Intrepid Golden Triangle Tour - Day 5

August 5th 2011.

Today is a free day, so we hired a tuk tuk for the day.  First we went to the Amber Fort.  Another crazy huge fort with some cool geometric gardens and great views.  When we were waiting to leave the Amber Fort some guy wouldn't stop pestering me to buy some hand paintings and started trying to barter for my hat..  "how much was your hat".. "I give you 3 paintings"..  he was so persistent, they were terrible paintings.. master sales person (look out Simon Smith!)  I didn't give in and he kept following even when I ignored him completely and he just moved on to Brian.. comedy.


Tegan bravely stroked one of the goats that was relaxing on the stairs on the way back down, right on its forehead between its horns - the goat was loving it..  so funny.


Next we stopped by the Jal Mahal (water palace). Had lunch at rainbow restaurant and then went to Jantar Mantar (a collection of architectural astronomical instruments) which was really very interesting.

Later on some of the guys went shopping, and some of us went back tot he hotel to chill out for the afternoon.  My budget is too low for shopping!

Had dinner at 7 on the roof of the hotel.  Some young guys were singing and playing drums and a puppet show which was pretty funny to watch.  I had a go on the drum for a while before dinner arrived which was fun.  Simon recorded me playing the drums but his sdcard filled up so only got a small clip but thats cool, thanks Simon. :)



Stayed up til 4am chatting to Anuj and San, went right to the top of the hotel for a view of Jaipur by night and then slept hard!

Intrepid Golden Triangle Tour - Day 4

August 4th 2011.

I had a traditional breakfast at Bhanwar Villas Palace in the morning.  This included Po Ha which is rice flakes, peanuts and spices.  Also had vegetable cutlets, a masala omelet, 2 pieces of toast and chai masala.  I was stuffed.

Had a quick look at the swimming pool which we had to miss on the tour of the grounds yesterday as the Maharajah was swimming in it! Big pool with a great surrounding garden and also a basketball court!?

Didn't want to leave but had to get the minibus over to Jaipur, which was a very long drive.  I slept a little on the bus and woke up just in time to see the Jaipur city gates.  We got to the hotel around 4pm, freshened up and rested for a bit before going to watch a Bollywood movie at the cinema in Jaipur.

We watched Singham - I had no idea what was going on for the first half but it was hilarious, at the interval Anuj explained what was happening and I think we all had it wrong, lol.  The second half was easier to understand though after getting the gist of the beginning. If you get a chance, watch it, preferably with no subtitles.. hah.  Its about police corruption, lots of martial arts, bitch slapping, stupid action shots, and belt whipping..!?  At the cinema I bought popcorn and a coke for about 60p!  (small popcorn but still).  Had dinner at the Chutney Chimney restaurant.  Very tired from late night before and travelling so crashed earlyish - got a 9am start in the morning.




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Intrepid Golden Triangle Tour - Day 3

August 3rd 2011.

Today we went to a village called Karauli via Fatehpur Sikri "ghost town". I was still half asleep when we got to Fatehpur Sikri and left my camera and GPS in the minibus - Doh! I stole pics from Brian and Tegan though :)  I was very impressed by the 5 tier palace there and the huge king size bed for the king and his selection of ~400 concubines.  The view across the surrounding country side was breathtaking and the courtyards and palaces were covered in intricate carvings.

There is a mosque there which we also went into, after we shook off the many children trying to sell us all kinds of things including dodgy batteries and fake sdcards.  Once you tell them no enough they divert to talking about cricket, they told me they thought English cricket is very good - I have no clue but hey :)



As we got back on to the bus I saw my first rain storm, it rained like Ive never seen but the guys assured me that was nothing.. ace!  They don't call it monsoon season for nothing.

Stopped at a hotel restaurant next as we had another 2.5 - 4 hours journey.  Chicken curry, rice, roti, coke, 1l water - £3.92.  There were some guys in the restaurant painting the ceiling, no ladder, just tables stacked up - genius!  No health and safety here :)



On the drive we went through some very non touristy villages, lots of people staring at us white guys.  Didn't know which side of the minibus to look out of at times, so much to take in!



