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?"