Orna's Crazy Adventure

Flying out of Mumbai and in to Zurich

orna — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:22:00 GMT

Right now I am sitting in Zurich airport just as the sun is rising. This airport is just so nice it's like out of an IKEA catalogue! And such a nice refresher after India... I tell you, India and its administration and people skills is TERRIBLE!!!!! Luckily I had no further dramas leaving India, however, I certainly didn;t leave without further frustrations!

Firstly when I was checking in, the guy didn't think that I could leave on an Australian passport and enter Israel on an Israeli passport. Then after I had finished checking in (and he had checked that I could indeed do as I had told him) I walked across to the other side of the airport to Immigration and started looking for an Immigration Form. When I couldn't find one I asked an Indian Official where they were and he told me I should have obtained one when I was checking in. So I told him that the guy I checked in with didn't give me one and what was his response?????????? Something along the lines of that it was MY job to ask for one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I am expected to do their job!!! Just crazy - I was so pissed off!! So he told me I needed to go all the way back to get one, but instead I went to the nearest airline checkin and just asked for one of their forms and they kindly handed me one.

Then of course India doesn't provide any pens on strings at a desk to assist you with filling in the form like any other airport would - luckily I found a pen in my bag.

As I again walked past the Official that told me it was job to ask for the form I gave him a very nasty greasy...in hindsight I should have asked him for his name to make a complaint! Everywhere around the airport there are sounds about making complaints!

Then as I was waiting in line to go through one security section, I saw this guy who had just been told by an Indian Official to "go over there" - there was no communication, he had no idea why he was being told to get out of line, no-one else knew either! Crazy! It was absurd! Finally someone figured out that he hadn't been given a security tag on his carry on luggage (which is the job of the check-in staff) and then of course he had to go through the whole line again. And of course the staff that sent him out of line in the first place were not able to communicate this.

THEN, as I was going through a second security section, I saw some other highly frustrated travellers who had just been told that they were missing their security tags for their carry-on baggage and they were told that there were no tags at this spot and they would have to go all the way back to check-in to obtain them!!! Which meant going through Immigration and security all over again because of their stuff up!! Luckily the traveller was really pissed off and was adamant that he wasn't going all the way back and then reluctantly one of the staff went and got some tags!! Again totally unbelievable!!!!!!!! They probably also thought it was OUR JOB to request the security tags!!!!!!!!!

I tell you, I am HAPPY to leave that part of India behind. It is incredible how inefficient their workers are!! They could have employed another 100 staff to make sure we obtained our Immigration Forms and security tags at check-in!!! And then I'm sure there would still be problems...

And what a contrast travelling via Swiss Airways is after India!!! The people are no nice and friendly and polite!!! Wow!!! As soon as I boarded the plane the staff making the announcements were just so friendly, the flight attendents were friendly and polite, same with ground staff at the airport and one security woman even kept excusing herself when she had to pat me down after I beeped going through the detector! I have never had someone excuse themselves before!! And only just now I was given a survey to complete about their services here at the airport!

Just to remind me of some of the culture of India that I was leaving behind, seated 2 seats across from me was an Indian man. The 2 seats in betwen us were vacant and what does he do at one point? He fully stretches out across the seats and puts his arms up behind his head so that they are resting on ME!!!! Needless to say I shoved him off pretty quickly!! The cheek is again just unbelievable... I'm sure if I had been a man he wouldn't have done that... I really do feel sorry for a lot of the women in India who live with this and cannot escape this culture and treatment.

One thing I noticed in Goa that was different to the other parts of India I had visited was that the women seemed to be more empowered in that they were working in positions that I had only seen men working in before. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that a lot of the Goan population is Catholic and Goa was occupied by the Portugese?? Who knows.

Anyway, what I do know is that I'm glad to have a break from the culture where men were constantly staring at me in a really irritating way and where I couldn't stare at them back cause this would be considered a turn on; and where the men would just sometimes be so rude and pushy (and the women too sometimes)!!

I know now that I am definately on my way to Israel - there are religious men dovening in the terminal!! And not just dovening, but bouncing up and down and getting really into it! I couldn't help but have a bit of a giggle! It's just a bit funny...those who are very extreme...

Anyway, its bye from me for now from the beautiful airport that is Zurich looking out onto the beautiful misty landscape where it is 3 degrees outside!!!

Talk about an e ticket drama!!!!!!!!!!!!!

orna — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:03:00 GMT

As I write this entry I am sitting in a hotel room near Mumbai airport trying not to let the crazy traffic noise from the roads outside to get to me!! I have just experienced a big drama with almost not being able to get on my plane to Tel Aviv via Zurich as planned which almost put me to tears but which THANKFULLY has now been resolved.

It all started when I arrived in Mumbai Domestic Airport at 2:30pm after having flown from Goa. For some reason I was so tired that I decided that I wouldn't leave the airport as I wasnt up for the craziness of Mumbai, and I would just go to International and chill there until I needed to check in for my international flight at about 11pm.

So I get my luggage and stand in the line waiting for the transfer coach to take me from Domestic to International. So I wait and wait and then finally the coach comes but there is security checking e tickets. So I try to explain that there has been a last minute change with my ticket and my travel agent still needs to send me it but can I still go to International and just print it out there? So of course they don't understand what I'm talking about, they just continued to say, "maam, where is your ticket? You need to print ticket". So they wouldn't let me on the coach without the ticket and sent me away.

So already I'm annoyed cause I waited in this line without knowing that they wouldn't let me on the coach without the e ticket!!

So I wonder off and find an airline desk and tell them my dilemma and they advise me to pay for a taxi to the international airport and there I can print my e ticket out.

So off I go and stand in another que outside in the above 30 degree heat in the sun waiting for my turn to get a taxi. So finally I get a taxi and we spend about 20 mins going through crazy noisy traffic and beggars coming up to my window until we get to International.

THEN, on arrival, I notice that there are security guards checking people's e tickets before allowing them into the airport!!!!!!!!! So I realise that once again I cannot even get to the internet inside the terminal without having a ticket to show them first!!!!! So some touts are of course right there offering to "assist" me. They tell me they will drive me to an internet cafe so I can print out my ticket and then drive me back to the airport (for a PRICE). So ok, off we go, on the route going back to Domestic, only when I check my email I find that my travel agent hasn't sent me my e ticket like she said she would!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I know that it is now definately after office hours (10pm in Sydney) so there's no way I'm going to be able to contact her.

So I look up the details for SWISS airways thinking they will be able to send my ticket, but when I call them they say I have no ticket because my travel agent hasn't re-issued it!! And there is no way they can re-issue the ticket - my travel agent needs to!! So basically they confirm that without my travel agent re-issuing the ticket there is no way I can fly tonight!!

