Day 20 – 24: Varkala. Time to reflect.

Our stay in Varkala allows us plenty of time to relax on the beach, swim in the ocean, have two pairs of trousers made and tuck in to some fresh fish and good food. We also spend plenty of time commenting on the state of the ubiquitous backpackers.

“Why do they not shower? When did they last wash their hair? What’s the deal with do the long nappy trousers? Stop walking around in bare feet. We do not want to listen to your guitar playing. Smoking a joint on the beach is not cool. Food is cheap, you can afford more than one plate of food between three of you.” Etc. etc.

Jemima is considering writing a book: ‘My bag has wheels: A thirty-something’s guide to the gap year’.

Despite the proximity of the great unwashed, we are thoroughly relaxing and enjoying the slow pace and afford ourselves some time to reflect on what we’ve observed about India so far.

Shopping:

1. Bill Murray and Richard Gere are the most prolific shoppers in Rajasthan.
2. Monsoon and Liberty’s import materials from every textile merchant, stall or one-man band without exception.

Litter:

1. India is absolutely covered in litter.
2. The concept of throwing your rubbish away is in fact, throwing your rubbish wherever you happen to be standing.
3. Cows eat cardboard. (And plastic, and paper, etc.)
4. Litter is rarely collected and only when there is a financial motivation.

The rules of the road:

1. If you own a lorry, it must be brightly painted and decorated with streamers and tinsel.
2. If you own a motorbike, you must have at least three other passengers onboard before travelling.
3. If you own a tractor it must be playing Hindi music full blast for all road travellers to hear.
4. If you drive a tuk-tuk, you can travel in any direction you please regardless of safety or any threat to your passengers’ or fellow road-users’ lives.
5. If you are a cow (or any other type of livestock) feel free to stand, sleep, or nurture your offspring in the middle of the road or highway.
6. The final rule that all road users must abide by, use your horn frequently. Do not be shy, do not be timid, the world wants to know you are on the road. And, if you have a horn that plays a tune, all the better.

If we think of any other sweeping generalisations, we’ll let you know.

Day 19: Mumbai to Varkala (Kerala). Goodbye dusty desert, hello tantalising tropics.

We are slightly disappointed to arrive in Kerala, as we hadn’t quite finished ‘Evil Love’ the second great Bollywood movie we were watching on the plane. Apparently it bombed at the box office – but we loved it. We leave the airport humming the wedding mantra from the film ‘bomb, diddily bomb, diddily bomb, don’t want no love, bomb, diddily bomb, diddily bomb, don’t need no love…’ it was hilarious. Or at least we thought so. We’d also watched a twenty-year old classic ‘The victor is the conqueror’, which is a cross between chariots of fire and grease. We highly recommend them both if you are considering your next Friday night in and need a happy ending. :-)

Kerala is immediately different to everything we’ve experienced so far. It’s a lush, tropical palm-fringed region with dense vegetation and a beautiful coastline. We arrive at Varkala, about 50 minutes drive from Trivandrum (the capital) and are welcomed by the sight of the beautiful, inviting ocean.

Varkala beach is far less touristy than some of the other areas of Kerala and with its impressive, steep red cliffs and slightly ‘hippyish’ atmosphere, it reminds us of the novel ‘The Beach’. With the beautiful surroundings and laidback café’s that line the cliff-top you can easily see the backpackers getting lost here for a while.

There is an abundance of small gift shops and places to eat, and after a quick stroll down the front, we settle in for some fresh fish curry.

Day 18: Jodhpur to Mumbai. In transit.

Crisp, white, luxurious, Egyptian cotton…soft, sumptuous, squishy pillows…a hot, powerful shower… and fresh, cooling aircon. This is the Hyatt Regency, Mumbai.

On numerous occasions during our trip we’ve criticised those people who stay in Western hotels in India and miss out on the eclectic hospitality and sights awaiting them elsewhere. For tonight, however, this is pure bliss!

As this is a short transit stop for us, there is not much point taking the hour plus journey into Mumbai and most hotels by the airport are of the Hyatt, Taj or Marriott variety. We are robbed blind by the hotel airport car service, and the mineral water at nearly seven times the price of elsewhere but boy do we have a great shower and a good night’s sleep.

Day 17: Rohet Garh. And time to relax.

We’re sitting in a beautiful garden surrounded by the sounds of birds and water fountains trickling away as Phil sips his gin and tonic and Jemima has a nice cup of tea. We have moved on from Jaisalmer and have treated ourselves to a stay at a former royal residence just outside Jodphur.

We have decided to skip Udaipur, Agra and Varanasi, replacing them with a trip down to the lush green south of the country instead. We will fly from Jodhpur to Mumbai, and then on to Trivandrum (in Kerala) over the next couple of days and felt that a bit of luxury to help us on our way was the way forward.

Jemima spends the early part of the evening in the spa having a good scrub and massage, while Phil relaxes in the gardens. We enjoy a nice bottle of wine before finally heading off to our huge room (which apparently Madonna stayed in) for a good night’s sleep.

This is definitely our cup of tea…

Day16: Jaisalmer. Dreaming of home comforts.

Okay, anyone who thinks sleeping on sand is going to be comfortable is wrong! We wake with aches and pains from spending a night in a cold and smelly tent. We are so ready for deluxe right now!!!