We got to Karauli and went straight to our hotel, well.. palace.. We were staying at Bhanwar villas palace - it really was paradise, I wanted to stay forever!  My room on the ground floor opened up into a beautiful garden.  We had a tour of the palace grounds before taking a walk through the village to the temple and saw everyone congregate for prayer time.  I would never have done this if I was not on the tour, I'm not religious but it was a great thing to see.  An old guy came up to me with his tiny little daughter and wanted her to shake my hand.  We didn't see any other westerners in this village.


The walk through the village made you feel a little like a celebrity, many people staring, saying hello, kids gathering and waving..  you cant exactly blend in when you're a 6 foot 3 white guy!  There was much poverty here but everyone seemed very happy, holding hands and smiling.



Bizarrely, I heard the music to one of my favourite arcade games, Metal Slug, I looked around and to my amazement saw 3 young kids playing Metal Slug on a beat up old arcade machine, when I tried to take a picture they all shoved each other and tried to get in shot  :)  The pic came out blurry but how cool is that?  :D


Took a video of the tuk tuk ride back from the temple to the palace along the way we had walked, but it doesn't really convey the craziness, you have to be there and fear for your safety to really appreciate it (even though after a couple of times you're fine with it!).  We did almost crash into a cow though!

 

Dinner at the palace was a buffet of vegetarian and meat dishes; spicy tomato soup for starters, a dahl, vegetarian koftas, an onion and chilli dish and a chicken curry, bread pudding for desert.  I really enjoyed trying the local delicacies.  The young kids that work here gave a brilliant service to us.

Drank beer and played cards (and laughed at my amazing card shuffling skills) in the garden til about 3am, still incredibly hot at that time, the heat never gives up.  The game of chase the ace became chase the geek as I always seemed to get the worst card every time and then we played "spoons" which was hilarious, we only broke one glass so all good, Anuj said its good luck, lol.


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Intrepid Golden Triangle Tour - Day 2

August 2nd 2011.

5am tuk tuk ride to train station, 2 hour train journey to Agra - city of love :)

After checking in to our next hotel we visited Agra Fort which overlooks the Taj Mahal.  The Agra Fort is huge, very tranquil place with amazing architecture including several palaces within.  Shah Jahan (who built the Taj Mahal) was imprisoned here with a view of the Taj by his own son to prevent him having any more sons so he could become emperor!  Head over to Wikipedia to find out more!

After lunch in a local restaurant we had a tour of a carpet factory where they make hand made carpets, Kanu carpets.  Would never have thought of doing this but actually was quite worth a look, saw them making the designs on graph paper to give to the local villagers who spend months on a loom making one carpet from the finest wool, the cleaning and finishing process.  They offered us chai massala and showed us the finished product, I walked barefoot on the carpet - it was super soft.  Very expensive though!


Later we visited the Taj Mahal. Quite a few touts and beggars near the entrance. You aren't allowed to take much in to the Taj, no bags or phones or anything, etc.  Had to convince the guards to let me in with my GPS but wangled it :)

Once inside the grounds of the Taj Mahal it blew me away.  After we looked around it for a couple of hours or so I just sat and stared at it for ages, Ive seen pictures but being right there was incredible - if you get the chance you must see it with your own eyes.  Even the guy who sat near to us and threw up in a tiny little bag couldn't ruin it - poor bugger.

Went to another great restaurant for dinner with everyone, had drinks back at the hotel and chatted for a while before crashing out.  Not much sleep before the early start in the morning - doh!


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Intrepid Golden Triangle Tour - Day 1

August 1st 2011.

