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Hello everyone, just an update of our whereabouts! We are currently in Jaipur at the moment where it is extremely ot. As is common with the Indian electricity, our power cut out last night so we were baking in 30 degree heat without AC or fan last night which was pretty unbearable...but we're still alive and well!
We've crammed in alot of overnight bus journey's over the past few days which has been pretty tiring. We took a very long minibus ride from Leh to Manali where we did see some stunning scenery of the Himalaya's but by the end we were pretty knackered as it took about 18 hours!
Manali was not one of our faveourite places as it was very touristic. It's divided into old and new Manali and we stayed in the backpacker district in old manali....New Manali was full of Indian tourists! Just as we have fish n chips on the Costa del Sol, they have loads of South Indian food shops lining the precinct as all the South Indians have escaped up north to avoid the oppressive heat of the plains or the rains of the monsoon. (It is currently flooded in Mumbai where
we are headed later!)
After Manali we took another bus ride to Dharmshala which was really pretty albeit very misty. This is where the Dalai Lama resides for the majority of the year and where the Tibet-in-exile goverment is. We went to a museum which explained about the Chinese oppression in Tibet which was harrowing, brutal and very moving.
The next bus ride was to Shimla, home of where the British stayed when they occupied India, evident in all the British buildings which still stand there. It was really strange getting off the bus and walking down the main street to our hostel. It was misty, a little wet and there were British buildings everywhere. If it wasn't for the bombardment of touts as we climbed off the bus that surrounded us we may have fooled ourselves that we were in the UK! There were lots of monkeys roaming the street in Shimla also, which you don't get so much in London or other towns.
The next bus ride (i know, quite a few!) was back to Delhi where we went and spent one day seeing the Red Fort which was built by a Mughal emperor in
Dalai Lama's house
Dharmahala- where the Dalai Lama is exiled and stays for a large part of the yearthe 1600's and the oldest mosque in India. This wasn't the best day actually as we were shattered and it was so hot. We also had to get our train ticket to Agra (where the Taj Mahal is) and this was the literally mission impossible. Crowds would just gather round the ticket booth, there were fights, shouting, pushing, shoving - all in 30 degrees plus heat and no sleep. We were glad to get to Agra in the afternoon of that day and settle down- we got there by taking a train (our first one in India!) and sat above everyone else on, what i can only describe as being a luggage rack.
Agra is basically a whistle stop tour for tourists who want to see the Taj Mahal, which is stunning. It is the finest monument built for love as it was built for the wife of one of the Mughal emperors who died in child birth. He had 20,000 builders work on it imported from all over asia and even amputates some of their thumbs and hands afterwards so they could never repeat the beauty again. It was really beautiful.
That day we took another bus
Pierce's restaurant
Appearantly in 2002 Pierce Brosnan ate at this restaurant in Dharmashala- Mcloo's restaurant. This made me happy. to Jaipur which is where we are now. It's alot larger than the towns in the mountains we've seen but has more character than Delhi. There are camels that wander the streets as well as the cows that we see all over India. It also has a pink city (the old city) as the maharaja demanded it be painted pink to welcome King Edward as pink is a colour associated with hospitality. We did a bit of shopping yesterday and i spent the extravagant sum of 7 pounds on a nice top. I will miss the cheapness of this country!!
Anyway, we're off to Mumbai where it's flooded later and then fly to Hong Kong on Sunday!! I will report back again soon! Hope all is well, Emma xxx
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anna
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Pierce's restaurants!
i think this world tour is actually just a tour of the restaurants he's been to! you've done the one in Azerbaijan too, remember! enjoying reading your adventure. looking forward to the next installment! love you lots xxxxxxx