Edward spends some time with George

Well hello it’s me Edward! Here is what happened since I last left Delhi... First of all we went on a MAGICAL JOURNEY TO PIXIE LAND! Just kidding we went on a plane to a cool hotel in Cochin (we were late for the plane coz they gave me a boarding pass with some completely random name on it!). We stayed there for a couple of days and visited a cool fort and a church (my sister nearly lost dad's glasses in the church but in the end we got them back J).

We then went on a house  boat (it’s a boat with a house attached to it J) it was cool in one way and not cool in another (why can I never think up good jokes LLL whimper) it was really cool but it wasn’t cool coz they couldn’t keep the temperature below 30 degrees centigrade! I spent more time sitting underneath the fan above my bed than anything else! Would it kill them to install a reasonable air conditioner ?!  

Edward with Chinese fishing net 

Anyway the next day we arrived back in Cochin and drove for 5 hours to a SUPER COOL HOTEL WITH A PS2 called the Saurya Samudra! Anyway we hung out there for a couple of awesome days and went on an expedition to the old palace of the Maharaja of Travancore which is mostly made of coconut wood. Then we went on to Kanya Kumari which is the most southern point of India where the waters of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean meet (I’m missing mum whimper) and then today we came to a new hotel in a place called Madurai after yet another ridiculously long drive (this is getting really annoying and we weren’t allowed to do any electronics on the whole drive!) and here I am now after chatting with the Brownings (nice friends!). Tomorrow we are going to visit the Sree Meenakshi Temple which is apparently huge and covered with amazing sculptures.  OK that’s pretty much all ok. Bye! PS. I love India and when I was in Cochin I tried some Chicken curry and it was OK. U can give me chocolates when I get home mum he he he J.

Harry spends some time with George and Tom

Hello! And welcome to the blog today! Sorry that there was no colour font last time. It’s because I was doing it on my mum`s I-pad last time. So anyway, let me tell you what has happened since last time I wrote. My dad took us to an airport in Cochin. (We were late for the flight because the ticket machine had gone wrong and it said that my brother was called Manisha Gupta.)  After that we went on a 1 hour bus trip to our hotel.  At the hotel we were immediately offered some iced tea with mint. (It looked nothing like tea and it didn`t taste like tea or mint).  We then went to our rooms. Then we were joined by a Cornish fisherman called Tom Varcoe. We soon went to a shop and bought some rods. We were offered to go on a boat trip. Edward and I didn’t want to go because we wanted to play our DSIs. It turned out we did the wrong move because when my sister came back she said that she had seen dolphins. Luckily, on our last day at the hotel when we were fishing we saw dolphins. 

Harry fishing and seeing dolphins and not playing DSi...

So anyway, when we woke up we knew it was the day we were leaving. I and my brother started playing our DSIs. What we didn`t realize was that our Dad was already in the car. SoonTom Varcoe came into our room and told us that Dad was in the car waiting for us. After the car journey we came to a large marshy area. It turned out we were going on a houseboat. We didn`t do very much on the houseboat. All that we did was play cards, drink some lemonade, play our DSIs and do some work.

After that we did a four hour car journey to a luxurious hotel on the coast. It has a PS2 in one of the rooms so I think I can stay alive. Well it seems I`ve explained all I can explain. Well, now all I can say is this. Goodbye! Click!

Edward obsessing about food and pain

February 9^th February

Hi it's me Edward and I will now tell you what has happened since I last signed out Buu bu buunow ! (that was random lol ) Well... firstly I went on a camel ride after I signed out and it was a 2 hour disaster L ! The first 20 mins was Brill! But then I started feeling uncomfortable then it started to become very uncomfortable and then horribly uncomfortable. It kept getting more and more uncomfortable until finally it was unbearably painful! I tried to stop the pain but it was like trying to get out of an uncomfortable position while sitting on a camel (which it was! L).

