Hello again…..yes can you believe it weeks with nothing and now 2 blogs in one day!!!
I am just desperate to get rid of the blog backlog so I can start writing daily. I guess the easiest thing to do would be to simply start from today and forget the back log…but unfortunately for my brain, that’s far too rational…and definitely not an option;-)

So I had spent 3 hours waiting in Delhi train station for my connecting train to Hardiwar. I had attempted to go out to get something to eat but rickshaw men wanted RS600 to take me to the restaurant a couple of km away…..high way robbery to say the least…but I have come to expect nothing less at stations. They see you lugging your massive rucksack around and know you are at their mercy and usually have no option but to use them. (Although that been said I have never had such a high quote before!) Had I had more energy I would have put up a fight and shopped around…but a group of them all started yelling at each other and when I said I wasn’t paying that price one of the men blatantly said: “Fine you go then.” Which I happily did. As I walked away one of the other men came running after me “ok, ok RS 100″….but by then I had mentally given up. So returned to the station and sat on the filthy floor with the other hundreds of people there…and even managed to fall asleep for about half an hour. ( until some Indian boy walked past and thought it would be really funny to shout: “Wake UP!!! at me.) Don’t worry mum all bags were attached to various limbs…..besides you have so many people staring at you….it would be virtually impossible for someone to steal something without it been noticed.

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Anyway so eventually I set off to find my train and was on the platform waiting when a Western girl walked past and we started chatting! She was Swiss and one of the most luminously beautiful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She was tall, with flawless skin and the most incredible light green eyes! (what is it with all these beautiful eyed people coming into my life?) She could have quite easily just have stepped out of a magazine! (Any illusions I might have had about my waif-like existence where pretty soon shattered after meeting her;-) (Spent the next 3 days continual reminding myself: You are not a teenager anymore gayle!)
So needless to say she was absolutely lovely and we were mutually relieved to discover that we were both going to Hardiwar. I was amazed to discover that she was only 19. (sorry 19 and 50 weeks:-) and this was her first time travelling alone. (And she chooses India?? Brave and beautiful!) On talking, I discovered that she had planned on going up north as she was very eager to go do some trekking in the Himalayas. She had however now changed her plans as people had told her it was flooding and not possible. I found that a bit hard to believe because I vaguely remembered Gorgeous French boy was heading to that exact area and he had also been mildly elated about going trekking. ( Needless to say, ‘trekking’ is on my list of 100 things NOT to do before I die!)
I thought to myself that it was such a shame that they hadn’t met each other, and told her to look out for Frenchie on her travels.

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(Might I just add at this point…..as predicted good old Karma came back and bit me in the arse for ‘stealing’ from cabbie man in Calcutta. When Buying my tickets in Calcutta the really great, helpful guy who sold me my ticket told me it would be Rs2000 in total. RS 1400 to get to Delhi and RS390 to get to Hardiwar. I had been in such a mad rush that day that I was quite happy to pay him the RS 210 service fee and I didn’t even question checking the ticket before I took it from him.
I then discovered that for the Hardiwar section of the journey he had bought me the absolute cheapest ticket, no air con and right next door to the engine with its massive, massive Hooter!! (that went the entire 3.5 hours) The ticket only cost RS107…giving him a massive bonus of….just under RS 500! Cheeky bugger!
I wasn’t too stressed about it though….in fact, was almost relieved to pay my penance for jilting poor cabbie man! The moral of the story is DON’T cheat…because it comes back to you!:-)
Besides I was just incredibly happy to be spending the next couple of days with lovely Swiss girl.

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Hardiwar as a city is small and beautiful, with not much to see but it has loads of character. I was also quite hopeful that I might find an Ashram here as it was listed as having a couple and is not as ‘touristy’ as Rishikesh ( Yoga capital of India) which was going to be my final stop in India.

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The next day we set out to go and look at some of the Ashrams but unfortunately, nothing really grabbed me. It seems that I have chosen possibly the worst time to find an Ashram as most of them are not running full programs due to the fact that it is the off-peak season. So I had to then readjust my hopes back onto Rishikesh…even though loads of people say that a lot of the Ashrams there are simply out to take money. I was beginning to think that maybe all those people that wrote about Ashrams online were right in saying….”Do your research beforehand, all the good Ashrams book up months in advance!” ( why do I never listen to the experts and always think we know best?;-) But never the less I hung onto what little hope I had left…..positive that something would turn up!

On my second day in Hardiwar I was out by myself when I was I was approached by a young Indian man. He was very well dressed and said he was from Goa. He had a really good English accent, unlike any other I have heard so far which made the Goa thing definitely plausible. He spoke really quickly and was incredibly nervous. He said that he was a musician and that last night he had had all his stuff stolen coming up on the train. He said the police won’t help him and now he is stuck here with no money, and he can’t get home… he had some friends staying in another city and he just needed RS450 rupees to get the train there.

I am very proud to say that this time Good old ‘Common Logic’ stepped in right away:
“Yeh right, I’m so not falling for this again!”
I immediately told him that I wouldn’t give him the full amount…but that I would give him RS 100 towards it. (So much for standing my ground)
He thanked me and quickly, put his head down and walked away without the money. I watched him walk away when ‘Angel’ piped in: “Oh for the love of God, Gayle please tell me that man isn’t crying?” I ran after him and yes he was crying. He looked absolutely heartbroken, completely stranded and just …well pitiful! (a feeling I have experienced one or two times while travelling.) ….so what else could I do ..but give him the money! He thanked and hugged me profusely and I have to admit at the time I genuinely, 100% thought it was legit…I came away feeling mildly elated that I was able to help someone and confident that if it was a scam then his ‘Oscar’ worthy acting was well worth the RS500 he just walked away with!

Our final day in Haridwar and my new friend and I were heading off to Rishikesh together. I went out early in the morning to go and try to catch up on some blogging….when who should I bumped into in the middle of Hardiwar??
Ah yes, gorgeous blue/green eyed, French boy from Bodhgaya! What are the chances of that?
My immediate reaction was one of pure elation……until I suddenly remembered my wish two days before! Dam!!!! I was gutted to realize that yes, the ‘travel gods’ had sent him here not for me but for lovely Swiss girl!!! After all its only right that two such beautiful, perfectly symmetrical people, with stunning eyes ….who both love the Himalayas (and trekking) should meet….and my job was simply to facilitate this!

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Which I am proud to say I did beautifully…..four hours later the two of them were making plans to hire a car for 8 days and both very excited to be going to the Himalayas. Of course, they wanted me to come with but realizing 2’s company and 3’s a crowd and acknowledging the fact that I HATE trekking I politely declined and sent them on their way.
Yes, the self-sacrifices of being a real live cupid are great…but the perks are high….isn’t that right Harvey and Kate? And Melissa and Ollie (yes I am so taking credit for that one!!!!;-)

Needless to say, my title has now been modified to ‘Saint Gayle Rescuer of small puppies and fixer-upper of beautiful trek loving travellers’. I take no payment for my work…but feel free to send large donations to my Saint Gayle Foundation!
(www.saintgayle.co.uk)

And now I need to rest!!! Rishikesh…here I come!!! (well technically Im already here… but you guys are all behind for some reason!;-)
Loads of love as always

ps Midget my mum says you sound ‘cute’ ….am worried that other people might be forming this false opinion of you…..so am posting photo online to end all such speculation!! Don’t be fooled, people!!!;-)