Over the past few days everyone I have spoken to has asked the same question ... "are you excited ?".
The truth is I haven't really felt excited, more ... bewildered, because planning and dreaming have become the norm just lately and I haven't really thought too much about actually "doing" it !!!
Now at last I think I'm excited. I'm at Heathrow T5 boarding the 10:20am flight BA137 to Delhi and 1st class, courtesy of Avios to whom I should say a big thank you. Needless to say the flight was fantastic, great food and wine, really comfortable bed seat and constant service. As a bonus and having read the book last year, I finally got to see the film of David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas", totally brilliant. (But you must read the book first ).
I arrived at Indira Ghandi airport around about 11pm and it was 30deg.C. My taxi driver promptly introduced me to the pleasures of driving in Delhi and he seemed very interested in me because he didn't take his eyes off me all the way to the hotel !. He appeared to have some weird navigational powers which enabled him to weave in and out of traffic at 60kph without ever actually looking through the windscreen. White lines, lane markings, pedestrian crossings and traffic lights were completely ignored and, along with every other driver, the horn was being sounded constantly. The drive along the freeway reminded me of Josh or Harry playing one of their X-Box car driving games ! It remains a mystery to me how we arrived at my hotel without even a scratch on the vehicle and with no fatalities !
The hotel was ok and I got a good nights sleep. On Tuesday I thought I'd have a wander round the City !!!! I couldn't even cross the road outside the hotel. The traffic stops for no one. So I gave up and decided just to walk around the block ! Everywhere is ankle deep in rubbish. Kim and Mike will remember Mombasa and some of the places we visited in Africa, well this was twice as bad. The traffic, the rubbish and the chaos was so bad I actually found myself laughing at it all. I remember when I was planning the trip that I never really fancied Delhi, it was just a stop off on the way to other places. It was a great experience and I'm very glad to have seen it with my own eyes but, in future, I will stop off somewhere else !!
I decided to change plans, move out of Delhi and travel to Agra, Rajasthan and Jaipur. I went to the Indian tourist office in Delhi and hired a car and driver (Sanjay, good English and great humour) for 3 days. What a good idea, the whole trip was fantastic. Still piles of rubbish everywhere and still the same chaotic traffic but the countryside was beautiful and through Sanjay, I learnt loads about Indian culture, history and Hinduism.
By the side of the old road from Delhi to Agra at a place called Vrindavan is this statue of the Durga.
The entire statue is 140ft tall and can be seen for miles around. The lion itself is 50ft. tall.
Guide Sanjay explained about the thousands of Gods in Hinduism, I'll leave it to you to research this one if you want.
I would imagine that every tourist who has visited the Taj Mahal with a guide will have had a photo taken just like this one !!
One of the "seven wonders of the world" and I can see why. Books and pictures are ok but you really have to come here in person to appreciate it.
By the way, I have much better pictures but I find this one quite amusing !!
Shah Jahan built the palace in memory of his 3rd wife who died after giving birth to 14 children in 15 years !
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......I Hope you're looking in Nick, I was thinking of you when I went to the restoration workshops to see how the inlay work was being done by the original methods.
Taj Mahal is a UNESCO world heritage site. It's good to know there is funding for restoration work.
The most people I've seen on a scooter (so far!) is six. It looks like a circus act but everybody does it. It's law in India to use crash hats but surprise, surprise, nobody takes any notice.
The "Tuk Tuk"on the right is another "safe" form of transport ! NOT !!
I's about 200 kms from Delhi to Agra and now another 250 kms from Agra to Jaipur. Farmland is mainly smallholdings growing wheat which is harvested by hand. After harvesting and the monsoons a lot of land is turned to rice growing. Everywhere you go the sacred bulls and cows roam freely, in the cities, towns and in the country.
The truth is I haven't really felt excited, more ... bewildered, because planning and dreaming have become the norm just lately and I haven't really thought too much about actually "doing" it !!!
