Having not been able to get rail tickets because they sell out weeks in advance, my other option was to hire a driver to take me around. This has been a fortuitous turn of events as my driver, let's call him Jacob, has turned into a good friend on the road. He's taken me off the beaten path to introduce me to locals and other charities, and I've made monetary contributions to the textile company Vee Kay Enterprise that teaches blind children in Jaipur how to make handicrafts. Jacob is from Agra and so is his wife and family. I reckon he's in his late 50s to early 60s. He's invited me for tea to meet them all and also visit some more schools and places in need. I think it helps tremendously that I've brought my ukulele, as it's an instrument few have seen here and has let me inside more than a few places. I'm minutes away from leaving Pushkar and about to embark on the 400+km drive to Agra. It's 7am and when we've made good time, we'll stop for tea. I met a Dutch girl yesterday and we hiked the two mountains that cradle Pushkar and walked the bazaars together. Nice to have some company on the journey and she appreciated the male presence as a lone female traveler. So far I'm doing great, my next big volunteering venture will be in 3 days in Varanasi so stay tuned. After that it's a night train to Kolkata for a week or more in the Mother Theresa hospitals. Thanks for following me on this journey.
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