Meanwhile, all this time I have the 2 Indian touts leaning over me watching everything and they are continuously asking me questions and asking if I am printing out my ticket!!!!!! So I tell them I don't have a ticket cause there's been a stuff up and the Indian guy tells me to come to his friend who will organise me a ticket - no worries!! And I keep trying to tell him that I have already paid for my ticket!!

So I email my travel agent and let her know that as she has not sent me my e ticket I will not be able to fly the planned flights and I asked her what she suggests I do. By this stage, I agree to go with the touts to go to their friend's hotel as I figure I will now be spending the night in Mumbai.

So we go off to the hotel and I check in and then I notice on my phone that I have a missed call from an Indian number. Now oridinarily I ignore these as I get them all the time from Vodaphone or advertising people. This time though I decide to call it back just in case and guess what? It's Swiss Airways! So I tell the woman who answers that I have receieved a missed call from this number and she automatically says that they didn't call me. THEN I hear in the background someone yelling and the guy I was talking to earlier gets on the phone! And guess what?? He tells me that in the meantime between us talking and now, my travel agent has re issued my ticket and I can fly as planned!!!!!!!!!! So he emails me my ticket and when I go online at reception to receive the ticket I notice that my travel agent has emailed me back saying that they have been having computer problems but my e ticket should be re-issued soon!!

So basically I now have my ticket - THANK G-D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After allllllllllllllll the drama!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it's just crazy that you cannot even enter the airport without a ticket!! All this time I had been assuming that I would go there and just print it out in the terminal! And the airline desk didn't advise me properly about that either. And my travel agent could have at least emailed me to let me know she was still working on getting me my e ticket even though it was after hours so I didn't have to stress and could have planned a bit better what I was doing!!

So hopefully thats the last of my dramas...for my last night in India!! Crazy... I'm happy to have a bit of a break from all the hassling. I noticed that during the times when I met up with other people I actually got a break from being hassled because by chance or something else the other people always got hassled and I was left alone so I was free to observe!! But when I've been on my own there has been no one else to hassle except me so it's just hassle hassle hassle all the time with no relief!!! I think in all I've had a good just over 5 week experience in India and am happy to leave now.

xxx Orna

Goa and the almost fainting episode

orna — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:36:00 GMT

This morning I woke up at 10am and decided to go over to the guesthouse to get my room all sorted. Last night the owner had assured me that I could come over in the morning anytime and get my room. So up I get and sure enough, my room is not ready! By the time my room has been cleaned it's already 12 midday!! So much for getting my room in the morning!

Anyway, after I finally settled in I headed out to the beach. On my way I walked past a group of Indian men and one of the men told me I had some soap in my ear. So I said, "soap??" and felt around my ear and he says, "yes, come I'll get it out for you". Then, within 2 seconds, he had pulled out his ear cleaning instrument and started to clean the wax out of my ear! Then he hands me this card that says something like he is a really good and professional ear cleaner! So he starts getting all this wax out of my ear (so much for the soap) and then he does something which kinda hurts and I start telling him I don't want him to do it anymore and he keeps trying cause he wants to finish the job so I will pay him, and then I must have kinda freaked out with him trying to get to my ear and I started to feel like I was going to throw up and/or faint!!!

So my whole body breaks out in a sweat and I had to sit down with my head between my knees and breathe to try to stop myself from fainting!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many times I almost fainted but I managed to stop myself and I was soooooooooooo pissed off that this was happening!!!!

So finally thank g-d I started to feel better and I walk off with the guy still calling me! Meanwhile, after my swim at the beach a few hrs later when I was walking back he stopped me and tried to get me to pay him!!! I couldn't believe the cheek!! So I told him he had made me sick! And then I continued to walk. Incredible that he could do something so invasive by tricking me, make me almost faint and then ask to be paid for the pleasure!!

So that ended up being a very unexpected drama!! It's making me feel a bit sick now just thinking about it!! It was AWFUL!!!

Anyway, I did make it to the beach (which turned out to be a tropical one with palm tress but not so nice in terms of water and sand - brown water, unexpected rocks to stub your toes and feet on in the water which you couldn't see cause of the brown water, and brown sand with black streaks in it!), but it was still actually a nice place to chill out on. And you couldn't forget your were in India cause there were cows on the sand!!

So now I am back at my guest house and googling the best beaches to swim at in in Goa and I have found that the one I went to and a staying near (Anjuna) is not the best beach you go to for swimming! Of course! I am just reading that apparently it's south goa that has the nice beaches and I am currently in the north...I wonder how long it takes to get to the south...?

Anyway, thats about it from me for now...actually, one thing I've noticed which I think is interesting is that there are many stalls here where the women are working and hassling you - not men as is the usual! And yes, just like the men they are also hassling you to "Just come inside and look madam, just look, very cheap". It's like I have said a million "no thank you's" in India and Asia!!!!!!!!!! And they have all learnt to say exactly the same thing!! And all their stalls sell exactly the same thing! And of course there is the never ending "Madam you want taxi?" Me - "no thank you". Him- "Where you going Madam?" Me - continue walking and ignoring him!

So this is Goa for now...

xxx Orna

Photo Link - Varanasi

orna — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 16:53:00 GMT

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150909329840507.748375.844470506&type=1&l=d14f703e3e

Photo Link - Agra

orna — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:15:00 GMT

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150906032190507.748013.844470506&type=1&l=cf5afe7bc7

Goa!

orna — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:48:00 GMT

So I am now in Goa! I left my hostel at 8 this morning and by 6pm I arrived at my guest house (which again I had booked online and found on arrival that their internet hadn't worked and so all their rooms were full). To get to Goa I had to go to Mumbai and change planes which would have been fine if my first plane wasn't delayed. Meanwhile, of course it was delayed and on arrival at Mumbai airport I had to run through trying desperately to find where I was supposed to go cause it was already departure time!! And all the while I'm thinking it is India and they are not gonna wait for me!!

Luckily I managed to board the plane before it left without me!

And now I'm in Goa where the drive to where I am staying was so CHILLED OUT compared to everywhere else in India!!! There were palm trees filled with coconuts everywhere and rivers and beaches - it's as though I've landed on an Indian island!! It was really nice too driving in while the sun was setting for the day...

So, as for my accommodation tonight - I am staying across the rd from this guest house in a bit of a dingy room where I already had to wash a big furry caterpillar down the sink!!! And then I'm coming back to the guest house that I booked in for the next 2 nights... So certainly in India just because you book online and have your booking confirmed for accommodation this does not mean you are going to have a room when you turn up!!!

I can already see that this is where all the tourists come to be hippies - to wear really hippy clothes that they sell everywhere here, get tatoos and do whatever else they want to do as hippies!! haha. I've seen so much clothing being sold here that I would have loved to wear when I was 14!!!

