India - October 2004

India – October 2004

After the journey from hell (lovely Indian gentleman sitting behind me decided to make his presence felt by kicking and punching my chair and then thought to really make an impact......played footsie with me for 8 hrs!)

Arrived in Delhi to a torrential downpour and an accompanying sheet and fork lightening storm - pretty impressive, best one I'd seen for ages.

Got out of the airport and came upon one of those postcard moments - hundreds of people, traffic chaos and in the middle of them all 2 cows going about their business as if we humans were a mere inconvenience. Welcome to India!

Now the stories you hear about driving in India are all TRUE - I should have written a will before I came out. They are mad, mad, mad - all works on a system of horns and who dares wins - white knuckle ride all the way.

Got to the hotel, which I am happy to report was clean - in the middle of the Taj Ganj backpacker area - few eye-openers let me tell you!

Day 2 brought a day of sightseeing - did all the major places, India Gate, Humayan Tomb, Bahrai temple, Lukshmi (?) temple, Connaught Place and a few others I can't quite remember the names off. Had a tuk tuk driver for the whole day which cost a princely sum of about £3 - think we were ripped off..........he brought us around the major sights with a few obligatory stops in these ‘really good shops’ that he knew. Basically they get paid commission by the owners if you buy anything, general rule of thumb is that these shops are only for tourists and as such you will end up paying a fortune for something that you can get much cheaper elsewhere.

In the evening we went to a market/bazaar - it was a case of spot the foreigner, now I know how it feels! Place was absolutely mad let me tell you - stuck to my resolve and came away empty handed. Anyway home to bed - early start the next day. We had decided to the next bit in style.....we hired a car with driver for the next 2 days to take us to Agra and then on to Jaipur. We left Delhi at 7.00 for Agra. Got there at 1.00 and then went to see the Taj Mahal - it's huge and the guidebooks are right, there really is a bit of an optical illusion going on. Only bad thing is that foreigners have to pay 750 rupees (about £10) while the locals pay 20 (25p). My mate Lena being of Indian origin played the old Indian card and scammed her way in for 20 - this is getting to be a regular occurrence and is leaving me much poorer!

Also went to Agra Fort (be prepared for very persistant ‘guides’) and Akbars Tomb - both equally impressive. Touts are incorrigible, as are the beggars but I guess we just had to get used to it. Off to bed now - along with the lizard/gecko who calls our room his own (don't mind.... apparently they keep the mozzies at bay).

Next stop Jaipur - made it safely with a few stops on the way, total driving time was approx 4 hrs - passing some really lush farmland on the way. Went to one of the National Parks that apparently has the biggest protected bird sanctuary in the country - I say apparently as we saw about 5. We also saw 2 deer and 2 of those deer type things with black and white bums (having a forgetful moment). Also stopped of at Falekpur Singh (?) - a big old city with massive walls.

After settling ourselves into a rather nice hotel – Hotel Atithi which cost us 500 Rs a night so around £6 (hot water and clean sheets - whahey!!) we went about what girls do best......shopping. The shopping is fantastic – lots of little shops lining the streets with the staff out on the pavements trying to entice you in. Bit of advice – haggle and haggle hard, you’ll be surprised how much the initial price will come down. If textiles or shoes/flip flops are your thing then Jaipur is the city for you! The colours of the saris are much more vibrant here - Rajastan is renowned the world over for its textiles and its not difficult to see why.

Several hours and a touch of sunstroke later………well what’s a girl to do when she worn out from shopping? Well the only thing that is right and proper of course - go and have a beer or ten (not really mum - I've only ever managed 9.....). So sat ourselves down and struck up a conversation with a charming young man by the name of Sandeep who liked talking to tourists as his 'hobby'. All very innocent we thought until he invited us back to his place for a private party! Apparently he had a very big sound system.......Lena was willing but I was very tired and decided to call it a night. The waiter wasn't happy that he was talking to 2 unaccompanied women and chucked him out - bless him! You should know that women out drinking on their own without male companions are frowned upon – something to do with loose morals apparently. We headed shortly afterwards – the stares were getting a bit much!

The next day sightseeing was on the agenda after a nice little lie in. Sorted ourselves out a driver to take us around the major sites - the most impressive was Amber Fort which lies on top of a mountain - the place is huge and very medieval - it is also home to the largest cannon in the world and 2 of the largest pots in the world (me thinks the bloke who ran the place was maybe a little underdeveloped in other areas.......think about it - 2 large round things and one long thing!)

Went to a couple of other temples and forts - am quickly getting sick of them let me tell you!

Jaipur is much nicer than Delhi or Agra - the pollution isn't quite as bad and there isn't an overwhelming smell of rotting rubbish. There are loads of cows around, camels doing the donkey work, a few elephants around to take the tourists up to the Fort, lots of stray dogs and weirdly a lot of pigs. It also seems much more chilled out although saying that it was still hectic compared to life in London!

There are the same problems with poverty as there are in Delhi and Agra - thousands sleeping on the streets & lots of children but on the whole a great city.

More in the next installment.