel district in search of accommodation. Our taxi driver was lovely, been driving for 6 years, married two months ago... He asked me if I was married and had children too. Ha. (Funnily enough, a young girl who spoke to us in Jamkhed was shocked and appalled that Kate and I weren’t married yet... She looked about 16 and was getting married in January) We lugged our bags up and down the stairs of a few hotels, and found one for about $3 each a night... Kate and I in a double with Josh on the floor, and Hye Jin and Anna Lien in another room in a double. It was comfortable enough, but the squat toilet smelt a little and the noise from the street was a little disturbing to sleep. We survived though. We decided to find a new hotel, so us girls found a room of 4 (a double bed, single bed and apparently a mattress on the floor but it hasn’t arrived yet) for 200 rupees each per night, which is a lot nicer than last night. It’s definitely better.

Dhruv took us exploring last night, India Gate and all the parliamentary building, before showing us what really Indian food and real Indian hospitality is. Then we had real COFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Amazing!! Dhruv’s amazing.

We went exploring New Delhi today, around the inner circle, middle circle and outer circle. We firstly spent over an hour in the train station booking the remaining train tickets for our trip. Then we went in search of lunch and bumped into a guy who directed us to a cheap restaurant with good quality food. We spent a while in the post office sending home some excess clothing and presents (keep an eye out for them Mum!!) I had to go on an expedition to find a photocopy service to get copies of our passports. The one I was directed to was down a dingy urine-smelling alley way and turned out to be broken, so I wandered aimlessly to find a new place. Disoriented and frustrated, I was on the edge of tears when the guy who had showed us where to go for lunch stopped me to say "How was the food?" He then asked me where my friends were and where I was going, and fighting back the tears, I managed to tell him I was looking for a photocopier. He showed me where I could find one, helped me to get to the front of the queue and then took me back to the post office. He works in Paris but is waiting for his working visa to be renewed so he can go back. Lovely guy. He then asked me where we were going after the post office, and I said "probably coffee" because that’s where Hye Jin and Anna were, and he said "You’ll have coffee with me?" and I was like "Oh no, it’s ok, thanks" and he shook my hand and left. He restored my faith in humanity because a lot of people here are just out to rip people off. It was nice to meet someone who was genuinely helpful.

We went shopping in the central circle... I bought a pair of jeans because I didn’t bring any and I wanted western clothes. Best fit ever... I’m loving the new Levi sizing system!!

Now I’m back in the hotel waiting for the mattress to arrive... Kate and Hye Jin have both called looking for it. The man has just arrived with a blanket, pillow and a blank stare... "no mattress?" We’ll see. Ha.

I get to see lil miss Anna tonight, she just arrived in Delhi! Yay!

Love and prayers xx

Aurangabad

We left the compound in Jamkhed on Thursday to do a bit of touristy sight-seeing in and around Aurangabad.

On the way, we went to a school for children with a disability and observed a few of the classes with hearing impaired kids. Yesterday (3rd) was apparently International Disability Day so on Thursday they were playing games in preparation for it. THe older kids were playing a memory game, where the teacher showed them a range of objects - vegetables, phone, random lentils etc -  and they all said what it was in sign language, and then the teacher covered it and they had to write down all that they could remember. In the younger class (5 or 6 year olds) they were playing a game where one kid goes up the front, is given one match and has to light as many candles as s/he can before the match burns out or burns them. Kinda amazing - that would NEVER happen in Australia... Mum always said I shouldn't play with matches :) Then a group went outside and they were playing, wait for it, musical chairs. One of the older boys was hitting a saucepan-like dish with a wooden spoon, and the kids were running around in a circle around the chairs. When the banging stopped, they had to sit in a chair... BUT nobody really noticed when the banging stopped... it was a little sad to watch actually.

We went and had lunch (and Michael, Sammy and I ate unashamedly with our fingers while everyone else did it a little more daintily) and then got back on the bus to get to Aurangabad.

Arriving late afternoon, we soon found a classy (and relatively expensive by Asian standards) bar where we got 'extra-strong beer' ("exceeding 8.5%") and then 2 for 1 cocktails that turned out to be, "buy two, get one free". Lame. That was a good night... we went to get dinner at about 11pm from a Tandoor Restaurant. A few in the group were overdue for bed, so we headed home and crashed. At about 5am, I was awoken by the sound of some poor soul being sick, and having to rush between bad and the bathroom several times until morning. Needless to say, the whole room was a bit tired the next morning. Turned out that several people had gastro in our group, some even having to stay home from the touristy stuff yesterday. I was fine, except for a little bit of a dehydration headache... :D

The touristy stuff was great. We went to the Ellora Caves, which are actually religious places carved into the rocks... Buddhist, Hindu and Jan (?) The architecture was really amazing, but out tour guide was really bossy and arrogant and time limited us a lot. We were continually being asked for our photo to be taken, one guy wanted me to be part of his family photo several times. I guess it's a novelty for them to see people so frickin pale.