So, I'm looking forward to seeing this place in the daylight and heading to the beach for my last few days in India! Looks as though I may be heading to Israel on 15th Nov... I've decided that my time in India has been good but it's time to move on to meet my little nephew for the very first time!!!!

The rest of Varanasi

orna — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:34:00 GMT

So I ended up meeting a group of nice guys and 2 Sweedish girls who were really lovely. I went on a sunset boat ride along the ganges with them where we actually saw some dolphins that live in the ganges!!!!!!! Incredible that these creatures can survive there!!!

I also hung out with this group just generally walking the ghats, taking photos and eating in places with good rooftop views. It was nice meeting this group cause it meant I had some nice people to hang out with on my birthday!! And it was actually kinda special cause my b'day happened to fall on this festival they have once a year in Varanasi on the ganges on the full moon - Dav Divali, which is another festival of lights and I think something which also celebrates the ganges. So the place ended up getting PACKED with Indian tourists who come for this festival and there are huge celebrations, LOTS of oil tealights - it is really beautiful!! And a really nice festive atmosphere! We sent off little tealights and flowers along the river - really nice :)

However, that night I happened to have a another VERY frustrating experience re Indian systems....of course!! I was trying to book flights to Goa for the next day and I'm on the right websites and the booking goes all the way to credit card details and then it continuously said that my booking failed!!!!!! And I'm stressing that my credit cards aren't working (I'm trying all of them and none of them are working) but what the website failed to actually inform me was that you cannot book tickets online once their offices close at 6pm!!!!!!!!!!! ANNOYING!!! Then I spoke to an Indian guy and asked him if he could book me a flight for the next day and he says he has a website that works all the time! So I say yay! Can you book my flight and he says only between 9 and 6. AGAIN ANNOYING!! So I tell him in a really annoyed way that I am trying to find a website where I can BOOK a flight.

I mean, imagine having a website that works all the way up until taking your credit card details but fails to make the booking and doesn't explain that it is because of actual office hours!! INDIA!!!!!!!!

Luckily in the end I found another website that worked AND I could book a ticket!!!

Rest of train journey and Varanasi!

orna — Wed, 9 Nov 2011 16:43:00 GMT

So the rest of my train journey involved Indian men sleeping in the birth below me who would invariably make very loud and revolting burps and other strange unpleasant noises - I should have recorded it. It also involved me reading a very sad and dramatic book which made me use up all my precious tissues that I needed for the toilet!! This book however did get me through the 17 hr train journey - I don't know what I would have done without it!

Turns out I also could have had a very near miss of my station because I got confused with the 24 hour time (can't believe I got confused about 24 hour time!!) and assumed that my scheduled arrival time of 20:00 meant 10pm. Meanwhile, it gets to 7:40pm and I suddenly realise that 20:00 is 8pm not 10pm!!! And I'm thinking whoa I'm lucky cause you need to judge where you are by the time as there are no announcements on the train.

Luckily, I spoke to some Turkish travellers who had been looking out the train door at EVERY stop to check the stations and so they knew that we were actually 40 mins delayed by this time. Meanwhile, we didn't end up getting into Varanasi until 10:30pm anyway so turns out it wouldn't have been a problem if I'd continued to think that 20:00 was 10pm!!

So, on arrival at this train station that I've been told is in Varansi, I get told by the taxi driver that comes up to me that Varansi is actually a further 1.5 hrs away!!! So I get in his car and his crazy driving ends up causing a stop in traffic and a verbal fight between him and another driver!! And he laughs and says, "is my driving good?" and I respond "um, it's a little scary!!!". Luckily I survived to tell this tale and he dropped me off safely to the closest point that we could get to by vehicle (which meanwhile ended up being 20 mins later, not 1.5hrs as he had said!). Then he carried my backpack the 5-10mins that it took to walk through these tiny alleys to get to the guest house (which is a little dingy but has an amazing view of the ganges at their rooftop restuarant).

Next day I get up and make my way through the alleys to the nearest ghat - Lalita Ghat. And of course I am greeted by a man who tells me he will show me the way along the ghats and he is no guide and wants no money from me (and I'm thinking, yes perhaps no money but I'm sure he has his brother's shop etc etc). So I wonder across with him to the adjasant ghat which happens to be the one where they burn the bodies - talk about an introduction first thing to Varanasi!! It was actually really difficult to get across to this ghat and my "not guide" actually helped because there was so much I don't know what on the ground - water, mud and who knows what!! We had to find stones to step across!! I have never felt before that I may be walking through the most infected muck of my life!!

So we get to the burning body ghat and of course there are more people there waiting to talk to me to get money. And of all things what are they pointing out to me??????? "So there's a dead body, there's an arm in the fire and there's a leg" and I say "YES I CAN SEE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU DON"T NEED TO BE POINTING THIS OUT TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!! It was full on enough as it was without them having to litterally point out to me what was inexplicably obvious!!! So one guy started telling me things I know already and I kept saying I know, I know and then he says, "ok now you give donation to the old people" and I say "I'll do as I please thank you very much!" So this annoyed him! But he left... :)

It is near impossible in India to just sit alone - some Indian person will always be next to you talking - either giving you information which you didn't ask for (which they want money for) or asking, "which country?" before listing off a number of cricket people who I assume are Australian. And of course I'm supposed to be interested in this conversation. Then they always ask if I am married (which of course I say yes to) and then where is my husband (which I alternate to him either being back at the guest house or at home in Australia cause he wasn't able to get any time off work). I can hardly ever get a moment to myself!!

However occasionally you do learn a thing or two from the spontanious guides including that they apparently burn 200-300 bodies in Varansi everyday and they are burning day and night (which means that right now just around the corner from my guest house this is what is happening). But surprisingly there was no stench!

After experience at the burning ghat I kept walking along the river (of course with my "not guide" guiding me) and after a bit I asked him, "don't you need to be by your boat in case there are people wanting a boat ride?" and he says no his brother is there and he has free time now. It can be incredibly frustrating when they want to talk to you all the time!!! And I couldn't even understand what he was saying half the time anyway. All he kept saying was, "I am not guide. I do not want money. Money come and go." He could talk and talk without me saying a word!!!

So we walked along the ghats where some people were bathing, washing clothes and having a massage. And of course there are cows everywhere, and goats too. Actually there was even a cow on the train station platform when I arrived...I haven't seen that before... It must have travelled up and down a lot of sets of stairs to get there just so it could eat the rubbish in the bins!

So after maybe 1.5 to 2 hrs of walking along the ghats with no shade relief and me dripping with sweat and my "not guide" pointing out that I am very tired, I leave him and walk a bit through the the little alleys. Of course this wasn't until after he enlightened me about his brother's handicraft craft which I can come and look at! Of course! And I say no, I'm not interested and leave! Now these alleyways are seriously filled with cows and cow poo and it is impossible not to step in some at some point - everyone had and so it is spread everywhere anyway!! And I was pretty good at shooing away the boys who talked about good karma - SO annoying!!!

