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Published: March 17th 2009
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hi everyone who is interested in hearing about how things are going so far. I wrote a MASSIVE LONG BLOG two days ago and deleted it as soon as i'd finished it instead of publishing it so i was v v annoyed but you guys should probably be thankful as you would still be reading it now!
Here is a summary of india so far though:
1. Delhi - we had a really turbulent flight and for some reason me and suzie had worked ourselves up thinking delhi would be mentally chaotic so we were pleasantly surprised and relieved to get through customs no problem and at how calm and clean everywhere was. phew! the next day we woke up to a more awake Delhi and realised a few home truths about india there and then. firstly, cows are everywhere! they sit down in the middle of 3 lane traffic and cars, buses, bikes just drive them. they will be blocking your route to your hotel or eating rubbish from the road. secondly, i said three lane traffic - really i mean there are no lanes and traffic just flows wherever it can! people don't indicate they just sound
the horn whenever they pass someone. it takes a bit to get used to! thirdly, there are no bins in India. there are occasional skips and a couple of small tin cans in front of stalls to be used instead so I end up carrying around rubbish all day!
2. jaisalmer - beautiful city built in an old fort. i had a tough time getting here on an 22hr overnight train which was swarming with cockroaches - i drifted off to sleep at one point only to be woken by one of the pesky buggers crawling across my mouth. not nice and I didn't sleep at all for the rest of the night and insisted on the light being on! at jaisalmer we went on a camel trip and stayed overnight in the desert which was really cool - and by cool i also mean cold!!!
3. jodphur - crazy manic city. saw some nice old buildings took some pictures but wasn't over impressed by it.
4. udapiur - really pretty city built around a big old lake. theres a palace in the centre of the lake but its now a hotel (far too expensive for my
simple tastes) visited the city palace but we couldn't take photos in there but it was very nice to see. it's full of hippies!
5. pushkar - very holy place in india for hindus, built around a holy lake where people bathe and pray etc. its very hot practically in the middle of the desert which is why it's so unusual for there to be a freshwater lake in the middle. I had a 'puja' done by the water by man of the highest 'caste' in India. It's basically a blessing done by the holy water for 'good life for family' and involves having the red dot placed in the centre of my forehead and wearing a piece of thread round the right wrist. The Hindu Holi celebration took place whilst we were in Pushkar and although it was deemed too dangerous for our group to participate in the town, our tour leader arranged for a mini celebration to happen in the hotel which sadly I coudln't participate in because I fell foul of 'Delhi Belly' and was resigned to bed for the day! bad timing but at least I'm still not washing dye out of my clothes.
6. Jaipur - the largest city in Rajastan. We got bitten to swollen limbs out here so it's hard to remember much past itching and scratching for 2 days. There were some sights to see here, including the Palace of Winds which is the 2nd most photographed site in India. It is nice but was desperately empty and unloved, and also surrounded by a heaving marketplace. We also went to the 'most beautiful cinema in Asia' - Raj Mandir and saw a Bollywood film called Delhi 6. It was a really good film for what I understood of it which was sadly little, although the amount of singing and dancing was quite limited. I'm also sad to say that the highlights of Jaipur were the visit to McDonald's and Domino's - oh yesssss it was a good day!!
7. Agra - oh dear oh dear. Agra is possibly the worst place I've visited in India, if there wasn't the saving grace of the Taj Mahal it would be a complete dump. It's usual to receive a certain amount of hassle in India particularly for rickshaw rides and to enter shops etc but here it is something else and it's
gotta as far as to restrict our movements. And Agra smells. really bad. really really bad. However the Taj Mahal is B E A U T I F U L and it certainly took my breath away to see it in real life. I took an obscene amount of pictures!
And that keeps you up to date so far! I'm leaving for Varanasi tonight on an overnight train which I sincerely hope is better than the last one. We will be there until Friday and then it's to Kolkata where we'll say good bye to this tour and we'll be flying over to Kathmandu in Nepal for a week there which I'm quite looking forward to!
Thanks for everyone's messages so far, and please keep them coming! Sorry this blog ended up quite long too and probably quite boring so as a treat for reading it I'll send you a postcard if you send me your addresses as I forgot to bring my addressbook being me. If you want a more entertaining read please also give Suzie's blog a go at: www.offexploring.com/suziebundock - she's put a lot more love into hers!
Miss you all! x
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Matt
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Your sooooooo silllyyyy!!!!
Hello, Sounds like your having a brill time still - im guessing you're leaving India any time now, so hope you've enjoyed your time there! Work isnt the same now without you here with me - although I have settled back in now. But who do i make demented sheep noises with now? No one thats who!! Anyway, hope you are well - more blogs please!!! x x