Bonus: Half Way/Leg 3 Video

Download Google Drive Version for better quality?

Special thanks to the Cloud Cult for hopefully not taking legal action to have us remove the video featuring their amazing song from the album Light Chasers.

Day 143: Impressions of India

India wasn't nearly as difficult to travel in than others led us to believe, likely due to the poverty we'd already been experiencing. The main difference was that it stood out more. In Madagascar, for example, everyone was poor, so it was less noticeable, if that makes sense. In India, you can see the extreme distribution of wealth and it's enhanced by the setting. Great forts and palaces create a medieval feeling where kings and queens sit looking down at their village, including its peasants. The poor aren't hidden down alleyways and in ghettos like so many Western cities.

The number of children begging was certainly difficult to see, but again, not unusual. It was a sad sight that we've seen in each country we've visited (except Reunion and Mauritius). We've struggled to decide on an area to support as there are so many that are valuable. But for India, we've decided to focus our efforts on improving the rights of women. With rape,  gender selection, and girls dying at three times the rate of boys from malnutrition, it's clear that the women in India need some support.

Overall, our experience in India was positive with lots of delicious food, easy bus rides, and marvellous architecture. Whether or not you believe in Hinduism, there is no denying the beauty in their religious celebrations and buildings. And watching women walk through the streets in their saris is just mystical.

Leg Three showed us culture, history, and a view into the lives of one sixth of the world's population. We're leaving feeling like there are many corners of Nepal and India left to explore. We had high hopes to create a video to some great Hindu music but have settled on another one of our favourites.

Leg 3 Video

Days 142: Ballin' in Slumbai

We learned that our only way to Mumbai was on a night bus, so we gained an extra day in Ahmedabad mainly to relax in our hotel room since we'd exhausted Ahmedabad's tourist sites the day before. Our only outlet was hooked up to the tv, so we watched movies on HBO and rushed to plug in devices on the well-timed commercial breaks so they would be full for our long ride ahead. If you get a chance to stay with Hotel Good Night, it'll be worth every penny  because they have a 24 hour check-in/check-out policy, so since we'd arrived in the evening two days prior, we didn't have to check out until 8pm (with no added charge!).

The sleeper bus turned out to be fairly comfortable, a little too short to fit us perfectly, but we managed. After a rocky start with a driver, who felt to be a teenager behind wheels for the first time, accelerating and stopping with such force we were both turning green, we hit the open highway and let the bouncing vibrations lull us into a restful state. The ten hours passed quickly and we arrived in Mumbai as the sun was rising behind a wall of polluted haze.

We should mention that when we discovered that we could only take a night bus and would be arriving in the morning, we called the hotel we had booked in Mumbai (and paid a deposit fee for), to inform them we'd only be staying one night instead of two. They replied that we would have to pay for both nights in full. So WE replied that in that case, we would cancel our entire reservation with them, allowing them to keep the 10% deposit for two nights which would be less money lost overall. So, we found a different hotel in Mumbai and booked for one night through Agoda.

So, back to us arriving to Mumbai. Getting to our prepaid hotel was easy, but when we walked in with booking reference in hand, they informed us that they did not have any vacancies and they had not confirmed this reservation with Agoda. A large argument ensued, the hotel manager was called, and we left completely enraged that they would not honour the room that we had ALREADY PAID FOR!

Needing some time to think and cool down, we decided to go to one of the fancy hotels in the area for air conditioning and a nice breakfast, where we could figure out our next plan. The auto driver (who had witnessed, and for whatever reason participated in our argument with the hotel manager) felt that we should go to a different hotel than the one we asked for, and took us on his merry way. This escalated to us threatening to jump out of the rickshaw when he wouldn't stop and let us out. Finally, completely at our wits end, we arrived (with a different auto) to the Suba International, and to their credit, the hotel receptionist didn't bat an eye at our sorry state. At the end of breakfast, the waiter asked where we were staying, looked at Erin's quivering eyes as she replied that we had already paid for two different hotel rooms for that night but still had nowhere to stay, and went to talk with the hotel manager.

After a few minutes of negotiations, we were offered the only room they had left, the Executive Suite (of course, there were no basic or deluxe rooms available, only suites...), at a severely discounted rate. Yes, that rate was still well above our budget, but we splurged, and immediately had a nap on what must be the most comfortable bed in the entire world.