***

I just had a most infuriating phone call from Vodaphone that went something like this:

Vodaphone(V) - Hello I am calling from Vodaphone to see how your internet is going

Me: It's still not working

V: No I am calling about your internet

Me: Yes it's still not wroking. I'm getting error messages 691 and 678

V: So is your problem resolved?

Me: Of course it's not if it's still not working!

V: So can you tell me if you are getting error messages

Me: Yes, 691 and 678.

V: So that is 691 and 678

Me: Yes

v: So where are you now?

me: Varanasi

V: No where are you now?

Me: Yes Varansi!

V: So I would like to meet with you. Where can we meet?

Me: I don;t know, you tell me

V: When are you coming back to Jaipur?

Me: I'm not coming back to Jaipur

V: No, when are you in Jaipur?

Me: I will not be coming back to Jaipur!

V: Oh, well I guess we can't meet.

Me: So are you going to fix my internet? Because I paid for internet and it hasn't been working.

V: Are you still having problems?

Me: Yes!!

V: Ok you call me after some time and I'll look at it.

***

So I can bet he won't be looking into it!!! Frustrating!!! I think they employ many millions of people in India to do VERY inefficient work!!!

So thats pretty much it for update number 1 in Varansi!

Train journey to Varanasi

orna — Wed, 9 Nov 2011 16:40:00 GMT

As I write this entry I am sitting on the upper birth of an Indian train leaving Agra on an epic 17 hr journey to Varanasi. It is 5:25am and I am due to arrive in Varanasi at 10pm. In the upper birth there is no window to the outside so I can't even see the scenery as we travel across the country. I hope I survive this journey.

So, I haven't written about the last of my time in Pushkar which really was really nice - the beginning of the camel fair meant that many people came to Pushkar from Jaiselmer to I guess trade camels but also make money through music, dancing, getting their children to perform circus acts, making henna tatoos (mendi) and getting dressed up for photos and then asking for money in exchange. The people watching was absolutely exhilarating - similar to my time in the north of vietnam. The people from Jaiselmer are so different to those of other places of India - they almost seem a bit arabic and they wear very elaborate nose rings! I wish I could have gone around just taking pics of all the different nose rings! And the circus acts and dancing and music were amazing - though there was an undercurrent of something a little sinister as it wasn't the same as say Australia where children and women have the choice to run away with the circus because it is their dream - for these women and children it is one of their only options to make money as they don't get an education and they didn't seem to really actually enjoy performing and it seemed to be more about the money which was a little sad.

But I think I definately chose n interesting time of year to come to Pushkar as this is the time when all the Sadhus make a pilgramage to Pushkar so you see some very interesting scenes. One night I was sitting eating falafel by the road in the village and there was a Hari Krishna chant going over the loudspeaker and this sadhu who seemed a little off the planet just stood there facing the loudspeaker enchanted by the chant and making gestures. It was really funny how enchanted and off the planet he was! (I have some photos and a video of him).

Also one night I went with some women from my guest house to the ghats one night at sunset when they were putting candles all around and it was really beautiful. I also managed to get some unauthorised photos of the ghats before a policewoman stopped me (it is prohibited to take photos at the ghats).

Though I did have another not so good experience with the puja by the ghats - I went down to the ghat just to sit and was acosted by a young guy who had tried to get me to do puja with him the first night I arrived. He saw me as I went to just go sit by the ghat and he immediately put some flower petals in my hand which in hindsight I wish I had just dropped on the floor because as soon as I had them in my hand he was pushing me to make puja with him telling him I couldnt go to the ghat without making puja and then an old guy saw us and told me I had to do it too and I HAD to throw the petals in the ghat (which is the beginning of the puja) and I said that I had just done it yesterday and I show him my peice of holy string around my wrist and he looks at it and argues that it is old as if he doesn;t believe that I just did it yesterday!! So they made me do puja with the young guy while I just wanted to get away and then of course there was the push to pay lots of money for good karma and the whole thing was just really crap and I told him he was pushy and was not a good guy and he argued that he is not pushy and I argued back. After that I felt really crap about the whole thing and had a debrief with some other tourists.

Then crazily the next day at the guest house I see him walking in and out and I ask Rani if she knows him and she says he is her nephew!!! And I tell her I had a really bad experience with him doing puja with me and she said other people had said the same thing to her!! She said in his defense he has an extremely pushy mother who makes him go and work at the ghats to get money for her. Apparently he is very smart but is not going to school because of his mother making him work at the ghat. So, thats the story...very annoying but understandable if he has a mother like that...but still NOT ok!!! And again of course he says that I must give 30-40 dollars or euros - so this is the standard request for good karma!!! Otherwise the starting price if I wasn't going to give that was 1000 rupees (equivalent to $20) - of course I didn't give that...but crazy I tell you!!

Then on my last day I decided to get up and go to the camel fair at sunrise as I had been told that it is a must. So up I get at 5:15am to start walking through the village at 5:45am. I wasn't feeling so great cause I could still taste the falafel from the night before but on I trudged with another girl from the guest house. So here I am expecting a sunrise similar to the one I saw in the dessert in Jaiselmer but no, no amazing sunrise at all!! Bloody annoyed I was!!! Was definately not worth the early morning rise and sick feeling so I was sooooooooo happy to come back to bed for a few hours before needing to check out.

All in all, Pushkar was my saviour - I had been feeling really down and Pushkar really lifted me up (apart from the crap experiences). I guess the cicusy stuff was really my thing and the place was genrally much more relaxed than the other places I has been to.

Next stop was Agra to see the Taj Mahal via a 7 hr train journey. I arrived at my hotel at 10pm which I had booked online and which was confirmed. However, on arrival at the hotel the man tells me it is full. So I say, "Don't you reserve rooms for people who book with you?" and he responds that my name is not in their book. No apology - nothing!! Just keeps telling me it's full!! So he walks me over to another hostel where they find a room for me. The room was definately a little manky but at least I found somewhere to sleep at 10 at night in Agra (which was the reason I had originally booked accommodation so I wouldn't have to worry! Ha!).

The next morning I get up early again for sunrise at the Taj Mahal and I was lucky to find it with the dodgy directions I was given at the hostel. The Taj was indeed incredible though I waited and waited for the incredible sunrise to shine on the Taj but it never happened because there was too much fog (and pollution?). I found out later that apparently it is not a good time of year to see sunrise at the Taj Mahal...at least there were less people at this time of day.

Then later on I went up to my hostel's rooftop restaurant which had a view of the Taj Mahal to see the sunset but again no amazing sunset and then surprisingly the Taj wasn't lit up at night! I expected that of all monuments in the world to be lit up at night that the Taj Mahal would be! Anyway, at least I saw it.

