New Oceanic Hotel Porbandar

We awoke this morning at 4 am. This time is wasn't the incessant horns from the traffic outside that woke us nor was it a near by mosque blaring out Adhan, calling people to pray, it wasn't even, and this is my personal favorite, a power cut, which stops the air con/ceiling fan making the room hotter than a tandoor clay cooking oven. This time it was intentional, this time we were happy to wake this early (slight exaggeration) because we had ...

... from the crushing crowds and the heat of the day. The beach was almost literally empty save for a few fisher people fishing with the myriad birds. We saw more salt piles. Much of Gujarat reminded me of the Magkhadaki salt pans in Botswana. We also decided to start keeping track of the funny Indian signs we see painted on vehicles, buildings and signposts. We'll collect those up and see what the collection looks like and share them if they seem worthwhile.

... of mishaps that could only happen in India... Aman, mom and I were directed to the ladies line where the woman making sure I was safe to travel questioned my Indian heritage and then scoffed when I told her I was Indian. Funny. Parneet had sent sandwiches and drinks with us, which we gave to Eric to carry for us. Unfortunately the juices were confiscated. My two giant water bottles filled with water were fine. Hmmmm.... I noticed lots of ...

... crowd. There are thousands of people jostling, some trying to get back to the front for a good view and others like myself trying to exit. The surge of people is a force I have no control over as I get squashed and do my utmost to keep my footing whilst hoping the people in front of me keeps theirs. It has disaster written all over it and as I sway in the sea of crowd I can't get out of my mind visions of a stampede that is common place in large gathering in India. I finally ...

... area called Kutch that we are in, having stayed put for the longest period of time yet in India we are making plans to move on and meet Amelia in Jaipur in Rajhastan for the new year. This will involve another trek to Ahmedabad on Monday but we'll survive still smiling i'm sure(-: Over and out for now but let me know all about your own adventures etc when you get a break from all the festive fun i bet you're still having. XXX

... cows...camels...curry ...religion...beauty...poverty...bling. ..beeping horns...colours...beaches...palm trees...markets...chai...although a lot of this was unknown i took it in my stride and felt automatically at home here. The people stare some as we are visiting places that have rarely been host to a white face but it is in interest and wonder as opposed to anything else. The children cheer me up in particular with their laughs and smiles ...

... walls looking in the distant at Girnar hill that juts up high amongst the surroundings and for some reason urges me to climb it. I stare out to the hills weighing up the climb, then all of a sudden I get whacked round the head, it nearly knocks me off balance. What the ..... It feels like someone has just thrown a log at me. Everything happened so fast that I have no clue what is going on. My sunglasses fall from my head and I just managed to grab them before they ...

... of the lion and the national parks of India. A sign in the visitor center said: "Everything outside the parks is gone, everything inside is threatened." This is an exaggeration, as I've seen Black Buck roaming in agricultural fields, for example, but it's not far from the truth. Best of luck to India with its Asiatic Lion reintroduction project. "The greatness of the country is measured in how it treats its animals." ~ Gandhi.

Back on the dodgy buses we headed to the Safari Park at Sasan Gir to hunt down the last few remaining Asiatic Lions in the world. We were unsuccesful! Was it really worth the 10 hour journey...? Probably, we had great Palak Paneer (Spinach and cheese) curry to make up for the dissapointment!

... and who should drive past than the Maharaja's son in an open top jeep. It was worth staying the extra night. Didnt do much else except drink with a brummie from Dudley and his German girlfriend in a swanky bar where rum and coke was only 70 pence. Also got myself further addicted to lassi's with saffron inside, an expensive addiction. I left Jodphur ready for my 8 hour bus ride to Udaipur, plus the little extra ...