Future plans 1st-8th July

Bang on time the rains have started! We are planning on going to nainital (lake) today with trushas dad and brother, stay there for 2days and then go to Corbett Safari Park and hopefully see some tigers. Probably unlikely to update blog until I fly home on 8th.

28th-30th Gaumukh - Uttarakashi

So the next day we woke up early freezing and in pain from our trek. Millys hip was hurting her we think from the rafting as we had to to put our legs in funny positions to stop us falling out, plus we'd walked a long way...

The reason we'd come to Bhojbassa was to see Gaumukh which is a glacier and the start of the Ganga. It was an extra 3 hour trek from Bhojbassa camp. Milly decided that it would be best to rest her hip because at this point we were going to trek the 7 hour journey back to Gangotri as we only had a 2 day pass. As she read on a rock by the ganga I trekked up to Gaumukh with a South African and an old man from the hostel. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and spectacular views of the Himalayas. I felt like I didn't want to go back to reality. I reached the top, and scrambled over lots of rocks to get as close to the glacier as I could. From here I filled up a bottle with water from the Ganga which many people believe that if you drink this water you'll live till over 100. What was interesting was whilst speaking to the americans who were studying this water, apparently it has a lot more nitrate and sulpher in it than is safe to drink.

Whilst I was up in the clouds, Milly was making friends with the local policeman, inquiring why they would actually need policemen in a place so desolate.

I got back to camp and met milly and we tried to come up with a plan for getting back. Her hip was still hurting her so whatever happened we were going to take a porter back to carry our bags. The South Africans told us they were going to get horses back so we decided to wait with them and see if any came.

None came after an hour so just as we were about to start our trek back horses came over the hill! It was perfect timing. We waited and arranged a price with them to take us back to Gangotri. It was a completely different experience to the walk there. With more time to enjoy the view, we sat back, tried not to look down and enjoyed the ride. Millys horse was naughty and galloped at innapropriate times, taking the horse man with him and almost sending him flying down the cliff at times. It also decided that instead of taking the bridges it would walk through the fast flowing river and as a result milly got soaked.

By the end of the day we both had pink noses and burnt arms but it was truly worth it. An experience of a lifetime.

That evening we found a place to eat and while we were drinking our chai four Sikh men came in all speaking Panjabi very loudly and staring at milly like she was some strange creature from another planet. She took this opportunity to take one of her 'people' photos. She tried to do it subtley but it didn't work and they all wanted their picture taken.

Uttarakashi

We had a well deserved lie in and woke up at about 8.30. We found our taxi driver and began our descent to Uttarakashi. To my suprise Milly kept her eyes open and out the window! She figured that it would be best to appreciate the view rather than thinking about what could happen....
We stopped at some temples along the way and at one there was a huge Shiva statue which we have no idea how they got it there.

We spent the night in Uttarakashi back to semi reality, watching Spain beat Portugal and Federer getting knocked out of Wimbledon!

The next day we began our journey back to Haridwar. We stopped off at Nachiketa Tal Lake. We had to pay 100rps entry, we were sure the guy in the fake army clothes was making it up but we didnt want to argue. We seemed to be the only ones doing this walk which was understandable as it was up hill and we were in the clouds (literally). We got to the lake and it was pretty surreal. All there was, was a hut, a cow, a temple and a lake...and later we found out there was a hermit in the hut.

We walked around the lake and then just as we were leaving a man came out of the hut, he offered us chai and asked us to come and sit by his fire. Milly crazy kid went inside and i had no option but to follow. To our amazement he started talking to us in English, telling about his life..how he was put in an ashram when he was 7 and since then he has been living in various holy places. Gaumukh (the place we had just been) being one of them. He had been living in this hut for the past 6 years, alone, trying to find out the secrets of birth and death. Milly asked him how old he was and he didn't seem offended. He told us he was 91! Milly told him that she didn't pray and he seemd amazed. He said life without God is no life. He told her to 'pray god'. He also told her to bring her family and that he'd make them chai, breakfast, dinner and blankets, and that it was 'no problem'.

He kept on insisting that we take chai but we had to get back. He took us to a hidden lake and took us round it chanting '[nachiketatal namaho'. We walked back, thanked him and began our journey back down thinking that our day couldn't get any more surreal. On the way down we met some villagers with goats and cows and milly took her standard pictures. We reached the bottom, sad that our adventure was ending and began our journey back home.

26th-27th Gangotri

We decided that whilst we were in North India we had to go to the himalayas somehow so we arranged a 5 day trip up to Gangotri (source of the Ganga).

