TravelStream™ news feed for member shrek3 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/shrek3 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:35:37 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shrek3/1/1223982600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shrek3/1/1223982600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shrek3/1/1223982600/tpod.html Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:35:37 -0400 India 2008

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Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

We experienced our first overnight train trip from Jaipur to Jaisalmer - 13 hours in total :) We boarded at midnight from Jaipur and arrived in Jaisalmer at 1 pm the next day. We travelled on AC 3-tier, I had the middle berth and Andrew lower, which meant someone was sleeping above me! I had the best sleep I'd had in ages, mind you my sleeping tablet probably helped with, even so I enjoyed the whole experience. We arrived in the heat of the day at Jaisalmer and were ushered into a beautiful room at our hotel which looked like a scene out of Arabian Nights! We had a magnificent view over the fort which dominated the whole city. Within an hour we were whisked off in a jeep out into the desert to catch a sunset camel ride - what an unreal experience! We went with another kiwi couple, a couple from London and 2 Dutch women - we had a blast and enjoyed comparing stories of India with other foreigners. We were taken to a small village where Mr Singh (in his orange turban) greeted us. He showed us around his home, gave us a drink of chai, then helped us get up on our camels! It was rather scary being up so high, it was not at all comfortable! Nevertheless, it was a great experience to wander thru the sand dunes and take in the peace and quiet which we hadn't experienced since leaving NZ! The sunset was magificent and we didn't want to leave this serene place. One of the couples stayed in the desert overnight with another group of tourists, but time did not allow us to do this - and to be honest, while sleeping outside under the stars may sound romantic, the thought of snakes and creepy crawlies didn't do much for me! We got back to the hotel around 8 pm and enjoyed dinner under the stars at the restaurant on the hotel rooftop - the fort was lit up and looked spectacular, we felt like we were in another world, it was truly a magical experience.
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Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Our second train trip from Agra to Jaipur was quite an experience. We'd booked a first class berth but the service was more 5th class. We got on at Agra Cant - one of the Agra stations but there was no one to show us where to go and what to do and so we grabbed the first bert we could find. There was only a very small first clas area - half a carriage so we hoped it would be ok it wasn't! t the next stop in Agra we were asked to move cabins and then told we were booked in seperate cabins but by this stage I was too tire and too frustarted to coopeerate so I sat on my bed and said NO - I'm not moving!! And everything was fine from then:>

We managed to get some sleep but it was ghard to sleep knwoing we'd arrive at our station and no one would tell us - useless service - but we got here eventually - albeit late.

We were expecting a hotel pick up at the railway station and he did arrive - but not at the place we were waiting. Meanwhile we were hassled by about 10 guys offering us rides, hotels, trips to the moon, etc at an every increasing volume and intensity. Once again my patience was tested and it was a releif to finally meet our driver and leave the station and these unwelcome pests.

Our Hotel is magnificent. Absolutely beautiful layout and decor all over the building. We have a wonderful room and the hotels have a great rooftop restaurant with excellent food. Highly recommned this place - Hotel Pearl Palace.

Our day sightseeing involved hiring a na AC Car and driver and heading of to a variety of places. The City Palace - where the current Maharasta lives with his family (he also plays polo ith Prince Charles) and the Amber Fort were the highlights. The Fort is out of town about 15km and set on some imposing hills next to another smaller fort. The Amber Fort is amber in colour and a rather magnificent site with huge walls and a variety of room and areas to see. I really like this - was just what I thought a Rajistani Fort would look like.

Throighout the day we saw lots of elephants and camels - hired for rides, and lots of other interesting sites. Finished the tour with a quick shop in the old city (Pimk city) which was fun.

Dinner was on the rooftop restaurant - delicious.

Must go and shower and get ready for our most challenging train ride yet - we leave at 11:55pm and arrive in Jaisalmer at 1.00pm - should be a challenge!!
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Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

WHAT A SURPRISE AGRA WAS . . .

Andrew and I started the first of our many train trips on Saturday October 11, yet another early start which was a killer for me - we were on our train by 6 am. We had a comfortable 2-hour trip on a/c chair class, and was even given breakfast which we weren't expecting! We arrived in Agra and secured a pre-paid autorickshaw with a wonderful man named Kiki, who convinced us to be our guide for the rest of the day. We had pre-booked a hotel room metres from the east entrance of the Taj Mahal to store our luggage for the day and to freshen up in before catching a train to Jaipur at the end of the day. This was a very smart move as it was very hot and it was great to have the Taj so close to just walk to. Kiki took us out for about 4 hours showing us the sites of Agra, which were way more interesting than we were expecting. We got to see stuff that only a local could show us, this included going to watch MEN washing laundry in the river and saris laid out to dry for miles . . . what a colourful site that was! We visited the "baby" Taj which was amazing, and we were taken to a wonderful spot which gave us great views of the back of the "big" Taj Mahal :) Andrew and I visited the Taj Mahal between 2 and 4 pm, which our guide said would be a great time because the smog would be gone and the skies blue, he was right - but it was very very hot!! We really enjoyed Agra and put that down to the fact we found such a helpful guide with such good English. We caught a train from Agra to Jaipur late afternoon, and that was an experience to behold, ask us about this later! We arrived at our hotel in Jaipur after 11 pm and were thrilled that it exceeded expections - it was absolutely beautiful, and one of the cheapest places we booked on our whole trip. We had dinner about 11.30 pm - we've got used to eating very late now - you will be proud of me Prince :) So there ends another day in the life of our trip to India - I think I'll go have a hot chai masala drink now :)
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Delhi, India

