One more Blog won’t hurt!

It is a Friday, which can only mean another cheeky little blog for those of you who have been taking notice! It’s been quite eventful again and I hope that I can make my blog a little witty for you all. I will make it honest so everything you read is true!

Well where to start! I think that out of the events happening last week I should start with India’s reaction to Michael Jackson passing away, rest in peace. I woke up on a Friday morning with a text message from my mum saying he had had a heart attack, it was early but I couldn’t get back to sleep. I listened to his songs on my ipod and then headed down stairs, with the heat I wake up early and am usually the first down. One by one the volunteers trickled down all of them shocked at the news, even the Indian staff were in shock, one saying he was a global superstar.

We sat in a very surreal circumstance listening to all his tracks eating a very Indian breakfast unable to go on the internet because the house had no signal, which happens a lot! This was the start of an exciting weekend but a lot of the conversations that went on and are still going on were about Jacko. At the hotel we stayed at over the weekend we had Sky News as well so some of the time was spent watching him on there!

MANALI
The bus ride we took to Manali and back from there to Palampur is something which I will write about under it’s own heading because it was a story in itself! We arrived late at night on the Friday so went straight to the hotel and to eat, from the bus we had to get a taxi. Due to either the language barrier or a running joke between local taxi drivers and tourists, our taxi driver tried to drop us off at the Temple late at night! After a discussion about the fact we were paying him to go to the hotel we finally left behind the attraction, sporting a quote from Sonny; “what the f*ck do 17 Brits want to do at the Temple at midnight!” I found this hilarious and even now had a little chuckle to myself!

The hotel was nice, the views were amazing as we were even higher up in the mountains and the surrounding area apparently had some sites to see. Such as the Temple! A waterfall and also a natural hot water springs, however the next day in the light we saw this and it was nothing more than a small pool with a lot of half naked men washing in!

The small town we were in was so different to Bandla where we were staying. There were a lot more tourists, or more travellers that hadn’t moved on yet. It was very relaxed and chilled out and I think this had a lot to do with the fact that a hell of a lot of people there smoked a hell of a lot of drugs! Most of the people we saw were Westerners that looked like they had grown old there, however the chances were they were still 21 but just been stoned for the last 3 months they had been there for!

The night life and restaurants were really, really good! So many different nationalities all mixing together but everyone really interested in who you were and where you were from, what your plans were! It was very comfortable; we made a lot of friends for the nights we were there. We went to an open mic night at the world peace café which was really cool seeing everyone jamming playing whatever and the fact they were from all over the world gave it a really surreal feel!

The café had seating on the floor so the atmosphere was like you were light headed going into a dream with a certain buzz in the air! If that makes any sense I’d be surprised! It was the same at a place called Big Fish, run by a group of guys from Nepal that were all my age or younger and spent 6 months of the year here and 6 months in Goa! Their very laid back and chilled out, going between cooking, chatting, having a drink and having a laugh with you.

After spending time in Manila I’d definitely go back, it is an all-to simple way of life. There were strange parts whilst being there as well, like on the Saturday morning there was a lot of commotion on the street below our roof top restaurant. Apparently God was down below visiting the Temple there. This involved 2 men holding a strange object that had a load of masks on it and some money and flags and colours.

Then the religious men from the temple were ringing bells, singing and vibrating whilst they allowed God into their souls! This went on for about 20 minutes and is something I have never seen anything even close to before! It showed me again how much Indians believe in God and how happy they are to show this! Only the other day the teacher in my school was telling me about the weather, how it was very dry and they were worried but it was okay because it was all down to God! It made me wonder what they would say if they all went without food because their crops couldn’t grow!

Anyway that’s not a subject matter I want my blog to revolve around!

As part of our Saturday and the main reason for visiting Manali we visited their white water rapids rafting school as a group of 10 and took to the water in a dinghy. It was an awesome experience rowing along watching the landscape flash by or get blurred by the water splashing over us! It wasn’t too rough but it was bad enough to cause a few scares, although at one point I didn’t think I was getting my money's worth when I saw a man swimming through some of the waves we were ‘supposedly’ up against! It was all perfectly safe which was something I was a bit wary about!

