The Indian adventure begins

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We arrived at Bali airport in good time. The guy we had at check in didn't exactly fill us with confidence as he nearly sent my bag to Phuket! Also my flip flops had been on their way out for some time and had officially died whilst lugging our backpacks from the taxi. Nearly stacking it on the escalator with bags in hand, it was time to shop for a new pair. When we got through security we were faced with a delay already- although relatively short. It seemed like no time at all before we arrived in Kuala Lumpur again. It still remains our least favourite airport, where it seems like no one wants to help you and it's bloody expensive. Still I did manage to get some new flip flops here! Another delay had us wandering round for what felt like hours yet again. We finally got on the plane, tired and definitely not ready for what was to follow. Getting on the plane was absolute chaos!! We were massively the minority amongst a flight predominately of Indian nationals. The fun started when we sat down, the only way to describe it was like a huge game of musical chairs! Everyone except us seemed to be swapping seats- which later made handing out the dinners a nightmare for the air hostesses. Take off came and went, eventually people managed to stay in their seats with seat belts on and phones away! It still amazes me how many times you can say it to someone and they still don't do it. Once in the air, I got my phone out to play a game. All of a sudden my phone started to flash up with an air drop request from a man called Gurpreet! A photo of himself I guessed. Not knowing who this man was- I hit decline. Within seconds the row of men sat adjacent to us all started to giggle!! A minute later another air drop request- a picture of a car ' I have BMW' now giggling myself I show Jo and I hit decline again, we were now both giggling. A third attempt was made- a picture of a dog, by now the row of guys, me and Jo are all in stitches as I hit decline again before turning off the air drop! I have to give it to him, he was persistent. However the staring through the whole flight and calling out 'hey baby' did ware a bit thin in the end. Still I've never been hit on during a flight before!
Once we arrived in India we were running a good 2 hours behind schedule- so it was about 11pm. Passport control was a breeze as the queue for foreigners was the shortest I have seen to date, compared to the huge mass of people queuing in the Indian national queue. Through to baggage collection we saw Jo's bag come through fairly quick, just needed to wait for mine. So we waited.........and waited.........and waited...! By this point I'm fretting that the check in guy in Bali had actually sent it to Phuket. So we continue to wait. At this point even Jo is worried it's not coming. Still waiting- we discuss how I can wear her clothes for a while. Still waiting- I'm close to tears at this point. My life is currently in that bag! Waiting............waiting. My bag was the last bag to come off the belt. We screamed and hugged; relieved it had finally arrived! Thank god- I was so tired I don't think I could have handled it going missing.
Out into arrivals we needed cash, this was a nightmare again as it took us a good 20 mins to realise you could only take out the equivalent to £150 at a time ( we were trying to take out £300). We followed the instructions given to us by the tour operator on how to get a taxi and headed outside. We managed to get ourself into a taxi- it was the oldest banger you have ever seen! Me and Jo were tired and very aware that it was now heading past midnight as we got into the taxi. As we got in our taxi driver got in, and so did another man. We weren't very comfortable to say the least. Still I had my phone with a map on it and was following the drivers route with it, as they actually made a real effort to chat to us. Guards still massively up, we finally arrived at what we thought was our destination (according to the map) so we hastily paid him and got out. At this point I'll be honest, I didn't even consider the danger. Our map said the hotel was in the hospital next to us. So we went over to the hospital and asked where it was. Long story short it wasn't there, they told us off for being out alone this time of night in Delhi as a female foreigners and ordered us a taxi to the right place. Finally, finally, we were at our hotel, where we flopped into bed and passed out near enough straight away. We made it!
The following morning it really dawned on us, how bloody stupid we had been the night before. We discussed it in detail over breakfast- Jo fully emerged herself into the local customs by having an Indian curry breakfast. I stuck to English and enjoyed a real spread of eggs and toast!
It was time to check out and head over to the other hotel we would be staying at and joining up with our tour group.
