Thursday 29th July

Today we were unsure what was going on as we had had an email saying that S might come to the hostel today. Might was what confused us as we had had no confirmation, so when at midday we were summoned by the hostel keeper to meet S we were a little surprised.

The meeting went as many meetings do, in spits and starts. We also learnt that research has been carried out and the safest place to sit on a bus is not in the first three rows and not at the back. This was told to us in relation to our impending bus trip to Jaipur, but we were not sure if this was general advice or if we were being warned because the buses here are so unsafe.

Ok, so we don’t have actual proof that they are unsafe. It is just that by looking at the buses which drive past us on a day to day basis, they are all practically falling apart. Some of this damage may be due to the harsh weather conditions out here, rain one minute, the heat, causing the paint to wear. The huge dents and other such attribute do lead us to question the reliability of the drivers.

To celebrate a successful meeting we went to McDonalds – we get our small pleasures where we can now.