Land of freedom; motorcycles have rarely less than three people on them, sometimes more and who needs a helmet? These two children were staring at me in my auto-rickshaw, on my way back to the hotel. Indian children have the sweetest smiles! They also have beautiful teeth and big brown eyes that just make you melt!

Earlier that day I had visited Natasha Gallisot, a French woman who started an NGO in Bikaner and runs an orphanage in Bikaner for children abandoned by their parents. She has 15 children in all, aged from 5 to 12 years old. She is a very active, very dedicated woman who is involved in many local projects that she has initiated, including a bird hospital, recyling plastic and a knitting group where several local woman come to the headquarters of her association (which is also her house!) to knit every morning. The articles are then sold to tourists and profits go to help run the orphanage.

Natasha was so friendly and helpful and I met her at the right time when I was feeling a bit blue and more than a little fed up with life in India; she became an instant friend, invited me to dinner, made me my first real expresso since I came here, and even to stay at her place. So the next morning I checked out of my hotel and had breakfast with her. She also arranged for a camel safari: a whole day on camelback into the desert with a guide and a camel driver. I felt like a queen!