Subject: Octopussy and life in India - from greg

Namaste Everyone!!

Jo and me are in Udaipur, (Well done some of you for guessing this!). We left Mount Abu a couple of days ago and took the 'vomit express' down the winding road, 1200 meters to ground level. I say vomit express because lots of Asian women we have experienced have had a tendency to get travel sickness when the going gets bumpy. I do have to admit to fearing for my life occasionally on the trip to Udaipur also.

We have ups and downs in the past week. We love the natural side of things and we have met some wonderful, genuine people, both Indian and westerners. Unfortunately, what we have found is constant harassment for our cash. Shop-keepers, taxi drivers, auto rickshaw drivers are constantly onto us to part with our wonger ALL THE TIME. It gets a bit much and has, at times, really spoilt a good moment. I/we are hardening up now though. We can walk by without even saying "no" anymore(which is bad, I know but it's the only way we can deal with it.)

Anyway, enough of the negatives. Mount Abu was amazing. It's the centre for honeymoon couples and because of this, the town is geared up to 'romance'. The main lake (Nakki) has pedaloes, gondolas and giant fibreglass swans in which you can be alone at sunset. The photographers hang around the lake like flies offering to take pictures and showing you their portfolio of romantic pics. If anything these put me off! One evening, we decided to go to 'Sunset Point'. There were(and I'm not kidding here,) what must have a thousand people all sat waiting for the sun to set over the plains below. We sat nearby at a beautiful point with some lovely people we'd previously met, from NZealand. We were the only people there. We could hear the loud chattering and could see the flashes of the cheesy photographers. I wish you could have seen the sunset, but more, I wish you could have seen the crowds of people who, it seems have no minds of their own when it comes to enjoying themselves.

It seems a lot of people here need to be shown how to have a good time. They need to be shown and guided in everything they do. This may explain why everyone here wants to guide you, show you their India and won't let you do anything by yourself. An Indian hotelier told me Indian people are guided constantly through their lives; Their parents have to be consulted before they go anywhere, they are chaperoned by family members and ultimately their parents choose their marriage partners. But this contradicts the way they live the rest of their lives. They believe they have no control over anything. They drive like they have god in the back seat telling them how to negotiate busy traffic. Careers, money, children and the success of marriage are matters that are guided by the stars, so astrology is big, REALLY BIG over here. Even on the train, the other day, a man was reading palms, the queue to have this done was seemingly never ending!

Anyway enough of my opinion, we're off for a beer now and watch the sun go down over the Lake Palace Hotel on Lake Pichola. (This was the setting for part of the film Octopussy, all the hotels around this area show the film every night and most have a Room Number 007.....)

all the best

xgregx

Subject: The Next installment

Dear All,

We have now left Jodhpur and are enjoying the sights of Jaisalmer. The fort is of a beautiful yellow stone with some superb temples sprinkled amongst the narrow streets. We went on a 4 day camel safari, which we thoroughly enjoyed. There is so much to see in the Thar desert; we saw a deserted village with peacocks flying overhead, an oasis, beetles scuttling over the sand, deer and some pristine sand dunes which we slept upon and watched the sun set. (Very touristy, but what can you expect from a safari tour company called 'Trotters Independent Tours', run by a guy calling himself DelBoy!)

We are enjoying the food at last and have sampled a local dish of bruschetta and penne - it never ceases to amaze us how resourceful Indian people are.

It may surprise some of you to hear that we have developed a taste for tea! We love a cup of hot sweet chai in the morning, especially after a long haul-train journey.

Next stop is Mount Abu and Udaipur (location for Octopussy) in the next few days.

Cheerio,
xgregandjox

p.s Internet still bloody slow.

Subject: Hello from G&J

Hi All,

Sorry we can't respond to you all individually right now, but the Internet can be very slow at times (10 mins to open inbox, so we don't have time to even open emails!).

After traveling on an overnight train from Delhi(The Mandore Express), we are now settled here in Jodhpur at the moment, which is a truly magical place. We walked up to the mighty Meherangarh Fort when it was cool this morning and took an 'audio tour' which was so sophisticated and informative. There are fantastic screens of carved sandstone to protect the Maharajah's wives from the prying eyes of men, and when we peered out from the shutters, the vertical drop made our toes curl up. There was a crude nest clinging to a ledge with a baby vulture in it - Bless! Walking around the fort's ramparts, we were descended on by a large group of chattering, colourful sari-clad women, who were very friendly. The view was stunning - the maze of blue houses beneath against the red sandstone was beautiful.

We've both now suffered from poorly stomachs and have gotten over it with the help of the wonderful banana lassi drinks (yoghurt, sugar and banana).

Taken over 80 photos so far and can get these burnt onto disk whenever we need to.

Must finish now, we are in a tiny Internet cafe and it's a bit cramped!

We'll try and e-mail you all ASAP and when the connection is better.
Bye for now,

xgregandjox