We started the hellish 7 hour journey, up, down, around the mountains with millys eyes closed the whole way. Crazy local busses were coming at us at all angles, overtaking on blind corners and going at hellish speeds. My head was constantly out the window, as our road followed the Ganga right up into the mountains, it was a beautiful drive. We stopped off at a restaurant and stood for about 5 minutes trying to wake the waiter who was sleeping with a fly on his nose.
We then carried on with the journey and finally (much to millys relief) reached Gangotri at about 5pm, just in time for the evening arti. Again this was very different from Rishikesh and Haridwar aarti. There were fewer people and everyone was wrapped up in colourful blankets. It was mainly the locals who were there as well so there was a lot fewer people. Milly still has her fan base with everyone still wanting to take her pictures. We were walking through Gangotri after our dinner and we happened to see some football on the TV. We had a look and It was England v Germany. We went inside and ordered some chai and watched the match. There were 2 other Germans in there feeling very happy with themselves. We got kicked out with 10 minutes to go so we stood outside watching throug the window with a 'high' guy kissing everyones feet and shouting at the top of his voice in the street behind us. Was an interesting experience.

The next morning we woke up at 6am and started our trek to Bhojbassa. We decided not to take a guide or a porter as we'd heard there was only one way up and you couldn't miss it. So after shaking off all the people who wanted to guide us up we finally reached what we thought was the starting path, only to be told by the guide that we were going the wrong way. We finally got onto the right path and began our ascent. About 100m up we questioned our decision of not needing a porter as the higher we got the harder it was.But we battled through and kept going. The old lady behind us put us to shame as she overtook us and kept going without any breaks.

We almost didn't get through the checkpoint because there was a problem with our permission form, it said I was indian when my passport is British but we paid 100rps extra and got through quickly. The old lady didn't have permission and tried to come in with us but they didn't let her. (only 150 people are allowed up to Gaumukh each day) and only 20 horses.

We then started the 16km trek to our base Bhojbassa. It was a beautiful walk. With steep cliffs each side and the Ganga flowing below. We ran out of water but there were plenty of streams to fill up from. We reached the half way checkpoint and by this point we were shattered. It was hot and our bags seemed to weigh more than when we started and our morale was low as we knew we still had another 8km to go. Each person that we met we asked how long there was to go and the responses didn't help our morale as it always seemed to be 2 hours or 2km away no matter how far we walked. Finally after the last person we'd asked had said 2 hours left we reached our camp in 20 minutes! Indians really don't have any sense of time...

As soon as we reached camp it began to rain so we were glad we'd reached as we'd heard that mud slides could happen. The camp was pretty basic, It was dorm type rooms and no hot or running water. A lady in our room suggested we buy some hot water and it was probably the best 50 rupees i've ever spent. We were glad that we had the thermals, hats and gloves that Sushma aunty gave us as it was freezing. We were at about 4000m in the valley with mountains towering over us. It was a beautiful place.

Whilst we were exploring the camp we saw a man (who we thought must be crazy) as he was dunking his head in the freezing cold river. He came and said hello and introduced himself as the proffessor of a university group from Charlston (US) who researching the Ganga and the way the state uses it to produce electricity. He said to come and join his camp later on for some tea. We took this literally and went along (with 2 other friends that we made at the hostel) and had dinner and tea with the students. Their guide happened to be the person that Millys friend (Emily Parker) told her to look out for! It was pretty surreal, as there was only 40 people in the whole of this camp and we were at the top of a mountain in the middle of literally no where.

23rd-26th Haridwar

Sorry for not updating this for a long time we've had a crazy week. We've been to the aarti in Rishikesh and Haridwar (prayer time by the river). There were thousands of people in Haridwar we could barely see. We had to hold hands so we wouldn't get lost! Rishikesh was beautiful and we sat on the steps by the ganga listening to the music. Rishikesh is like a different world to Delhi. The place is filled with Sadhus, Gurus, Ashrams, Priests and people trying to get closer to God. Haridwar being one of the 7th most holiest places in India is very similar but more crowded and a different atmosphere to Rishikesh.

The day after we went white water rafting on the Ganga. We had to squash about 14 people in a jeep with two on the roof holding on to the raft!! It was a long and winding journey up to the 18km starting point. We had about 5 minutes of safety instructions all in hindi but with actions so we just copied what everyone else was doing and hoped for the best....

It was a beautiful 4 hours, we had towering mountains either side and in between the rapids we jumped out and swam with the current along with the raft. We stopped half way where there was a point where you can buy food and jump off a rock we allowed at least 20 people to do it first before we decided it was safe enough for us to give it a go. We were sad when we reached the finishing point and we wished we could do it every day after that. But the day after we had an adventure planned...

