India. Delhi & Agra

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So it's my last day in India but I haven't posted a single blog about my travels here. I don't think i can squeeze it all into one post so i'll go through the destinations in order to give you a rough idea of how I have spent my time here. I've only really spent 6 nights in India by myself so i didn't want to be antisocial and get my laptop out every evening. In addition to that the last place i stayed in was a family home with a few additional rooms for guests but they had no wifi and therefore was unable to get things up to date.

My time in india started in Delhi, I was still ill from Nepal so most of my time there was spent in my room taking regular trips to the toilet. I revisit Delhi later on in my travels so i'll skip it for now and come back to it when i actually have something to write about.

After Delhi i arrived in Agra, the home of the Taj Mahul. I wanted to get to the Taj early in the morning so i changed my plans last minute and saved it for my second day which meant my first day was spent at wildlife SOS where i got to spend time with elephants.
I would like to do some more work with animals before heading back home but time scales and also the expense of working with anything more exotic than dogs can really start to add up.
Wildlife SOS is a charity which has been set up to care for rescued elephants. Unlike some other volunteer places it is not simply an elephant type zoo set up to give tourist a chance to get close to elephants for money. They take in elephants that have been saved from circuses or removed from owners who kept them in creul unhumane conditions.
The morning consisted of chopping up fruit for the elephants to eat, i'm not sure on the exact weight but it seemed excessive even for such large creatures. I think some Indians may have had the same thought process with my eating habits. One guy seemed shocked when I asked for 3 scoops of ice cream (a minimum in my opinion). I decided he didn't need to know that this was my desert after a massive pizza hut feast which consisted of a shared starter then 2 medium size pizzas. To be fair I had asked for large but that wasn't available so they offered me 2 medium sized instead, quite possibly because no one had ever ordered large and therefore didn't have the apparatus to make one.
Anyway, back to the elephants, what followed the food preparation was my favourite part of the day which was hand feeding some of them (others are a little more unpredictable and due to their gigantic size it's unwise for inexperienced people to go near them)
I was surprised how gentle these giants were, they sniff your hand to make sure there is food in there before gently wrapping their trunk around it to take it from you. they are so delicate and dexterous with their trunk that they barely touch your hand at all.
After gaining a bit of confidence I was told I could put the food straight into their mouth. I was a little hesitant the first time but i needent had been, they expose their tongue allowing you to place the food onto it and only close their mouth around it once you have moved your hand away. For animlas which have previously had such a bad experience with humans I was surprised how happy them seemed for this level of human interaction.
I have no photos of my day at wildlife SOS but i hope they can send me one as a memory of my time there.

That evening I arrived at my guesthouse. The bathroom was mouldy, the room had no windows and the bed rock hard but they were good hosts and now I am a little more experienced with hostel standards I would quite happily return.
After i had dinner (food here in India is incredible) I overheard that the person behind me was english so we started talking and she was planning to go to the Taj the next day as well.

I think Indian food deserves a separate mention and if I wasn't as lazy would even merit its own blog. Never has being a vegetarian been so easy (Goa was a slight exception) even with a language barrier I was quite happy buying street food safe in the knowledge that it contained no meat. The food is beautifully spiced and even with my low heat tolerance I didn't find anything beyond the capabilities of my pallet. I did need to satisfy my cheese cravings on occasion with some western food but even curry for breakfast became a regular and sort after dish.



Sorry I digress, anyhow it was an incredibly early start but worth it as it as despite being there for the opening was already quite crowded and even more so by the time we came to leave.
Despite seeing the Taj on numerous tv shows and even more so in pictures I found it more impressive than i was expecting. It is absolutly huge and the attention to detail really was astonishingly impressive. Unfortunately because of its big draw it was hard to get a picture with anything less than a million people in it. The French in perticular seem to have an astounding skill of appearing from nowhere to ruin the perfect picture and stand there totally ignorant to the fact you are 2 feet away waiting to take a photo of your own. they then to proceed to faff about forever whilst they steal your ideal picture moment before wondering of completely oblivious.
Despite the French, and maybe a few others, a few pictures came out ok. Not quite as tranquil and pictureque as on the postcards but still worth adding to this blog. Also included as a special gift to you mum is a picture with me in it, I was a little reluctant at first but Laila convinced me that it would make you happy. so happy mothers day and any other celebration I miss while I'm away.



The next destination was the Agra fort, unfortunately a trip back to the hostel meant I forgot my camera so i only have images taken from my phone. again the attentional to detail is what really made this an impressive site and its vastness in size means that it filled a few hours of our time.
that concludes my talk on the fort as I've already made this post way too long.

For those of you who are not asleep and are still reading, well done you have passed. there is no prize but you've almost made it to the end.
Next stop for the day was the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, which fortunaly is nicknamed baby taj which is much easier to say to a tuk tuk driver. This certainly wasn't a disappointment but after seeing the Taj Mahul earier that day it wasn't a phenominal point of interest like our previous destinations. The intricate patterns and bespoke detail on the building made it worth a visit but we had already been spoilt with some of Agra's finest architecture.
That concluded day 1 of Agra but the next day had been set aside to visit a couple of destinations which are situated outside the main town.

The visit to Fatehpur Sikri didn't start as stupidly early as the day before but was a fair drive to get there. It was something I may not have bothered with myself as the taxi would have been quite expensive but when split between two it was much more reasonable and really worth the visit. It was a large site and for this we took a tour guide but i've forgotton about 99% of what was said so feel free to consult the internet for additional information. The site consisted of a number of different structures constructed from local red sandstone and is surrounded by a 6km long city wall. The architecture is influenced by of a mix of Jain, Hindu and Islamic elements and the decorative details are beautifully refined.

The last stop in Agra was the tomb of the mogul who had commissioned Fatepur Sikri. we once again decided to have a guided tour from a very knowledgeable gentleman who was a little more patient with our excessive photo taking than the last. This destination was much more peaceful than the previous attractions, there were very few tourists, no sign of the French and the grounds surrounding the building were abundant with wildlife.
the one thing I remember the most was an interesting feature of the building which our tour guide pointed out to us. Laila and I stood at opposite ends of an arch like arrangement and when one of us whispered into the wall the other could hear them quite clearly due to the acoustics which were created by the structure. it reminded me of a trip to the science museum when I was younger. A large satellite dish type structure stood imposingly up against a wall with a small mouth piece to speak into. I said hello and none other than an astronaut from out of space replied and told me this was how they communicate back to earth. I found it astonishing and also somewhat of a privilege until later I realised that an identical structure sat on the opposite side of the room and I had been speaking to someone no more than 100m away.

I have already made some notes for my other adventures through India but it takes me a little while to refine them and not loose everything due to unstable internet so don't hold your breath.

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