ANDY AND ANA, SAWAI MADHOPUR, INDIA. 20th DEC 2013

Jaipur - on the way through to Sawai Madhopur

Next leg of our train travels , a second class (phew) overnight train with a bed on to Jaipur, Ana and I were separated for this journey but got chatting to the guys around my seat and all was quite friendly although he did mention that there was no pantry car on the train so food would not be until the first long stop at 22:30 argh- I had specifically waited for the train to eat, sad times.

Ana headed back to her bunk and was sat with a large group of around 8 people, an all Indian origin family who were having a reunion as some now lived in the US and others were spread through India, now these guys now how to prepare for a train journey, there were home made chapati's, stuffed paratha, pickles and great food.

Ana got chatting to this great crowd (of course) and mentioned that her husband (don't panic, you haven't ,missed anything - only in India!) was hungry and waiting for the train meal, so they invited us to eat with them, they were great, very welcoming and generous and very funny, interesting guys. Alex, you'll be glad to know that you are not the only frustrated engineer in the world, the son who was born in the state's qualified as an engineer and has ended up in quality and wishes he had more engineering to do and the father had been an engineer for 40 years but almost all in management and wishes he had been more hands on!

After a long chat, they got their berths into 'sleeping mode' so I said my goodbyes and headed back to my bunk to wait for my main course to arrive. I ended up eating by a small side light as my bunkmates all snored away in the dark but it was worth the wait! A hot Thali delivered direct to your bunk for 90p - expensive by local standards but a bargain when you're hungry...

Sawahi Madhopur

A train ride that involved little distance but confused us in finding our seats! We walked up and down the platform at Jaipur on at least 3 occasions before we found our coach. When in India leave at least an hour to find the right train coach!

Met at the station by our 'resort' **driver we arrived at the Ankur resort ready for dinner and bed. The following morning we got up at 6.15am (well Andy did, my start was a little later) to prepare for the Tiger safari.

First chilly day in India. Had to dust off the fleece and extra layers which have been tucked at the bottom of our rucksacks for the past two weeks- bloody winter.

Got chatting to a cool young traveller called Charles who is the epitome of relaxed! We could certainly learn a thing or two from him! Then departed in our 20 seater 'canter truck' to Ranthambore National Park. Some photos below....

An extremely bumpy journey throughout the park to search for the tigers living there. Unfortunately our group didn't get to see any but there was plenty of wildlife about. Good to be away from the hustle and bustle of cars and people looking at deer, peacocks, birds and antelope! The canter truck in itself was like a funfair ride and kept us all entertained.

Back to the 'resort' for breakfast and little much else until our train back to Jaipur early evening.

** If this is what resorts are like across the world, I've certainly not missed out by not going to one before now :-D

ANA AND ANDY, JAISALMER, INDIA. 19 DEC 2013.

After Jodhpur we caught an over night train to Jaisalmer out in the desert at the Eastern-most town before the Pakistan border about 150Km away

We were 3rd class this time no more luxury but it was late so we crashed out pretty quickly.

Arriving in Jaisalmer was fun, an auto rickshaw to the Akashdeep hotel which was completely dark at 5 am and we opened the door to find the security guard fast asleep under a duvet and no-one else around. We were both bushed so dozed on the sofa in the dark waiting for someone to wake up. After an hour or so there was a tentative 'hello' out of the dark and we got to a room and crashed for a few more hours!

After breakfast (Puri and Paratha for me - a new favourite) we headed out to explore on foot, Jaisalmer is quite a small and relatively affluent town, built around - you guessed it - a fort. As a result the feel is a lot more relaxed and everyone was very friendly and a lot less hassle than the big cities. We were approached by a guy who chatted to us about being a city guide and waited for the hard sell but a few minutes later we were in his house sat on their bed/sofa in their communal lounge/bedroom talking and drinking homemade chai with his wife, sons and daughter to help her practice her English. No more mention of guided tours he just wanted to chat and find out more about us and vice versa, a very odd but friendly experience.

