The 1st bus ride was ok. The seats were comfy and there was AC in the bus. It was an overnight journey and I managed to sleep for a few hours. I was just hungry after missing dinner and all I had with me was a bag of crisps. I arrived in Delhi at 7am. I was given the name of the place I needed to go to in order to catch the bus to Jaipur. As soon as I got out of the 1st bus, I was surrounded by rickshaw drivers. I told them where I needed to go to, and the price they were quoting me was way above the going rate. They were also telling me that the place was too far away, and saying that the next bus from there wasn’t until 11.30 (it turns out that they were lying, but I didn’t realise it at the time). They said that there was a nearer place I could get the bus from and the next bus would be leaving soon so I agreed to get on that bus. I just wanted to get to Jaipur as soon as possible as this was the last day I had to get my passport before my flight tomorrow. I think I was a bit intimidated being on my own there, surrounded by all the aggressive drivers telling me what I should be doing. I had no idea where the place I had been told to go was, and how often the buses left so all I had to go on was what I was being told. The driver took me to a travel centre to buy the ticket, and it was so expensive! I figured out at that point that the drivers must get a cut of the ticket price for bringing people here and that’s why they were being so pushy. Still, I had no idea how much the ticket would be for the other bus and didn’t have time to start going back so I paid and headed for the bus. I figured it would be worth it if it meant not missing my flight. I got in the bus, and it was horrible! The seats were broken, and there was no AC. I started getting worried for the journey. I couldn’t believe that I had paid more for this than I paid for the overnight bus which was so much nicer! We left 45 mins later, and I just hoped it would be over soon. It wasn’t! It turns out that I was on a slow bus which seemed to stop in all the nearby villages on the way to Jaipur. It took 9 hours for what should have been a 5 hour journey! I couldn’t even listen to music or watch a movie as I was afraid to get my iPod or Kindle out due to the dodgy-looking types on the bus. I was just looking at my watch the whole journey worrying about what time I would get there. At one point, the windscreen at the front of the bus smashed in! Glass went flying everywhere and a few people got hurt. The bus had to pull over for 30 mins while they tried to clean up all the broken glass. It really was a nightmare journey! I got to Jaipur at 4.15pm, and got a rickshaw to the volunteer house. By the time I got there, it was almost 5pm. I had been on the road for 21 hours! I called the guy in charge who had been helping me sort out the visa and was instructed to get a rickshaw to an address he gave me, and meet his friend who would take me on his motorbike to the visa office. I had never ridden a motorbike before so was a bit apprehensive. I grabbed a helmet and left to meet his friend. I got on his motorbike, and we headed off to try and make it to the office in time. On the way back to Jaipur, I was so fed up, I kept thinking I’m ready to leave this place but there was something about riding on the back of a motorbike through India that was exhilarating and all of a sudden, I was back to loving it again! This was my last night here, and I was just taking it all in. I got my passport back, and headed back to the house. A car was heading to Delhi from the volunteer house at 11pm to take everyone’s suitcases back to them for the last day so I followed the car back, met up with the rest of my travel group, and got the flight leaving Delhi later that day! I was sad to leave India. I’ve loved it here. It is incredibly crazy, there’s no doubt about that. But there is so much to love – the culture, music, clothes, dancing, food, and people! During my 6 weeks here, I have ridden an elephant, ridden a camel, eaten amazing food, seen the Taj Mahal, trekked up the Himalayas, danced on the India Pakistan border, but most importantly, I have met some amazing people who I have tried to have some sort of impact on, but who have no doubt impacted me more! Goodbye India, thanks for having me!

Next stop…Cambodia!

