India trip

We left Delhi on a night train to Jhansi so we could detour to Khuranjo to see some amazing temples.
The train sleeper carriages were good but the trip was very short.
We arrived at 6.30am in the morning and headed out to the local bus station to catch a bus. We were then hounded for 1hour+ by taxi drivers wanting to drive us there and we couldn't believe their persistence. We would have caught a local bus but the trip was at least 6 hours in fairly poor buses. They finally left us alone (even James was getting annoyed) and we then foud a taxi for 700 rupees which took us 3 hours instead. The town was just about dead (very few tourists) We stayed overnight and did some push bike riding to the outer temples before seeing the main temples the next day. (Very expensive to visit and like per normal in India the Foreign tourists pay an incredible amount and Indian tourists pay next to nothing. )

We then attempted to catch a local bus back to Jhansi for our next night train to Varanasi and what an effort that was. First 2 buses were cancelled and we then had to resort to the local general train (cheap at least). This train trip took 7 hours on slatted seats and lucky our train wasn't until 10pm that night. We saw plenty of the countryside and the locals though.

We then had a shower at the train station and watched some of the IPL cricket match in the upper class waiting area (whatever that means??) and caught the next sleeper train to Varanasi. We again arrived in the morning and attempted to make our way to the Alka hotel without being ripped off???? We got a cheap rickshaw but they dropped us in the back streets so a guy took us for a 15 minute walk to the hotel (should only have been 5) and then wanted us to pay him ?? We gave him 10 rupees only because we told him it should have been shorter.

Hotel right on the Ganges and down from the funeral ghat. Spent the afternoon walking around the waterfront and the ghats which is an interesting experience in the early evening. Saw a few bodies floating down the river as well. Also did an early morning walk rather than a boat ride and decided at 7am that we would attempt to head to the border and cash in our train ticket. We managed to get most of our money back on the ticket which didn't leave until midnight that night. We were a bit over the touts and people hassling you all the time to either buy or use their services. We attempted to get a rickshaw to the bus station and that took 3 attempts as the first one didn't have the right paperwork according to the police and the second one wanted to have a smoke before he went and the lucky third one got our business.

Got a local bus to the closest Indian border town and then tried to enquire re: a bus to the border, also a chore in itself. By the way the local bus trip took 8 hours as well???? We then took a jeep that we negotiated 100 IR each for for the trip to the border about 1 hour. Then the guy started hassling us for more money 15 minutes form the border. He got a mouthful from me and not one red cent extra. I don't think they deal well with assertive women and just dropped us at the border with our luggage. We then cleared immigration in both countries by 9.30pm that night and slept in a dive of a place over the border but it was very cheap.

A long day even by our standards and not one we want to repeat in a hurry.

For those that miss the 1970's then a trip to India is a must. It is a curious mix of old and modern with mobile phones everywhere and some computers as well.

So what will you find in India that reminds you of the 70's:

Corduroy pants and jackets
Safari suits
Embroidered and decorated jeans
1 rupee lollies in jats on shop counters
pollution belching tyrucks everywhre
milk in plastic bags just like you used to get in kindy ( for thise old enough to remeber that)
rollerskating rinks
discotheques
Decor in the buildings - pine boards and blue and white tiles

We travelled to Nainital, north of Delhi to escape the heat imagining a nice little quiet lakeside town only to find the equivalent of gold coast high rises built into steep cliff faces surrounding a fairly polluted lake that every tout in town wanted you to go for a boat ride on. ( the government actually has about 20 aeration points at the bottom of the lake to keep it alive!!!!)

Very cool at night and we stayed here for 3 nights at a renovators delight ( might have actually been past renovation stage more like knockdown stage) for 400 rupees a night. Cheapest we could find in town but no hot water which we had to buy by the bucket for 6 rupees. Most Delhi residents escape the heat by coming to Nainital. We had a great view of the busy mall area but unfortunately we learnt how they build restuarants in 3 days at this place as the construction took place under our room for 24 hours non stop whilst there. At least they don't use power tools here but very useful with their hands and hand tools.

We managed to do some walking here and climbed a few peaks at over 2200 metres high. Cheenas peak (2600m) was bare of people but Tiffin Top at 2230 metres had the usual cafes and drink stalls found elsewhere in India in amazing places. It is like finding a full cafe on the top of Bartle Frere in Australia and they walk to work each morning as well.

The uphill wasn't too bad even in altitude but the downhills from these points are absolute killers with no flat spots and our calf muscles and buttocks feeling the pain for several days afterwards.

We then moved onto Ramnagar where we stayed in town for 1 night and had some great potato cakes off the streets and an interesting chicken curry?? No prices and no menu and hardly an English spoken as well. Not sure about the hygiene as well but we didn't get sick so our stomachs must be toughening up!!!

Stayed in Corbett National park the next night and did a total of 5 safari's with no tiger sightings. Some we missed by a mere minute or 2. We did however get charged by a very unhappy elephant and lucky our jeep driver was very fast at reversing uphill to escape her. We were in a soft top jeep and had an English guide. The accommodation was dorm with 12 people in a room and luckily it cooled down at night as it was extremely hot during the day.