Met with the 5 other guys on the tour - Michael, Tegan and San from Melbourne Australia and Simon and Brian from Perth Australia. Our guide for the week was Anuj Misra. All great guys :)

After a short briefing of the week ahead we set off for Old Delhi. Got a tube to Chandri Chowk, the tube was actually pretty nice (in some ways) compared to London tube system! Air con on the tube trains makes all the difference. Old Delhi is properly run down, you have to see it to believe it. Crazy busy too.

We headed for Jama Masjid (a Mosque) first. Theres a knack to walking barefoot on baking hot red stone! Simon, San and I climbed to the top of one of the minarettes and got a birds eye view of Old Delhi. The tower seemed taller than it looked when ascending the spiral stairs and when we finally got to the top there were a lot of people crammed into such a small space! Passing people on the way back down was fun as the stairway was incredibly narrrow.

Had a tour of the narrow streets (maybe only a metre or so wide in places) and markets and stopped for a cup of hot chai masala on a street corner. Anuj pointed out the really old traditional Indian houses along the way.

Next stop was Sisganj Gurudwara. This is a Sihk temple, it also has a community kitchen. The community kitchen is a place where anyone can get food and water for free, regardless of status, colour, crede, religion etc. It is not regarded as charity, just free for all. They had a chappati production line here, I joined in and made a few :)



Got a tuk tuk back to the hotel, funny because the driver clearly had no idea where we were going and kept stopping and asking people for directions, but fortunately Brian recognised where we were and managed to direct the driver.

Had dinner with the group at Crossroads restaurant. Chicken curry with tandoori roti which was fantastic. Funny watching Michael trying to convince the waiter to make the curry "very very very very very spicy". :P

Crashed early ready to get up and leave by 5am and catch a train to Agra! zzzZZ


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Might is right!

After a week in India guided by our new friend Anuj, I have learned a few things;

1. Might is right.
2. IST = Indian stretchable time.
3. Negotiate hard!
4. Air con is my new best friend.
5. Ignoring people is not always rude.
6. Service in India is a big part of life, everyone is really keen to help.  Tip everyone who does anything for you.
7. Walking out in front of what looks like 9 lanes of traffic is fine. They will avoid you.
8. I dont actually need English builder tea to survive!
9. Most people in India are very friendly and want to talk to you. You get a feel for those who want something and you can apply lesson 5 above.
10. I can't shuffle a deck of cards to save my life.
11. Every day is curry day :D
12. Singham is awesome.
13. Cows, dogs, monkeys, camels, people, cars, busses, mopeds, tuk tuks, rikshaws can all be in the road at the same time.
14. Some kids in Karauli are playing Metal Slug on a beat up old arcade machine  :P
15. There is no limit to the number of people and/ or items which you can carry about your vehicle or on your head.
16. I can live for a week with no internet and just half of what I actually brought to India.
17. Tandoori chicken doesnt have to cost £15.
18. You can get to a cinema by approaching a non English speaking tuk tuk driver, showing him a picture of the inside of a cinema, quoting the name of a Bollywood star and showing him your best tiger claw.

A wall of heat!

Arrived at Delhi airport at midday after a 7.5 hour flight.  The flight was ok considering it was economy class.  Stepping out of the airport was like walking into a wall of heat, uber hot I tell thee.

On the short drive to my hotel I observed the madness of the Indian road system.. I'm sure there must be some rules but the only rule must be to have a working horn.  There are lanes on the road but noone seems to use them, basically drive where you want and beep to make those around you aware or get them to move out of the way - undertake, straddle two lanes, do what you like!

Through the window of the car I could already see extreme diversity from the very poor to the very rich.

Having not slept much my plan was to have a power nap at the hotel and then go for a wander and get some food.  The power nap lasted 8 hours though and I woke up at 22:00! So I ordered room service.  I got a curry, rice, parantha, large beer, 2 big bottles of coke and a litre of water for under 5 quid! Even at the hotel.  Watched a film and slept some more.

Just about to start a week long tour from Delhi to Agra to Jaipur and back to Delhi.  Leaving in 10 mins.


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