guinea pigs taste good!

We decided to go to Kerala in the south of India as it is meant to be very different to the north of India and we thought it would be a good contrast.  Kerala is known as God’s own country in India and is where a lot of Indian’s go on holiday.  It is different to the rest of the country in that although the majority are Hindu about a quarter are Christian and there are also some Jewish families.  Flying in to Kochi all we could see everywhere were rivers, the sea and coconut palms and this is reflected in their cooking, coconut and seafood in everything!  Marc found that he couldn’t use any of the Hindi that he had been learning as they speak Malayalam so he started learning the basics with the taxi driver who collected us from the airport.  Politics wise, Kerala became the first state in the world to democratically elect a Communist government and we saw hammer and sickle symbols everywhere.

Fort Kochi – When we were in McLeodganj we phoned the homestay we wanted to stay at, Fort House, and they confirmed that they had a room and could send someone to fetch us from the airport, they said to email them our details.  We searched on the internet for their email address and emailed them saying what time we would get there.  We arrived and were met by a driver who took us to Fort Inn.  It turned out that we had phoned one place and emailed another!  I don’t know what Fort House was like but Fort Inn was lovely and very clean and also cheaper so it was a good mistake to have made!  We had arrived quite late and in the middle of a power cut, every night between 7.30-8pm the power went off so Anusha from Fort Inn showed us to a restaurant just up the road and we had dinner by candlelight.  After we placed our order the chef picked up his motorbike helmet and left and we wondered what was going on.  He arrived back 10 minutes later with a bag of squid and prawns (which we had just ordered) that he had just bought from the stalls along the seafront.  It was an absolutely wonderful meal.

The next day we walked to the shore of Fort Kochi and watched fishermen working the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets.  They nets were big and they only let them stay in the water for about 5 minutes before bringing them up again, they never seemed to have that many fish in them, 10 at most, I couldn’t understand why they didn’t just leave the nets in the water longer.  We walked along the shore and saw all the fresh fish stalls, they looked amazing and it was so cheap to buy from there.  Lots of the restaurants that we had walked past had ‘you buy, we fry’ written on them which sounded like a fun idea.  We carried on and went to Santa Cruz Basilica.  It was strange seeing a church in India and this church was unlike any we had seen before, it definitely had an Indian influence!  Everywhere you looked there were plastic flowers as well as flashing fairy lights and brightly coloured paint walls.  The only part that wasn’t bright was a lovely carved wooden pulpit.

That evening we went to a Kathakali show.  It is a kind of dance performance and the eyes are very expressive.  We arrived an hour early so we could watch the performers put on their makeup.  Green makeup characterized the Good and we watched as he put on his makeup.  The paints are natural pigments and we were shown how these were made, and then once they have all their makeup on they apply a flower seed in their lower eyelid to get the red eyes that you see on stage.  A narrator got one of the performers to show how different emotions could be expressed using just the eyes which was really interesting and very funny, the guy doing it was brilliant.  Then we watched the play itself which was about a powerful demon king who was eventually defeated and heaven and earth saved.  It dragged on a bit, we did wonder when it was coming to an end, and came out starving.  We went to a nice hotel for dinner and had an expensive meal, by Indian standards anyway, and decided that it just wasn’t worth it.  When you have such wonderful fresh ingredients it really is best to just have them simply cooked at a local restaurant.

We spent the next day having a lazy day and booked our flights to Bangkok.  Marc bought some cotton shirts from FabIndia, which is a great chain of clothes shops, as he was just so hot.  We went back to Casa Linda for dinner and the chef was horrified at how much Marc had paid for his lobster at the hotel the night before and said that he could cook us 2 lobsters for half the price we had paid yesterday.  We had another great meal and said we would be back tomorrow and he could cook us 2 lobsters then!

We went to an area just south of Fort Kochi called Mattancherry and went to the palace there which was built by the Portuguese.  From there we went to Jewtown.  It was strange seeing names like Jew Town, Jew Road and Synagogue Lane on the street signs.  We went to the synagogue which was really light and airy, the floor was covered with 18^th century blue Cantonese ceramic tiles, hand painted and each one different and there were oil lamps everywhere.  We wandered back down Synagogue Lane and stopped at a ginger factory where we sampled lots of different teas and pickles and then went to lunch which was a place that specialized in biriyani, apparently something of a local institution so of sourse we had to try it.  We had got totally disorientated in all the little alleys and roads that didn’t seem to be on our map and so got a tuk tuk driver to take us there.  I really wasn’t convinced he had left us at the right place, but the name of the restaurant and hotel were correct so we went in.  It was very basic and everyone was eating with their hands and looked at us like they had never seen a white face in there before.  We were seated and had a choice of mutton or chicken biriyani.  We both chose mutton and under a minute later were served our biriyani along with some raw onions and date chutney.  It was delicious and the server even brought me a fork although Marc was quite happy to eat with his hands!  We were finished and out the door less than 20 minutes later and had obviously arrived at the right time as there was now a long queue out the door.  It was also a bargain price as the bill came to under a pound for 2 of us.

We went back to Fort Kochi and wandered around there and went to a tailor who packaged up some things we wanted to post back to England.  It was quite an experience, first he sent Marc to the shop over the road to get two cardboard boxes then fitted them together with our things inside and measured it.  He gave the measurements to another tailor who quickly sewed up a white sheet which he then gave back and which fitted perfectly over the boxes.  The original tailor then sewed up the top and got out a wax candle and coin and put lots of wax seals over the seams.  Hopefully it will get to England in a few months time as we have sent it by sea mail!

We went to Casa Linda again and Marc ordered 2 lobsters as they were small and I ordered some coconut prawns and rice.  Somewhere the communication must have broken down as we both ended up being served 2 lobsters each and also the coconut prawns and rice.  They must have thought we were complete pigs ordering all that food and especially when we finished all of it!

The next day we went on a houseboat tour of the backwaters.  The backwaters are lagoons fed by a network of rivers with only two permanent outlets to the sea.  It alternates during the year between fresh and saltwater depending when the monsoon occurs.  The trip was utterly idyllic.  We went along the canals which were filled with purple coloured water hyacinths and banks were all you could see were coconut palms.  We saw local taxi boats with people, bicycles and goats in them and watched men shimmy up coconut palms to get the coconuts at the top.  We saw egrets and cormorants and it was just so relaxing floating by.  We then stopped at a local village and watched women make coir ropes.  Coir is derived from the fibre between coconut shells and their outer husks and we watched as they gathered the fibre and spun it into a long length and then twist it and double it to make a really strong rope.  We carried on walking through the village and saw a peppercorn tree, wild pineapple, nutmeg tree, tamarind and cacao tree.  We got back on the boat and floated down the river for another hour past men working shovelling sand out of boats into waiting trucks and children running to wave at us.  We had only booked a half day tour as I had thought 8 hours on a boat might drag a bit but I was sorry we hadn’t booked for longer as it was such an idyllic experience, one of our highlights in India.

