no_going_back

moving on

So after an early night I woke up at 5am for the sunrise boat trip along the Ganges. At sunrise more people are doing the Purga ritual and while it is very busy there is an odd serenity about it. I really enjoyed the sunrise trip. As it was only 7am and not too hot we took a walk along the gats themselves. I met a guy selling flutes and spent half an hour sitting by the river playing flute, it was very cool! After that I decide to nap before meeting some girls who were going for classical music lessons. There are a lot of music schools in Varanasi and if I had known earlier I might have had a flute lesson. After they went to their lesson I went to chill in the German bakery. On the way back to the hotel I shopped a bit before heading off for my train to Agra, which was 2 hours late.

The train was lots of fun, there was me and another girl traveling alone and a mother and daughter traveling together. As the train started to leave the family of the girl with her mum were still on the train and as they ran off all of us started to laugh. We chatted a bit, but I was really tired form my early start and so tried to go to sleep, but the mother insisted I have some food first. I have learnt not to argue with an Indian mother so I just gave in! At 1am I got woken to be told I was in the wrong bed, but I just rolled over and went back to sleep. We arrived at Agra an hour and a half late so my plan to get to the Taj Mahal for opening at 6am was shot.

I got to my hotel, with an amazing view over the Taj, and was sitting thinking about breakfast when I heard an ozzie voice behind me asking if he could get a beer for breakfast. I asked to join them. Viki and Richard had been on the same train as me and also didn’t feel like it was breakfast but more like a very late dinner, so we had beer with our food. After, they went to sleep while I went to explore. I called Tushita to see what she recommended to see. She told me to call her family friend Hermant who works in the hotel sector in Agra. I called him and he arranged to come meet me. He met me and took me to the Agra fort and was my personal tour guide, he then took me home for lunch. After that I went back to the hotel to sleep. When I woke up I had dinner with the ozzies and some British gap year boys. I arranged with the boys to meet at 6am to go to the taj together the next morning.

So after another early start it was off to the Taj, the most expensive tourist attraction in India! We decided to get a guide too so that we fully enjoyed the experience. The Taj is very impressive and imposing however the inside is a big disappointment, probably because the British stole everything of any value! The guide was useless and didn’t tell us much we couldn’t read on the boards. However there was a couple of Americans we saw as we went in, he had a gadget that takes photos form a distance and she was getting fed up of stopping every five mins, Id chatted to them a bit. However as were sitting getting our moneys worth out of the view she came up to me and explained that he had proposed and had photos the whole way round, it was very cuter and the ring was huge. After we left the Taj and had breakfast I went with one of the British guys to explore down the side of the Taj by the river, this is free and the view is almost as good! We discovered police keeping the Taj safe by playing cards and we explored the bush around the area. After this we headed off to Siknah another Mausoleum in a different style. On the way there our outo driver started talking to another driver who also had tourists in the back, so we chatted to the tourists. This then led to some rivalry between drivers to get there first. We lost. At Siknah we were chatting to the others who were Dutch Med students who had been working in Hydrabad for 3 months and were now touring before going back. They had a crazy driver, Wassem who was a proper womanizer whos girlfriends totaled 3062! On they way back from Siknah we ended up having a wacky races style race with autos through Indian traffic, then one of the Dutch guys decided he wanted to drive so at a light jumped into the from seat, it was a lot of fun!! After we lost them we had to go into 4 shops to get a good price on the auto as he got commission in each shop. In the 2^nd shop I found the other British guy that we had left sleeping in the hotel, it was very random! After looking at l9ots of stuff I didn’t need, including a beautiful leather jacket at an amazing price, I went back to sleep. I wake up and was chatting to the ozzies when Wassem appeared in our hotel, he had seen me from the roof of the Dutch guys hotel. I joined them to go to the baby taj, another mausoleum in a similar style to the Taj. On the way there I sat helicopter (next to the driver) and drove part of the way, I really want an auto!! After looking round the baby taj we went behind the real taj to take some photos at sunset. After all this I went back to have dinner with the ozzies and played a game of carom. We decided to get a bus to Delhi together in the morning.

So next morning after tea looking at the Taj we headed off. We luckly got to the bus as it was leaving so there was no hanging around. It was an uneventful journey, though I was a little scared when the heavy rain started and I realized the bus had no wipers! But we made it to Delhi by 3 and so I got an auto to Tushitas. Once there I had a little nap, caught up on my emails and gave my washing to mama Tushita, there was a washing machine!! Tushita’s mum is part of a Bengali group who perform plays and they were rehearsing while we watched TV. When papa Tush got back from work he had tickets fro the cricket match the next day, I was SOOOOOO excited!

The next day we woke up to rain, not drizzle, heavy rain. It was not a good sign for the match that night! Eventually as the rain stopped around midday we headed off shopping. Tushita took me to the cool places in Delhi. Then we met Sanjay for lunch along with one of Tushita’s friends. After lunch we went to the train station to book a ticket to Amritsar. Once we had done that we went to buy a cricket shirt for my team, who were playing that night, then we went to meet papa tush who was giving us a ride to the cricket!! As we got to the car the rain started, and then it got worse. It was the first game to be a washout and they took 4 hours to all it off, by which time we were very cold and wet, to top it off there wa no refund on the ticket. We were not happy. After we managed to escape the crush from the stadium we got back very late.

