Surviving India!

I have now been in India for almost a week - what an experience! I arrived in Delhi last Friday night and was very glad that I had organised an airport pick up for the first time in my life. It saved me from the grabbing masses, and meant that I didn't have to deal with the "sorry mam, your hotel is closed for reservations type scams". I spent my first two days adjusting to the maddening pace, the heat and the constant call outs before my tour started. I managed to get to a couple of the sights using subway and rickshaw, and was lucky enough to escape with my life when the rickshaw I was driving in nearly slammed into the side of another that had gone through a life. The 3 inches between the rickshaws was just a little close for my liking!

The first real India moment though was definitely the public bus ride with our tour guide to get into Old Delhi. All 12 of us had to get into a bus that was basically spewing its passengers onto the road already. Our precise military plan had half of us taking the front door and half the back. I charged onto the front steps and basically let myself be pushed onto the bus by the human tide behind me. Once on I was pushed towards the middle, standing with absolutely no personal space. and nothing to hold on to. Obviously being a white women in this situation it was an open option for some one to cope a feel, which one charming young man clearly felt it was his obligation to do - with out much enthusiasm. Binu our guide was so concerned about pick pockets and keeping an eye on us, that he didn't realise when he had his phone swipped from a pocket!

Old Delhi was exactly the noisy, bustling, smelly, fascinating place you would expect. I bought chai masala tea from the spice markets, and haggled over the prices of nuts to take on the train journey. I'd try and upload the photos of the rickshaw traffic jam which can only be described in pictures, but the internet speed is so slow it would take all day.

From Old Delhi we headed to the train station for a 19 hour trip to Jaisalmer. After eating fried pakora on the railway station we headed off into the desert. We had sleeper trains and managed to kill the time to bed with cards and getting to know the group. Sleep was a little more tricky courtesy of the snoring, farting Indian gentleman that was close to Fiona and I. The next morning spirits were high, however as the 19 hours dragged on to 24 patience started to wain. Once we got off I was again reminded of the wisdom of doing a tour in India, as I watched the other white faces being engulfed in a sea of pushing and shouting rickshaw drivers. The long trip was worth it however from the moment the fort in Jaisalmer appeared.

Jaisalmer is a forted city that was built in 1100AD. For the last two nights I have slept in one of the turrets on the outside wall of the fort, and have spent many lazy hours sitting on the roof top watching the world go by with a cold beer or chai tea in my hand. Wandering around the crooked alleys of the inner fort is amazing, and dangerous. Cows wander the streets with carefree abandon, and before you start thinking of sweet cows with lovely brown eyes let me correct you. These cows are big, with big horns and big attitudes. My first day I was head butted by one and then slipped over as I tried to get out of its way and stood in a cow pat that sent me skidding - I swear I could hear the cow laughing! The rest of my group definitely was! There are lots of amazing little shops selling all sorts of bits and bobs, although I have been remarkably controlled so far - probably because I already have many of the things from my trips to Sri Lanka and Nepal. I do however have a new sari and am looking forward to wearing it out to the nightclub we have been promised in Kolkata.

Tonight we head out on an overnight camel safari. I have very romantic notions of music and dance under the stars. I'll let you know what it is really like next time!

Views of rural Cambodia

From the streets of Phnom Penh Mum and I retired to a home stay in rural Cambodia. Baray is a little dot on the landscape kind of place a couple of hours outside PP, surrounded by rice paddies and not much else. After an interesting share taxi ride there - three of us in the back seat, four in the front, we relaxed for two days as we were shown around by the villagers. The home stay is a community cooperative set up to compliment a craft co-op, and brings in some much needed extra money to the community.

These are just a few of the photos from our time there...

Mum on the back of a motorbike for the first time in her life!

Our transport out to see the sun set.

Bath time at the village well.

Another of our forms of transport around the village.

The cattle on the way back from the fields.

One of the houses in the village.

Me, eating the local desserts. I did turn down the fried crickets!

Relaxing in the hammock - a hard life!

Using my weight to make rice noodles - I was offered a permanent job.

Our accommodation, a cashew nut tree house.

Finger nails and heart break

It is now a week since I got back from Cambodia and I have been putting off blogging about it because I don't know where to start. The background for those of you not in the know was that my mum and I decided to go and do some volunteer work at His Child, an orphanage just out of Phnom Penh that a couple from my church run. Not that we knew too much about what we were going to be doing, but it seemed like a good way to 'give back' and also have some quality mother/daughter time.

