I board the plane and try to get some sleep, I am in the very centre on an emergency exit row, so I don’t have anyone in front of me which is good but because a partition wall is there I am unable to stretch out fully which is frustrating and uncomfortable.

I don’t get any sleep the entire flight no matter how much I try and when I finally land back in Manchester I am exhausted from being up for well over 24 hours.

I did plan on going into work today but thought better of it so I went home and straight to bed.

Etihad Airlines

I get up at 08:30 and have a quick shower before heading downstairs with Angus to say my final goodbye to Anuj and give him a thank you tip for his great work as tour leader.I go back upstairs and pack my bags, go back downstairs again and put my bags into storage until I get back. I say goodbye to Angus and Hector and then get an auto rickshaw to the Red Fort.

It takes quite a while to get there, about20-30 minutes and it is quite cold with the wind blowing in my face.

When I arrive I need to walk under a separate subway to go underneath the road. Which I am glad of as if I had to cross the road I would be been taking my life in my hands.

I buy a ticket ($2) pass through security and enter the fort. I am a bit surprised as the first area you come to is a shopping arcade.

I walk to the main area of the Fort and a guard comes up to me and asks me to buy a video camera ticket, I ask how much and he says 100 rupees, I plead ignorance and he says 50 rupees, I still act stupid and he drops the price down to 30 rupees.

I know for a fact that it only costs 25 rupees as I neglected to pay it on the way in.

After a bit of arguing when I ask him to show me the ticket I would get, he walks off as he was going to just pocket the money himself and not given me a ticket. I decide to go back and buy an official ticket to stop the aggravation of it happening again.

This is when one of the guides starts to annoy me. He just will not leave me alone, he keeps saying I need a guide or I will know nothing, he stays with me for about five minutes, asking me why I don’t want to use him, in the end I tell him he is probably a crap guide and that is why he has got no customers. I see him again later bothering some Japanese tourists.

I spend about an hour walking around the place and to be honest it is not as impressive as both the Amber and Agra forts.

When I leave the Red Fort I try to find an auto rickshaw to take me to Ansel Plaze, a shopping mall I saw on my first day in Delhi, unfortunately a lot of the drivers had never heard of the place.

I finally find one that says he has and go with him, it takes about 30 minutes and we stop for fuel along the way. I am surprised to find out that auto rickshaws are filled through the back seat.

I do quite a bit of shopping at the mall buying gifts for Sarah as well as sampling almost everything off the MacDonalds value menu.

The mall is shaped like two crescent moons and to get in you need to get frisked first.

After a couple of hours shopping, I get an auto rickshaw back to the hotel, which is easier said than done.

Once he gets to the Karol Bagh area he has no clue where the hotel is, neither have I. after driving down lots of streets and asking anyone he can I finally get to the hotel.

At the hotel I surf the internet for an hour until my taxi arrives to transfer me to the airport.

At the airport I try to go in through the main doors but the security guard sends me away and tells me to come back later because there is more than three hours to my flight, sod that I thought and try to go through another door further down, I enter with no problems.

I check in at the Etihad desk only to be told I need to x-ray my cases myself at the machine behind me, which I do. It seems a bit stupid though as once it is x-rayed and a secure tag and sticker is placed on it I am given it back, surely someone with ill intentions could just put something in it after the scan. Hopefully they are all scanned again before they make it onto the plane.

I go through security and then wait for the departure; I pass the time by getting a hotdog, which was a bad mistake as it tasted bloody awful. I also get some duty free, the chocolate of which I eat while I am waiting.

The flight to Abu Dhabi is very uneventful and I watch Balls of Fury on the way.

I have over a three hour stopover in Abu Dhabi and I spend the time walking around the place and getting something to eat in their small restaurant. I have to admit, for such a major hub the airport is very basic.  

The Red Fort

Ansel Plaza Shopping Mall

Transportation Around Delhi

Delhi Airport

I woke up and went for breakfast at a local Israeli restaurant called the Third Eye, unfortunately they had no electricity so could not make my toast so went back to the hotels restaurant for some cheese on toast, but I don’t think they could understand the concept as I had two slices of cold toast with cold grated cheese on top.I then went back to town and went to an internet café to check my emails and then walked back around the town and around the lake. On the way back to the hotel I called back in to the Third Eye restaurant and had chips in a pita bread, the pita was great and so different than the ones back home that are flat and tasteless.