I got out of bed at around 8am as breakfast was ready. I wasn’t expecting much given the lack of running water and electricity, but they had made some porridge, toast with jam, a boiled egg, and we had some bananas. Everyone in the house woke up over the next hour and got ready. We left the house as soon as everyone was ready, and after just a few seconds of walking, my left knee was in agony! Every time I moved it! I knew that this was gonna be a long day! We still had a lot to walk down that morning. I stayed at the back with the guide and tried to take it as slowly as I could, trying to figure out how to walk down without bending the knee. That combined with my trainers that kept slipping didn’t help! The guide was helping me a lot, taking my hand to make sure I didn’t fall, but it was still tough. The pain was getting worse. Coming down involved a lot of jumping down from rocks and walking down steps so I was putting more and more pressure on it. I started crying from the pain and asking myself why I was putting myself through this! The guide kept asking if I wanted to stop and take a rest but I just wanted to keep going and get it over with so I could get down to base camp and rest my leg. It took me around 3 hours, but I finally made it down to the camp! I sat down trying to hold back tears from the relief! We had lunch, and then I just rested for a few hours. I lay in bed with my leg raised. I got a little bit of phone signal down there so let my family know it was ok and sent a quick email to the organisers to ask about my passport. We had sent it off to get the visa extended just a week prior and we should have got it back by now but we hadn’t yet the last time I asked. They replied a few minutes later saying there were problems and they needed the details of my flight leaving India. I sent the details and waited to hear the outcome. Dinner was served shortly after. I had just had the 1st mouthful when I got a call to say that I needed to pack my things and leave right away to head back to Jaipur as I have to be there in person to collect my passport. I quickly started throwing my things into my bag. The last bus was leaving soon so it was a real rush. I said bye to my group hoping I would get to see them again in Delhi on Saturday morning when we fly out, and headed to the bus station. I started getting emotional on the journey, just from the stress of the day. All I wanted to do was rest and instead I was forced to say goodbye to the people I had spent the last 3 weeks with and rush out in the hope of getting my passport back before my flight. I had a long journey ahead with a 12 hour bus ride to Delhi followed by a 5 hour bus ride to Jaipur. I just managed to catch the bus to Delhi with a few seconds to spare.

Here are some photos of the trek:

We were woken up at 6.45 the next morning so got dressed and headed out for breakfast. Breakfast was pretty substantial – porridge, toast, an omelette, and banana. We were given our lunch to take with us, and a sleeping bag and a thin mattress, and then we had to take the things we needed for the journey – raincoat, umbrella, water bottle, camera, and then a change of clothes and overnight things as we would be staying up in the mountains overnight. It was quite a lot to carry given the long hike. We set off at 8.45. The 1st 10mins were really hard, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to do it but then it got a bit easier, I think my body started getting used to it. It was extremely tiring though. We had to keep having regular breaks to catch our breath. It was very hard to breathe up there, plus it was very steep. We were pretty much climbing up rocks constantly. And right by the edge of the cliff. Its definitely the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done! Being in a group helped though. I think I would have given up pretty early on if I was on my own. We got to Triund at lunch time after 4 hours of trekking which was where we would be spending the night. There were 2 rooms with beds, so we could have 4 people in each bedroom, and then the rest of us would be sleeping out in the communal area on the floor. I opted for that as I couldn’t deal with 4 in a bed for a 2nd night. The place had no electricity or running water! There was an outside toilet nearby, but we were told it would be easier to just pick a tree and go there! We had lunch which was very substantial – a big portion of rice, potatoes and vegetables, a large piece of bread, a chocolate bar, and a small packet of biscuits. We were all starving though so managed to finish it all! We were then given the option to carry on trekking for an additional 2 hours to get the snow line which most of us wanted to do. It was a hard 2 hours but we made it eventually, it was a bit of an anti climax though, we were expecting to see snow and an amazing view but there was nothing! It was very foggy so we couldn’t really see anything from there. And then it started raining! We were then told it was an extra hour and 20mins to get to the glacier at the top and asked if we wanted to go. After coming up this far, it didn’t seem so much further and we really wanted to end the trek with a spectacular view to make it all seem worth it so most of us decided to keep going. It was incredibly tough. We were all so tired and our legs were so weak and this was the steepest part of the trek! And the rain wasn’t helping. We got there though, our guide pointed out the snow but it was too foggy to see it well. It didn’t really seem worth the extra walk, but I was glad to know that I had made it to the top! I really never imagined that I would! We got up to 3600 metres up.
Then was the walk back down to Triund where we were staying. Walking down was very hard! Not exhausting like walking up, but just hard walking down the steep rocks, trying hard not to fall. And the trainers I was wearing were pretty bad! We were recommended to bring trekking boots but I had already left the country when I got that email plus I wouldn’t have had space to take them. I had bought some cheap trainers from the markets in Agra thinking they would get pretty wrecked on the trek so I could just throw them away afterwards and I thought they had decent grip on them, but it was quickly apparent that they weren’t good enough. I kept slipping on the wet rocks and the mud so was walking very slowly so I don’t fall and break anything! I got back to Triund after a couple of hours and it was the quietest evening we’ve had! You could just see that everyone was completely exhausted! At around 8pm, we started making arrangements for sleeping! I didn’t sleep well that night either. The floor was so hard, I just couldn’t get comfortable. So it was a long night! I listened to music for a bit and just stayed lying down to give my body some rest.