After the caves, we had some lunch and then headed to the silk factory where we watched a man with a loom making a piece of silk. The patterns are so intricate! So much beautiful material: scarves and bed spreads and other things... but my pack is very space-limited as it is, so couldn't really justify getting much.

After the silk factory, we went to an old fort, where were climbed all the way to the top, getting stopped every so often to get our photos taken. Sometimes people didn't even ask... they just held up their phones un-subtly and took photos as they walked past. I'm very glad I'm not a celebrity, but I've been told to get used to being photographed at Indian tourist sites. It was quite a long way up to the top... and a part of it was in the pitch dark through a bat-infested tunnel... a man with a piece of stick doused in kerosene was our only source of light... scary. Quite fun. We got back on the bus and returned to the hotel, watched some telly and went back to the Tandoor place for dinner. Found an awesome little supermarket with chocolate and drumstick style ice creams!! yum!

India television is SOOOOO WEIRD!! Especially the ads, which don't seem to comply with any of the social norms for dressing or behaving. Dancing, singing and English phrases feature in most ads and television shows.

Got back to Jamkhed this afternoon.. nice to back in my own room again!!

I really hope you're enjoying Summer!! only 3 weeks 'til Christmas. Tell me some news :)

Much love and prayers xx

I milked a cow!!!!

Today we went to the CRHP farm, where they have 30 acres of land for crops, fruit trees, cows and bullocks, wells and random other things that a farm needs. We rode in the back of a cart pulled by two bullocks (with huge humps, but they weren't painted pink) and had a tour of the farm. Then we checked out the massive worm farm and Shaila (the cuuuuutest little old lady in the whole world, who has been taking us for classes and other stuff) chatted to us about the different trees growing around the farm... let us taste tamarind and gooseberry, fed us some sort of chickpea mix (spicy!!) and then we spoke to the manager of the farm, who told us her story of how she was happily married for 6 months before her husband got sick and then tested positive for AIDS, and she and her new baby were also positive. Her husband died and noone wanted to go near her unless she caught it. Then Dr Arole from CRHP offered her a job at the farm, where she was shown love and respect. She became the manager and now her and 4 others, 3 HIV+ and one with leprosy, run the farm.

We went to the dairy, where there were a few cows and we were all given a chance to milk the cows. I felt so sorry for the poor cow... some of us were so rough and ineffective... it would have been awful. They milk the cows by hand twice a day and get 20L each day. Amazing!!

It has been a tough week for the family who started the CRHP. Dr Arole's brother died on Saturday and they had the funeral on the same day as there is no way to preserve the body. Shortly after the funeral, his sister (who didn't know her brother had passed away) also passed away. She was also buried that same night. We were invited to the first funeral, but I chose not to go, as I didn't want the family to feel as though they had to worry about us. Dr Arole's son has also been sick, and we just learnt that he is having brain surgery tonight. We have been praying for the family, if you feel so inclined, they would very much appreciate your prayers too. I lead the devotional service this morning, to show our love and support for the family in this time. We read from 2 Corinthians, about comfort and I read a little narrative too. It was nice to be able to pray for the family, with Dr Arole there to hear that we are supporting him throught the only way we know how: prayer. Their faith is an amazing inspiration, the way they see the joy in everything and are able to show so much love to others despite their circumstances.

On a different note, yesterday I chose the material for a saree and bought it... just waiting on the 'blouse' to be tailored... it was supposed to be done tonight, but he said he will deliver it tomorrow morning. I'll send some photos once i've got them, and I'll try to shield you from the translucently pale midriff that is 'normal' in a saree. (mind you, noone is pale here)

Would love to hear what you've been up to!! Send me some news!

Happy 21st Birthday to Thomas Ware! (it's already the 1st in Australia)

Comprehensive Rural Health Project, Jamkhed, India

Hey all... I'm sorry I've been so slack at recording my thoughts - I've barely been keeping a diary either... so much is going on, I don't know where to start to put it in words.

