Hi guys,
Time flies and we cannot believe that it has been three weeks already that we are on the road…
Soooo, where to start?! Just a quick review of what has happened during the last 24 days:
– We started our adventure on September 2. Saying bye-bye to our friends and family was difficult and very emotional. But the things awaiting us soon distracted us and required us to focus our thoughts on the “what to come” rather than on the “what/who we left behind”!!
– First stop: Abu Dhabi. We had an 18hrs layover in the United Arab Emirates. Just so much: it was hot, hot, hot!!! Thanks to airconditioned busses we still managed to see a lot of the city and ended the day here with a tour at the amazing mosque!!! At 22:30hrs it was time to board the plane to Delhi.
– Explaining how we felt when we first walked out of our hotel in Delhi is difficult. It was just overwhelming: so many people (mostly men) were starring at us and trying to talk us into something, numerous honking rikschas and cabs were making their way through the crowded streets and here and there cows were standing on the streets. Not to forget the dirt and dust everywhere. It was extreme!!!
We ended up discovering the city and its sights with a personal driver who would drive us to the entries of all the main sights and pick us up whenever we were done taking pictures and walking around. That made it considerably easier for us and still left enough room for our first encounters with Indian society.
– in the end, that driver also drove us to three other cities in Northern India. So our first week was rather protected and we felt safe in this new country. Berinda (our driver) drove us to Pushkar (small city with a holy lake in the center), Jaipur (the “pink city” where we also went to the Fort Amber (see the pictures with the elephants 
)) an Agra (where we saw the impressive Tan Mahal at sunrise). It was amazing!!!! Five days filled with soooo many uniques experiences and great stips on the way!! Then Berinda dropped us at the train station in Agra and we took the train down south to Jhansi where a riksha drove us to Orcha. In this small village we stayed with an Indian family for three nights. And when I say small village, It implies all the prejudices one could think of: There were no flyshing toilets, the family’s cow was sleeping in the yard, no running water to rake a shower (a bucket full with cold water should do!) and having dinner on the kitchen floor and eating with our hands. The first night was very difficult, especialy for me. We came from our nicely organize tour during which we stayed at excellent hotels and now I was supposed to sleep in a room where lizzards where walking up and down the walls (from the INSIDE!!!). But in the end, I must admit, we had a great time there. The family was super friendly and the small communication problems were solved easily with a smile or some gestures. Lovely people who could tell amazing stories. And somehow this stay must have changed sonething inside us. Because when we returned to Delhi, we somehow felt that we had overcome the culture shock (for now).
– Brave as we felt then , we decided against a continuation of the organized tour and booked train tickets instead. After an 18hrs train ride we arrived in Jaisalmer, the “golden city”. The absolute highlight here was the camel safari we went on. We loved it!!! It was great fun and we even slept in the middle of the Thar Dessert. It was us and the moon, sooooooooo cool!!!
– Next stop, Jodhpur, the “blue city”. Again we stayed at a guest house which was run by a family. It wasn’t the same like in Orcha but we still felt like being a part of the family since we had to take off our shoes when we entered the house and had a room just next to the kitchen were the wife would make us delicious pancakes for breakfast The city itself looke amazing (we will upload some pictures soon) and we enjoyed the “cooler temperatures” (only 35 degrees Celsius). As I said, we had felt that we overcame the culture shock by then. But we could not have possibly thought off a situation like we encountered in the Fort Jodhpur, an historical monument visited by hundreds of (international as well as Indian) tourists each day. But despite its outstanding reputation and incredible architectures, it felt like all Indian people were mostly interested in trying to get as close to us as possible. And pulling out one’s cell phone and taking a picture of us (without asking) was not perceived as rude by them. But it was certainly perceived as rude by us!!! This starring and disregardin of our privacy was yet another challenge for us and we were fed up when exiting the place. The only thing that helped was a visit at McDonalds
– Now we are in Udaipur and are having a great time. Despite the rainy mornings (and sometimes evenings), we had an amazing start here. The city is more touristy than the ones we visited before and soooo green 
It is situated in a valley and the mountains around are covered by big, jungle-like trees. AMAZING!!!! Needless to say that the bus ride from Jodhpur to here was,thus, very lenghty since the Indian busses are not really made for going up a steep street
We visited the City Palace at day and saw an impressive sound and light show there at night as well. But all the nice shops and beautiful views here put aside, I think, the craziest thing on our journey happened here as well.
Yesterday, I went out to do a tiny bit of shopping. And in one small shop – I meet a friend from EBERSWALDE whom I went to primary school with together!!!! The world is sooooo small. We were both so overwhelmed by this crazy coincidence that we went to the German cafe here first and sat down to have a coffee. He is travelling in India with his girlfriend and they just happen to be in the same city, at the same time, in the same shop like us/I. Rhis is just sooo funny We immediately scheduled dinner together and also went to a cooking class today. There, Shashi, an amzing Indian woman who has gone through a lot already in her life, taught us how to make 10 Indian dishes: breads, chutneys, curries, fingerfood and the delicious chai (tea). Afterwards we sat down and ate everything and what shall I say – it was a feast!!! So good
Today was meant to be the last day here in Udaipur but due to the heavy rainstorms in the south of the city, the train tracks on the way to Mumbai are flooded and our train got cancelled. So we came back to our hotel and are now sitting in the computer room figuring out alternatie travel routes. The concierge is super helpful, called the hotel in Mumbai for us and together we just had a goo laugh. So life is good and we will go to sleep thinking what a luxury it is to not feel pressured or stressed that we might need to stay a bit longer here than expected. After all, it is still India where things just are different Aaaaaaaand, as the sign outside our hotel already suggests: Relax because you are on vacation!!!
So everything is good, we have managed and will manage all the little hurdles here and are enjoing life to the fullest in the meantime! We are thinking of you and are sending you a big NAMASTE from Udaipur!!!
missionweltreise2013 