We left the hotel in Amritsar at 10am to start a 6 hour drive to Dharamsala where we have our base camp. We’re going to be trekking up the Himalayas for the next 2 days! We drove up to 2000metres right by the cliff. It was pretty scary. One of the cars was having problems and started rolling back at one point! The drivers all congratulated each other when they reached the camp and said thank God! The base camp was better than I was expecting. There were 5 bedrooms between the 15 of us, and we had running water and electricity. The views of the mountains from there were brilliant. Especially when the sun set. The guy who was looking after us there was nice. He kept bringing us food and chai. The only downside was that there were insects everywhere! So everyone was pretty scared about how we would sleep that night. And it was a bit cold but it was better weather for hiking. We hung out for a few hours and then went to sleep. I didn’t sleep at all that night! It was freezing cold in the night and I didn’t have good enough clothes for the cold. And we had 4 people in the bed so it was hard getting enough of the blanket to stay warm.

We left the hotel at 10am to go to visit the Golden Temple. It is a Sikh Temple so we all had to cover our heads. It is a beautiful temple, actually made of gold! My scarf kept falling off and I was worried that I would get shouted at! Also it was baking hot! We were all pouring with sweat! We walked around for a while, people kept staring at us and laughing which was a bit off-putting. We then headed to a mall for lunch and shopping. It felt so amazing getting in a car with AC after being in the baking heat for a couple of hours.

After lunch, we walked around a bit and then headed back to the hotel to chill out a bit. At 4.30pm, we left to drive to Wagah border, the India Pakistan border! We were all a bit apprehensive about what it would be like there. I think a few people were worried that it might be a bit dangerous. We parked and then walked down for 10mins. There were a few security checks on the way. We could only bring our passport, phone, camera (with no case) and water bottle. No handbags. I was assured by all the checks. There was a line for the guys where there were hundreds waiting and a line for the girls which was practically empty. I think that’s the 1 advantage I’ve seen as a woman here – getting through queues quicker as you barely see any woman here, its strange! While driving around, its rare to see women on the street. I guess they’re all at home looking after the children maybe. After we went through security, we got split off into a line for Indian residents and another line for foreigners and VIPs! Which was interesting! We got our passports checked, and were then taken to our seats. I heard they have a ceremony here so was keen to see what was going to happen. We were sitting waiting for it to start and were all just pouring with sweat! It was so hot and humid! I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life! The ceremony started with marching and music. It was really cool. We could see across to the Pakistan side of the border and they were having their own ceremony there but there were only a few people on their side. The India side was packed! Everyone was so happy! After around 30mins, they started playing really loud Bollywood music and all the Indian girls went down to the floor and were dancing. Some of the Western girls went down and joined in the dancing. I really wanted to go down and join in but I was holding back. After a few minutes, I just forced myself to go down! You only live once after all! All the Indian girls were grabbing me and dancing with me! I was trying to learn some moves from them. They all wanted to take photos with me! I guess they don’t really get any black girls coming here so I’m somewhat of an attraction! We all carried on dancing for around half an hour. It was so much fun! The last thing I was expecting was to be having a party on the India Pakistan border! I loved it though, it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far. After the dancing finished, we sat down and the ceremony continued with more marching and cheering. The Indian soldiers were marching up to the gate separating India from Pakistan. The gates then opened and both sets of soldiers were marching together. They then shook hands and then the gates closed and both flags were lowered. It was really cool to watch. After that we went for dinner at a restaurant right by the border and then headed back to the hotel. Here are some pictures and videos from the day.

