The Name's Bond

Apart from the fact that the shaking opened the window, blasting us with a jet of cold air every 30 minutes, the 14 hour overnight bus to Udaipur was not as bad as the Shangri-La experience (at least I got a bit of kip!). After then crashing for another couple hours we were treated to a breakfast right on the lakefront overlooking the beautiful city of Udaipur. Having thought that Jaisalmer was a fairytale fort, this is where the princesses would have come from! The Palace Hotel was floating in the clear waters, the hills were shimmering in the distance, the ghats were alive with the sound of clothes being violently beaten clean and the waters were lined with ornate havelis, temples and hotels. A pre-lunch amble confirmed the attraction of the old city, only marginally spoiled by the ridiculous number of rickshaws and cars trying to squeeze through the narrow streets and the tourist hordes adding to the general blockage. Day 2 was for joining the other tourists, we marveled at the Palace, went shopping for "miniature" paintings and then watched the Bond film Octopussy on the roof of a restaurant, spotting all of the places in the city where it was filmed whilst eating pizza! With 4 of us we were then able to hire a car for a day costing a paltry 4 quid each and so were able to take in the more distant sites of Kumbalgarh and Ranakpur. Kumbalgarhfort fort was impressively placed at the summit of a dominating outcrop, the 36km outer wall snaking off into the distance. The whole place was also remarkably empty and in excellent repair. Ranakpur was an excellent contrast, being a group of intricately carved marble Jain temples set in a remote wooded valley. The detail rivaled those of Jaisalmer and the marble must have been much harder to work here compared to the softer sandstone. All in all the day panned out to make a wonderful trip, the car also taking us through valleys and a countryside of small villages, crops drying in fields and cattle driving water collection from deep wells for collection, washing and the irrigation of the lush sugar cane fields.

The Fairytale Fort and Desert Nights

Next stop Jaisalmer, the bus being luxurious compared to the previous. We were met at the bus station by the hotel, recommended by a couple we had met in Varanasi, and the rooftop yet again provided the most amazing view of the old city and ancient fort towering over the rooftops below and all glowing gold as the sun sunk below the horizon shortly after our arrival. Having booked the required camel safari the following day was free top explore the old town and fort, unique in that it is still home to around 25% of the old cities inhabitants, other forts are all empty. Despite all the hawkers and touts, the narrow streets adorned with the magnificent stonework of old havelis along with the fort itself still appear to have leapt straight from the pages of a medieval fairytale. We had a great time meandering through the lanes of the fort, exploring the magnificent Jain temple complex housed within, and then the old town, somehow managing to find Patwa-ki-Haveli. This huge former home bridges a narrow lane and the stonework detail is unsurpassable. Inside the treat continues with room after room of opulent decoration and furniture giving a real glimpse into the lives of the then rich. The following morning, bright and early we were picked up by 4x4 and whisked to our waiting camels and four guides. Pepsi was to provide my transport for the next 3 days with big Ali, who looked like an India Chuckle Brother, providing the steadying hand on this reluctant, complaining 3 year old. Little Ali was the provider of endless enthusiasm and at 20 had learnt English from his 10 years already spent in the job. Bobby was quiet, smoking endlessly, but very attentive. Ramjan was the final member, the old man at 49, an excellent chef and only member to wear a turban! The first couple of hours were spent wondering how I was going to put up with another 2 and half days on the back of such an uncomfortable beast with its jerking gait but thankfully my legs soon stretched and eased with the final day actually proving the most comfortable. Most of the time was spent crossing flat, baked, rubble strewn plain only interrupted by straggly bushes and a few trees which provided the shade for the much needed lunch stops. To say the landscape was beautiful would be overstating the case but it did have a certain attraction which just about lasted the length of the trip. It was only when we stopped for the two nights that we encountered small strips of sand dunes which were special although tiny in comparison to the dunes of Morocco we have had the privilege of visiting and hardly untouched with footprints snaking over every face. Cooking over an open fire and then sleeping under such a blanket of stars was not bad at all. It is also only during the night that you can appreciate the desert climate as the baking days gave way to the bitter nights of the approaching winter. In all I did enjoy the trip though found it somewhat a contrived tourist experience (though not sure what I expected), always being led and hardly out in the sticks with villagers greeting us every evening with cold coke and beer. Our guides however could not have been better though I think that's me done with camel trekking for the foreseeable future.