Bedroom in tent - Reggie's Desert Camp

Until finally after 1 hour and 40 mins we arrived at our destination and got SHOT BY CRAZY PEOPLE! Just kidding we arrived at an Indian house and I watched (and attempted to stop) Harry and Kitty cruelly destroying helpless ants as if they were helpless little ants getting destroyed which they were. We then had to walk for ages and Ages and AGES! To get to some flipping jeep that couldn't be bothered to come to us? I mean come on picture me in the open desert trudging a km to a jeep getting boiled to death, I mean how cruel are these people?! It’s ridiculous just how cruel some people areL !? Anyway it took us about 5 mins to get back to the hotel once we were all in the jeep! Seriously those camels were slow but they were being forced to go about 1 mph by some people in front who were holding ropes that were attached to wooden spikes that went right through the camels nose! That's cruel if you ask me but I suppose it stops them running off and going on a rampage but a spike through the nose!? 1 word cruel, 2 words really cruel.

Edward taking a photo' from back of a camel

Anyway we left the next morning after visiting the Jain temples (it had a ton of inscriptions and a little story about some guy and his 3 billion incarnations trying to escape the wheel of life).

10^th February

After that we got to where I am now Nagaur in a fort that has been turned into a hotel when we arrived we just lounged around and then went to bed after supper of course. The next day we had a nice breakfast and then went out to a cattle and camel fair and saw as you can guess cattle and camels.

One of those camels at the fair - they weren't all this grand

But we also saw a great amount of other merchandise such as cloths, sugar cane juice, sweets and even daggers anyway we bought a couple of things ( including some daggers!*) and then went back to the fort. We had the most horrible chilly, cheese and tomato pizza ever! It was horribly spicy had horrible tomatoes and seriously chilly pizza it was more like setyourmouthalight pizza! It was truly horrible. Anyway enough of spicy pizza, we then had lessons followed by some supper (I will never eat pizza here again ** )  and finally we went to bed. This morning we had breakfast and then went for a wander in the town, we then had a delicious lunch and some pudding (for the first time ever! ) and then we had some lessons (which I have just finished) . Anyway that's pretty much everything. OK bye!

* Bwahahahahaa I love weapons!

**I have to say I made a good choice!

Harry feeling a bit dramatic....

1^st February

Also after I signed out last time we went on these really cool planes called Kingfisher Airlines and every seat had a TV on them so you could watch stuff. I found a suitable for 15 years plus film called Kick Ass on Channel Five but Mum only let us watch these weird cartoons that were in Hindi (the Indian language). Right now I am in a place like a classroom and we do 4, 99,34,9999 hours of schoolwork. (Actually, we only do four but I`m feeling very dramatic today because this is taking forever to do.) Well, I guess that`s all for which-ever day you might be reading this (just to tell you I don`t write a whole blog every day so try to check it every three days) and I hope you’re having a better time than me.

P.S. Try E-mailing me and tell me what the heck is going on at school.  Bye  

Harry's bits gets squished by camel

Harry's Blog Osian Reggie’s Desert Camp 8-9^th February

Harry survives camel and camel survives Harry

Hello! And welcome to the blog today. I will be telling you where we are and what we are doing.

Right now I`m at Reggie`s desert camp and we are doing lessons. (you would have thought I was not doing school and also its really boring because there`s no break times and no friends to play with apart from my sister and my brother.) So anyway today we went on a Camel. It was less exciting than you thought it would 

be. The camels hump kept on poking me in a place I should not talk about. 

Also my brother started crying even though he was two years older than me. At the desert camp we are not staying in a big hotel we’re actually staying at a luxury tent. (My tutor told me that apparently every Wednesday before assembly you have to read my blog. It`s like a soldier in WW1 behind enemy lines.) I`m not quite sure that you are doing that, and also if you see any spelling mistakes or future tense words on this blog please E-MAIL me and tell me to stop doing spelling mistakes.

