Category Archives: India

Lights, camera, action.

Posted on by
Being in Mumbai, I was told that it was common for you to be stopped in the streets and asked to be an extra in the back of a Bollywood film. This sounded like an amazing yet bizarre experience to be involved in. Of course I thought it was too good to be true, until I was approached myself. It was to be a full days work (leaving at 8am and returning at 10pm at the latest), I was also to receive breakfast, lunch and dinner, as much chai as I would require AND I was to be getting paid 5,000 Rupees Read more [...]

No bed sheets = Bed bugs

Posted on by
When you are paying for a bed….who doesn’t give sheets? It’s illogical and highly unhygienic. Add that to the breakfast we all received which was 3 bits of bread (not toast), a small ration of butter and florescent jam and a boiled egg (if you were lucky!) Then there was the issue of bugs and cockroaches. This to me is not normally an issue. Some places you go, bugs are inevitable and that’s fine. But the reason that this place was packed full of them was because no one cleaned any of the Read more [...]

Day 1 of Mumbai

Posted on by
… And I’m not a happy girl. In many ways it reminds me of London. It’s busy, no one really knows what’s going on, people aren’t friendly, they don’t tend to go out of their way to help you and prices shoot up. Though I did manage to have a slight crisis with my bus to Mumbai and so maybe these words are just words of a girl who happens to not be in the best mood possible. A conversation with the bus driver went a little something like this: “Do you speak English?” “Yes Read more [...]

I’m a Smith. This is what we do…

Posted on by
Whenever I have felt slightly down in anyway and have discussed such with another person, they always end up saying something on the lines of ‘Things will get better’ or ‘You’ll be alright’, to which to this very day I have always replied ‘Of course I will. I’m a Smith. This is what we do.’ I’m not quite sure what it means or what exactly us Smith’s do but it has always worked for me. It always gave me that extra bit of strength to shove a smile on my face. And right here Read more [...]

Bollywood Cinema

Posted on by
Today I decided to go to the local cinema in Jodhpur to watch a classic Bollywood film. I had been told by many that ‘House Full 2’ was the film to see as it was absolutely hilarious! I felt I needed to go and be able to share my own opinion. I went alone and so of course, was the only white person sat in the audience. This caused the usual pointing, which by now I was used to and generally oblivious to (other than the fact that the person directly in front of me stood up, turned around and Read more [...]

Spit splash back

Posted on by
In Udaipur I took a taxi trip with three others. The journey was to take 2-3 hours which I spent mostly asleep. I was the piggy in the middle of the back seats. The poor girl to my right wasn’t so lucky with her plans to sleep as the driver (as many others here) was a tobacco chewer which meant that he was also a spitter. Given that the car wasn’t air conditioned, all windows were wide open to allow as much fresh wind as possible. I’m sure you can see where this is going. On every spitting Read more [...]

Differences in reactions

Posted on by
  In regards to my broken camera, I think about how different this reaction was in comparison to how I would have reacted living in London. I would have gone mental. The old Luana would have made a scene and moaned about it forever more.  In regards to my past relationship I would complain about anything and everything possible. I wouldn't allow myself to be happy in a good situation. Maybe because I didn't feel I deserved to be happy and for everything in this very moment to be perfect Read more [...]

Udaipur

Posted on by
I have been here for 2 days now and not really seen much of this beautiful city. I had been told so much about how romantic this place was to be. And it really is. With a huge lake which I circled on a boat to watch the sunset, I couldn’t have imaged a more romantic moment. I shared such a trip with a fellow Brazilian girl, Anna, which was lovely as I don’t think it would have been quite the same to see alone. There are a few things which I still need to see here like the huge palace, some Read more [...]

Karma

Posted on by
It’s weird how strongly I believe in karma now. I feel like the Italian looking out for me and offering me to share his accommodation for free was a moment of karma to exchange the kindness I have given to other travels. For instance, I have walked a 29 American woman to her guest house in the middle of the night to ensure that she was safe, to then walk back to my guest house alone. I have looked after various older travellers who have gotten drunk and struggled talking let alone being able to Read more [...]

Camel Safari

Posted on by
I decided to rope two single travelling girls (who both happened to be from America) into renting two mopeds to travel into the middle of the desert for a camel safari. I dislike tours with a passion and I feel restricted from doing what I want to do. I don’t like having to follow a program like sheep as we do the most touristic things possible for a high price. After having told a slight fib about having driven plenty of bikes in the past, I finally got them both in agreement. It was an automatic Read more [...]