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Published: July 13th 2008
Pink door
A door in the side of the Taj mahalAfter jumping in my prepaid taxi at Delhi airport the wild journey in to the heart of the city began. Shortly after I wondered what I'd got myself in to? I'm not new to travel but my first half hour of India was definately an eye opener. By the time we reached my hotel I was ready for a nap anyway so slept for a while and then had a walk around the neighbourhood. I still wasn't sure what I'd got myself in to this time and was looking forward to meeting up with the other people I was going to travel with the next couple of weeks.
Our guide, Muzib, turned out to be a jolly little fellow who whisked us off to a great restaurant around the corner for a lovely slap up meal. We kept it vegetarian the first night not wanting to already have a case of Delhi Belly. The next morning we set off early for a visit to the first of many red forts, we also went to the Jama Masjid and Gandhi's Tomb before hitting the road to Agra. I was already impressed by the vibrant colours, the friendly faces, and the welcoming
Sunrise at the Taj
Around the back of the Taj Mahal as the sun is rising "hellos" everywhere. Our driver "Ganpat" was a nice quiet man with nerves of steel, which you need to tackle the mad and crazy roads of India. At any one time teeming with cows, camels, donkeys, people, tuctucs, rickshaws, cars, trucks, buses, people......and somehow they all manage to sqeeze past each other without a mishap.
After spending the night on the loo I decided to take some Immodium 15 minutes before we were to head of to the Taj Mahal for sunrise. It was worth it - it was so peaceful and atmospheric. This certainly was already one of many highlights to come in the next 4 weeks. We spent a couple of hours here just wandering around and taking it all in before heading back to the hotel for breakfast and a short rest. Later that morning we went to the Agra Fort (yes it's red) an then continued our journey to Fatephur Sikri, yet again "another red fort" (ARF). It's really impressive and well worth a stop if you're travelling between Agra and jaipur.
As we entered Jaipur on a main traffic artery I was struck by the people living on the pavement especially one family and
Taj Mahal
It's really worth getting up at 5.30am for. I think one of the saddest things I've ever seen. The family and their belongings had a few precious feet of space that they spent their days and nights all the while their small baby sat in the gutter playing. The thing that really tore at my heart was that the baby just played there not bothered by the traffic going past and the family obviously not worried tht anything could happen to their offspring. I spent sleepless nights after this repeatedly seeing the small baby in the gutter.
We stayed in a lovely Haveli on the outskirts of Jaipur from where we visited the very impressive Amber Fortress and then after lunch the beautiful City Palace and the Janatar Mantar (astronomy Park). After two nights in the Pink City we continued our journey to a small town called Kuchaman. Here we stayed in an impressive Fortress located above the town with some of the most gorgeous wall paintings we saw along the way. We took a fun jeep ride up the steep hill to the fortress where our rooms were located. We had a tour of the fortress later in the day followed by watching the sunset over
Coming home from school
It's tuk tuck central with everyone piling in the plains. The next day we continued on to Pushkar which included a visit to the holy lake and a walk around the bazaar.
The next day we then travelled out ot the countryside to the small village of Khejarla to stay in the fortress there that's been in the same family for 400 years. This place has to be one of the best kept secrets of Rajasthan and the owner, Dilip, took us on a walk in the evening to his temple overlooking the desert to watch the sunset. From Khejarla we then went to the Jodphur (The blue city) with a visit to the unbelievable Meherangarh Fortress which overlooks the pastel blue painted houses. After a visit to the bazaar we stayed on the outskirts of the city in a quiet Hill Resort. We visited the amazing Jain Temple of Ranakpur and then continued through the beautiful Arevalli Hills with a vist to the Kumbalgarh Fortress on the way to Udaipur where we stayed for two nights.
The city of Udaipur has a wonderful Mediteranian feel to it with little alleyways lined with pastel painted houses. We took a boat ride on Lake Pichola with it's
Gypsie fire eater
This was at Pushkar in the evening but my battery was running low so not such a good shot floating Palace and visited the City Palace before a lovely lunch of Thali (eat all you want selection of curries and accompanyments). Our trip ended all too soon with a fun overnight train journey back to Delhi where we said our tearful goodbyes.
I had to meet my next group (I'd booked this ten days with Intrepid) at lunch time already which turned out to be an eclectic mix of 12 people from all over the world. After handing over the local payment of IR 10,000.00 (appr. GBP 145.00) in addition to the GBP 630.00 which covered 10 overnights with breakfasts, three dinners and a lunch, transportation, guide and entrance fees, we went on a tour of the city of Delhi. It was Diwali, the festival of lights, and everyone was in holiday feeling with beautifully decorated houses and shops.
We had to get up at the crack of dawn the next day to get to the station for our roach infested train journey to Jaipur. In the afternoon we visited a great project where girls are saved from life on the streets or prostitution. I opted to visit the Amber Fort again but relaxed the rest of
Less that 4's a waste
It's normal to see at least 4-6 people on a motorcycle and they do it with such grace too. the day since nothing else was included. I felt sorry for the other trip participants as they seemed to be at a loose end already. That evening we went to the Raj Mandir, the nicest cinema I've been to and which looks like a big pink wedding cake. The next day we drove to Agra and rushed through lunch to be able to visit the Red Fortress and rush on to the Taj Mahal to see the sunset. If you do ever have the choice I suggest going at sunrise which is much quieter and is a lot more atmospheric.
The next morning we again had to get up at the crack of dawn for another train journey, this time much nicer and no roaches, on to Jhansi. here we had a short ride to a rural project where women make paper out of old material cut offs. We then continued on to Orccha and visited the very interesting temple complexes. That evening we went to a local house where we had a cooking demo which included dinner. The next day we continued on to Khajuraho where once again we had to rush to lunch to be able to
Homeless girls project in Jaipur
Kida are rescued from prostitution and life on the streets in theis great home in Jaipur visit the temples before the end of the day. The temples are set in a lovely quiet garden which make for some great photo opportunities.
The next morning we had to hang around waiting for our flight to Varanasi which was delayed for several hours having us arrive around 9pm at night to one of the most disgusting places I've ever stayed at. The hotel Pradeep in Varanasi not only included some of the rudest staff around, but a dirt encrusted dining room and roach infested rooms throughout. Fortunately, the early start the next day to watch the sunrise on the Ganges was an absolute highlight and I just tried to forget the 2 nights in the Pradeep. Our last morning some of us took tuctucs out to Sarnath for a walk around the temples before we all met to go to the airport and our flight back to Delhi. We had a lovely dinner at the same restaurant I'd been with Kumuka the first night.
The next morning I took a taxi to the Jangpura Extension part of Delhi to my homestay that I'd found googling on the net. The next four days I spent being hosted
Happy smiling faces
Everywhere you go everyone has a smile for you by a wonderful man called Kumar at the Orchid Retreat B&B. Kumar couldn't do enough for me and always had hints and tips on how I could spend my days in and around Delhi. When possible his driver would take me anywhere I wanted and one day I hired a driver to take me to the Swaminarayan Akshardham Complex and another day I had a lovely walk through Lodi Gardens a visit to the Jantar Mantar (the one in Jaipur is much more interesting). The four days passed by far too quickly and before I knew it I was heading to the airport after again after a tearful farewell from Kumar and his family.
All in all I had a great time in India and made some wonderful friends there. I will definately return in the future and proably do it on my own next time as I now know that it's not as stressful as was made out to be and I never got harrassed once.
eresting.
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Chuck Kuhn
Chuck Kuhn
exciting
Remarkable gallery and diary. I really like your writting and pictures. I must visit this place in 09. Chuck Kuhn