My final thoughts...

Tomorrow morning we leave this holy city for the ten hour drive back to Delhi, this will be follwed by the flight to London, Heathrow the following morning.

I am so excited to see my family, 32 days has been a long time to be apart from them.  It is not until you have been away for any lengh of time that you realise just how much you miss your family and love them dearly.

But I will miss India and I will come back, maybe not next year or the year after, but I will definatly come back.  I want to take Doug to the Himalaya'a and Abbey to St Mary's School.  I want Ellen to experience life and shopping lol.  I want to return again with Janet and continue our work with the school and I would love to return with Anna. I want to see the smile on Siste rLily and Jancy's faces when I surprise them with a visit.

Evberyone I have met on my journey I would want to meet again, every hotel and room I have stayed in, I would stay in again.  India is breathtaking, in many ways.  The colour the people, the animals the dirt and filth all caputure you.

Everything is possible in India,  I fell in love with the Tibetan and Hindu culture.  And I feel privilaged to have met the Dalai Lama and many many more local people of great character and charm.  The Tipi master in Pushkar, who managed to understand what I wanted him to make for Anna and the elephant who so graceful carried me up to the Amber Fort.

India is not for the faithearted, but there is something here for everyone.  If you never make it to India in your lifetime you have never truly seen life at its hardest and most wonderful.

If our trip has inspired you,  then I would ask you to visit www.mindthegaptravel.com the children and sisters at St marys would love to see you and India would make you very welcome.

Karen x

Pushkar, Pushkar, Pushkar...

Pushkar is like a movie set. Pushkar is hypnotic, calm and heady.  Pushkar is quiet, peaceful and spiritual.  Pushkar is like a wild west set of a John Wayne movie.

Crumbling old buildings in dusty pink, cornflower blue and faded jade.  Lattice work and wooden framed ornated doors and windows.  It is a spiritual place and you can feel it.  All the people we have spoke to are born and raised in Pushkar or very close by and have no interest in going anywhere else.

It could do with a lick of paint and the ghats could do with weeding and cleaning.  Its a place that would benefit hugely from a major investor, it needs money to survive.  But having said this, its charm is the crumbling building s and laid back atmosphere.

Its actually a bit too laid back for me.  Three nights is enought.  I am the calmest I have ever been in my life here.  But I am not one for yoga or meditation so I struggle with what I am to do with myself.  Its a day trippers paradise.

We have been lucky to have been able to afford to stay in luxury at the Pushkar and Jagat Palaces. Its as if someone has opened their home for us.  We are alone here.  Its out of season so we are only 2/4 people staying here.  I have a swimming pool, garden, and hotel to myself.  What ever we want we get.  'Your wish is my comand' I feel as if I have a genie.

The service and the food is lush and the people are lovely.

Karen x

Pushkar - A Holy City

Atfer leaving the hussle and bussle of Jaipur we wandered what Pushkar would have in store for us.  I knew it was a small place, famous for its holy lake and 52 Ghats, 1000 temples, colourful shops and special lassis.  Nothing prepared me for what we found.

Pushkar is a tiny city, reached by a single track road off the main road from Jaipur, you pass through dozens and dozens of marble exporters on the way in.  When you enter the city perimiters you are stopped and a toll to enter is charged to the driver.  To the left of the toll is a large sign.  No drinking, only vegetarian food to be ate, no littering etc.

As we drove into the city we were surrounded by low hills and mountains the sky was white with cloud cover and a misty faze.. I sat purched on the edge of my seat waiting to see Pushkar in all her glory.  But nothing, we drove down a very messy dirty street, full of shops, some open but many closed. Lots of cows and pigs littered the street not plastic.

We turned the corner and the road narrowed, there to the right was the Pushkar Palace, our home for the next night.  From the outside it look understated, but once we entered and were taken to our room, the view we were greeted with was like something out of a movie.  You have to look at my FB pictures to reall yget an idea of what we saw.  The hotel was grand in a shabby chic way,  The old mixed with the new.  Its out of season here, so it has an eary stillness and quietness about the place.  ALmost like a horror movie but not quite.

The view across the holy lake was awesome and yet somehow spine tingling.  We didnt unpack, there is not point for one night, so off we went to the see if we could partake in a puja ritual.  It was facinating and very moving to chant in Hindi and throw petals and spices and rice etc into the holy lake.  But there is a cost like anything.  Voluntary contribution in Pushkar is not the same as that in Hemel and during anf after the ritual you are hassassed as to how much you are going to give for the people of Pushkar etc.  They wanted 500r for each member of my family and had I been asked this one month ago I would have happily obliged but we are at the end of our trip and we are actually counting our pennies/rupees.  I raised my sunglasses looked into the eyes of my priest and said. 'voluntary means to give what you can'.  I will give 100r.  He was not happy but I was not being told what to give.  I walked away feeling rather let down by the expereince because of this.  But within a few minutes I'd forgotten.  Janet however didnt get off so lightly, she is such a push over and needs a course into how to say NO. lol.

