We Landed in Delhion the 8th of March
The Journey was arduous but not quite as arduous as Delhi... To cut a long story short,
When we arrived, the taxi from the airport tried to say our hotel was closed/overbooked but claudia was very quick to take up on this scam.
we persisted and finally after much ''confusion'' we checked in safe and sound.
This was about midday on saturday and then at about 1.30 we were awoke by the 'goverment tour operator' to take us to book our trips... we declined the price of 540gbp for 2 weeks around rajasthan and was about to leave
then gave usa car for the day and to think about it...
we did this and thougt about it and still declined... they came down to just over 300gbp
(slightly over budjet but we plan to make this back in the south)
as it was a fairly good deal at that point we took it as it would be a good way to get the sights in of a large area while we got our bearings in india as to be truthful, we were both a bit shell shocked
when we arrived... literally it seems everyone wants to blag you somehow..
Anyway so Day 1 of tour (day 2 in india) we travelled to mandawa... which was ok but seemed like it was just a pre crser to the tour and again to
lead you aroundsome bazaars and try blag more cash out of you... seems like all the drivers work on comission too (literally trust no one)
the hotel was realy pretty tho and we got to see some of the real india.. camels, cows, beggers and shisters.
its really gut wrenching trying to ignore these young girls with baby's asking for money for food but you have to (too soft, me?)
we did give some pens away today but then they asked for money too!
Anyway Day 2 was much better - we got the baterries for the i station and returned the musical learnings favour to kishan the driver.
Don't think they have heard the Foo's or Queen (or Rage against the Machine for that matter) in the small village in the foothills
of the Hymalayas he is from... you know, put something back and all..
had my first wee in a desert too, which was pretty cool... when in rome
so sights, today we went the Rat Temple just south of Bikener whih is where Hindus beleive the spirits of holy men and gods are
reincarated as rats that all freely inhabit this nice yet pungent seat of worship... Claudia was a bit nervy but i was both calm and blessed (as one of the rats had a little sit (not shit) on my foot)
Then we went to the most amazing Palace/fort which was part of the wealth of the Marharaja of Bikner province until unification in 1949...
the fort was ages old though and took 349 years to complete... this was obviously before the days of MDF...
Just a shame the Maharaja's spent all the money of the province on western hotels and antiques that gather dust for tourists to look at where there is people starving in the towns.
this evening once we checked in we went for a stroll and stumbled accross a (indian pikey) fair with a big weel and pop (masala-spice flavour) corn sellers...
everyonestared at Claudia and more so her dreads and peole were taking photos of us and coming up to meet us, very amusing
Then we had tea ther for 2 and it was 30 rupees which is about 40p!!! so we aloud ourseves a Lassi for afters...
Day 3 - After the headdy hights of the Pikey fair we set off for to Kuri
which is a tiny village in the middle of the desert just 20km from the
Pakistan border.. and guess what... it rained... yes, RAINED! in the desert! in true me style kept trying to user the Joke 'you know us english always bring the weether with us' but not sure they really got it. Plus it was the 3rd time in 5 years it had done so so everyone was happy... this meant we could not camp in the desert as the wind and pos of rain was high.. however we had a 3 hr treck before
nightfall on camels and then we slept in huts and it was really
peaceful... met some nice argentinien girls too... we got up at 6
instead and headded back out on the camels in the dark for sunrise on
the dunes... too much cloud cover to see the sun but was amazing all the
same....
being english is still creating $$$ in the eyes of the traders so ino
have a wide range of well rehearsed accents!!!! we have pretended to be
french, spanish and argentinien to see if the hussle was any
different... had a conversation in french withone young indian chap in
Jaslimer which was slightly amusing... but have stuck to english for the
time being.. everyone knows the expression 'lovelly jubbely'' for some
reason... very del boy
Day 4 - Jaslimer - was very nice, went to see a big fort!!!! at night we sampled some local whiskey and ended up playing vollyball with the locals....
messed up 1 time too many and joinded claudia with a circus family having
their dinner on coals on waste lands.. bit of a language barrier there
but we felt this was more like it...
Day 5 Jodpuir- Is the blue city, which was a wonderful sight to behold and appearently (the blue paint) also acts as a fly repellant but im not sure how!!!!
here we met three fab irish girls and we drank and were merry!!! we again looked at a fort. it appears that many a raja spent alot of there money on english tat but also built a great feck off palace to provide employment for his people.
this was also the 1st place in ajasthan or Delhi we saw bins and any
form of sanitation and abundance of water...
we went to the local spice markets which are exquisit!!! the smells and
the colour!!! we went to a shop where lawerence lowellen-bowen went, no
wonder they have a distort impressession of english!!! the colour and
the freshness of the veg is to die for... and yes carrots are purple
claudia was not lying!!!!!!
