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Published: November 26th 2009
So Mt. Abu is beautiful and full of Indian couples on thier honeymoons and on family holidays, so there isn't too much poverty here as it is obviously for the slightly richer side of life up here, they sell wippy ice cream which is flavoured by a big squidgy dollop of syrup ontop, quite nice but sickening too! went on a few walks upto a big rock called toad rock ( for its looks like a toad about to leap into the lake) and then to honeymoon point which has the most amazing views and hurrendous drops! As people are holidaying they all want to take a photo of you or with you, which you should be able to decline if you don't want to be in the photo, but this seemed to fill them with anger and disspare and they often followed us round corners as we ran away and took snaps of the backs of our heads, flippin crackers is what they are! after our first night which we managed to haggle from 800 ruppees to 350! we then found a little guest house ran by a lovely strangly cristian indian man just off the main road with a
mountainous foresty back drop. It smelt rather grim once the windows were closed but nothing a few incense sticks couldn't cure!. Got a bit of a bad belly whilst here though, and started to realise that indian food basically looked like rice with a variety of different coloured vomits and poos and a bit of bread on the side, had a few chilled (in both sences of the word, its flipping freezing up here at night!) evenings curled up to stop the stomach cramps watching crap english films and tom and jerry in hindu on tv! The indians although rather strange have a good sence of humour and when russ saw a cow licking the plates we had just eaten off and said dish washer, the man whos plates they were found this hilarious and slapped his thighs and gafawed away!
Lots of lovely monkeys here...not so lovely when u try to feed them! we got one on camera with its baby which jumped around doing little dances for us and then took photos of a proper new born awww sooo cute! The not so nice comes from when we were in a guest house we saw a little family
sitting below the balcony outside our place so i grabbed the left over roasted peanuts and chucked them to them, suddenly what was 2 mums and two babys became a whole family with a massive dad and I mean massive who barred his teeth at u, loads of cheeky tots, mums babys and bigger adults all bounding towards us and climbing up, this sent me and russ screaming like girls into our room and locking the door! The man who owned the place ran out wandering what was going on and looked at us dissaprovingly and then chased them off and they ran to the next building and the big dad sat in a tree above the jeep outside, when a man later came to get in the jeep this massive monkey swang for him..they are mean little buggers but look so sweet!
When on one of our little wonders we went up a little creek with little huts and goats and chickens and kids playing in the stream, one little old man called god know what ( something long and un pronouncable) called us over and said friend...teaaaa?? so we went in to be made sum chai masala (
a spicy sweet milky tea) and to be babbled at in hindu. We eventually gathered that the mans father owned the boats on the lake and said we could go on the for free, he had seven sons "god gift" and his sons little daughters who looked like twins and his youngest son and wife were all there too pottering around. The lake in Mt. Abu is beautiful from a distance but up close has a horrible film of bright green scum over the top, which turns to a crispy blue and beige scum at the edges so we gave the boating a miss! We went to book a train to Bombay and were told we had to do it in three trips. An hour bus to the mt ABu station at the bottom of the mountain, then a four hour train to Ahmehabad, then a 12 hour sleeper train to bombay, so we booked the train to amhehabad then tried to book a train to bombay to be told they were all full up til 15th of december!!!! hahahah! luckily we were told that if we came back to the ticket office at 7am we could possibly get some
seats then, so Russ went the next morning and luckily got on the train on the 26th, so after the hair raising hour long journey down the mountain which induced at least one person each time to vomit out the window, we got to the train station. We were pretty early and there weren't too many people around apart from dogs and some children begging. We tried to get some breakfast and were sold some "no spicy" pakoras which were pretty much just deep fried chillys! we gave these to a begger man and his son who wouldn't leave us alone and started getting a bit pushy. We then brought something that looked like porridge but was infact some cold mushy poooey rice oats slosh! tasted ok though.
There are beggars everywhere, old people, holy men, children as small as 3 or 4 sometimes carrying babys, serioiusly disabled people who have to drag themselves around through shite and rubble and everyone begs you and often follows you and hassles you relentlessly,this is something every traveller has to deal with as being white means being rich and in comparision we have it seriously easy, but it really does make you angry
when soemone will not take no for no and you have to say it over and over and then ignore them untill they go, its not something we are born to do by instinct we have compassion and i guess pity too and they know that I think,but somehow you have to end up completely ignoring a little four year old pulling on your shirt and begging you for food because if we gave to everyone who did that, we would a, have no money by the end of the week and b, it gives a message to these kids that its ok to beg for money and a message to their parents that its good to send the kids out onto the streets to beg cos they make money.
After a long think about this we decided to give to a registered charity as this will help towards something perminent and its not just ten rupees that will feed someone but last 10 minutes and not solve a thing. This also means being a little harsher and after a kid of about 7 went on and on at us for about 20 minutes about mending our not broken shoes
I actually shouted at the kid, i felt absolutly bloody horrible after but I honestly don't know what else can be done, so this is what me and russ have decided we will do, from now on no, mean no. Not much to say about Ahmehabad, its stinky and shit and we both can't wait to leave! we have a 12 hours sleeper train to Bombay this evening and have spent last night in the worst room so far! so next time we write we will hopefully be in Goa and suffering from a hangover from my birthday..but we will see! lots of love to everyone xxxx
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mummy
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love from me 2 u 2
Hello my dearest loved ones, lovely entries from you both, feel like I am there what with all the begging, poo smells etc. Wouldn't it be nice if you could talk to the people and children without them having alterior motives ie money all the time but there again we are talking about a nation of poverty - I think you are right about not giving to anybody but to give to a registered charity. Theres flood everywhere in England cuz non stop rain and gales but in a way it is quite cozy and I don't really mind it. Teresa, Fidge, Mum and Jamey coming up Boxing day cuz have a day off so that will be nice. Jam starting to decorate his flat and has a tasty girl who is a decorator to do it for him but she has told him there is no chance she gonna date him!!!!! He bought me a beautiful necklace when he was in India last but I've only just got it - it is absolutely lovely it is little beaded affair with real jems and feels lovely, Jamey tells me it is some kind of prayer necklace with each kind of bead meaning something. Jane has all the meanings written down and Jameys gonna try to get the info 4 me. Everyone askin after you and how u gettin on so now I can tell them. Bye bye my lovelies look 4ward to readng next entry xxxxxxx loves u - frm Mums