I'm staying in a compound at the site of the CRHP, where there is a training centre and library, accommodation for people like me doing the course, and a hospital. Meals are provided three times a day in the mess hall... it's set up very much like college. About a 20 minute walk away is a town, where there are lots of shops selling everything from clothes to chocolate bars to tobacco. There are stray pigs/boars just roaming the streets looking for food in the rubbish, with their little piglets not far away. Walking into and in the town, as foreigners, school children want to shake our hand or speak to us. Some of them just stand shyly at a distance, staring at us, others giggle and run around under our feet. They're great. Because we are always running late, we often catch a rickshaw back into town to save us the walk... it only costs 20 rupees, usually for three people. Once, we fit 4 in the back, with Kate sitting on one of my knees. It was bumpy and rather uncomfortable but we were managing alright. then the rickshaw slowed and stopped and in jumped another lady, a muslim, veiled all in black with only her wrinkled eyes showing. She climbed and but her bacg of fruit on my feet and sat, almost on my knee, with her elbow digging deeper and deeper into my thigh with each bump. I think she thought it politer than using her hands. We four girls were giggling profusely, so amused by not only the fact that there were five of us in the back, but that this lady had crashed our 'private' rickshaw as if it were a public bus. Not speaking our language, the woman just began to laugh too... before stopping just before our stop and jumping off without a word. She paid half what we paid, which we decided was fair because she went half the distance. Funny.

We have been to visit some of the surrounding villages, first with a "transect walk" where we were supposed to observe all things about the environment in the village that may affect the health of villagers. We were invited into people homes and temples, into classrooms and preschools. The first visit was amazing... the poverty was striking... dirt floors, no windows... but some single room houses even still had televisions. Baby goats were everywhere and I'm trying to decide whether a small adorable child or a really really adorable baby goat kid will fit better in my hand luggage. On our second visit, we went to another village and followed a Village Health Worker around to different people's houses in the village. We saw a 9 day old baby and her mother, a 40 day old baby and his mother, a pregnant woman, a man with diabetes and a woman who had been cured of leprosy. Fascinating, especially that the VHW had been trained from scratch, having never been to school. After the house visits, she took us back to her own house where she gave us both sweet and savoury nibbles and it was all too good to be true. Our VHW was also a bangle salewoman, and she decided that because she had volunteered her time and her food to us, she would give us the opportuniy to buy bangles. Sort of. Not speaking a word of English, she took us girls (lucky guys) one by one by the hand and proceeded to forced as many glass bangles on our arms as possible. Once on, they are irremovable, except by breaking... Now, Indian women have very small wrists, not to mention small hands. By no stretch of the imagination could I even try to envisage any of those bangles fitting over my hands. She manipulated my hand and pushed and shoved and pulled until one thick gold-coloured bangle had fit over my hand. It was painful, after all, bones don't much like being compressed. I was impressed... but also very sore. But she continued... she found two smaller green bangles that she decided were going to fit. And once she'd decided, there was no turning back.

The joints where my thumb joins my hand and where it joins my arm are both still tender, over 36hrs later. It was only 5 rupees, but I'd have much preferred to have bought bangles for my smaller handed friends. On the bus, Michael decided to try to remove the bangles... one broke just as it got past the narrow part of my wrist. I forcibly broke the other one because it was so tight on my wrist didn't even 'jingle' like bangles should. Being glass, however, it cut my self, luckily not close to the main arteries. The gold one is thinker, harder to break, but also bigger so it is ok. I don't think it'll last long, but I don't really want to break it yet. There's no way it's ever coming off though. I imagine my hand fitting through the bangle is much like what a baby experiences during childbirth... trying to fit something through something else that is clearly not big enough is not destined to be a pleasant experience.

Yesterday we met with women from the village who have been helped by the CRHP. All told stories of violence from fathers, husbands and mothers-in-law, many spoke of rape and suicidal thoughts. One woman told her story of giving birth to her first child, alone in a hut in the jungle, at age 14. It was a harrowing experience, but fortunately these women's stories have silver linings. All of them now have become successful and independent, and are now advocates for good treatment of women. It's really horrifying that there is so much domestic violence throughout India, it makes me feel incredibly blessed to have had the upbringing that I have. I just really pray that something will be done to ensure protection of so many women exposed to violence and neglect.


Today we spent half an hour on ward rounds with an English doctor working here at the hospital. It was really interesting: a lady who presented with anxiety that turned out to be a heart attack; a little boy who had been bitten by a scorpion; a patient with schizophrenia who has had a stroke and other problems, and a few others. The other group were present when an elderly woman arrived and was rushed into Intensive Care but could not be resuscitated. That was quite a scary experience for those involved. I think it's a little snippet of what's to come for those of us who will be working in hospitals very soon.