The Blue City

I am very pleased to report, after the disappointment of the pink-more-like-peach city of Jaipur, that the Blue city of Jodhpur is definitely blue! After a rickety 5 hour bus ride all 6 of us arrived in town, our numbers swelling having been joined by Amy's parents and 2 TOLFA volunteers, and a 3 rickshaw convoy soon saw us speeding through the narrow lanes of the old city towards our hotel. We made it without sliding into the shallow open sewers lining every lane and without any head-on collisions and so felt brave enough to head out into the maze on foot. By good fortune more than design we dodged the rickshaws, cows and scooters so ending up at the clock tower, the centre of the old town, and plunged into the bazaar. Escaping that with wallets intact a beer on the rooftop watching the setting sun was perfect relaxation and the first beer since arriving in India. Pushing the boat out completely we then sought out a fantastic meat restaurant to ensure that all cravings were satisfied, Pushkar being both dry and strictly vegetarian. Once we got underway the following morning we did the obligatory tour of the old fort which truly dominates the skyline, the audio tour well worth the listen bringing the place to life. Having then pottered over to the Maharajahs cenotaphs a late lunch was enjoyed before reading and watching the sun again set over the blue cubed city. It is great to be on the road again and Jodhpur an excellent stop. The fort is the best we have seen so far, the old city is exciting, noisy, pretty, dirty and enchanting and the perfect stop to get back into the swing of things.

The Tree of Life and Missing Lake

Since we left the UK there has only ever been one date that could not be altered, the 18th October was when we were due in Pushkar to start our month volunteering for the charity the Tree of Life for Animals (aka TOLFA). We actually did manage to arrive on that very date, though strictly speaking did not start work until the following day. One month later, believe me that it has flown past, and we are ready to move on to start the next leg of our adventures. For the first week and a bit, there were 8 volunteers and with both Indian vets and a number of other staff on a prolonged Dewali holiday we were all able to be useful, muddling through the list of jobs that needed doing. I generally tucked myself away in theatre, ensuring that plenty of dogs will no longer have a use for their reproductive organs, while Amy tackled the large animal sheds and the dog treatments getting shared around to whoever had time. We found a real mixed bag of cases, from dogs with horrendous chronic mange and maggot infested wounds to adult cows with open fractures of major long bones. I also managed to get bitten on the second day (and again in the last week!), nothing serious but with rabies endemic any broken skin means that top up vaccinations are needed, Amy had to do the honors having bought the vaccine over-the-counter at a small pharmacy. All very different from back home and the big treatment option of euthanasia not a realistic option, especially when considering the holy status of cows and monkeys, killing them punishable by long jail sentences! Having described the worst, there were also plenty of animals who just needed a bit of a holiday, some rest and good grub, before being released back onto the streets. For this first week we muddled through, with the added event being the wedding of the charities founder Rachael to Anu. Having missed her actual wedding date due to visa issues, it ended up that the reception was before the wedding and consisted of people processing past to give gifts and have a photo taken before a huge buffet was served up and the boys got stuck into some seriously competitive dancing! During the camel fair hotel prices sky rocket and we had to move out of Pushkar and into a nearby village as the charity could not cover this increased cost. Moving out to Foy Sagar, on the outskirts of Ajmer, meant that we had no time to wonder around the event of an evening and so all I saw of it was the day spent at the veterinary clinic and we payed to stay an extra night in Pushkar as Sunday was our day off and we wanted to make the most of it. On the plus side we did get a chance to see a bit of rural village life, its amazing how cheap local shops and stalls are, and we were welcomed by the family we were lodging with. Once the vets were back there was unfortunately less reason for the vets to be there. I'm sure the extra hands came in useful but our expertise were certainly not needed as the local vets tended to take over any new case that came in or "suggested" to us how we should do things differently. They did not seem to recognise when our training or experience made us better qualified, nor did they really want to discuss anything. While I am sure the extra hands were a help, I was left with the impression that the donation rather than manpower is what was wanted. There were however positives! The scooter ride to and from the clinic everyday was perhaps the highlight, riding along the quiet road through villages and past villagers carrying loads or herding their goats. Flank spays are now no problem, a technique generally only used in cats back home, and I had plenty of opportunity to carry out other ops including a penis amputation in a dog (don't ask!). I can now also be confident that with time most wounds will heal, though whether owners back home would be willing to wait is a different matter! We also met some great people, the other volunteers were all very enthusiastic and hard working, the staff were good fun and I really enjoyed the lunchtime cricket matches. I also think that the charity does an amazing job that is much needed and that anyone who is so inclined would struggle to find a similar charity that could better use any donation.