At the hotel I wait by the pool again until it is time to leave at 14:30.

When the bus comes to take us to the train station we say goodbye to Caroline as she will be leaving the tour here to spend another couple of days in Pushkar before travelling South to a yoga school.

On the train we are split into different carriages. I am with Nick, Lizzie, Hector, and Anuj.

On most trains, busses, planes, taxi’s etc on this trip I have been able to sleep, but I just could not get comfy on this train (probably because my backside still hurt from the camel ride). So by the time we got to Delhi seven hours later I was exhausted.

We were picked up by a group of taxi’s and transported back to the Pablas International Hotel. Here we convened in the lobby and Anuj gave us a goodbye speech, ialso say goodbye to Nick, Lizzie and Dena as they would be leaving in the morning before I got up.

I arranged to meet Anuj at 09:00 the next morning and went to my room.

I packed my bag to save as much time as possible the following day and went to sleep.

Around Pushkar

Because of the animals and drafts I did not sleep very well last night. Anuj got us out of bed at around 07:40 and it was quite a struggle to get out of my sleeping bag as it was nice and warm in there but very cold outside.Eventually I did get out as the sun looked great low on the horizon. I took a look down the well now that it was light, it seemed to go on forever and I could not see the bottom.

We had some breakfast and then started back on the camels heading for town.

The camel ride was a lot more uncomfortable today as my saddle was loose and kept slipping over to the right, which got quite annoying.

When we got back to the hotel I had something else to eat and sat by the pool for a bit before going back out.

We went back to town with Anuj and I had a blessing on the lake with a local holy man he then gave me a bracelet called a Pushkar Passport which was supposed to stop touts approaching me, but, it did not work.

I spend another few hours shopping for some bracelets for Sarah. Then I went back to the hotel again and sit around the pool until it was time to go to dinner.

We went to dinner at a nearby hotel and ate on its rooftop restaurant underneath a blue dome heated by a fire which we all sat around.

The owner set up a TV by us and put on a Bollywood movie but no one paid any attention to it and he then put on some music.

We then went back to the hotel and to bed.

Camel Safari Back to Town

Around Pushkar

Woke up at 08:30 and went for breakfast before we checked out, we had it outside on the tennis court. I had eight slices of toast, greedy I know.We then took the 4×4 jeeps for an hour and a half to get to Pushkar. Along the way we passed through small villages, loads of cattle, goats, camels and even a funeral procession.

We arrive at Pushkar, there was a check point outside the town and we had to pay to go in.

We check into the day room at the Hotel Master Paradise, which we will have until 15:00 when we start our safari.

We then have a short orientation walk around the town by Anuj who shows us the main sights.

We are then left on our own devices to tour the town, I decide to go back to the hotel to relax and have lunch as we will have all tomorrow afternoon to tour the town.

On the way back to the hotel I stop off and buy some snacks for tonight.

I have lunch and then wait by the pool until the camels arrive.

We set off on our camel safari at 15:00, I was the first one to get on a camel and was a bit nervous as I did not want to make a prat of myself by falling off, luckily I did not and neither did anyone else.

My camel was called Lucky and we trekked for a good few hours. First through the town and then into the nearby desert. There was also an angry camel on the trek who was frothing at the mouth and was sticking his tongue out which did not look like a normal tongue but more like his lung sticking out of his mouth whilst making a gurgling noise a bit like bubbles coming up through some hot mud.

When we finally stop, the camel guys set up camp for us which consisted of two big sheets one held up by big sticks and the other on the ground with another narrower sheet wrapped around to act as a wind break.

They cooked us some dinner that night but I did not like the look or taste of it so did not eat it.

The sky was very clear and you could see all the stars.

When it was time to go to bed we all got in our shelter, I think I was quite lucky as I had brough my sleeping bag so I was warm all night but others got cold in the morning.

I was next to the open door so was very paranoid about a dog coming in and licking my face. A black dog did come in walked straight past me went to the end of the tent had a sniff and then went back out.

A cold draft was blowing through the door the whole night directly into my face so I tied the drawstrings on my sleeping bag so just my lips were showing to keep warm.

