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Published: November 29th 2007
Hey guys. How's everything back home? I've been pretty bad recently about keeping you up to date with what's going on here. Two reasons really. Firstly, in Rishikesh, I was just too much in the 'shanti shanti' way of life.....ie just a bit lazy! Since then, I've been struggling on and off now with sickness. When I left Rishikesh I had a cold, which I can deal with, no problem. From there, I caught the overnight bus from Haridwar to Agra to see the Taj and then straight onto another bus to Jaipur. So all in all, I was on a bus for nearly two days with a few hours break in between. When I got to Jaipur, I was shattered and hungry so having found a guest house, I went straight out to get some food. You can get beer and meat in Jaipur, which after 3 wks in Rishikesh was a real treat. I had a chicken masala and a bottle of beer. The masala here is a bit similar to a madras back home. Pretty spicy. It was one of the tastiest meals I'd had here in India. That night, it wasn't so good. I'm still not sure if it was the masala, or what I'd had in Agra before getting on the bus. Many many travellers are sick in Agra and I still can't believe that something that tasted that good could be so bad! Who knows. Whatever it was, it was the start of my problems. That night I wasn't good, but the next day, I wasnt so bad so I headed out to explore. I met this young guy, who started by calling out to me 'why don't you talk to me? whenever I speak to white faced people they walk on by. I just want to talk and practice my english'. So I explained that 'white faced people' get harassed 100 times a day by people who start by saying they want to talk and then they end up trying to sell them something. they see white faced people and they see money. that's all. That's why we walk on by and ignore them. I ended up spending most of the day with him and he showed my around some of the sights on his motorbike. It was pretty cool having a personal guide! He was at college studying art - the really fine stuff on silk. Some of it's really not my bag - religious paintings, but some of the animal paintings are superb. Unfortunately, the day ended with him declaring his undying love for me and when I refused his kind offers (!) he dropped me off pretty quickly!
That evening, I decided to go to the cinem. Jaipur cinema is pretty famous. Its really funny in the cinema over here. Everyone cheers and claps! The film, I wasn't so sure of. Even though its all in hindi, I was told you could follow whats going on pretty easily....all films are love stories over here. Boy meets girl, boy cant marry girl, boy eventually marries girl and they all live happily ever after! This started out pretty much like that ....boy meets girl......girl is getting married to another boy......boy fights boy......but then I would have thought that you'd get to the living happily ever after bit, but it didn't. I'm not really too sure what happened but I think girl married first boy and they didn't live happily ever after! It was an experience though!
After 2 nights in Jaipur, I wasn't too sure where to go next. I was in a hurry to get to the animal hospital here in Udaipur, but my guide book had said there were tigers up in Sariska national park and I really wanted to see a tiger. I was feeling ok again, so the next day I took a bus up to sariska. When I got there, I found out that the last tiger was seen two years ago. Guess that's the problem with having a 2001 guidebook! Most things haven't changed much...hotels, transport etc, but I guess the tiger population moves quicker than humans over here! So having got over the disappointment of there being no tigers, I hired a jeep and a driver and guide for about 15 pounds, and we set off into the park. They have many animals over here. Mainly spotted deer, samba deer, antelope, wild boar, monkeys and crocodiles as well as a huge bird population.....kingfishers, woodpeckers, tree pies, red wattled something or others, etc etc. There were many birds I'd never heard of or seen before. The guide was really good trying to point them all out and telling me what they were, but sometimes indian accents are very hard to understand, and it was difficult to hear what they were let alone remember the names! There are also some wild cats and dogs, leapords, jungle cats, hyena, but they are few and far between and they hide very well! We drove around for a few hours in late afternoon adn the guides pointed everything out. There were no tigers, but just the fresh air was fab coming from Jaipur. About 5ish, the guide heard a samba deer call. The driver stopped immediately and they were listening. Apparently, it was a warning call of a samba deer. They do it to warn the other deer of danger. The guide thought it may be warning of a wild cat in the area, so we took off back into the jungle in the direction of the call. It was so exciting! After 5 minutes we found the deer. It was calling at regular intervals and stamping, looking up the hill into the bush. The driver pulled round off the track and as we did, there it was. Right in front of us, about 15 foot away from the jeep. A leopard. Wow. I was so excited. It was a beautiful, beautiful animal. Big and amazingly camoflauged. When it saw us, it retreated back into the bush, so all we could see was it's tail. After 10 minutes, it wasn't coming back and the sun was setting, so we headed back to the lodge. The guide and the driver were as excited as I was...apparently it's really rare to see a leopard, let alone that close. We'd done really well. When we got to the gate, they got me to complete the visitors book of what we'd seen and we headed back to the lodge. It was expensive to stay there - 1000 ruppees a night but it was quite nice. That night, I was sick again, so I ended up spending an extra night there as I couldn't face another bus journey. The next day, I was slightly better, and I wanted to get back to somewhere a bit cheaper, so I packed up and headed out for the bus. Someone up there was looking out for me because the bus back was virtually empty and I was able to lay out on the seats which was good. When I got to Jaipur, I caught another bus down to Pushkar. Apparently the camel fair was going on, so this bus was far from empty. It was bursting at the seams! By the time I'd got there, I'd really had enough! I'd heard that there hotels would be few and far between during the camel fair, so I took the first place I came to that had a room. It was expensive. Some hotels had inflated their price by 4 or 5 times for the fair. So I ended up in a very dingy room. Probably the worst I've had here, for 300 ruppees, which is the top end that I've paid in most places. That night I found a place that did a cheese roasty ...basically like a round grilled potato and cheese cake. It was really good to get some basic food!