A little further down the road we saw a  stall selling  duvets and fabric items with a unique marketing technique (see below) when the stallholder saw me taking the photo, he came across and started chatting. Waiting for another hard sell we were invited inside to help him out with some of his new marketing slogans as his English didn't stretch to smutty slang! See below some images of Ana cheapening the Indian culture with our contributions to Shanka's stall. A surreal experience trying to explain a 'pile cushion'.

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Next day on the way to the fort we booked the 'must do' tourist activity in Jaisalmer, a camel safari into the desert. We have not been following a guidebook as such but ended up booking with one of the lonely planet recommendations, Trotters Independant Travels, mainly because the guy running there office, Sobu, was very friendly and genuine (and it was cheaper than the others!) If the company name sounds familiar then I should also say we met the company manager who calls himself Del boy and keeps saying 'lovely jubbly' if you look hard enough, you will see that Jaisalmer has been corrupted by a single TV sitcom and there is a real perception that everyone from England is a Peckham market trader! We asked if Del Boy had seen any of only fools and horses but of course he hasn't, he has just made a business out of it!

Trotters Independant Travel - Really!

The fort in Jaisalmer is a living fort, 25% of the town's residents live within it's walls making it a very different experience to the monuments we have seen so far. Quite busy and vibrant and full of tourists and the inevitable bazaars to ply t shirts and other tourist tat. We did a guided audio tour and made the most of the viewpoints over the desert town, see below...

Ana had a very close encounter with a local cow- fortunately a young one with no horns, as it butted her up the bum to get her out of the way! As cows are sacred I assume this sort of thing is considered good luck or a blessing but it looked painful!

back to the hotel to change rooms as the shower didn't work, only to find that the toilet didn't work in the new 'super delux' room! Settled in to an evening of the star movie channel, a channel showing English speaking movies from 15 years ago or modern tripe! So I am afraid to say we watched Titanic until we had a power cut and when the generator kicked in we watched terminator 2 before an early night as we were up at 5am for the camel safari next day.

We bumped into Sobu a little early en route to Trotters, he called us over to join him and his friends for chai before heading across to meet our fellow intrepid travellers to get a jeep into the desert.

Just the 4 of us it turned out, we met Kim and Harold in the Jeep, they turned out to be great guys, slightly older travellers from Holland but living in Norway.  Funny and interesting and mercilessly taking the mick of any unsuspecting gullible people (me). We'd spotted both Kim and Harold in Jodhpur at our last hotel but hadn't got round to chatting so was good to catch up.

We met up with Issa the camel driver who lives in the desert and Sola, his apprentice who meant have been much more than 10.  We met our camels (mine, Calu was sporting the festive tinsel round his neck)

And saddled up for a 3 hour trek into the Great Thar desert. We stopped for lunch under a tree at the height of the heat for a few hours and Isaa prepared a veg curry And chapatis from scratch over a fire.

A group of women had crossed the desert to the well we were nearby. There was nothing for miles and they appeared like a mirage :) At this point Kim had convinced Andy that they'd come to get water AND fish out of the well! Who would've thought it- fish in the desert well... Of course Andy Rotton did :-) Hence the good banter between the Dutch and ourselves, it certainly helped so cheers And ;-)

Another few hours on the camels through the burning sun (which involved a pit stop for Ana who nearly fainted and was nursed to better health by Kim- a nurse!) and we arrived at the Bigi dunes in time for sunset and to set up camp for the night. camp was a fire using dried bushes and a thin mattress each on the sand and a warm duvet. We sat around the fire and ate another meal prepared from scratch and chatted the night away with Issa, Harold and Kim. The temperature plummeted and we retired to our beds for warmth and the best nights sleep I have had in India, the cicadas the only noise and if you were brave enough to poke your head out into the freezing night air the stars and full moon were spectacular for as long as you could stand the cold before ducking back under cover.