Day 7 ranakpur- Really impressive Jain temple but more importantly, saw my first troup of monkeys as they pottered about the hotel grounds... it
was a really peaceful place and we were sad we just had 1 day there
Day 8 - udiapur- the home of octopussy!!! and yes they show it in almost every
bar/hotel/cafe etc at 7.30 every night of the year... Brill.. we sat by
the lake with the floating palace and watched it!!! they love it!!! Had
some good tea and german cakes too!!! went down to the ghats to watch
the people wash everything inc themseleves!!! its quite an experience as
there so dirty!!!! and so beautiful at the same time!!
Plus as i was wearing a shirt both days (different ones) everyone kept
trying to sell me suits! Its funny but all the indian men wear shirts and slacks... was thinking of getting some tie dye baggy pants but think im gonna opt for some brown polyester slacks instead - blend in and that.
Day 10 - Pushkar - This is a Very holy place (ghandi's ashes were scattered here) and it was amazing to just sit by the
ghats and watch the sun go down and have your own little religious
moment. Plus, its hippie heaven here - Claudia has found more dread heads than ever before in 1 town i think... also, she bought som poi so she is happy... looks like a lesson by the pool awaits tonight (fire spinning for those who are not familiar with Poi)- We were so happy here we changed it to 2 nights.
Day 12 - jaipour - We were a bit tired of how touristy the tour was at this stage and were just anxious to stay 1 place for a while and chill... Jaipour is the home to precious gem factories... we didnt see any as we were a bit tired of being haggled with for something we were not that interested in. We did see the forts tho which were interesting and saw our 1st indian McDonalds - claudia had her photo taken with Ronald Mcdonald!
Day 13 - Agra - Home of the 7th wonder of the world - The Taj Mahal.
Every bit as impressive as you would expect and then some. Claudia got her watch stolen tho from her belt loop so put a little sour note on the end. Agra itself I would equate to a massive marble shrine to love being built just off the Wicker... you get the idea.
plus this day (22.03) is Holi - A big indian festival where they throw paint at each other. Seems to also be an excuse for usually dry Hindu's to get smashed on whiskey and (the guys) to try to soak and fondle the girls... especially the white ones... I got involved a bit tho and got a multi couloured face paint...
We then left back for Delhi that night and our driver left us for the last time (we were quite glad by this point as although the tour was deffo a good idea, we were really ready to go it alone properly).
Went for a walk around the Karol Bagh Market in Delhi... somehow does not look as shocking, dirty or busy as it was 2 weeks previously... am really into the indian way a lot in some respects. We also met a really nice guy from Calcutta who moved to Delhi to work in travel - Tours of the UK. He was listening to ''the wall'' by the floyd on his mobile so we nodded respect. then ''nothing else matters'' by metalica came on and we were straight over... lovely guy.
Day 14 - Included in the price we paid was the Train to Varanassi so after a chilled day mooching in Delhi (well almost) we got the 18.30 express train to Varanassi. This was an experience that i enjoyed alot... felt like propper travelling, A sleeper carrage train journey. Felt like carry grant. Had a funny dream tho, dreampt i was on a boat ride on the seine drinking Champagne, then woke up with the train guard knocking my feet with his gun as he walked past... bizzare.
Day 15-19 - Varanassi - We arrived at 08.30hrs after a staggered nights sleep. We rang the guest house at the station and they came to get us. The shanti guest house, the rooms are a bit grubby but at Rs 100/ night / pax its all good (80rs=1pound) and just what the doctor ordered... Met some Danish Girls here, went for a boat ride on the Gangies, saw sun set, all the colours of the ghats, burning corpses and skulls of those who couldn't be burnt (Children, pregnant women, leppers and those who died of cobra bites)... Pretty intense stuff.
The next Day we met a really nice Canadian Girl (Kari) and two American Guys - Plus Andy Garcia (a lovely Brit from Norwich) Really good 24 hr restaurant on the roof of the guest house and a really good traveller hang out. Also good for getting ideas of where to go etc. Spent the day chilling and mooching and chatting and drinking Chai... love the chai masala.
Day 3 - Got up at 5 and took in sunset by boat again - amazing photos. Went to Sarnath after breakfast - the place where the 1st Budda Preached his 1st sermon... tried to read it all but the heat was umbearable on the stone slabs without shoes on... so kept running into the shade and out again to try to read but dont think i really got the full affect.
After a really good night sleep have got up today, had some museli and Chai, am doing the internet stuff now as we speak and then am sorting out a bus to the Khama Sutra temples in Khajoura (havent got the book with me so spelling probably not correct) setting off early tomorrow so another day of chilling and mooching is in order i think. there is a sitar concert tonight which we will try to find again tonight. Missed the dancing last night as no one knew where it was...
Miss you all tho... lots of love (Si)
* P.S - Georgey if you do read this can you show my mum too as all i have done so far is a text to let her know im ok... Thanks Honey
Simon
