25 Hours to Pune!

Time to leave Delhi and head on down to Pune. I managed to get a berth on the the Sleeper train to Pune; The Goa Express. Two guesses where it goes to. Ruby (our Tour Leader) sorted an Auto to get me to the Station which was on the far side of town and it took me a good 40 minutes to get over there, however I was in good time and found my seat and on the train. Packed as usual with loads of people seeing each other off and saying their goodbye's I managed to squeeze my bags under my seat and was about to settle in for the long haul when a young girl came to ask me if I would swap seats. Not sure why, and fearing I was being fleeced for my seat I was a little reticent. Then a man nearby explained that she wanted to swap as her husband was in a berth further down the carriage and she wanted to swap to be with him. It turns out that this is standard practice and nearly half the train was playing musical chairs to be with friends or relatives. (Just because you book at the same time doesn't guarantee you'll be sat next to each other on Indian Rail it seems. So I dragged out my bags and fought my way down to the seat at the end. Whilst getting down there another couple were pleading with a Frenchman to do the same when was even more confused as he spoke very little English never mind Hindi, so I did my good turn for the day and translated from Hinglish to French and and back again, and It seemed to work, all were very happy and with the Franco-Indian issue resolved I strapped my bags in and set in for the night ahead. Luckily I had bought some sandwiches along with me so this solved tea time only breakfast and lunch to brave from the 'Pantry Car'. Indian Trains whilst basic in build are quite up to date and have a power socket in each compartment so I was able to play on my laptop most of the night to while away the hours. The train may be designated an Express but it only trundles along at about 70mph and seemed to stop about every 2 hours or so. I slept a little through the night, the trains rock around quite a lot and jolt suddenly every now and again but not too badly.
Morning came and I only really fancied the Chai tea that was brought around every 10minutes by the Pantry Staff, and only 5 Rupees a cup not bad value too. By 11 ish the chap came around asking for Lunch orders and I opted for the Veg Biryani which arrived in a takeaway Tray just like from the Indian back home abate with the words Meals-on-Wheels emblazoned across the lid, were they trying to tell me something?
As usual it is quite in order to just walk to the end of the carriage and ope the door to see whats going on outside even whilst the train is in motion, there are no automatic locks.
the temperature change was now noticeable and also the landscape, it was still generally flat land as far as the eye could see with the occasional hill popping out in the distance but the colour of the landscape had changed from a generally dustiness to darker soil and lots of greenery with fields growing mostly sugar cane. At one crossing a line of nearly 30 ox carts were waiting for the train to pass at a level crossing and the fields were full of people working the land.
Finally the train pulled into Pune and I called at the ATM and them took an Auto out to Sangam.

Pushkar to Delhi

As we were not getting our Train back to Delhi until 2:30 there was a little time left for shopping and food in Pushkar and a little lunch. Then we took a jeep and Ambassador car over the pass to Amjer to get the train back to Delhi. The terrain in this area is similar to Northern Spain, rugged read and orange rock. The train we are taking from here back to Delhi is an Day Express. On broading the train we found that the seating is arranged Airline style with 3 and 2 either side of the aisle. Within minutes of setting off the carradge attendant came round with a free litre bottle of water each then 30 mins later with afternoon tea , this set the trend for the rest of the journey we we force fed soup, drinks, and evening meal, and more drinks. Infact after every stop the attendant came around and dropped food or drinks infront of you - and this wasn't even 1st class! In some respects Virgin has a lot to live upto!
Back in Delhi we took cars back to the Hotel Swati where we had started from 15 days ago and dropped into bed shattered and full!

More Pics

I've uploaded a few more Pic's but the connection is fairly slow here and I don't have much time available for interneting!