The next day the weather was beautiful! I decided to got the the red fort in town. It is very similar to the fort in Agra, so there wasn’t that much to see. As I was leaving I was talked into a ‘tour’ of the area on a cycle. I was taken to the market area and I realized I had seen more than enough markets in India and was not easily impressed by anything. I got annoyed as I was taken into material shops even though I told the guy I had enough clothes. It wasn’t so bad, I just think for me it wasn’t what I wanted to see. After I left that I was in Chandie Chowk one of the main markets. It was Friday evening and the Sikhs were having a big parade, not that I could work out why. After I got the metro towards Tushita’s I had to get an auto, none of which wanted to go my way, so I got the bus. Buses in Delhi are notoriously bad for women and this bus was no exception! One of the women with a seat helped me out by letting me sit down. Almost 2 hours after I left the metro I made it back to Tushita’s tired and frustrated. I had an early night as at 5am I was heading for my train to Amritsar.

So another 5am start and I got on the train. It was packed well past capacity as people were heading home for the weekend. I gave up my seat to a women with a baby and many around me thought I was weird for doing so, I was quite happy with my patch of floor. The father of the baby was concerned I would get fined for sitting by the AC area without out the proper ticket but I promised I would cross that bridge if it happened. Just as I was falling asleep he woke me to give me my seat back as they were getting off. A few hours later I was in Amritsar. I went straight to the temple to find somewhere to stay, I put my bag down and headed off to the border. Every night there is ceremony a bit like the changing of the guard, where the Indian and Pakistan guards take down the flags. It has become a tourist attraction. However NEVER go at weekends. It was crowded well beyond capacity. The Indian guards were being quite physical in keeping people back. I had shared a taxi with some cousins, one of which lives in Pune. We tried to keep together but women could go further forward than men, and me as a foreigner got pulled out and allowed to go to the front. The ceremony begins after some patriotic shouting from both sides, then there is a lot of goose stepping that would make John Cleese proud (apparently the high you kick the braver you are). The gates to both borders are opened, I thought about running through as im never going to be allowed in to Pakistan any other way! After the flags are lowered then everyone rushes forward to get a photo at the border. I tired to escape the mad crush and eventually met up with the pair form Mahrastra to find the bus back with. On the way back the van broke down many tiems and eventually, exhugsted and tired we had to find an auto to take us the last part back. I completely crashed out without dinner, id hardly eaten all day.

Amazingly even though I was exhugsted I got up and headed to the temple along with the rest of the Sikh's in the area. It was still busy at this time, and to top it off the sky was cloudy so there was no sunrise. Massivly dissapointed I went back to my room to sleep some more. When I got up I decided to go to the nearby park as it is a memorial to a massicar carried out by the British in around 1919 when a lot of Sikh's were killed. Its a really nice park so I thought I would sit and relax a bit, but within seconds I was surronded by a crowd of curious Inidans. I decided to leave and check my mail near by the temple. As I came out the sun was shining so I decided to take another lap of the temple to see the gold in the sun, its really impressive. While taking this lap a south african with Isreli parents, Yov, started talking to me. He had come from Daramsalah over night to seethe temple. We went to the loca museum after the temple and then to the old plance which is now a collage, its a bit like the Indian version of Hogwarts! After this we went back to the temple area for dinner and then climbed one of the roof tops to try to get a good view of the temple at night, there wasn't a good view, so we went backw tot the temple itself. Each morning they start reading the holy oook and when thye finish they have a ceremony when they put it to bed, we hung around for that and then went into the temple itself. Each sikhis supposed to go once on a pilgramage to Amritsar and for them it is a really holy place. When I was talking to one of tha staff about going into the temple he sadi I could go to the front of the 2 hour ques if I wanted as I am a tourist. I explained that I was just curious while these people had come a long wway for the spritual desire ad I would not feel comfortable jumping the que. I have not been to another pilgramage site except Jwrusalem, but there I belong, here I felt a little orquard as I didn't really belong. However after the book had gone to bed we went into the temple which was a hive of activity of cleaning. It is an amazing building and well worth hanging around unil 11pm, I can't describe it but lavish yet respecful are the best I can do.

