Leaving Delhi

We have spent the last couple of days taking it pretty easy, the trip as a whole has been quite tiring but ultimately worth doing. The first day back in Delhi we just relaxed in the hotel, our extra night ended up being covered by the train ticket refund. Raj, our shady tour operator tried to play it off like he was doing us a favour but we are well aware he is still comfortably ahead. We didn’t end up catching up with Pal for dinner in the end, we were just happy to leave it as it was. On our last day in Delhi we went into the city to Connaught Place for a bit of a wander around. It’s the centre of New Delhi and a bit of a showcase for western style stores and some upmarket local ones. We had some lunch at the United Coffee House, a restaurant that’s been around since the 40’s, it looked like little had changed in the interior but that made it quite charming. The air-con was cold, the food pretty good and the service excellent (plain soda, yes please - kaj). After that we got a new book each as we have gone through a few whilst being on the road. We also had some afternoon tea at a Costa Coffee an international coffee chain. All the caffeine played havoc with us getting to sleep later as we are so desensitised to it... it was worth it though. Our flight left Delhi at 8.55am, we had to be there three hours before and made it in plenty of time as we had an airport transfer organised through our tour.

Varanasi to Delhi 11/6

We couldn’t quite face the train ride tonight so we’ve ended up flying from Varanasi to Delhi this afternoon. One and a half hours instead of overnight wins hands down really. We ended up getting a 75% refund on the train ticket so that should cover the extra night at the hotel.

Agra and the Taj Mahal 8/6

We arrived in Agra yesterday, fairly late in the afternoon after a long drive. Pal wanted to cook some fish for us so spent a couple of hours at the hotel while he went to get and prepare the fish after which he picked us up and took us to a local restaurant. He referred to this as a proper Indian restaurant, somewhere where all the locals eat. It was very busy with a lot of people coming and going from the small tables. All the cooking is done at the front of the shop, so anyone waiting can see their food being prepared. The fish was really very nice and we just had it with some dahl, mixed veg curry and some chapati and rice. Simple but good. We were up at 6am to see the Taj Mahal this morning, we were dropped off about a kilometre down the road as there is a limit on vehicle emissions near to the monument (doesn’t seem to be a serious deterrent to locals driving and setting fire to rubbish though) and we got a ride on an electric bus down the road. Once through the security check (Kirsten’s iPod had to be put in the cloakroom) we set off to see the Taj Mahal just as the sun was striking the east side. For once, all the guidebooks and everything that you read about it is absolutely true, it is stunning. I won’t waste words trying to describe it, it’s simply beautiful. We spent almost three hours sitting to admire the view from various angles, as well as having a look inside the mausoleum. Agra itself isn’t terribly interesting by comparison, it’s a modern, dirty and dusty Indian city. We had some lunch in the afternoon with Pal as it’s our last day with him, after which we had a bit of a wander around a local mall. Our train departed Agra for Varanasi at 8.50pm so Pal dropped us off about 7pm. We have mixed feelings about him, we really appreciated him as a safe driver and as a good guide (and a friendly one at that) but we are fairly certain we’ve been scammed a bit by him, we are just not sure by how much. However, he reckons we’ll get an invite to his house for dinner when we are back in Delhi so we’ll see how we go. We had a porter to help us get all our crap on the train, we are lugging a bit around as trying to get some stuff posted at the post office this afternoon was a bit of a failure, seemed the staff were looking for a bit of an additional handout to get the job done. We met a Swedish girl on the train who was telling us it took an hour to get a parcel wrapped and sent recently - we are glad we didn’t persist despite the weight we are carrying. It seems that our perspective on the Vietnamese train system has changed a bit after riding on the Indian version. The sleeper carriage has three bunks each side in each ‘room’, with about five or six ‘rooms’ in all, as well as additional bunks out in the corridor. The entire carriage is open so our main concern was theft (we’ve heard mixed reports) as well as all the racket of people crammed in together. The Swedish girl reckoned it was her last train trip for a while, she’d been in India for two months travelling around. I reckon one train trip was enough for me to decide! We do have tickets on the train back to Delhi though. After that I don’t think we’ll do it again.