Pushkar

In the morning we were allowed a late start 10am!! Although we had awoken earlier – first to the call to prayer at 5am then to our own alarm we had forgotten to turn off at 7am and finally at 8am to the sound of a cat been castrated – well that's what the 'music' sounded like. Apparently it was a party political address as local elections are taking place soon. Breakfast was again being served in the main hall and then we went out to meet the Jeeps to take us to Pushkar about a 2 hour drive on varying roads from good tarmac to sand to gravel. Before we left we had a walk around the grounds which had been transformed overnight of a wedding which was to take place that day. Over 1000 people we due to arrive to take part in the celebrations and a number had arrived already, food was being served and we were offered some of the sweet sugary toffee and a spicy ball people were eating, I declined it as it looked very rich and I though not a good idea just before 2 hours of bouncing around in a jeep.
We arrived a Pushkar around 12:30 and dropped our bags in the hotel in a single room before going out to explore the town. It seems to be a single street town packed full of traders and shops which cater to the tourist trade. Pushkar exists because of the 'lake' on which it sits which is considered to be on of the most holy places in India, there is less of a begging culture here which is nice but this is the first place we have seen so many western tourists especially a large number of Israeli visitors with many signs in Hebrew, Hindi and English. On the road into the town from the hotel we passed the Jewish House which had an Army emplacement with guns behind sandbags around it. I assume an unfortunate result of the Mumbai Bombings last year. After a visit to the only ATM in town we split up and a couple of us went for Lunch in a roof top restaurant then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Camel Ride.
We left our main bags at the hotel and just took a day sack out to the front to meet our steeds for the night; 7 camels, one of which pulled a cart for our bags. We climbed aboard and set off through the town and down past the 'lake'. Because of the shortage of rains over the last couple of years the lake is actually a small pond at the bottom of a large bowel and did not resemble anything too great but is revered by many. On through the town and my camel (Johny) decided he needed a drink before we continued and stopped at one of the many water troughs around the town. 3 times the guy tried to move him on but the camel stayed to drink his fill. This now meant we had to catch up with the others so he set off at a quick trot up the main drag me bouncing around on the top at the same time trying to duck under the various wires, ropes and sheets covering the main street. Finally we left to town and headed out over open land which was littered with rubbish, this area was the land used by the Pushkar Camel Fair which we had missed by about a couple of weeks (apparently a good job as prices go up 10 fold for everything!). We carried on for another half a mile or so then stopped for chai and biscuits (brought by a man on a motorbike) Then continued through onto an open plain to watch the sunset. Off again for about another 40 minutes and we stopped at our 'camp' 4 over sized Niger tents had been erected complete with beds, although that was it; it seems we had beat the tractor that was bringing the bedding, sheets and toilet tent, eventually they came and a fire was lit and we waited for dinner, and waited, and waited, after what seemed like ages and as it got colder and colder, very cold! the food finally arrived – apparently the truck got stuck in the sand. So after eating the meal we all retired to bed at 8, there was little wood left and the cold was biting. I slept ok – I had my Sleeping blanket and a thick blanket they provided and we were up at about 7.45. A quick breakfast of toast jam, chai and fruit and we remounted the camels for the ride back to the hotel, which is where we are staying the night before returning to Delhi tomorrow.