So now I have left Agra and hoping I will actually be able to get out at the right station at Varansi considering that there is no window and I cannot see out!! And of course there are no announcements...I was happy enough to find the right platform at the station because even that was very badly signed - talk about difficult!!!

I still have no plans after my 3 days in Varanasi. I spoke with a travel agent guy to help me sort out my plans but he was so incredibly slow and unhelpful that I decided that it would definately be easier to try to organise it myself rather than go through an agent!! He would say things like "it is very difficult what you are planning" and I would say, "so what do you suggest I do?" and he responds with exactly the same trip I said to him in the first place! Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! And of course it would be good if my inernet connection that I paid for would work so I could plan some stuff on this 17 hr journey but of course it's not working. I mean, why would it work? It's India of course!!!

Photo Link Update - AMAZING PUSHKAR!!!

orna — Sun, 6 Nov 2011 22:47:00 GMT

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150894234305507.745548.844470506&type=1&l=f06f12e5d1

Photo Link Update

orna — Fri, 4 Nov 2011 03:56:00 GMT

Jaiselmer

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150894180515507.745537.844470506&type=1&l=b9b5474441

Udaipur

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150894195650507.745539.844470506&type=1&l=bb09a8e381

Last Leg of Rajastan...

orna — Wed, 2 Nov 2011 03:40:00 GMT

As I write this entry in Word the power is out and I am typing in candlelight. They do not have battery back up here at this guest house so I am lucky I have located my head torch! I must admit that it is also a bit romantic with the candle... Also at this moment right outside my window (I hope there is a window because I haven;t fully checked out what is behind the curtain) there is either someone washing under a tap or having a pee. Either way it sounds very close like they are in my room!! This place is a bit of a hippy place so I wouldn;t be surprised if there is just a curtain with no window or anything else dividing me from whoever is outside!

This place where I will be staying for 3 nights is called Cacha's Garden and it is run by a couple (Indian man, Cacha and Rani his English wife). Rani originally came travelling here 7 years ago and met Cacha who then was a "Holy" man performing "pujas" (prayers) with people down at the holy Ghats here in Pushkar. So Rani did puja with him and ended up staying here and marrying him and now has 2 small children! (I think she has created the name Rani for herself and believe that her birth name may be something quite western like). Now that Cacha is a father and runs this guest house I wonder if he is still a "holy" man? Rani seems like a bit of a hippy - she wears a bindi on her forehead and indian anklets. Her baby is also never in any kind of nappy and they are always holding her - I haven't seen any accidents yet but I wonder if they know when she is about to wee or poo? Hippies... Also I am a little worried as I don't know how many people they have staying here but it seems like there are only 2 toilets to share between all of us!! I'm not looking forward to the shower / toilet que!! And they don't keep toilet paper here so every time I tramp to the toilet I have to bring my own toilet roll! I can't help but wonder if Rani uses toilet paper now that she is living here...? Hmmm, so many questions...

I guess it is kinda nice here though cause all the rooms and tents they have here surround a communal garden so I am forced to mix with people even if I have felt like hiding away for a bit! Honestly I have felt pretty down lately travelling on my own - it's like I meet people and often it's only for a day or night and then we go our separate ways. Also many people I meet I don't particularly want to hang out with. And travelling alone is a lot harder than travelling with someone else.

So just to update you, Jodhpur was a beautiful little city but I wasn't feeling so great. Next stop was Jaiselmer where I did a camel safari spending a night in the desert. I was a bit apprehensive at first cause I remembered how much my bum hurt on the 1/2 hr camel ride I did in Israel, but I thought, well, hopefully this time I will be alright!! Anyway, I don't know how I survived but the pain I experienced was at times unbearable! First 1/2 hr was ok, however the rest of the time it felt like I was being forced to do the splits with someone pushing me into it really hard for hours!! I almost felt like I had to meditate on the pain to turn it into something else so I get through it!! I don't understand how so many people do these things... anyway I ended up having to get off my camel and walk through the desert cause I was in too much pain. And from the height of the camel the bushes doen below looked nice and soft...on the ground it was a different story - THORNS!! No win situation! So I had to brave it and get covered in thorns while leading my camel through the desert. At least the other guy on my camel safari was a nice guy and I liked him! Not often I meet someone I like and am not irritated with!

Anyway, I was finally incredibly relieved to reach our destination for the night on the sand dunes. We had chai and daal and chappatis around a fire. Later it started to get really cold and stupidly I had listened to the tour agent and not brought anything warm with me cause they said I would be provided with everything I needed! Needless to say it got very cold and I was lucky that the guy travelling with me gave me his jumper and socks! (I think he caught a cold that night! Eek..) So I had a very cold sleep but it was still nice being in the desert and waking up to a beautiful sunrise and chai...

Next day as soon as I got back into town I headed with my driver to Udaipur. I had confirmed with him that it was an ok time to go and he was ok with getting in to Udaipur at 10pm after a 12 hr journey. He had said it was all fine but then 10 hrs into the car trip he says the rest of the way to Udaipur is too dangerous to do at night and we must stay the night in his friend's hotel for 2000 rupees. Anyway, I got pissed off and tried to explain that he should have told me earlier that it was unsafe to travel the whole way at night and I would have stayed an extra night in Jaiselmer, and I had already booked accommodation in Updaipur, and 2000 rupees is not in my budget, etc etc but of course he didn;t understand what I was saying and his Indian friends kept getting in the car and telling me that it was "impossible" to go the rest of the way to Udaipur that night. I was getting very annoyed and subsequently called the hotel whom I had booked him with originally and explained the situation and they told me it was not dangerous and they would tell the driver to keep going.

So my driver was complaining that it was another 250km to Udaipur but he would continue if thats what I wanted. Anyway, ten minutes later after we get going again I see a sign saying that Udaipur was 119km away - that was a quick 130km!! And not only that but the rest of the way to Udaipur was on a proper highway with paved roads and no pot holes and a median strip down the middle so if anything it was safer than the other Indian roads we had been travelling on!!

Meanwhile, 2 hrs later we arrived in Udaipur as originally planned (without all the hassle in the between) and I checked into my hotel which I even had to push my driver to find cause he started to say it wasn't possible to find it!! Irritating!! Not possible to travel to Updaipur, not possible to find my hotel...and then he complains that I have found a hotel with no driver facilities - HE is responsible for his car and accommodation and I am responsible for mine!!

