Day 47 - Bundi

I know it's been a while since I posted and a lot has happened. Bodhgaya was great and there's simply too much to talk about, so if you really want to know about that week ask me personally.

After Bodhgaya, we headed to Jaipur for our second three-week stint on a WWOOF farm and our last farm in India. We made it safely to Saharia Amla Organic Farm and promptly left after three nights. There was very little actual work to be done and no one was teaching us anything. Even while we were working we didn't learn anything about what we were doing, why, or anything about the farm. The workers were nice and welcoming, but the managers seemed to never be around and wanted little to do with us. It's an organic resort, so there are guests who pay to stay and then there are volunteers who work to stay in slightly more rustic accomodations. There were huge rats in our room and running through our food in the kitchen. All of this we probably could have stomached save one thing. The first day we got to the farm, there were three little, skinny puppies that were adorable. That evening, the managers decided (whether it was due to guests complaining the puppies were nuisance or to a lack of resources to take care of the puppies) to kill them. It happened suddenly and it took us a while to figure out what exactly was happening, but neither Laura nor I had ever heard such chilling and disturbing sounds before. From that point we were set on leaving, we just had nowhere to go and needed some time to figure out our next step. Fortunately, a lovely Dutch couple came and had some great suggestions and an English version of the Lonely Planet.

To make a long story short, we spent some time in the city of Jaipur, went to a beautiful national park to see some wildlife, and are now in a town called Bundi. To picture the city of Bundi, think of Aladdin, and to picture the surrounding area picture The Jungle Book. Seriously. This morning we went to a gorgeous waterfall that was so peaceful. It falls into this canyon that is filled with lush jungle that smells incredible. The owner of the guest house we're staying in said there's a lot of bears in that area, but we didn't see any. Just a ton of monkeys. Monkeys are everywhere here. We sit on the roof of our guest house drinking chai and watching monkeys jump from rooftop to rooftop. On the hillside sits an enormous historical fort and surrounding walls that is quite incredible to behold. It's definitely still India, with loud noises, odd smells and gawking people, but it's so different from anywhere we've been. Next we head to Diu, which is on the coast of Gujarat and supposedly has some nice sandy beaches to wander.

I am sad that our WWOOF experience in India hasn't been living up to my expectations. I am enjoying this trip immensely, but I had hoped to learn so much more. I learned a good amount on the first farm, but it wasn't an overall positive experience. I'm still holding out for our stay in Nepal, though. I'm looking forward to being able to couple farming and non-farming volunteer opportunities.

I hope you all are well. It's strange being in 80+ degree weather in November, knowing that Winter is starting back home. Everyone here keeps talking about how Winter has come, but really all that means is it gets darker earlier. Oh well, I'll most likely get my Winter during January in Nepal.