Saturday 15th - Sunday 23rd

Saturday/Sunday 15/16: we went on a Tiger safari this weekend down in Ranthambore NP. Unfortunately we didn't see any tigers, although they were in the park as the other trucks did see them. We saw a lot of other wildlife though - monkeys (running along the wall of the hotel, twirly tails held high in the air), chipmunks, pretty birds, peacocks, deer, bambis, scops owl. We were in open-air vehicles and the dust was so bad, I could literally scrape it off my face and I swear we were walking dust poles! The hotel was not that good, and by the end of the evening we were all wanting to be back in our little mud huts! Sunday: we were taken to Sawmodpur market. It was hot, dusty, exhausting, and I didn't buy anything. However I took lots of pics of the spice, and fruit stalls, the food vendors, the materials/saris/bags stalls, the hogs roaming in the streets, the kids begging, the camels being driven along. I felt more and more sick by the end of the day and indeed was when we got back to the camp. Felt drained and off colour. Yeuk!

Monday: Michael cycled to work today and he became known as "Michael on the Cycle" to all of the camp! He really was the Indian Professor! When we walked into the class, they all stood up and chorused "Good Mooorrrrning" and all their faces lit up into smiles. That really lifts my mood, whatever mood I am in.

This week our workshops are cookery classes (last week it was the Hindi lessons). Today we learnt how to cook Mixed Pulses in a lovely spicy sauce, and then had it for dinner.

In the evening today we heard drumming from the nomads camp just outside the camp gates. Manoj went over to them and invited them into the camp, and we were treated to a free dancing show, with drums and pipes, and the women and kids sitting in the shadows of the fire's twilight. Very evocative. They are here for the feast of Holi which comes up over the Easter weekend.

Tuesday: had to knock down the birds' nest which they have been busily building right above my bed. I know it is cruel, but I don't want birds s**t all over me and the mosquito net when the eggs hatch. I voiced to Sarhu today (the project helper/translator) that I was missing "green", and he agreed - he comes from Himachal Pradesh, up in the mountains and was just posted down here in rural Rajasthan, so he does understand where I am coming from.

Wednesday: I was dropped off last and late at school today and when I got there, Michael had already started Old Macdonald - they had learnt the words and sounds so quickly I was really proud of them. Michael had a bad session today, as he tried to teach times-tables, but they just copied the tables and had absolutely no idea what they were doing, and the lack of English understanding really does not help.

Thursday: a huge wind blew up from the west overnight and I had to shut the shutters to keep all the dust out. It went on for a long time and the door rattled - all the gaps in the straw thatch and under the door didn't keep the dust out very well, so I had to shut my bag completely, and wrap up clothes and journals etc. I had to shake out my bedding as it felt all gritty when I got up. Today had a mega pain flare up and overall inordinate weakness. I slept most of the day under the mosquito net and missed meals - not a good day at all.

Friday: felt a little better today and not so weak. At least I had power in my muscles and didn't ache so much. This was a good thing as we had to be driven 6 hours west of the camp to Pushkar to go on our camel safari. It was the start of the Holi holiday (festival of colours) and the colours (red, blue, green, yellow, purple) were being thrown everywhere, including at vehicles. Whenever we stopped we had to shut the windows against being splatted! It was odd going back to Jaipur as we have been there on so many occasions, that I could actually recognise the streets and routes we were taking. The road west to Pushkar was amazingly good - all tarmacked, traffic lights, overpasses - quite the westernised style of road-building.

In Pushkar our hotel was the Ram Guti Guesthouse and it was the best hotel we have stayed in so far. The porch and round front tower were painted in white, with pale blue and yellow edgings, with a brown tiled reception area, with a Ganesh shrine on one side and heavy wooden furniture. Graziella and I had the largest bedroom and it was like a suite with 2 single beds, a settee stretched round the corner walls, a huge bathroom and a fan that was like a helicopter's propeller, it was so large and efficient!

