India

India – October 2004

If you're sitting comfortably I'll begin.......

When i last reported we were in Jaipur about to head on to Udaipur, then to Ahmedmabad. Jumped on the sleeper for our first 12 hr journey which was fine - luckily we got a cabin to ourselves so no worries about getting our bags nicked - first class of course....well I am a classy bird as you know! Got to Udaipur and decided to go straight onto Ahmedmabad - this involved a 6 hr bus journey on a rickety old bus with a lovely bunch of people.......we stopped halfway for a refreshment break and loo stop - I don't mind telling you that I got good at holding it! The place was filthy! Squat toilets are very much the 'in' thing but not for the faint hearted.

Anyway I digress, got to A'bad and I can say without doubt that it was the hottest and dustiest place I've ever been in - must have lost a stone standing outside for about 5 mins, best diet I know, although perhaps not the best for one as fair skinned as my good self! Lena's cousin was expecting us at 3am but as we arrived a day earlier we had to make our own way to Nadiad (apparently Gandhi spent a lot of his time there - reading his autobiography as we travel about - that man was either a saint or slightly mad, haven't reached a conclusion as to which yet). After walking about aimlessly for an hour and getting about 10 different sets of directions and fast losing the will to live we finally found the right place to get the bus
- an hour and a set of fingernails later we arrived - alle bloody luyia! At this stage all I wanted was a hot shower, some food and a nice cold beer - the first 2 we managed however the third we did not! Gujarat is a dry state so no booze to be had anywhere!!!!

The town itself was perhaps the cleanest place we had yet experienced and had masses of cows! Lena's cousins were lovely people and had a great house - all marble & fans. Don't mind admitting that I was a little apprehensive about where we would be staying......but fears allayed we spent 2 nights chilling out with a little bit of shopping, reading, eating and entertaining the locals in between.

Next we boarded the sleeper train to Mumbai - Lena's cousin booked the ticket and neglected to mention until we were about to get on that we wouldn't be anywhere near each other and would in fact be sleeping with a bunch of strangers (no comments!). It was in fact fine - air conditioned and small sets of 8 bunks - slept very well.

Got into Mumbai at 7.30am and got into the first altercation of the journey - taxi man seeing that we were tourists tried to rip us off...we weren't having it and told him to go and take a running jump, he immediately halved the price but on a point of principle we removed ourselves and our bags from his car - about 10 mins later with about 6 blokes swarming aound us trying to get us to go back to this mans cab we found another willing to take us, few fisticuffs later between our new driver and the old one we were on our way. Apollo guesthouse was the destination - it's lovely........so lovely in fact that we are checking out first thing tomorrow into a new place.

We were a bit wrecked so a few hours sleep at our palace refreshed us just enough to get up and go and have have a look around. Anyway - as it was very hot we decided on another refreshing beer - only to find out as of 5 mins previous there was to be a 3 day ban on the sale of alcohol as there are elections on (suppose they want people to make sober choice), but foul play as far as I'm concerned - so far I'd only managed 4 beers since I got there!

Well I'm glad to say that situation resolved itself! Our friendly hotel man decided to sell us a couple of beers at an extortionate rate on the condition we drank them in our rooms - at this stage I was so grateful I would have drunk them in a locked cupboard! But don't go getting the wrong idea - I am not, repeat not an alco - just hadn't had a beer in nearly a week and it being so hot it was just what was required - couldn't drink the water after all....and you know what they say alcohol is germ free! Well that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it!

So anyway - our second day in Mumbai...we were going to go out to Elephanta Island (where there’s a temple dedicated to Krishna with 1500 yr old carvings) but ended up getting on a boat that only did a cruise out around the harbour and back to the dock - that will teach us going for the cheap seats! As the last boat went out at 2.30 we were too late to catch another
one so we resorted to doing more shopping (I swear I don't know where Lena gets the energy from). We were staying in the Colaba district so shopping consisted off handbags galore, saris, crap jewellery and any other tat you can think off - that said picked up a few bargains! That night still being a dry day back to the 'hotel' again for a couple of sneaky half’s and then out for dinner. There are a few really good, cheap restaurants that do indian food as well as chinese – made for a nice change.

Day 3 we made it out to Elephanta Island which was really good - just the break from the madness of the city that was required. Only 1 complaint - how many stairs up to the Caves? My creaky old knees were screaming loudly by the time we got up there and coming back down again. Lots of monkeys and the usual packs of dogs, the monkeys are a little agressive and it was amusing to see Lena get a little spooked anytime one came remotely close to
her (sorry, can't help myself laughing at others). The boat back was a bit rocky and ended up going up to the top deck to avoid being sprayed - not a bad spot to watch the sun setting, well as much as you can through the smog.

That evening (dry days finished - hurrah!) we made our way to the Taj Mahal hotel - supposedly one of the best 5 stars in the country, for a drink - well we had to didn't we! We ordered what we thought was a bottle of Pinot Grigio for a reasonable sum of 360 rupees (about 4 pounds) but later discovered that was the price per glass - so not so much different from London after all. However that place is opulent beyond belief - lots and lots of money
being thrown about.

Next day was a sight seeing tour of the city - I'd love to tell you where we went but I haven't a clue, again we opted for the cheap seats and ended up on a bus with loads of staring Indians and a guide who only spoke in Hindi - fabulous! Think the highlight for me - and one which really emphasises the difference between East and West, was the trip to the Science museum where the top exhibit area was where they had on display: laptops, plasma TV screens, microwaves, mobile phones and a washing machine!

Next day shopping in the vast bazaar area - never been glad to get out of anywhere so much in my life! The place was absolutely heaving, just managing to walk down one of the streets without being knocked over by 1) a fellow human being, 2) a cow, 3) a taxi, 4) one of the men pushing around huge carts, 5) a moped, 6) a bicycle, etc (think you get the picture) was
quite some feat let me tell you. Add to that the fact that it was bordering on 40 degrees and it's not somewhere you want to spend a lot of time! Sought sanctuary in a silver shop and parted company with some of my hard earned cash!

Next day it was off to Goa - joy of joys! The ride to the airport was quite interesting, brought us past the huge slum area, which although bad wasn't as horrendous as I had imagined. Very funny moment came when we stopped at a traffic light and a harijan (at least that's what I think they're called - basically a man dressed up as a woman) stuck his head in the window right beside Lena when she was least expecting it, resulting in a rather loud scream of fright and a 5 min laughing fit from me. Needless to say she declined his request for some paisas.

Arrived in Goa last Friday - our first port of call was a little fishing village we had heard of called Arambol - bit of the beaten track but just what was required after the hectic pace of the last 2 weeks. It's really quiet and had a community of hippies and others who came out for 6 months to experience the so called alternative way of life....I'll leave you to make up your minds what that might be, its easy to see why people who come out for a month end up staying for years. Needless to say it was really chilled out and our first evening there saw the most spectacular sunset I've seen in a long time.

Moved onto Calungate as we were meeting up with another friend and spent the rest of my time there before I had to head back to dreary, cold London. Managed to avoid getting toasted until my last day where a half hour in the water left me rather red - was hoping it might turn into a tan but yet again my pale Irish skin let me down! The most we paid for accommodation is £2.50 a night and that's between us - what a bargain, eh?

I had a great time and only wish I had another few months to explore some
more. Goa is really chilled out and the people are well friendly – also has absolutely delicious seafood. Go or regret it!

India is full of surprises – if you can get past the poverty and the locals staring you’ll love it – its just not like anywhere you have ever been before.

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.