Roopangarh Fort, Kishangarh

This morning we were up again early at around 7 to pack and travel over to Kishangarh. We took Auto's to the bus station and again took a local state bus for about 1.5hours south of Jaipur where we got off the bus and awaited jeeps. The main highways are in general good (during the day!) although the imposition of a contraflow section did not stop the bus driver from cutting through the cones to overtake a line of trucks, against the flow of oncoming vehicles, hmm.
The landscape is very flat and dusty with scrub and fields disappearing to the horizon. The place where we caught the jeeps from is also the heart of the marble trading area and along the roads there were hundreds of marble wholesalers. If it wasn't for the fact they all only sold marble it was like being in a huge Travis Perkins. Many of the men out here wear bright colourful turbans and these are worn with pride by the men here. The jeeps that took us out to the fort were reminiscent of American ones although they are made by Mahindra, the rear seats are higher than the front two and they bounce along at a fair pace on the dusty roads. Suddenly out of the haze I spotted the fort above a small town. As we drove in the roads got smaller and narrower with the usual chaotic Indian life going on. Men sat out side stalls selling chai, women and small children buying provisions and pigs roaming free in the alleys. After a couple of three point turns in the tight lanes we entered to fort gates and climbed out. Porters appeared from nowhere to carry our bags and we walked up the slope to a small courtyard where we were presented with garlands of flowers and rose petals were thrown over us. We entered into the main building and Ruby went to collect the keys and sort our rooms and we sat on splendid couches and drank cool drinks. The fort is the home of the local Maharajah and like many of their palaces it has now been converted to a hotel. There are 23 rooms each with its own style and design, some are small and have only a single bed others are huge rooms maybe 30ft square. climbing the outside stairs we were taken to our room passing through a grand main hall beautifully adorned with pictures of the Maharajah, his family and ancestors. high around the walls was a ladies gallery where previously the women would have watched the proceedings of the day. Passing though here we went out onto a huge veranda complete with a full size tennis court and steps leading up to the ruins of the original Fort. eventually we entered our room which was huge, the two single beds and couch seemed lost with in it. Leaving our bags we returned to the main area to find the others and see their rooms, only to find Greg and Michelle had an even bigger room complete with a window seat over looking the town. Jo and Jackie had a room on a lower level but was equally as big complete with a large rocking crib and massive balcony. One of the staff then took us to see 'The Queen's Room' which apparently Sting had used in the past, this was amazing, a large open room complete with side rooms and a gallery to go out onto a private balcony and the longest bathroom ever, the toilet was nearly 40ft from the bath! We took lunch on the veranda in the shade of pakhoras, fries, toasted sandwiches and chai tea and then took a tour of the whole Fort including the secret passage entrances, underground water chambers and many of the bedrooms each with its own style of decoration. This truly is the most memorable hotel/palace/place I have stayed in.
After a short rest we ventured out into the local village with a local guide. He took us down what he referred to as 'The High Street'; a long narrow lane with the usual shops selling every thing from corrugated sheet to foodstuffs to silverware and barber shops. Amongst the shops we were shown ladies making the bangles found throughout India from a form of clay they coloured and heated over a charcoal fire then rolled and formed into bangles with simple wooden rollers.
The children were starting to come home from school and we started to get mobbed by them everywhere we went “hello how are you, one photo!” they would all call and pester. This continued throughout the walk around the village and they were lovely and cheeky with it but it was nice not to pestered like you get in the cities where all they do is demand money.
Moving on down we say the local cooperative oil mills where the villagers can bring their mustard and sesame seeds to crush for the oils. We then left the High Street and turned onto a small dusty lane to see how the rest of the village lived, every where we went people came out to greet us and they were genuinely please to meet us and asked us to come into their homes and yards. We say ladies sewing fabrics, men making clay pots, a lady making beedies (the traditional cigarettes here that are formed from tobacco rolled into a single leaf and tied with a small piece of cotton – for the record I had to try one (when in Rome...) and they weren't too bad – from there we walked to a small drinks stall and this is where we really got mobbed by the kids. arranging them into a group for a photo took ages and more kept jumping in. Then when I bent down to show them the picture they were all over me fighting to see it. The lovely thing is they were genuinely happy and you did not feel wary of them. Our guide then walked us around to a small cottage factory where they were making braids and necklaces. One lady was using a tiny drill bit mounted in a huge upright drill to make holes in tiny stones by hand using her finger to feel when the drill bit had passed through the stone. In another room a woman was tending to 4 powered weaving looms producing braiding with silver and gold and black coloured cottons. This strangely reminded me of a time at school when we did a project on the weaving industry of Lancashire. After this we walked on further and were taken to an artists house. This artist painted beautiful intricate pictures of Hindu gods, and scenes from ancient festivals and parades, the art work was extremely intricate and detailed, however what was unbelievable was the materials he used to paint on; old postcards & court documents from the 18 and 1900's. He also used silks and newer papers but he claimed that most people preferred them done on the old documents. He took us into a back windowless room which was stacked with piles of old court documents, locks, medical books, Vedic scripts, stamps and swords. Some of the scrolls and papers he claimed were over 300 years old. It was an incredible mini-museum to the written word in India. The court documents were mostly affidavits of land transfers and had ornate 'stamps' in green or blue at the top detailing the issuing court and the price; Three Anna's. Anna's were are an old monetary value with 1 Anna =6.25 Paise, 100 Paise= 1Rupee; a bit like Pounds ,Shillings and Pence but they are not now in circulation and rarely are the Paise seen, and considering one Pound is now worth about 67 Rupees worth very little!
Finally we returned to the Fort and took some pictures of the sunset over the town, the Tennis court had been laid out with chairs around huge wok like burners with log fires sat in them and we sipped a few cold beers and chatted to other guest there. ruby our guide had arranged for us to 'be dressed for dinner' and we took it in turns to go to our rooms to be dressed up in typical Rajasthani Coultar, Pyjamas and turban whilst the ladies were fitted out in Saree's. Dinner was served in the main hall of the Palace, I felt rather odd with our table all dressed up and the rest of the other 30 or so hotel guests in western clothes looking on at us.