So I then spent a day in Udaipur - it was pretty as it is on a lake surrounded by mountains, but apart from that I didn;t have an extra special time... it was particularly crowded at the City Palace - possibly still all the Indian tourists hanging round from Divali and this made it especially stressful and blood boiling i.e. there were incredibly long lines to get around the city palace and the Indians PUSH!! Even though there is NOWHERE for me to go they PUSH!! IRRITATING!!!!!!!!!!!!! And so I push back and give greasies hoping this will have some effect but it does NOTHING!!!!!!! I almost decided I had had enough of the crowds and pushing but then it was too difficult to find an exit anyway. So, I managed to see the City Palace and survive crazily enough. Not only that but when I was originally trying to purchase my entry ticket I had to push the guy to break my note cause I didn;t have any other small notes and it is very difficult everywhere for people to break your big notes. But what can I do if this is what the ATM spits out??? So at first he refuses to sell me a ticket until I push him to give me change!!! And all this while Indian people are trying to push ahead of me! Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Later on I went on a boat trip on the lake which was nice but a bit boring. Then later on I asked a tuk tuk driver to take me to must see places in Udaipur and he took me to 3 very boring places. Only interesting bit was when we passed a fruit and veg market and I stopped to take photos. And then of course at the end of the trip he tells me to pay him what I like and when I give him a good deal (good deal for him cause I am not good with haggling) he argues about the payment - yet the whole time he has been saying he will be happy with whatever I choose to give him! It took me ages in the first place to get him to name a price before I got in the tuk tuk (all he kept saying like they all do is - "You pay me what you like. At the end you see"). Am definately getting over that one!!

Also by this stage my Indian sim card and Indian internet stick had ceased working and when I tried to call Vodafone to get them to fix the problem I was only spoken to in Hindi and then hung up on!! Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. The only thing I had managed to decipher was that I had been barred cause I needed to re-register with a Vodafone store - India has all these rules and regulations about their telecommunications and internet!!!

So, for some reason they managed to get me re-registered for my phone and I am connected again for the meantime (thank g-d). However my internet stick is still not working and when I went to the Vodafone store here in Pushkar (you would never know it's a Vodafone store - it's a small room down an alley with 2 chairs and is not the sort of thing you would come across anywhere else!) they were really bloody annoying and said things like -" your internet stick has no sim in it so thats why it doesnt work" - well how have I been using it then up until now?????? They tell me I only paid for the bit of plastic and I need to buy a sim for it for it to work. Why on earth would I only pay for a bit of plastic that does not actually connect me to the internet??? And then after I tell them I need to recharge my phone they ask me if my mobile has a sim in it - well I was using it until it ran out of credit so it must!!!!!!!!!! Bloody annoying stupid questions!!!!!!!! So they couldn't help me with my internet problem - they could barely help me with recharging my phone and I am sitting there in this little room getting very irritable with them and finally leave!

So, I managed to speak to the guy who I bought the internet stick from and he was trying to figure out the problem and he reckons it may work by tomorrow night... we'll see... Very irritating trying to manage Indian systems!! Being away has also made me feel very happy being connected to my mobile and internet and without these things I am not happy! Rani here has wireless internet but without power it doesn't work...India...

So! This morning I travelled my last leg of Rajastan with my driver from Udaipur to Pushkar. Thank g-d I have left him now, didn't really like him or his attitude or the irritating way he spoke English - he kept using english words but strung together in such a way that totally did not make sense. And I wouldn't have minded if he seemed like a nice and trustworthy person but I didn't like him. So - he is gone! (Even though I still had to tip him!!) And I have now arrived after a VERY hot journey to Pushkar. He almost hit a cow that ran onto the road but luckily everything was ok. I have already seen 2 accidents on the roads...

And now here I am in what is to be Pushkar's biggest festival - a camel fair where apparently a lot of fair things go on - not just camel things. I checked out a bit of the village here tonight - it does have a nice feel about it. I made my way to one of the holy ghats and sure enough a holy man was by my side getting me to do puja with him and then pay him a donation which of course he tried to complain about saying it was not enough if I wanted good karma for me and my family! Ha! The thing is, they never fully explain what kind of ritual they are going to do with you and they never really offer you a choice about whether or not you would like to participate in such a ritual - it seems you cannot just go to the Ghat to have a look - you have to participate in a donation giving ritual! And of course he tells me that people give 30-40 euros or 30-40 dollars and when I say I will donate 200 rupees (equivalent to 4 dollars which can get you quite a bit if you are an Indian in India) he argues that I should pay more and with dollars or euros - I don't even have dollars on me anymore even if I did want to donate with them!! Let alone dollars to donate to this alleged holy man! So I told him that I already do enough in my life that should bring me good karma and I am happy giving 200 rupees and that is that. So then he says, ok give me 300 rupees - 100 for your mother, 100 for father and 100 for sister, and I say no, I'm giving 200 and that is that. Crazy that he actually asked for 30 or 40 dollars/euros!! Cheek I say!

So, I participated in this puja ritual getting dowsed in the holy water from the ghat (which I automatically thought I would need to disinfect myself from), getting flowers put in my hand and the red powder on my forehead, saying a wish and then throwing the flowers back into the ghat, repeating the Hindi puja after him and finally getting a string tied around my wrist. And now this is allegedly going to bring me success (holy man says that I must give him a call when I have obtained success and then I should give another 200 rupees). Also, according to Rani, apparently if I want to reach enlightenment all I need to do is bathe in the holy water of the ghat - wish it were that simple! Does that mean that all the people who have bathed in these ghats are now enlightened?? She said she used to do it all the time before she had her kids - she should be really enlightened by now!

It has now been over an hr and the running (water?) that sounds like it is in my room is still going so I am going to investigate with my head torch...

Ok have investigated and discovered that indeed there is nothing separating me from the lane out the back apart from some metal work that should have glass in front of it but doesn't, and a curtain. As for the running (water?) I could not see where it was coming from...How am I going to sleep through that?? And what is it??? Sounds like a waste of (water?) to me!!

So goodnight from me for now, and maybe at some point I'll be luckily enough to have my internet stick working again so that I can post this entry in my journal!

x Orna

Crazy Diwali to Beautiful Jodhpur

orna — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 01:10:00 GMT

So there are no safety concerns here in India with young boys getting their hands on fireworks - which is very scary!!!

Diwali in Japiur was CRAZY!! It was like machine gun fire going off all night in the street right outside my hotel. And it's not like Australia where you know it is safe, here in India the boys light them on the road no matter who is coming - even me!!! So I'm coming back to my hotel in a cycle rickshaw and one goes off on the road right in front of us and something hit my leg!! I tell you, I was staying inside after that!!

Next day I met my driver to start the drive to Jodhpur. He doesn't really speak any english but he still speaks to me and I have to keep telling him I don't understand!!! Like today on the phone, I was trying to organise that I will meet him tomorrow morning at 8am and he says, "Hello? Yes maam, 8 or 9, hello? please thank you", and I say, "ok, so I meet you at 8" and he says something back that really doesn't make sense and I just hope that it works out tomorrow morning!