Also of note: you control the lights, tv, air conditioner, you name it, with an iPod Touch!!! We can even monitor who's outside our door from the built-in camera.

We justified this splurge by telling ourselves we were experiencing the true extremes of Mumbai life: ballin' like Bollywood stars, then shuffling around the slums, as the only thing on our Mumbai itinerary was a 'Reality Tour' of Dharavi.

After lots of back and forth on the idea, we finally decided to see for ourselves the truth behind 'Slumbai.' From watching Slumdog Millionaire, and reading Behind the Beautiful Forever, we had a taste of what the media portrayed. Erin felt that if she ever wanted to talk about the slums in her classroom, she should have had the first-hand experience of visiting them, and Reality Tours was recommended by a friend (and Lonely Planet). So we signed up, met with our guide, Arish, and four other travellers, and were off!

Reality Tours has been working in Dharavi for eight years establishing relationships with community members and creating an NGO called Reality Gives to support education, empower women, and provide for the elderly. Their aim is to dismantle negative stereotypes about slums.  80% of their profits go back to Dharavi, and it was honestly one of the most pleasant experiences we've had walking around India. People were friendly, but mostly just continued about their daily work, and we were pleased (and relieved) that we didn't feel like we were watching or exploiting them. The streets were fairly clean, the businesses prosperous, and the people looked happy.

We learned that 'slum' in India means housing set up on government-owned land. The Dharavi area is 1.75 km2 and has a population of over 1 million! There are a few public toilet buildings, at a rate of 1200 citizens for three male and three female stalls. This slum is called the 'Five Star Slum' because it's the only one in Mumbai that has a separate residential and commercial area. Most houses also have plumbing right to their houses, which the government supplies them with water for three hours a day. In the commercial area, the top jobs are leathering, plastics and aluminium recycling, and pastries/poppadums production. Dharavi has an annual turnover of over $665 million US, with many citizens now holding white-collar jobs, but still living in the area they grew up and call home. There is a 95% literacy rate amongst school-age children and crime rates are extremely low. The experience was enlightening and positive. No photographs are allowed on the tour, but we've been given  a link to view some from Reality tours, so our photos are courtesy of them.

We rounded out the day back in our Bollywood suite ordering room service and watching movies on demand. Not the Mumbai experience we were expecting, but an example of taking the bad with the good all the same.

Day 140-141: Ahmedabad

Amazing detail in a Stepwell!

Electing to have another relaxing morning in Udaipur, we caught the afternoon bus to Amdavad (Ahmedabad) getting in just as the sun set. We found our hotel down an alley flanked by shady warehouses half full of non-descript boxes with half written signs directing you up narrow dark stairways. Clearly hesitant about what our hotel would be like, we were surprised to walk up the steps to something sleek and modern, with decorating ideas we may even take away  from their lobby. The room was equally modern and we happily wiled away another night with some bad movies and delicious food thanks to the restaurant downstairs.

In the morning, we set out trying to avoid the heat to see one of the best examples of a Gujarati stepwell. Craig had practised the name of the stepwell many times, but could not seem to communicate with the auto driver or any of the helpful passerbys. Eventually a nearby hotel owner came over and helped us on our way, also ensuring that the driver take us to two other sites for a smashing good price. Not having researched very much, it was nice to make our day trip more worthwhile.

The stepwell was beautiful albeit not what we were expecting. It was nice that each stepwell we visited had a completely different design and feel to it.

The first bonus stop was at Gandhi's ashram (we think?) where we learned a lot more about his life, and Craig relayed the stranger of Gandhi's (non) sexual practices and beliefs to Erin.

The second bonus stop was another Jain temple. Although not as overwhelmingly beautiful as the first, we still had to go very slowly to appreciate the complexity of the designs. Photography wasn't allowed in this one.

On our way into town we had seen a long market street, so we ventured out in the afternoon but failed to find any great deals besides a new pair of headphones for Craig.

Day 139: Udaipur

For our last full day in Udaipur we set out to see the beautiful landmarks we had been watching lazily from rooftops. First it was off to the City Palace which opens a few hours after the book claimed. Luckily we slept in and only showed up 20 minutes early. We bought our tickets and headed in. After seeing a sign for the audio tour pick-up, we strolled up and discovered we would have to go to a different ticket office to get an audio tour ticket (the audio tour guy could accept the 2000 rupee/passport/credit card deposit required but not the 200 rupees for the ticket itself). At the other office we were told that our main tickets would not let us in for another hour. We would have to upgrade and pay double the price. We told him 'No.' and went in straight away after collecting our audio guide.

