I think its fair to say that the problem with India is that there are too many Indians, and most of them just don't care. They ruin what is a really beautiful country by not caring at all about the environment in that they are living in, so as a result they are actually living in their own shit. For example, when we arrived in Mumbai I went off to look for a room to stay in. I went to the salvation army hoping to get some cheap dorm beds and as I arrived there was a man squatting out the front doing a poo. Then I went in and asked about the prices and when I came out the same man tried to shake my hand and sell me hash, and was then offended when I didn't want to shake my hand. We didn't want to stay there after that because I didn't want to leave the room and walk into human poo. The I walked around the corner and saw man emptying a whole bag of poo (probably his own) onto te base of a tree on a pavement, so I gave up on that whole area.
Anyway, on our second day in India we got up and went straight to the jetty and got a ticket for a boat to Elephanta Island, which is about an hours boat journey away and on it has quite a lot of caves with sculptures around the sides. It was quite interesting, especially as nobody knows when they were made or anything so we had a nice walk around there. Entry price for foreigners was 25 times the amount for Indians which was annoying but it still was only about 4 quid. On the island Clare had a monkey climb onto her back and steal a drink from her back and wegot some good photos of that. When we arrived back in Mumbai we went to the house where Gandhi used to stay when he was in Mumbai. It was free to enter and was really well presented with some good displays including letters Gandhi sent to Hitler and Eisenhower. We then walked along the beach which is really filthy and polluted and you can't even swim in becausethe water is too dirty, so it wasn't the best beach I have been to. The following day we booked our bus tickets to Ahmedabad for the evening and planned to go and walk around a slum. Most people don't like the idea of walking round the slums, partly because they think it is dangerous and partly because it can be seen as disrespectful, but I am not that fussed about it, as long as you aren't intrusive. So anyway, Clare wouldn't let me go alone but wouldn't come with me without a guide so we had to find someone who could guide us there. We found the only company that does trips there and called them up to say we will go that afternoon. The company is well run and most of the profits go to NGO's working in Mumbai and also don't let you take pictures. We walked around the Dharavi slum for about 2 and a half hours and it was really interesting. There are 1.3 million people living in a space of around 1.1 square miles so its really busy all the time, especially in the residential area. The Dharavi slum is quite a resourceful one and the biggest in Mumbai, so it has factories and sweat shops in it which is where most people work. Nobody begs there and everyone works so its fairly self sufficient, like a town within the city. The children were sweet but really dirty, going from pooig on the floor to shaking your hand. We were told that only 1% of the population in Dharavi use the public paying toilets and only 30% use the free dirtier ones, meaning everyone else just uses the floor. Also, it is the slum that some scenes in Slumdog Millionaire are shot, including a Muslim Mosque scene apparently, and also the scene where the mum dies. our bus was delayed so we had to wait in the street for a couple of hours and then we got changed to a bus that was terrible. All the seats were brokenso they went far back and dug into the person behind. Some places had been sold to three different people and in general the bus was tiny and horrible. It was along journey including a half hour stop when a tyre burst but when we arrived in Ahmedabad it was a nice relief. After finding a room, we went to a Textile museum, and had a free tour of the grounds. It is in an amazing building on amazing grounds which was a lot more impressive to me than the Hindi weaving etc. We then had some food with two other tourists we met on the tour. The next day we made a 6 hour bus journey to Udaipur in Rajasthan. We had a leaflet we found for a guesthouse here so decided to go there. The whole time we have been away, we have never had a guesthouse that represents value for money as much as this one. We decided to go for the deluxe room for 192 rupees (about 3 pounds). We have our own TV, hot powerful shower, internet access and our room leads on to a rooftop restaurant with board games and amazing views. Also, we are the only guests there so its so peaecful. As a result, we have ended up staying here for 5 nights. In these 5 nights we have visited a few of the artificial lakes in the area, created hundreds of years ago. They are really beautiful and we have had a small picnic next to a large one out of town. We were the only people there and it was really nice, apart from the fact that you can't swim in it because of the crocodiles. We have also looked around the Palace in town which is huge ad a really beautiful building, and the walls are covered in stories and pictures about the people who have lived here. Udaipur also has lovely sunset viewpoints which we have used. Yesterday was Valentine's day so after being at a lake for a picnic we went to the ladies shrine and the lotus pools and I played football with some Indian kids. So Joel, if you are reading then your volleyball you bought has travelled from Palolem to Udaipur, before I gave to some kids. Then we went out for a meal and a Bhang Lassi in the town centre to celebrate Valentine's day and today we have been relaxing (easy to do in this town) and have found a bus to Jodhpur tomorrow.