22nd Haridwar

Neel (trushas cousin)made us yummy breakfast. It was indian scrambled egg on toast, totally different from english scrambled egg, with loads of spices, tomatoes and onions.
He then drove us to a nearby temple, the only problem was you had to park at the bottom ofg the hill and the only ways up were by cable car or to walk. WE opted for the cable car, though quickly changed our mind when we saw the stampede of a queue!!

The weather here is noticeably cooler, probably a huge 10degrees cooler!! HOwever, this would make the temp about 35degrees and not 45degrees!! We started the trek up the hill, i dont think i have ever sweated that much in my life!!! We left our shoes and ran inside as the ground was boiling hot! The temple wassomewhat different towhat i had imagined and not this pretty little building on the top of the hill but was manic with loads of litter everywhere and people pushing to get in!The priest then put a tikka on our heads (red spot). We didnt stay long, not out of choice but because we were practically pushed out!!
We then began the long sweaty journey back down the hill, admiring the Ganga which trusha cant wait to have a bath in soon!

21st -Delhi-haridwar

We met trushas aunty at the airport as they were heading to mumbai and we were to take their taxi (with her cousin) back to hardiwar. We were early (despite the unreliability of delhi cabs)and the security wouldnt let us in the building because we needed the people who were flying to be with us. So he pointed out a little caffe for us to go in, where we had countless drinks. we then realised sitting outside in the shade was cooler than sitting inside!!

The taxi finally arrived and we started our epic journey to haridwar. Though we only made it about an hour until we knocked a poor guy off his bike!! Luckily we think he escaped with just a broken arm. Everyone crowded around the taxi and If you have read shantaram (which i am reading now) you will know why we were scared!

We then had the true experience of cabs and got a new taxi that was meant to take 30mins to reach us but took 2hrs!! The policeman allowed us to sit in his radio control hut, where we witnessed a village argument going on outside. In true indiamn style they offered ua chai.

A full 6hrs later we arrived!! yay!

19th June Agra

Trip to Agra to see Taj and Agra fort. We woke up at 4AM , got ready, had chai and left at 4.30. It took us 5 hours to get to Agra as we broke down because we had a puncture half way through. We met Ketan (our medic friend from uni) at his house and his mum made us a huge breakfast of dokhra, toast, omelette and coffee. We were stuffed (story of our life) before we left the house. We went to Taj and were consumed as soon as we were out the car by touts, guides and sellers. Ketan the local sorted us out and got us through the harem to the ticket gates safely. I managed to pass as a local (but was a bit touch and go as he asked me where I was from and I’m pretty sure he didn’t believe my hindi accent was real). Milly being the foreigner paid a lot but got a free cold bottle of water with her ticket and some shoe covers so she didn’t have to burn her feet walking on the hot marble which Ketan and I were v jealous of later on. Taj Mahal was beautiful, but boiling hot and packed full of locals of all ages. Everyone seemed to think that Milly was a celebrity (don’t know why she was v sweaty and red) and every step she took someone wanted a picture with her, asked to shake her hand or just said hello! Ketan and I felt priviledged to be in her presence.
We left Taj and went to pizza hut for lunch. This wasn’t just your average UK pizza hut, It was a crazy place where the waiters danced and sang to you!! We had a lovely lunch out (AGAIN). We tried masala lemonade and I don’t think we’ll be having it again. Ketan bravely drank the jug for us. Well done.
After this we thought we’d brave the heat once more and go to Agra fort. It was beautiful and Milly got some more ‘artistic’ pics. She’d also picked up ‘le liye’ which in hindi means ‘I’ve already bought it’ so everytime someone tried to sell us something (which was every step) she answered with this and it worked a treat. She managed to shock and impress all at the same time with some even wondering if she spoke hindi…
Hm.
We are now relaxing in Ketans house about to embark on our mammoth journey home. We’ll be going to Haridwar on Monday and will bring you more news of our travels soon. (depending on power cuts and internet etc etc etc.)