Munnar – We got a taxi to Munnar from Fort Kochi and arrived there at lunchtime.  Munnar is at 1600m and so is much cooler and was once one of the summer boltholes for the British Government of South India.  We drove up through plantations of rubber and of spice.  Pepper then cardamom and then climbing up further into the hills, tea.  Munnar is a major centre of Kerala’s tea industry and is surrounded by around 30 tea estates.  We decided to stay at a small lodge in the middle of a tea plantation rather than in the town itself.  When we arrived it rained the rest of the day but we loved it as is was so fresh and cool compared to how hot it had been in Kochi.  Another one of the reasons why we booked the lodge was because there were cookery demonstrations every night, we had a very flamboyant chef who showed us how to make chicken meethi, paneer in a curry sauce, a vegetable dish with coconut and our favourite, a fish moilee.  He has promised to email the recipes so hopefully we will be able to cook them as well when we get home.  It was interesting to see him use cashew nut paste in some dishes and three strainings of coconut milk in the moilee.  The coconut is grated and boiling water poured over it, the first straining is thick and then boiling water poured over it again to get a 2^nd straining and then repeated again for a 3^rd which is much thinner.  He added the 2^nd and 3^rd and let it boil quite vigorously then reduced the heat and added the 1^st straining near the end and didn’t let it boil otherwise he said it would split.

In the morning we went for a walk around the tea plantation and watched as women picked the young green tea leaves from the top of the bush.  They get paid R4 per kg and pick about 40kg per day so make around 2 pounds per day and it looks like such hard work.  The tea plantations are beautiful, well maintained and make great patterns when you view them from a distance.  We walked in to Munnar for lunch and were glad we hadn’t stayed there, it was noisy and chaotic.  We went to the market and I bought a pineapple as I have been caving fresh fruit.  We got a tuk tuk home and arranged for him to come back at 9 the following morning to take us to rent bikes.  We got back and I asked for a plate so I could cut my pineapple up and the staff insisted that I give it to the kitchen where they could do it for me.  We relaxed on our veranda the rest of the day reading, drinking tea and eating pineapple.  That afternoon it rained heavily and there was a massive thunderstorm, the lightening stuck on the road in front of us and the thunder was only about half a second later.  I have never heard thunder so loud it cracked like the sky was going to be split in two.

We met an English couple, Mike and Charlie, staying at the lodge who were on their honeymoon and they heard we were going to go cycling and asked if we would mind if they joined us.  Our tuk tuk turned up at 9am and all four of us squeezed in the back of the tuk tuk for the ride to town.  I had read in the guidebook about a ride that goes up a gentle slope through a beautiful valley to the Letchmi tea estate.  It was only 8km there so I thought it would be a nice gentle warm up for all the cycling we were going to do.  We rented bikes from the tourist information in Munnar and were really pleased when we saw them, they looked brand new and even had the cardboard wrapping and plastic around the crossbar.  When we cycled away it soon became apparent that these weren’t great bikes.  We couldn’t adjust the height of the saddles, my right peddle when it turned pulled my foot inwards, Marc thought his back tyre was a bit flat and Mike ended up riding Charlie’s bike which was a ladies bike and way too small for him.  It was beautiful riding through the tea plantation and we stopped for water and chocolate frequently.  It seemed to be much easier going back as there were lots of long downhill sections which we go fast on, I think the locals we passed thought we were crazy!  We had lunch in town and Marc and Mike thought they both needed a haircut.  We found a barber and Marc asked for a number one, I think he was quite shocked when the clippers went over his head the first time and he realized how short it was but he loves it now.  Mike meanwhile looked worried the entire time, he had quite a perfectionist for a hairdresser who was determined every last hair would be cut perfectly!  We got a tuk tuk back to the lodge and sat down to read just as the afternoon thunderstorm started again.

For a change it rained the next morning rather than waiting until 3pm as it had done on previous days so we read some more.  It was nice being able to relax, we felt like we were on holiday rather than on a long trip.  There was a heavy mist and at lunchtime the owner asked us if we wanted to take a car to Top Station as there shouldn’t be any mist there.  The four of us got in an Ambassador car to go to Top Station.  The car was so slow, on hills we actually came to a standstill at some points and thought we might start going backwards.  Mike and Charlie had used the same car to get to Munnar and it had taken them all day to get there as opposed to it taking us 3 ½ hours.  Top Station is on the Tamil Nadu border, 35km from Munnar and has some of the highest tea estates in India as well as views all the way to Madurai 250km away.  We arrived there after 1 ¼ painfully slow hours and couldn’t see anything as the mist was so thick!  Marc found a leech in the grass which kept him amused for a long time and then we went home stopping on the way to buy coconuts to drink.

We left to go back to Fort Kochi the following morning and stayed there one night.  We had one last dinner in India at Casa Linda (not lobsters!) and then flew to Bangkok via Sri Lanka early the next day.

We have really enjoyed our time in India but both of us have felt that we haven’t loved it.  There are so many other countries that we have visited and absolutely loved and there was just something missing here, it is hard to know exactly what.

Day 1 – We left Ajay in the morning and got an Ambassador taxi (which is quite a cool old fashioned car) to where the rest of the group was staying in Delhi.  Our arrival coincided with the group meeting in the lobby to go on a city tour so we got chatting with them.  Then Ken came down into the lobby.  We had met Ken on the Huayhuash circuit in Peru and had kept in touch with him.  He had mentioned in an email that he had already booked his next trek, Beyond Kulu in India and it looked wonderful.  We hadn’t yet really planned the Asian leg of our trip but after reading his email we thought that actually it would make sense to go to India first and why not do the same trek and surprise Ken.  Luckily he seemed genuinely pleased to see us!  We spent the rest of the day packing for the trek and booked a flight to Kochi for when we arrived back in Delhi as we had no desire to spend any more time in Delhi than we had to.  We were quite peeved as we had to pay for the wifi, it seems nothing in India is free!  We ordered room service and I am sure the guy who brought it up was surprised to see just 2 of us, he was probably expecting a family of 4 the amount of food we had ordered!

Day 2 – Our group got the early morning train to Chandagarh which was about 4 hours and then we got picked up by one of our guides and got on a minibus to go to Mandi.  I have never been on a worse bus!  The bus was barely big enough for 11 of us and it was roasting hot as there was no air conditioning.  It had strange wooden laminate flooring, seats that weren’t really wide enough and not much legroom.  On top of everything it had a strange rattling noise coming from underneath.  We drove for a couple of hours and then stopped for lunch.  We were told that it was about another 4 hours to Mandi which Marc was pleased about as he kept asking would we arrive in time to watch the football.  We carried on and then it started pouring.  We eventually reached stationary traffic which stretched as far as the eye could see.  Marc of course got chatting to everybody at the side of the road and found out that the road was closed as due to the monsoon there had been a landslide up ahead blocking the road which they were now clearing.  After waiting a few hours we started crawling forward and then came to a standstill again where we waited for another hour.  A truck up ahead had broken down and so there was only room for single file traffic on the road, as the traffic coming towards us didn’t feel like letting our side through (it obviously just isn’t the thing to do in India!) we had to wait.