We headed out into the boiling heat, back packs on and ready to go by foot. The man at the hotel said no taxi would take us as it was so close. Aware of what scams etc we would possibly face of people trying to take us to other places etc it was heads down and follow the map. Error!! The map took us to a back alley! We had avoided multiple offers of help and lifts etc- all of which turned out to be genuine! So we went into a hotel and asked them where we needed to go. They guy at reception took pity on us- gave us a drink and made his security guard walk us door to door. At this point the map is out the window- if I ever use it again shoot me!
So we finally met our group and headed out for our first Indian meal. It was really nice to get to know everyone and enjoy some traditional Indian food!
The next day we had a city tour of New Delhi, visited a mosque, a Sikh temple- where we had our first experience of making chipatis, the red temple and had a guided walk by a former street kid. The heat was stifling so a well earned beer was on the cards by the time we got back. And if we needed another reason to have a beer- we finally sold our car in New Zealand!
Later that evening it was onto a night train to get us to Bikaner for our desert adventure. We are well accustomed to night trains now, so we just got our heads down and slept most of the way. The toilets however still remain a challenge, with the smell and squatting whilst on a moving train!
We arrived at our hotel in Bikaner in need of a shower and some food. Our hotel was amazing! Back in the empire days, when India was a colony under the east India trading company, the current day India, was a far fetched reality. The geographical boundaries comprised not of a nation but every current day Indian city, being a separate kingdom. For example - Jaipur or bikaner were a separate entity in themselves. Boasting an army and administration of its own. We stayed in a hotel that was once home to the prime minister of bikaner. It was gorgeous! Red stone, mostly original decor and conjured up everything I imagined India to be. We had a humongous room- which was more like a suite, and everyone came to hang out with us!
We hitched a ride on camels into the desert to spend the night camping under the stars. My camel Colin kept on snack searching, eating everything in sight and was adamant he would be in the lead for the whole journey (not too unlike its rider!) While Jo's camel, Horacio, kept biting the other camels butts and causing havoc at the back. To top it all off, when we arrived my camel Colin missed peeing on Jo by a whisker! After dinner we watched a traditional Indian dance performance, before drinking and chatting into the wee hours of the morning. Morning came and we were awoken to the stifling heat in the tent, but what a place to wake up- in the middle of nowhere!
Back at the hotel again we showered up, before heading out to the rat temple! It is as it suggests- a temple full of rats. 20,000 to be precise! They have literally taken over the place. Now I'm not particularly fond of rats- but they weren't like the rats you get in London, they were quite sweet. It wasn't to everyone's liking but you had to see it to believe it. The next day we were up early for a day train journey to Jaisalmer. Being a local train we were mixed in with everyone else. After the initial excitement we all settled in, listening to music, reading, chatting etc. Jo decided to catch up on her tv shows- earphones in she was in her own world. The next thing you knew, there was this little face peering over the top of her seat watching it with her. This chap had decided he wanted in on the action too. What made it funnier was there was no subtitles and no sound! I have to say although we do get stared at a lot- especially girls, there isn't any malice in it. We found their curiosity quite endearing unlike some of our experiences in China. We arrived in Jaisalmer in time for a evening boat ride on Gadsisar Lake. As night fell we headed up to sunset point to watch the sunset over the fort.... except there was no sunset. Instead it poured with rain. It poured so hard we ended up taking shelter in a random strangers house! Being that we are British we decided to protest the weather by dancing in the rain- much to everyone's amusement. There was even a local journalist there taking snaps of us. We still don't know if we made the papers! To top off the night we ended up going for dinner together only to find the restaurant was experiencing a power cut, due to the rain. Still it made for a fun candle lit meal
The next day exploring continued with a guided tour around the fort and old Haveli's. The buildings were unlike anything we had seen before, beautiful ornate carvings in sandstone! Jaisalmer is renowned for its fabric and textiles work- so it would have been rude not to go and see how it's done- plus there was free chai and samosas!!! We ended the afternoon with some shopping- most memorable was buying silver jewellery off this man called Om. His shop was tiny! Tucked away off the Main Street, he makes it all himself. We where there for hours, chatting away, trying stuff on and drinking chai! We all brought something in the end and he made me his chief sales assistant! It was back to the hotel for an early night as we had an early morning bus to catch.
See you in Jodhpur- the blue city for the continuation of the Indian oddessey. Lauren and Jo xxx

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