The Blue City

The Blue City originally flagging up the high-caste Brahmin residing in those walls but that blue hue apparently keeps bugs at bay too, very handy.

The Meherangarh Fort dominates the scene and takes a couple of hours to digest the accompanying audio guide. Well worth the Rupes. The clever double-whammy of the right angled fort entrance to stop those pesky elephants charging and seizing control is then followed by the hand prints of Maharaja Man Singh's widows who committed sati (widows sacrificing their lives on their husband's funeral pyre),including a few maids and mistresses. Some of the hand prints are so tiny, much smaller than my bean hands.

Jaisalmer

Onwards to Jaisalmer bordering the Thar desert. After a long and bumpy overnight bus ride, with accompanying horns with multiple tunes blaring throughout the night, we arrive in Jaisalmer to then be separated and surrounded by rickshaw drivers yelling "10 Rupees" and guest house hustlers bidding for our custom. Stressful times!  Jaisalmer Fort is made of yellow Jurassic sandstone and is still inhabited by two thousand people. The streets are quaint and windy and the facades beautifully intricate. It was nice to just have a wander and admire the old old buildings still full of life and living.

The sunset was glorious and gave the sandstone fort a warm, golden hue and then out in all directions was the flat, arid, sparse landscape. Pretty much incredible.

Udaipur

Young Indian honeymooners galore in Udaipur which was sweet to see as they shyly skipped around the City Palace. Relentless wedding processions taking over the streets with colourfully adorned horses, glum grooms, energetic dancing to brass bands (bizarre) and lots of drums, kids wielding hefty lights to contain and guide the processions, Rupee notes flung about, and finished off with a toxic generator lagging behind. 

The City Palace itself is a labyrinth of palace upon palace as successive rulers added their own mahal (palace) over a lengthy 300 years. Each one differs in style, some more ornate, gaudy, clinical, colourful, and extravagant than others.

And great if hazy sunset views as we wander past a Tibetan market, an elephant, a lake, to some temple with stunning and high views over Lake Pichola and the City Palace.

The Darjeeling Ltd

27.11.10 First train journey! Mumbai to Udaipur. Wes Anderson's 'The Darjeeling Ltd' is possibly solely responsible for this Indian adventure. Oh how different is film and my reality! Blue grubby leather benches cramming six berths into an open cabin. Not quite living the dream! But after a few hours I settle in and they have become one of my favourite activities. Watching the landscape change, moving from cityscape to villages to slums to countryside. Catching sight of those who live and work along the train lines is fascinating and insightful and a truer reflection of this country than walking down some touristy strip..."which country suffers without you?" and "one photo, one photo!" This first train journey was slightly marred by an aggressive and grabby beggar woman who put some sort of curse on me when I refused to give her money, as it was all in Hindi I'm oblivious to my plight!

Mr Bombay

26.11.10 Me and a fellow newbie traveller attempt the walking tour of Mumbai but maybe after half an hour we decide we need coffee and cake. This proved tricky, and looking lost, over bounds Mr Bombay fully fitted with blue contact lenses. He offers to take us to a place he recommends up the road serving coffee and traditional Indian sweets. Three hours later and we still haven't made it, but the impromptu tour and guide were entertaining. Tales of the time Mr Bombay rang up Arnie to talk shop aka bodybuilding a personal fave. He encouraged us to eat the local street food (overly sweet or incredibly greasy and fried) to which he had none: "too many calories".

Khote Sikke

25.11.10 After mere hours in India I was persuaded to work as an extra on a Bollywood shoot (it's the norm, every traveller is asked at least three times in a day I'm sure!). Lured in by 500 Rupees and food (maybe more so by the food than this great opportunity to begin my Bollywood acting career). The scenes were set on Goan beaches, so of course we were taken to grotty Mumbai beach as a cheap and local alternative. It featured an international cast: English, American, Swedish, Swiss, Australian, Canadian and of course Indian.The day mostly involved lots of walking, or "passing" as we know it in the trade, in straight lines, diagonal lines, solo, in pairs, in groups - there was a lot of scope here for us amateurs. The stylist put us in '90s beach clothes, so you know, we looked super on trend in front of the camera. I did the whole shoot with no make-up so now my white, pasty, boy-face will forever be captured and screened on Indian daytime tv. Not quite the Bollywood all-singing all-dancing spectacle I was hoping for!

Alu Muttar & Chapati

24.11.10 First taste of India. White radish. Promptly followed by alu muttar (pea and potato curry) and chapati, of course. Touched down in Mumbai on 24th November 2010 then quickly dashed into a tiny taxi for a couple of hours towards the Gateway to India. Immediately confronted with the high contrasts of India where slums run alongside luxury hotels. The traffic manic, alert, noisy. The taxi weaves through trucks and buses and rickshaws and deft mopeds and school children crossing what looks like a dual carriageway (to say the least). From Worcester to Mumbai, from tea and scones to curry and chai in a matter of hours.