The next morning I met Yov for a late breakfast, e ent o the communial kitchen. The Sikhs belive in feeding people and the kitchens here but every Friday night I've been to to shame. They feed around 75000 people a day and alL The food is freshly prepared and really good! As you enter you are given a plate, spoon and cup. Then you sit in long lines while the food is distributed, these guys make large food distribution look easy, I'm suggesting we hire the person who organises it for disaster relief! After breakfast I siad goodbye to Yov and went back tot he park. This time I sat to read to kill time before my train, I found a reallly seculded spot, but within seconds I was surronded by 20 curious women of which one spoke english, and the rest spoke at me in Hindi. I was sitting on the floor and it was really intimidating, the didn't move even when I was on the phone! Sonali found all this hilarious, I was more scared! After a finial lap of the temple it was off on a 8 hour train journey back to Delhi. I managed to catch up on the office gossip, even before some of the office guys, Charu was impreswed with my ability to know things before him still!One of the calls I got was from Yaniv, the ISreli I met in Pune who was now in Delhi and leaving the day after me. He was staying righ by the trainb station and had a spare bed in his room, so rather than treck back to Tushita's at midnight I decided to crash at his. After dinner and catching up we both slept as we had both had long days.

The next day I had to get my ticket reissued as one part of my journey had been cancelled since I book the ticket last May, this took a while. After that I went shoppig with Yaniv who needed clothes to wear when he got home, he tried on everything in many shops. I was supposed to have alunch or dinner date that got put back to the next day, so as a thank you Yaniv bought me dinner (yak cheese salad) in a tibetian place, it was really good. So after a giggly and silly evening I left back to Tushita's.

The next morning I gathered the last of my washing and packed my bag. After saying goodbye to Tushita and her mum I headed into town. I left my bag at Yaniv’s hotel as it is nice and central and then mooched around the central market area. I was meeting Anubha for lunch, she was the lady from the times of India who had interviewed me in Jaipur and we had really got on. SO I got the metro to meet her then we went to the Bengali market for lunch. She asked me what food I was used to then ordered lots of things I hadn’t tried (apparently she did this with all her forgoten friends) it was really good, the food was excellent! I even got my plate of Gellebi to finish! It was a really nice lunch and I was really greatful but Anubha insisted on buying me a leaving present so we headed to CP to mooch aound the trinket shops. However I had bought everything I waned that wasn’t too expnsive so she bought me some cheap bangles and then some more expensive silver ones, that I couldn’t afford! This is why I love India, people you hardly know, but instinctively know you like will go well out of their way to help you or make you feel at home. I know next time im visiting I will call Anubha as even though we don’t know each other well we are friends. So Anubha had to go back to work so I headed back to the bazaar walking anyway, as I was in no rush and enjoying my last few hours in India. After sorting a taxi to the airport and enjoing the sights and sounds I was used to I met Yaniv for dinner and to use his shower. After he ate (I was still too full) it was goodbye and off to the airport! A the airport I made lots of phone calls and some finial farewells literally up until they closed the doors of the plane. The flight was uneventful, I had 3 seats to myself and it was Singapore airlines, so very luxurious. After a film I slept the majority of the way, to find myself early morning in Singapore.

I killed an hour at the airport before getting a taxi to the bus stand. I was not stoping in Singapore this time instead I was going straight on the Kualar Lumpar (KL). The bus goes for 20 mins then you get off and get you passport staped at the sinapore side, drive for 5 mins then do the same at the malysian side. Then its 5 hours through to KL. I did 3 countries in 24 hours! At KL I checked into the first hostel I could find. By now id been traveling for 24 hours and was knackered. But I tried to walk around KL, got lost so headed to the bar across the road from the hostel. It was a European style bar, and the first I had been into on my own for months. It was safe and such a refreshing change!! I treated myself to a VERY expensive guiness and pizza. While in there I played pool with other travelers, my first games in around 6 months, it was so good to do something normal!! Eventually I crashed as I had an early orning flight over to Borneo.

At 5am I was up to get a taxi to the bus to the airport. I checked into my flight and kicked back with breakfast. It’s a 2.5hour flight to borneo from KL, longer than I expected. Once there I got a taxi to the hotel that I was meeting the Intrepid trip at the next day. As I was checking in another girl from the trip, an ozzie called Michelle, was going shopping. She filled me in on all the stuff I didn’t have but needed to climb the mountain, I asked her to hang on and joined her to the shopping center. I had booked the trip a year earlier and had thought nothing more of it, I had no idea what I needed! So I bought gloves and a new tourch as id lost mine, I also bough a new smaller purse to downsizer from my everyday one, after all I was now on holiday!! After that we ate lunch and headed back to nap, we had arranged to meet for dinner and maybe a film. However I was asleep. As michelle was gone ahen I woke up I decided to head to the water front ot explore the nightlife and the fish market. I got a tuna steak form there and then headed to the irish bar for a pint of Killkeny, it was expensive, but soooo good! I chilled there for a whiel then went to the English bar, where I was drinking with some ozzies before turning in for the night.

The next morning I had no plans I decided to wake up late. It was th official start of the trip but not until tha evening so I went to the day market to have a mooch. After exploring I chilled in coffee bean, which was just like in Israel but in Borneo! And then went back to the hotel with the paper. My room mate had taken the key so I had to break into the room, then I blew the fuse trying plug in the TV! Eventually I just chilled the paper until Faye got back. Then we went to the group meeting. There are 12 people on the trip and the Intrepid leader is Han a local. The majoprity of people are from the UK and Oz with one amerian. That night we all went for dinner at a Maly/Indian place. I was not impressed, it was an Indian with no vegie selection! Anyway after dinner we went ot the big harvest celebration in the park near by, we didn’t see much, except the president making a long speech, so we left. I had decided to go to iniana jones that night so han and I set off to find out times. We decided on the 11.50 howing so killed an hour with a few of his local friends drinking cold coffee and teaching me maly. The film was a dissapointment and han slept through most of it. At 2.30 I got to bed!

