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Published: April 17th 2015
I woke up the next morning still feeling off colour and decided to not tour Jodhpur with Brandon and Tayla. I decided some time in bed might do me good. I had breakfast on the roof, admiring the view of theBlueCity in the distance before retreating to the comfort of my bed for the day. I was still feeling quite homesick, but started freaking out about my change of heart the night before when I booked flights to go home early, and after deciding I could do this solo travel thing, I changed my flights back to a later date (another $150 down the drain)! I was feeling quite anxious and full of indecision but put it down to being off-colour.
When Tayla and Brandon got back to the guesthouse late that afternoon they told me that they didn’t think I had missed much and they said that it was probably their least favourite city so far. They spoke of aggressive beggars and said the city as a whole was generally underwhelming. They said it was the first time they have felt unsafe due to the nature of the beggars.
Betel Nut Saliva
I decided it was time to attempt some food. Tayla wasn’t hungry so Brandon and I set off in search of a restaurant that had been recommended. We would have been less than 5 minutes into our walk, walking along a busy crowded footpath, when I saw a guy out of the corner of my eye coming out of a shop and before I knew what was happening I was absolutely COVERED in red sticky saliva…. Yes seriously!
In India the men chew on Betel Nut resulting in large wads of sticky red saliva all over the footpath/roads and big red teethy smiles! This lovely young gentleman had walked out of his shop and spat a big wad of red sticky saliva all over me, missing the footpath. I was horrified and screamed out in disgust. My whole right side including my arm, hand and phone were soaked in a bright red liquid, and in that moment I am not sure who was more horrified, me or the shop keeper who had just landed his betel nut saliva all over the female tourist!
He quickly ran next door to a restaurant
and came back with a big jug of water and napkins and promptly started trying to clean me up. The last thing I wanted was this person trying to clean me up… After trying to wash it off unsuccessfully, we headed back to the guesthouse so I could get changed. My pants were covered in it and were soaked now from the water! LOL only me!
After relaying the story to Tayla and getting changed we headed back out for a second attempt at getting dinner. It really was a sign of things to come and in hindsight I wish we had just stayed at the hotel. We eventually found the restaurant and had a really beautiful meal. The food was gorgeous.
We then decided to head straight back to the hotel –Jodhpur really didn’t feel like a great vibe for any of us. Brandon and I started walking back towards the guesthouse. Due to the betel nut incident on the footpath, we decided to walk along the road since everyone else was using the roadway to walk too.
Needle Stick Horror
About halfway to the
hotel a guy walking towards us came straight at us, and walked in between Brandon and I so that we had to separate. As he went past me, I felt a pain on my leg closest to him. My instant reaction was that I had been jabbed with a needle – that is exactly how it felt. I quickly turned to look at the man, but he just continued walking away from us, not looking back. I looked at his hand and the one that had been closest to me was at his side in a clenched fist. I rubbed my leg instantly and instantly felt quite worried. At the time, I guess I went into denial at what had possibly just happened and I didn’t mention it to Brandon. We continued to walk towards the guesthouse as I tried to process what I thought had just happened.
We stopped into a small shop as I had wanted to find a scarf and as I had a quick look I kept looking around to see if anyone was following us – I didn’t feel any different but was worried that maybe I had been drugged. I still
don’t know why I didn’t mention it to Brandon at the time, but I guess I was just thinking I had imagined it.
When we got back to the hotel, I walked into our room and straight away said to Tayla “I think I was just stabbed with a needle”. I then relayed the story to Tayla as I pulled my pants down. I went into a complete meltdown upon seeing a small puncture wound on my upper leg. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was just too scary to contemplate. We then went and told Brandon, who was understandably confused given I had not mentioned it to him when it had happened! We spoke to Jaggi who owned the hotel who arranged a tuktuk to take us to a nearby hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, my nightmare just got worse. I was seen quite quickly by an Indian Doctor who basically told me that it was impossible that someone would do that to me and gave me some panadol and betadine! He refused to even look at the puncture wound! I was so upset… and 10 minutes later we
were in a tuktuk heading back to the guesthouse!
When I got back to the guesthouse I had an even bigger meltdown. Tayla went off to bed and I spent the next few hours freaking out crying! I ended up getting onto my friend in Australia and asking her to contact the insurance company for some advice… Not long after this my insurance company phoned me and I have to say the girl that phoned me was absolutely amazing.
She checked in with me for hours afterwards giving me advice and making sure I was okay. We made a plan for me to get a train and taxi through to Udaipur the following morning to find a better hospital. A few hours later, after crying myself to sleep, we all headed off on the train towards Udaipur. Brandon and Tayla decided to keep going on to Mt Abu for a night or two and so at the train station we split with them taking a taxi there and I jumped into another taxi to head to Udaipur.
I eventually made it to my little Oasis called “Little Garden Guesthouse” inUdaipurwhere I
met up with my new friend Akshay and his family who ran the guesthouse. I sat with the family and drank the best Chai I had ever had and made a plan to get to the new hospital. Akshay was amazing and he arranged a tuk tuk to take me to the hospital. The insurance company had lined it all up for me at the hospital and I was told to turn up and ask for a specific Doctor. When I got to the hospital, they had no idea who I was or who the Doctor was I was meant to see and I ended up standing in the middle of the waiting room bawling my eyes out. I was a complete mess! Next thing I knew I was surrounded by nurses who tried to help me but in the end I was told to come back that night. I got out of the hospital and walked for some distance before finding a tuk tuk to take me back to the guesthouse. Once back there I found a lovely little café called the Whistling Teal and had some lunch. This would become my little Oasis over the next week.
After lunch I retreated to the guesthouse and at 6pm I went back to the hotel. The Doctor was just as useless as the previous one and again, didn’t check out my injury and told me I was over reacting because ‘noone would do that’. The insurance company had told me that I was being sent to this hospital as they had HIV medication and it was their recommendation I take a course just in case. The Doctor stated they didn’t stock it and I didn’t need it because they could not tell if the needle had HIV or not! (Kind of the reason TO take it, NOT not take it I would say!)
In tears again I phoned Akshay from the Guesthouse and he insisted on coming to pick me up. While I was waiting for him I got back on to the Insurance company and told them the outcome. When Akshay turned up he took me for a crazy drive aroundUdaipur. He was trying to cheer me up but I was poo’ing my pants! Crazy driver! He ended up taking me to another hospital that the Insurance company told me to get to.
When we got there I met a lovely female, Doctor Sanjeep who FINALLY took me seriously! She gave me a tetanus shot, took some blood for my baseline results and made an appointment for the following day.
Akshay then drove me back to the guesthouse stopping along the way for some Gulab Jamun (an Indian dessert). Once back at the guesthouse, Akshay took me up onto the roof of the guesthouse to show me the beautiful palace nearby! Thank God for Akshay and his beautiful little family!
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Adrienne
non-member comment
Good luck
Just one fellow traveler to another--read your blog today. Hope you are okay--sounds like an incredibly distressing experience. Update on your next entry, please. Good luck and good wishes to you.