Tampons at the Taj.... (Hannah would like to make clear that this title is nothing to do with her)

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Hello again, and seasons greetings to one and all. Hope you're all having a merry christmas, and wishing you a happy new year as well!

It's been a while since the last blog, and there's a lot to catch up on, so straight down to business. Last update we were just about to leave Varanasi on the night train to Agra. We got to the station in plenty of time, only to find our train was 3 hours delayed. This, plus another 5 hours delay en route, didn't make for the best introduction to Indian train travel. By the time we reached Agra it was mid-afternoon, and a little late to start sightseeing, so we just settled for a big meal (our first since lunch the day before!) with a rooftop view of the Taj Mahal.

Woke bright and early the next day, and were outside the Taj for its 6am opening. This was when we discovered that it doesn't actually open until 7am in winter. Slightly frustrating, but luckily lots of places were open for breakfast, so we had a bite to eat, and then returned for the real opening time. James was thoroughly searched on entry, and had to face some tough questions regarding what Hannah's tampons were, and why he had them in his bag. This caused an awkward few minutes - even without the language barrier it wouldn't have been easy to explain the function of the suspect items - but eventually the guards were satisfied that they didn't pose a major terrorist threat, and we were in! It really is an amazing building, and lives up to the hype and the huge entry fee. We didn't quite get the sunrise experience we were hoping for because of a heavy mist, but it was still an incredible sight. After a couple of hours we made our way to Agra's other big attraction - Agra Fort - and also visited the 'Baby Taj' - often overlooked because of its big brother, but still a very beautiful and intricately detailed building. Apart from these sights there's not a huge amount to do in Agra, and the city itself is a bit of a dump, so we made our way back to the hotel to prepare for another night train to Udaipur. Before we left, we went to a little internet cafe to burn some photos to CD. It was a family run place, and over the course of our CD burning we met both the parents and all 3 children. They were a really lovely family, and the mum made us all some Chai while her daughter gave Hannah a henna on her hand. We ended up spending nearly 2 hours chatting with them and it was a really nice way to spend our time - possibly the highlight of our trip to Agra!

On arrival in Udaipur the next morning we got a rickshaw to our hotel, and the driver offered his services for a tour of the city. He seemed like a genuine guy, and had a recommendation book (like Bully & Nandu in Varanasi) so we booked him for the next day. Udaipur is a beautiful little city, much more relaxed and clean than Agra or Varanasi. Its known for its lake with the floating palace in the middle, and the large City Palace Complex overlooking the lake. The city gained wider fame with its starring role as the main setting in the James Bond film Octopussy (Roger Moore period) and, quite amusingly, every restaurant still plays the film at least once a night. We spent our first day exploring the Palace Complex, and pedalo-ing about on the lake, before enjoying an evening meal with the obligitary viewing of Octopussy.

The following morning, as promised, our driver (we've forgotten his name now!) picked us up from our hotel. He ended up driving us around for almost 5 hours and we visited some great places - a royal memorial area, usually off limits to tourists, some very lively and colourful local markets, a couple of decent shops, some fantastic viewpoints, and a tranquil fountain garden (where we were repeatedly asked to pose with locals in photos). Our driver then took us to a great place for lunch and gave us a very reasonable price for the days activities. We were so impressed with his services that we arranged for him to take us up to the Monsoon Palace for sunset. So, a couple of hours later, we were picked up again and driven the 8km up to Udaipur's other famous palace. There we had views over the entire city, and the sunset over distant hills was incredible - a fitting way to end another great day!

After a lazy start the next day, we went our seperate ways for a couple of hours to do some secret Christmas shopping (and so James could visit the classic car museum - Hannah doesn't know what she's missing!). Then, on the previous days drivers advice, we hired bicycles and cycled to Shilpogram - a crafts village 4km outside of Udaipur. They were currently having their annual cultural festival, with lots of interesting stalls and performers, and, in the evening we were treated to a song and dance extravaganza. When we'd had our fill of banging drums and cross-dressing men, we headed back to Udaipur proper. Once the bikes were returned, we decided to go a little crazy and have a drink on the very posh and exclusive Sunset Palace (theres even an entry fee!). It took a while to find the cheapest possible drink on the menu (still 600 rupees for 2 gin & tonics though!), and we had a little panic over what percentage of tax was added and whether tonic was extra. Luckily we had just enough money, and the fantastic view of the illuminated floating palace more than made up for the extravagant price tag.

The following day we caught an early morning bus to Mount Abu - a hill station 1200m above the Rajasthan desert. Its a very small place, but a lush oasis in the middle of an otherwise barren state, and is a big honeymoon destination. At the moment its very busy, and we're surronded by lots of Indians on holiday (which makes an interesting change from the norm of us being the tourists). On arrival we found the 1 hotel where all the westerners seemed to have gathered, then hired another pedalo on the lake - thus continuing our trips nautical theme. After stocking up on festive alcohol a big group of us at the hotel played cards long into the evening and Christmas day itself (all under our hotels very thoughtful attempt at a Christmas tree)! In the morning we had coffee in bed, swapping presents and seasons greetings, before venturing out into a surreally hot Christmas day. We enjoyed a long stroll to some Jain temples, about 3km out of town. The temples look quite ordinary from the outside, but the interior of each one features thousands of breathtakingly intricate carvings in white marble - unfortunately no cameras allowed! By the time we returned to the hotel it was quite late, so us and 6 others decided to have a festive splurge and went to Mount Abu's poshest restaurant for a delicious all you can eat buffet (most of us followed these instructions to the point of bursting!). All in all, a very different, but thoroughly enjoyable christmas day.

We haven't done a huge amount today (in true boxing day fashion). Just a long walk around the lake, and a lot of sitting in parks, sunbathing and reading. We did get accosted by lots of schoolchildren in the park, and have had to pose for close to twenty photos each - flattering the first time but it may get tedious! We've just returned from Sunset Point (yes, another sunset!), which was really beautiful with views down from our hill-top over the Rajasthan desert below. The place was absolutely rammed with hundreds of excitable Indian tourists who cheered loudly as the sunset. Tomorrow we're heading back down to flat ground and catching a train to Jodhpur. A couple of days there, and then we plan to spend New Years in Jaisalmer. Should be fun, but we're sure England is more exciting at this time of year
Same drill as before with the photos, we'll try to get some up in the next couple of days.

Once again, merry christmas to you all, and a happy new year! X

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