The next morning we had free time before heading off to a local village. I went to the Sunday market as I wanted to by the tribal flute I had seen the previous night. Its like bagpipes made from gourd and much smaller, its very cool! I also saw lots of pets in the market, one poukie lookalike who had to be fanned to keep cool! After breakfast there I headed back to meet the other for our departure to a local village. We drove for an hour on the main road then we changed into 4x4 for the half hour ascent to the village up a hill. We arrived to the village to be greeted with traditional dance and music. The kids did the dancing and of course we got a chance to make fools of ourselves having a go. Then we tried the gongs that provide the music, there are about 8 gongs of different pitch doing different rythms, I really like them! Aftre that we went up the hill to the house of our mountain guide for Mt. Kinablou, half the height of everest. We clambered up to his house, up a very steep track made fot goats and locals!! We got there and had an amazing dinner followed byt rice wine. Many of the locals joined us for the rice wine and there was much merriment to be had! Not only singing of the Kinablou song but our attempt at the local dancing got worse!! Anyway as we clambered back down the track I was learning the Kinablou song for our ascent in 2 days time!

The next morning we went back up the path for breakfast and this time we did meet Sepingi our guide as had returned form the hospital, where he had been with his daughter. After out breiing and breakfast we headed for an amble around the village and were given a change to buiy sticks and water carriers for the hike. Once we were back we went for the 40 min drive to the national park and tha base fo the mountain. We had an afternoon here to explore. However I had woken at 4am that moring for no good reason and not made it back to sleep, so I napped in the luxury accommodation. From the rooms we could see the mountain and for th efirst time I began to question my abilities! It has a granite peak. Thhe walk is only 8 km in total, however it is 3095ft up and preffty muh the last .5km is using ropes! Anyway after a plesent dinner it was off to bed to sleep befreo the ascent….

We started around 8 for breakfast, from which I stole my lunch. Then we were bused to the start. We started in a group but after 1km we split up more based on aspeed. Me and rex were about similar pace so we stucjk to gether. It is mainly steps up and the first Km is fairly easy it just goes on though. We had 6km to do that day before we hit the rest point for the night. I intended to take 5 hours. Which we pretty much stuck to. It was faily uneventful walking, but we made it. At the rest point we had tea and a hot shower, then waited for the other to trickle in. Some had oppeted for a different route which is longer bt apparently more pretty, not that the weather allowed for a view. The last person was back at 8pm, after about 7 hours of walking. We killed time by playing Uno, when the last person was back the guide with hime, Binka, got spoiled by everyone as they thought he had been there sooo long, he told me later that he is usede to it! So we were all in bed around 9 we were starting the ascent at 2.30am to make it for sunrise!

At 2am we were up, with something small to eat we were off in our warm clothing and headtorches. The first part of the ascent is just more steps then about 1km in it becomes ropes up the granite face. Its hard going and Binka made it look easy skipping up the rock without touching the ropes!! I was getting gtired and my knwee was huring a lot. I got up to 8km (3095ft) before I had to call it a day, I was 700m from the summit, however I could nolonger put any weight on my knee. What too me 2.5hours to get up took as long to get down. In a lot of pain and with Binka teasing me all the ay down I made it for breakfast at 9! I didn’t eat mucha s I was dreading the 6km I had to get down avoiding bending my left knee! With Binka and Sepingi helping me down though I headed off, there was only one way down! I was given a stick and just stuck in every 500m there is a rest stop and to begin with I didn’t stop as I wouldn’t start again. After the first km it wsnt too bad so I just kept going. At the 2^nd km I was almost being carried with the stick and Binka supporting me,, I had no idea how I was going to get down. By the 3.5 mark the pain was so bad I just ignored it and pushed myself down. For the last km I didn’t notice the pain untiul I got to the bottom sat down and tried to get up again! But I made it down., I think it was more of an achievement than getting up! Once we were down we went an hour away to pouring hot springs, natural sulphur springs, fro 2 nights. Once we were there we all dumped our washing ate and crashed! I didn’t even manage to last until my food came I just asked for it in a container and went to sleep.