Anyway, on our second day in India we got up and went straight to the jetty and got a ticket for a boat to Elephanta Island, which is about an hours boat journey away and on it has quite a lot of caves with sculptures around the sides. It was quite interesting, especially as nobody knows when they were made or anything so we had a nice walk around there. Entry price for foreigners was 25 times the amount for Indians which was annoying but it still was only about 4 quid. On the island Clare had a monkey climb onto her back and steal a drink from her back and wegot some good photos of that. When we arrived back in Mumbai we went to the house where Gandhi used to stay when he was in Mumbai. It was free to enter and was really well presented with some good displays including letters Gandhi sent to Hitler and Eisenhower. We then walked along the beach which is really filthy and polluted and you can't even swim in becausethe water is too dirty, so it wasn't the best beach I have been to. The following day we booked our bus tickets to Ahmedabad for the evening and planned to go and walk around a slum. Most people don't like the idea of walking round the slums, partly because they think it is dangerous and partly because it can be seen as disrespectful, but I am not that fussed about it, as long as you aren't intrusive. So anyway, Clare wouldn't let me go alone but wouldn't come with me without a guide so we had to find someone who could guide us there. We found the only company that does trips there and called them up to say we will go that afternoon. The company is well run and most of the profits go to NGO's working in Mumbai and also don't let you take pictures. We walked around the Dharavi slum for about 2 and a half hours and it was really interesting. There are 1.3 million people living in a space of around 1.1 square miles so its really busy all the time, especially in the residential area. The Dharavi slum is quite a resourceful one and the biggest in Mumbai, so it has factories and sweat shops in it which is where most people work. Nobody begs there and everyone works so its fairly self sufficient, like a town within the city. The children were sweet but really dirty, going from pooig on the floor to shaking your hand. We were told that only 1% of the population in Dharavi use the public paying toilets and only 30% use the free dirtier ones, meaning everyone else just uses the floor. Also, it is the slum that some scenes in Slumdog Millionaire are shot, including a Muslim Mosque scene apparently, and also the scene where the mum dies. our bus was delayed so we had to wait in the street for a couple of hours and then we got changed to a bus that was terrible. All the seats were brokenso they went far back and dug into the person behind. Some places had been sold to three different people and in general the bus was tiny and horrible. It was along journey including a half hour stop when a tyre burst but when we arrived in Ahmedabad it was a nice relief. After finding a room, we went to a Textile museum, and had a free tour of the grounds. It is in an amazing building on amazing grounds which was a lot more impressive to me than the Hindi weaving etc. We then had some food with two other tourists we met on the tour. The next day we made a 6 hour bus journey to Udaipur in Rajasthan. We had a leaflet we found for a guesthouse here so decided to go there. The whole time we have been away, we have never had a guesthouse that represents value for money as much as this one. We decided to go for the deluxe room for 192 rupees (about 3 pounds). We have our own TV, hot powerful shower, internet access and our room leads on to a rooftop restaurant with board games and amazing views. Also, we are the only guests there so its so peaecful. As a result, we have ended up staying here for 5 nights. In these 5 nights we have visited a few of the artificial lakes in the area, created hundreds of years ago. They are really beautiful and we have had a small picnic next to a large one out of town. We were the only people there and it was really nice, apart from the fact that you can't swim in it because of the crocodiles. We have also looked around the Palace in town which is huge ad a really beautiful building, and the walls are covered in stories and pictures about the people who have lived here. Udaipur also has lovely sunset viewpoints which we have used. Yesterday was Valentine's day so after being at a lake for a picnic we went to the ladies shrine and the lotus pools and I played football with some Indian kids. So Joel, if you are reading then your volleyball you bought has travelled from Palolem to Udaipur, before I gave to some kids. Then we went out for a meal and a Bhang Lassi in the town centre to celebrate Valentine's day and today we have been relaxing (easy to do in this town) and have found a bus to Jodhpur tomorrow.
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