The palace was not nearly as crowded as we had expected at first and it was nice to stroll through at our leisure. The tour was not as interesting as Jodhpur's but still alright. Eventually a battalion of army cadets caught up with us and we sped through to try to find some peace, as the confined spaces seemed to amplify the very loud crowd.

After, we planned to go on a boat ride on the lake to see the lake palace from water level and get some new views of our surroundings, but we had just missed the boat. We did learn that we needed two more tickets each in order to go on the boat ride (one ticket just to get us through the next walkway beside the palace). With each ticket made of cardstock and half the size of a piece of paper we were running out of space to store them all.

Instead of waiting in the heat for the next boat we went out for lunch on a rooftop and then returned to the palace to catch our ride. The lake was beautiful but the lake palace was quite underwhelming after the stunning one we saw in Jaipur. Still, it will be cool to rewatch Octopussy and know that we've been there. We spent 30 minutes on an island that had some interesting architecture and great gardens at the water's edge.

In the evening, Erin got a massage, Craig found some beer, and we met up to watch the sunset followed by an enjoying and sporadic fireworks show. The city celebrated its Rajasthani election tradition of ousting the sitting state government.

Days 137-138: Places with Cool Names

Today we headed off on a road trip to see two nearby attractions: the Kumbhalgarh Fort and Ranakpur, another Jain temple.

Kumbhalgarh is set atop a high peak in the hills of the Aravalli range. It proudly advertises its wall's claim to fame: being second to only the Great Wall of China in size. Though not entirely clear in its description, we imagine that "largeness" refers to the length of the wall; however, it's also extremely impressive in width as twelve horses can march abreast at once.

The first benefit to the fort being a two-hour drive outside of town (after the beautifully scenic drive) was the lack of tourists. There were only four other friendly people who we crossed paths with up the windy walkway, through four gates, and into the fort's palace. The next was a complete lack of tourist infastructure inside the fort. It's been emptied out, so instead of admiring all of the royal relics of the past, you're there to gasp at the views across the mountains and towards the sand-duned desert, study the architecture, and get some exercise! So not only was it void of tourists, but also guards, salesmen, and guides vying for your business. This left us free to wander and make spooky noises in the darkened, echoing stairwells of the castle.

We had reservations about visiting another Jain temple after the first experience but we'd heard marvellous things about Ranakpur so we tried our best to smile and patiently adhere to their many requests prior to entering (we'd gotten no black clothing and no leather products right, but had failed at 'conservative covering clothing' because Craig was wearing shorts, and had to leave our cell phone, water, and gum behind). Surprisingly, the tampons in our bag weren't confiscated, though perhaps the security guard didn't know what they were? All in all, it was beyond worth it, and Craig couldn't stop raving about how comfortable his rented pyjama pants were.

The moment we stepped over the threshold, all frustrations disappeared. Ranakpur is most definitely one of the most beautiful buildings in the entire world. It gave us shivers to look at all of the carvings, and wander through the pillars. A beautiful tree grew up through one section, sunlight drifting in from above, statues of elephants provided central focal points in each quarter, and whispers of prayers could be heard almost as soft as our socked footsteps. It was one of those moments where you can comprehend the expression, "It was so beautiful it brought him to tears." We reluctantly left a half-hour later feeling deeply moved.

Days 134-136: Admiring from Afar

Note: We finished the Leg 2 video! CLICK HERE to see jumping lemurs and all the B-roll that didn't make the blog the first time around.





We had planned an extra day in Jodhpur in case we needed more time to go through the fort. Instead, we dedicated it to searching for rooftops with great views of all angles. Here is another unsuccessful attempt at displaying just how mammothly awesome this fort is:

Next, it was on to Udaipur, home of the water palace used in James Bond's Octopussy. On the bus, we met a nice couple who had retired and had now been travelling for for five years... Kind of puts our trip length in perspective.

We immediately liked Udaipur with its clean streets and nicer smell. The buildings rising out of the lake and surrounding hillside were absolutely beautiful. It took only hours to have us seriously reconsidering the rest of our time in India to see if we could stay longer, but the cost of flying to Mumbai just couldn't be justified for an extra day or two. Instead we enjoyed the view from our hotel's rooftop as the the lake morphed from rose to purple to ink black and the softly lit lights of palaces danced in the reflection of the water.

