saris, scarves and a palace

So this afternoon was all about exploring Bhuj and shopping.

First we visited a lovely designer who 3 yrs ago left double bay and moved to Bhuj - she is rocking some serious face jewellery! Her stuff was amazing but surprisingly pricey but she sells it online very well. Now where she lives presented me with my first reality check - the incredible chasm between the rich and the poor. At the end of her street a family (including a child of 5 or so) were collecting pods off tree branches - all around there were shacks barely standing with people living in them. Yet 300m away there were absolute mansions - probably seeming all the more opulent given the difference to the norm.

We stopped at a brand new temple which was amazing - the work that must have gone into this is mind blowing.

We then headed to check out a palace which was filled with historical artefacts but which had been  baldy  damaged in the 2001 earthquake. It is being restored like most of the city. The museum told yhr story of bhuj and how a king decided to build the city and knew he had to build it on the head of a snake so that it would  be stable. He was confident he knew where the head was so he struck a nail into the ground - but people around him asked him how he could be sure he hit the head of the snake . The king became unsure of himself and so he pulled  the nail out and the ground began to bleed so ge then knew  he had hit the head and so he struck it back in all the way. But the king did not know the  snake had moved after he pulled the nail out and when he struck it back in it was into the tail - and that is why the ground below  Bhuj is so unstable as the snake moves around - causing earth quakes.

We then went to see the master of the ancient skill  of block painting on fabric - a tiny room filled with hundreds of saris and scarves and shawls with the workshop out the back. Some of the works take weeks to complete. So brilliant and beautiful - he supplies Tiger Lilly in Australia. Could not resist a few purchases.

Finished a long day with a wonderful dinner in our lodge of home cooked veg curries and assorted accompaniments ...

Bhuj

After a very early morning pick up and 3 hours sleep we had a hour and half flight to Bhuj.

Fun times when the luggage stopped coming out at Bhuj and we found  out that the airline decided some bags would be sent on the flight this evening as they had too many for our plane. Not good for the indian "rock band" on the plane who found out all their equipment and instruments were not turning up until after their gig!@ lots of shouting was heard and demands about who was going to pay them  for not being able to play and who was going to be the entertainment at the gig. All to no avail as there are only 2 planes a day. Sadly I could not take a photo as security said no photos in airport so i cant share  just how rock star these guys were.

Bhuj Airport

We drove through Bhuj to get to our safari lodge hotel and this was really just the first time i had seen India in daylight and it was exactly as I expected. So full of life and colour and movement - things going on everywhere and cows and dogs wandering all over the road - constant beeping horns - just letting people know you are there no agro.

The place we are staying is gorgeous it over looks a huge lake (so strange to see so much water given how dry and arid it all looked as we drove here).

View from our bungalow

The view from reception

Off to town this afternoon

I am in India!

Wow that was a surprisingly long trip - 16hours plus after leaving sydney i am in my hotel in mumbai. Its 11.30 here but for my body its 4.30am and the great news is we have to be up and out the hotel at 4.30am. Its dark and have not seen much but what i have seen is vibrant and full of life. So tired tho and need to shower and sleep so got to sign off.

one sleep to go!

So I am off tomorrow morning!

Have to admit I am freaking out a little and starting to realise how hard it is going to be - especially to be away from my family and in particular my little 4 year old daughter. My gorgeous partner came up with a great idea to help  me with this, I am going to take 14 different photographs of my daughter tomorrow morning and each night before I go to sleep I will look at one - a different one each day - helping me to count down and also to feel like I am seeing her everyday.

Raced around today to try and get as much done as I could including trying to finish off stuff at work  - great timing but not so great timing as my first day back in the office will be in a new office (we are moving buildings). I was very lucky my team felt sorry for me and packed me up while I was out at meetings this morning - they are wonderful people and I am very lucky and privileged to be able to work with them.

Anyway last minute things tonight including trying to push away the thought that I have forgotten something....

Off to bed I guess and this time tomorrow I will be in Mumbai.

If you would like to track our progress you can go to http://bit.ly/1HbWx79

Introduction

Hi All

Thank you all again for your support in helping me to raise over $4500 for Kids Helpline.

As you may know the trip I was due to go on was cancelled and I am instead heading to India to support the Anganwadi Project - a wonderful charity that designs and builds ‘anganwadi’ or pre-schools in the slum areas of Ahmedabad, India.

I am heading off on Saturday 29 November for 2 weeks that I am sure will be amazing and challenging in many ways.

We are going to trek 120km over 5 days through the through the spectacular desert landscapes of western Gujarat and spend a day or two helping a community to give a new coat of paint to one of the Anganwadi Project's pre-schools. Along the way we are also going to experience some wonderful things including spending time with local women in the village of Ludiya while they weave and embroider, visiting Dhamadka and getting to see the famous Ajrakh block-printing, which involves hand-carved teakwood blocks and going on safari in the world's last remaining refuge of the Indian Ass. 

I am going to have a go at blogging during the trek (for the first time) to share my experience with you, so bear with me I am not likely to be funny or very entertaining but I hope that you get something from the blog.

Enough for now - I look forward to posting next weekend from beautiful India.

Ayela