Saturday 24 January 2009

I am now back in Delhi, and will give a brief recap of the last week and half of my trip around north India. After leaving the holy city of Varanassi, we travelled on a coach for 14 hours due to our train being cancelled - not suprised. The coach had more drivers than passengers, as each person in the front part of the coach would lean out the window and shout move right or left if a cow or person was in the way. We finally arrived in Agra and saw the famous Taj Mahal and Red Fort - which were as incredible as the photos depict. However, once again two others and I were shoved in a picture with an Indian family (wife and two kids) whilst the husband took the photo! - this was happening on a regular basis - not that we minded too much. We moved from Agra to Jaipur which was a city that represented modern India and old India with a Subway and Levis Jeans next to a man selling tobacco and random tourist souvenirs. Jaipuir was a little intense in terms of the hassling as the sellers would not stop following us and would even lean into our Tuk Tuks to sell random stuff that no person would ever find useful. Also there was a lot of children begging which was quite difficult to deal with. However, the highlight was going to the cinema and watching a Bollywood movie - with no subtitles. The atmosphere in the cinema was "different" - as the audience would whistle at certain times during the movie and cheer and clap! After Jaipur we stayed a night in Roopangarh Fort - which was more than comfortable as we sat round a fire eating and drinking - true Maharajah style. The trip of the North came to a close with the last two nights in Pushkar where half the group including me were all suffering from Delhi Belly. So now I am back in Delhi looking ahead to my next month in Kerala.

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