After a reflection and debrief session, we went to the cattle and goat market. White bullocks with huge humps were everywhere, with huge 2-3 foot-long horns painted and decorated with ribbons, their humps powdered with bright magenta-pink colouring to make them look pretty. Can anyone tell me the difference between a bull and a bullock? They seem to be different here. A few dairy cows and 'normal' bulls were amongst the lot, with water buffaloes also making an appearance. Amazing, really. Then we went to the fruit and vegie market, and it was chaos. People everywhere just sitting on the ground surrpounded by nondescript fruits and vegetables, pulses and spices. More (larger) bangles were on sale too, but I shuddered at the thought.

This afternoon has been very chilled out... made a packet mix cake for a guy's birthday tonight, and then played 500 with Michael, Josh and Kate. Good fun! We got lots of junk food for a surprise party tonight: should be great fun!!

I had my first experience with Bollywood a couple of nights ago, and it was hilarious. I'm not sure it was supposed to be funny, but some of the unrealistic or corny scenes were just too much, I had to laugh! Bunty and Babli... if anyone knows it.

Can't wait to hear some news from you... send me a facebook message or an email, I'd love to hear it. Prayers would be appreciated, it's a very challenging environment :)

Much love xx

Hello India!

So my time in Nepal has been and gone and the three-week course in India has kick-started without a hitch. We finished our 12-day trek up to Annapurna Base Camp (4130m) and back, spent some time chilling out and rowing across the lake in Pokhara to climb 300m up to the 71^st World Peace Pagoda (man, were we sweaty after that! haha TMI Turkey), then we took the 8-hr bus trip back to Kathmandu, spent a night there where we were introduced to Newari (a caste of Nepali people) culture where we sat on the floor, drank local ‘wine’ (Rakshi – ranges from 20%-80% alcohol) and ate with our hands. Soooo fun! :) The next day, Sammy, Michael, Kate and I took a 3-4hr bus trip almost to the Tibetan Border where we (not Kate) jumped off the 163m bridge above the raging river... Sammy and Mike did it twice, opting for the bungee, then the canyon swing. I was happy with just the bungee. I’ll try to pop the video up on facebook for you to have a laugh at.

Leaving Josh behind again, we got to Mumbai late afternoon after a very delayed flight out of Kathmandu Airport, got into a private rental car plus driver (long distance taxi) and drove about 3 ½ hours to Pune, were we checked into a room with four very hard single beds with protests from the girls about Michael being a snorer. He didn’t. We got dinner at about 10pm and then went to bed, having a very lazy morning. After buying bananas and chapatti bread of the street for breaky at 11am, we checked out and went to meet the bus to Jamkhed. It was nice to see the other AMS students and meet a few of the other people doing the course. After waiting around for 3 hrs for the bus, we spent a further 3-4hrs driving very fast along a narrow road, weaving in and out of motorbikes, rickshaws and trucks. An exhilarating experience.

I snapped up my own room, sharing a five bed, three bedroom flat with two of the girls in the course. Two bathrooms, and a common area, quite a luxury! It was AMAZING to have my own room, my own space, after spending the last three weeks sharing. I stayed up til 11 o’clock! :)

Got woken up buy the crows cawing outside my window 2am, 5am, and 7am, before my alarm at 7:30, had some breaky and went to our first class (after a quick skype chat with Thomas!) We went on a tour of the preschool and the kids were adorable!! I want one!! Then a tour of the hospital – it really is amazing what they can do with so little resources.

After lunch we went into town and it was a scary experience trying to buy “shalwar kameez” (Indian clothing). So many colours, so many small sizes. “No, no bigger, that is all,” was the common response I got. I bought a dress/top to wear over my pants and may venture in at a later date to get something tailor made so it can be bigger.

Have learnt a little bit of Marathi language and we’ll be heading out to a village where we can try it out, with my new top :)

Gotta change my flight because nuffy me booked the wrong date out of Pune... hopefully they’ll let me without too much extra charge.

Much love xx Hay

Back in Kathmandu

Hey all,
So I'm back in "civilisation" and it's crazy... I much preferred the Himalayan "trucks" which consisted of 10ish donkeys carting supplies up the mountain. Their bells are much more pleasant than the constant horns of buses and cars here in the city.

The trek through the Himalayas went for 12 days, from 800m altitude to 4130m and it was AMAZING.

Crap... my battery is about to die... much love xx

Out of order... blog from about November 3rd

Had a wonderful 11hrs sleep last night, a fantastic breakfast of tibetan traditional bread, an omelette freshly cooked in front of me, orange-ish juice and some croissants, and then the five of us set off on an adventure! On foot, we walked to Durbar Square, where we found ourselves a tour guide (well, he found us) and we followed him around for over an hour getting a fantastic view of the temples and surrounding areas. We visited a temple of "the living goddess", where lives a 6 year old who is only allowed out of the temple 13 times in a year and is never allowed touch the ground until she mentstruates, then she is allowed to go back to her home and she is replaced by a new 3-4 year old "living goddess". Our tour guide called out to her keeper, and so she stood in the window for us... not a very happy looking girl, but quite pretty. Of course, no photos.