We arrived by plane from Hyderabad - a two hour flight - on Friday and were pleasantly surprised. Delhi seemed much greener with lots of parks and trees amd generally more orderly. There was still the noise and the big crowds but it all seemed a lot more structured - or as structured as we've seen so far in India. Our hotel was in an excellent location and came with a lovely spacious room and huge plasma TV - yippee!! Delhi has an excellent metro train system and we were just a few hundred metres from a station, and only one stop from the central city. The metro is air conditioned and punctual - a great way to travel and see some of Delhi.

We started our adventure by getting the metro to Old Delhi and visiting the Red Fort. This is a grand fort - one of many in India - which was built by the Moguls. It's an interesting and beautiful sight - but very draining in the heat. Our mode of transport for alot of this day was cycle rickshaw - the poor men who had to take us - felt sorry for them - considered offered to cycle for them : > One man suggested I pay him more as we were both so big!!

Part of this this excursion was seeing the narrow streets of Old Delhi - just amazing sights and sounds - hope the video comes out. This was a real hightlight of our trip and was made possible by one very good rickshaw driver.

After this we headed back into town and headed for India Gate - an impressive statue which pays tribute to the Indian people who have died in the various wars. We saw it at night and it was very nicely lit up. After this it was back to the hotel for an early night - ready for a 5.15am start in the morning as we head for Agra and the Taj Mahal.
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Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Andrew, Aaron Vincent and I have just arrived in Delhi and are thrilled to have found fast internet (not dial up) at our hotel. Sorry it's taken 3 days to write another blog but we have been so busy in Hyderabad and there was always a queue for the computer! We will look around Old Delhi this afternoon and travel to the Taj Mahal in the morning then train on to Rajasthan and Varanasi. Andrew goes to Kolcutta and Nagaland to meet Asenla and her family (with Margaret and Alistair) while I go to Penang :) We were very spoilt in Hyderabad - Aaron, Andrew and I stayed with Nalini's sister Jane, her 2 nieces and her parents, oh yeah, and a very yappy dog :) They had a beautiful home and we had a wonderful time there for 3 nights. The first night in Hyderabad we met Priscilla's family - this was very exciting, and I found this very emotional, especially meeting her bedridden Aunt Daisy - what a delight she was, she particularly loved Andrew - men were definitely her preference, I believe Jeevan can testify to that :) We had a very yummy meal with all her family, i had been hanging out for biryani and I was not disappointed, it was delicious :) Andrew was sick with a chest infection when we arrived in Hyderabad and thankfully Nalini's sister got a doctor from her church to come to her home to help Andrew. Andrew is slowly getting better, thanks for your prayers. Priscilla and Cathy have bad colds at the moment, so please pray for them too. We spent a day shopping on Wednesday while Andrew and Alistair accompanied Vijay Dasari to visit villages churches associated with Zion Ministries. We all got home very exhausted but were treated to a yummy meal cooked by Nalini's mum - at about 10 pm - we have learnt to go with the flow and that nothing is a problem :) Yesterday was my birthday and I was very spoilt. We were thrilled to have Marvel Nallimelli join us for the day. She and I share the same birthday and she turned 21 yesterday - a very special birthday. We missed Prince but we got to speak to him and wish him Happy Birthday during the day. We spent time siteseeing around Hyderabad and came back to Nalini's sisters for a party dinner, cake and candles included! Kenneths parents joined us which was nice. We got to bed around midnight and was up again at 5 am to get our flight to Delhi. So there you have it, a very condensed version of our time in Hyderabad. I could go on and on, but Delhi awaits . . . We miss you and appreciate your continued prayers as we travel unaided with local knowledge for the next week. It was hard to say goodbye to Nalini, Aaron, Priscilla, Margaret, Alistair and Cathy, we have shared so much over the past 2 weeks, but we are already planning our photo and video catchup party when we all get home :)
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Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India

I've been on a train in Mumbai and lived to tell the tale!! This morning Alistair and I went to the city with Paul on a train - something I never plan to do again!! I'm told that 20 people a day die on India trains and I'm not surprised - it's absolute chaos with people hanging out of the doors, sitting on the roof, and inside crammed in so tight you can hardly move. When the train stops the crowds push and shove their way on and off - it's not for the fant hearted.

On arrival at Grant Rd station we visted the extremely humble office of the CMA India and spent a few hours with Paul finding out about the Alliance work in India. About 1.30pm we joined up with the rest of the team who'd hired a bus for some more sightseeing around Mumbai. Jehu beach at sunset with a dancing monkey was the highlight for me - stay tuned for video footage.