The next day, I felt good again and I walked up through the town to the camel fair. It was an amazing sight. Hundreds of camels, horses and tents set out in the desert. The horses here in Rajasthan are amazing, beautiful creatures....very different to Dharamsala! The men here are amazing horsemen too. The downside to Pushkar, is you get hassled constantly. I guess this is their time to make most of their annual takings so they go all out to get the business. The following day, I got ill again. Very ill. So I stayed for an extra couple of days until I felt better again. It was miserable as the room I was in was not good and not so clean. When you're ill, all you want is a clean room, but I didn't have the energy to move at that point.
After a couple of days, I felt much much better again so I packed up and headed off to Udaipur. The bus journey was shit. That's the last tourist bus I'm taking over here. They sell these tickets like they're so much better than the public busses, but the truth is they're not. My seat had no padding and still you have people in the aisle trying to sit where your feet should be...and they charge you more for the name 'tourist bus'. When I got to Udaipur I shared a rickshaw with another couple of foreigners on the bus. The first hotel was full, so we ended up in another hotel round the corner. The view from the rooftop was amazing, and the rooms were amazingly clean. It was nice. Quite expensive though and I was going to be here for a few weeks so I needed to work on the price. Sometimes, you can bargain quite well with people, especially if you're staying for a while. That night I ate chicken again. chicken chow mein. They're big on chinese food here in India too, which is good, because I like it and curry every night is not so good! That night, I was ill again. Not like before, just a huge amount of pain in my stomach. I tried to last through the night as I didn't want to wake the hotel staff up. I made it til about 4 or 5 I think when I really needed to see someone. So I went downstairs and woke the guy up in reception. Over here, they always have an overnight guy that beds down in the entrance to the hotel in case people want to check in or out in the night. I was in a right state by this time but there was no answer on the phone for the doctor, so they got me a rickshaw to the hospital. When I got there, they gave me a shot of something - I don't know what, but it worked. Within 10 minutes the pain went and I slept. When the doctor came round about 10ish I felt ok and he said to go back to the hotel. I said I was worried about it coming back, but he said to go and if it comes back, then come back again. So I went. I couldn't make it to the animal hospital that day, instead I slept. Having a clean room was fab, but it was a lot of money for 3 wks and I couldn't do my own washing here. They wanted to do it for me ....and charge me. So that evening I wandered around on the search for another place. I found a nice place over the other side of the lake in a less touristy area called hanaman ghat. The rooms had just been done out - they're in the middle of building an extension to the guest house, but the woman could talk for britain....or india! She had a room for 175 ruppees, and there was a fab view from the roof and I could wash my clothes no problem.
