Oh my god like so much has happened since leaving Mumbai!! Got out of there with many fond memories but still reeling from dry day saga - took 12 hour sleeper train to Aurangabad - getting used to these train rides now. Sleep in bunk which does not leave room for sitting up or streching out and only position possible is foetal which leaves you with one numb leg after a few hours. Arrive Aurangabad early morning 4.15am and hang out in waiting room til sunrise before getting retiring room at station for next day - just 50r (60p or something!) ok despite funky smell from bathroom and warning that bags should be kept in lockers due to possible theft from room!! Oh well u get what u pay for . . . Decide to fight sleep and get to Ellora Caves. Plan to get bus but when we arrive at station decide to splash out and get a rickshaw but when our driver stops, turns round and seems to be asking us for directions in Hindi we jump ship and decide on bus again! Head once again to station and again get cornered by rickshaw driver this time who speaks English and bears a canny resemblance to Marky Mark (ding dong!) We jump in paying more money than the last but so infatuated by his rugged good looks we would pay a million ruppees!!
Have decided that many of our decisions made over here are determined by the fitness of the Indian guys - bigger tips to good-looking rickshaw drivers (in hope of possible marriage proposal maybe!), dining in restaurants with fit waiters etc . . .How sad are we and i thought it was men who thought with their sex!!
Adopt craned-neck position in rickshaw car to see the sights along the way and arrive Ellora - beautiful Buddhist, Hindu, Jaion temples but we apparantly are the main attraction and get mobbed by way friendly Gujarat tourists all day - asking for photo, signature, hand shake. WOW fame is great!
Cave 16 is incredible and so worth visiting - intricate, colourful designs which just blow you away!
Leave Ellora and head to poor mans Taj Mahal where again we are the star attractions - we felt so tired this morning but after all these friendly vibes you can't help but have a great day. Mess around with kids and pose for loads more photos - think me and Annie will be in half of Indias photo albums after today!
Chill on rooftop at retiring rooms in the evening - 1000s of starlings come into roost nearby and Muslim prayers ring out from the nearby mosque as the sunsets - another beautiful day here in India.
Up and out next day to get 5hr bus ride to Lonar Meteorite Crater. Ride is a bumpy one and at its busiest point me and Annie look like backpacks with legs, arms and a head as we are forced to shove them on our laps. Again many curious stares and chats with people on bus.
At toilet stop have to brave bogs as my world record attempt at holding a wee in for 5 hrs is so not gonna work . It is like scene from a horror movie - staming piles of turd with flies swarming over it and the knowledge that me weeing on it will release the most vile smell in the world. Oh well get the hell on with and out of there. Smell stops about 10m from block and kids approach me to say hi. When i take my seat back on the bus they come to the window and i hand out some english pennies (good show and tell items for school!) and one kind boy hands me an "Indian Penny' (1r). What amazing generosity - that 1r is probably worth alot to him - it is a keepsake i will treasure forever xx Sign autographs and write addresses on paper for them - weird though that kids in a small village between Aurangabad and Lonar will now know of Milton Keynes and hopefully with a little internet help will even know about our concrete cows!!
Arrive Lonar and stay at MTDC resort - treated so well although guy who welcomes us is a psycho who introduces himself twice onece as Mitch and once as ALan (?!?!?) See sunset and amazing night for stars then take walk in morning to bottom of cliff - a very special place and my wildlfie higlhight of the trip - nesting parrots, ducks, monkeys, funnel spiders and views to die for.
Leave Lonar to get to Varkala - South Kerala. 2 1/2 days on train - what a trip - meet fab Indian family who share their meal with us oin the train - curd rice, lemon rice etc all eaten with my hand gettignquite good at this now! Uncle also has so many tales to tell us including the entire script of Jaws 1 and 2 - priceless!!
Arrive Varkala and find a haven just like Goa - bars, restaurants, sea views and many white faces (they have been scarce for a while!!) Stay at great place near helipad where we finally get to wash after 3 or 4 days (we were pure filth!) Then hit the bars of course -
Turns out Tim Bob is about here too - miss him on first night but finally met up last night - yeah he is just one of us and we party til the early morning with waiters who like to walk on the beach with drunk foreigners (no chance!) and have winegate (tried to charge 450r for glass of wine - on yer bike dude!) Meet Norwegian/Indian dude and some English girls who love Annie stories - she is the life and soul of the party!! Nutter!!
Yoga on rooftop this morning and now off for a dip in the sea - I LOVE OCEAN!!
Gotta go now have been on this comp for ages . . . . Love and hugs xxx
