We left Bikaner at 4am for a local bus to Agra. It took 14 hours with barely a stop. When we got off to go a toilet the bus started to leave and we had to jump back on a moving bus making it just in time. When we arrived in Agra we met Moushmi and was introduced to her whole family. We were then introduced to Poona and her family who we were staying with for the week. The first couple of days in Agra we visited the sites with Moushmi. We visited Agra Fort which had beautiful views of [View Full Entry]

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Well, I've been locked up in conference rooms for the past few days, so while I've had the opportunity to meet some great people at our vendor partners and try some outstanding Indian food, haven't had a chance to do more exploring. I did have a little "incident" trying to board my plane from Chennai to Mumbai last night which I'll detail in the next entry, but for right now, I'll just post some more pix from the Agra trip... Jason [View Full Entry]

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We were off, on our way to see the Taj Mahal in Agra, a must see location on any trip to Northern India. Just another easy night train on Feb. 12, this time from Bikaner to Jaipur, since we wanted to break up the long train trip, and spend one more day wandering Jaipur. It was an interesting stopover and we liked the city much more the second time around. We got a much better hotel and strangely enough, a few people actually remembered us from the last time we were there. Namely, the guy from the internet cafe, a guy [View Full Entry]

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Morning all Its been a hectic few days with a lot of travelling involved but has been well worth it. In the afternoon after I updated last we went to a jewelry factory where street children had been taken in and were provided with a decent education and were taught a trade (making jewelry) which should provide them witha good chance to have a good life. Going in talking to them was really amazing and they have got to be some of the happiest people we have seen on this trip despite there troubled starty.If anyone wants to look the charity [View Full Entry]

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Even though today was only the first full day of the trip, I have a hard time imagining how it won't be the highlight. Today's activities included a four-hour drive to Agra, a tour of the Taj Mahal , the Agra Red Fort, a visit to marble inlay and hand-woven rug crafts stores, and the four-hour drive back to the hotel. The trip to and from Agra is surreal. If you follow the same route we did, your starting point is one of the most opulent hotels in the region, your end point is one of the seven wonders of the [View Full Entry]

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If our last train journey was anything to go by, you'd think that we would have been a bit more organised this time. Well we were to a certain extent; we had out extra jackets, polyprops and socks, yet this coldness was nothing like we have ever felt in any country we have travelled in. The journey was in a freeze box for 14 hours, and that is counting the 3 hour late arrival of it. We could see our breath in front of us, and it got to the point where we jumped in the same single bed to try [View Full Entry]

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Agra The drive to Agra showed what became a reality - the highways in the north are bigger and therefore less interesting from the point of local sight seeing. Also all the color of the saris etc was missing. Much more drab scenery overall. However Agra being smaller than Delhi at least had breathable air. And the Agra Fort put the Delhi Red Fort to shame as it is still mostly intact inside and out. Wonderful with a great distance view of the Taj. Then up before dawn the next day to catch the Taj at sunrise. No real beautiful colors [View Full Entry]

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India is full of people wanting to help me... or so they say. They all know the best place, and have the best price for everything I could ever need. So goes my Delhi exodus plans: I initially tried to get up to Dharamsala- a snowy little town in the north and home of the Dalai Lama. I was told he's giving talks from the 12-18th of Feb and wanted to see him for some pre-course motivation. I checked a few places and got outrageous quotes from travel agents all -($400-600 USD)...even the alleged "Government tourist info center." So, I did [View Full Entry]

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The Taj Mahal... it really is true that words and pictures can't even attempt to do this place justice. However, it's also a place that I can't possibly leave out. A truly spectacular site- the majestic structure itself, the detailed stone and jewel inlays, marble carvings, but also for the crowd it draws. This is not your average tourist site... the symbol of everlasting love and the most famous Islamic mosque... ps- I've also added a load of photos to the last few entries... enjoy! [View Full Entry]

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And finally, the delinquent plops herself behind her computer and sets down to typing her holiday tales.... It all started with a lovely layover in Dubai. It seemed silly to sit in the airport for 6 hours overnight when my Tante Ine has a wonderful apartment right there... so I had my ticket changed and arrived in Dubai on Monday evening, to remain until Friday morning. We spent our days as ladies of leisure, going to the beach, taking walks, doing an inordinate amount of shopping (I had to capitalize on malls and western clothing!), watching films and tv, and just [View Full Entry]

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