Now at last I think I'm excited. I'm at Heathrow T5 boarding the 10:20am flight BA137 to Delhi and 1st class, courtesy of Avios to whom I should say a big thank you. Needless to say the flight was fantastic, great food and wine, really comfortable bed seat and constant service. As a bonus and having read the book last year, I finally got to see the film of David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas", totally brilliant. (But you must read the book first ).
Q) First rule for driving in India ? A) There are no rules !!
The hotel was ok and I got a good nights sleep. On Tuesday I thought I'd have a wander round the City !!!! I couldn't even cross the road outside the hotel. The traffic stops for no one. So I gave up and decided just to walk around the block ! Everywhere is ankle deep in rubbish. Kim and Mike will remember Mombasa and some of the places we visited in Africa, well this was twice as bad. The traffic, the rubbish and the chaos was so bad I actually found myself laughing at it all. I remember when I was planning the trip that I never really fancied Delhi, it was just a stop off on the way to other places. It was a great experience and I'm very glad to have seen it with my own eyes but, in future, I will stop off somewhere else !!
I decided to change plans, move out of Delhi and travel to Agra, Rajasthan and Jaipur. I went to the Indian tourist office in Delhi and hired a car and driver (Sanjay, good English and great humour) for 3 days. What a good idea, the whole trip was fantastic. Still piles of rubbish everywhere and still the same chaotic traffic but the countryside was beautiful and through Sanjay, I learnt loads about Indian culture, history and Hinduism.
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| Statue of Indian Goddess Durga Mata |
By the side of the old road from Delhi to Agra at a place called Vrindavan is this statue of the Durga.
The entire statue is 140ft tall and can be seen for miles around. The lion itself is 50ft. tall.
Guide Sanjay explained about the thousands of Gods in Hinduism, I'll leave it to you to research this one if you want.
I would imagine that every tourist who has visited the Taj Mahal with a guide will have had a photo taken just like this one !!
One of the "seven wonders of the world" and I can see why. Books and pictures are ok but you really have to come here in person to appreciate it.
By the way, I have much better pictures but I find this one quite amusing !!
Shah Jahan built the palace in memory of his 3rd wife who died after giving birth to 14 children in 15 years !
If they had death certificates in those days I would love to have seen the "cause of death" description !!
He was so upset, he built the Palace as a monument. Well, I suppose he had a lot more time on his hands !!!
On a more serious note, the design and construction is fantastic. The four outer towers were built to lean outwards away from the main building so that in case of an earthquake, they would not fall onto the Palace. Although the building looks as though it's built in marble it's actually sandstone with marble cladding to reduce the weight of the structure. The intricate marble inlays are fantastic and considering it's nearly 400 years old it's in very good nick, speaking of which .......
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| Marble inlay and relief work |
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| Hand grinding the inlays |
......I Hope you're looking in Nick, I was thinking of you when I went to the restoration workshops to see how the inlay work was being done by the original methods.
Taj Mahal is a UNESCO world heritage site. It's good to know there is funding for restoration work.
So now it's back through Agra and on towards Rajasthan and Jaipur, 250 kms,. away.
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| Off to school with Dad |
The most people I've seen on a scooter (so far!) is six. It looks like a circus act but everybody does it. It's law in India to use crash hats but surprise, surprise, nobody takes any notice.
The "Tuk Tuk"on the right is another "safe" form of transport ! NOT !!
I's about 200 kms from Delhi to Agra and now another 250 kms from Agra to Jaipur. Farmland is mainly smallholdings growing wheat which is harvested by hand. After harvesting and the monsoons a lot of land is turned to rice growing. Everywhere you go the sacred bulls and cows roam freely, in the cities, towns and in the country.
All of this and the great news that the Seagulls won away to Middlesborough and look like appearing at Wembley.
Maybe I'll fly back to see them !! ( only joking ).
Next is Jaipur and then Shimla in the western Himalayas. See you in a couple of days time.