The next morning we all looke like cripples going up and down the stairs, I felt like id been hit by a bus! Eventually I made it to the springs and it helped no end, I was able to bend my knees after half an hour (luckly Jo on the trip is a physio and for the last 2 days had been the group doctor!) and then decided I wanted some more sleep. After a nap I had a liquid lunch of beer then went to see the larget flower in the world, that smells of rotting flesh. Annoyingly you couldn’t smell it but it was pretty impressive (unfortuantly at this point I found out my camera had died so I have no pictures!) Then I went with Murry and Holly (ozzie father and daughter) to the butterfly farm. Form there we tried to see jackies, the wild orang utan that comes to be fed sometimes around the aprk, ut she wasn’t interested, they said to try again at 4.30. We went back to rest, all the walking was too much, and I finlly got round to reading one of the trashy magazines Anubha ahd given me in India to read on my travels. AT 4.30 Murry and I attempted to see Jackie, but she wasn’t interested so I went for another dip in the springs with rex beforte packing up. After dinner we had a mammoth Uno tournament which saw us get kicked out the restaurant we payed until late.

Next morning it was off to the jungle!!!! We had a 5 hour journey partly by taxi, partly by bus. Then we made it to the river. After another granite climb down we were at the center to start from. We had an overnight bag, boots and a hammock and off it was in the boat. From the boat it was a 10 min walk to the camp, being cautious of leeches! It was just like im a celebrity. We had to put up our hammocks then we chilled out round the mossie coils playing uno (I also light my candles in the jungle!!)! After dinner we went for a night walk and saw frogs, spiders, millipedes, lizards and head the orang utan. It was very cool! I found one leech on my back that got removed and then it was off to bed. As I was clambering into my hammock th eants kept eating me which supprised me so I cried out to find Han come running to see if I was ok. I was relieved he cared, but assured him I was fine!

After a relatively comfortable night in the hammock we got up for an early cruise along the river. We saw Hornbills, big nose monkeys, smaller monkies and eagles. It was very cool. After breakfast and taking our hammocks down we went for another crusise the other way to see the orang utan. He was a lot less ginger than I expected. But at least we saw him, unlike the crocodile or python Han promoised me!! After the cruise we headed back to the village to go on a short walk to some ancient burial caves. They forgot to mention the 200 odd steps! It was intresting. It was where the head hunters were burries in open caves inside wododen coffins that had lastet the last 500 years. After this we got a quick wash before our cooking lesson. We had to make lunch. I leanrt how to make fried cucmber with egg. Not rocket science! After lunch, which we ate with our hands ( I had no problem) we had a culture show. It was more dancing and music with the local martial arts thrown in. It was really cool. After this we got ready for our homestay that night. At that point along the river there wasa boat toeing loggs from the forest. It was apparently legal but the amount o f wood being taken was astonishing it took at least 5 mins for the whole line to pass us! Anyway we set off to the village. Before we were going to our homes we had to play the locals at their favourite game, volley ball!! We were mostly rubbish! But it was a lot of fun. The kids were playing other gasmes such as badminton or skipping. It reminded me a lot of growing up in the Rusells and how we used to just play in the coldesac. I was staying with the local shop keeper along with murray and holly. It was right in th evillage center with a view over the volleyball, the best seats in the house! The shop keeper also happened to be our boat driver earlier in the day so we had already been introduced to hima nd his son! His wife bought us coffee and busicuits while we watched the games. While Jacobie went to pray his wife watched the shop and I went to see Han, our diagonal neighbour for the night, who bought me a corn on the cob. Then it was back to the houses for dinner, which was ‘vegetarian’ as prawns arnt meat!! I had an after dinner ice cream with han and some of the others before we calle dit a night and slept, all the early mornings spoil the night life!!

The next morning we had breakfast with the family before leaving to meet back at the center for our finial off form the area. I got there to find one of the 3 3 week old kittens missing! Her mother wasn’t interested so we think she was taken by a dog. Then it was off. I had a great time in the village, it was some contented! Maybe ill live somewhere like that!! Anyway after a 2 hour journey we are now in a town where I can have something apart form rice or noodles for dinner, red wine and pizza here I come!! Then tomorrow it off to turtle Island to see….turtles!!!

18.6.08 04:18, comment

Signing out from Pune

So this is my last entry from Pune. Tomorrow I head up North to see some sights.

The last day of the PHP saw Tuhita and I do our presentation of the work we had prepared the previous night. We were supposed to go to a wedding that evening but we finished quite late so didn’t make it. I spent 3 hours in a call first to Lydia then to Alex, so I didn’t mind too much. We thought we would have been to late for the ceremony so decided not to try to go, it turns out the wedding was an hour late so we would have made it, but anyway what can you do! I had received a parcel from Lydia that day, which contained a book about a guy who took up the French horn after 22 years off, so I started reading that. That night I took Tushita for dinner in East street to see why I liked the place so much, I got my usual table in front of the TV so I could watch the cricket.

Saturday was a normal day in the office. After which Tushita and I decided to go out in Koregon Park. After an hour of walking around trying to find a place we liked, we went back to the first one we tried!! We chilled in high spirits for the night, then had Ice cream before getting in around 2.