Then we looked at the "hippie temple" so named because of all the marijuana-smoking hippie tourists in the 1960s.... and it's still ok for foreigners to smoke weed up there but nepali people get into trouble.

Then the Kama Sutra temple... very strange beginnings, has the Kama Sutra: it was invented by Hindu authorities to increase the population... though I don't see how some of the positions depicted on the temple could lead to an increase in the population. 

Then the Museum of the Royal Palace, which is essentially a temple to all the late kings... very interesting! Fascinating that although he was the King of Nepal, there's nothing really in the palace that your average rich westerner couldn't afford (with the exception of the golden throne and chariot). Climbing up to the ninth storey on rickety stairs was amazing... the view was well worth the risk!

Then a short walk through downtown Kathmandu and to a bus stop where we got on a semi-random bus... a leap of faith if we ever took one! Turns out, it was the right one.. and I made a friend, 12-year-old Sadikshya, a very beautiful and intelligent local girl who spoke English quite well. She gave me a hair clip and made the bus trip (in which we were packed like sardines) rather enjoyable. She is an amazing little girl, and I hope to stay in touch with her... we exchanged email addresses and facebook accounts so fingers crossed. A word of warning from my new little friend - Don't take any food into the Buddhist Temple because if you do, the monkeys will jump on you and scratch your face until they get all the food from you.

The monkeys were ADORABLE. Little babies clinging to mummy's back and running around fighting each other. The temple was quite a sight, and the view from the top of the hill was breathtaking - really gave me a sense of significance as compared to all the amazing places in the world that God created. We were heckled a lot and bought few things, bartering quite a bit.

The taxi ride back in a beaten up van was quite an experience too.

Now off to dinner... I'm starving..

much love xx

Back from trekking

Hi all, apologies for not being in touch... i didn't really have internet access in the himalayas. will be back in Kathmandu tomorrow night to write something more extensive.

currently in Pokhara, at an internet cafe waiting for the laundry lady to come back from hte market, so i can pick up my laundry... all of my clothes except what i'm wearing is in that laundry bag... here's hoping she isn't at the markets selling my clothes.

went out last night in pokhara to a bar where a Nepali band was playing old classics like summer of 69, creedance clearwater revival, kings of leon, and 'i shot the sheriff". Cheap cocktails and even cheaper beer made it a good night... and Mum, if you're looking at my bank statements, I didn't spend the 5000 rupees i withdrew last night on cocktails... only some of it :) Hopefully we'll hit the town again tonight, it's really fun dancing in thongs and a t-shirt: not something you frequently get to experience in melbourne. Photos will be up soon... abut don't judge me... in most of them I had either had no shower or a cold shower. Gross, I know, but when the water is colder than the river, and the shower is in the same room as a pit/squat toilet... you wouldn't shower much either.

miss and love you a lot.... facebook fails a little in this cafe... so i'll reply when back in kathmandu, or in india on sunday/later.

take care, would love to hear from you.

Hay xx

Kathmandu

Kathmandu is really beautiful...

We got picked up at the airport and driven, all 5 of us plus a driver and our escort, through the crazy traffic and very busy town. There's no rhyme or reason to driving, except that you stay lkinda on the lft, but there's no line in the iddle of the road o you can go as far right as you need to into oncoming traffic if there's a break and you want to go faster. So many horns... motorbikes, pushbikes, so seatbelts. It's an experience and a half. I better go, we're going to explore Kathmandu properly today.

got more than we could eat at a little place for less that $5 AUD each last night (including a huge beer)

much love xx

Bangkok Airport

So I arrived here in Bangkok, Thailand, en route for Kathmandu, Nepal, at 4:20 this morning. It's now almos 10:30 I think and I am so sick of sitting around doing nothing. I walked around window-shopping duty free but then it got the better of me and I exchanged some USD into Thai Baht. The lady at the exhange counter clearly didn't understand so I ended up buying 100 USD in Thai currency.... useful! I managed to converrt it back.. but I was so tired and frustrated that I teared up and had to sit down for a bit to calm down. The people are lovely, they just don't understand very much.

Yay. There's my boarding call... I'm so impatient to get to Nepal.

talk soon xx

Test Blog

This is my first blog.
Leaving Aus at 11pm tonight.