"You look prettier in your passport photo!"

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Hello!

A proper blog this time as promised! I'm thinking that the last blog finished when we were just leaving Shimla so we'll go from there...

We had another toy train ride from Shimla to Kalka. It's a bit like the Mouse Runner ride at Flamingo Land (Dom, Pete and even Mum! will know what I'm on about) which hurtles you round corners at quite a height. Rather than having lots of screaming children and other rides going on around you, we had the Himalayan foothills to look at instead (probably a bit better). We then had an overnight sleeper train from Kalka to Delhi which was great. We met a couple of Indians from Kerala who told us all about the south (now dead excited) and just chatted generally about India and England. We got a little bit of sleep but were woken up at 6am when we arrived. Really tired and hungry meant we weren't really in the mood for the onslaught of taxi and rickshaw drivers trying to get us into their vehicles. We queued up for the pre-paid rickshaw to Hazrat Nizamuddin station which cost 77Rps (quite a good price considering it's excellent name) and the touts literally METERS away from the pre-paid were trying to get us to go with them for 150-200Rps. We arrived at HN Station at 7am and our train to Agra wasn't until 11am.

The next 5 hours were absolute hell. We found quite a posh cafe which was good because there wasn't any staring and we got to sit next to a fan! We hadn't eaten since 3pm the day before (the train food is horrible) and we were both pretty tired. I felt really sick and had to go to the toilet twice but hardly anything came up which was gross. We managed to sleep a little on our bags but the time just seemed to be going sooooo slowly. We had a little trouble actually finding which platform the train was on and surprisingly had to go through some metal detectors/bag searches (possibly because it was 11th September?). Eventually got onto our first 3AC train to Agra. We met a nice doctor who specialised in herbal remedies (we got his card for you Christine!) and the journey was really pleasant.

Arrived in Agra about 2:30pm and there were hardly any touts (much different, and nicer, than Delhi). Met a great rickshaw driver, Mannu, who took us to our hotel for 50Rps and told us where to go. We dumped our stuff at the brilliant Maya Hotel and then went to the Taj Mahal! Laura said about an hour before we went that it would rain and she was right! It was chucking it down when we went but that didn't spoil how extraordinary and amazing it was seeing it. Words can't really describe it and it really takes your breath away when you finally get to see it. The pictures we took look good and there is one in particular that I really hope Dom can Photoshop so we can get it framed!

We ate at the Maya hotel because they were so nice and the food we got was great. Laura tried the fruit curry (I was very impressed with the willingness to try new curries!) and I got the recommended butter chicken. Both were great and we got an early night because our train for Jaipur left at 6am the next morning! Remember Mannu got us to the station for 50Rps? Well at 5am the rickshaw driver was wanting 200Rps! I think Laura may have even said, "On your bike" which was quite funny at the time since there are actually cyclists acting as rickshaw drivers! We haggled down to 100Rps. Waited at Agra Fort station for an hour (train running 30mins late) and got to Jaipur at noon. Agra was very nice but smelt quite bad. Jaipur on the other hand was extremely hot (it's in the desert) but actually not as bad as Delhi since it isn't quite as muggy and there is a nice breeze. We got destroyed by taxi touts on the way out who literally don't leave you alone! They walk with you and it's really hard to get rid of them when you don't really know where you're going yourself!

Anyways, we managed to find the hotel after a half hour walk which was so tiring in the heat. The Pearl Palace Hotel is unbelievably good. You won't believe the photos when you see them (it costs about $5 a night here!). We ate at the rooftop restaurant (yes thats right) and had banana and choclate crepes (Christine will be pleased). We then went into town and did the Pink City Walk which was suggested in Nana's guidebook (thankyou). It was nice although we got lost a few times. We came home and ate at the restaurant which was really nice in the moonlight. We had a lie in (for the first time in ages!) but got woken up by some builders!!! Surfaced about midday and got room service (at no extra cost!). We then went into town to Jantar Mantar which is an ancient observatory which was brilliant (for me I guess but Laura insists she liked it!). We looked at the City Palace through the walls (it costs 300Rps to get in = rip off) but we went to the Palace Cafe which was nice. On the way out we met a snake charmer who we got photos with and I had a snake around my neck!!!??! We then went to the market to possibly buy some people presents and Laura got a really nice skirt and some Aladdin trousers. They go really well with her red face from sunburn so she is now called Lobster features (it might last until we get home but the photos will give a good account). We knew what we wanted from yesterdays walk which meant we didn't get too involved with the constant hassling to get you into people's shops!

We came home and our upset tummies meant more immodium was taken (possibly the fruit salad we had last night even though they wash the fruit in iodine water). I posted the postcards from a very confusing post office so hopefully you'll be getting yours soon (Lauren I still don't have your address!). Now we're going up to the restaurant again for some food even though we don't feel like it! Tomorrow (14th) is when we go to Pushkar for 2 days. My mobile is invariably not sending texts from certain places so Mum, I have got your texts but I can't reply to them unfortunately! We shall post up another blog soon hopefully!

Tink and Laura xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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