We headed back the next morning, with outrageous camel sore and still a little tender a few days on. Camel Safari Photo highlights follow....

Andy does the distant explorer look

I make a camel train shadow puppet using only my hands

An unhappy camel - it wasn't even carrying Andy

camel prints

Ana pretending not to be offended by the camel smell

Lunch spot - the only real shade for miles

Smiling through the pain of camel sore

What do camel do at night? Stand around and smell mostly...

Sola - making breakfast

Very festive, the 3 kings on camels, and me at the back

Next day I figured the Robinson Crusoe look had got a bit much and headed to Peru's ( a barber) for a 'close shave' I was as still as a statue as he used the cutthroat razor with flashes of the Sweeny Todd movie running through my head and despite Ana and Peru's best efforts, I insisted in not being left with an Indian look 'tash which seems so popular here!

A giant tip if you dont cut my ear off

I'm alive!

Aftershave applied (Argh)! We then visited the Jaisalmer desert and culture museum run by an old school teacher who was awarded a government merit for his service to education and he personally guided us around his museum with collections of coins, stamps and amazing manuscripts he has collected from the trash and sometimes, he assures us literally, from the mouths of cows.

We left Jaisalmer with good memories, new friends and my faith restored (Ana) in Indians! ...

ANA AND ANDY, JODHPUR, INDIA. 13th DEC 2013

So to finish off Delhi updates (photos to follow!...) When Ana was fully recovered we moved hotel again to the ever so modern Bloomrooms (check it out!) this is a new concept for Indian hotels- more an IKEA flat pack hotel. Baz and April would love it!
Then off to the main bazaar as I didn't want Ana to underestimate the chaos I'd seen the day before- a great reintroduction to Indian daily life. Smoky, noisy, hassle and chaos but vibrant and fun once you're used to it :)

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I've become surprisingly relaxed and at ease with it all.

Clearly Ana was much better as we decided to walk to the Jantar Mantar, a set of structures built as astronomical tools to calculate the calendar and times. This was a good hours walk and I suspected that Ana was getting into her stride, I did suggest we take it easy as it's still recovery time but for those who know Ana well- she ignored me.  Jantar itself was underwhelming, the historic significance and what the astronomers were able to achieve, the structures had not been well maintained.

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Following this we headed to India Gate- a pretty impressive war memorial. After both of these trips we realised that the map was neither to scale or had any resemblance to the roads we were walking around! Decided to take a rickshaw back -at rush hour and noone wanted to take us! A long and arduous walk home and we were bushed!

The following day we visited the red fort and Chandni chowk- wow what a place! The fort is huge and has museums inside it, very different scale to Spitbank fort for you Pompey lot! Chandni chowk is awash with bazaars and all forms of life! We took the tube across from the hotel, crowded but clean and simple to use- it was cleaner and newer than the London tube! Also our first experience of a cycle rickshaw, not sure if I'd do that again as the guy was struggling uphill and looked a little tired when we got off.

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We headed across to the Jama Masjid mosque and sat on the steps taking in chadni chowk, quite a peaceful spot to watch the world go by.  We ended up not heading in after a dispute over the number of cameras we were carrying and the primary school art apron they wanted Ana to wear as she had her wrists on show! Still a nice way to round up in Delhi, back to hotel for food and a late train to Jodhpur.

Now experts at the Indian railway system, so no issues finding our places and it turned out that we'd been upgraded to First Class for free- yippee! Ana and I shared a 4 bed cabin with only 1 other person all the way. He was a government agricultural research scientist, we stayed up chatting about the recent election results and a 40 year irrigation canal project- and then retired to our first class beds for the night, very highbrow!

Arrived in Jodhpur and checked into the Govind Hotel. We initially switched rooms after discovering mouse poo in the bed. But after that this place has been great, good food, social people, friendly and helpful. First day we headed up to the fort to check on the route and ended up wandering through tiny lanes and back streets in the blue city, trying to find a route up the very steep hill. Every now and then a cow, a dog, a goat and even a few chickens (and their respective poo!) got in the way, but the local people acted as living signposts pointing out the route through the maze.