Finally we started moving again but after an hour the rattling under the bus was getting louder.  Our driver initially didn’t seem too concerned about this but the pulled into a garage to get it looked at.  It was about 10pm at this point and Marc had long missed the football and we were all tired and hungry.  Of course the garage didn’t have the part needed and had to send someone to the next village to get it.  The group had found a roadside place and had some rice, dhal and chapattis while I dozed in the bus.  I think by this point our guide was getting quite stressed as we really weren’t happy with the situation and he decided to order us some jeeps to drive us to Mandi.  We thought this would be a definite improvement on the bus but it turned out to be just as uncomfortable.  Marc and I were sitting in the front seat squashed together with me trying to squash closer to him as every time the driver changed gear he rammed the gear stick into my thigh!  We eventually got to our hotel in Mandi at 2.30am absolutely exhausted.

Day 3 – We had a late breakfast the next day and then got on the same minibus for the drive to Manali, apparently it had been fixed!  There was still a strange rattling underneath but it did manage to get us to Manali uneventfully.  We drove following the Beas River into the Kulu Valley, stunning scenery.  We got there in time for a late lunch and met up with our guide Dibs.  We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering round Manali buying things for trek (lots of chocolate and biscuits!) and had a waterproof bag made up for us to put over our exodus bags for a bargain price of  R60, 75p.

Day 4 – We started our trek from the hotel and the first thing everybody said to Marc when they saw him that morning was “new boots?”  Unbelievable I know but Marc had actually worn out his last pair of trekking boots in South America and we had had to buy him new ones in the short time we were back in England.  As he still had a bad ankle he wasn’t able to break them in at all before we left but we thought this would be okay as we hadn’t had to break the last ones in as they were instantly comfortable and he had bought the same sort as he had had before.  We walked out of town past the Hadimba Temple and up through the cedar, pine and oak forests that flank the hillside of the Kulu Valley.  The trip notes had described the trail as unremittingly steep which it was but not actually that bad, I think we have got used to steep trails!  Marc thought that his right boot was rubbing a bit so we put a compeed blister plaster on him to prevent him getting a blister.  We had lunch and then a short trek to the campsite at Sanghchur.  Marc by this point was really complaining about how much he hated his new boots and when he took them off the compeed had worked its way up his sock and he had a massive blister on his heel.  Even I felt quite sorry for him, it must have been painful to walk with!  We had a great nights sleep with our cushion covers stuffed with down jackets as a pillow although it seemed like we were surrounded by dogs which barked continuously through the night.

Day 5 – We gained more height quickly and the Kulu area and Beas River seemed far away from us.  We could see the Rohtang pass leading to Leh which was covered in snow which is unusual this time of year.  There were helicopters going there which were dropping food parcels and airlifting people out that were stranded on the road.  The snow was also putting our itinerary in jeopardy as we were due to cross two high passes, the Kaliheni and Thamser, and Dibs was worried that they too would be covered in snow and we would have to turn back.  We carried on walking and could see the peaks of Indrasan and Deo Tibba and many other snow capped mountains of the Outer and Greater Himalaya.  It was funny looking at the snow line, I know it is described as a snow line but it really is a straight line with everything above it covered in snow.  We walked through forests and open pastures and had lunch with a stunning view.  We had the same lunch again, soup (was always a challenge to guess exactly what it was!) then chapattis with either jam, nutella, peanut butter or strange processed cheese in a tin.  The processed cheese was oddly nice, not something I would ever eat at home but nice all the same.  We didn’t realize it at the time but this was to be the set lunch for the next 10 days!

Marc was getting fed up as he couldn’t walk as quickly as he wanted as he was in so much pain with his blister and was beginning to weigh up what his options were, whether he could carry on trekking or not.  His classic line of the day was him asking me if our insurance with the BMC (British Mountaineering Council) would cover him to be helicoptered off the mountain with his blister!

We arrived at our campsite and had a gorgeous dinner and somehow over dinner we were talking about dogs barking at night and the conversation ended with Marc saying that at 9pm that night we should all make animal noises in our tent.  So we all went to bed as usual around 8-8.30pm and then at 9pm the noises started, of course initiated by Marc!  It was so funny, I have never heard anything like it, everybody making different noises, the guides must have thought we were mad!

Day 6 – Today’s walk was lovely, undulating through the forest until we reached the river.  We had to take off our boots here and go from rock to rock to cross the river, it was so refreshing to cool off your feet in the river as it has been very hot every day.  We had another river crossing and then a very steep ridge walk uphill where Marc was getting frustrated with himself as he was about 10 minutes behind the rest of the group because of his blister.  I kept telling him not to worry about it but I think he is so used to being at the front of the group he found it hard.  We sat down to lunch expecting the usual chapattis but as a surprise today the chef had made us pakoras as well.  It was amazing watching him cook them in front of us, a huge pan of hot oil and another of onions in batter which he just took a small handful of and dropped it into the oil.  We had one large bowl and thought that was it but then that was refilled again and again, they were gorgeous!  We got to the campsite at the base of the Kaliheni pass above the tree line and saw how much snow there was on the pass.  Dibs and another guide Anil went up that afternoon (both crazy fellrunners!) to see how bad it was.  They didn’t even make it to the top before they had to turn back as they were thigh high in snow so we knew we couldn’t carry on with our planned itinerary.

Day 7 – As we couldn’t carry on over the pass Dibs came up with an alternative plan to spend a couple more days trekking where we were and then to go to McLeodganj and do some trekking around there.  We contoured round from the campsite which was a nice easy start to the day and carried on scrambling down rocks and crossing gullies.  It turns out that Marc really likes scrambling, he seems to be naturally very good at it, and he even stopped complaining about his blister as because we were going down it wasn’t rubbing.  We sat having lunch looking at the steep uphill we had to climb after we had eaten but decided that we both much prefer going uphill than downhill.  We reached the top of the steep section and there was then an optional walk to a small summit to our left.  Marc decided to stay behind as he didn’t want to make his blister any worse but I went up and the views from the top were amazing.  There was snow covering the top which I ate as I have been craving an ice lolly, and a 360 degree view with the Himalayas in front of us.  I came back down to find Marc dozing in the sun, quite happy lying there.  We contoured round some more and then headed down to the campsite, Marc was at the front as it was downhill and apart from trying to lead us into the wrong campsite (he didn’t seem to notice the tents were blue and we had been sleeping in orange ones) we got into camp first to choose the best tent, well the one was that on less of a slope than the others.  We checked on his blister but the plaster had fallen off again and it had now got even bigger but I think he is dealing with it a lot better now!  After another great dinner we fell asleep but got woken constantly through the night by our donkeys eating the grass all around our tent, they were such noisy eaters!