On Sunday we chilled, I read lots of my book. Then we went to MG road for dinner and to shop and watch the cricket, we do spend too much time in there, but its worth it, we get such good service! Ankur came to meet us as well. Monday we intended to have a cheap night and eat local, at Tushita’s mess, then have a much welcomed early night. However we went to Deccan to get some new shoes for, we then ended up in McDonalds to watch the cricket, however the match was such a disappointment we left after the first 5 overs! On Tuesday we tried to eat at the mess and go to east street for desert but couldn’t resist the paneer! On Wednesday We went to East street and met Yonat and her friends. The 5 of us had a very cheap dinner, as yonat was owed a free pizza from her previous trip when she left early due to the rude guy. So there were the group of us (two of Yonats friends) and we celebrated my second birthday, with cake from Rahul!! It was really good fun!

Thursday was my last day in the office with the boss. He was leaving for an assessment. So I had to say bye to him. We had a small ceremony in the office in which they gave me some jewellery, a necklace and anklets, all silver of course! And in exchange I gave the office some stuff from Brum and some other UK things as well as a specialised RedR t-shirt for the boss! Though I know we will see more of each other, it marked the end of an era. That night we ended up in East Street after I dropped off my last bits of tailoring, where else would we go, as it is the best place to watch the cricket at my usual table!

Friday, due to having finished all my work I was going to Bombay to stay with Shailjia. So about mid day I headed off on the bus. I forgot to get off in the right place, so took an extra hour and a half to get there as I had to get local transport back. As usual it was a boozy night we had a boring healthy pizza and then headed out in Bombay. We went to the times of India café for our free drink for ladies night, then to zenzing. There we started talking to a guy who turned out to be the head chef for the taj at lands end, and guess what, he was Jewish. This seemed like shailjia’s excuse to set me up with him. At 4.30 (fairly squiffy and in a lot of trouble with the husband) we got home.

Saturday was Anhiti’s Hindi birthday (by the lunar calendar) so about 4 when we could move again, they went to the temple and I went shopping. That night due to being in trouble we went to see Iron man at the cinema. Then home to sleep. Sunday morning we spent preparing for the brats birthday. I went to see someone in the morning then came back to help with the party, which was lavish! Unfortunately due to the party I couldn’t go to the cricket, but I was useful anyway. I helped with general stuff and tried not to get in the way. The party had a clown, face painting, balloon art (that was a bit shoddy) and obviously games with the DJ! Then after there was a mini train, bouncy castle and dahba (street) food. On top of that there was a BIG Dora the explorer cake and pinyada! After the party we were all exhausted so went back and allowed the child to open her presents, even though her birthday was the next day. That child is a lucky one! There was a lot of Dora paraphernalia!

Monday I was due to head back to work. I rung in to find out what needed doing and how the cyclone was going. At this point we still thought it was a small job so I didn’t rush back. We had a leisurely day. We went for breakfast then took the child back from play school, after that we took her to day school, with yet another birthday cake. Then Shailjia and I tried to go for lunch but it was too late for most places so we went shopping instead! My haggling skills we appreciated by all. We bought stuff we didn’t need as well as junk for Anhiti! We headed to the bagel shop near the school, where I had a smoked salmon crème cheese bagel, yummy!! Then we all headed howm fro dinner before I finally head off on the bus. I got home at 2.30 then stayed up talking to Tushita for another hour!

Tuesday morning the full scale of the cyclone was being reported, so we started deciding what to do. I wanted to get out there ASAP, however soon after that the issues with Visa’s became apparent, so we talked it out and found out pries of tickets as that was all we could do. I also developed a few more schedules and some new modules while checking the news everyday. That night a group of us from work went to see a disaster management exhibition, which turned out to be all fire service stuff so we left to the nearby fairground to eat street food that I like. Charu’s wife and daughter met us there and Charu got told off for not taking us home to eat!! After they left Tushita and I went for cold coffee before heading home. I started my packing (there is so much) then went out with Tanmay for a goodbye drink. Guess where we went?... East street! We were there till close, I was home about 1.30. Wednesday I was umming and arhhhing if I should cancel my train tickets and hang around in the office hoping the visas would become available for Burma. That night me and Tushita went back to east street to meet Roni, he is from the Jewish community in Pune and wanted to say bye and ask about planning a trip on his own and how to go about it. It was good fun, though I couldn’t watch the cricket due to the bloody lamp post!

Thursday I talked to they guys about delaying my travel, we couldn’t decide so I emailed the boss for advice. I taught the guys some first aid that they wanted to know more about, with my wonderful casualty Tushita. After I picked up my tailoring I had a brief nap before going to Sonali’s for dinner to say bye to the kids. It was great chilling on the sofa watching a film eating the most amazing Bengali style fish! I sorry to say bye to them and only wish I had chatted to her sooner, but im pleased I did eventually talk to her!

So Friday was D-day for decideing what to do, and we had no internet to check the news nor see if the boss had replied. So I called him. He said go and call every 3^rd day, and as the news wasn’t promising that is what I have decided to do. I spent the afternoon packing up the last bits of my stuff and catching up on the last few episodes of neighbours. After a nap and clearing my laptop I got a call from the guys to come to the office to chat. At that moment in time Dr Vivk walked through the door so we chatted for a bit then went fro cold coffee, im gonna miss Durga. After cold coffee I went to the gym to say bye, I had an hour before I needed to leave for Chabad, and hour and a half later I left! I love my gym, they really did help me feel part of the community, and I cannot thank them enough for that, if it went for them I may have packed things in sooner! So I rushed off to Chabad to thank them and say bye. After an hour there I rushed off to East street to meet Ankur and say bye to him and hear about the girl his parents want him to marry! At 2am after drinking with some random brits I got home.