Rathambore National Park 5/6 - 6/6

We’ve spent a couple of nights a town adjacent Rathambore National Park. There’s not much happening within the town apart from a few shops for tourists and other hotels so we’ve spent a bit of time catching up on rest in our room. The first night we went to a small showroom that houses work from some of the local women, they sell it as a collective. We got to see some hand stitching being done and had a bit of a chat to some of the staff about how the collective helps support the community. Yesterday morning we headed out on our first safari at 6am, we were in a little Suzuki Sierra set up with a couple of bench seats on the back raised slightly for viewing. We were sharing these with two other couples, a pair from the UK and a pair from the US (both of whom were working in their respective embassies in Delhi). We were out for about three and a half hours and saw a fair bit of wildlife - birds, deer, monkeys and lizards but no sign of the tiger, the main reason for going on the safari. The park is pretty dry at the moment (as is everywhere in Rajasthan) although there are still quite a few waterholes (some artificial). Our guide was saying that the whole park will return to greenery within a few days of the monsoon starting. We came back to the hotel for some breakfast and a bit of rest, the next safari was scheduled for 3pm that afternoon. Kirsten wasn’t feeling up to it (the ride was very bumpy) so I headed out to reception only to be informed it was cancelled due to the heat. I accepted this without question as it was pretty hot, only we found out later that the staff had been lying (we’re still not really that clear on their motive - perhaps just to avoid having to run an extra jeep). We only found out as Pal asked me why I didn’t go - I was pretty annoyed so Pal sorted out everything with the staff, we were due to go again for another run in the morning and drive to Agra a little later than we planned. So I headed out this morning, Kirsten’s back was still too sore from yesterday, so that made four of us in the jeep - quite comfortable. We went on a different run around the park, only 40% is open to the public and there’s only a few main areas accessible by jeep. We had been out for a couple of hours, not seeing anything different from yesterday apart from a vulture and a monitor lizard. We had headed back to a base in the park and were going to finish for the morning when our guide decided to give it another go, apparently there were some new tiger tracks found that morning. As we headed around a bend, our guide pointed out the fresh tracks - we sped off with him standing up out of the jeep following the tracks. About a kilometre further down the track, two jeeps were parked on the road, the tiger was resting in some shade by a waterhole. We were able to park within four or five metres, it was fantastic. I think I took about a dozen photos, the camera died after that but I didn’t mind too much, it was great just to sit and watch (and one of the couples said she’d email some of hers to me). We were there for about ten or fifteen minutes when some more jeeps and a couple of really large trucks rocked up, the trucks carry about 20 people and make a hell of a racket. This part of the safari was poorly organised as all the noise and commotion spooked the tiger and she got up, looking like she would leave but after everyone managed to shut up for a while she settled down and rested again. We headed off ten minutes after that, leaving the hordes too it. Despite this small issue, it was amazing to see the tiger in person, it’s a rare thing so I’m really chuffed. We headed to Agra after that, a very long drive but worth it as we go to see the Taj Mahal tomorrow morning.

