The end of the long, bumpy, pot-holed, Indian road


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Asia » India » Himachal Pradesh » Shimla
March 14th 2008
Published: March 29th 2008
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Ahh, the efficiency and speed of Indian trains made our journey across the plains of India from Kolkata to Agra just fly by. In the time it takes for an Indian train to cover 1200kms on European trains you could travel Edinburgh to Warsaw and be there in time for tea, as it was when we arrived in Agra at midnight (5 hours late) we were lucky enough to be confronted with a room full of beasties (luckily none big enough to really bite). However, there were several spiders putting up a sterling effort to address the problem.

Of course the real purpose of visiting Agra was not just the joy of a 24hr train trip or the diverse wildlife in our room but the World Wonder that seems to be on every tourist's wish list and the one thing you have to do in India whether you want to go to Agra or not - the Taj Mahal.

Built over a period of 22 years by a staggering 20,000 labourers the Taj is magnificent in its size and imposing stature. Truely a grand work, but to continue our odessy of nit-picking the world's most prized possesions it has to be said that the carving on the Taj is nothing compared to the intricacies of Diwala in Mount Abu, it bears little religious significance or atmosphere and the marbloe burns the feet in the hot sun. What is an even greater pity is the restoration work being undertaken which seems more like a dreadfully poor reconstruction job. I don't for one moment think that the work being done will last anywhere near as long or weather as well as the orginal. General feel - overated (sorry, but it is) there are far more impressive sites in India if you're willing to look.

As the heat in the plains started to become oppressivly unbearable (for us at least) and a with only a week left in India, we followed in the footsteps of countless Brits and headed 2200m into the Himalayan foothills for Shimla, the summer home of the British Raj and the site for the partitioning of India and Pakistan (Our bad - obviously not me and Duncan we would never have been so stupid as to draw an arbitory line on a map and effectively justify the destruction of lands that had been relatively peaceful for generations, good old Empire).

The drop in temperature, however, was immediate and we could see exactly why the thousands of members of the government made the annual pilgrimage here before the heat of Kolkata/Delhi became too much. It even rains here - only the second time since we have been in India - very exciting (Duncan's positively giddy). As India's premiere tourist destination, for Indians, the place positively sparkles - they don't even spit or deficate in the streets here, well not much. The place also manages quite well to maintain it's British market town feel rightdown to the country houses plonked on top of mountain peaks and the grand 'Monach of the Glen' style Baronial mansion from where 1/4 of the human race was once 'ruled'. From Oman to Burma every desicion was taken on this small hilltop - terrifying really.

Shimla is a relaxed place and after 2 1/2 months we were ready to sit back do nothing and find somewhere to finally watch some rugby. It has taken blood, sweat and tears trying to explain there is sport other than cricket. Even the concept of the Calcutta Cup and India's place in its history seemed to be lost in a sea of confused head wobbles, but at midday 4 days after the game a rough satelite signal from Singapore was intercepted and the annual game against the Auld Enemy could be savoured. And savoured it was, however, the Indians did seem a bit coinfused why this foriegner was so excited and screaming at the tv when there was a good game of cricket on the other side (actually it was a rerun of the 1984 test series against England - India won - thrilling).

Shilma was a great way to end India and showed quite a different side of a country we have grown to love and hate in equal (sometimes) measure. We will miss the curries (not at breakfast), the chai (chai, chai, chai, 'tea'), the bueraucracy and the utter unadulterated chaos.

Next stop Hong Kong

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