Day 8 – We had a short walk steeply downhill today and got into campsite in time for lunch.  The last section reminded me of that game with the wire loop that you guide over a wire and if you touch it it buzzes, except in my case it was having to negotiate through large patches of nettles without being stung!  It was a boiling hot day and the campsite was directly in the sun apart from one large rock under a tree that was shaded so of course I headed there.  As we were free for the afternoon I decided to wash my hair in the stream for the first time since we started trekking and it was just such a nice feeling to have clean hair!  Meanwhile some of the group had noticed that we were camping next to fields of marijuana which were growing wild about 10 feet tall and had gone to have a look….

Day 9 – We only had a 1 hour walk down to the village from where we were going to get the bus to McLeodganj.  We wandered round the village for a bit whilst we waited for the donkeys to catch up with our bags and watched as they packed cases of apples onto a truck.  There were apple trees (and marijuana) everywhere and Anil picked us some apples off the trees which tasted wonderful.  The same awful minibus arrived to take us to Andretta, 6 hours away.  It wasn’t too bad a journey, the rattling was still there but so many interesting things to look at along the way, there is always something to see out the window.  The man who owned the local trekking company that Exodus used was called Kim and we stayed at his house in Andretta although he wasn’t there.  This meant that we could sleep in a bed, have a shower and we ate meat for dinner!  Such small pleasures.  Marc and I got lucky and ended up with a double bed and ensuite bathroom!  It was a house full of character with all the rooms upstairs like a maze, leading off each other.  Some of the group had beer and whiskey with dinner and Marc and I had just gone to sleep when we heard Dibs and Rob in our bedroom.  The first thing Rob said was ‘I can handle my drink, I’m not drunk, but I seem to be locked out of my room”.  We knew this wasn’t possible as there was nobody in his room to lock him out so eventually they left and went round to the other door of his room and kicked it hard whereby it opened.  Of course there was much teasing in the morning!

Day 10 – We had a short bus ride to Dharmashala and then carried on to the village of Naddi which was where all our guides had come from.   We stopped on the way at a garage and I found that they sold Skippy peanut butter, my absolute favourite.  I bought a large tub so that I could have it with my breakfast and lunchtime chapattis.  We then had a comical lunch at a restaurant where they initially said we could order anything we wanted but it would take 30 minutes and then when they got the order said it would take 2 hours.  It was decided that it was easiest if everyone would have either chicken or vegetable chow mein so we would be served more quickly and so we sent that order in.  Minutes later what everyone had originally ordered started coming out of the kitchen!  We started trekking again after lunch and immediately started up some very steep concrete steps that led out of the village.  It was the hottest day yet and draining walking up in that heat.  We then headed back down to the bridge where we had started.  It seemed that our local guide Sunder thought that we would arrive in camp too early if we went straight there so had taken us up to the top of a hill and back down again!  That night we stayed at another of Kim’s houses on Dharamkot Hill although we did camp this time as it was a smaller house.  We were still able to have a bucket shower and had meat again for dinner along with platefuls of chips – yummy!

Day 11 – After breakfast Marc and I watched the cook making all the chapattis for lunch, it is definitely something we want to try when we return home, they made it look so easy.  We had walked about 200m when Nat tripped and fell face first cutting her lip, hand and knee.  After a bit of first aid and her worrying she wouldn’t be able to kiss her boyfriend when she saw him we carried on.  We had about 1000m of altitude to gain before we got to the campsite up a nice rocky path through a forest.  We stopped for lunch at Triund (2827m) and the three dogs that had decided to join us at Dharamkot Hill were still with us, I think somebody in the group was secretly feeding them!  We arrived at the campsite after another couple of hours trekking and couldn’t see anything as there was a heavy mist surrounding us.  When the mist eventually cleared for a few minutes we saw the pass that we were going to go up tomorrow, it was the steepest rockiest slope you could imagine and there didn’t seem to be any visible path up it!  We relaxed the rest of the afternoon getting occasional glimpses of the pass and watched a cloud in the sky as the sun was shining brightly behind it and had created a perfect silver lining around the edge of the cloud.

Day 12 – It was nice waking up and not having to pack up all our stuff as we were staying at the same campsite that night.  I had a large breakfast to keep me going up the pass, 3 bowls of porridge, and made a peanut butter chapatti to have as a snack on the way!  We set off and got a steady pace going.  We occasionally lost the path but remembered that Dibs said to just follow the sheep droppings and that was the path.  Everybody went at their own pace and I stayed with Marc as he was finding it really hard going, he thought it was the hardest walk he had ever done.  It was just so steep and seemed to be never-ending.  After 5 hours and not too much complaining from Marc we made it to the top, it was such a wonderful feeling of satisfaction.  We then said goodbye to one of the group, Richard, as he was carrying on over the pass for another week of trekking.  We had lunch at the top admiring the view and then headed back down which was nearly as bad although only took 3 hours.

We arrived into the campsite first and I have never seen Marc as exhausted as he was then.  The 3 dogs that had been following us the last few days also made it to the top and back and they too looked exhausted.  We had run out of water and the camp staff could only give us warm water to drink as it was still cooling.  I felt so sorry for Marc, he looked an absolute wreck, that I walked to the hut that was up the hill from the campsite about 10 minutes walk away to buy him some cold water.  We had a celebratory meal that night which was a chickpea curry with poori (lovely fried bread-like a flat doughnut without the sugar) followed by a coconut rice pudding and then fell into a deep deep sleep.

Day 13 – We all woke up aching slightly but knew we could look forward to a hot shower that night.  We walked back down to Triund where we saw 2 lammergeyers on top of a tree and carried on along a ridge and then down into the village of Bhagsu.  We were staying there as there were no hotels available in McLeodganj.  McLeodganj is a hill station established by the British but is now the home of the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans.  It turned out that the Dalai Lama was in town doing teachings so visitors had arrived from all over the world and there were no rooms available.  We walked into our hotel room and I took one look at it and turned and told Marc that there was no way I could stay there!  It was filthy, I would have had to have hovered above the bed because I wouldn’t have wanted to touch it.  The rest of the group seemed to accept the situation but we spoke to Dibs who said he could take us to McLeodganj and show us where some nicer hotels were and see if they had a room.  We went in after lunch and after trying 3 hotels found one with one room left, it still wasn’t great but definitely better than the room in Bhagsu!

Everybody felt like having a celebratory beer but we had arrived in town on the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and it was a dry day in town, nobody was serving any alcohol!  We left all our laundry in to be done and went out for dinner.  There was some confusion over what was available from the menu so I thought I needed to order something different, anyway I ended up with 2 main courses!

