Blogs from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 77

The year 2006 will start with a trip to India. It’s a fascinating country and I’ve been fortunate to visit it on several occasions, most recently with my wife, Pat, to celebrate our Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1997. We joined a group of Brits on a package tour of Rajasthan; I loved everything about it, but the trip was marred by Pat’s dislike of the taste and smell of curry! Plus, while we took all the usual precautions - peeling fruit, declining salads, brushing teeth with bottled water - we both ended up with humungous doses of Delhi Belly, Jaipur Jippy and Bombay Bum, and sometimes all three at once! We survived, but Pat’s never forgotten, nor forgiven. So, I’ll be on my own in India this time. I say ‘on my own’, but only on ... read more

Regrettably I now have a fully fledged sore throat, meaning that's 2 colds in the space of less than a month. I've managed a much lower frequency than that in supposedly cold countries, but I've seen so many other travellers here with the sniffles, that I can only assume the contrast between day (20s) and night (closer to zero) is affecting everyone else too. However I was pleased to discover that my shower is in perfect working order - it has the correct number of jets, all of which blast out water at an appropriate velocity, and there is unlimited hot water. So a good 30 minutes was spent enjoying this luxury. I figured I should do the city sightseeing today at a leisurely pace, so I took my first ever cycle rickshaw, to the Hawa ... read more

Well here we are, just days before I leave India...and, due to a few circumstantial factors, my ISP was stretched a little longer than intended, so I am not quite done with my work as of yet. Once academia looses me from its relentless grip, perhaps I'll have time for some really wise final blogger remarks before my departure home...until then, here are some wonderful pictures of the kids I taught who, incidentally, were quite sad to see me go and wrote me lots of wonderful cards and letters, and threw me little parties. I miss them already!... read more

Since i last updated i have travelled miles across the Indian countryside!!! From Delhi we caught the train (an experience, i tell you!) to Agra, where we spent the day sightseeing - went to the Taj Mahal, was absolutely breathtaking!!! We then continued our journey, going to many forts, palaces, a national bird park, a local village (where we actually stayed the night in a restored fort and got dressed up in traditional Indian costumes - women wore saris, men wore turbans = such good fun!) We have travelled on every means of transportation possible: jeeps, rickshaws, local buses, trains, mini buses - each one more interesting than the last! The excitement just keeps building! Everyone in this tour group is really good fun - we all look out for each other and are laughing ... read more

Almost as soon as I stepped out of my hotel in Jaipur, I was pounced upon by a lurking auto rickshaw driver. I forgot his name only seconds after he told it to me, so I'll call him Musa for the purposes of this story. (No doubt he similarly forgot my name, "Brandon" being as unpronounceable to his tongue as his true name was to mine.) "Rickshaw today, sir?" Musa asked. "All day only 100 rupees." That's about two dollars, and a low price for a day's transport. I was intrigued, but of course, there had to be a catch. Musa elaborated. "I take you Wind Palace, City Palace, Cenotaph, Amber Fort, Water Palace. We stay as long as you like." It was everywhere I had planned to go, plus a few bonus stops. "Then after, ... read more