The Lowdown

My story as it unfolds. So here it is in a nutshell; I've spent the last 3 years out of school working instead of studying, I bought a car instead of following my dreams of travelling, and I let just that few too many things hold me back from doing the things I have always wanted to do. Now I am 21, I have saved my pennies, bought my ticket out of country Australia, and I'm off to see how I cope in world away from everything I know. Hopefully I will learn a thing or two about life, about people, and about myself. Catchya later alligators! Background photo; taken Lang Tang Valley, Nepal, 2014

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It's been a while.

There is so much to update you on. After living in Europe, and traveling India and Nepal, I decided it was time to come home. I never got to finished writing all my adventures of India, but there was so much, it was really a lot of effort! I moved home, because I felt that I could no longer develop in the way I did in India, in the UK any more. I loved the culture too much in India and Nepal. I'm now back to where I started, working in Australia. But not for much longer! Next week, I head off to New Zealand! And in November, I've booked a trip to Vietnam and back to Nepal! It's going to be amazing.

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The Next Destination: Agra

Harry and I over the past few days, in our laziness at Manash's house, had looked intently at the Lonely Planet book (bible). We had now semi decided our plans for our trip. All we knew was that we were spending about the last 2 weeks in Nepal, had to be in Darjeeling before and the rest... no idea. Our next destination was Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. I was looking forward to a really old rickety bus ride, something really terrible, full of locals and full of laughter. It was actually a pretty modern bus, to my disappointment. I stupidly drank a whole 2 L bottle of water before jumping on the bus....the 6 hr bus.. with no stops... and no toilet on board. I've never had to concentrate so hard in my life, and I was very grateful that we had a smoother bus, rather than a bumpy one. Manash came with us, and he and Harry sat the seat behind me, while a friendly indian fellow sat beside me and tried to converse. I was honestly having none of it-- I couldn't! I was too busy concentrating on keeping my bladder contained. 4 hours in and I was now sitting on my bag, with my ipod in my ears so loud to drown out my thoughts, and concentrating so hard, I didn't even know that Harry was tapping me on the shoulder.

"We've stopped" He said. I stopped my meditation. I looked around, and apparently it was a toilet stop-- for me. They were just jumping off the bus and taking a pee on the side of the road. But no women were, and although I was at that point of trying to decide if pissing myself was worth it, I didn't go and pee with the men. I held on. And returned to my medative state as quick as possible. We'd hit the city of Agra, and the bus drive started to get exciting! The bus driver was ruthless, he was weaving the bus in and out of traffic like a rally car, and if someone was in his way, we wouldn't slow down.. we hold our horn down harder! It was chaos. We arrived! And again, I had no idea we'd stopped. I wasn't the first off that bus, because I wasn't at the front.. but I swear, I must've been close to second. We were in Agra for about 4 days. It was surprisingly colder than Delhi.. even though it's further south. Our Hostel "Pyreness Home Stay" was fairly basic, though it was a short walk to the Taj (25mins) and also had a roof top, which is what made us choose there. I love the tranquillity of Agra. 5 times a day muslims pray, and you could hear the prayers of the speakers across the city. It was incredible, and beautiful, and listening to the prayers whilst seeing the Taj Mahal and the Sun setting all at the same time, was unreal. Manash, Harry and I ordered chicken Tandoori since we were all starving. There was something a bit suss about the preparation.. it took nearly an hour.. and no one was in the kitchen? They got the food from another location... and made us very wary. Harry felt sick immediatly, but Manash and I didn't, so we just assumed it might just have been Harry. Harry got over it fairly quickly, but mine crept up on me, and really made me feel horrible. Alright, chicken was a bad choice at this point. Really bad. I was rolling around on the bed holding my stomach in agony, I didn't get a wink of sleep, and that night, I spewed my guts up twice. It was horrid. Delhi Belly had hit me. The next morning we had all decided to try and get the earliest start (unlike me, I know) so we could see the Taj and the sunrise. Well, it actually didn't bother me at all.... I was still awake from the night before... though still in a lot of pain. I was just feeling queezy at this point, but thank got for Harry, he had some buscopan which made a little bit of difference. The Taj. We got there, 6am, aaaaaand it was foggy. We could barely see anything. It didn't matter really though, because when the fog sometimes cleared, it made it even more enchanting, and it was still so spectacular. However, not spectacular enough for me not to want to go home after an hour.  After walking around and in the Taj, I found a seat in the garden and fell asleep for a bit. I slept while in the Taj Mahal grounds haha. Manash and Harry saw how bad I looked, so they took me home, tucked me in and I slept the rest of the day. I didn't even want to eat. It was the most sick I had ever been. Chicken. Never again. The next day Manash had to head back to Delhi, so it was now Harry and I on our mission! We woke up very early, and watched the sunrise. Today was one of my favourite days. There was a Taj Nature Walk, which had next to no other visitors but me and Harry and was completely underated! The view of the Taj whilst being in a beautiful garden, was amazing! We then took an AutoRickshaw to a tomb, I can't remember who's, but I preferred it over the Taj! There was a lack of white tourists, which was again, nice. And the tombs were beautiful!  The way I see it, the Taj is nice to look AT, but inside the other tombs, it was nicer looking OUT. Deer and beautiful green grass with well kept gardens and beautiful windows. It was by far our favourite. I played hide and seek with Harry in this tomb. We also had a lot of fun with the echoes. So many locals were taking photos of us again! And this time a few more saw us laughing and having fun, it gave them the confidence to approach us and ask for a photo with them. So we happily obliged! :) After about 4 hours running around the tombs, laughing and having fun, we'd forgotten about our trusty rickshaw man! But, he was there, loyal as ever. I even remember, he said his name is Raj. Thanks Raj! And then we were off to our ciy....