Edward in our tent relaxing

We went to a Indian person`s house and it was quite cool. At it there was this cool little thing to make grain for bread. What you did was you put some seeds in a hole in the middle of a stone grinder then you start pulling it round and round. Apparently women did this for TWO HOURS a day*. (And also, Tristan, you told me you have a phone. My mum has one I could borrow it for a chat.)

Real sand dunes with hidden sand balls

Also, since this is a desert, there are these really, really, keen things called sand dunes. Sometimes when you step out loads of these sand balls come out of the ground and we have a fun game called sand ball. It`s like snowballs, but with sand. Last night there were people who Sung Songs that made no Sense. 

Also there are tonnes of frogs in the pond. (I just remembered one of WEIRDEST things I’ve seen in my life. In India, there are MUTANT TADPOLES! They are MASSIVE!) Also there are insects related to grass hoppers that I call dune hoppers. That is because they are exactly the same colour as sand. In the dunes, we found a dead Scarab beetle and we thought it was alive we also saw a beetle that could spray acid that dissolves your eyeballs so we didn`t go to close to it. 

Acid spraying, eyeball dissolving bug

Well, it seems I have told you everything I can. Well all I can say now is in the next sentence. GOODBYE! Click! (If you want to know why I wrote the word “click” then purchase Pokémon heart gold and receive the poke gear.

*I wouldn`t even last two Minutes doing it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Being papped Orchha

Harry might just find a role model in Ashoka

Harry blog 31st January

Hello and welcome to the blog today. I will be discussing what I have done and where I am. Right now I am in Delhi in India (though you will probably be reading this 9 days later  and I hope you are in a world where no brown people always stare and are afraid to touch you*). For your information, I am about to tell you what has been happening around here. Let me tell whichever one of my friends you may be, some things that have happened to me and my family.

One sick Kitty - Gwalior. 

First of all, my family (apart from me) have got Diarrhoea (Die-o-ree-a). Apparently my sister was throwing up in the night which is disgusting. 

Harry at Stupa, Sarnath

I can tell you what the most recent thing I have done. In a new place I went to called Varanasi I went to a silk factory and we saw beautiful decorative patterns made of silk. The factory not only made the silk but it also designed the patterns on the silk. (I just found a new word I called SPATTERNS.)




I went to a place for Buddhists, called Sarnath. It is very important to Buddhists because there is a big thing called a Stupa (it has loads of gold leaf printed on it!) and it was built really long ago and also their god (Buddha) was a real person and in the middle of the place there was a big circle and apparently the ashes of Buddha (who was cremated) was buried underneath the circle. The inscription reads: truth alone triumphs.  (Mum quite likes this inscription!) 

Lion Capital, India

I also saw one of the most important things in the whole of India! It is called the Lion Capital. It is important because in 300 BC there was a bloodthirsty king called Ashoka. The only thing he wanted to do was expand his empire. Then one day he visited the battlefield. The only thing he saw was dead bodies and blood. Then he had second thoughts. He soon realized what he had done and he turned over a new leaf. He started following Buddhism and taught it too. And for his army, instead of fighting, they spread Buddhism.  

His son and daughter went to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism. All and all, he was happy but the neighbouring emperors thought that he had weakened. Ashoka knew that and he had a plan. On the border of India, he put up four large columns with a Lion Capital on the top of    each pillar. This signified that he didn’t want to fight and he had gone peaceful. And now, on any money you find in India the Lion Capital is on it.

*This is getting very boring for me LLLK

Harry at Stupa

Edward has a Birthday and flies to Jodhpur

8^th February

A BIG CAKE FOR A BIG BOY, 11 TODAY!

Freakily tall fort....

Hey it's me Edward again and here is what has happened since anything thing interesting happened  ... First of all we had some flipping lessons and later on we went to some nice Indian people's home and had a nice time. The next day was... MY BIRTHDAY! :) and I had a brilliant time, I went shopping with my Mum and got some immense prezziez (presents) and all in all had a great day. On Saturday we did nothing much except lounge around at the pool at our hotel the Imperial. On Sunday we caught a plane to Jodphur and did pretty much nothing all afternoon. The next morning I was woken up for the Muslim call to prayer but my brother Harry slept right through the astonishingly loud prayer! later on I got back to sleep but woke up after a while played some DS after waiting for ages and then got up to go to a freakily tall fort.

