Apologies and relevant information

Dear followers and sporadic readers,

This is just a quick message to inform you all that I have NOT forgotten that I have a blog and that you are all eagerly waiting to see pictures from other places that I have visited. 

However and unfortunately, my laptop broke while I was in India due to the amount of times that electricity goes off every day, which means that I have no way to publish any new posts. The only electronic device that I have right now is my iPad, which does not have an entry for my camera card and/or cable, so I am afraid I will not be able to post anything new until I buy a new laptop.

The good news is that, once I'm back, you'll have news from a long list of places: Granada, Pisa, London, Leeds, Florence, Malta, Taormina (Sicily), Pompei, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Agra, Mumbai, Kadiri (India) and, hopefully, any other new places that I visit until then - maybe Thailand, Goa, Kerala, Varanasi... Who knows!?

I hope you can have news about all those places soon!

Lots of love from Bangalore!
Xesca.

Jaipur: the real magic of the 'pink city'.

English:

Jaipur: the real magic of the 'pink city'.

As I said in my last post, the most extraordinary experience I lived during the month of April was a short trip through northern India, particularly to the cities of Jaipur and Agra.

The first stop after our short walk through Delhi was Jaipur, also known as 'the pink city' because of the colour of the buildings that compose it. In fact, the 'pink city' is only a part of Jaipur located between some characteristic salmon-pink gates. The rest of Jaipur is composed of historic palaces and buildings and fascinating bazaars.

New Delhi: a little hint of the chaos in the Indian capital city.

English:

New Delhi: a little hint of the chaos in the Indian capital city.

Hello everyone!

Today I am coming back with another post to tell you about another of my adventures in India.

From the 6th until the 10th of April, taking advantage of the weekend of Ugadi (New Year for Hindus), two of my fellow volunteers (who have become two good friends of mine) and I decided to spend two days in Jaipur and two in Agra.

Rannalhi (Maldives): our luxurious life in Paradise.

English:

Rannalhi (Maldives): our luxurious life in Paradise.

As I said in my last post, two of my best friends and I decided to spend six days in Maldives last week. I imagine that many of those who read my blog have seen the dazzling pictures that I could take there and I guess that there is no doubt that that is actually Paradise.

Nevertheless, I am pleased to inform you that you have not seen it all yet. The thing is that the best part of the trip is yet to come. And that part involves two days that we decided to spend on another island (Rannalhi) right at the epicentre of our holiday.

Maafushi (Maldives): mixing local people with luxurious five-star resorts

English:

Maafushi (Maldives): mixing local people with luxurious five-star resorts.

I already have too many drafts in this blog. Posts that, due to lack of time or laziness, I have not published yet and do not know when to publish. However, I could not resist the temptation to publish information about my trip to Maldives, which took place last week.

With more than ten entries to post about my still current life in India, I decided to devote this space to the publication of a special trip that I went on with two of my best friends.

In September last year I received a message on a Whatsapp group which I have with these two friends, Antònia and Sandra, in which they told me they were considering the possibility of visiting me for my birthday. However, they noted that, since India is a country that does not attract them, they would not come to see me here, but we would be meeting in nothing less than Maldives instead, provided that I could go. We changed the dates several times because we could not all travel at the same time for some reason or another and we finally decided to do it in March 2016. After talking with my coordinators and seeing that there was no problem in leaving for a week, we decided to start this adventure on March 5th and finish it on March 11th.

Penukonda: enjoying the company of a giant and the quietness of an ashram.

English:

Penukonda: enjoying the company of a giant and the quietness of an ashram.

On the first days of August, two of my colleagues from the Foundation and I set out to spend a nice, sunny Sunday in Penukonda, just over an hour drive from Anantapur. That day we also went to Lepakshi, but I'll keep that information for my next post.

A one-day visit to Tarimela for the Tholi Ekadasi Festival.

English:

A one-day visit to Tarimela for the Tholi Ekadasi Festival. 

To Seshu, with all my love and gratitude. Thank you for that wonderful and enjoyable day.

Before I start writing about some of the adventures that have taken place in India lately, I'd like to apologise for not having written anything here in almost two months. The thing is, that my daily routine in India is quite packed and the last thing I want to do when I get to my room is keep writing - either in my blog, in my notebook or elsewhere. I know there are some people who check my blog every day, hoping to find new information, and what you discover is the same information I posted two months ago, already bored to death, occupying the top spot on my list of publications. I refuse to commit to publish something new every day because I know I can not keep this promise, but I promise to update my blog as soon as possible, both for you (I know you want to know about me) and for myself, because I don't want to to have too much information to include in the upcoming months. I think it's best to keep my blog updated, because now I already have too many outstanding publications. Let's see if I achieve it ...

I'd like to continue, then, with the information from another of my adventures in India, an adventure that happened on July 27th and which was held in the house of one of my students, Seshu. The adventure began with my first bus ride in India - a bus which was quite old, with people who had to travel standing, with oxide in any metal corner and broken seats due to the use people have made of them. Although being a bumpy ride, with breaks every few minutes because of the poor condition of the asphalt on highways and roads, and lots of noise (either by the horn of the bus itself or any other car, bike or rickshaw that happened to be on the street at that time), the bus ride turned out to be a very funny experience, with laughter included, that left nobody indifferent.

A one-weekend trip to Hampi: monkeys, excellent food, a four-star hotel and lots of temples.

English:

A one-weekend trip to Hampi: 

monkeys, excellent food, a four-star hotel and lots of temples.

Last weekend, i.e. from July 17th to July 19th 2015, three of my fellow volunteers and I decided to go to Hampi, in the state of Karnataka, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. The current city centre houses around 350 temples, fortifications, sculptures, stables... along with a vast amount of guesthouses, whose food is excellent.

Instead of staying in a guesthouse, we opted for a four-star hotel in the city of Hospet, just a few kilometres away from Hampi. There, we enjoyed a fantastic hot shower and a comfortable bed which could have delighted anyone. However, we did not walk a lot around Hospet and, instead of that, we decided to spend all day visiting and enjoying Hampi.

Focusing on...: traffic in Anantapur.

English:

Focusing on...: traffic in Anantapur.

As I mentioned here, and as I am sure many of you may have read in articles or seen in movies, the streets of India are a compendium of people, cows, pigs, roosters, dogs, noise, cars, rickshaws, motorcycles, rubbish, etcetera. I had also read about it and had seen it in movies, but it's not until you set foot in these cities that you actually see what it is like to live here and walk around these streets. It is surprising how much control these people have, whatever their means of transport is, and how little angry they get when they see that a car is approaching them from the front because it is overtaking a bus and two bikes at a time, not to mention how closely they pass pedestrians. Their tranquility is unchanged whatever the traffic intensity is or how much trouble there is around. Here you can see some examples of such chaos, but, as I have previously said, the photos and videos do not do justice to what one actually lives here. Personally, I am still surprised when I walk through these streets or when I am driven somewhere, but I'm getting used to the Indian way of doing things and I dare say I am not afraid anymore.

My first days in India: visiting humanitarian projects in Anantapur.

English:

My first days in India: visiting humanitarian projects in Anantapur.

As many of you know, on Sunday last week I began an adventure to India that will be extended, in principle, until July 2016. This adventure consists on volunteering in the country, specifically in the city of Anantapur, as an English teacher with Fundación Vicente Ferrer, known here as Rural Development Trust.