Tired from all the traveling, we decided to take it easy the first full day in Udaipur and spent a few hours lounging by the pool at a nearby nicer hotel.

For lunch we tried Millets of Mewar, a restaurant that prides itself on healthy vegan/gluten-free dishes. Erin was over the moon with all her choices, so Craig suggested we try our second Indian cooking class so we could expand our repertoire and discover the secrets of gluten-free chapati.

Under the guidance of Surinder, our passionate chef, we acquired the skills for a basic Indian gravy and added it to other ingredients to form a peanut sauce with steamed vegetables, vegetable kofta, eggplant curry, and rajma, a kidney bean-based dish, all to accompany the gf chapati. We can't wait to get home and make an Indian feast!

Day 133 Bishnoi, Jain, and Camel Train

To explore some of the surrounding areas we got ourselves a driver, Mr. Singh. We were interested to visit some Bishnoi villages; the Bishnoi value environmental protection above most else and have for over 500 years. This was famously demonstrated when 363 followers clung to trees to protect them from being cut down, and the trees went unharmed but the 363 villagers were beheaded by order of the King.

We saw the place where they, and supposedly some of the descendants of the trees they protected, were buried and visited a family's home. Bishnoi means 29, referring to the 29 tenets that they follow. These include rules for personal hygiene as well as environmental protection and random rules about how women have to be segregated for 5 days during their period. We felt a little guilty having broken X number of the rules already, but were confused when we were told it would be rude if we didn't break another with the family we visited.

We stopped at a few collectives for pottery, block-printing, and handloom-weaving where we picked up a few souvenirs. For lunch we sat on a concrete floor while the matriarch of a weaver's family cooked for us on an open flame. We carried on what conversation we could and after lunch we were off to Osian.


Osian used to be an important trading and religious center; it is an oasis in the Thar desert. We popped in to visit a goddess temple and a Jain temple. Both were stunning, the goddess temple with its mirrored silver walls and the Jain one with its various marble carvings. Erin elected to skip the Jain temple after our attempt to enter resulted in a shouting match that no one would tell us the subject of.

Some blackbucks at a protected lake

Another beautiful stepwell

It looked like Craig might be walking back to the car...

The final stop of the day was to go for a sunset camel ride over the sand dunes. Our camels were pretty comfy to ride, although they might have been a tad hungry judging by the way they swung their heads down low to pluck shrubs from the earth whenever the opportunity presented itself. Craig dubbed this our "shrub crawl." The camels got a rest and we had an opportunity to stretch our sore legs while we watched the sun dip below the sand dunes, then it was back to the blue city.

Days 131 & 132: Jodhpur

At the end of a long cramped bus ride our eyes grew as we entered Jodhpur and the massive, imposing fort atop a hill in the center of town came into view.

We had dinner on the roof, still impressed even though a billboard blocked out half the lit up castle. We settled in for the rest of the night and watched Two Weeks' Notice. (Starts very strong but slowly becomes gibberish and annoying in Craig's opinion).

With the fort not opening until 9AM we took our time in the morning and then hopped in a tuk-tuk to avoid the step climb up the hillside. The awe inspired by the impossibly tall castle walls that seemed to grow out of the top of the cliff face did not diminish as we drew nearer. Kipling described the complex as being built by angels and giants.

Due to a conversation with Craig's brother and sister-in-law the night before we took the audio guide tour of the fort. We learned that we are audio guide people (expect pictures of us wearing 1980's headphones to soon clog these pages). We learned so much but could go our own pace, enjoy silence, and skip parts entirely without offending anyone.

The many courtyards that form the backbone of the palace complex within the fort create and enchanting maze of finely carved walls, elaborately gilded rooms and mysterious window screens. We were treated to sweeping views of Jaipur, the blue city.

Now hungry and at the mercy of the midday sun we quickly visited Jaswant Thada (similar to the royal gaitor in Jaipur). The marble used to build this monument was so delicate that inside you could see the sun's warm glow coming through the stone.

From there it was off to lunch on another rooftop with views of the fort, a lake, Jaswant Thada, the clocktower, another fort, and a huge palace in the distance.

Having finished our sightseeing for the day Craig was just as excited for what followed which ended a five month hockey drought!