And what of Pushkar itself? It is a very tourist orientated place that has resulted in the destruction of the holy feel of the town. Pushkar is after all the home to hundreds of temples and scores of pilgrims do visit to worship and bathe in the lake. That was the other problem of our visit, the lake was dry having been drained for repairs and cleaning at the start of the year but the pathetic monsoon failing to refill its waters. As a result the main beauty of the town was missing though the rooftop view from our hotel in the morning was still very special, especially when the troops of monkeys were leaping from roof to roof! The few days that we were not at the clinic were well spent the first being a scooter ride into the heart of neighbouring Ajmer, parking right at the gate for the most important Muslim pilgrimage site in India. This was equivalent to riding on the pavement of Oxford street , against the flow of traffic during the last minute Christmas rush - not for the faint hearted. Still, no young children were squashed and the town was full of life. Another day scooter ride took us on some seriously rocky tracks into the heart of the countryside to visit some of the many temples and shrines dotting the landscape. It was great to escape the crowds though not sure Deepak, the scooter hire man, would have been too impressed. Another day was simply spent relaxing, drinking chai, reading and sleeping. Hey, we were working so what was wrong with that? The final big event, at least for Amy was the loss of my beard. A cut throat razor making disappointingly light work of my 2 month beard!

Camels Camels Everywhere

We had timed our stay in Puskar to coincide with the annual camel market and festival, the largest of its kind. The week leading up to the big event saw the participants arrive in large herds, slowly traipsing across the tundra of the desert and providing a more novel form of road obstacle as we zipped to and from the TOLFA clinic on scooters. The trip to the petrol station provided a glimpse as to the size of the newly erected tented village but as darkness came on early we could not explore further in the evenings after work. It was not till the day before the official first day, Sunday and our day off, that we could roam the Mella ground at our leisure. The sight that greeted us was impressive, the number of animals vast. Camels of all ages had arrived from far and wide along with large numbers of both horses and cattle to be sold to dealers that themselves had traveled considerably. What a week before had been nothing but dusty, sandy scrub land was now packed tight with the beasts leaving barely enough space for their current owners to unroll a blanket and brew a much needed chai. This activity is what the event was all about but now it plays just a part. Rusty, ancient fairground rides were being unpacked and put together like giant mechano sets and a plethora of stalls and canteens had created an entirely knew high street in the desert. Quickly stepping from this tourist route we could wind our way through the livestock with no hastle save a few jewelry hawkers from Fatepur Sikri, and witness the preparations as the camels had stray hairs closely trimmed, inspections were made and gossip was exchanged. The activity only increased towards sunset as fires dotted the camp and smoke drifted across the plain with the sun slowly sinking into the horizon.

That was our tourist experience, next was the veterinary one! For one day, by rota, each of the volunteers at TOLFA was sent with a couple of staff members to lend a hand at the Veterinary Camp run by the Jaipur charity Help in Suffering. Despite having little specific knowledge (I must have slept through our camel lecture) what was presented was first aid. Plenty of rub wounds from ill fitting saddles and bridles, infected noses from splintered control pegs, sliced foot pads, maggots and the big one...inappentance. Wounds were cleaned, disinfected, dressed if needed and injections dispensed. Maggots were removed and abscesses flushed. Those with inappetence (usually presented with a mouth full of food!) were dispatched with wormer and a curry powder appetite stimulant. The hardest part of the process was grabbing one of the local staff to act as translater of the problem and then finding them again to explain the treatment to the owner.