Had a safety talk at the beginning and the proper safety gear, although Andre and I are over 6 foot which is unusual here so the helmets wouldn’t fit our heads, meaning we had to wear bright yellow hard hats!

We each spent 630 rupees on the taxi ride there and back and the boat trip. Between 10 of us that came to 6300 rupees which is a lot of money to some of the families here and at the end of the trip we were greeted by poor, naked children begging for money. It’s quite a guilt trip to walk off of the fun excursion you have just done, pulling your digital camera and mobile out of the dry bag!

The taxi ride back was less uncomfortable than the way there, 10 of us cramped into a 7-seater jeep is never going to make for comfort though! Looking around at the amazing sites on the way home is comfort enough, however, as it is all thick green forest, wide fast-flowing rivers and mountains. Sites that I don’t ever want to take for granted and never forget! The Downs in Brighton are nothing like this!

TRANSPORT
To start with I have to mention this isn’t a fun part to write in my blog about. 2 of the 3 things I’m going to mention are negative! The first I will only be brief about and that is, whilst in Manali a tuk-tuk we were in hit a child. It was always going to happen the way these little car like scooters fly threw busy roads that are the markets. It wasn’t the drivers fault as the girl ran in front of the tuk-tuk and we think she would have been alright because she screamed and got into the tuk-tuk to take her to hospital.

The 2nd thing is nowhere near as bad but our taxi broke down! In India there isn’t a lot you can do if you have already paid for your journey and the vehicle breaks, it isn’t really a country that believe in giving money back if something untoward happens! Luckily we broke down right next to a garage and it was fixed in 15 to 20 minutes.

The 3rd thing is the bus we used to get us from home to Manali and then back again a couple of days later! To start with the bus is something that Indians are very grateful for, otherwise on these long journeys they would have to walk them! The bus is really cheap for us anyway, costing around a pound forty to go 201 km!

My view on the bus is negative! For one I’m over 6 foot which means I lose all feeling in my legs within minutes of getting a seat, if I’m lucky enough to get a seat, because of the small distance between rows on Indian transport! Then there is the fact that that journey is a germ trap! I know it sounds cruel but even the doctor warned us not to sit near anyone that is coughing or sneezing as are bodies may not be able to handle it!!

The main fear of mine though is down to the size of the roads that go around the mountains! There maybe just big enough for a bus, yet our driver goes into these corners at about 60 weaving his way along! Cars speeding along, coming the other way and everything!

There is a myth, which could be fact that these drivers drink liquid speed to keep them awake as it is like a 10 hour journey they make! If that’s not a scary thought then imagine them on speed, driving round these tiny bends, in the dark, with the monsoon coming down!! I paid 630 rupees for a white water rapid ride that lasted an hour; I paid 180 rupees for a bus ride like that which lasted for 8 hours! Let’s just say that Alton Towers will never be the same again!

BEFORE I GO
Other than all the news above things are running smoothly! We had a few days off from teaching because it was too hot! On the Tuesday it rained all day, predictable hey! In construction we have built a few decent walls out of stone and mud, no cement here, it’s all done in the old fashioned way! Still, with the climate of the current market back home I will be writing Bricky in my CV!

I have mentioned it before but it is no easy feat to come out here and do what we’re doing! I know that is easy to say and you may think I want you to feel for me but what I mean is England isn’t perfect, the ways we live isn’t perfect and the way we act day to day is necessarily right! So when you come here and they look for help you need to question everything you know about who you are and where your from before you can actually show them anything worth them knowing!

Some people are more relaxed in being able to do this. I have no answers yet but I don’t feel like I have anything to really offer them in a way they will turn and say ‘wow’, that’s what we were missing!

I think I mean to say that one of the reasons we are here is to help and to change ourselves and whilst we are doing that offer some guidance for them to be able to do the same! “Give the man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach the man to fish and he will eat for a year!”

So some volunteers will struggle more than others and this isn’t a bad thing, this is just a sign that we are all human and nothing or anybody is perfect!