Day 14 – We spent the morning wandering around McLeodganj and bumped into Sean and his girlfriend who are from Canada that we had met at Ajay’s homestay in Delhi.  It was very strange walking past them on the street and realizing that we knew them!  Marc then went to a barber’s shop and had his beard shaved off.  They did it so quickly with such a sharp blade and then he got all kinds of potions and a stone rubbed over it followed by a massage, all for the bargain price of R30 (40p)!  We went to an Italian place for lunch as we had curry every day for the last 2 weeks and had gorgeous homemade gnocchi!  We then went to Bhagsu and met up with the rest of the group, said goodbye to Dibs, and got on the same awful minibus to Pathankot.  I was sitting at the front of the minibus and thought it was getting hotter under my feet and then the gearstick started to crunch and didn’t go easily into gear and the bus pulled over to the side of the road.  We just thought here we go again and had visions of being stuck there for ages and missing our train to Delhi but luckily someone appeared with a new washer for the gearstick and we got on our way fewer than 20 minutes later!  Things just happen differently in India, it didn’t seem unusual to anyone that the bus had broken down again!  We got on the sleeper train to Delhi and Marc and I took the top bunks which turned out to be a good idea as we later saw a mouse running down the aisle.  We had our picnic of peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate brownies that we had brought and then slept all the way to Delhi.

Day 15 – We arrived at the hotel early in the morning and were waiting in the reception area to go in for breakfast when we met a couple, Barry and Helen, whom we knew from a trek we had been on in Argentina.  It was such a lovely surprise to see them, it was just a pity that we couldn’t spend more time with them as we had to leave for the airport after breakfast.  They had just arrived to go trekking in the Nanda Devi area and Dibs was going to be their guide!  We then said our goodbyes to the rest of the group and went to the airport to fly to Kochi in Kerala in the south of India.

We have had a wonderful time trekking although it wasn’t what we had planned on doing because of the snow – maybe we will have to come back some day and do the original trek!

We flew with Virgin Atlantic from London to Delhi. It was a wonderful flight. I am such a fan of Virgin Atlantic.  The meal was totally Indian and our taste buds were tickled with spices and textures that we would soon be eating from morning to night. I sat next to a young doctor named Ravi and his recently pregnant wife. We laughed for hours chatting about India and South Africa and England of course. Ravi was heading to the North of India, where he was helping the Red Cross with relief efforts after a terrible flood had caused mayhem. Ravi was a mine of information. Passionate and knowledgeable about India, my appetite for adventures and food had been seriously wetted!

I have read many reports about peoples arrivals to Delhi. I was expecting about half the population of Delhi (14 Million) to be waiting in the arrivals hall, and the other half  to be waiting outside, ready to tell me that the hotel I had booked was full, the taxi we had booked ran out of gas, etc…. Instead the arrivals hall had around 30 people waiting quietly and outside the terminal there were even less people. We were met by our driver with a board and here began our passage to India. The motorway was huge and spacious. As we neared the centre of Delhi, the traffic started to get heavier. The traffic was an eye opener. Every car seemed to have been intentionally beaten and crumpled to avoid the frustration one goes through when your new car is scraped by an auto rickshaw, bike rickshaw, a man with a cart, an Indian official with a cane or even the seriously high pavements. The traffic was dominated by the auto rickshaws. All green in colour. Motorbikes with boxes attached for 2 tourists or anywhere up to 8 locals. I have thus far only seen a maximum of 6, but there was definitely room in the glove box and the roof for at least 2 more skinny locals.

The journey to our guest house was about 40 minutes. It was such an eye opener. We witnessed both of the sides of Delhi. The expensive 5 star hotels and various country club style retreats, through to the groups of people who live on the streets. Cardboard boxes for beds, filthy water to drink and toilet facilities everywhere and anytime. I saw a lot of Indian street Pee’ers.

The taxi was air conditioned. We stepped from the car into what can only be described as humid jungle heat. I immediately broke sweat and the wife began to gently perspire… It was energy sapping heat. Not like the dry heat we have experienced in other hot countries. It was like you could breathe the heat.

We met Ajay. What an amazing host. Our room was ready and the air conditioning had been on for some time, ensuring that these two gentle British citizens would not expire from the heat. I bet you are all so pleased that I am writing the blog. Naomi manages to be so much more succinct. I will punish you with details of toilet visits, ball scratches and every other minor detail that tickles my fancy. (I am typing this on a train heading towards the pink city Jaipur). Oh yes, Ajay…. So we got in and decided to sleep a little before we braved New or Old Delhi.

First bit of good news, we had Indian Sky. This meant that we had more football games than they show in the UK. First up Man Utd vs Liverpool.. woohoooo. Loved the game and was very pleased to see Chelsea’s torturers from last season Manchester Utd beaten. It was a great start to my holiday.

After the game about 7pm, we got an auto rickshaw and negotiated the price to go to Khan Market. The driver, seeing that I was a Gora (Whitey) opened the bidding at 75 Rupees. (85 Rupees is a pound). I finally agreed to a 30 Rupee fare and we were on our way. It was hectic and noisy. Cars, bikes and autorickshaws coming from every direction. I could not see any structure to the driving or how they didn’t permanently collide with one another. At which point our driver decided to reverse mount a pristine looking white Hi Ace people carrier. Naomi and I were beginning to think that we were risking all in these small, metal death traps with three wheels and no wing mirrors. The mirrors seemed to be aimed squarely at the two of us. The driver seemed somewhat distracted by Naomi. I know how he feels, but I don’t watch her when I am driving!!!! So, we eventually got to Khan Market and I gave the driver 100 Rupees. He willingly handed me 50 Rupees and felt that the deal was done. Somewhere in the chaos the price had risen. I was just pleased to be alive and still have all my fingers. He even let me keep Naomi and my 50 Rupees change.

We wandered into Khan Market past a police barrier. A lady spoke to us with some stress in her voice. “There has just been an explosion….The market is closed. Please go back to your hotel, watch some TV and stay safe in your room”. I wasn’t sure how to take the news. Was it a scam, was she being unfriendly or was there actually some danger to us being there. The police had said nothing to us as we entered the market, but the sincerity and care with which she spoke to us, made me realize quickly that we had to head back to the guest house. We hailed another rickshaw and prepared ourselves for the journey back to the police station, close to where we had been recommended an excellent Indian restaurant. We both started to get used to this mode of travel. The drivers were excellent. They were able to traverse through the traffic with such ease and seemed to have some kind of discipline. Naomi informed me that they determine right of way by who has the stronger will. Might is right! Oh tits. Anyway, our drivers will was strong and we arrived at our destination.

Walking through the throngs of people, it was hard not to stare back at the hundreds of eyes that were burning holes through both Naomi and I. More so Naomi and particularly her boob region. It is interesting to think about how non westernized people think of western women, their exposure to Western women being limited to sexual stereotypes from music videos and ads. (I know Naomi would have had this bit finished in about 3 lines…I digress!!)

