Merry Christmas

Hadn't planned on posting again but I was just looking through the India pictures and was overwhelmed by how beautiful it looks. I'm not sure if I really appreciated (or was able to appreciate) this at the time, due to the negative aspects (the dirt, the poverty, the hassle, the noise etc). Not wanting to put anyone off visiting - quite the contrary in fact - it's just that India's beauty was not the thing that stood out for me and made it the incredible experience that it was. Perhaps it will appear differently the next time I visit.

Incidentally, for anyone considering a similar trip, I urge you not to hesitate. Having said that, I have learned one important thing: when I left England I thought I hated living here and wanted to move abroad....now I realise I was completely wrong - the truth is, I bloody love England and if I were to move away (which I may do), it would be with the intention of returning home soon. There is nowhere quite like England in the world (indeed, most of the countries I have visited spend much of their time trying to imitate it's uniqueness). I suspect our grass is the greenest....

Merry Christmas....enjoy the rain (I know I will).

Delhi Airport

India has given us the parting gift of a smooth, timely ride to the airport, quick and painless check in and an on-schedule flight. Upon seeing how long we've been away from home, the lady at the check in desk took pity on us and gave us an invitation to the BA Executive Lounge, which has, in addition to the free food and drinks, complementary Internet access. It's with confused emotions that we leave India...excited to be going home (especially at Christmas time), but sad that our trip is coming to an end. We look forward to planning the next one.

Delhi

We're in Delhi. The hotel room is small, dark, cold and expensive...but clean(ish) which makes it one of the better places to stay in the Pahar Ganj area of Delhi. Despite several emails and a phone call to confirm, our hotel could find no record of our booking and would not believe we had one until we printed out their email responses. Still, the shouting's over and we're all friends now (as is the Indian way). The main bazaar in Pahar Ganj is reminiscent of Khao San road in Bangkok, albeit much filthier. Hassle is fairly constant from touts, shop keepers, drug dealers, rickshaw drivers and beggars, but we are fairly good at deflecting them by now. We actually quite like Delhi - Connaught Place in the centre of New Delhi is a lovely, spacious, modern, clean, grassy area to sit in the sunshine and watch the world go by. There's loads of great shops with bargains galore and equally good restaurants and bars nearby. Old Delhi is perhaps the area that earns the capital city its terrible reputation for overcrowding and squalor, with an obscene amount of people, rickshaws, taxis, motor bikes and cyclists it provides an extreme example of India.

One week to go....

...and I really can't believe it. I can barely remember what it's like to be at home, going about normal daily life. Pushkar has changed a little since we were here a month ago; more shops crammed into the main bazaar and more baggy-trousered, bleary-eyed Israelis than you can shake a stick at. Although Rajasthan in general is slowly emptying, with all the foreigners heading south to Goa for winter sun and Christmas fun. Despite its reputation as the arsehole of the world, we're being brave and spending four whole days in Delhi (and actually quite looking forward to it too!). We're also looking forward to getting on that BA flight and enjoying Hollywood movies and cheap, European wine.

Bundi Pics

We met up with a friend from Mount Abu in Bundi and generally spent a few days sitting in the midday sun and then freezing in the evening breeze. Bundi is a pleasant, quiet little town but after a few days it became clear that it did not have enough to offer to keep us there until we are due in Delhi. Consequently we jumped on an early morning bus back to Pushkar.

Bundi

We're in the small town of Bundi after a couple of days Christmas shopping in Jaipur. India seems to be a bit lame on the shopping front in general - most "arts and crafts" are not of the highest standard and it can be difficult to picture things out of the context of an Indian bazaar (i.e. sat in on a mantle piece in an English lounge, next to a carriage clock), so I hope our relatives will not be too disappointed ;o) Bundi is a pleasant place, comprised of lakes, old havelis and crumbling palaces, and is where Rudyard Kipling wrote much of the novel Kim. The journey here was a little laboured and multi-staged, leaving us pretty pissed off by the end. But we're here now and it's pretty chilled - I guess we'll stay for a few days. No broadband once again.

Two weeks to go...

...and I can't believe it. India has been just fascinating - a land of such incredible contrasts. Each morning I don't know if, by the evening, I'm going to end up loving or hating India (usually a bit of both). I think it's this that makes it such a fascinating place.

Had a typically Indian experience at the restaurant last night...

