hello from Mumbai!
Sorry for the lack of blogs we've been so busy!!!
A recap of what we've been up to:
Saturday morning we packed for our trip to Thekkady to see the elephants! Then in the afternoon we went to the girls shelter! When we got there there were some Indian girls there who were already doing some activities with the girls (one of them was a pratham worker) so we helped out with the kids doing some paper mache! It was absolute chaos there was newspaper and paste everywhere! Then all of a sudden the girls announced they had to go and just upped and left us with the mess! The girls were all hyper and running around so we tried to get them to tidy up a little before we started our activities! Then we did some activities to do with teddy bears- we used the Teddy Bears Picnic Book and did some colouring in activities with some teddy pictures we had brought! We also played the kids some nursery rhymes from the book we had bought them which they enjoyed- especially baa baa black sheep which they knew the words to! One of the girls asked Claire if she would be her mummy which had Claire running for the hills- very funny! She is such a cute little girl too bless her! We were absolutely exhausted by the time we left as the girls had been so hyper so we headed back to the hotel and had some vodka in bed!!!
On Sunday we had to be up early for our taxi to the airport! We endured a 2 hour journey by car to the airport, then a 1hr 45mins flight and then 6hour drive up in to the mountains to Thekkady at the other end!! Claire just about ended up in a fight with the guy sitting in front of her on the flight because he kept putting his chair back and trapping her legs! The 6hour flight was endless as it was torrentially raining and the road was really bad so we didn't get to see much of the beautiful scenery around us! By the time we got to the hotel we were starving and very tired so we had dinner (Lisa tried Biryani- not very impressed! and claire had sweet and sour chicken!) and then headed to bed!
Monday was our busy day filled with lots of fun things in Thekkady! We headed into the National Park first thing and went on the boat safari! The area is very similar to the Lake District- Lots of mountains and greenery, and they even have a lake (man made though!) It made us feel like we were at home- and even smelled like it! We went on the boat safari and saw lots of animals- elephants and baby elephants, wild foxes, monkeys, wild boars, snake birds, bison, deer and lots of other birds! It was a really great way to see the animals! Then we headed to the other side of Thekkady for our elephant experience! First we went on our hour long elephant ride! It was amazing to think we were sat on an elephants back! They aren't the most comfortable things to sit on thought and we still have bruised bums now!!! Our elephant was called Rubah and she was 28- she was gorgeous! When we were back from that we fed Rubah some melon and had our pictures taken with her! Then we watched Lucky the elephant (a 28 year old male) do some timber dragging! The elephants are so clever and strong, he wrapped the rope on the log around his tusk and put it in his mouth by himself and barely even seemed to notice it was there when he was dragging it! Then he lifted another log on his tusks and paraded around with it! We had out pictures taken with him and then we headed around to the bath so we could give him a bath! He laid down in a big pool of water and we had to scrub him all over with some coconut shells! Then we took it in turns to sit n his neck with his ear in our lap and scrubbed his ear! After that he sat up and we had to climb up onto his back (one foot on his leg another on his tail and then scramble up!)! We had to sit just behind his neck and it was his turn to give us a shower...he sprayed us with his trunk! Very funny! Especially as Claire was wearing a white tshirt...it was like a wet tshirt competition we got so soaked! There are some fantastic (and hilarious) photos of it! After that we went for the spice plantation tour which was quite interesting but definately not the highlight of the day! we went to a spice shop and bought some spices and coffees that were grown in the village to give as presents and then headed back to the hotel! In the evening we decided to dress up a bit as we've felt like complete scruffs the whole time we've been here so we put our maxi dresses on! We went to see a martial arts show which was really good but a bit circus-ey...think jumping through fire and people throwing themselves around! To finish off our chaotic day we went for a relaxing Indian massage! As we went downstairs to the rooms lisa joked that she hoped it wasnt a massage with extras as it felt a bit dodgy going downstairs! Lisa should have kept her mouth shut....we went in the cubicles and the women told us to take our clothes off...all of them..and then gave us some paper knickers to wear! If that wasnt bad enough while we were being massaged they just took the knickers off...very disconcerting!!!! It was definately an experience...!! We headed back to the hotel afterwards for our last night in Thekkady! On the Tuesday we started our awful journey back to Panvel! Luckily the weather was better so we got to see the beautiful views on the way down to the airport (well Lisa did...Claire slept most of the way!) We had a chaotic time on the way back as we had to call at the offices of the company who arranged the trip for us to pay them...except they hadnt told us they didnt take card so then we had to find cash machines at the airport and take money out of accounts here there and everywhere as we both had maximum £250 withdrawrals! It was chaos and definately put a dampener on the experience! Then the flight was delayed, making our already long journey even longer! Then when we arrived in Mumbai the car journey was awful as traffic was bad, it was raining, and then the car started over heating!!! Eventually we got back and had some dinner in be before crashing out for the night!
Yesterday we went to Bandra and Vashi to get some last minute presents for people at home, it was a fairly uneventful day- We are both ready to come home now!
Today we are going to the girls shelter this afternoon and then the boys shelter tonight to say bye to the kids!
We'll try and blog tonight or tomorrow before we leave!
Lots of Love- see you all soon!!!
Love Lisa and Claire XXX