We got to Karims restaurant. I don’t think we saw one other woman in about 200 people. We ate tandoori chicken, dal, roti and tried a lassi and a delicious rice pudding. It all came to 500 Rupees with the tip included, about 6 pounds. We walked back to the hotel. A 5 minute walk, made 20 minutes by our numerous attempts to cross the road. If you have ever played Frogger, that’s exactly how I felt. I decided to use a local as a buffer between us and the traffic and just shadowed him across the road.
We got back to the guest house and found Ajay in quite a state. He had recommended Khan market to us. He seemed genuinely relieved to see us return. He explained that there had been 5 bombs in Delhi, one of them being at the market. We were pleased to be back with Ajay. The bombs had gone off within about a 5km radius of us, but we never heard a thing. Naomi is probably immune to hearing bombs and I was too engrossed in the last 15 minutes of the football to notice anything.  I just wish that these matters could be resolved by non violent actions. Perhaps I am a little naïve, but ever hopeful.

We just lay in bed and watched the news and prepared for the next day.

Sunday, Naomi and I woke up really late and were treated to an Indian breakfast. A potato style pancake with tasty savoury bits inside. Yoghurt and honey. We then took an auto rickshaw into Old Delhi and went to visit the Red Fort. It was such a hot day. Even the shade didn’t seem to help the constant flow of sweat and perspiration. I could finally shed my excess water I seemed to have retained. 12 stone here I come. My delicate flower that is my wife almost expired from the heat. She seemed to find the exhibits near the fans to be far more interesting than anything else that was going on.

We left the fort and headed out. Then the mayhem began. Many many people came up to us and wanted to sell us postcards, chess sets, guide books. No thank you seems to mean could you repeat what you said. It was hectic. Added to that were the eager Auto and normal Rickshaw drivers who were fighting for your fare. One guy offered me a 1 hour tour for 250 Rupees. Ajay and Ravi had all told us to haggle every price. We must have had at least 8-10 people circle us. My only worry is to lose contact with Naomi. I didn’t feel unsafe, just pestered. Then our Sikh superhero arrived. A tall Sikh man stood in front of me and very calmly asked what I wanted to do and how much I wanted to pay. It was such serenity in a sea of madness. I explained that we wanted a bicycle rickshaw to take us on a tour of Old Delhi and we were happy to pay a reasonable price for the service. He said 50 Rupees each and called a Hindu guy over to take us away on his bike.

Our guide was excellent. He rode us down Chandni Chowk. An old street lined with many houses of worship. A Hindu Temple, a church and also a Sikh Temple. He asked us if we wished to go and see the Sikh Temple. We had thus far been so impressed with Sikh friends and also other Sikh’s that we had met, and were very interested to find out a little more about this religion and visit one of their temples. We met a very learned man, who covered our heads and talked about the faith and the route to enlightenment. It was very refreshing to hear his opinions and learnings, without feeling like he was forcing us to believe anything. The Temple was fascinating and our chat was also illuminating. He highlighted that we should never be in awe of a learned man. Just appreciate and pass on the knowledge without ego.

Back out and onto the back of the bike. We were cycled through the spice market. Streets lined with merchants selling massive amounts of every spice. The strength of which could be felt at the back of our throats. We passed various streets which were dedicated to specific products. Streets of shoes, silver, sarees and food.

We stopped at a Jain Temple. The Jains being a very high caste in India, I was interested to see their house of worship. The local priest showed us around his Temple and explained a lot about the History of Jainism and particularly the building of his Temple and its various shrines to the many re-incarnations of their God.

We were taken the biggest Mosque in Old Delhi, but never went inside. Our driver then took us to a shop which sold a lot of things for tourists. We expressed an interest at his suggestion and he reassured us that we didn’t have to buy anything. I bought myself a Kurta Pyjama (White) and Naomi got a beautiful green Pashmina. We were aware that this is just the start of our eastern tour and that we couldn’t really carry a 2 stone sandalwood elephant for the next 4 months and just got the easy folding stuff. When we came out there was a snake charmer sitting at the side of the road. Naomi bricked it. The guy lifted the lid and hit the side of the wicker basket, at which point a cobra popped straight out with its head in the attack position. We were made no more relaxed by the owner telling us that he had removed the teeth of the snake and would we like to wear it like a scarf. I used Naomi’s fear as an excuse and jumped straight onto the rickshaw and almost started cycling myself away from the stereotypical Indian street entertainment. Quite exciting really.

We said goodbye to our driver who kindly let me know just how much of a tip he felt he was worth. We agreed. We gave him 300 Rupees for a wonderful 3 hour tour of the old city. He hailed us an auto rickshaw. In the meantime a seriously dirty baby had attached himself to my left testicle and was trying to extort money from my pockets. We had been told by many people not to give the beggars any money, as it would not help them in the long run, and it would attract the rest of the population to our willingness to part with our money. Then a young girl appeared. The routine was flawless. We had watched a young boy the day before cry and beg us for money. I mimicked his crying at which point he cracked up and smiled. The girl peered into the rickshaw as we waited by the hour for the lights to change. She pointed to the exact pockets where I had placed my money and suggested that I give it to her. She pointed to our bags and asked if we had food. I had a bottle of water and thought to give it to her. She took it and then started verbally abusing me and pointing into my face. I then noticed that she had taken the lid off the bottle and was holding it at the bottom of the bottle and was watching the lights. The cow was going to soak us as the lights changed. It would have been a welcome cooling, but I felt like spoiling her plans. Just before the lights changed I grabbed the bottle back from her. The driver was expecting a shower and seemed relieved that I had got the bottle back. Naomi and I laughed like drains all the way to the gas station, where we had to wait 15 minutes so the driver could replenish his gas tanks. India moves at a different pace to the world. You just have to fit in and take the ride with patience and joy.  The day’s activities had left me with a migraine, which was only helped by a bed and a dark room. Naomi broke the silence with a couple of pizzas arriving from Domino’s. Can you believe it. We fly all this way to have Domino’s pizza. It was just sheer comfort food. Was so much cheaper than it is in England and tasted the same.

Finally shook the migraine at 2am and managed to fall asleep.

The next day was spent organizing our excursion away from Delhi. Naomi spent the time researching and e-mailing various people to ensure that we would have a wonderful golden triangle visit without paying the extortionate prices that the Indian and English companies charge for a tour to Agra and Jaipur. My leader, tour guide, accountant, chairman and beloved wife had everything planned and paid for. I was brought along merely for entertainment and a little bit of communication, which she feels may be a strength (or weakness) in different settings.

We then went and spent a good few hours at Humayuns tomb. It was a stunning tomb. Quite breathtaking the way they had designed each element of the space. I was impressed and a local said that if I liked this, the Taj Mahal would blow me away. We then left and decided to go to Khan market for some non spicy food and to buy a few things. The rickshaw drivers were all waiting for our trade and gladly offered to take us anywhere for 10 times the price of a local. We eventually bartered a good deal, only 4 times the price and headed for some shopping and grub.