We have seen many animals including the small 10 of India's national parks. Storks, Crocodiles, Kingfishers, 3 types of deer, mongoose, wild pigs, jackals and Languar monkeys. The only big one has been elephants but plenty of them.

The trip back to town was interesting as we experienced the first storm of the northern monsoon season and what a doozy it was. A full hour of hail, rain and wind all expereinced in a soft topp jeep with no wipers, demister and lights????
We were glad we couldn't see very far to the left or right as we may have been a little scared by how close we were to the edge of the road drop offs if we had. They did get us back safe and sound to Ramnagar and probably deserved a beer for that but they don't drink!!!!

Week three in Delhi and James has been shit on by a pigeon in 3 separate incidents and perhaps this now makes him a holy man???

We finally arrived in Delhi after a 3 hour train trip from Agra which left at 7pm - sitting class. We arrived to the 'in your face taxi touts' at 11.15pm at night and decided to walk down the road a bit further to find a rickshaw which we knew would be cheaper. We got one for 120 rupees and finally got a hotel by midnight for 350 rupees a night. It had a fan, windows and reasonable security plus hotwater.

When you wake the next morning and experience the sounds of a chaotic city and see the rubbish and filth in the backstreets and know that people are living in this it is just amazing. We were certainly staying in the cheaper part of town but also the most interesting in terms of day to day happenings. The weather has been astoundingly hot at 38 degrees and above and we managed to see the majority of sights of Delhi and surrounds. James insisted on going to the highest point in the city which is a revolving restuarant in Connaught place and we managed to spend 400 rupees ( just about our daily allowance) on 2 beers and a lemon soda just for the view. It was worth it though.

We went to the National cricket stadium and have seen people playing cricket everywhere you can imagine every day and watching the IPL matches on TV is a part of their rituals. I think it would be hard for an Indian boy to make the National cricket team then an Australian to do the same based on the huge population. There are some amazing temples and mosques here and I think we have seen every single one. People of all religions mix freely and the rest of the world could learn about religious equity and freedoms from India.

The extremes of lifestyle are also evident from the rich surrounds of Connaught place to the slums beside the railway lines and yes they do toilet beside the line as you watch the scenery as you travel by.

The chaos of Delhi is matched by the cheapness of food and drink on the street. I did go into McDonalds and whilst longing for a beef burger, all I could buy was chicken one???? James had his usual 30 cent ice cream cone (12 rupees here)We have broken every food rule known to travellers and as yet I have only had a 4 hour bout of delhi belly (very minor) and James has had none. We have been drinking the local water from the government provided drinking points and no consequences so far.

We have had enough of Delhi chaos at this point in time and are heading North for a few weeks. See more in the next travel blog.

Well another week in India and what a week!!!!!

We have travelled by local bus and train which is an experience in itself and apparently we were the only people stupid enough to pay for the pleasure of having 6 people in a seat built for 3 and having to push our way off the train before it kept moving on. So the second trip on a local train (yes we were stupid to enough to go back for a second time for some unknown reason) we didn't pay but the 2 hour trip took 6 and Mandy was not a happy traveller at the end. The local bus saved us heaps of money and we met some interesting people including all the local teachers travelling on this 6am bus to outlying schools in the middle of nowhere to start at 7.30am. The government provides free education to poor children in the Rhasatjan state. Literacy rate is only 17% on average vs 33% across the whole of India.

We have been ripped off ( I have learnt to be pushy and rude as well because that is the only way to buy a train ticket at the train stations as everyone just pushes in ( no wonder there are armed guards patrolling the qeues)and for some known reason India seems to think that by charging foreign tourists up to ten times more ( in the case of the Taj Mahal, 20 rupees indian, 750 rupees Foreign visitor) that they will continue to visit the country????? Could Australia learn something from this?

James decided to cross (swim) the polluted Yuman river in Agra for a sunrise view of the Taj and it is worth saving yourself the fee and doing the same or maybe take a rickshaw instead if you value your health more. No water in the fountain areas at all and thousands of tourists as part of your photos ( so who is that indian person waving to us ?)

We did have a great stay at Sawai Madophur with a lot less tourists and stayed in a great place called the Hotel Continental for 500 rupees a night, airconditioned and all and we were the only people staying. Ate at a local street restuarant called Kimunj and we highly recommend it to anyone travelling to this area. Took 2 safaris, one in the morning and one in the afternoon and saw plenty of wildlife but no tigers at all.

Our stay in Jaipur was interesting as we slept on beds that felt like timber boards, the power went off all night and this meant it was stinking hot and difficult to sleep. The second night there was no water and no power and also stinking hot. Well I guess that is what you get for 300 rupees a night (James has a tight budget!!!) I also forgot to mention that it had a swimming pool ( indian swimming pool, green stagnant water and my cattle troughs at school are cleaner)It was also here that we experienced the tour guide from hell. (he would have made a great telstra call centre person - could hardly speak English and kept avoiding all my hard questions. He should have spent more time at English school and less time watching John Wayne Movies!!!!) To make matters worst he left us and the only other non Indian tourist in a town at a sight and told us he would pick us up at 5pm. At 5.45 pm we decided to catch the local bus home for 7 rupees. Mandy was also not a happy traveller that day as well.

More entertaining stories to come including James and pigeon shit, food andwater experiences and wedding season.