In my last post I told you I was off to India which turned into what can only be described as an experience!
The main purpose of the visit was to meet my sponser child at the children's home in Jaipur. Lots of other things was included on the trip that was arranged by Claire who runs the charity from here.
First stop was Agra and the Taj Mahal.
The classic Taj photo. One day my prince will come.
We visited many temples, forts and sites along the way and quilt inspiration would pop up in all shapes and forms in hotel foyer's.
I've got to say it was a bit of a culture shock that didn't really sit happily with me but you just have to go with the flow. The colours and vibrancy is everywhere you turn.
This lady happily poised for this picture, I loved the street scenes.
An early morning shave in the street of Deogarth.
Orange just looks right at home here.
Colour, colour everywhere.
We arrived at the Children's home to twenty seven very excited girls and one of the little ones of about four through her arms around my legs and I gotta tell you it was hard to hold back the tears.
They are so well looked after and amazingly happy. No sitting in front of TV 's and computers for them they just genuinely play games run around and have fun.
My first meeting with my sponser child. Both feeling a little awkward to start with but at the end of our three days there we knew each other a whole lot better.
We took three of the younger ones to Amber Fort for an Elephant ride which was another enjoyable experience We then went onto a textile area where we were let loose and did some block printing.
The girls absolutely loved it and were running up and down happily stamping fabric.
We were there for Diwali and the girls all had new cloths to wear for the evening event. Lots of very loud fireworks, sweets and of course they love to henna their hands. Sue auntie as I became affectionally known didn't escape this little ritual and got to say she made a beautiful job of it.
Being Hennaed
It turned much darker overnight and lasted for about 8 days.
We moved on to Udaipur for a few days and then stayed at this lovely palace in Deogarth.
How many pots can you balance on your head and dance at the same
Finally it was off to Pushkar to the camel fair. A yearly event where 30.000 camels and horses are traded.
We slept here at these tented village where again their was plenty of textile inspiration.
Here's where you can have a quick wash and brush up at the tented village.
See the mountain on the right. Well that's a holy mountain with a temple at the top. You have to climb it . It took an hour to get to the top where we rested for a while and and hour back down to the bottom. I soon realised it was quite an achievement because young people were shaking our hands on the way down and congratulating us that we had done it.
Finally back in Delhi we visited the Gandhi site took a rickshaw ride and on the last night we felt four small earthquakes. I was ready to come home at that point!!!!!
It has taken me a while to getting round to writing this post as I wasn't feeling at all well when I got back. I spent the first week basically house bound with an awful cough and cold and virus. My poor travelling companion Claire ended up being blue lighted to the hospital with some sort of virus but is also now on the mend.
It's been an amazing adventure and journey and the most rewarding thing was meeting my sponser child who is happy and bright. I know my sponsorship money is paying for a first class education for her and will shape her future.
Sue
