Advertisement
Published: January 9th 2010
Taj Mahal
View from our hostel...sadly it was a bit of an overcast day Hello fair people,
So it's been a while since the last blog, we have obviously been rather tied up seeing the world and all that : )
We left Delhi bright and early on the 2nd January full of excitement about our first train experience to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The train experience has left Lucy and I with a new found respect for the UK rail network.
After an initial delay of about one hour we managed to barge our way onto the train and into our seats (helped by the huge backpacks). We were in 2S (the lowest class seats- we are on a tight budget).
The train then proceeded to move at no more than jogging speed for the entire journey so instead of taking just under 3 hours it took about six and a half.
Accompanying us in the carriage was a group of boys (about 20) who were a little over excitable so passed the long journey loudly playing a Bongo drum, singing and dancing around the carriage, our ears were ringing by the time we arrived in Agra.
We headed straight to the Taj Mahal as we were running very
Taj
Amazing late and got there at just after 4pm. It is every bit as amazing, if not more so, than it looks in pictures and I think we could have stayed and looked at it for hours if it hadn't got dark.
By this time we had decided to put all of our trust in the recommendations of The Lonely Planet (safe to say it has not failed us so far) so headed off to a cafe that the LP described as 'a great place to meet people'.
We did indeed meet a nice chappy who we later named NZ (very unoriginal-he was from New Zealand, after chatting for an hour it got past the point of exchanging names). He gave us a few heads up on what to look out for in Jaipur, Jodphur and some fun things to do along the way. We also imparted our pearls of wisdom on the highs and lows of Delhi and left the cafe feeling just a little more like world-wise travellers.
We left Agra on the 3rd January and had a quite amusing journey to Jaipur. After getting to the station at 5.30am eager and ready for our
6.15am train we found out that there was a delay of around six hours. After chatting to a German couple we decided to share a taxi to save time and make sure we actually got to see some of Jaipur.
The driver was an absolute comedian, he had no idea how to use any of the 'gadgets' (heaters and blowers to get rid of steamy windows) in his car, having recently upgraded from an Auto Rickshaw (a fact that he was immensely proud of and told us a number of times).
So when the car windows steamed up he manually wiped them with a rag, and failing that his head scarf. The German man tried to explain how to use these 'gadgets' but after they started making a squeaking noise the driver repaeated several time 'better close' 'better close' and continued wiping with his rag. From the basic German Luce and I picked up at school it was clear that the German couple were having a domestic so we put the ipod in and napped for the rest of the journey.
Lu was awake for a while longer than me though and saw a train that had crashed and several
Taj
Eerie in the fog of the carriages were overturned and off the track- we later saw that due to the fog there has been a number of bad train crashes- hence many of the delays.
We spent two days in Jaipur and really enjoyed the Pink City (Old City). We did a walk around the city which was recommended in the LP (Lonely Planet) and browsed the hectic Bazaars and wandered along MI Road a lot ( main road in Jaipur- our hostel was just off here). Just wandering around the Old City we saw many impressive and beautiful temples and palaces. We also made the steep climb to The Temple of The Sun God (The Monkey Temple) at Galta. It had amazing views at the top over Jaipur and definately earns its name as The Monkey Temple....there are literally hundreds of them running around. ( I quite want to adopt a baby one as some kind of travelling pet).
On our first night in Jaipur we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at The OM Tower restaurant, which is 14 floors up and revolves at a very slow speed. This 'treat' turned into a bit of a chore as after ordering
Jaipur
Old City- In the rain on the 1st day drinks we both realised that we actually suffer quite badly from motion sickness and are not great fans of heights. Trying not to look out of the window or at any of the parts of the building that were moving we forced our dinner down (while feeling rather drunk- without the alcohol) and made a hasty escape back down to ground where we instantly felt better.
From Jaipur we went to Ranthambhore National Park (only a two hour train delay so did pretty well). We had another early morning on the 6th January to go on a safari in The National Park Tiger spotting. Even though we didn't get to see any Tigers (their numbers are dwindling) watching sunrise through the trees and over Ranthambhore Fort inside The National Park was worth the early morning. We did get to see some other wildlife and a Tigers footprint.
The rest of the afternoon was spend relaxing,napping on our balcony (travelling IS rather tiring) and reading our books. (Lu is now officially addicted to Edward Cullen-yes!!!).
The journey from Ranthambhore to our current location in Pushkar was rather epic and would have tested our patience if we hadn't viewed it
Jaipur
Old City as part of experiencing 'real India'. We waited at the station for TEN HOURS for our train which kept being delayed by an hour every hour from 11.10am until 8.10pm when it finally arrived. During this time we wandered along the same platform a number of times, trying to escape the upsetting sights of cute little piglets dicing with death on the train tracks (funnily enough no one else seemed to care all too much so we got some funny looks when we nearly cried after a Piglet was injured).
Luckily we got to nap on the train as we were in Sleeper Class and had Upper Bunks...which was an experience in itself, I am far too big to fit up there and was forced to adopt an uncomfortable position for the journey.
So we are now in Pushkar which is a beautiful and calm place and a world away from the mania of Delhi and Jaipur.
The hostel we have stayed at in Pushkar deserves a mention here as it has unlimited hot water... so we have taken about three long showers in two days, just because we can.
Pushkar is a small place and easy to
Jaipur
Camel's moving along with the traffic becomes a normal sight wander around. We have wandered up and down The Sadaar Bazaar Road a million times resisting the urge to buy too much and sat and watched sunset over the Holy Ghats around the Lake. (The Gau Ghat is where Ghandi's ashes were scattered).
We visited the Brahma Temple and climbed up to a mountain top temple which has amazing views over Pushkar.
We both bought ourselves some rings yesterday...mine is a birthday present to myself ( I needed a reason as I have far too many) and Luce just took a shine to one. We also invested in some thick blankets as it gets COLD at night and no matter how many layers we have been putting on (last count was about six) we still wake up cold. We shall be trying them our on the overnight train tonight.
Sorry it has been so long again, we shall try to write more often and shorter ones in future.....I promise!
Anyway we are now (9.30pm) going to get an overnight train to Udaipur (apparently like the Venice of The East so tres excited).
I shall be seeing the day of birth in in style, waiting on a
The OM Tower
Never going here for dinner again Platform for a, hopefully not delayed, train. We shall have a little singsong I'm sure and I may wave a lighter around to add to the mood.
We have become completely addicted to Chai- a sweet frothy version of tea with a spicy kick- absolutley amazing.
Lots of Love to everyone and Thanks for the messages etc, we hope you are building many a snowmen (and some snow women which you can call Lucy and Clare).
Mwah mwah,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.05s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0297s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
claire sharp
non-member comment
Hi Lucy and Clare! I am really enjoying reading your reports from India. The photos are amazing and really show India off to what I imagined. We all miss you at work Luce!! So are you coming back now to cover my maternity leave?!!!! My little baked bean inside of me will be rather big by August. Hope your experience continues to be full of adventure. Oh yes- Luce, have you handed those brochures out yet? Love Claire xx