Blogs from Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 347

Not 100% by any stretch yet, but getting closer. I received an expected, but nonetheless welcome, call from a friend from New York who I'm meeting up with soon in Pathankot. Since I will no doubt refer to him in subsequent entries, his name is Debasish Roy (hence his nickname "the doctor"), and he arrived in Mumbai yesterday, after a near disaster in which he managed to board the wrong flight from New York and almost started heading towards Gatwick instead. Quite how he managed that is something that terrorist training schools the world over are still scratching their heads about. In theory, we will be meeting up in Pathankot, then sharing a taxi from there to Dharamsala - this is assuming that both our trains (mine from Amritsar, his from Delhi) appear in Pathankot at ... read more

Before going to India, the CDC and most doctors recommend several vaccinations. Before I went to India last time, I got hepatitis A, polio, and typhoid immunizations. I didn’t need to get any more this time, but I still need to take malaria medicine again. I will start taking it Sunday. It is supposed to give you strange dreams, but I didn’t notice this last time. I really didn’t have any side effects. I will also have to watch what I eat while there. I think that avoiding uncooked foods, even fruits and vegetables is good advice. Also, drink only bottled water, and use bottled water when brushing your teeth. It is hard sometimes though. Last time I was really tempted by sliced fresh tomatoes, fresh lycees, cherries, and other fruits. Every time I would give ... read more

Regrettably I now have a fully fledged sore throat, meaning that's 2 colds in the space of less than a month. I've managed a much lower frequency than that in supposedly cold countries, but I've seen so many other travellers here with the sniffles, that I can only assume the contrast between day (20s) and night (closer to zero) is affecting everyone else too. However I was pleased to discover that my shower is in perfect working order - it has the correct number of jets, all of which blast out water at an appropriate velocity, and there is unlimited hot water. So a good 30 minutes was spent enjoying this luxury. I figured I should do the city sightseeing today at a leisurely pace, so I took my first ever cycle rickshaw, to the Hawa ... read more

Up at 4:20AM. As no-one was going to be around to get me hot water, the owner had given me an immersion heater to heat my bucket with. I had to bridge the bucket with a hanger, then the heater slotted over the hanger and dangled in the water - it couldn't be hung on the side of the bucket because of the risk of melting the plastic. The whole contraption looked like a recipe for death by electrocution, but I avoided this fate and also managed to wash my hair. According to the hotel owner, there was a rickshaw drivers' strike planned for today, in protest against government plans to force them to wear uniforms. Though it wasn't due to start until 8AM, I didn't want to run the risk of having to leg it ... read more

Hi everyone! Elli here... You should see a couple of entries all at once, as soon as I get a faster internet connection. I really want to have the pictures up with these journals, and the current connection is too slow. I had intended to leave here yesterday morning, but Shahi Palace and Jaisalmer are too beautiful to leave so quickly. So I've changed my plan a little bit, and I'll be going through Ahmenabad by bus and train enroute to Mumbai (Bombay). My sleeper bus leaves tonight at 5:30. Yesterday I went with Tracy, who is from Australia to a textile shop and picked up some things like wall hangings, table clothes and pillow covers. That morning we had gone to the bank machine to get some shopping money. The power goes out here in ... read more