Picures Uploaded!

I've stared to upload some pictures but it's taking ages so here's some for starters.
If your reading this from the actual blog (and not on Facebook!) then you can return to them from the Flickr link on the right of the page.

Jaipur

Today we took the bus from Agra to Jaipur. This was the 'state' bus service and although it was a little tatty the run was very good - and the roads are a lot safer during the day. The bus advertised that it was A/C but the actually meant you just open the windows!.
Travelling out of Agra we passed over the plains of Utter Pradesh and into Rajestan however it wasn't until the last couple of miles that we started to climb up to Jaipur. It definitely feels cooler up here.
We checked into a Guesthouse which is really good - its a bit out of the town centre so is quiet which is nice and a good Internet connection so I'm trying to upload a load of photos as I type this!
After lunch at a nice restaurant in town we took cyclo-rickshaws into 'the Pink City' - this is the oldest part of the town and is quite literally all painted a dirty pink colour. It is massive, an endless maze of shops selling everything under the sun and more, major thoroughfares cross through it but there are hundreds of mall lanes and alleys which are teaming with people. Not been a shopaholic, myself and Jared wandered the streets just taking in the sights. Down one small lane we found a small opening in a wall through it sat on the floor were 3 or 4 men bent over tiny grinding wheels where they were shaping semi-precious stones for I assume wholesaling to jewelers. When they tried to flog us a small speck of what looked like a blue pebble for 1000Rs. we decided it was best not to take photos and left. Eventually we made our way back to the point where we had been dropped off so we decided to take an Auto-rickshaw back to hotel. This took nearly 30 Min's and was deafening with every man and his dog super glued to their flipping horns!

Agra

After a couple of hours of well needed rest our day in Agra began with lunch in a restaurant which was run by a Finnish lady who had moved out to Agra. The restaurant was used to raise profits for an NGO she runs helping local people. The food was really good – and they served beer in large coffee mugs. Then we took a 'magic bus' (7seater minibus) to The Red Fort. This was a beautiful fort build by a Mogul king and is now still used by the Indian army so only 20% is on public display. The carvings and stonework within is extraordinary and we had a Guide who explained all about the Muslim King and his Hindu Wife. He wanted to bring all the Religions together so the carvings around the fort reflect all different faiths combined. Unfortunately many previous visitors to the fort thought it fit to scribe their names on the walls and it really detracted from the place – a real shame. The guide we had told us many things about the fort and it's occupants – mostly date after date after date, so I really couldn't tell you much more on the history – go read up on it! After this we took our Magic bus around to the Taj Mahal, our ticket to the Fort entitled us to entry on the same day. The Taj is stunning an it really does take your breath away, How the stone stays so white and clean in a ll the smog and with all the people is incredible. We arrived at around 4pm and stayed till just before dust. With the ticket we got a free bottle of water and shoe covers to wear when on the 'second level' This is where the mausoleum is and to be honest it's not worth joining the 2nd queue to go in to it, It is dark, the tombs are surrounded by a 6ft high lattice fence and you cannot take photos however it is worth going up to take some snaps from outside. Finally tired out we headed out to a small hotel where our guide was waiting with all our bags (you can take very little into the Taj with you) Our evening meal was at a very good Indian/Chinese restaurant in town. The food was excellent, however I did leave my bag and have to get our mini bus to stop whilst I ran back for it, The good side to it was we got to see a Wedding procession complete with horse drawn carriage, a band, dancers and torches parade down a road (so everyone wasn't to bothered!) I'm writing this on the State Bus to Jaipur not a bad bus and the good thing is you can't see where you are going AND its daylight the roads are much safer!

NH2 - The road of Hell!