After feasting on dry toast and honey for breakfast…we’ve spent several nights dreaming of bacon sandwiches…we get back on our camels.

It’s a shame the trip isn’t slightly longer, as there is plenty to see as the camp is set in the midst of a national park. There is wildlife everywhere, you just need to take the time to stop and look around properly. Desert wildlife moves around when it’s not too hot, and as we set off it’s early enough to see foxes, gazelle, vulture, eagle, bee-eaters and all sorts of other bird life. The dunes themselves are a latticework of tracks left by beetles, mice, birds and other wildlife.

We ride nice and slowly back to our Jeep in the village. We are in serious need of a shower – we smell of mothballs – and have dreamt about bacon, steak and wallowing in a hot bath!! It’s definitely time for another change of plan and pace?

We have been looking at our next few destinations and weighing-up what we have learnt so far. In essence we have underestimated the time and effort it takes to get from place to place in India by car and train, whilst overestimating the amount of time we need in each place to do ‘the sights’. So as we wait for our shower water to heat up, we plan our next move.

However, before we have time to wash the sand out of our hair, the owners of Fifu take up Phil’s kind offer to photograph their new project, Jasmine Haveli. We traipse around the new hotel, which is beautiful, but definitely work in progress, and even find ourselves in some of the pictures. The owners are over the moon with the results and I have a feeling that come April next year when they have completed their new website it will be filled with Phil’s photos, as well as one or two of us, looking dishevelled and not so fresh from the desert.

Day 15: Jaisalmer. Desert safari.

Today we have our desert safari.

We stop off at numerous monuments on our way out further into the desert, including some more cenotaphs and a Jain temple the size of Thumbelina’s house. Not literally, but it’s amazingly small.

We arrive at our camel camp ready to saddle up and set off into the dunes. Phil has done his best to explain how unpleasant this ride is going to be, but actually – it isn’t that bad. It’s not horse riding that’s for sure, but when you’re up and walking pretty slowly, the ride is actually not too uncomfortable. However, there’s no denying that camels must be one of the ugliest and stinkiest animals ever.

We’re taken on an hours ride through the beautiful dunes of the Thar desert, led by children! Luckily, the camels look in no hurry to rush off anywhere or shake off their guides or else we may be requesting slightly older navigators. We finally arrive at our camp just in time for sunset, which is beautiful.

Our guides strike up a fire and starting cooking this evening’s dinner. One of the boys sits with us as we build a small campfire to keep us warm into the evening.

We have a newly-wed Indian couple with us who work as translators enabling us to find out more about this young lads life. We wrap up against the cold in jumpers and scarves and this young lad has bare feet and a thin cotton shirt. He says he has left his jumper at home, but we’re not so sure. He’s 13 years old (looks about ten) and has already left school. In India, you have to pay to go to school in pretty much most of the country, so not only is this a cost for the family, but the loss of a child being able to help out earning money means that sending a child to school is too much of a financial burden. His story is not unique. Out in the villages this is a common theme – at least in what we’ve seen of Rajasthan so far.

One of the other major problems for this region is the lack of rain. Jaisalmer is currently experiencing a major drought, which is having a huge impact on its residents. All of the lakes have dried up and there is barely any grass for the camels to eat, let alone the impact on farming. According to the guides, a child can easily get to seven years old without having seen rain.

However, we manage to have a cheerful evening, singing songs around the campfire and trying to teach the boys how to take photographs with the different cameras that the group have brought with them. There’s almost a full moon and we go to sleep with plenty of light and the sounds of the desert to keep us company.

Day 14: Jaisamlmer. A huge sandcastle.

Following advice that the fort is a 10 minute walk away and easy to find (well it is sitting atop the only hill for miles around and visible from everywhere) we head off to explore running the usual gamut of dogs, pigs, cows, camels and, of course, people. This is our first exposure to Jaisalmer residents and the experience is a good one. The people (generalisation warning) are polite and respectful, take ‘no’ for an answer and look you in the eye with a sense of personal pride. We like it already.

The fort is made of beautiful yellow sandstone built straight out of the sandy rock, which makes it looks like a giant sandcastle.

We manage to find the entrance to the fort and start to walk around the narrow alleyways of this ancient place – seems the newest things here (other than mobile phone installations) are about 400 years old! This is much smaller than many of the forts we’ve seen so far and without trying we navigate our way to the top of the fort for a commanding view of the surrounding desert. This fort is a completely different scale; it’s small, intricate and gives you the impression that it’s a fortified town rather than a fort created for battle (Ranthambore Fort for example housed 14,000 troops at its peak). However, what it lacks in defensive armour, it gains in detailed beauty. Some of the buildings here are amongst the most detailed and intricately carved we have seen. It also has an abundance of tiny stalls and shops selling the usual textiles and leather goods and Jemima manages to pick up a pair of camel leather flip flops – the camel most certainly died of natural causes…!

Beyond the main gates we thread our way along narrow streets bustling with stalls, shops, handcarts, pedestrians and all the other usual road traffic. It’s hot, about 30 degrees in the shade and we pop-out onto the ‘ring-road’ on the wrong side of town. We have a long, hot and dusty walk back to the calm and quiet of Hotel Fifu and feel like we deserve a rest – which is what we work at for the rest of the afternoon J