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Taken me a while but finally have got around to writing my first blog entry (Emma has done them to date as I've been busy trying to figure out how to download photos). Starting postively, during the past month there have inevitably been downright ugly bits. Most towns/cities have no sewer network, so it flows down either side of the streets in little gullies. On top of this the free roaming cows, dogs, goats, sheep, rats, birds etc all add ther business and so the problem literally piles up. The multitudes with nothing have to then lie in this mess. There are more than 850 million people in India living on or below the poverty line (less than $1 a day according to the World Bank) and I swear every one of them has asked me for money. The plastic rubbish problem is also immense. On the train coming back into Delhi we rode through a slum for 45 minutes. Boxes, corrugated iron and sacks tied together with string built upon mountains of plastic waste. I've seen poverty and slums in other parts of the world before but India, for me, is by far the worst. Then there are certain elements of the travelling community (lets call them crusties) that have been winding me up. They tend to wear thai-dye (?), have dreads and walk around in bare feet. It's the bare feet thing that really gets me given the sewage/waste problem - cool? Emma has also reminded me of all the above quite frequently. There is probably also a small element of 'rubbing off'.
There are of course spots though that are real gems / picture postcard moments. Udaipur lake, Jodhpur Fort, Jaisalmer (the desert city). I think Emma covered off these so won't go into detail but the defining moment for me in Jodhpur was a visit to' the omelette man'. This guy has dedicated the last c50 years to one simple task - making omelettes. A mention in the lonely planet changed his life forever and he has a rack of books with comments from people who have sat on his little stool in the middle of the road and sampled his eggs over the years. Seriously though how much can your write about a 2 egg cheese omelette? People had tried though which speaks volumes They were very good and only 20p. The secret apparently is soft cheese and tumeric. Afterwards Emma went to pick up her shoes which were being fixed, from the wrong man. Very amusing.
The camel trek in Jaisalmer was special. Emma had Jonah 'the friendly camel' and excelled in mastering the beast (I think the horse-riding past paid dividends). I was rubbish. A really good group of Dutch, Belgians was probably the making of it. Nico (the Dutch chap) was up for going to Pakistan. My arse simply could not have taken any more.
So now we have retreated from the hot, sticky, centre of Rajasthan to the hills of Darjeeling and I am loving it. Indian culture gives way to Nepali and Tibetan and it just feels so much more civilised. Momos (Tibetan dumplings) are my new passion and lager is more readily available. I'm trying to fatten up a little ahead of our Himalayan trek.
Hope you are all well and will drop another post in a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoy the photos!
- comments
chris wyche Great to hear from you. V. interesting! (Have only been to Goa). Keep it coming. Am going to print off for Boys to read. Best, Chris et al.