We took rickshaws to the railway station in Varanasi however on arrival we found we only had 4 seats reserved for the trip to Agra, Ruby the tour leader was unable to obtain any others from the guard so she oped for Plan B – this involved cancelling all the train tickets and getting a car for the journey. Initially this sounded ok but on arrival the vehicle could only take bags for 4 people and just seat 7 so we insisted on a second one and we ended up 4 in one and 3 in the other. All seemed ok at this point as we set off into the night for the 12hr drive. The National Highway 2 connects Varanasi and Agra and is for the most part a well made dual carriageway road. However Indian driving standards are somewhat crap not to put a too finer point on it. I think the final count was over 350miles was at least 8 crashed lorries (one of which still had bodies in), 4 over-turned trailers, 1 burnt out rickshaw, 1 car on its roof (lights still on and the wheels spinning – but we didn't see it go over) and for the last 100 miles or so, thick fog with 50yds visibility; not that that stopped our driver tailgating the one in front by about 10ft at 50mph.I had to keep talking at him to keep him awake. I spoke at him 'cos he didn't speak English apart from 'Okay' and a thumbs up. I'll swear he fell asleep at the wheel a couple of times – I think I dozed for about 1 hour. Finally we arrived in Agra and even though the ladies in the front car had a map with the location of the hotel the driver refused to listen to them and drove around and around the town until he found the hotel. Once here we're having breakfast and re-living the journey and counting our blessings. If you ever come to India avoid at all costs a night road trip on NH2 – The road of Hell!!!

Viranasi

Varanasi is a largish town on the banks of the Ganges and is considered to be one of the most holy places in the Hindu Religion. The town in located only on side of the river and is said to be one of the oldest cities in the world. We landed on the Ghats which are the stepped banks of the Ganges and waked about 500 yds up in to the town to the Hotel. Here we showered and changed before going for a walk down the Ghats to see life at the waters edge. People come here to bathe and wash in the waters and also to die. In the Hindu faith if you are cremated on the banks of the Ganges you are released to Nirvana, so there are two areas known as 'the burning ghats' where people are cremated on wooden pyres 24 hours a day. the ashes are then washed into the River. A fire has been burning here for thousands of years and never goes out as it is used as the source for lighting each of the pyres. It was rather strange to stand and watch the cremations which are constantly being started one after the other and never stop. Later we left and took cyclo-rickshaws up to the heart of the old city where tiny ginnels and alleys intersect and cross full of shops and stalls selling every thing from cheeses to bangles to bike parts to bricks . In a small shop hidden away from the noise we were given a long introduction to the production of cloths linens and silks. This was all too much for me (clothes shopping arg!). Two hours went by whist the ladies of the group tried on various garments and arranged to have them sent on by post to the last hotel for collection (60GBP for a silk scarf – no thank you!). By this time we were well and truly goosed and need of food so we headed to a small restaurant hidden away down a small archway which served amazing Falafel olives and hummus with hot pitta breads all for about 2GBP with a drink!
The next morning we arose early 5am!! to go and see the morning rituals being performed at dawn on the river. To do this we took a small boat out and onto the river and sailed down to watch the people doing the dawn ritual of bathing in the river. As we set out in the dawn mist is resembled a scene from Harry Potter – hundreds of small rowing boats gliding along flat calm water into the mist with the huge temples and stone Ghats rising out the mist. Very eerie, however when we got to the the bathing areas it seemed there were more boats of onlookers than people bathing and I felt it was all a little voyeuristic. We left the boats and headed up into the town to find The Bread of Life Bakery – renowned in Varanasi as the bes breakfast in town and it was! We split up then as the rest of the day was free until later Greg and I headed out to find a Bar and had to take a rickshaw out to the far end of the town to one of the 5* hotels to get a drink. Very nice, very smart but so clinical and removed from the real city.
In the evening we took a boat ride down the river again to watch the evening ceremony which was much more interesting that the morning. On the way down we lit small candles and floated them down the river. at the ceremony priest performed a ritual that has not changed for over 2000 years and involves vadic chants and symbolism of the 5 elements; earth, wind, water, fire, and soil. The ceremony lasts for over 1 hour and is well worth seeing. On there return we were acompanied by a sitar and tabla duo who played traditional music as we sailed back up the ganges.