We managed to get a few hours sleep in our room, which Naomi nicknamed the refrigerator. I was able to keep the room at a cool 16 degrees. Ensuring that the mosquitoes and flies actually couldn’t flap their wings without freezing. We were exhausted.

Jaipur – We woke up at 4am to get the early morning train from New Delhi to Jaipur.  We had another harrowing journey in an auto to get to the train station, it seems like you can go through red lights at that time of the morning!  We arrived at the station and immediately got inundated with people wanting to help us.  It is hard to ignore people who are saying ‘hello, hello, hello’ but it is the only way to get by here otherwise you end up having a conversation with them which involves them giving you information you either already know or which is wrong and then expecting money for their help!  We went upstairs to the tourist office to get away from the chaos but it was closed as it was so early.  A guy coming out of an office looked at our e-ticket and said that it wasn’t valid as we needed to come 24hrs earlier and get it stamped by an official to validate it.  It is hard to know who to trust in this country but as he had come out of an office we followed him across the road to the government run tourist office.  Here he kicked a man who was fast asleep on the floor, Mr Sameer, and he told that we would have to buy new tickets as our seats had probably been sold to someone else as we hadn’t confirmed.  We explained that surely the whole point of an e-ticket means you don’t need to go to the station to confirm it.  We then asked if we could use his phone to make a phone call to Ajay to check this out.  Mr Sameer then started to backtrack saying that it might be ok and just to sit in our allocated seats and ignore anyone who tried to move us.  After this he then became surprisingly friendly and gave us cups of tea and said we could sit in his office until the train arrived!  It is such a strange country, one minute someone is trying to scam you and get money out of you and the next giving you a cup of tea!

We got on the train into our first class air conditioned carriage (I didn’t want to brave anything else, I had visions of jammed carriages with people hanging out the windows!) and of course there was no problem with our tickets.  First we got a bottle of water then a cup of tea and biscuits, then a newspaper, then cornflakes, then toast, fruit and more tea.  It was great, definitely a good way to travel!  I then fell asleep for the rest of the journey with my pashmina wrapped around me as the air conditioning was so strong!

We arrived in Jaipur and we had a driver waiting for us with our names on a sign to take us to our B&B.  For the sake of an extra pound it is so much easier to do it that way than be surrounded by people trying to ‘help’ you.  The B&B, Girisadan, we had found on tripadvisor and everyone who had written a review had given it 5/5.  It lived up to our expectations and was wonderful.  We got there and Captain Singh the owner asked us if we wanted a short nap as we must be tired and then he would give us lunch and arrange a tour of the city for us.  It was lovely being so well looked after.  Lunch was delicious, we were truly spoilt.

We then went with our driver in our air conditioned car (I am still not used to the heat!) and picked up a guide who took us into the Old City of Jaipur.  It is called the pink city as the wall running all the way around the city and all the buildings in it are pink sandstone.  First we went to Jantar Mantar, the Observatory.  Jantar Mantar translated means instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens and was full of stone and marble instruments each with their own particular function.  Astrologers are an important part of life here and are consulted for all important occasions and decision making.  The observatory was absolutely fascinating.  We saw an instrument called Small Samrat which is a sundial.  It was a large triangle with flanking quadrants marked off in hours and minutes, the arc on the left showed sunrise to midday and the one on the right midday to sundown.  We read the time from the shadow which was solar time so we had to adjust it to Indian Standard Time by adding 22 minutes and this gave us exactly the right time to the minute!  There was also a Large Samrat which is 10 times larger and so is accurate to 2 seconds instead of 20 seconds.  The sundial on this larger one is 27.4m high.  Another instrument was called Dhruva which had a chin rest on a slope and when you look along the slope at night it shows the position of the Pole Star.

From here we went to the City Palace.  Pretty much as soon as we arrived a monsoon started but we were actually quite glad to wander around in the pouring rain as it cooled us down although I don’t know how happy our guide was at walking everywhere in the rain!  We visited the textile and costume museum which had wonderful fabrics, costumes and wedding dresses and the armoury museum which Marc loved.  We arrived at a large courtyard which had four gates, green gate, lotus gate, rose gate ad peacock gate which were all decorated with rich, vivid colours.

As we drove through the old city we saw the Palace of the Winds which was built with pink sandstone around 1799 for the ladies of the harem.  It has 5 storeys and the façade has 953 small casements in a huge curve each with a balcony and crowning arch.  The windows enabled cool air to circulate and allowed the women who were secluded to watch the processions below without being seen.

We then saw how block painting was done which was fascinating to see.  The man demonstrating first did the outline with a block and then with other smaller blocks filled in the different colours, it was then put in water and the colours changed and became much brighter and then hung out to dry.  We bought a few items in the shop inside with Marc as usual doing the hard bargaining and getting the block print thrown in for free.  He really does seem to be quite good at bargaining, I just feel uncomfortable but know it has to be done as they try and offer a ridiculous price at first.

We went on to the Birla temple which was built by the Birla family.  It was absolutely huge and was made of white marble which in some places was almost transparent it is such good quality marble.  It was lovely to walk on the marble in bare feet as it was warm from the sun, it was so perfectly smooth.

We returned to Girisadan exhausted and had a fabulous home cooked dinner there, we are loving the curries here!

Our driver picked us up at 8.30 the next morning and we drove past the Water Palace which looked like it was floating on water.  We then arrived at the Amber Palace.  We decided not to ride on an elephant up the approach ramp but they did add to the atmosphere of the fort and helped us imagine how it might have been 400 years ago.  The palace was a labyrinth of passageways and rooms and courtyards with the mountains surrounding it.  There were chambers with beautiful latticed windows and octagonal rooms to each side and stunning views over the lake, we spent a long time there just wandering round and exploring, glad that we didn’t have a guide and could just do everything in our own time.

After a while we drove to Jaigarh Fort, this fort was never captured so it remains virtually intact.  We saw the world’s largest cannon on wheels which was 50 tonnes and has an 8m barrel with a range of 20km but was never actually used.  The uniformed guard at the entrance to the cannon took our tickets and then tried to show us round telling us everything that we had already in the guidebook, even though we ignored him throughout he still then asked us for money as he had guided us!  There was another interesting armoury there and it was quite funny as each cannon there had a board beside it with its name and a history of how it had done in battle.  It was a huge fort, we walked around it for ages and seemed to provide lots of amusement for all the Indian tourists there.  I am still finding it hard being stared at constantly!  I then made the mistake of sitting on a different bench to Marc as he was having a cigarette and one by one people came up to me asking if they could sit beside me or if their children could sit beside me and have their photo taken with me.  After 10 minutes of cracking up Marc took pity on me and decided I needed to be rescued!