We were back the hotel by 9pm and ready to pack for our departure in the morning - Asenla left today (at 4am)for Nagaland.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shrek3/1/1223223060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shrek3/1/1223223060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shrek3/1/1223223060/tpod.html Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:28:02 -0400 India 2008

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Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India

It was great to arrive at church and see the nicely painted walls and some new security grates that had been installed after we left on Saturday - the whole atmosphere of the place felt better. Our worship leader was a Chinese man called Andrew who speaks fluent Hindi. He works with Interserve in Mumbai and is full of passion for God - the music was great. The service was then handed over to our Kiwi team and we sung the national Anthem, a few of our BBCC worship songs, and then handed over to Margaret and Alistair who lead the group in a Hindi song (Scottish style :>). Asenla then sung, I preached, and we took communion together - it was a really nice service to be part of and a geat way to finish our time with our friends.

In the evening our team took some time to discuss our experiences and then we took the Pastor Paul, Violet, Jeremy and Jonathan out for dinner. They have been a great support to us during our time in Mumbai and we were excited to find out that Jeremy is to be married in a few months. In the word sof his dad "God has found Jeremy a life partner". We had a chance to meet his financee and she is a lovely lady who is serving with an NGO helping rescue girls from prostitution in Mumbai. It was great to be able to celebrate this very special occassion with them.

PS - I forgot to mention we had a wonderful time on Saturday night with Shirley (Shifra's sister) and her parents, and James' parents. They took us out to dinner and we had a great time talking and laughing and sharing stories. So good to meet family of people that are part of our life in NZ.
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Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India

This entry covers Friday and Saturday - our last two days of work on the two projects we have been involved with. The ladies finished their slum ministry on Friday morning surrounded by dozens of smiling children - especially happy as they were receieving new shoes which we had decided to buy them. This was suggested by Solomon, the man responsible for ministry to this community and hugely apporeciated by the children. No fuss over colour or stye - just appreciation of what they were receiving. This has been a very rewarding and humbling experience and we can't wait to share our stories - and a few thousand photos - when we get back.

Painting continued on Friday with the church hall starting to look great after several days of hard work of scraping off cracked paint and plaster, followed by lots of replastering, sanding, and general preperation. The colour - a light dusty pink - is going to make the place look so much better. On Saturday, a few of us, including our special female guest, Asenla, got a 6.30am start to make sure we'd be all done by lunch time. Sure enough - at 12.30pm we left the sight very pleased with the work we'd done - the place looks soooo much better than when we arrived.

Both ministries have brought their challenges - mostly due to the heat and the dust and the dirt and the noise - but we've managed to complete what we came here to do and that's a great feeling.
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Mumbai, India

Hi everyone, it's Fiona. It's been a long, hot and sweaty day for everyone here! My story is a day in the slum with the children. Priscilla, Asenla, Cathy and I took two sessions today, this morning with the small children, and this avo with the older children. We started each 2 hour session with music and dancing which all the children loved and got in to with great enthusiasm. We then did face painting which went well and finished with some special food. Today in India its a public holiday, Gandhi's birthday and it's called Gandhi Jayanthi. This is why we had the older children today, as they would normally be at school. The children are soooooo beautiful, they dressed up in their best clothes to come and have fun, and their smiles are soooooo contagious. They just love us being there and they look forward to when we come back next. We meet in a very small tin shed and have around 40 children squashed in with us, I would hate to know the temperature, we were fortunate to have a fan going tho!! We are all hoping we will lose weight with all the sweat we are losing each time we go there and jump up and down to music with them all :) Tonight we visited a family from Paul's church for high tea (snacks!) and then came to Paul and Violet's for dinner (after 9 pm). It's now time to go and catch an auto home to our hotel, but Pris and I will probably stop at our favourite cafe opposite our hotel for a coffee and a chat before we sleep . . . it's been a long and tiring day, but we wouldn't have changed a thing, seeing the children's faces light up was worth all the sweat :)
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Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India

After 4 days in Mumbai, my prspective of the place has changed sooooo much. We are staying at Hotel Samadhan Residency which is just minutes away from the slums where we work. Our stay is quite comfortable. Good food is available next door. We start work around 9.30 in the mornings, walk down to the slums and meet up with Solomon and Florence. To my surprise on the first day I found out that the community we were working with were mostly Tamil speaking and this made it very convenient for me to ineterpret for Margaret and the others. The kids are so beautiful and some of them are very intelligent. On the first day some of the class 4 students sang all the songs they knew for me and recited all the poems they had in their books. Some of them had beautiful voices and their memory was great. Margaret, Lynda and I did a health camp every morning, where many mothers and grandmothers came with their health problems. Most of them were anaemic and had aches and pains.

Today we had the health camp in Joseph's house. His wife had delivered twin boys two days ago. the house was very clean and neat. She was at her mother's. After the camp we went with Solomon and Florence to see the twins. They were tiny but soooo sweet. Margaret took a picture of them in my arms. I wish I could bring them back to NZ.

Looking forward to tomorow. There so much need here. wish I could do more. I'm sure the Lord will help us contribute more to this lovely community.
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