Blogs from India, Asia - page 1977

I discovered this morning that the wall-to-wall curtains in my room don't conceal wall-to-wall windows but in fact hide a wall-to-wall wall, with just a small opaque window above the A/C unit to let in some light. After breakfast, I found the cheapest Internet so far in India (a mere Rs 15 per hour). First port of call for the day was the Victoria Memorial, a large and imposing structure in white marble, set in groomed grounds on the east side of the Maidan. It was built at the beginning of the last century to commemorate Queen Victoria's death. Inside, there is now a museum containing exhibits and information about the development of Calcutta as a city, as well as Bengali cultural highlights. Though the architecture of the building contains both European and Moghul influences, it ... read more

We arrived in Chennai (formerly Madras) at 7.00 am Sunday, January 29th. We have been quite busy since the last entry and have lots to catch up on. Most of today has been spent settling into our new location - checking out the hotel services, finding a bank which accepts our cards, locating the nearest cyber cafe, sorting the laundry... generally housekeeping things. Vernon is in another cubicle composing the next installment of our travel diary and I am about to catch up on the email related to the next stage of our journey. This was just a quick check in to let those who are following us know we are alive, well and now in Chennai. Stay tuned.... Penny ... read more

Had another amusing rickshaw fare discussion this morning. I asked one of the hotel staff how much it should cost to get to NJP station (he said Rs 25), then he fetched a rickshaw, whose driver quoted Rs 40. I looked at the hotel guy, who studiously avoided my gaze. When I pressed him, he said that 40 was actually the right price. When I asked why he had said 25, he suddenly went deaf. On arriving on the platform at about 9:15AM, one of the train catering staff accosted me and asked whether I'd like a veg or non-veg lunch. I assumed from this that there was a meal included in the fare, so I was a tad surprised when, 5 minutes later, some dal, rice and a small spicy veg curry were delivered to ... read more

Woke up early and was really lookig forward to our visit to this famous 'wonder of the world' Taxi took us to within a mile then we had to transfer onto a pony and trap to take us to the Taj. Paid 1500Rp to get in and our guide explained that it had taken 22 years and 30 million to build it about 350 years ago. Apparently some love sick Maharaja built it for his dead wife as a token of his love (might have been better to give it to the poor people) When we finaly saw it I have to say it was a magnificent white marble structure which captured the light in a very special way making it seem to glow. The architecture was fantastic with brilliant carvings and marbles inlaid with semi-precious ... read more

OK ....Varanasi was much better than expected...thank goodness....made two new friends ...a man from South Africa and a woman from Varanasi. Also, I have brought with me the affliction that the driver in Agra warned about .... although I stilll question as to how the varanasi-vengence would dare to come my way....in all my years of travel and eating everything anywhere this is the first time. I must confess I have gone the way of emodium only because of the prospect of continued long train rides and upperbunk reservations (not my choice). Who knew all the trains would be full, that it was winter vacation for the kids and that the man we hired to reserve our seats could do no better. He has prbably done very well just getting us on a train. A woman ... read more