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Love Marriage

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The Band Attire.

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As far as the eye can see.

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Walking through the markets near Jama Masjid, New Delhi. Our little indian friend, the Dubai Guy and Harry.

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India- Delhi adventures & wedding #2

Harry and I woke up earlier today, better than the last few. I was surprised that Jet Lag had actually affected me a bit! We were now feeling a little more confident with the metro system which is unlike anything I have seen. Instead of using cards/tickets, passengers are required to purchase a little coin-like token, very efficient and fast.  Our aim today was to do a few touristy things, and the main attractions seemed to group around Chandi Chowk. When we arrived, we referred to our Lonely Plant guide, as I really wanted to see the Jama Masjid Mosque, and Harry, The Red Fort.  We couldn't even get to the street The Red Fort entrance was on, nor the way to Jama Masid-- it was crowded with people! We could hear some sort of marching band, perhaps a parade going on, but I jumped up and down, and still couldn't see. Eventually, the crowd disintegrated, and traffic moved on as normal, though The Red Fort was closed, as we were informed the President was there! We were still able to see the Red Fort, from an out side view.. and it was HUGE! Beautiful roasted colour, slightly hazed by the smog, and the birds! Oh the birds were incredible, I had my mouth wide open in absolute awe. Harry and I couldn't figure out if they were eagles, or hawks, or falcons, but they were big, and they were magnificent! Whilst we were staring at this amazing fort, and these amazing birds, a small crowd had developed around us. We were being watched! It was only when we turned around we realised, it was the fort they were looking at, it was us! It was so odd!! It was so intimidating! I don't know what they were looking at, but there surely would have been more than 20 Indian men staring at me and Harry... and not even from afar! They were right next to us, just looking! We continued on, and stopped briefly at The Bird Sanctuary, which we were required to take our shoes off upon entering.. which I'm still not sure why. Perhaps it is a holy place.. but I didn't think so. I had a little snoop around and discovered pretty quickly, the place had cages full of sick pigeons.. and I felt the need to put my shoes back on pretty quickly. Trying to find the Jama Masjid was a little tricky, we were amongst what seemed to be getting more and more slummier. I couldn't imagine a great mosque being amongst this, when a lovely guy about our age, well dressed and seemingly not indian and about our age asked if we needed help. He was from Dubai, though was part indian, and offered to take us there. He had time to kill before his flight. He seemed trustworthy enough, and I'm usually really super cautious. He led us through the one of the worst slums I saw. People were living in mud, dogs were so mangey, they were unrecognisable, There were little markets everywhere, but the stench was just way too overpowering. A little boy approached us, he was wearing sandals that were falling apart, and much too big for him, though the rest of him was relatively clean, so he seemed much better off than a lot of other children I saw in the space of the markets. He was constantly asking for money, "50rs miss, please, 50rs?", I felt horrible, but I really didn't want to encourage begging, so I just gave him a hug and tried to say no. The guy from Dubai was chatting to boy in hindi, asking him where his parents were, and the boy replied that he didn't have any. I wasn't sure if he was trying to guilt trip us, or if he was genuine. The mosque came into view, and it was spectacular!! I really didn't mind if I couldnt go inside, I just wanted to respect the culture. We maybe could have passed, but I'm glad we didn't. We. Were. So. Ripped. Off. We had to pay for the following, each separately:

* Entry to the mosque

* possesion of camera (we had to pay to bring our OWN cameras in, and for each camera!)

* To hire a burqa.

* To climb to the first tower

* To climb to the top level

I though that was taking the piss a bit, but I guess tourism brings in a lot of money, and keeps everything flowing! The Dubai Guy tried to pay for our tickets (it's cheaper if you are a local) but they refused. We were in, and it was so beautiful and peaceful, thank god. I needed it to be after the hassle at the entrance! I really did love the mosque though, and I'm not going to become muslim or anything, but I truly admire the dedication they have, praying 5 times a day, and the sound of the prayers are truly haunting and beautiful. Harry and I climbed to the first level, where we got an great view of the city, and even better of the hawks/eagles? We just sat up there and watched, looked as far as the eye could see, or until the smog stopped vision.  I cannot comprehend the size of the city. It just looks like it continues forever! We stayed up there for perhaps and hour, as we really wanted to go to the top, but we really didn't want to pay extra. Strange how we both were happy to linger haha I heard two English accents, and since working all over England, I make it a personal challenge for myself to try and guess where they are from. As they were nearing the top of the stairs, I just shouted, "Yorkshire?!" They just laughed and said yes. We made friendzies. They paid to go to the top level, and lucky for me and Harry, the "Stair Keeper" just waved as through, and said we can go for free! We were stoked. Whilst on these two levels, I'm not sure if they were locals that had followed us up there, or indian tourists, but they were constantly taking pictures of me-- without my permission! And sometime, they'd stand just meters from me, and unsubtly film me. It was strange. Being on the top, it felt a little unsafe, I get sore feet when I think about slipping. I know, I'm weird. But I was thinking about socks on the marble... and.... I'm getting sore feet now. The view from the first level was impressive enough, but from the top. Incomprehensible.  Harry and I, bit hungry from our day, wanted to get some curry! It didn't seem like there were many 'Safe' food options, so the reckless we are, just went for a little makeshift restaurant by the road. We asked what we could get for 50rs, and he offered us Rice and Dahl and curry, and roti.. and we were happy! I was so happy with our host, I wanted a photo with him. He was the cheeriest uncle-figure, big smile and a big moustache. It was getting late, and again we had to get back for wedding number two. It was also peak hour in Delhi, and the station was packed!! At first it seemed that everyone was standing in a queue, but as soon as the doors opened,  shit hit the fan and all order was lost. I realised at this point there were no women lined up like I was, as there was a separate cabin in the front for women only, but at the risk of getting off at the wrong stop and losing Harry, I stuck with him. It was getting a bit too close for comfort in the cabin, and a man's hand was wandering behind me. I ignored it at first and just wriggled closer to Harry, but when he did it the second time I called him all manner of bad names. Harry was about to tell him off, when another Indian man bet him too it. I was surprised, I didn't think any of the Indian men would care, to be honest, but I thanked the guy, and the little sleeze ball, he got as close to the exit as possible, now he knew two men had their eyes on him, and quickly got off at the next stop. I must've been tried! I collapsed in a heap when we got home, and woke with 30 mins to get ready! I chucked on my Sari, different to the night before, left my hair, because I was lazy, and slapped on the makeup. This wedding was even more spectacular, more over the top, and visually more expensive than the last! The entrance was a giant colourful light display of a rainbow, and the inside, a giant fake-grass garden, with food stalls on each side of traditional Indian food. Though, once again, we were the only white people, and the waiters loved to serve us! We had so much chai, and it was so delicious, and Manash was introducing us to all the different foods, though I can't remember them! This time I got to see the arrival of the groom, and how incredible it was! You could hear it from the end of the street! They had fabulously loud drums and a little band, flutes and trombones and trumpets, it was fantastic! A little crowd of relatives and friends danced below the groom as he is brought in on his carriage pulled by two beautiful white horses. I love the atmosphere, and I loved the excitement, but again, this wonderfully big wedding was as unintimate as the last, as, the Bride had not even arrived yet, the groom hadn't even entered the building, but people who had eaten, were already leaving! That completely boggled my mind.

