All good things must come to an end...

It's been a while since my last blog entry but I will try and make it up to date again. After Jaisalmer we took the bus to the "blue city" Johdpur. Again an amazing place with an amazing fort and palace. The town itself is great, real India. Marketplace after marketplace where all the women dress in beautiful coloured sari's. Spices, insence, chillies, clothes, fruit, veg, peanuts. You name it, you can buy it.

We stayed there for 4 days and then it was time to carry on again. To Udaipur this time. This is supposed to be the most romantic city in Rajasthan. Not so romantic when you're seriously ill and bound to bed for a week coughing your lungs out...

It is the town where the James Bond movie Octopussy was filmed. Consequently every guesthouse shows the movie everynight.. Our guesthouse has view of the river. Lovely but unfortunately it is half dried up.. In the lake is the floating palace, very expensive hotel... The town is surrounded by hils and filled with tourist shops. We were both feeling very burnt-out though. India is a hard country to travel for 4 months. So we decided to chill out here untill it is time to go to Mumbai and fly home. Both Duncan and I feel very at home now, we've spent 2 weeks here and got to know the neigbourhood and the community quite well.

We met the family making statues on the bridge and love the daughter who we buy a coke everyday. Sonya, she's lovely.

The couple that runs the cornershop next door befriended us and we got invited to their son's second birthday party. Parth. What an experience.. We thought it was just going to be us and the family. It was, but all 100 family members were there. Duncan and I being the only whiteys there. You know some birthday parties they hire a clown? It felt a little as they hired a couple of whiteys, we were the attraction of the party. Amazing food, amazing hospitality, but very tireing because everyone wants to talk to you end invite you to their house for the next day.

Little birthday boy was very happy birthday boy. He ran around in his little white Elvis outfit, peacock feather in his hair, make-up on, looking just too cute. And the hole family sang: "happy birthday to you, many girlfriends for you!"

We got straight in to the I LOVE INDIA feeling again, and we are both very very sad that it really is comming to an end now. At the moment I am with the family again. The mother (my age) is teaching me to cook! Very hospitable..!

With lots of love from Incredible India,

Duncan and Ellen