Bangalore to Tumkur

This was a totally unexpected part of my journey.
The day after guns and roses I attempted to catch the train from yeshwathur to Bangalore city to meet friends and accidentally got on a train in the wrong direction. The journey should have taken 15 minutes but instead there were no stops for an hour and I ended up 70 km outside of Bangalore.
When I asked the station master how to get back he told me there was a train in 1.5 hours or I could get the bus which would take 2 hours . I decided on the bus as it would get me back marginally quicker so walked to the bus stand and got on a bus that people told me was going to Bangalore. While on the bus, however, I found put that it would actually take 3 hours so walked back to the train station.
At the train station I say next to a group of local women who did not speak English but were immediately friendly, encouraging their children to practice simple English phrases with me (what is your name?) Which the children would say shyly before running away.
The matriarch of this group took me under her wing when the train arrived, letting me sit with them on the seats they had managed to reserve by throwing their bags through the window as the train came to a stop.
One man who came on the train pushed one if the children off the seat so he could sit down, which I think is common in India as men have more right to a seat than children, but for me it felt incredibly rude. He then proceeded to read over my shoulder, pointing to English words that he understood until eventually I started a conversation with him. We had barely got past names, nationalities and the fact that he was Christian before he started inviting me to his church, his home, out suggesting he come to my home. I politely refused each suggestion and tried to continue reading but when he grabbed my book (to have a closer look as he was still reading over my shoulder) the woman that I had made friends with on the platform invited me to sit on the other side of her, away from the man, and moved her children around so that I would have space.
The journey that should have taken 15 minutes took 5 hours but I got back to Bangalore safe and had an unexpected adventure on Indian transport.

Guns and roses in Bangalore

That was a good night. Yet another completely different side to India, the crowd were mainly young middle class Indians (with a fair amount of western tourists), everyone spoke amazing English and were really friendly. The venue was a massive outdoor space that reminded me a lot of festivals back home.
The main differences were:
It cost the equivalent of 20 pounds and you could still buy tickets on the door.
The bar didn't open until 7pm even though gates were open at 4pm. Apparently this was so people didn't get too drunk. At home they wouldn't've let that money making opportunity go to waste.
And there was a massive que for the gent's loos but none for the women's!

Kerala

Kerala is a lot more expensive than the north so I therefore organised my travel to only spend a few nights in each place instead of weeks.
I found people in Waynard (rural kerala) not to speak as much English as the other places I had been, there was also not much tourist food available and it felt more like 'the real India'.
We planed to only stay 2 nights in Waynard but it is such a beautiful place we stayed for 5. I'm glad we did as the countryside it's astounding and definitely worth taking some time out to explore. In 5 days we went to a lake, a lookout point and a Jain temple, swam in a dam, visited caves that had etchings from 4000 BC and a wildlife sanctuary where we saw wild elephants.
Generally Kerala has very fertile land and is therefore full of rice paddies and spice plantations. In one day I saw orange, teek, coffee, bamboo, cloves, rubber, coconut, beatle but, ginger, turmeric, tapioca, oregano, cinnamon, mango, papaya, coco, curry leaf and grapefruit.
This abundance of crops means that the food all over kerala is REALLY tastey. A thali here is very different to up north and trends to have between 6 and 20 dishes arranged on a banana leaf.

Pushkar

From hills to desert, Pushkar has a similar vibe to Rishikesh, being another holy town and tourist trap but instead of mountains and waterfalls there is desert and camels!
It can be worth going there purely for the shopping as the bazaar has so many beautiful things I wanted to shop every day but my favourite thing has got to be the camel safari.
Setting of from the camel fair where hundred of camels were being bought sold and traded, we headed off into the brilliant red sunset watching the beautiful Rajasthani countryside from the back of a camel.
We then stayed the night at a farm house where I was invited to watch how the women cooked, rolled my own Chapatti and played games with the children.
It was in Pushkar that I decided I would try buying stuff in India to sell back in England so ended up spending a good chunck of my savings on things to send home. Just have to hope now that I selected the right things and that what I bought will sell.

Rishikesh magic

After the craziness of Delhi, Rishikesh seemed like paradise.
Lackshman Jula is a tourist town filled with cafes selling international food and yoga, meditation, reiki, massage or any other alternative therapy class you could want.
I started slowly by getting a massage on the first day, then trying meditation and having a reiki session but within a few days I was doing beginners yoga every day, sometimes twice.
In one of my early yoga classes my teacher lifted my back up and I collapsed in pain. Seeing the pain I'm in, he gave me a quick massage and showed me to a few stretches to do and I was better enough to carry on with the class.
It turns out that my yoga teacher is also a doctor and after a quick consultation where he took a history he told me he knew exactly what the problem was and how to fix it. I therefore signed up to a 10 day course of physical therapy involving osteopathy, reflexology, acupressure and yoga therapy.
The surrounding area of Rishikesh is beautiful to explore. The Ganges here is clean and good for swimming (if a little cold) and the sand on it's banks form beaches that sparkle. There are several waterfalls in walking distance and it's only a half day trek to punjapuri to see the sunrise and himalayas.
What struck me the most about Rishikesh was what locals described as the Rishikesh magic. The spirituality surrounding the place is so strong you can feel it and it is the perfect place to unwind.
I'm definitely going back.

Delhi

I spent 5 days in Delhi which in my opinion is too long.

Everyone there it seems is trying to scam you with a smile on their face.

Our first day we were going to walk to Connaught place when we met a very friendly guy who warned us about a slum we would walk through on the way there and recommended we get a Rickshaw. He even bargained with the Rickshaw driver to get us a cheap rate but once in we were in we were taken to a tourist office (travel agent) in the middle of nowhere and had to pay double to get a Rickshaw back.

Eventually we did get wise and to anyone that asked 'how long have you been here' I said 'a while' and anyone that suggested we needed a tourist office instead of where we were going I stopped talking to.

It's not a good introduction to a country, having to learn not to trust anyone that seems to be offering help and really made me debate on whether to stay in India for my intended 3 months.

It wasn't until 4 days into Delhi that I started to enjoy the craziness of it. After a hectic day of monuments, temples and an art gallery we headed over to the red fort for what we thought would be a lightshow. Instead of a lightshow what we found was the first night of a 9 day Hindi festival (dushera) where politicians (or religious leaders) were getting anointed and there wad a performance of the whole of the Hindi holy book on a big stage in front of the fort accompanied by fairground rides and street food.

As soon as we arrived the TV crew asked to interview us so we gave some soundbites about how amazing it is, then they let is through to sit in the front row and watch. Everyone there was really friendly, explaining about the festival and helping us out without expecting anything in return and helped me to like Delhi a lot more.

Day 5 in Delhi and people started getting stomach bugs. We all booked onward travel regardless but were not looking forward to bumpy bus rides ..

Beginnings

Almost 2 months into travelling and I'm finally starting a blog!
So back to the beginning, my journey started in Delhi, where, after 4 hours sleep, we arrived knackered but intent on doing what the guidebooks say and not get scammed. When someone told me the metro was shut I therefore laughed in their face saying 'all the guidebooks tell us about these scams'. The metro was shut.
The taxi we did get in took us to the wrong train station, another taxi ride later and the hotel I thought I had booked had no reservation ... Eventually found hotel shiv dev, paid western prices but it was worth it - we even had a swing in the room! It was a good place to hide from the hustle and bustle of Delhi