The fort here is also pretty cool, something tells me you'll all be bored of the talk of forts before we leave India, and it will be temples next!

Visited the Mandore gardens today and Andy was in his element, monkeys galore!

Sadly the monkeys are seen as vermin and fed like pigeons and also chased like them too. Onto sad stuff we were approached by a child who looked as though his insides were on his outside. Pretty shocking as he was sent out begging and is so far removed from anything we'd experience at home. On a cheerier note, we're up to date with the blog and bid you farewell. Will check in again from Jaisalmer :) 

ANDY, JODHPUR, INDIA. 11th DEC 2013

Ok, so to pick up where I left off. Which was us both having a great time with Emma in Agra...

The evening after the Taj Mahal (and in particular after the Dosa's) did not go well.

Emma was acutely unwell to the point of requiring a doctor. On arrival he diagnosed severe food poisoning.

As Emma was busy with Ana, I asked the doctor if he could show me to the nearest pharmacy. 5 mins later I was on the back of a moped ridden by a short fat man with a briefcase struggling to balance what I am sure was an unexpectedly heavy load on his vehicle (me). It didn't help that it was dark and he was often on the wrong side of the road in busy traffic although the concept of the correct side of a road is already a distant memory.

He pulled up after 5 mins of adrenaline filled moped-antics at a shack and then had to relay in person The meds he wanted. 72 rupees changed hands (that's 72p for 2 days pills, 72p!!!) and and bless him, he offered the lardy westerner a lift back too despite to potential damage to his transport! Scary and exhilarating in equal measure.

We made it back to the train on time and after the late arrival at the hotel and Emma's early departure for the airport. We flaked out. Except for Ana who was now unwell :(

Next morning we said our goodbyes and saw Emma off back to hygienic food prep in the UK.

Ana was not in great shape and this was the day we had planned to move to a new hotel so I headed out on my own to purchase some supplies and source new accommodation, specifically a hotel I had spotted on tripadvisor which I maintain to this day cannot exist! It was supposed to be in the Main Bazaar area which is a confusing mishmash of people, sellers, manufacturers and touts. So I started scouting round the same area and found some very suspect places for less than £5 per night for both of us! After looking at quite few places on offer I politely declined and made tracks back out.

On route back to Ana, I tried a hotel just down the road from ours. Jackpot! Clean, reasonable price, available and very short moving distance! Ana laid up here for the rest of the day and I headed out for the odd shopping trip on request.

Ana is now fully recovered and exploits from the last 2 days in Delhi and the onward journey to Jodhpur to appear shortly!

ANDY, NEW DELHI, INDIA. 08th DEC 2013

Made it and still in one piece (more or less). So arrived in New Delhi on the 5th and after a cliche and pretty insane ride back from the airport as a brief introduction to Indian traffic and road rules we met up with Emma at Hotel Krishna already booked and arranged by Emma - thanks Emma! Explored a bit of the city to get bearings saw Connaught place and had the first authentic bazaar experience, who knew shopping could be so intense, lots of haggling and bartering and again - an introduction to tactics from Emma, I did find it pretty difficult to ignore or avoid the guys pushing wallets and fridge magnets at me - particularly tricky to avoid was the guy following me down the street massaging my head with what looked like a giant wire spider, try ignoring that!

After a late start the following morning we hopped onto an express train to Agra  - an interesting experience in a sleeper car sat opposite an Indian family, plenty of opportunities to buy food and coffee from the onboard guys running up and down and got into Agra early afternoon. Headed up to the Agra fort which is an amazing building with views over the city and a distant sneak preview of the Taj Mahal around sunset, very impressive and striking although the Agra smog did obscure the view a bit so no great pics.