I really enjoyed taking photos of this entrance, it was so lively! The dancing continued until the groom had walked/danced his way to the entrance, (the big Rainbow of lights) and when he was there, he had to bargain with the sister's of the bride to let him marry them. Apparently it can be as far as to 1000 AUD. Not long after, the bride arrived. Her entrance was completely opposite, the music was calming and angelic, and she walked slowly surrounded by her family and friends. She was absolutely beautiful, wearing a traditional red sari and her lips painted red. She looked like an indian princess. Everyone rushed to take photos of the couple, myself included. After more chai, and a few traidional desserts, Manash went out for a cigarette, and harry and I accompanied him. Whilst there, other guests had a chance to talk to us away from the ceremony, and after one had asked to "take a photo with foreigners" more came. Not sure how many photos were taken of me that night compared to the bride...

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INDIA: Weddings in Delhi

Manash invited us to a relative of his' wedding. I was ecstatic, TOO excited!! I've always heard about Indian weddings, and I've been forced to watch a multitude of bollywood films which my mum and aunt are obsessed with, so naturally, yah. I was excited. I couldn't wait to cover my hand and arms in Henna, and even though Dolly told us to wait for her so we don't get ripped off, Harry and I were way too excited to hit Delhi by ourselves, and go check out some markets. So off we went, to "Pahar Ghang" a relatively popular tourist market, (we also wanted to get geared up- indian style with some hippy clothes) and my god.. I thought I would be the big-spender of the trip. But no..... Harry, as I discovered for the rest of our time together, couldn't stop buying things! He was the first, and last to purchase items, even when I'd run out to grab something quick, Harry would always come back with some sort of trinket or gift for someone! The first thing he purchased was a great buy, nonetheless. A great big printed wall mural of Ganesh, which we doubled as a blanket, and ended up being super useful! Almost on our way home, we spotted a little stall that did Henna, so we look at each other, and as we do, just agree on everthing, we agreed to get henna. Again to my surprise, Harry got henna too! Now, Dolly had told us not to spend more than 200Rs, so we had it in our mind. When I sat down, I said to the man, "200rs, yes?" And he just said "yeah yeah, 200rs." I should have been more cautious, you see, when he was almost done he turned around and said, "well actually, I charge per inch Sq... so 70rs per inch, yes?" I pulled my arm away, and it got into a bit of an argument. Infact, they had attempted to charge us the equivelant of about $50 AUD.. which we were having none of! The Henna only costs about 30Rs in the shop.. That was our first little argument and bargaining rip-off. We actually both didn't bring more than 2000Rs with us, each! So we didn't have enough anyway, we gave them 1000rs, and left. They had still made money, and they new it. You have to be careful being a tourist, all these little traps. Now we'd taken way too long at the market, we had a little over an hour to get get back to Ashok Nagar and get ready! All the housing blocks in Ashok look the bloody same. Harry and I felt like we were walking in all directions for ages, trying to remember landmarks "there's the dog pit" "there's the gardens" "I think I remember this turn off" I was doubtful, and confidently bet Harrison $10 that we were going the wrong way. I lost the bet. We arrived back, and Dolly was already half ready. The night before we had tried on a few Saris to be ready in advance, and now, all she had to do was pin me up! I quickly showered, chucked on some makeup (I hesitated to bring it, but lucky I did!) and did my hair, and I felt like an indian princess. Harry, not so traditional, borrowed some nice shoes and suit top from Manash. I've never seen him so dressed up in my life! Infact, seeing him in shoes alone is a surprise! The two of us, looking the best we would the entire trip, were ready :) We unfortunately missed the arrival of the bride and groom, but plenty of food was available! The wedding was nothing like I had imagined. In fact, it was totally more western than I thought it would be, aside from a few women wearing sari's, the venue was inside a really upmarket hotel, and although there were tonnes of people, it seemed as if no one really knew each other. People were leaving as we were arriving, it was really unintimate, and really strange! We were pretty tired anyway, and were glad to head home after some food. I also knew we had ANOTHER wedding the next day!

