Back in UK

Well , arrived back home midday yesterday.
Just after landing at Heathrow we had heavy snow!!
What a contrast! About 35°C difference within 13 hours!
Journey home went without hitch - no delays.

The Elephant Festival should have been climax at end of holiday and I had been really looking forward to it.


It would have been lovely but they had no idea of crowd control (Jackie is Policewoman, she was very tempted to take over the entire organisation!) The crowds wanted to get closer look at elephants and dancers to get nice pics to bore their rellies, which meant those who did as they were asked and stayed seated saw bugger all!
Shame as we had returned to Jaipur especially to see it.

It was very colourful and there was nice happy atmosphere but it could have been much better.

So....

My Mini Adventure has come to an end.

I wasnt sorry to leave. I felt I had seen enough for now as we had fairly busy schedule.

Was looking forward to walking in clean air and streets.

But I am so glad I went.
I fully intend to return to India and see more. But will not spend any more time than necessary in big towns. They are all the same. Filthy and noisy.

India is a huge urinal.
Men peeing in public (yes, we have photos and video to prove it!)
Would have preferred to smell the Indian cuisine, spices and incense than their urine and garbage.

It was an education to experience it all though and Im really glad I saw the good and bad of Indian life.

Indian hospitality will be a lasting memory. OK, yes, we were paying them to stay there so they had their reputation to uphold and wanted a good review on their website!
But we felt genuinely welcomed by them and found them to be very friendly and helpful.
They sat and talked to us and wanted to help make our stay memorable but without being pushy.

Even many ordinary and poor people in the streets were pleasant. You do have to be on your guard tho as some are trying to entice you into their shop. You have to politely decline. They dont give up easily but you learn to deal with it. Never did these folk turn nasty or rude towards us even tho we werent always the same to them!!


Not once did I feel threatened and I would consider travelling alone in India possibly.
But its just nice to have company.

The only incident was in a park where alot of cricket was being played by young lads.

For some crazy reason they became a tad over-excited as we appeared.

People seemed to make a beeline for Jackie and she seemed to get pestered more than me. No surprise there then.....

But her patience ran out as one of these lads touched her bum. She grabbed the bat and threatened to whack them. They soon showed their true colours and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared!

They knew she meant it.

Mind you , she's a scary woman.
(hahahaha)
Still, it proved useful cos as she was being molested I was able to continue videoing in peace!!
To be fair I hadnt realised what they were doing.
Their behaviour was unacceptable.
We didnt want to play their stupid little games.
Its just not cricket.

Jackie is a great travel companion.
We get along just fine and have so much in common.
Same views on life, same priorities and attitudes.

Many nights we stayed up late chatting putting the world to rights when we should have been catching up on sleep!

I got some allergy to a bite on my eyelid on last night (exactly the same happened in Egypt).
I ended up looking like a complete freak and Jackie actually said she was glad I was leaving as she didnt want to be seen in public with me.

This was very hurtful.



Not.
It gave us yet another to thing to laugh about.

Passport control at Delhi weren't entirely convinced of my id though and she asked for a second opinion! That was a little worrying for a moment!

I would love to join Jackie for more travels at some point. Maybe in her big adventure or a future opportunity. Only cost will stop me.

My overall thoughts?

An interesting country with a rich history and culture.
Many genuine people who welcomed us with open arms.
Filth and dirt everywhere. You cannot escape it. Good place to be a rat.
Getting around is good by train, if you can put up with delays.
Homestays are great.


And my next trip....?

Probably stick to the trains again.
Probably have fairly strict program with room, travel and itinerary planned in advance as with this trip (not yet ready to be a complete Adventuress!)
Must learn to be bolder with tuk-tuk wallahs and traders.
Will try to see things outside of main towns. (Interestingly, our favourite sites had little or no mention in guide books)

In short, not much difference to this trip. But I may well be alone next time which of course makes it a whole new ball game.................