On arriving in Phnom Penh I quickly discovered that my teaching skills were not the ones that were going to be called in to play, instead I became a temperature taking, finger nail cutting, small children bathing, balloon twisting machine.

Our first two days with the orphanage everyone was involved in a medical initiative. A team of doctors and pharmacists from Singapore were there, and we went out into the communities (day one was a community that survived off the local rubbish dump) and met as many medical needs as possible. The first day the 4 doctors saw over 200 people, providing them with the necessary drugs and medical advice for medical issues ranging from diabetes and HIV/Aids to headaches and throat infections. This was all done in the extreme hot, 35 degrees and at least 95% humidity - and before you say "Kirsty, you live in temperatures like that all the time!", let me point out that there was no air-con, anywhere!

Two of the faces from the village

Once the medical team left we started helping out with the 'bus'. This bus goes out to different locations in the city and is met by large groups of street kids waiting for their weekly visit. The two hours that the kids spend with the bus is a chance for them to just be kids. When we would arrive step one was finger nail cutting. Yes, finger nail cutting. The kids loved this, I think it was just the one-on-one attention and physical contact - but it meant they were less likely to get infections and store quite as much gunk under their nails. From there games were played with water bombs, simple tiggy/cat and mouse type games, and generally lots of laughter and hilarity. Whilst this was going on the younger kids would be taken onto the bus that had showers and given a chance to get clean. It is hard to describe the feeling when you are having to bathe little 3-year olds that arrive butt naked all by themselves, or if they are lucky with a big brother or sister - it just breaks your heart. Once everyone is clean and had some fun the serious stuff starts and some of the local staff teach basic khmer and hygiene to the kids before they are sent off with some food. On one occasion I tried to teach 40 odd kids to make balloon flowers, it wasn't that successful but it was a lot of fun!

Mum on fingernail cutting duty

Fun with the balloons!

How can you resist those eyes?

I quickly learnt while I was there that the kids in the orphanage were really the lucky ones. Whilst all 42 of them had ended up in the orphanage from crisis situations they knew where there meals were coming from everyday, went to school, and most importantly were protected from the streets. As so many other things that week taught me, our western perceptions, such as those 'poor orphans' can be very wrong.

Some of the orphanage kids off to school

I could go on for ages about how it felt to hold a little kid 's hand as you cut their nails knowing the life they live on the streets - absolutely heart breaking. But at least I feel like I did a little bit to make a difference, and I know that I don't want this to be the last time.

Painted Cuties

Aren't they just adorable! Livvy, Kayla and Hollie all painted up.

A different view of Manila

A couple of weekends ago I got to go and hang out for a few days with some good friends in Manila. I know Jo and Nigel from high school and youth group days, and hanging out with them and their girls is just like being with family.

The weekend was very low key, mainly due to the fact that Tessa was just 3 weeks old, and the entire family were still recovering from the newest arrival and the trip back to Manila from NZ. Low key was also great for me, as I had just been on camp for three days with 4th graders. So mainly the weekend was catching up, sleeping and eating.

What was nice was to see a slightly different face to Manila than the one I think most of us imagine. That dark, dirty and extremely poor face is definitely a big part of Manila, as people begging at car windows when you stop at traffic lights makes clear. However, parts of Manila - like the waterfront area, are definitely seeing change. It's nice to know that there is hope!

Looking across to downtown from the water front.

Emily and Zoe checking out what is going on in the water.

It's all too much for little Tessa.

Sunset on the water.

A conscience is a terrible thing.

As many of you know one of my joys here in Asia has always been the shopping. In fact it hasn't only been my joy, but also that of the many recipients of the importing of handbags to NZ when I fly home. This week a terrible thing has happened - my conscience has got in the way. Now I have always known that I was ripping off big movie producers (fake dvds) and fashion houses (fake handbags - sorry original copy handbags) but that thought never moved me to tears. However I have just read an article in Harper's Bazaar that talks about the use of child labour in the production of fake handbags, and the links between fakes and drug cartels. So it is bye, bye to cheap handbags, dvds and sunglasses - a sacrifice I am willing to make, but still sometimes your conscience really messes with shopping fun! Luckily there are lots of amazing bargains that aren't fakes - the credit card isn't safe yet.

Reunited!

After a long and painful separation I am finally reunited with internet access at home. First it was the internet account moving away, or more accurately the next door neighbour's account that I used moving away, then my less than 9 months old laptop had a battery melt down. It has taken 4 weeks, but tonight I am sitting at home on my computer again - bliss!