So anyway, we got to Jodhpur yesterday afternoon. On the way he showed me his wife and kids but it seemed to me like his "wife" was just some woman on the street who had no relationship to him whatsoever! It was bizarre...it really seemed like she didn't even know him. Maybe she didn't?!

Anyway, 7 hrs later we arrived in Jodhpur. Jodhpur really is the blue city and it is like a fairytale place with its colours and narrow winding lanes and old doors and the people here are genuinely really friendly. A lot of them also like getting their photo taken and pose for you! So it's a very different experience from Jaipur. Maybe it's because it's a smaller city. Anyway, it's photographer's heaven here - everywhere you look is a photo moment, so I just spent some time wondering the narrow lanes today getting lost and taking photos.

Last night the crazy Diwali fireworks were still going off - though this time I was at a rooftop restuarant and the fireworks were being set off by kids and they were exploding so low directly over us that bits of sulfur were landing on us and I kept getting a fright and screaming!! It was crazy! They are still going off now...I wonder when they can't afford them anymore?

So tomorrow morning -> Jaiselmer...

x Orna

Photo Link Update

orna — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:33:00 GMT

Jaipur:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150873298625507.740465.844470506&type=1&l=b3718d3849

Jodhpur

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150880899775507.741977.844470506&type=1&l=63f9a24347

Photo Link Update

orna — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 05:14:00 GMT

The rest of Faridabad

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150845940015507.734847.844470506&type=1&l=922816e4ac

I Survived Delhi!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150856302050507.736858.844470506&type=1&l=5558067f81

Happy Diwali!!

orna — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 03:38:00 GMT

Well I'm happy to say that after a little hippy energertic healing, today was a better day! Actually, after yesterday when I was feeling so crap about all the awful men around, I went to bed and decided to create a good energy bubble around me that will block all the awful energies and only let in good energy! I was very determined that I create this as I knew that otherwise I am not going to have a good time.

And crazily enough, when I reflect on my day, some incredible things have happened! This morning I got a decent auto rickshaw driver who didnt try anything dodgy on me and I was satisfied with him. Then this afternoon I got another auto rickshaw driver to take me to the Raj Majid (the oldest cinema in India) to see a Bollywood film. I told him I would pay him 50 rupees and he didn't ask for more, and then when we arrived at the cinema I didn't have change from 100 and neither did he so I told him just to accept the 100 - and CRAZILY he refused and wouldn't accept anything more than 50 from me even when I insisted he just take the 100!! So he called over a guy selling puppets and we arranged that he would give the driver 50 and I would get change and give the puppet guy back his 50. Incredible!!!

Then on the way back from the cinema, a cycle rickshaw driver also only wanted to accept 50 rupees from me! I really hope this energy healing thing sticks with me!! And it was really nice being cycled back to my hotel on this lovely cycle rickshaw doing good for the environment while at the same time getting to see all the lights of Diwali (Diwali is the big Indian festival that is celebrated in a similar way to christmas - lights everywhere, fireworks and present giving). So tomorrow I arranged to meet him at night so he can give me a tour of Diwali as tomorrow is the big day. So thats nice :)

As for the Bollywood film - well the cinema was gorgeous - like a bigger and grander version of The Orpheum, or something like that. But the film!!! I actually didn;t last the 3 hrs - it was a modern film of course and it was TERRIBLE!!!!!!!! Good for the experience but crazy in terms of what it was showing - it was a film about gangsters and strippers and high class prostitutes where the women wore outfits out of a western porno film - and there were little boys watching this!! None of this over 18 business!! I'm talking 5 year olds watching violence and (almost) sex and blatant objectification of women!!!!! Aaahhhhhhhh!! Unbelievable. And yet in complete contrast, Indian society is extremely conservative and women are definately not supposed to drink etc etc. It doesn;t make sense that they make and love these films which you would think would be frowned upon...I guess this is India! A country of extreems.

And speaking of things I don't understand, when I went this afternoon to find an auto rickshaw driver to drive me to the cinema, I found one guy who took me to his auto rickshaw and told me to get in and then proceeded to ask me a whole lot of questions (whats my name, where do I come from, do I like cricket, etc etc) without even turning the engine on. So after a bit I look at my watch and ask him if we can get going cause I have the movie to watch, and what does he do? He says, "oh, ok" and tells me to follow him back out of the rickshaw and he takes me to another vehicle with a different driver to take me to the cinema! ?? What did he think I was asking him to do??? Quite bewildering really.

Another weird thing is that I was talking to a jewellery shop man and when he found out I was from Australia he said that he has lived in Australia for a bit - and where does he say he lived of all places? Byrne Ave Elwood Melbourne!! (Galit's previous residence!) Weird!!

So, thats been my day and I'm happy to say it has been better!

Re my travel plans, well I did work with the hotel guy yesterday to arrange things but I must say it was one of THE MOST FRUSTRATING experiences!!!!!!!! It took hours because he kept going off on tangents talking about his guru and some temple and everything he had to repeat at least twice!! It was definately a teeth gritting experience!! I kept saying, "ok, good, lets book it now, lets do it" (rather then just talking repeatedly about it) and then by the time he got around to finding train tickets for me the website had closed down because apparently this happens after 11:30pm!! Arrrgggg!! Annoying!

Anyway, the plan is that I get a driver recommended by the hotel to take me from Jaipur to Jodhpur to Jaiselmer to Udaiper and then to Pushkar. Then I make my way to Ajmer where I get a train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Then I will get a train to Varanasi. It's all quite complicated because tickets are booked out months in advance and it's very difficult to get a confirmed ticket (you can go on the waiting list for tickets but you will never know for sure that it will be confirmed and that can stuff up other plans). Accommodation is also often booked out way in advance and so this is complicated too!!

Anyway, after Varanasi I am either going to go straight to Kerala probably by plane, or to Kolkata if I can get a volunteering placement with an organisation that I just found out about called New Light India - http://www.newlightindia.org/AboutNewLight.html check it out. I found out about it from reading the book called "Half the Sky. How to change the world" - which is also a must read because it highlights through personal stories the atrocities that are happening to women and girls in developing countries and how educating them is the solution to so much of the world's problems including terrorism - http://www.halftheskymovement.org/. So, I am going to apply to volunteer with them and see what happens...

Until then, HAPPY DIWALI!!

xxx Orna

CRAZY Jaipur

orna — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:13:00 GMT

So after 2 days in Jaipur I think I am really ready to move on...it is so CRAZY!!!!!! The traffic, the honking, all the men that tell you how good they are and are all just the same as each other.... Actually right now I am a bit over it - I had a man attach himself to me as soon as I left my hotel and he followed me all the way to the Vodaphone shop and hung around for over an hr while I sorted myself out with getting connected to the Indian telecommunications network. At one point he even insisted on standing right next to me as I did my transactions with the Vodaphone staff until I told him to go away.

