Hi everyone,
My final email! I'm back in
Delhi for the week after 13 weeks in
Chennai and 7 weeks travelling and guess what? I'm utterly in love with this amazing country and I'm very sad to be leaving! At the moment the plan is to come back in five years, do some more volunteer work and more travelling (especially if I get to see tigers again!) but I don't know if I can wait that long. It really has been an incredible experience which is very difficult to put into words (doesn't bode well for a possible writing career!).
That said, in the last three or four weeks my body has started complaining that "Enough is enough"! I've had coughs, colds, mouth ulcers, conjunctivitis, more colds, and I have to ask one favour of you all : after I get back please leave it at least six months before inviting me for a curry! I'm really looking forward to good old home cooked food. And sausages. And cheese, and Weetabix and flapjacks and Mum's fruit bread. I really want to share the last five months with everyone and have about 2000 photographs to show you (don't worry, I'll skip over at least a couple of them)!
I can't remember what I said in my last email before the tiger one so there may be gaping holes in the story. Goa was lovely, hot sunshine and sandy beaches, completely deserted apart from a film crew making a Bollywood movie on my beach. The plan for the week was simply to relax and I'm happy to report I succeeded nicely! I'd like to go back and stay somewhere more lively and do some sightseeing but this time, after work and exhausting travel in the south, this was my holiday.
Meeting the group for travelling in the north two weeks ago, we started off in
Delhi. Crazy, crazy
Delhi. If I thought the pollution in
Chennai was bad it was nothing compared to here! Leaving here we went to the beautiful village of Orchha where I attended a cooking demonstration (so I'll be experimenting on you when I get back! Just not eating it myself...); Khajuraho, to see various temples; Panna, Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks (you know about those - tigers in the last two); Agra, for the incredible Taj Mahal (amazing monument, disgusting town); Jaipur in the desert state of Rajahstan (they have camels in the streets!!) and back to
Delhi. It's all still sinking in so apologies for the lack of detail about the trip!
On Saturday night I went to a huge outdoor concert by India's biggest music star A R Rahman. This is the man Andrew Lloyd Webber comissioned to write 'Bombay Dreams' and who has co-written 'Lord Of The Rings: The Musical', currently in London. It was an amazing concert with over 70 performers in front of 60,000 people. As a guide to how music works in India, Beyonce played in Mumbai a few weeks ago and played to only 2000 people! The music was fantastic, loud and exciting. I've also been to another Bollywood film, Saawariya, which was very enjoyable, and I'm going to the biggest one out at the moment Om Shanti Om before I leave. My Hindi is getting no better though!
On Friday morning I'll be meeting the parentals in Vienna - from Bollywood to Strauss, uh-oh! Culture shock! The temperature in
Delhi is steadily dropping so hopefully getting back to Europe won't be too nasty (famous last words). I'm looking forward to having Christmas with family and friends.
Love and best wishes,
Chris.