We had lovely salad for lunch at Anoki café.  Anoki is an upmarket chain of shops selling clothing, table runners, bedding, cushion covers etc.  We decided to buy a cushion cover each so when we are on trek we can stuff our down jackets into them and have proper pillows!  From here we went to the Albert Hall which houses the Central Museum.  There were examples of pottery, metalwork, marble carvings and weapons amongst other things and these were all brought together and displayed to show local craftsmen the finest examples of their crafts so they could learn from it.  The building itself was just as impressive as what was housed in it.

We had another great home cooked meal at Girisadan and an American guest there showed us all the jewellery she had made in Jaipur for her business at home as it is so much cheaper here.  We got up at 5am the next morning for our train to Agra and the Singh’s were waiting for us with a breakfast of toasted sandwiches and hard boiled eggs all packed up for us to take on the train.  We had a great time there, they thought of everything, it is nice staying at homestays instead of large impersonal hotels as it feels like we are not tourists, it is more like staying with family.

Agra -  We braved 3^rd class on the train to Agra as that was all that was available but it was surprisingly fine although we didn’t get fed so it was good that we had our packed breakfast with us.  There was some confusion as the train pulled up to Agra as there are 3 stations in Agra and I wasn’t 100% sure which one I had asked to be collected from!  Eventually I decided that I needed to check and phone the homestay we were going to but as we don’t have a phone this involved me having to ask an Indian man who spoke English if he would mind if I used his phone.  He looked a bit bewildered when I asked but let me use his phone!  We were picked up by a driver and decided to book him for 2 days to take us round the sights as the homestay we were staying at was a few kms outside Agra itself.  We had heard that Agra wasn’t a very nice place and so decided not to stay in the centre.

That afternoon we went to the Taj Mahal.  It is strange as you go through the entrance into a large square you cant see it, it is only after you go through a massive red sandstone gateway that you see it in front of you.  We had read the story in the guidebook of how Shah Jahan, the fifth of the great Mughals, resolved to build his wife Mumtaz (who had died during childbirth) the most magnificent memorial on earth.  Apparently on her deathbed she asked him to show the word how much they loved one another.  It took 22 years to complete with a workforce of 20,000.

Walking through the gateway and seeing the Taj Mahal in front of you is such a magical experience.  Even though it has all the hype surrounding it and we have seen countless pictures, it just takes your breath away when you see it with your own eyes.  The white marble was in contrast to the sky and the dome itself is huge.  The dome is actually a double dome and is done this way to gain height.  Up close the marble is inlaid with semi-precious stones of all colours and shows such intricate workmanship.  Inside the Taj was surprisingly small, it looks so large from the outside but inside there really isn’t much room at all just a central chamber and four octagonal corner rooms.  The tomb of Mumtaz lies directly beneath the dome and lines up centrally with the main entrance.  Shah Jahan’s tomb is larger and to the side but wasn’t originally intended to be there, it was squeezed in by his son, so it flaws the otherwise perfectly symmetry.

We sat on a bench in the garden just mesmerized by the sight of it.  Marc then insisted I take some Princess Diana style photos of him fluttering his eyelashes with his ankles positioned to the side of him!  Not sure if he will put this on facebook along with the one of him posing with his arm and finger outstretched with the tip of his finger on top of the Taj Mahal!

We stopped off at a carpet shop on the way back to see a demonstration of how they are made which was really interesting just to see how labour intensive it was and how skilled the man showing how to make it was.  It was very tempting to buy one but we resisted the hard sell!

We then headed back to the homestay for dinner which Marc said was the best meal he had eaten in India which was surprising as it was all vegetarian food and you know how Marc likes his meat!

The next day we visited the Baby Taj in the morning which is like a miniature replica of the Taj Mahal.  We paid R200 as a tourist entrance fee and then noticed we had been given Indian tickets which only cost R5.  It didn’t seem to bother any of the officials that checked our tickets so I am sure they must all be in on the scam and splitting the difference between them!  We then went to a viewpoint across the river from the Taj Mahal to take some photos and had to say to one man at least 20 times that no, we didn’t want to take a photo with his camel in it!  We drove back across the river and went to the Red Fort.  It was much more interesting than the Red Fort in Delhi.  Shah Jahan was kept imprisoned here for the last 8 years of his life by his son, Aurangzeb who had seized power from him.  It rained heavily the entire time we were there and of course we got pestered at the gate to buy an umbrella, nobody seemed to understand that we liked walking in the rain!  It had lots of wonderful white marble buildings inside with a great view of the Taj Mahal from the windows.

We had a quick lunch and went to Fatehpur Sikri.  There is only one road there from Agra, it is about an hour away, and about 25 minutes outside Agra we stopped in stationary traffic.  Our driver got out to find out what was going on and came back and told us that the stationary trucks had been there since yesterday as two trucks had broken down beside each other on opposite sides of the road.  They were both filled with rocks that they were transporting so couldn’t be moved.  Luckily there was enough space between them for a small car to be able to go through so we overtook the entire traffic jam and got to Fatehpur Sikri.  We heard later that the road was blocked for 2 days.  Fatehpur Sikri is a perfectly preserved red sandstone capital spread along a ridge.  The mosque and palace buildings were deserted after only 14 years.  Akbar the third and greatest of the Mughals had many wives but no living heir.  He visited a holy man, at Sikri who told the emperor he would have 3 sons.  Soon after this prophecy came true.  Akbar was so impressed he decided to build an entirely new capital at Sikri in honour of the saint.  It is over 400 years old and looks no different now as to when it was built.  In the Royal Palace there were numerous courtyards and cloisters, thrones, an astrologer’s seat, pavilions, a ladies garden, stables and palaces – all very impressive!  Inside the mosque is the white marble tomb of the holy man where Hindu and Muslim women come and tie cotton threads and pray at the shrine hoping for children.

We had some time to kill before getting the train back to Delhi so decided to go to one of the marble shops which gave demonstrations of marble inlay.  It was fascinating.  Two men work as a team, one makes the indentations into the marble according to a pattern that is drawn on top and the other one has a wheel that slices precious stones very finely and then he uses it to shape the stone.  It is all done by sight, they are so skilled at what they do, the pieces fit perfectly flat in line with the marble.  After the demonstration we went into the showroom and were very tempted to buy a marble table or two, they were absolutely stunning but instead came out with just a few smaller items that would fit in our rucksacks!

We got the train back to Delhi that evening and got a government pre-paid autorickshaw back to Ajay at our homestay.  They are such a good idea, at train stations and the airport rather than being ripped off by a driver, a man in a kiosk works out how far you are traveling and you pay a fixed price to them and get a receipt which you give to the auto driver when he has taken you to your destination as his form of payment.  It meant we only paid R75 as opposed to R500 when we asked a taxi driver!  We arrived back at the homestay where Ajay welcomed us like old friends, we really don’t feel like moving hotels tomorrow but our next trek starts then so we have to go and meet the group!