Movie 1

Movie 2

We left the hotel at 6am to head to the Taj Mahal. We drove for a few mins and then switched to an electric bus which took us to the entrance. I was excited to see it and see if it could actually live up to the hype and it absolutely did! As soon as we walked through, we were just amazed! You just want to stand there and stare at it. It really is stunning! Even after seeing so many photos of it, the photos really don’t do it justice! It is no comparison to seeing it in person. We stayed there for a couple of hours, just walking around trying to take it all in and taking lots of photos. The time we went was nice as it wasn’t too hot or crowded. We headed back to the hotel afterwards for breakfast and then left at 9.45am for a mammoth journey. We 1st drove for 5 hours from Agra to Delhi train station, and then after waiting for an hour and half, we got on a train to Amritsar which took 6 hours! The train journey wasn’t bad though. We were in a 1st class carriage which was pretty similar to the inside of the carriages back in the UK. We’ll be staying in Amritsar for a couple of nights. By the time we got to the hotel there, it was 11pm so a long day of travelling! Here are some pictures of the Taj Mahal!

We left Jaipur at 7am to start the drive to Agra which was pretty long. We had to pack just 1 bag to take with us for the week and leave the suitcases at the house which they’ll bring to Delhi airport on our last day. We made a stop at a place called Step Well in Abhaneri. We got out of the car wondering what we were doing there, we were just in the middle of an Indian village, but then we were led to this place which was actually really cool!

We got to Agra at around 1pm and were pretty starving! We spotted a Pizza Hut on the way to the hotel so decided to go there for lunch. We all seem to really crave western food after eating Indian food twice a day for the last few weeks. The pizza hut was really cool. I got a chicken crown pizza which had pieces of chicken kebab in the crust! Below is a picture of it:

While eating, all of a sudden the music got louder, all the staff got in a line and started doing a synchronised dance! It was pretty funny! We were all clapping along. We thought maybe it was someone’s birthday, but it seems that there was no occasion, its just something they do. Pretty cool! The staff there all seemed so happy and friendly! We started discussing how much they get paid to work there. We were mostly guessing between 100-200 rupees an hour which is the equivalent of £1.20-£2.25 an hour. One of the guys decided to ask one of the managers who informed us that the staff there work 9 hours a day 6 days a week and get between 5,500-6,000 rupees a month, which works out at around 25 rupees an hour, around £0.30. We were pretty shocked! We take out 5,000 rupees at a time when we go to the ATM here. Its crazy to think that it is almost as much as 1 month salary for what would be considered a good job here. After lunch, we went to see Agra Fort which was really cool. Its the 2nd largest fort in India. We could also see the Taj Mahal in the distant from the fort. We went to a market afterwards but weren’t too impressed. Agra is pretty dirty and smelly. It looks like apart from Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal, there isn’t really much else to see. We headed back to the hotel afterwards and just chilled and then went to sleep as we have to be up at 5am tomorrow to see the Taj Mahal. Below are some picture of Agra Fort:

It has now been a month since I left London to start this adventure and what a month it’s been! It actually feels like a lot longer! I think its because of how much I’ve experienced in that time, its been pretty amazing! I love it here in India, I definitely want to come back one day. Looking back to my 1st day here, being lost in Mumbai airport about to miss my flight and wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea, I’ve come a long way! I have already seen some change in myself. Just being able to embrace new things instead of being scared of it. Back in London, I would have been terrified at the idea of turning up somewhere on my own where I didn’t know anyone! I liked nothing more than staying in my comfort zone. But now here I am on the other side of the world in such a different country experiencing such a different culture and environment, living in a house with 30 people I’d never met before and I’m loving it! The project here is going well, and we are seeing improvement with the girls we’re working with. I do still miss my girls in the slums in Goa though. I think about them and wonder how they’re getting on. Strangely, I haven’t really been homesick here yet. I definitely thought I would be. I think maybe because I’m always surrounded by people and always busy, either working, exploring the area, or hanging out with the people in the house here, I haven’t really had time to think about my life back home. I’m definitely looking forward to 5 more months of this!

I met up with my friend Nick today. Of all the places to meet up with a friend from London, Jaipur is possibly one of the most random places! He was here for a few days after volunteering with Vision Rescue in Mumbai for 3 weeks. It was really cool catching up and chatting about our volunteering experiences.

So I finally managed to get my visa extended on Tuesday, the day before it expired so I’m pretty relieved! It would have been pretty stressful to have to start changing all my plans if it didn’t go through. I can now relax and finish the week of volunteering here, and then join the tour for the final week, see the Taj Mahal and trek up the Himalayas so I’m pretty excited!