15th - 18th June Delhi

So on the 15th we had a tense evening waiting to hear our results. Right before we were about to log on there was a power cut! So we had to wait and rush and find somewhere else to check the internet and it was worth the wait because we both passed 
Since then we’ve been enjoying ourselves a lot. We finished work at the shelter on Thursday having completed 5 posters with the girls and played countless games with them. It was a fantastic experience and we will miss them.
Since then, everyone has taken us out for a celebratory meal and we’ve tasted something different every day! So far we’ve enjoyed every food combination that we’ve tried and enjoyed ourselves immensely trying all these things.
Our first evening out was with Geeta aunty and Janak Uncle to a lovely Italian restaurant. This was also to celebrate one of the cows on the farm giving birth! The baby cow is so cute, and it’s growing fast every day.
The next evening was dinner at Dhruvs house and we could barely fit through the door by the end of it. They laid on a feast for us. After this Dhruv, Komal and his cousins took us for Paan and Chuski! It was an interesting experience….(paan is beetle nut leaf with sweet stuff inside). We had a great time and hopefully we’ll see them all again!
The day after we spent a day in Delhi, visiting all the sites (well the shops) and milly bought a beautiful throw which she won’t stop going on about! We practiced our bartering skills and ended up going back home with 3 bags, 2 tops, 4 pairs of trousers and random bits.
That evening we had a fantastic meal with Shivani, Upang, Shovan and their friends at Gunpowder. A south indian restaurant in Delhi where milly tried fish!!!! (albeit not much fish mind). The food was really tasty and it was a lovely relaxed place that we’d never have found if we hadn’t been taken with locals. We then went to a small bar close by where we enjoyed a cold beer whilst listening to some live jazz. We got back at 12 and slept for 4 hours before we had to wake up to go to Agra!

Day 13

We've been skiving from yoga these last few days and today, with it being the one day off we're going to get in a while we decided to sleep in late...well till about 9

we had a lovely day of shopping and eating with shivani. We went to lots of different shops and picked up some nice things. I finally have more than 2 tops to wear now..
We were all shopped out after about 3 shops and went to the best dosa shop in town.Milly had her first paper dosa which is a huge crispy pancake type thing which you eat with different sauce type things.

After this we went to get beautified. We all got pedicures and milly had the fright of her life when the lady started waxing her arms when all mils thought she was going to get was her eyebrows done! all three things still came to less than the price of one eyebrow wax (less than a fiver) in the UK so it was all ok in the end...

after this we spent a wonderfully relaxing evening watching tv and films

12th June

We started our day with a tour around the families workshop which sells beautiful cushions, bedthrows, candles to places like John Lewis, WH Smith, Accessorise etc. We saw the material store room and it was amazing, was full of bright colours and fabulous designs.

we then went to the shelter and began our first full day there. Instead of being given a small group of older children we had the whole range from 5 to 16 and there was about 20 of them!! it was crazy.

we began by making musical instruments out of pots and shakers out of rice and bottles. It didn't go so well at the end though with kids starting to hit each other over the heads and rice being thrown on the floor everywhere. So we quickly decided on a new game called cups! The older kids seemed to enjoy it but the younger ones didn't really get it...

Lunch was interesting. We were given a really bitter vegetable called karala which we could only manage about 2 mouthfuls..

we spent the whole afternoon making a wash our hands poster which was a success out of ripped up magazines.

|spent about an hour trying to call for a cab (as dehli is so populated you have to ring for one about 2 days in advance) whilst amelia tidied up..

in the evening we had a tour of the farm, fed the cows and compared the size of millys grapefruits to the ones here...

11th June

Orienation day, we started our first day at Arushi center in Guragon. It's about an hours drive from where we live. We started of by watching a workshop given by a company to the kids about important indian figures. we spent the day talking to the children and getting to know them. We ate with them and a five year old taught milly how to eat with her hands. They showed us some bollywood dancing and we taught them heads shoulders knees and toes and some other games.

10th June - delhi

We thought getting up for 5.45 was early but today we started yoga at 5.30am!!

We ended up doing 2 hours of yoga! tryig out some new poses and more crazy breathing things that milly couldn't do. We finished with some meditation but I got told off for looking around...6 times. He said that the next time he comes we have to take some water up one nostril and blow it out from the other one,THEN we have to take a piece of string and push it through one nostril so it comes out the other....thank goodness he didn't come today...

After this we went for a walk with Salaam Balak Trust, the organisation we are going to start volunteering with. We went on what they call 'walk into the street life of Dehli'. It's a charity that aims to help chilren that have run away from their homes os lost or have been separated from their family due to various reasons. The most suprising reason being the love of bollywood films for running away to big cities such as Delhi or Mumbai. The chilren usually end up in railways so we began our walk in New Delhi station. Our guides were street children that had ran away when they were young and been taken in by this charity an looked after for 10 or more years. Now theyare in their late teens (18-20) and ready to start university.

We learnt a lot on this walk, about where the children go, how they survive and how Salaam Balak trust finds them and then can support them.

We went to one of their shelter homes and met some children who had been taken in from the streets. They all wanted their pictures taken and to shake our hands. They seemed very happy. We look forward to starting our volunteer work in the girls shelter Arushi.