We wandered off around the market and were greeted by many smiles and hello's.  We were the new comers to Pushkar and everyone wanted to show us their wares.  We met a guide called Goppi and he took us to see a temple and showed us the sights.

Tired now we headed back to the Palace for dinner and a rock hard bed.

Karen x

A date with an American in Jaipur...

On our last day in Jaipur we were invited out for dinner by a lovely American gentleman named Kent Fairfield.  We headed in his car to the Indiana Restruant and ate outside in the heady heat and scented atmosphere of the courtyard garden.  We danced and chatted.

Kent is a 67 year old Academic for New Jersey, specialising in Global Education and commerce.  What an intersesting guy.  Janet and I were smitten.  So much information to share about our Indian project, our meeting was ment to be.

Elephant Ride, Snake Charmers and Sightseeing in Jaipur

I jumped up at the crack of dawn this morning ready for my elephant ride.  I have waited 40 years to ride on a elephant so I was very excited.  Breakfast at 7am and then off to the Amber Fort 11Km outside of Jaipur.  My elephant was waiting her name was Rupper.  She was decorated in colourful paints around her face, and trunk and she wore a beautiful red blanket and cover.  I mounted her gracefully (well thats what I like to think).  Up the hill to the fort I went, Janet went in the car with our Guide Ajay and our driver.

They met me at the top, music was playing and the sound of the elephants bells around her neck were ringing. I was taken to the dismount area and hopped off. What a lovely experience.  I have rode on a camel in Turkey and Dubai, I loved the camel ride but this was graceful and slow. 

We wondered around the fort for a few hours and then we went to many other fabulous sights, like the city palace etc.. Lunch at a local India resturant followed.  Then we headed to a fabric and handicraft manufacture and we had a full guided tour.  We purchased a few little things too.

Janet needed a ladies shaver and tried to explain this to our guide and driver, she did not do a great job, especially when she started doing the actions for shaving her face.  The guide smiled and said yes madam.  I burst out laughing and said I would help her shave her beared when we returned to the hotel.

Ajay our guide was young and hip.  Nice guy.  Living with his wife, daughter, mother, father, three brothers their wifes and kids all in one house with one small kitchen.  He said he loved it and liked to be part of a big family.  So I am thinking to save on the mortgage, bills etc Doug and I should invite all the Rileys down from Newcastle to live with us and share our home.  Ha ha never........

Ajay also told us about his last holiday in Goa before he got married, now I have been told that many India men go to Goa just to look at the western ladies in their swim wear.  Ajay confirmed this and happily told me that his friends had to drag him back into the car when they were heading home because he did not want to leave the lovely ladies.  He said when he closes his eyes he see fabulous women.  I asked about his lovely wife, he said it was arranged marriage, you marry first then fall in love after.  I dont think he has fallen in love yet, and I doubt he ever will after seeing the sights in Goa.

Karen x

The Massage of all Massages....

Well Hello!!!


I feel like a new woman after my 90minute long, hot oil full body massage, Indian head massage and facial, hot oil hair treatment, hairwash and blow dry.


I actually feel slimmer, all that pounding and squashing of my fat and cellulite has made me slimmer, I am sure of it. Well thats what I am brainwashing myself to believe anyhow.


My massage started with me stripping down to my bare flesh and being handed a black thong like pair of throw away knickers.  So glad they did not have CCTV.  I would have been on "Who's been Framed".  The massage started with a brutal Indian head massage, I then had to lie on my front while hot and I mean HOT, oil was splashed across my bum, back, legs and arms.  I was pounded and prodded and squashed and sqeezed (it was lovely).  I then turned onto my front. No bra, that was interesting lol!  I was again splashed with hot oil, my boobs have never felt so soft... Then I had a wonderful facial. A karate kid style bandana was placed around my forehead and then hot oil was poured slowly into my hair for whay seemed like hours. Next my hair was washed and blow dryed, all of the time sitting naked on a bench with only a skimpy pair of knickers on.  Never in England, I would have ran a mile.


I must also mention Janets massage experience.. Wait for it........  Well, she decided that she would out do me, I am sure.  So she opted for a two person hands on hot oil full body massage, while I was relaxing next door, I could hear her laughing and OOing and Arrrring. Firstly Janet could not fit into the throw away knickers, so she had to get on the slab totally naked.  The poor bloddy girls, I bet they had never seen anything like it before, I bet when we both left they all fell on the floor laughing.


