Made it to jaisalmer last night. Off to the sand dunes this morning and then a mere 1km to the finish line. Lets hope the rickshaw makes it!
On the final 100km into jaisalmer. It's hot, dusty and pretty remote out in this desert and the contrast of the sari's are incredible.
Spent a super 24hrs in Udiaipur which is an amazing place , the most romantic city in India and `i must say I rather agree. Amazing view from the hotel; Shiv Niwas Palace is the hotel where James Bond stays in the movie Octopussy.
Weather stunning, rickshaw fixed 🤞heading 250km to Jodhpurr, shopuld arrive 6pm ish all going well.
Brings a whole new feel to a Wednesday in the office! Rickshaw not happy and we must be the only person struggling to find a mechanic, in India? I mean!
So we opted for both rickshaws onto a truck to Udaipu.
We're on the home stretch! Day 9 and we are over the halfway mark. With over 1,900km behind us, the end is in sight. As the photo shows we stopped off mid morning to sample some of the local cuisine and to give the rickshaws some much needed time to cool down.
As we left we even heard the thick lancashire accent of a fellow diner - a british indian in town visiting family!
With some speedy miles under our belt for the day, thanks to the surprisingly good conditions of the highway, we stopped earlier than usual and had chance to take a dip in the hotel pool and visit a local saree market.
Day 10 is another early start and will point us in the direction of the Rajasthan desert!
Sunday (day 7) Went to Dharavi, the Mumbai slum, which I have always have always had a fascination with and I was right to, it's incredible. 5.2 million people living in 520 acres, in harmony! (that’s the official figure, however they themselves think it could be double that).
They only desire what they need. They have the most amazing strong sense of community and everyone is so happy, Not one person asked us for money. My children said she had never seen so many happy children in one place.
We firstly went to the commercial part, this is where they produce; every popadom in the whole of India is made here. And recycling is massive here; the ‘rat pickers’ collect the plastic from the streets, it gets taken to the slum, broken down, cleaned and melted to be reused by local companies.
We then headed for the living area, each resident has around 8sqm of living space, with 2 feet between homes with a maze of alleyways in between. these homes were open and families were inside cooking and being families.
Monday (day 8) The 2nd rickshaw finally arrived in Mumbai, it took us 5hrs to get it out the station and 3hrs to get through the city and hell the driving! We are now north of the city. Looks like a 5.30am start and find out what this wonderful country has in store for us tomorrow.
I was selfie queen today, think they were amazed to see an old grannie rocking a rickshaw through Mumbai.
You will fit!!
we most certainly are having an experience!! Got the rickshaw on to an overnight train to Mumbai last night, not something I would like to do again in a hurry, (I am referring to the overnight train,) think cattle travel better!
Arrived in Mumbai only to find they had sent the rickshaw to a different station!! And the other rickshaw is somewhere at another train station in India but we haven’t quite worked out where!! Only India.
So after 6 days on the road, looking like we have barely washed or changed for 6 days and with no sight of our rickshaws, oh and Darcy and Margot about to divorce their mother! I did the only thing I felt fitting for that particular moment…..We rocked up to The Oberoi.
2 hrs later, showered and preened we have located and parked one rickshaw and the wonderful staff at The Oberoi are trying to locate the other. Now I am the best mother going. Yass Queen:)
Day 4am 5.45am, no one particularly happy this morning, climbing out of a bed with clean sheets was a drag. Margot struggling today (19yr old princess) going to have to put up with her emotions just to get her through the day today, especially as we have just worked out we have no time for a day off! We were hoping if we did 100's of km per day we may enjoy a day on the beach in Goa but not the case! Also went thorough some very unwelcoming villages yesterday, said they don't like British and tried to stop the rickshaw for money! More later x
Maxine
Jak
Richard
Absolute Collagen
Absolute Collagen is a manufacture and retailer of a collagen supplement
Absolute Collagen
We manufacture and retail a marine collagen supplement