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Arriving to Delhi

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INDIA - Arriving at Delhi

I have filled a diary with all my adventures, so I will try my best to transfer them onto here. I hope you enjoy! I will try and upload pictures to match :) After a crazy week in Poland a few days sick in England, I was finally in the air and on my way to India. I still find it so surreal that I was actually there! I was a little anxious about meeting Harry, I wasn't sure how reliable he was going to be (silly me, he's never been unreliable in my whole life!) so once off the plane, and my green backpack on my back, I headed for the exit. After being in the Bali airport, Delhi airport was surprisingly clean! Also, most signs were in English.. I didn't feel in a 3rd world country at all! I held my camera and recorded myself walking out the door, although the view isn't very good because there is too much sunlight, you can still catch a glimpse of a crowd of indians with various signs, "Mr... Mrs..." I was so excited! I had no idea where Harry was, and I was half preoccupied with holding my camera, I just got to the doors and yelled, "HARRYYY", and dredlocks appeared :) I hadn't seen my good friend in what felt like a year.. though in reality, I saw him at my 21st Birthday just before I left in July! It was so nice to see a familiar face after being a stranger to everyone in the UK! We grabbed a cab and headed to Manash's house in Delhi, a friend of Harry's. We were to stay there for a few days.

I wasn't nearly as culture shocked as I though I would be! Infact, I felt like I was totally prepared for it already. I remember arriving into indonesia and just thinking, "woahhhhhhh", but that hadn't happened yet in India. Maybe I was being impatient. We got to, Ashok Nagar, where Manash lives, to find quite a nice traditional indian home. Manash lives there with his mother and father. His mother, god bless, was just the sweetest. Her name is Dolly and just loved to be the motherly figure-- and she did it well! Immediately she ushered me in and ordered me to sit whilst she fed us. And did she feed us!! Take note: Every meal from now on that was provided by Dolly was incredibly over the top! Huge! Banquet style! Some mornings we tried to sneak out before she could catch us and tell us to eat... "breakfast". Manash was at work, so I actually hadn't met him yet, though his friend Mitika offered to take us to some markets. I was exhausted from the flight, though I just wanted to get started! I felt like I needed to take advantage of every single day I had in India. We didn't need to go far, and now the culture differences were really starting to show. Walking down the street I felt like.. either a celebrity or an imposter. Men stared at me with no remorse. Blatant starting, very intimidating. I wasn't sure whether to stare back, tell them off, or keep my eyes down? Though, I figured pretty quicky, it might be rude in my culture, but in theirs.. not so. So I just tried to ignore it. And I'll admit, right until my time was up in India, I still found it intimidating. I met Manash later that evening, and he, Harry and I went to the roof of their 3 story house. From there, we couldn't see much. All we could see was smog, and a few hazy street lights, but we could hear a party! And this was the same every night! From a different direction! Someone, somewhere, there was a wedding. And it was loud!! The next day, I felt a little jet-lagged so slept in late. Dolly offered to take us out as she was already going to the food market. But first, she few us this HUGE breakfast, and it was amazing! Roti bread and mustard leaves and lentils. SO much. We walked through a garden, where boys played soccer, though stopped to call at me and ask to shake hands, people were doing yoga and many people just walking. It's wasn't the "Busy Delhi"  lifestyle I expected. It was very amusing when people stared us. The men, would often look at me, I think perhaps hoping I would look back? I am not sure, maybe they were curious about something, though when they looked at Harry, he was an Alien! His Dredlocks, they stared at wide-eyed, and I'd giggle and ask them if they wanted to touch it. Men would go from gaping-mouthed to a big wide smile as if they'd been offered candy. Women however would giggle, cover their face.. and usually run off! Way with the ladies that one. The food market was incredibly busy, and now it was night time!  I'd heard so much about how women shouldn't be out at night at all, but there were plenty! I felt much safer than I thought I would. We went home and Dolly filled us up on chai :)