...which if you like your 'pink cities' er...brown, then its pretty good. There was a problem with our bus so we ended up in a smaller one which ment that I had to share the cab with 3 Japanese girls in facemasks and the leather cap wearing driver! Pretty uncomfortable really but never mind.We met Adrian and Ginny in the queue for our train tickets to Agra, they are Australian and really good fun. We all check in to the same hotel and go see Jaipur. There is a strange astrological place that looks like the set of Labyrinth, then we go on a bloody tiring walk up to a fort on the hill to watch the sun set. It was worth the walk and the view was great. On the way back down is the 'how many westerners can you fit in a jeep?' episode whereby about eight of us stand/squat/sit and generally hang on for dear life on the long road back into Jaipur. Was realy good fun if a little painful.
An early night was called for as we are off to Agra on the 6am train.Its been suprisingly cold since we left Mumbai, until the sun really gets going you need a jumper and trousers. The lonely Planet isnt too kind to Agra but we find it just like everywhere else, the usual rickshaw drivers hassling you a bit, nothing unusual.
We find the highly recommended Hotel Shanti (recommended by me on account of it's view of the Taj Mahal from the roof-top restaurant) and get another early night as its Taj time at sunrise.
It was worth the early start. Not normally one to get exited about buildings, I found this place stunning. Beautiful, any picture I've seen doesnt really do it justice. We try unsuccessfully to get the 'Princess Diana' shot due to the crowds building, still get lots of pictures and it is a highlight so far for sure. They make you take your shoes off before you go into the building, and when you do....Pidgeons everywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure thier shit is pretty corrosive, they should get the priorities right I think. Later in the day we go off and see the rest of Agra, mainly this involved shopping though, I'm getting used to this.
The downside to Agra is the corruption. All the trains booked for 15 days? Bollocks! The girls kick up a fuss and are told,among other things,'In India, never ask why'. Not very nice men. So we end up getting rippped off by a travel agent who sold us seats that were actually spaces in the corridor, most of the way to Gaya. Luckily a family returning from a wedding adopt us and lend us a couple of bunks, as well as feeding us lots. We didnt have time to go to Darjeeling in the Himalayas, so the decision is taken to return to India in a couple of years time to see the places we missed, and would like to return to.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Its only taken 42 days!!!
42 days since I left England to join Sian and Julia in India we finally set up a blog for recording our travel adventures. Better late than never I guess. Well so far we've been round India and I dont think I have all day to write everything thats happened, and about all the places we've been. But in brief, Sian and Julia spent three weeks in Mumbai before I came out as well. In that time they did quite a lot of bollywood and TV stuff, mostly as extras but they did get speaking parts in some, like Sian having to learn a bit of Hindi and picking u a gigllo in 'Mr 100%'. The time in Mumbai for me was short and I only did one movie, we were all Hare Krishnas who have to walk through a scene in 'Bunty or Bubbly'. The girls had made lots of friends before I got there like Polly, who was really cool and it would have been nice if I could have got to know her a bit better as she went back to sunny Richmond. We also met Carly and Trenna, Sam and Syd all of whom we are in touch with still.
It was quite an experience on the set as the crowds are huge making you feel like a celebrity, although the police methods of crowd disbursal are a bit savage, basically involving beating people with sticks till they move.
Away from Bollywood glamour, there is shocking amounts of poverty here and it does make you really think about how lucky we have it in the west. The street children are so cute and Julia took them for food on numerous occasions, they seemed to take a much bigger shine to the girls for some reason.
When Sian and me had recovered from a slightly annoying bout of food poisoning we were ready to leave Mumbai and head off round India, starting with a trip to Udaipur in Rajistan. The trains are really busy but everyone on them is so friendly and will offer you thier food to the point where you're eating even when you've had enough and feel like bursting! This was also the first time I noticed Julia has an amazing ability to sleep anywhere (and I mean anywhere)I thought Sian and myself possessed this skill, but alas no. After about 15 hours we were there.
Udaipur was the setting for the bond film Octopussy (1983) but sadly is not the 'city of three lakes' it used to be as it hasn't rained in 5 years, not that they are interested in conserving water it appears, having fountains running for tourists,to name one sin against water preveservation. It still has the beautiful Lake Palace (kind of big pond palace at the moment) and City Palace and was well worth the visit.
4 days after arriving we board a night bus bound for Pushkar, this bus was ok exept that reading your book is not an option as they will not turn on the reading lights, bad nights sleep it is then!
Once we eventually get to Hotel Om, we are all a bit knackered, so I sleep whle the girls go off exploring. When they come back they have booked a two day camel trek in the desert, which we are all looking forward to. Sian and my first camel trek (Julia has done them in the Sahara) and we manage to be the first people to fall off a camel(according to our experienced guides). I say fall off, we were left hanging from our left ankles when our naughty camel Rama decided he wanted to stop for early lunch. This didnt fit in to our schedule so the guide gave him a bit of a whack on the arse, of course he then starting running resulting in us loseing our balance and off we went. It was very funny and a shame the camera didnt come out quick enough, so no pictorial evidence exists.
It was quite an experience on the set as the crowds are huge making you feel like a celebrity, although the police methods of crowd disbursal are a bit savage, basically involving beating people with sticks till they move.
Away from Bollywood glamour, there is shocking amounts of poverty here and it does make you really think about how lucky we have it in the west. The street children are so cute and Julia took them for food on numerous occasions, they seemed to take a much bigger shine to the girls for some reason.
When Sian and me had recovered from a slightly annoying bout of food poisoning we were ready to leave Mumbai and head off round India, starting with a trip to Udaipur in Rajistan. The trains are really busy but everyone on them is so friendly and will offer you thier food to the point where you're eating even when you've had enough and feel like bursting! This was also the first time I noticed Julia has an amazing ability to sleep anywhere (and I mean anywhere)I thought Sian and myself possessed this skill, but alas no. After about 15 hours we were there.
Udaipur was the setting for the bond film Octopussy (1983) but sadly is not the 'city of three lakes' it used to be as it hasn't rained in 5 years, not that they are interested in conserving water it appears, having fountains running for tourists,to name one sin against water preveservation. It still has the beautiful Lake Palace (kind of big pond palace at the moment) and City Palace and was well worth the visit.
4 days after arriving we board a night bus bound for Pushkar, this bus was ok exept that reading your book is not an option as they will not turn on the reading lights, bad nights sleep it is then!
Once we eventually get to Hotel Om, we are all a bit knackered, so I sleep whle the girls go off exploring. When they come back they have booked a two day camel trek in the desert, which we are all looking forward to. Sian and my first camel trek (Julia has done them in the Sahara) and we manage to be the first people to fall off a camel(according to our experienced guides). I say fall off, we were left hanging from our left ankles when our naughty camel Rama decided he wanted to stop for early lunch. This didnt fit in to our schedule so the guide gave him a bit of a whack on the arse, of course he then starting running resulting in us loseing our balance and off we went. It was very funny and a shame the camera didnt come out quick enough, so no pictorial evidence exists.
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