Getting it in India


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October 16th 2009
Published: October 16th 2009
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So I got here on the 19th and caught a taxi in to Delhi from the Airport. A random guy from South Africa also shared it with me, he runs a tattoo parlour in Mozambique. I went to the New Delhi Station which is just at the end of the backpacker district of delhi (called Paharganj). I went to the station and sat down on my bag and waited for my train to arrive. Well after about 20 mins it pulled in and I walked down the platform wondering how I would know which carriage I was in. Towards the end of the platform one of the train employees was sticking name lists on the outsides of the trains and mine was on the one he had just posted there so I got on.

Train from DEL > AGRA
This train journey took a bout 3/4 hours. I had a guy aged 21 from Punjab who decided to play me All Rise on repeat by the boy band Blue for about 20 minutes. THat was fun. My station finally arrived and I got out at about 10pm at night and walked out to find my transfer, rickshaw driver Sonu there. The following day I went to see the Taj. I got there just before opening and still the line was massive. People were trying to sell taj key rings, snow domes, postcards, the lot but I just ignored them and headed in side. Well what can I say about the taj, yes it was beautiful but I kind of expected it to be a little bigger than it was! Perhaps its because I have seen so many photos of it already... I stayed there for 2 hours and then was taken to two shops by my rickshaw driver to buy ythings. I bought a touristy marble box and some jewelery (think I got ripped off but oh well). Then I caught the local bus back to Delhi.

Bus ride from AGRA > DELHI

this bus was supposed to take 3.5 hrs and it ended up taking almost 6. A man next to me started talking to me about 1 hour in to the journey and didn stop until I was out of the bus. He was working for the ministry of defence and told me that it looked like he was my body guard to others. He also told me that because I have a lot of moles I am very lucky. Thanks for that. After asking me where I was from, he preceded to tell me that there were a lot of sick people in Australia. Really/// I said. Are you sure about that? Yes, there is a big SIKH community there. he answered. I giggled a little. Then he decided to call his 16 yo daughter (who was going to be a pilot) and got me to speak to her on his phone. Well as the only white person on the bus this drew a lot of stares. Nevertheless it was kinda bizarre/funny. As the bus got closer to Delhi I started to worry, it was already 5pm and my train was leaving at 5:40pm We arrived at the bus station at 5:25pm and I found a rickshaw driver to take me to Old Delhi station (40mins away). Please drive quickly I asked. He fanged it down the road, singing hindi songs the whole way. I thought I was going to make it until we hit peak hour traiffic. I finally made it to the station at 5;50pm, hoping that maybe the train was late. Pushing through the hoards of Indians all streaming past me I felt a bit like I was in one of those movies, rushing to make the train...I finally got down to the platform and asked an indian man where the train was. He just pointed away from the station. it was now 6pm and the train had well and truly left. So I walked outside and paid a rickshaw driver an exhorbitant amount of 200 Rp ($5) to take me to Paharganj - it should have cost me $1 maximum but I just oculdn be bothered arguing. I went and stayed at the place my friends were staying earlier for $7 for the night. Then the following day had a walk around Conaught Place and went to maccas. Here the maccas only serves chicken and veg burgers, no pork or meat.. It seems to be very popular anyway. Then I went and caught the train to Jaisalmer (this time with plenty of time to spare).

Train ride from DELHI > JAISALMER

This trip was 16 hours. I began speaking with a 72 yo indian man from Kolkata and a 35 yo man from Kashmir. There were no women in our compartment, only men so I did the best with what I had. We debated about politics, Obama winning the peace prize, marriage and they told me about their families and vica versa. I taught them Cheat and Dumbal (nepali card game) but I seemed to win most of the time so it wasn all that fun. I think i woke up about 6 times throughout hte night due to paranoia. Everytime someone walked past my bed or we stopped at a brightly lit station I would wake up. 2.5 hrs late, our train finally arrived in Jaisalmer at 2pm. There was a sea of touts all yelling at us when we arrived but I found the hotel I was staying at and we got in a 4wd to head there. Jaisalmer is a lot more chilled out than Delhi. It is set around a massive Fort and is located near the Indian/Pakistan border in the THar Desert. Yesterday we went on a Sunset camel safari which was nice - I got the guy to make my camel run which made things a bit more fun. I had a walk aroudn the fort today and yesterday and spoke with some of the locals. I splashed out on my room here - it has aircon and is very clean, the people who run the place are fantastic and very helpful. Tonight I catch a train from Delhi to Jaipur to meet my friend Kritika for the festival of Diwali. THey have already started lighting firecrackers here in preparation! Keep you posted xx

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18th October 2009

Brave
Wow, that sounds like quite the journey... Im impressed by your independance and bravery going through India on your own! :) Take care!

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