JAIPUR


By now I had got over my weird mood and was getting into the spirit of adventure. Arriving in Jaipur after another long journey I was excited to meet the family I would be spending 3 nights with. After a briefing at the IDEX office me, Craig and Julian were taken to the Sharma household by auto-rickshaw. Nothing prepares you for the chaos of India’s roads, horns constantly honking (here it is a signal for safety rather that a sign of annoyance) and there is no regard for road markings or what the British would consider traffic safety. The only rule seems to be honk regularly to let people know you are coming!


We arrived at the house and were met by Mr Sharma. He did not speak much English but still managed to be very welcoming and we instantly felt at home. We were shown to our room, which was basic but had everything we needed- fan, air con, our own bathroom and even a computer with some speakers to which we could connect our iPods. Mrs Sharma arrived home from work shortly and welcomed us to her home in perfect English. We were introduced to her 13-year-old son Jatin who spoke good English also. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer host family. I felt so comfortable and relaxed there, we were made to feel at home.


I thought it would be strange to live with a family from a completely different culture but it was so interesting to see how things are done differently but still the same in This hospitality was topped off by Mrs Sharma’s wonderful home cooking which is so different from the greasy, heavy curries that we know in the UK. The food was fresh and light, flavoured very nicely although I have a feeling that Mrs Sharma toned down the spice for us which was thoughtful but unnecessary!


On Sunday we were collected from our host families to catch our train to Himachal. We were told the train was delayed by 6 hours and our guides seemed to find it hilarious that when a train is more than an hour late in England you can claim the full price of your fare back. We were in the air con sleepers so everyone had the expectation it would be fairly luxurious so the cockroaches, prison beds and pube and stain ridden sheets and blankets came as a bit of a surprise to us all.


The idea that we had 14 hours in the carriage coupled with sleep deprivation got to everyone a bit and there was a lot of incessant giggling for no apparent reason.