Jaipur 4/6

We arrived in Jaipur yesterday afternoon after a long drive. As there was a highway most of the way, Pal drove pretty much without stopping so we got here reasonably quickly. We headed out to a gem merchant (Jaipur is famous for precious and semi precious stones) to view some local stones. There are some very nice stones and settings, with prices to match of course. We went to a restaurant after that, a friend of Pal’s who he knew from driving cars in Delhi. Pal didn’t end up having much to eat with us the other night as it was too early for him but we had more of a meal with him last night which was good and the food was excellent. It wasn’t especially cheap but Pal secured us 25% off the bill so it worked out to be reasonable in the end. This morning we went had a look at the Amber Fort (pronounced Amer) and the nearby Jaigarh Fort. We had intended to go inside but it was pretty hot this morning even by local standards so we’ve given it a miss (after taking some photos from the outside) to have a bit of a rest day instead. There was also the opportunity to ride an elephant up to the Fort gates but we elected not to do that either as there the guidebook mentioned questionable practices relating to the care of the elephants. We drove into the old town (or the ‘pink city’) to have a look around, it was very crowded so we didn’t have too much of a chance to stop and look around. We needed caffeine though so we had morning tea at an Indian coffee chain named Mr Bean’s which was excellent, after which Pal took us to see a carpet being weaved by hand at a local carpet shop. There were three main types of carpet - Rajasthan wool, Kashmir wool and silk. For a standard six by four foot silk carpet, it takes about nine months to weave as there are 600 knots per sqaure inch. We had a run through of the prices (as you get everywhere you visit here) and they were incredibly reasonable compared to home considering the workmanship - but there’s something about not having a house to come back to that makes you question that kind of purchase. We are back at the hotel this afternoon to beat the heat and we’ll meet Pal on the rooftop at eight to have a beer which sounds pretty good.

Udaipur 2/6

Today Pal (our driver) promised us a good sightseeing and shopping day and we set off at the very civilised time of 10am. We headed to Udaipur’s gardens and fountain first, which was quite nice. The city has a few lakes, some just scenic and a main one for drinking water but unfortunately all are quite depleted. The monsoon hasn’t seriously filled the lakes since 2006 and Pal thinks it’s been about ten years since he’s seen them at capacity. The water shortage hasn’t affected the tropical lushness of the gardens though, so it was a bit of a cooler place to wander around and check them out. We went to a shop after that which had a whole heap of different craft for sale, such as hand stitched wall hangings, cushion covers, stonecraft and painting. We won’t list what we bought here as there’s the odd gift but we are very happy with the prices and craftsmanship. The business is supposedly run as a cooperative so hopefully the villagers that slave away making the stuff are actually paid a reasonable wage for their work. We visited the City Palace after that, a popular spot with lots of Indian tourists there as well. It is Rajasthan’s largest Palace and we spent a few hours negotiating never ending sets of stairs going up and down all over the place. The views, displays and artworks were well worth seeing. We made it back to the hotel just before three to beat the heat and are due to have dinner with Pal tonight, he’s taking us to somewhere small and local which should be good.

Jodhpur 1/6

Today we stayed in a good hotel, worth mentioning as the other ones have been average. There is a bit of a courtyard and garden setting, a rooftop restaurant (with good food) and a great view of the Meherangarh Fort. We set off at 9am to the fort to make a start before it got too hot. Our guide book recommends the audio tour specifically so we decided to give it a go. Well worth it, both in the history of the fort and historical events as well as being very well narrated with some music and effects thrown in too. We spent about three hours walking around, the fort is very well preserved and apparently didn’t require huge amounts of restoration. The audio guide mentioned that initial restorers had to remove a large volume of bat guano from sections of the fort, but its sale to local farmers helped to kick start the restoration funds. It’s now a major tourist draw card and deservedly so. Jodhpur is known as the Blue City and it becomes more apparent when viewed from a higher vantage point. On ground level it’s difficult to tell but when we viewed the city from various points around the fort, you can see why it has this name. Whole pockets of the city are painted in similar hues of blue and it’s quite pretty. After we finished at the fort, we were back in the car for the drive to Udaipur where we are staying for two nights so it will be a chance to relax a little as the pace has been brisk. On the way, after a few hours we stopped at the Jain Temple complex Ranakpur, where the main temple Chaumukha Mandir (four faced temple) is the oldest Jain Temple in India. There were also two smaller temples to look at while we were there. We got into Udaipur just before 7pm and we had dinner in the rooftop restaurant with a nice view out over the normally flooded lake area and Udaipur’s Lake Palace. It was used as a set piece in Octopussy but due to Roger Moore being a crap Bond I've not seen it recently enough to remember. I watched For Your Eyes Only somewhere on the road recently and it was rubbish!