Next day early start and headed to the Taj Mahal at 6am with our newly found moto-rickshaw driver Ashok and his 'little brother' (it's not a tuk-tuk unless you're in Thailand apparently according to him). To start with the morning was freezing cold and the queues still reasonably long to get through but definately worth it. The palace is incredible and does not disappoint  at all, amazing views with the morning mist along the river and only a few hundred people to share the place with - instead of the thousands that turn up later in the day. We hired a guide who was great, providing some insights to the history and facts and figures of interest, however he did have moments when he would get a little fixated on an odd fact and really hammer it home - the Taj Mahal is symmetrical don't you know? (I do after the 10th repetition, yes!) Still, was good fun.

Doesn't really need an introduction! The classic view of the Taj Mahal....

Also a snap of my new found friends - apparently, one of the wonders of the world wasn't the only attraction for a number of the Indian tourists. Ana, Emma and myself ended up in a few photos after multiple requests. I haven't got tired of it just yet, I am enjoying the minor celebrity status. We'll see how long the novelty lasts!

Grabbed some lunch after Ashok had dutifully taken us round all of the merchants he has relationships with, despite the fact that it was made very clear no purchases would be made. The carpet weavers, Marble carvers and fabric merchants were all sorely disappointed - but they were told! I mention lunch as we found a little place on Tripadvisor that had good reviews of its dosas and decided to try it out - I honestly asked if 2 would be too many (having skipped breakfast) he did say that 2 would be fine so I went ahead and selected a couple that sounded good - then Ana's turned up......

Fortunately ours were a bit smaller and of course, I had no issues polishing them off - good Dosas! 

Finally Ashok dropped us back at the station and we had a quick snap taken to capture the moment - but its on Emmas Phone so will upload later!

Thats pretty much it for now, we have returned back form Agra after a pretty grueling days travelling around and Agra is a tiring and not entirely pleasant place, after the grandeur of the Taj Mahal the filth and poverty in Agra could not be more shocking. It really does make you stop and think. Simply waiting at the train station for the return to Delhi meant an encounter with people trying to scratch out a living however they can or just trying to sleep for a night in the station a very sad and moving reality check for the end of the day.

We are now back in Deli and saying goodbye tomorrow to Emma, after which point the training wheels will definitely be off and we'll be on our own 4 feet. Thanks again to Emma and will check in again soon...

ANDY, LONDON, UK. 04th DEC 2013

Well, I, thought it would never come but it is finally D-day! We leave for the airport in a couple of hours and my rucksack has been unpacked yet again and we are in no state to leave just yet! 

Thanks everyone for the best wishes and messages and we will be sure to look out for each other and hopefully avoid kidnap, drug trafficking, rabies, con artists, parasites and all of the other cautionary tales that people have been concerned about!

Thanks to Marcus and Julie for the new travelling wardrobe (modeled below - Ana demonstrating the back, not being shy!) You can expect to see much more of these T-shirts over the next 12 months :) 

Sounds like the first few nights' hotel bookings in India that Emma has sorted for us have been entertaining (a nightmare), thanks for sorting this out Emma and see you in Delhi tomorrow, an easy introduction for us to what I am sure will be challenging Indian admin!

ANA, LONDON, UK. 24th NOV 2013

UK

Ana, 24 Nov 2013, London:

This weekend was spent saying our farewells to family Baker and the Kent gang.  Managed to see all the siblings and their offspring bar Jordan (so will see you on Skype Wilson!).  Lunch with Baz on Thursday and the rest of the gang on Sunday, looking forward to Glynn removing his 'tache and nippleman being allowed to make a proper appearance for our next lunch date :)

This is the very handsome, grubby and slightly odd - Kalem

ANDY, LONDON, UK. 17th NOV 2013

Thanks to the Portsmouth crowd for a fun sendoff and Stacey for the 'selfie' masterclass! Dee - the scotch did the trick and I did wake up with a sore head.

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Andy Rotton