Friday 10th September

Today we got up early and went for our obligatory beach run. After ten minutes I was already out of breath so it turned more into a stroll down the beach. It was idyllic, if perhaps a little hot. On the way back we got accosted by about five young women and a man, they wanted us to buy jewellery and henna. In the end we caved in and bargained and ended up with pretty good deals, much lighter pockets and a suitcase full of goodies for people back home. I got a henna done which was kinda cool, but I realised I had two weeks for it to fade (before work)
so have been scrubbing it every day since.

We went back to the hostel and showered and headed back to the beach for breakfast. It was a lovely breakfast looking out to the sea, of fresh fruit and pancakes. Then we decided to go for a walk down the beach. After Curlys the beach actually stopped and we ended up climbing over some rocks to get to the next beach. This beach was a slight disappointment. It was rather scummy and it was practically impossible to continue around the rocks as the water here was much too rough. I was stubborn and did not want to turn back and Ch humoured me so we ended up trying to climb the hillside. The ground was pretty unstable and the path was negligible in some places, meaning we had to practically rock climb in some areas. About halfway up we realised there was another person with us and she ended up staying with us for the rest of the day.

Once we got to the top of the hill we were so relieved, and had encountered minor scrapes. The top of the hill was like a field, very, very green and lush and we couldn’t see much but we headed in the general direction of Baga. After about ten minutes we ended up walking through what looked like someone’s back garden. There were dogs barking everywhere and eventually a lady come out, we apologised and asked for Baga. She pointed down the opposite direction from which we had come, down a small forest route. We went down and down, through the forest, hoping that we would soon come to the beach the otherside. Eventually we did, however it was not the beach we had expected. There was a small café and we got some water, but we were on the opposite side of the bay to the Baga beach, on our side was a small beach, with not many places to set up a nice camp, and there was no where to eat so we really needed to try get to the other side. We could not see a bridge and the water looked pretty shallow, so R ( the Spanish girl) went first and Ch and I followed.

When we reached about halfway between the small beach and Baga beach a boat appeared, it was not a bay, but a river. The boat acted just like the cars in India, and did not change course despite the fact it was heading straight for us. We had to dive out of the way, this is where it all started to go wrong, Ch bag went in the water, with his camera inside. We cut our feet on the rocks and then realised the current was too strong to move. That was when we saw the lifeguard approaching us from Baga beach, he was telling us to go back, but we had no idea how to move and not to loose foot. A man got out of the boat and also came to help and somehow we all managed to et back to the small beach. Then the lifeguard and man from the boat proceeded to try and help us cross the river at a sandy point, which was a bit wider but much safer. Once on the other side we received first-aid. Our feet had been pretty mashed up by the rocks (as you can see above in the photo).

Sunday 15th August

We were allowed by A to sleep in and at 9 he came to see where were at, he also informed us they had already had breakfast but there was a nice coffee shop up from the hotel. It was indeed a nice coffee shop – Café Coffee Day, the Indian equivalent to Starbucks.

Back in the car we drove for a couple of hours, up and up the mountain we went, we stopped in a lay by and got out, here we couldn’t see much but fog and clouds. The next stop was a waterfall, which was pretty cool but rather crowded, a hot-spot of Mt Abu I guess. A amused himself by acting like a monkey, climbing up and down the rocks, swinging from branches, pulling funny faces and trying to make his kid and wife laugh. Then we drove and got off at a Jain temple. At first Ch and I chose to wait outside the temple as we had cameras and other contraband on us. However Cl came back and convinced us it was worth a peak. Indeed it was. It was all made out of carved marble and stone, there were such intricate carvings it was incredible.

The next stop was a lake, it was so beautiful, we were still so high up in the mountains, the sun was shining and here in the valley was this rather large lake. It was possible to boat on the lake so A suggested we three have a go, as his wife was adverse to the suggestion. We walked along the lakeside path, staring out monkeys, and fending off people trying to sell things. When we got to the boating platform we decided to get some chips and drinks instead of getting a boat and to head back as we were conscious of time and the fact we wanted to return to Jaipur asap.

After A had a tea with someone from his home village we could start the long trip home. By now the car seating had been changed. As today was independence day the boys had been placed in the two backseats, with the windows blacked out by newspaper, we were a bit unsure as to why this was done but it was. A, his wife and daughter were in the middle seats (which was a bit nicer as we didn’t have to pass the child around so much) and I was in the front. We left mid afternoon and got back to Jaipur at 2am. We stopped at multiple restaurants on the way and each was unsuitable for A wife. One did however have ores and cookies so we indulged ☺

Arriving at the house we settled our accounts we were shocked to be told that the car had cost £200 for the weekend we were gob smacked, we felt robbed!! Then we were told that we could sleep in the bedroom behind the living room. There were three of us and it housed a double bed but we manned up and tried to work out a way to sleep. Then we lay on the mattress and realised it stunk, we tried laying my bed sheet over it to block out the smell but it didn’t work so well. It was another restless few hours sleep as we had decided to get up at 7 to catch the earliest bus back to Delhi – it was definitely time to go back.