ME: "Can I have some gulab jamon (an Indian sweet) and vanilla ice cream please?"
WAITER: [Big smile] "Sorry sir, is no possible."
ME: "It's not possible to have gulab jamon and vanilla ice cream?"
WAITER: "No sir."
ME: "Do you have gulab jamon?"
WAITER: "Yes."
ME: "Do you have vanilla ice cream?"
WAITER: "Yes.'
ME: "Then I'd like some gulab jamon and some vanilla ice cream."
WAITER: [Big smile] "Sorry sir, is no possible."
ME: "Ok, just vanilla ice cream then."
WAITER: "Yes sir, anything else?"

Jaisalmer & the Thar Desert

At the advice of the experienced we chose a short camel safari; two days and one night. This involved an hours jeep ride out into the desert, a day trekking on the camel, a night under the stars and then a second day trekking. Despite a camel being the most incredibly uncomfortable thing I've ever sat on and the night getting pretty chilly by the small hours, we really, really enjoyed it. The first day we were in a group of 9, and it was good to have other people to sit round the camp fire with, drinking beer cooled in the "desert fridge" (wrapped in a wet cloth and placed in the cold evening breeze). Second day was just the two of us and the camel driver, Raju, and was equally enjoyable. The camel drivers were great bunch of guys and really made the experience. They knock up some tasty food armed with little more than a few pans, a bag of veg and a box of matches. Despite none of them having spent even a single day at school, they spoke better English than most of Indians we have met (all learned at "Camel College").

We stayed our final night in Jaisalmer in a hotel inside the fort as it turns out the sinking fort issue is a little more complicated and political than we first realised and we felt the need to support the local fort businesses. The local government is being given thousands to repair the fort by international charities but local business owners claim little or none of it is being used for its intended purpose. Now, the government (with the Lonely Planet onside) has all but destroyed the businesses in the fort by urging tourists to boycott them. Whilst it's impossible to know the truth, we decided to give the fort business owners the benefit of the doubt for one night at least. For Emma's birthday we ate in one of the nicest restaurants we have seen in India called Little Italy. We are now back in Jaipur having just arrived by night train.

Jaisalmer

We thundered through the desert in a dilapidated bus to the sleepy fort town of Jaisalmer. It's just 100 kilometres from Pakistan here and right on the edge of the Great Thar Desert. It's customary to go trekking in the desert on a camel and spend a night under the stars so I guess we'll be doing that at some point. Although there are many hotels in the fort itself, the government urges tourists to avoid them and to stay in the adjacent town as the whole fort is slowly sinking under its own weight. We got a good price on a room after much umming and ahhing (3 quid a night!) and are looking forward to spending a few days here, which will include Emma's birthday. No broadband = no piccies.

Jodhpur

We hurtled across Rajasthan in a bus bound for Jodhpur. It was hard to leave Mount Abu.  We tried to move the bus we had booked for a third time but this time they weren't having any of it. We spent the last couple of days doing much the same: eating great thalis, trekking in the mountains and drinking with our new friends. All in all a great time was had.

Jodhpur is a thoroughly likable city with many of its buildings painted bright blue, giving it a unique, blue-washed look. We're staying in a beautiful, 400 year old Haveli in the (quieter) old city. The fort here is excellent, with awesome views of the city and a superb audio tour (and this is definitely a rarity in India!). We plan to spend a few days here before heading up to Jaisalmer, on the edge of the Thar Desert.

Mount Abu Pics

Still in Mount Abu

Basically, we bloody love Mount Abu so we're still here. We do a half day trek every day in the woods with the local guide who leads parties out in the morning and evening. It's just fantastic that a place like this exists in the middle of Rajasthan which is known for being a very arid, flat, desert state. We've also met some great people here so spend the evenings eating great food and making merry. Tomorrow we're going to Jodhpur......probably.

Mount Abu

We took a bus to Mount Abu, Rajasthan's only hill station (sitting at a mighty 1200m above sea level). It's fundamentally a holiday resort for Indian families and couples and feels strangely like I expect Blackpool would have felt in the 1950s, with pedalos on a big lake, ice cream vendors everywhere and shops selling tourist tat. Having said that, it's actually quite a nice place to be with loads of restaurants serving great all-you-can-eat Gujarati Thalis (we are only a stone's throw from Gujarat) and excellent walking in the hills. It definitely makes a refreshing change from the throngs of Western tourists in the other Rajasthani cities and towns. There's nothing approaching broadband Internet connections here so we won't be uploading any photos for a few days....apologies.

