Hi,

I had a horrible night’s sleep in Bundi and woke up feeling rubbish! Unfortunately we had to catch a local train to our next destination – Bijaipur. We got on the train and woke a bloke up who was lying across the bench like seats and got him to sit up as the train was packed. The seats are made for 4 people, but some had over 6 people on them! As I wasn’t feeling great the confined space and the hard seats were not good so I decided to climb up into the luggage rack and lie down. I can’t say that it was very comfortable (there were some slats missing!) but at least I had some personal space!! As Vinit the tour leader says “there is no space for personal space in India”!

We arrived at our destination after 4 long hours. Pauline wasn’t feeling great either – I think we both had had too much sun the day before – so the 45 minute drive to the hotel/castle couldn’t go fast enough for us!

We arrived at the hotel which was actually quite plush and both Pauline and I retired to our room. Unfortunately the electricity supply was irregular so the air cooling system didn’t work (there was no air con in our room, just an air cooler and a fan) – I can tell you that this didn’t help the situation given it was about 45 degrees! Anyway after 2 quiet days spent doing very little I was feeling much better, and Pauline was slowly improving (although she had to call out a doctor when we got to Udaipur).

One thing Pauline and I did do whilst we were staying in the small town of Bijaipur was visit a primary school. We learned that education is free for all children, however the government found that many people sent their kids on the first day to get their uniform and shoes and they never went back (they were more useful helping at home). To help this situation the government send the school money to provide the children with their midday meal every day – this is good if the money is actually spent on good food!

Anyway the school was fairly like a child care facility. The kids were running around keen to have their photos taken. In fact they pushed other kids out of the way so that they could have their photos taken individually! We were taken around the classrooms, and the kids recited some English rhymes. I’m not sure whether they understood what the words actually meant or not but it was cute. I tried to teach them the rhyme “heads, shoulders, knees and toes”!!

After two nights in Bijaipur we drove to Udaipur, supposedly the most romantic city in India! It is also the place where lots of the movie Octop**** was filmed.

Whilst Pauline saw the doctor me and the rest of the group went on a tour of the main palace in Udaipur. It is very pretty with great views of the palace where Octop**** was filmed – unfortunately there is very little water around the palace now though.

That day we also went for a demonstration in miniature painting. Given my mum’s artistic talents I decided to sign up for a painting class the very next day! In the mean time however we went to see a cultural dancing display. When it first started I wondered what on earth we had been brought to. The first act included a man dressed as a woman in a red dress riding around on a man who was crawling on floor dressed as a horse!! Very weird. Luckily things got a bit better – or at least more normal for India i.e. women dancing in Sari’s with mini cymbals, and a woman dancing with numerous pots on her head!

The next day me and the girls got up early to go for breakfast. Unfortunately we arrived at the cafe about 30 minutes after it had opened so of course it had run out of virtually everything on the menu!! Oh – the ways of India!! Luckily I could still get a slice of toast, so I was able to make it to the painting lesson with Sara.

We decided that we would paint an elephant at the lesson. The lesson was actually a man with pre-prepared steps that we had to follow:
1. Draw an elephant.
2. Outline it in orange paint
3. Paint different parts different colours
4. Go around the outlines in black ink
5. Add details

All this was done with brushes made from camel eyebrows and chipmunk tails! It took me about 3 hours to paint my elephant, whilst Sara was able to paint both an elephant and a camel. Anyway I was pleased with the result and may even frame it when I get home!!

Pauline and I decided to explore the bizarres that afternoon. We found that many of the bizarres weren’t very touristy so we didn’t end up buying much. But it was very interesting walking along the busy streets and seeing the different types of shops and stalls. For example there was one shop that just sold types of string and rope!!! Ha ha!!

We had a 5 am start for our journey to Pushkar the next day so we had a quiet night.

That’s all for now! Only Pushkar and Delhi to go now.

Louise x.