We decided to go out into the market area as it was cooler by now. We walked along a tarmac road but it was all covered with the dust and muck we are now immune to. We passed bag shops, sari materials, jewellery outlets, fast food/fried food stalls, fried sweetmeats, a juice bar very colorful fruit stalls, open smelly fires burning in the gutters. We went down through a gap in the buildings to the edge of the lake and the view across the ghats was stunning with the setting sun illuminating the lake and the white buildings. We ate at the Moon Garden restaurant and we all chose Italian dishes. I had penne puttanesca and after so long on a plain diet I enjoyed the taste, but ate too much rich sauce! The others had pizza and felt similarly rather full-up afterwards, although there was always room for vodka and brandy, in our large room so that everyone could sit down and rest after the long day.

Saturday: Holi day. We watched the festivities from the roof terrace. The adolescents go round the streets with drums and water, and then either mix the powdered colours with the water, or throw it dry! Either way it makes an awful mess, of clothes, specs, skin, and I was glad to be above it and just enjoy the colours an fun from far away! I got a lot of good pics of the fun.

In the afternoon we walked to meet our camels. Mine was led by 2 boys and they did a wonderful job of leading it, making it run/jog, and encouraging it on. Getting on was a challenge - you have to lean right back and then lollop forwards as the camel gets to its feet. I found myself gritting my teeth and straining to not fall off - Michael got a very funny pic of me, which he has just sent through email - thanks Michael!!!

Once we got out of Pushkar, the scenery was so different to around Sunderpur. It was in a hilly area, crops like maize, mango trees, marigolds and farmed roses in the small protected fields. The farm holdings were very simple structures, often just 4 sticks stuck into the ground and the "walls" made of grass woven together and slotted in between the sticks. We got off the camels for them to have a rest and a drink and we were all walking like John Wayne! My coccyx and upper legs felt numbed, but it was all good fun and an adventure. The sun was going down by the time we got to the camp (5 hours of riding), and we were surprised to see proper pitched tents, with camp beds, mattresses, pure white sheets with blankets, and the best thing of all (which you will never believe) we had a flushing toilet in its own little patterned canvas tent, right in the middle of the rocky desert. Unbelievable, but great :). We had dinner around the open fire, and our group of 8 were the last to go to bed (after midnight) as we were talking so much about all our adventures.

A gale force wind and sandstorm blew up overnight and the beds were covered with dust and sand. Thankfully I had tied in the the apron to our tent tightly, but Viv and Jenny had dust even in their sealed bags. However I used the time during breakfast to walk up to the top of the dunes and got pics of the blue-tinged sunrise, with the sun's rays shooting through the clouds. I also saw geomorphology in action - the sand was being turned into stone as its colour and texture changed from a light cream to a honey color. I also got some pics of desert plants, footprints and sand patterns

Most people opted to walk 1km back to the road but I rode in the cart and getting down from the wooden flat-bed to take a pic of the camel's feet, I ripped my right hand on a metal nail. Thank goodness I had had an update of my tetanus vaccination! Once we were back in Pushkar we went out to the markets again and I bought pretty soft cotton bags, and a Rajastahni wall hanging (blue silky materials, different stitching and textures) which I had been looking for for ages. We reached the Brahman temple but my feet were too sore to go any further and so I sat with Chris in a roadside cafe and had pure freshly squeezed OJ. Not done through a machine though - this was literally pushed through a hole in a wood nozzle with a pointed piece of wood, and the juice and bits all served up in a long glass. It was the first street food I had had and it was SO delicious and refreshing. For lunch we stopped at the Sun and Moon restaurant and the tortoises mooched around our feet and nipped Jane's toes!!

The road trip back to the camp, via Jaipur was 6-7 hours long and very tiring indeed. Everyone was pooped out at the end of the trip but we had a quiet night round the campfire and I went to sleep to the sound of the mouse nibbling at the straw above my head!