Udaipur

Udaipur is really pleasant town next to a big lake and surrounded by mountains. We've been here a few days and really like it. We're staying down by the lake in a great hotel called the Gangaur Palace. Due to some confusion and some expert bartering/walking away/game playing on our behalf, we managed to get a great room for half the price paid by it's previous occupant (I sneaked a look at the payments book). The hotel is a Haveli, which is a large building (usually 3 or 4 stories) with rooms built around a central, open courtyard. It's a beautiful old building with narrow stone staircases, big tall double doors and a nice restaurant on the roof. Part of the James Bond movie Octopussy was filmed in and around Udaipur, so many of the restaurants show it in the evenings (it's a classic). There's loads of great shops in Udaipur selling art, clothing, wall hangings and all sorts. We are having some clothes tailor made, which we are picking up this afternoon. You can get fairly good suits made for about 60 quid a pop (and have them sent home) which is very tempting. It's very touristy here so prices start ridiculously high and you have to barter ferociously and at length to get a good price.

Yesterday we had a cooking lesson with a local woman called Swati. It was a superb morning spent in her family home learning to make veg curry (the base sauce used for almost all curries), biryani, samosas and chapatis. Whilst we were cooking away, her mother (a Gujurati) kept cooking dish after dish and offering them to us to try. We sampled so many delicious foods, most of which we have not seen on any restaurant menus before or since. We really enjoyed ourselves and are so glad we chose Swati over the bigger (and more expensive), classroom style cooking "schools".

Pushkar

We're in Pushkar and it's Diwali, the festival of light, which turns out to be more accurately describable as the festival of noise, as young children spend 48 hours letting off bangers and fireworks in the street (mildly entertaining at first, but now just plain irritating). Pushkar is a great town though, with long alleyways filled with lots of interesting shops, surrounding a large lake in the centre. There is a temple topped mountain on either side of the town, both of which reward a long, sweaty walk with excellent views over the picturesque surrounding mountains, the town and it's lake. No alcohol, meat or eggs are allowed to be consumed in Pushkar so the restaurants have to get inventive (which some of them do very, very well). We were expecting Pushkar to be full of the bong smoking baggy trouser crowd but were surprised to find what a popular tourist destination it is.

Although we have definitely been through a low period recently (India can be hard work and slowly grinds you down), we are now really looking forward to seeing Rajasthan and Punjab and intend to make the most of our last few weeks in India.

Jaipur

The Agra to Jaipur train was only delayed by a mere 2 hours - reeeeesult. We shared our carriage with the Jaipur University Womens' Handball team who insisted on sitting 5 to a seat, which was a little annoying. Jaipur has loads of great shops so would probably appeal to the holiday maker, but as we are not shopping there is little to keep us here. We head straight off to Pushkar tomorrow morning.

Agra

Let's just say Agra's not the nicest place in India. Fortunately (and more by luck than judgement) we are staying away from the Taj Ganj area, which is full of lame restaurants, filthy guesthouses and persistent rickshaw drivers. Our accommodation is nice and the area is relatively hassle free with a few nice South Indian restaurants serving great Dosas. The Taj Mahal was mightily impressive, an architectural masterpiece that looks too perfect to be real even when you are stood right in front of it (shame about the ridiculous entrance fee). The Red Fort is also a very impressive sight, but, again, overpriced by Indian standards. Indeed, as we are now within a day trip of Delhi, many things are much more expensive than in the rest of India. This is mostly due to the sheer number of tourists that visit this area without any idea of the value of things in India. As a result the inflated price becomes the price and it's very difficult to negotiate a reasonable price. There's also an unbelievable amount of sellers and rickshaw drivers trying to extract money from you, which can be very tiresome. We are looking forward to heading into Rajasthan and should be in Pushkar (home of the famous camel fair) for the Hindu festival of Diwali.

Gwalior

Gwalior is a town roughly equidistant between Agra and Jhansi. Its only real claim to fame is its hill top fort that looms over the sprawling town. The fort is fairly impressive in size, housing a number of different palaces, temples and ruins and with incredible views of the town and surrounding area. Also to be found in Gwalior is the Jai Vilas Palace, home to the Maharajah. It's a massive building, built around a central courtyard and lawns. The rooms are enormously extravagant affairs, with some of the most hideous chandeliers I have ever seen, and, in true Indian style, lacking in cleanliness and any real effort at effective maintenance. Still, an interesting experience.

Due to various restraints we found ourselves in Gwalior for two nights and three days - definitely too long. Budget accommodation is not really Gwalior's strong point either, with a few run down looking places near the train station. We stayed in what we considered to be the best of the bunch, although the TV didn't work, there was no hot water and we shared the insanely filthy bathroom with a number of cockroaches. We're off to Agra this afternoon, home to the famous Taj Mahal.