Jaisalmer and the Camel Safari At weekends, we have the chance to get away from the monotony of the camp, and out into the wild, wild west of Rajasthan. The first weekend, we catch a bus to Jodhpur, enjoying the soothing sounds of a young Indian woman retching uncontrollably out of the window at the back, spraying innocent passers by with refreshing mists of vomit and bile. There's little to tell about Jodhpur - the buildings are all painted a lilac blue, and there's a huge fort on top of the hill overlooking the city. [View Full Entry]

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A Shit in the Woods 18/01/08 On our final weekend in the camp, myself and Kristin leave for a weekend in Jaisalmer. This is the account of that bus journey, a anal apocalypse now. The horror, the horror.... My belly churns unbearably - every time the pains comes, it's as though a spicy Indian fist has reached into my guts and twisted. As the bus pulls into the stop, I know the option to wait it out is spent and so this is my only chance. There is a kicking baby within and I have to give it a c [View Full Entry]

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Raju - The Black-Eyed Dope Fiend, Camp Cook and Pimp Raju is the camp cook, a notorious weed-smoker and a big hearted motherfucker. I will struggle to forget both him and the meals he cooked. That one such meal caused me to shit myself in the middle of the desert is enough to burn his memory into the worm holes of my consciousness permanently. Raju is a short man, maybe only 5,5. He has dark skin and a thin moustache, and dresses well in slacks, shirt and bright yellow belt. We are introduced on our first trip into the dining [View Full Entry]

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Shiv - Work Placements Shiv is a little town in the Barmer district of Rajasthan, not too far from the Pakistan border. There's not too much to tell about the place, so I'll keep it brief. It's a dirty, dusty den of Indian activity, the roadsides lined with market stalls, shops and a multitude of goats and cattle, and the road packed with buses, cars and bikes. The people are typically dark-skinned Rajasthani. They are reasonably used to seeing white people due to the proximity of the camp, but they still hustle round every time [View Full Entry]

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Camp 31/12/07-20/01/08 Lok Rang camp in the town of Shiv is a walled compound, filled with small huts which we live in, and larger ones, housing the kitchen/dinning room and the rec room. We arrive in the afternoon of new years eve. There are six other volunteers in camp, all girls, making us eleven in total. I share a hut with Laurence. Our hut has two single beds either side of the room made of wood and straw, and a bunk in the middle. We take a bed each, first checking for any signs of mouse infestation, a p [View Full Entry]

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Jaipur to Barmer by Train 30/12/07 The tuk-Tuk roars its engine as we speed away into the cold night, our host family waving after the darkness. We pass one lost soul, laid out next to his overturned rick-shaw on the ground. He doesn't move, and there is nobody willing to move him. We don't stop. I guess the morning will find him just as dead. Jaipur train station is draped in bodies, the scene of a great massacre. They are in rows, wrapped in sheets and blankets. Either they have a long wait for their train, or it's as good [View Full Entry]

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Jaipur - 27/12/07-31/12/07 As we reach the outskirts of Jaipur, capital city of the state of Rajasthan, with a population of around 4 million, it becomes very clear just how low standards of living can be for many in India. People are packed in their hundreds into makeshift tents and wooden shacks. They share the roadsides with dogs, goats and the contents of the sewers, and their clothes are the dust and grim of the earth. Beggars crowd around the sides of the jeep, knocking on the windows, hands outstretched for rupees. Mothers [View Full Entry]

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The Beginning 26/12/07 Things begin when i touch down in Delhi. The airport is a crumbling shit-heap, with electrical wires hanging down from a bare ceiling like vines. I'm picked up by two of IDEX's (Indian Development and Exchange Programs) staff. One is Farouq, one of the project executives, or "guides", I'll be working with over the next few weeks. First experience - Indian roads. Everybody who drives here is batshit crazy - drooling mad cannibals in wheeled carriages of doom. There are no rules of the road here, j [View Full Entry]

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