Kitty at the Raas Haveli, Jodhpur
waiting for the safe breakers....

It looked very nice and had a museum inside and an armoury. The next day I was yet again woken up by the Muslim call to prayer and yet again my brother slept through! It would take a herd of elephants to wake him up! 
We then waited for ages and ages for the guys who owned the hotel to open the safe with our passports inside because my sister broke it by putting the code in too many times (it locked itself forever after that :( ) . They finally opened it by prying it open and we came to a desert camp. 

Mehrangarh Fort and street scenes Jodhpur

Edward's video blog from Jodhpur

Edward comes a cropper in Varanasi

1^st Feb

Hi it’s me Edward again and here is what has happened since I last signed out...

Varanasi Fire Ceremony of an evening

Pancakes for Edward once recovered

Firstly I flew from Khajuraho to Varanasi on the airline Kingfisher (it had TV’s on the backs of the seats and I watched “once upon a time in Mumbai.” but not all of it). At Varanasi I went to the river Ganges and watched a beautiful fire ceremony, smelt some incense, watched the people in the ceremony do amazing dances with different items and saw a heck of a lot of beggars. I then got diarrhoea (when I was on a boat for a dawn tour) the next day and didn’t do much except get tortured by the temptation of delicious food! The next day I didn’t have it anymore so I stuffed my face into as much food as possible until I couldn’t eat any more that day. The next day we lounged around until it was about 12 O’clock and then went to catch an airplane to Delhi. It was another Kingfisher flight and I watched a bit more of “once upon a time in Mumbai”. We arrived in Delhi and went back to The Imperial and today I haven’t done much except a bit of maths and some school work. Ok bye!

Nagaur cattle and camel fair Feb 10-13th

Reggie's Desert Camp Feb 2011

Gwalior Fort and mid C15th Tirthankar sculptures

Orchha and Khajuraho

Harry Arrives in Jodhpur - but is Jodhpur ready?

Harry at Jodhpur

Hello! And thank you for reading this today! Right now I`m in Jodhpur and it is raining! (Raining?  In India?) Right now I`m in a little bedroom on a computer. Today I have been to a fort*. The fort was called Mehrangarh fort. It had been Civilised quite a bit and we got to the top by ele (you would think I was about to write “elephant” but no, I`m afraid not.)Vator and it was really SCARY up there. If you fell off you would not end up like that lucky Scotsman who fell down a mountain and didn`t get injured. Instead you would go like this when you landed. SPLAT!  With extra blood and everything. So anyway, at this so-far-boring place it is about to get interesting. Because in one room in specific, there were lots of daggers n` guns. There was a double barrelled shotgun, a knife that had three blades. (this had an interesting purpose) what you did was you tucked them all in the middle blade and when you stabbed someone you then pulled something and then all three knives came out inside chopping the victim in half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! L So anyway there was another knife and it had a gun attached to it. We also went to a mausoleum where a Maharaja’s son had built a monument to his dead father on the site where he was cremated. Story has it that two peacocks, well actually, one peacock and one peahen, flew into the fire during the cremation and so they built two monuments to the peacocks too. And right now my absurd sister has just come into the room and told me she`s found something that I don`t want to miss. I`ve just come back and it turns out it was my sister`s matching giant cricket. It`s 30cm long and like my sister, absurd. (Just kidding, it’s actually quite cute.) well that`s all I can explain today, so goodbye!

 An extract from my trip by Harry Robinson

*WARNING: the next few sentences are extremely hard to explain. All that I can describe the fort as is a hunk of metal, cannons, swords, GOLDJJJ, guns, knives and a few important places and people.