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January 20th 2008

Published: January 25th 2008

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lizzie and nick

huyamuns tomb

Hello Everyone!

After a fretful, sleepless night awaiting depature from Hanoi to India (which involed many visions of two fresh backpackers being swamped by a bunch of evil Indians, as well as a false fire alarm in the building next door!!) we finally arrived in New Delhi International Airport. They say that first impressions are everything, so as we ventured down the exit ramp into the terminal, the long concrete corridor with lights hanging from the ceiling wasn't really giving off the most inviting vibes. This feeling wasn't aided by our airport transfer being M.I.A when we arrived, with us having to hunt him down in the crowded terminal. Thankfully, the arrival gate wasn't the chaotic scene we had predicted!!

After a solid night sleep and a hearty meal (which included 7 omlettes for Lizzie and a serious curry serve for Nick) we thought we were prepared to face all that India had to offer. Were we WRONG!!! There is a little market a couple of streets down from our hotel, and after 30 minutes we encountered everything we expected and more...cows, beggars, scam artists, random cricket matches, traffic, markets and plenty of stares. After this overload, we decided

Day out in Delhi

to head back to the sanctury of our room. Enough for one day.

However the tour started the following day which gave us courage and a bit of a buffer from the locals in the form of our guide in which to carefully carry us through the craziness that is India. We ventured once outside the safety net of our group to visit some monuments scattered throughout New Delhi. After our first 5 minutes we had seen three elephants, a religous parade and many MANY cows, which set the tone for the rest of the day.

The group is a little less varied as the last, but nationalities are much broader, with a family of 5 from New Zealand, a Welshman (who had just been to a traditional Indian wedding) and two lassies from Ireland and America. Everyone gets along fantastically so it should be a lovely trip!

We left New Delhi on the second day of our trip and quickly discovered that the overnight trains that we were used to in Vietnam, were definitely a luxury! No private cabbins with only four people, these trains prefer the open living style! imagine 8 people in one cabbin

Qutub Minar

with the walkway right through the middle. But we surprisingly got more sleep than we had experienced on the trains in Vietnam, probably due to the much lowered sugar intake, and excitement from Uno and May I with the Sydney girls.

What was install for us after this train ride was a real suprise - one of many according to our lovely guide Anuj. It was a relaxing 3 day boat ride along the magestic and spiritual river Ganges, arriving into the most holy city in Hindu, Varanasi. The days were spent deep in conversation on the padded boards of our boating convoy, the nights spent relaxing with the group on the banks of the river Ganges. It was a fantastic experience, and we certainly felt like royalty as we were spoiled with fantastic food and copious amounts of Chai!!

After a flower ceremony on the river tonight we will catch a train tomorrow to Agra, the home of the famous Taj! Hopefully we will be able to update our blog more regularly as a scarcity of internet cafes and numerous power failures have made it quite difficult thus far!

Hope everyone is safe and well.