India has been a colourful emotional rollercoaster......it's a love hate thing! It gives all your senses, infact your whole being, a serious workout. It's a pleasure followed by pain thing....just when you've been ripped off for the 100th time and you're about to scream and kick out at the nearest begging child....you meet an adorable family who invite you to their home, their Birthday party and then their wedding! Where to start....
I could start with the fact that I seem to have developed a 'head wobble' when talking....but I'll start at the beginning...
We flew into Mumbai (Bombay) on 29 March and spent only a day wandering around the city which was good. Neither of us were knocked over by culture shock which we had braced ourselves for.
We then started to head south, our aim being to eventually meet our friends Simon and Vicky in Kerela.
I thought a quick stop in Goa was a good idea as I'd heard from people what a beautiful place it is. Unfortunately we didn't know where in Goa. So at the airport we quickly consulted our Lonely Planet and decided that Kolva sounded like a nice place and not too far from the airport!
Oh my God!!! Once we had booked ourselves into the 'Williams Beach Resort', we looked around to find ourselves in Costa-del-Goa, with Rodney, Del-boy and Raquel proping up the bar! Despite exploring Kolva in the hope of being mistaken, we didn't find anything. So deciding not to waste anymore time, we jumped on the first plane out of there.....wallop!
ALEX: I did however manage a 9 dart finish to win the Wednesday night darts challenge. To top it all we came second in the meat raffle which is always a result....
GEORGE: We arrived in Cochin to meet our lovely pals Simon and Vicky (ello Si and V!). Respecting that in Kerela (India?), on the first day of every month it is forbidden to sell/drink alcohol, we drank our celebratary beer from teapots and milk jugs. It was really good to see them on their temporary turf.
We then headed to Allepey, where after a day of tough negotiations, we found our house boat and crew, and set off on our 3 day voyage of Kerela's backwaters.
Our daily routine consisted of: admiring the stunning morning views from our lounge chairs before moving to the table where breakfast was served. We then returned to our lounge chairs to carry on admiring the view until we were called back to the table where lunch was served...after which we returned again to the lounge chairs where afternoon tea was served. And then at around 8pm we were called to be seated and dinner was served. And lest I forget, we then retired to our lounge chairs to relax (some more) before bed.
All this for 3 days......it was amazing!!!
To make sure our brain power remained switched on we played lots of cards, and so our muscles did not deteriotrate, we did some shotput with coconuts (well I did anyway!).
ALEX: After so much time in one place (when I say one place, I mean a 6m x 15m 'place'), one starts to understand what life must me like doing a 'stretch' in Wandsworth nick. As the pictures below show the cross dressing that took place was merely in aid of the final night caberet laid on to honour our fantastic .......................... SERVANTS!!!!!!!!!
GEORGE: And what better way to spend a Birthday. Big thanks to you Si and V and of course Alex for making it so special with pressies, cake and champagne!
The boat trip was perfect and recommended to all.
So after that mini holiday, we didn't hang around. We changed from summer gear into winter gear and flew right up North into the Himalayas, to Leh in Ladak.
'Jooooo-lay' everyone! (It means hello/goodbye/thankyou)
Leh is SPECTACULAR! You actually feel like you are in Tibet rather than India. The people are gorgeous, and because it was off season there, it was very chilled (relaxing as well as temp').
In a 4x4 we toured the mountains. A highlight was Prangong Lake, 130km wide and half in China. It was frozen. We took the opportunity to pose for our album cover for our group called 'Do What?' (said in a loud East London accent), first single release called 'Yorkshire Dales'! Unfortunately this is a 'you had to be there joke', and even then it probably wasn't funny, but we were all dizzy with altitude sickness!
The army were up for it though!
I've got to speed up a bit now....after Leh we tackled Delhi. NUTS!!!
People, dogs, cows, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, horses, carts, cars and buses all coming at you from all directions and missing your toes by cm's. You either love the craze or hate it. I loved it...Alex didn't!
ALEX: Perhaps a little strong but not too far off the mark to be fair! Not being the most patient man in the world, it is at times a rather 'challenging' city ...............
GEORGE: Here we said goodbye to Si and V and carried on to Rajasthan.....two down. We went to Jaipur (jewellery shops)...
ALEX: After a lovely (if not a little too spicy) meal, we decided to walk home to digest our dinner. It was pretty dark and on a number of occassions the paving stones ended but the pavement continued and took the form of a dirt track. So when the same thing happened after about the fourth time, I (being in front, blazing our trail) thought nothing of it and stepped confidently off the paving stones, onto what I thought was another dirt track. It was only when I was almost up to my knees in human 'waste' (bearing in mind I was wearing shorts and Birkenstocks!), that it very quickly became clear the dirt track was not exactly what it said on the tin. George followed after me but managed to stop herself in time to keep one foot out of the sewer. A very smelly rickshaw ride and a shower involving a whole bottle of TCP later we were feeling relatively normal again!
GEORGE: before heading onto Jodhpur, the blue city, which I loved. So compact with lots of narrow streets.
On the train on the way there we met a father and his gorgeous children (remember I mentioned this at the beginning? How many of you have actually read this far?) After lots of chats and games of Ludo, we were invited to their house the following day for lunch. We both felt extremly lucky.
We were treated like celebrities. They all sat and watched just the two of us eat on our own, before we were dragged into the front room for dancing. We were both pretty embarrassed, but in these situations, you have no choice as saying 'no' is never an option. That includes when being offered more food, whisky and more dancing!
They then invited us to a family wedding (which I was sooooooo thrilled to receive. Of course we will be in China but to receive one is rare treat!). Instead they settled to us attending a Birthday party the following day.
The whole experience was magic. We were able to watch and take part in family traditions. Their hospitality was quite over whelming.
When it was time to leave, we were sent on our way with their blessing.
Back in Delhi, the one thing we still need to do before we leave is visit Agra to see the Taj Mahal! We are doing this tomorrow before we leave.
I feel relieved we have both made it through India in one piece and with our sanity still intact. And I've surprised myself by thinking I am actually going to miss it. For me, doses of India should be taken little and infrequently, but definetly taken. India really is a world of it's own.
ALEX: India has been a great experience and I have taken a lot from our time here - just as you think things can't get any worse - they do! That said, it's the completely random acts of completely selfless generosity on a number of levels that more than make the whole experience so worth while.
Well, having successfully been veggies for the last month - China will bring with it the prospect of something we have both been looking forward to for a while now - CRISPY DUCK PANCAKES!!!!!!
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