So this morning at 7.30 I headed back to Sonalis for breakfast and a chat. At 10.30 I rushed back to change for work. I have worn my sari for the first time, which they all loved. We are having a farewell lunch, sponsored by me, then I have to take my box to the post office. After work today we are all going to east street for my last goodbye!

On the one hand I am pleased to be leaving as the work has reached a natural stop, on the other I have built a life here. I am sorry to leave that. I have accomplished so much in the last 8 months some work related but the majority about myself. I am comfortable in my own company, I have developed my self confidence and I have decide who I want to be a bit more. I am very proud of myself for sticking it out and it can only benefit me in the future. Most of all I will always have friends and a job here!!

So tomorrow I head to Mumbai to get a train to Jaipur, form there I got to Varanasi, then Agra then Delhi. In Delhi im going to the IPL then off to Amritsa before back to Delhi for my flight out. I cannot believe how quickly everything is going!!

So that’s it from Pune!

10.5.08 08:55, comment

Training in Aurroville

On Tuesday I spent the day preparing for the training course, getting equipment together and ensuring everyone present was clued in on what we were doing. We quickly realised we were just going to wing it so stopped preparing!! I went back to sleep, then Yaniv turned up with some shopping and made me shaukshkah, which is an Israeli dish. It was excellent we had wine and chilled looking at his photos of India. It was very civilised! That evening Mandar, Sameer and the gujariti paramedic had been out till late so they all crashed at the flat too.

Early next morning Yaniv headed off to Mumbai to get his train and we headed off for the training. It was a long but useful day. We talked out the issues we had had both internally and with HCC in relation to the trsaingings we had conducted. At the end of the day I went back and with no dinner plans called up Yonat to see if she was free, we met at E street and Guy joined us (it wouldn’t be right to go without him!). SO I caught up on Guys wanderings in Goa and had a relaxing evening. The next day we had all the HCC representatives for the training to discuss where wse needed to coordinate better. We had expected it to go badly, but actually it was really positive and a lot of issues were sorted out. I had a long chat with Niyati, who offered me a job out of university and oddly enough Sarbjit offerecd me one too with RedR, 2 offers in one day, not bad! At the end of the day we all went for dinner and drinks. I only had the drinks and then went with Ankur to Koregon park as Yonats boyfriend was playing with a funk group. It was great (jesse is an awesome sax player!), but another late night so I was exaughsted.

Saturday morning I made it for a run and met Sonali so she invited me back to tea and breakfast as she often does if I have time. As it was the weekend I finially met both her daughters. Breakfast took a while and I ended up rushing back to the office to find noone there!! I had intended to be in the office only a short while to tidy up a few things, so by 3 I left to have a nap. Yonat was going to an Indian classical concert in Koregon park so I said I would join her before meeting Guy for dinner as it was my last chance to see him before he returned to South Africa. We all met at the greman bakery and made contingency plans incase we got bored to meet elsewhere. At first I wasn’t so interested, however Yonat is studying Indian classical singing and once she explained the basics I was much more interested! I don’t feel the need to go again but its much more interactive then western classical music, the performer talked to the audience, allowed heckling, got the band to sing and you felt part of the concert. After the first half we decided we were cultured enough to leave!

We headed to MG road as it is pedestrianised on Saturdays, Guy needed to buy a few more things for home so we went to my favorite shop! I met up with a guy from couch surfing who a friend from Mumbai had asked me to meet up with and he joined us. Inevitably we ended up in E street which was really busy, but they promised to move us to where our favourite waiter was working when they had space. In the mean time we were else where. While sitting a guy was smoking a cigar right infront of the fan so the smoke was being blown straight onto us. Yonat wasn’t happy so we asked the manger to say something and when that didn’t work Yonat went up to him. He was really arrogant and would not take a step to the right, she got really angry and left. The whole of the staff were concerned and even called her to get her to come back, but she was half way home (she has been promised a free pizza on her next visit!)> The three of us continued and as usual Rahul the waiter kept us supplied with free drinks and treats! After goodbyes to Guy I headed back to crash (still no early night).

The next morning I had to head off to Pune airport, the first time I had flown from there. I met Sarbjit there and we headed off to Chenni via Bangalore. At Chenni we met Dave and Loren, both ozzies from Canbra, who were joining the shelter training in Arouville. Dave is a shelter consultant based in yogyokata and Loren is a shelter project coordinator also based in Indonesia but in a less civilised place! We all drove down to Auroville (3 hours). Dave had worked with Sarbjit in Bangladesh recently and he is the man to know in the area when it comes to shelter. It was an intresting journey down, espically as I had never seen Sarbjit swear nor tell dirty jokes!! When we got to Auroville it was not what I had expected at all (it didn’t help I thought the training was in Pondicherry), it is a beautifully green place that is a little weired. The area is a 35km commune, which is designed to be a lot like a kibbutz but with possessions. It is 1/3 indian and the rest are forigners. We went straight to the guest house which, even though it was dark, was obviously beautifully located. After boring ashram style food me Dave and Loren sat around drinking Perno before bed.