Actually I'm so tired of it all right now that I can't even be bothered to re tell the story other than it started with him talking about what a good guy he was and how he was just wanting to help me and get good karma and it ended a few hours later in an argument with me telling him he was rude and him protesting! I am so sick of men here attaching themselves to me, telling me how good they are, telling me how I got ripped off on past transactions, showing me their family stores and trying to come on to me. It is VERY tiring!!!!!!!!! And of course when I question whether I should do something due to safety concerns they get defensive!! Arrrrrgggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't met any other travellers yet to hook up with, so currently it's me alone which is always more difficult. I tell you - these Asian countries are not a good place to try to like men - if only there were female taxi / auto rickshaw / cycle rickshaw drivers I would be a happy person! But India has a long way to go before its women are fully empowered.

Right now I am waiting for a man at this hotel to help me to sort out my travels in India - it's actually much harder to travel here than South East Asia in terms of getting around and even getting a seat confirmed on the train! So hopefully this hotel man can help me but I'm not keeping my hopes high!!!

Anyway, well see what (good - hopefully) adventures await me!

Jaipur

orna — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:12:00 GMT

I have successfully arrived in Jaipur! Though of course it wasn't without some confusion... Firstly I arrived at New Delhi Train Station to get my train and found out that even though my ticket said I departed from New Delhi Station I actually needed to go to Old Delhi Station (why of course!). Luckily I had enough time to get an auto-rickshaw to Old Delhi and made my way to what hopefully was the right platform and even this was confusing cause the one platform actually has many platforms i.e. platform 6 turns into platform 5 further up the platform - confusing!!!

Then the train ended up being delayed for 1 and 1/2 hrs and this information was hard to obtain as the announcements seemed either to be in Hindi or unintelligible english - I could only ever make out the last part - "we apologise for any inconvenience caused" - which would always make me worried about what I was missing!!

Anyway, I was kinda stressed cause I knew when the train did come I would have to rush to find my correct coach to board and I just wanted to know in advance where abouts to stand but this wasn't possible.

So for about 2 hrs I waited on the platform and had to endure the horrible stench of urine, flies and ants...

FINALLY the train arrived and I have to say I thought 2nd class would seem a bit nicer...it generally gave off the old and dirty vibe. Though of course this would have been nothing compared to the sleeper compartments where most of India sit on hard benches for hours on end with no air con.

So, about 7 hrs later I arrived in Jaipur. Even this was confusing cause there are no announcements to announce what the station is and it is only rarely that you manage to see a sign with the station name! I knew I could very easily totally miss the station. But I didn't!

And now I'm here in my budget hotel! It's quite strange to be here alone after spending the 2 weeks with the family. And there is no wifi here which means I am even more isolated :( Though I'm happy to be on the road again. However, whilst in Faridabad I managed to get a bit of a cold - I think probably to do with the pollution and being around the slum school kids who are often sick. Actually the pollution and dust here is so intense I can feel it in my throat!! The sun sets in such a bright red colour - absoluntely beautiful but also a sign of the pollution. Around Faridabad it was just so hazy - crazy! I asked a guy here what happens to people with asthma and he said they are in hospital and have great difficulty breathing!! So I'll be happy if the feeling of pullution in my throat subsides...

Well, I guess thats about it for now...

x Orna

And a few more comments from the mysogonist...

orna — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:05:00 GMT

Just to be sure that he is a mysogonist, here are the 2 latest comments from him (and mind you this is from a man who claims he has been a CEO for Disability Services Australia which makes you think that if this is the attitude of the CEO, imagine what kind of culture he encourages...)

Scenario 1:

He asks the Indian father here - Shri if he likes any other sports besides cricket and Shri says he also likes hockey. The mysogynist responds with, "hockey?!?! Thats a girl's game! Are you a girl?!"

Scenario 2:

One of the young male volunteers here was helping out with serving dinner and the mysogonist comments, "wow, aren't you a good waitress".

Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone help me to think of a smart comment to make to him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What to do when you are living with a mysogonist?

orna — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:48:00 GMT

So, one of the volunteers here is an Irish Australian man who is probably in his 50's and I believe that he is an underlying mysogonist. Of course, this would be big news to him and of course something he would argue against, but I think I can safely say that he is a mysogonist with the kinds of comments and "jokes" that come out of his mouth. Not only that, but he is the kind of person who when he found out I was Jewish responded with "they say that Jews are thrown out of school because they weren't 'paying' attention". It's only these kind of people who say these "jokes" that have an underlying anti semitism. He is not my friend so it is innappropriate that he say these kind of things - and of course he is just the kind of man that would respond with - "You have to be able to laugh at yourself!" Rrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!

So, these are things that make him a mysogonist:

1. If I have helped to make the salad he comments sarcastically, "Ohhhhhh, thank you so much for slaving over the hot stove to make this salad"

2. He always "jokes" sarcastically with Mamta (the woman in this house) thanking her for her cooking in a way which reeks of mysogony

3. He has never helped out in the kitchen or offered to

4. I have never seen him clean up his dirty floor in the bathroom

5. He takes charge of the classroom in a patriarchal kind of way and then calls us women "girls"

6. He likes to direct rather than consult

7. He always serves himself food and never once serves anyone else

And, um, thats all I can think of at the moment! But really, everthing he does reeks of the patriarchy and mysogony and I feel he is actually quite a nasty man on the inside... rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So I will be spending another day and a half with him and hopefully I will be getting on the train to Jaipur on Saturday (however I am currently on the waiting list of 17 people...)

And to top it off, the 23 year old american girl is totally oblivious to his mysogony and she puffs up his ego with comments on how great he is!! rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

* * *

I just went out to have lunch - awkward! It was just me, the girl and the mysogonist and I think the mysogonist is ignoring me now! Well I guess I'm not intersted in engaging with him anyway so I suppose this is no problem. Only thing is I wish I could think of something smart to say to him to put him in his place. I already told him when he came out of the bathroom that he is welcome to change the bin and he responded with, "Why?" and I said, "Because it's full!" and he says, "I've already changed it before!" and I said, "So have I!".

Hmmm, so I think we do not like each other! For this reason I cannot wait to get away... I hope I get on that train to Jaipur!! The other life saver though has been 4 new volunteers that have arrived (though unfortunately they have gone to Delhi this afternoon but will be back tonight). They are from South Africa and they are 2 adults who are taking two high school kids to do the week of volunteering in India as part of an adventure coaching excersise. I'm sooooooooo relieved to have other people here!!

So, for now, I am biding my time I guess until I leave here... Only this afternoon and tomorrow with the kids from the slum school...

xxx Orna