A week to go... a mere week and I'll be on my way to the airport. Gosh, how exciting once again.
It's that weird in limbo feeling I have. Where I'm a bit cranky, wanting to get going. A bit weepy, wanting to stay. Where I'm not sure I should pack or leave it a few more days. I think I should pack, if only to see if I need another suitcase!
But hay, I've had an amazing time, truly amazing. I've meet some awesome people, who I know I will love forever. I've done some fabulous things.
I saw elephants, I fed elephants, washed them, completely fell in love. I couldn't believe it was happening. I cried pure tears of joy. Such majestic and marvellous animals. So in tune.
And I've seen buildings that have stood for years and years. If you EVER get the chance, go to Jaipur. Stay in Shapura House, go to the planetarium and also everywhere else.
Obviously do the Taj Mahal - I'll be honest and say I wanted to go, but I didn't have a real yearning. I got there, I cried. It's beautiful, truly jaw dropping and just stunning. I was propelled into silence. Now, the whole day was a joy, 'an adventure' of note. I know I will never forget that day. I went with a fabulous group of women. Could not have picked a better crew of strangers - well they were strangers 3 months ago, now, they are the crème de la crème, aka Sexy Ladies. We started our day at 6.30am. Armed to the back teeth, with pastries and hot drinks from the hotel. AND a marvellously gooey red velvet cake - which was probably our saviour around 3pm, when we were getting a little hysterical and needed the sugar rush. We did the obligatory sing song. People slept, we stopped for a 'comfort' break and came across a troupe of bikers, all leather clad. And most surprising (for me anyway), an Indian lady biker chick. Complete with assistants who came in a car. Only in India or rather #IncredibleIndia.
And then we were in Agra, it looks like any other little town - albeit it with dusty streets and cows adorning the sides of the roads. You get dumped in a car park. And then take a bus (yup) to the most chaotic scenes of people trying to get tickets. As Westerners we had to pay triple the price - absolutely no bother for us, as it meant we skipped queues. So very worth it. The security in India is rigorous....but none so like at the Taj. If the lady had felt any more of my body, I was going to expect a fiver in my pants! We had a guide. A really lovely woman, who was a fountain of knowledge. And it was hot. Hot as Hades, beads of sweat running down the small of your back, hot. But here you are and it’s a few buildings and a million people, and the guide is doing History Lesson 101, all I could think was… where the hell is this building I’ve been up since 5am for?? But PeeBee kept on saying ‘look this way, make sure you look this way’ … and then… you enter the annex to see the Taj, and there’s a bit of a bottleneck. It's not hard to see why - in front of you THERE IT IS! Just like all the postcards you've seen, all the pictures other people have shown you.
But they do it no justice. I truly wished my mom had been there with me. She would have absolutely adored it - the whole day, the experience. The laughing.
We got the professional pictures done - oh to be like a model for the day. I absolutely know I will treasure those photo's for my life, and I know the group one is going up on a wall (in my house, not just any wall). Thanks to Zee we got the best prices of the day.
We shopped in a little shop and met a tiny boy who knew David in London. I now wonder if it was indeed THE David Jason as he kept on saying "Luvverly Jubbuly".
TBC
It's that weird in limbo feeling I have. Where I'm a bit cranky, wanting to get going. A bit weepy, wanting to stay. Where I'm not sure I should pack or leave it a few more days. I think I should pack, if only to see if I need another suitcase!
But hay, I've had an amazing time, truly amazing. I've meet some awesome people, who I know I will love forever. I've done some fabulous things.
I saw elephants, I fed elephants, washed them, completely fell in love. I couldn't believe it was happening. I cried pure tears of joy. Such majestic and marvellous animals. So in tune.
And I've seen buildings that have stood for years and years. If you EVER get the chance, go to Jaipur. Stay in Shapura House, go to the planetarium and also everywhere else.
Obviously do the Taj Mahal - I'll be honest and say I wanted to go, but I didn't have a real yearning. I got there, I cried. It's beautiful, truly jaw dropping and just stunning. I was propelled into silence. Now, the whole day was a joy, 'an adventure' of note. I know I will never forget that day. I went with a fabulous group of women. Could not have picked a better crew of strangers - well they were strangers 3 months ago, now, they are the crème de la crème, aka Sexy Ladies. We started our day at 6.30am. Armed to the back teeth, with pastries and hot drinks from the hotel. AND a marvellously gooey red velvet cake - which was probably our saviour around 3pm, when we were getting a little hysterical and needed the sugar rush. We did the obligatory sing song. People slept, we stopped for a 'comfort' break and came across a troupe of bikers, all leather clad. And most surprising (for me anyway), an Indian lady biker chick. Complete with assistants who came in a car. Only in India or rather #IncredibleIndia.
And then we were in Agra, it looks like any other little town - albeit it with dusty streets and cows adorning the sides of the roads. You get dumped in a car park. And then take a bus (yup) to the most chaotic scenes of people trying to get tickets. As Westerners we had to pay triple the price - absolutely no bother for us, as it meant we skipped queues. So very worth it. The security in India is rigorous....but none so like at the Taj. If the lady had felt any more of my body, I was going to expect a fiver in my pants! We had a guide. A really lovely woman, who was a fountain of knowledge. And it was hot. Hot as Hades, beads of sweat running down the small of your back, hot. But here you are and it’s a few buildings and a million people, and the guide is doing History Lesson 101, all I could think was… where the hell is this building I’ve been up since 5am for?? But PeeBee kept on saying ‘look this way, make sure you look this way’ … and then… you enter the annex to see the Taj, and there’s a bit of a bottleneck. It's not hard to see why - in front of you THERE IT IS! Just like all the postcards you've seen, all the pictures other people have shown you.
But they do it no justice. I truly wished my mom had been there with me. She would have absolutely adored it - the whole day, the experience. The laughing.
We got the professional pictures done - oh to be like a model for the day. I absolutely know I will treasure those photo's for my life, and I know the group one is going up on a wall (in my house, not just any wall). Thanks to Zee we got the best prices of the day.
We shopped in a little shop and met a tiny boy who knew David in London. I now wonder if it was indeed THE David Jason as he kept on saying "Luvverly Jubbuly".
TBC