The next morning I attempted to go for a run, I got up and headed off, dog in tow, the area is all forestry broken up with crazy architecture and various gust houses. I got lost. My usual half hour run became an hour and I rsturned with scratch marks, mozzie bites and dirt everywhere! To top it off the dog left me half way round! Sarbjit and Dave were working on the course and as me and Loren were participants we had a free day. SO we hired a bike to go and explore the area. The idea was to head up the East coast road to see if we could make it to some caves I wanted to see. We made it to pondicehrry and ambled along the promenade and had a coffee. Loren made friends with one of the street sellers and then we decided just to drive.We went down as many small roads as possible and just explored. It was a lot of fun and I deffinatly see the benefits to biking around India, you see the real parts. Eventually we decided lunch was in order and on the 3^rd attempt found somewhere near the beach. Earlier I had found Batman Uno in a shop and had not been able to resist. SO over lunch the Uno tournament began!! After lunch and a few beers it was decided that a walk along the beach with ice cream was in order. While there we bumped into Lorens friend so they played a game of chess! After our walk we decided to head back towards Auroville, Loren wanted to visit the swimming pool, La PIcine, as it is the pool that the guy from ‘The Life of Pi” is named after. After driving down the same road 3 times (the road had the sign ‘drive friendly’ on it so Loren insisted on being friendly ot everyone we encountered) we eventually found the pool on a completely different road. However, in true comedy style, it was closed for refurbishment!! So we decided that was our cue to head back. Most of the participants of the course had arrived, so after dinner we chatted a bit before calling it a night. I had a night cap with the boys, but then a storm atrated. What a storm!! Full thunder and lighting, it was righ overhead and the lighting even hit a tree right by where we were causing Lorens cigrettte to go flying!! In all the rain I battled back to my room.

The next morning the course started, we all got issued bikes to cycle to the training centre on! It was the first time we had such a europen mix. There were not only three girls (me included) but we were all British, for the first time in ages I could quote Monty Python and talk about neighbors!! Chloe is based in Bangkok and Hannah is a structural engineer who was working at the place we used for the training. We used the Auroville earth institute which develops structures made from earth and is basically an architects playground!! The first day of the course we did some theory and then spent the afternoon in the sun putting up tents!! After the day was over it was back to the ranch for another quiet evening. I went out with Raju to the shops to pick a few things up, on the way we picked up a guy whos motorbike had got a puncture (we were in the car not on the bikes) I was chatting to him, he is a travel writer for a company bsed in California and he had just finished writing a guide to Israel (obviously he was jewish) and was now writing about communities in India, interesting guy. Dave talked about his experiences responding to the earthquake in his village, which was really interesting, and then a night cap before an earlyish night. As Auroville has no public drinking places or much else of a night life I managed to get reasonably early nights, however I was up early so I don’t think I caught up on my sleep!

Another early morning and leisurely cycle to the training, I finally got a bike with a basket I can be such a princess when I want something! (I don’t think ive ever attended a training that started as punctually every morning!) another morning of theory followed by an afternoon of pratical. This time we were making compressed earth block (a type of brick) I had great fun! After the days work it was back early to chill out eat dinner and do our homework. I had an early night (10.30) before the third day. The third day of the course we had our usual structure. The praticle involved making a cement roofing support. It was cool. I got to trowl on the cement and get the shape and thickness, I was rubbish but I enjoyed it! And we got to lay some bricks, I layed 2! After the day we headed into pondicherry for some night life. Chloe and I decided to be civilised. We found a hotel on the promenade, funnily enough called the promenade, and sat in the roof top bar for drinks and dinner. Oddly enough Chloe was moving into the hotel the next days as her work was putting her up there, she saw it as a taste test! Obviously everyone joined us and we all enjoyed some of the best food I have had in India I had tuna and chole and I shared a bottle of sine on her company!! It wa thoroughly civilised. Then we headed back before the last day of training.

The last day was not as punctual as we were all a little tired from the night before but none the less we ploughed on. We got through the morning and onto the pratical which was checking our concrete from the day before and looking at how to make rammed earth walls. I found I really enjoyed getting my hands dirty but also seeing these principlesin action. Its all very well learning about them in Uni but the use of the methods is needed too. Anyway after goodbyes we headed back to the guest house to shower and jump in a car to Chenai as our plane was that evening. So right now I am on the plane writing this as tomorrow morning we have a workshop on using bamboo in emergencies. We land in Mumbai at 2300 arrive to Pune around 0200 and start again at 0700 but thankfully I have Sunday off to sleep!!

2.5.08 07:19, comment