Janets massage began like mine, but fifteen minutes into it, they removed the leatherette padded matteress and asked her to get onto the wooden slab.  They started pouring hot oil onto her.  I could here it fizzing and gurgling.  She kept laughing, I could not keep a straight face.  It turned out that her whole massage consisted of pouring oil, but when they asked her to turn over or move up the slab/bed etc she kept slipping around like a pork saugage in a frying pan.  The tiny little ladies had to try and keep Janet still on balanced on the slab, much to her horror and shock.  Then it was time for Janet to get off the oily slab (please remember she is naked). She was sliding around the slab and floor like a bobsleigh ride on sheer ice. She then had to sit back on the (still oily)slab, while they poured buckets and buckets of warm water over her, Janet continued to slide down the slab, like Bambi on ice.  They scrubbed and washed her down with soap and shampoo using sponges. They even told her how to wash her own lady bits and watched while she did it.


We returned to our hotel, a little shell shocked and still feeling like a greased xmas turkey.  We went straight for dinner and didnt even look in the mirror.  When I returned to our room, My hair looked like I had left in a tube of VO5 oil for a month.  I could not be bothered to wash it out as I was knackered so jumped into bed.  It took me three hair washes the following morning to remove the grease.


Karen x

The Long Way Round...

This morning (Thurs) we woke up to thick cloud, mist, fog and rain. The mountains were obviously not ready to say goodbye to us.  We dressed and admired the stormy weather on our balcony. That was until.... A monkey jumped two feet from my head onto the pillar outside our door, to protect its self from the rain.  I nearly shit myself and flew back into the room at speed. . Then another boss eyed monkey appeared and I admired them from the window.  They were now sheltering in our door way. No escape for us!

We had our final breakfast at the Green Hotel and loaded our super heavy cases into Sonny our drivers car.  Then we were off, on what turned out to be a 30 hour trip to Rajasthan.

Six hours to Amritsar, follwed by two hours of swealtering heat while wondering around the Golden Temple.  It was actually like standing in your oven at gas mark 8.  A heat I would not like to experience again (Please Rajasthan do not be that hot!). The Golden Temple was amazing, The beauty of it was like that of the Taj Mahal.  The Sikh's are so very proud of their magnificent religious building, we were happy to be allowed to walk with them and share their experience. We were yet again the only westerners, so we received lots of stares and attention.  On the way in two young men wearing cricket uniform and carrying a very large cricket bag were in front of us, they kept turning around and looking at use.  It looked strange, especially since they were carrying such a massive bag into the temple.  I thought it was very odd and said to Janet in hushed tones "OMG I hope thats not a bomb in there" Oops... Obviously not that hushed... As they heard me and then proceeded to open thier bag and get out all of their cricket kit.  I ended up holding bats and balls the lot. I will remeber to keep my mouth shut in such places in future.  The lads thought it was funny and insisted on taking pictures.  They turned out to be semi professional cricketers from Amritsar, their cricket ground being at the back of the Golden Temple.

Photgraphes with any child or family that asks is something wonderful.  It did take a bit of getting used too in the begining but know I happily oblige.  In fact I love it and I will miss it when I go to ASDA and knowone asks to take my picture.

Then it was the three hour drive to Pathankot where we were to get our overnight train to Delhi.  On the way we stopped at a hotel for a drink and a quick snack.  The hotel was ok but not really for fabulous ladies like myself and Janet.  But we were hot and bothered so we asked if we could have a room for an hour so that we could have a shower. 200r later (under 3 quid) we were heading up the stairs.  OM Bloody G.....................  The room was vile and dirty and YUK.  I couldnt stand on the floor in my bare feet in case I caught something.  I felt sick at the thought of removing my clothes for a shower, but water is water so I did.  I have never been in and out of a shower so quickly in my entire life. I was dressed and downstairs in about ten minutes.  Never again. 

We headed for the train station and our drivers negotiated a porter to carry our luggage.  This is the best thing about India, everyone wants to help you.  You obviously have to pay, but for a pound it is well worth someone else carrying your bags in an unfamiliar train station in the dark at night.  We boarded the train to find that myself and Janet were in different cabins, I was okay becasue it was with a lovely family, but Janet did not know who would join here.  My family said it was not a problem and Janet could have her sons bed underneath mine, because he wanted to sleep with his father.  This was a relief for Janet. What a kind and happy India family this was.  The husband and wife were so lovely and the little boy of six was amused by us.  The little girl only looked about one and she was tiny, tired and not feeling 100%.  We chatted with this happy family for an hour, then got into bed.  It was like being in a tent, very intimate and close.  The train rocks you to sleep and before you know if it is morning.  Well 5.30am actually.  I woke up, and went to the loo.  Now! do not be fooled into thinking India is a dirty place, many places are and can be, but not everywhere and not everyone.  The train toilet was cleaner then any trian toilet I have every been on in the UK.  The whole goes out the bottom of the train and any wee or poo goes straight onto the tracks for animals to eat. Lovely!!!

We were delayed a while on the train, but we just slept, relaxed, chatted etc.  No rush, no bother.  We arrived in Delhi at 8.45am Friday and we were greeted by Bhram.  Happy and smiley, off to Rajasthan we went.

Six hours to get to Jaipur.  We were very tired and stiff, so we booked a massage for that evening before dinner.

Karen x