The next day I headed to the animal hospital. I don't really know how to start to describe it there. They have about 50 dogs, 1 cow, a couple of cats (1 now adopted!) some pigeons & about 10 donkeys. Most of the dogs are in a really bad way. A lot of them are in for sterilisation only, so they stay for a few days recovery and then released back to the area they came from. Of the others, many are residents, ie they won't ever be able to be released. Many have been in road accidents, victims of the ever increasing traffic chaos over here. Most of them have broken there back and have paralysis in their back ends, so they scoot around on their front paws dragging there back legs behind them. There are also many amputees...front or back legs. Again, traffic accidents or, like Henry, been caught in a trap. When I arrived I was greeted by a dozen or so dogs like this, who are resident and are not on a chain. They have four doctors there but 2 apparently are leaving to take government jobs. They have 2 vetinary nurses and Julie, a long term volunteer. Then there's Erica and Jim, the guys who set the hospital up, but they spend most of their time fundraising in order to keep it going. They are so busy there. Too many animals and not enough time. The first day I felt completely shell shocked. Shell shocked and useless. I'd never seen animals in this kind of state before and I didn't know what to do to help. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to stay for 3 wks, or even go back the next day. I did go back though. I think I forced myself to give it another go. I had a bad journed up there... I hired a bike. I broke the mudguard on the bike within 10 minutes (my bag got caught under it!) and I got hassled by some horrible guys on a moped calling obsenities at me and trying to lift my t shirt up as they drove past. I got there though, and after a few hours I felt right at home. I think I'd got used to it and I just got on with it. Basically, you do what you can for who you can. You can't see to all the dogs, but you see as many as possible. Walking, loving, making sure they eat. Many of them are just plain frightened and need some love. The difference you make is amazing and when you see it, its fantastic. Winston, when I got there just shook in the corner, but now, he'll come out for a walk and he loves being stroked.....and a biscuit! Henry had just been amputated when I got there, but the day before yesterday he came out for a walk with me. Unfortunately, his wound has got infected and he went back for more surgery yesterday. Then theres my foxy lady.... I haven't thought of a proper name for her yet, but she's a girly and she looks very much like a fox. She's a paralysis victim, but she'd been dragging her back end around for probably a few wks so the drag wounds are really really bad. At the moment, she's freaked out, but she's getting better day by day. They give them injections in the spine to try and regain the use of the back end, but mostly, it never comes back. Its just a case of getting them able to scoot around without dragging the back end as they get such bad wounds from this. There are so many more, I won't mention them all. The guys there do such a good job, or as much as they can with the facilities they've got. They could do with much more, but fundraising is difficult. Now, I'm dreading leaving in a few wks. Every night, I put them to bed (I try not to have favourites, but I'm afraid I probably do!) make sure they eat something, make sure they have a sack to curl up on and some water (we don't have any blankets) and head home. Then I spend the night wondering how they are and I can't wait to get back the next day. Yesterday, again I was ill. I felt not so good in the morning, but by early afternoon I was ill again. They gave me, and my bike, a lift back to udaipur in the ambulance! which was a relief as I wasn't sure how I would be able to get back on the bike. Its only 4 ks, but I felt bad. Also the bikes here are one gear bone shakers! When you're well, they're great and you feel really authentic! Also, everyone calls out good morning, or namastay! Its really nice. Last night, my hotel guy took me to the hospital again and now I have 3 tablets and two powders to take for a few days. Hopefully this will sort it out once and for all as I'm feeling very tired of this and I want to be at the animal hospital, not here in an internet cafe feeling rough! I have to say, my hotel guys were fantastic last night. The woman may talk for britain, but I was glad that they were there to help me out last night. Her husband is also really nice. He gave me a lift to the hospital last night. But it was funny. On the way back, he stopped for chai. You want chai? he said. You want cigarette? Then he took me on a guided tour of the government hospital buildings on the back of the bike! I didn't have the heart to tell him I just wanted to go to bed! She tells me 10 times a day how fresh her food is .... among other things! It does taste good, I have to say. Hopefully, in a couple of days I'll be back on it again! I was going to try and get up to the hospital for an hour or so today, but I think I may leave it now and go tomorrow as its now nearly 4. I slept most of today, but its probably done me some good. I just want to do all I can while I'm here. They really need all the help they can get. I hate to talk about money, but if any of you animal lovers are feeling generous, please please donate something to them. Their website is www.animalaidsociety.org/history.html and its easy to give a donation through there. The pound is strong compared to here, so even the equivalent of a beer back home is worth something over here and it will go to a good cause I promise you. I'm not sure what these animals would do without this place, so keeping it going is really critical.
Anyway, I'm going to sign off for now. I'm really late for lunch back at the guest house and I may be in trouble!!! :O)
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Paula Tyler
non-member comment
Happy Birthday
Hi Sharon, good to hear the updates, so sorry you have been so poorly, hopefully you are all better now - nothing like being away from home when you are ill!! :-( Love hearing about the animals - you will get really attached to them. Have a fantastic birthday on Saturday. Take Care px