Leaving India

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All good things must come to an end. India had been good but I found that I was feeling exhausted with constant stresses of drivers and driving; dirt and pollution; and Delhi belly. Finally as I headed to a Delhi medical centre along the crowded Delhi roads my rickshaw and other traffic were swerving unconcernedly inches away from the body of a dead man just lying in the road with blood from his head soaking into the tarmac. Time to go.

I booked a flight to Bangkok, via a local agent, with Biman (Bangladesh) airlines (more of this story later) and had a day and a half to say goodbye to India.

I visited a few more tranquil sites in Delhi itself. The wonderful Qtab Minar, a high tower engraved with verses from the Koran. It was built in the 13th century by the first Muslim sultan of Delhi to celebrate his victory over the Hindu kings. Then to Humayan's tomb which is like a miniature Taj Mahal set in beautiful gardens full of birds including kites, parrots, minars, swifts and peacocks. I had a nice surprise when I got back to the hotel - Valentine cakes from the hotel owner.

On my last day I visited the showcase of India, the Taj Mahal at Agra. Firstly I went to the Red Fort at Agra, a complex of palaces and mosques surrounded by red sandstone walls standing above the Yamuna river. Then to the wonderful Taj Mahal built with the love of Shah Jehan for his wife Mumtaz. The site was bussling with local and foreign tourists yet it still radiated a serenity and the white marble glistened in the sunlight. The architecture is awe inspiring yet the tomb itself is the most intriguing. The two marble tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz are exquisitely inlaid with semi precious stone marquetry of floral designs. Surrounding the tombs is a wonderful filigree marble screen and with the same inlaid designs. It was a suitable end to my visit to India and I even made another new friend when I asked someone to take my photo!

Whilst in Jodhpur, I had had my palm read by a local palmist. One of his observations was that I had a good sense of intuition and should follow my instincts. When I booked my flight out of India with Biman (Bangladesh) airlines I had a strong sense of foreboding but it was a good price at such short notice although it went via Dhaka, so I went ahead. The agent said they were reliable but when I looked up the airline on the web later that day I found a catelogue of horror stories .. mm..

I arrived at the airport early and the flight was showing on time. Shortly after the Biman desk opened with a notice saying delayed .. and a representative came up to say it was delayed .. 13 hours .. but that they would TRY to put those passengers going to Bangkok on a flight with another airline, in the mean time we went to the airport hotel. My alarm bells were ringing; I no longer even wanted to fly with Biman for safety. When I booked with Biman most other airlines to Bangkok had been full and the representative was quite non-commital. At the hotel the story changed to flying us to Dhaka 14 hours later, if possible, but there was no assurance when our on-flight was from Dhaka to Bangkok. I asked for a refund and my agent worked hard to get me another flight the same evening with Air India, via Bombay. I felt an instant sense of relief. Interestingly, as I waited at midnight for my Air India flight at Delhi airport, the Dhaka flight was being shown at 12.30 the next day, 22 hours late and being flown by British Airways!

So now I am happily enjoying the relaxed atmosphere in Bangkok. The streets are cleaner (no cow shit), there are fewer car horns, although lots of traffic, the street vendors are far less pushy and I am looking forward to a holiday on a Thai beach!

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Photos

Taj Mahal
No blog from India is complete without a picture of the author at the beautiful Taj Mahal

Hamayan
Hamayan's tomb, Delhi

QtabMinar
Detail from the Qtab Minar, Delhi