Mizapur to Viranasi

Finally we pulled into our destination station of Mirzapur where we had only 2 minutes to offload before the train would set off again with a loud blare of it's horn.
Our transport from here was a short ride in classic white Ambassador cars; this time with all the bags stuffed in the 2 boots but with the lids bouncing open as they could not close them. We stopped at a very nice little hotel and took 2 rooms here between us to shower and freshen up before we had a breakfast of tea, toast and omelette's. Back into the cars we took a short ride to our transport for the next two days – 3 25ft wooden sailing boats. One of the boats was the kitchen and the other 2 were to be our ours to lounge on. Each boat had 2 men to sail or row them and the cook boat had the chef, his assistant and 'the boss'. We were soon underway out in the middle of the Ganges, it is a wide low flowing river and initially we were able to use the wind to help us along. However after rounding a bend the boat men had to resort to rowing. In fact they had to row nearly half the 80 mile journey as there was either no wind or it was a head wind. After about 1 hour the 3 boats rafted up in the middle of the river and lunch was served, fresh sliced vegetables, rice and 3 different spiced vegetable dishes followed by chai tea. This was to become the standard for the rest of the main meals on the boats. The food was simple but really good – tasty and loads of it. We continued down the river watching the world go by, very peaceful and quiet especially after the noise and bustle of Delhi. Every now and again we would glimpse a fresh water dolphin come up for air. These dolphins are now quite rare and apparently are blind relying on echolocation to find their prey. Around 5pm we pulled into a sandbank at the side of the river and a campsite was setup, we were given chai and biscuits on a large rug whilst the crew erected the tents. (Oh if only Scout Camp were like this!) Dinner was served on the rug as just as the sun had gone down, so a Tilly lamp was hung from one of the oars to provide some light for us to see – using a head torch was suicide, as you were instantly bombarded by small moths which live on the sand banks., By 9 we had all gone to bed although sleeping in the heavy dark canvas tents was hard as it was so warm. (It wasn't until the second night we discovered air vents around the tents which improved things!)
Day 2 I gave up and got up at around 6 as it was too warm in the tent. Breakfast was served on the shore and was Tea, Toast, Jam and porridge. We cleared the camp and set off down the river again slowly watching the world go by, People fishing, Buffalo bathing, people washing cloths, children swimming and the occasional dolphin jumping out of the water. The heat started to build and we had to stay under the cover on the boat as it was just too hot to sit out in without burning. Initially we had wondered why we had 3 small boats instead of on larger one. We found the reason was the many floating pontoon bridges which span the river. These allow the bridges to rise and fall with water level in the river which can increase by at least 30 feet in the rainy season. to break the journey up (and allow us to str5ech our legs we left the boats at one point an walked up into a small village. Cows were being fed on the small streets and their dung collected to add to chaff then dried to make fire blocks. Children in spotless uniforms were going to school, a man was having his beard trimmed by a barber under a large tree. In the village we found a rundown cemetery from the British Raj era, large ornate columns and stones marked the graves of colonels and brigadiers and their families from a long forgotten era. Above the village there stood a large fort built in the Mogul times then used by the British and now used by the Indian Police as a training centre as such we could not visit it. After a quick cold drink at a small shop we rejoined our boats and continued down the river towards Varanasi.
The second night was spent on a sand bank in the middle of the river. This time with all the air vents open in the tents! I awoke around 6:30 to the gentle sound of rain on the tent – rain?!? RAIN!! yep even here it rains however it was only a light shower and had cleared in 10 minutes leaving pock-marks in the sand. Underway again we headed off downstream and finally had lunch on the boats before reaching Varanasi .

Leaving Delhi

We left the hotel this evening after having a very Indian meal at Pizza Hut – yes I know – but everyone fancied Pizza. After cramming 7 of us into 2 taxi's and piling bags on the roof rack and tying them on with apiece of sizal string somehow they made it to the Train station. We arrived there about 1 hour early and went to find our train.
It was huge over 25 carriages long so it took nearly 15 minutes to find our AC3 carriage. The we had to find our seats/bunks . Each carriage in AC3 seats 64 people. 3 facing 3 seats and also a row of bunks down one side which are 2 high. We managed to swap with a few people and got 4 of us together the other 3 were in the next carriage up. The bunks weren't too bad and surprisingly the train ride was very smooth. Early in the journey there were people constantly coming through with water and food from the Pantry Car. Amusingly the food was all labeled as 'Meals-on-Wheels'; not the same sort as we get back home though. Soon after, things quietened down as people bedded down for the night. Even though we were in an AC section (Air Conditioned) it was still warm and difficult to sleep. At around 5am we pulled in to a station and stayed there for ages, by this point I had given up trying to sleep and wandered down to the end of the train to watch out of the window, what surprised me was the door was still open and you could happily lean out of the door to see where we were hurtling along to.

Day in Delhi

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Spent today in Old Delhi, took the Metro to the old town and it was a little crammed in! But very clean and efficient.

First we visited the Jama Masjid Mosque in the centre of the old town, this massive building will accommodate 25,000 worshipers. We then wandered through the tight narrow streets of the old town where the buildings are so close above you the almost join 3 floors up. The we visited a Sikh Gurudwara (sorry forgot name) where they have a food kitchen which is open to all 24 hrs a day and is free. We were allowed to go into the kitchens to see the food been prepared in dixies the size I have never seen before over.
Next was a walk through the spice market which was frankly overpowering, the smell senses are now well and truly shot what with the smog and heat to boot. We all left sneezing.
We then took the Metro to Connaught Place, the centre of what was the British Raj India. Beautiful colonnade buildings are arranged in a circle around a central park with radial roads running off. We went to a restaurant here and had a Thalis meal for Rs.150 (about 2GBP) It comprised a fried bread, rice, and around 10 different small dishes of different curried vegetables and also a sweet dish and plain yogurt. Excellent value and damn tasty.
Some of us then tried to find a book shop nearby but failed so we took an auto-rickshaw to India Gate and ended up having more pics taken of us than we took of the monument! Finally back to the hotel where we check out tonight.
We're taking an overnight train to the east. and then will pick up some river boats for two days on the Ganges River down to Varanasi, so there may not be another post for a few days.

Google Latitude

:( for some reason I can't update the Google Latitude map from here, but believe me, I am in Delhi not Hounslow as the map shows!
(Fixed Now!) Mike

Arrived in Delhi

Well I've arrived in Delhi OK. But can't check-in to the hotel for another hour (9am) so killing time using the free internet access.
Hotel looks nice and clean with friendly staff, and they brought me a cup of chai (tea) which was nice.

It's warm, 20+deg at 5:30 when the plane landed, and the usual Indian city smog. Not seen much on the way in as it was still dark when we landed and the sun only came up about an hour ago.

The BA flight was good but I defiantly got spoilt on previous long haul flights. 'Tis a little cramped in coach :(.

Delhi Airport is typical of an Indian Airport - organised chaos. A 'health check' is done on arrival which involves filling out a form - that's it. Then you have to wait ages for the bags to come through.

I did as the guide book suggested and got a pre-paid taxi voucher from the Police control booth. 250Rs. (3.25GBP) Driver didn't know the hotel exactly so we drove around and around for a bit till he found the Hotel. I think he was gunning for an 'additional payment' but I stuck to my guns and insisted that the trip was pre-payed and it worked. 3.25 for a 40min drive is not bad.

Just need to get my head down for a bit and go to to the local ATM for cash . The Tour meeting isn't till 6pm local so got some time to relax.

The Beginning

Well I've managed to get to the Departure Lounge at Heathrow ok. The drive down was uneventful apart from a detour to Volvo Oxford as the onboard computer threw a wobbler at Norton Canes Services and stopped working - No radio 4 - my Dad couldn't cope any further. Anyway all we had to do was turn the engine off for 5mins and all's well again.
Stayed overnight at the Premier Inn Heathrow, Excellent place, Very good staff, big rooms, Good food. However £3.45 a pint!
Travel Tip1; book the Meal Deal £20 for 2course Meal + Drink and all you can eat Breakfast.
Travel Tip2; go out the front doors and get the local bus to the airport it's Free (go out the back and you pay £4 for the Airport Hotel Hoppa!)

Off to board the plane...

Where would you rather be?

Let's See

Manchester Saturday: light showers, Max Temp: 9°C (48°F), Min Temp: 2°C (36°F)

New Delhi Saturday: sunny, Max Temp: 31°C (88°F), Min Temp: 15°C (59°F)

Where would you rather be?