The Hotel Master Paradise

Around Pushkar

The Camel Safari

Our Camp

I wake up at 07:30 and get some breakfast and leave at 08:30 to go to the bus station. Our bus leaves at 08:50 and we just make it. Our bus is the basic type and we are all squeezed in.It takes abour two and a half hours to get to our stop we then switch to 4×4 jeeps to take us the rest of the way.

We arrive at Roopangarh Fort by having flowers around our neck and a bracelet on our wrist.

We have some lunch and afterwards I waste no time in exploring the area when the others play cricket. I spend about two hours walking everywhere there is to go following every staircase and alley. I even climb to th top of the towers and have a great view of the whole surrounding area.

At 16:00 we go out for a tour of the local village with someone that works at the hotel. It is such a relief to meet kids that do not want to sell you something or ask for money all these ones want is you to take their picture.

They can actually get quite aggressive over this and push the other kids out of the way to get in front of the lens. I was a bit conscious that my remaining memory card on my camera was slowly depleting so I told the kids I don’t have a still camera only my video camera at which point I would flip the lcd viewfinder forwards so they could see themselves being filmed which they loved.

I had about ten kids follow me when I was doing this; they were all going crazy to see themselves. A bit later we stopped for drinks and I met a man with two wives, and he said he was able to have four if he wanted.

When we got back we all dressed up as Maharajas and had dinner in the big hall and afterwards told stories around the campfire.

We rounded the evening off by going onto the roof and watching the stars, it was the first time that I have seen the stars this whole trip either due to light pollution or clouds. The fort also has a number of coloured lights situated along the top which look good in the darkness.

Travelling to Roopangarh

Accomodation at Roopangarh

Around Roopangarh Fort

The Village of Roopangarh

Fancy Dress Dinner

I wake up at 07:00 and go down for breakfast and had what seemed to be my usual for this trip, four slices of toast with jam.We left at 08:00 to go to the Amber Fort by auto rickshaw, it is about 13km away from the hotel, so took a bit of time to go there, we passed the Water Palace on the right hand side which looked interesting as it was situated on a small island in the middle of the small lake.

The Amber Fort is a very impressive structure from the exterior, set high on a hill with a big wall around it that looks like a smaller version of the Great Wall of China.

To reach the fort you walk up a steep incline that zigzags the hillside. A number of tourists hire elephants to take them up but they look mistreated and I totally disagree with this practice.

As usual the hawkers are everywhere trying to sell cameras, batteries, postcards and crappy puppets.

Once inside, the fort is very impressive with large open courtyards and even an area with convex glass on the ceiling to reflect heat in winter.

But, to be honest it is much the same as the other forts we have been too, this is not a bad thing as to me they are some of the highlights of the trip.

When we leave we take the auto rickshaw back into town and along the way we stop to take photographs of the Water Palace, and again we are surrounded by hawkers, one even has something like a violin but with a potato at the end of it.

We then go to a silk factory and see how it is made, from washing, drying, dyeing and decorating.

We then go to the shop have a coke and they show us the finished articles which they try to sell.

After this place we go to a jewellery shop, no one looks interested in being here and then Helena says that the driver told her that I wanted to come, which of course I didn’t, so we leave.

We then go for a meal at the LMB restaurant in Jaipur and I have a pizza (I know but I wanted something other that rice and curry) and it strangely had crisps as one of the toppings.

We get back to the hotel after being caught in traffic for a while and then go to Ladli.

Ladli is a vocational training centre for abused, orphaned and destitute girls.

I found this quite an emotional place, all the girls seemed really happy when we first got there they were all dancing in the yard to music and we were told the history of the place by the co-founder.

It started off with just his wife cycling around Jaipur teaching street children how to read. They then received a grant from the Finish Embassy which paid for a bus, teacher and care worker and it has expanded since then.

We then went and watched some of the girls making jewellery. A girl who I think was called Meena called me over and we talked for a while, she has been there for three years and has what looks like a knife scar on the right side of her face. She shows me how they make jewellery and she works very quick and makes some nice designs.

She then shows me all the jewellery that is for sale hanging on the wall that have been made by the girls, I ask her which ones she has made and I decide to buy them, three necklaces and three bracelets. They are far more expensive than you would pay for the same from a shop or hawker in town but I don’t care about that as 100% of all money from the girls necklaces go into their bank accounts until they are 18 years old. The total cost came to about 1,700 rupees so I give them 2,000 and told them to keep the change.

After I bought the jewellery I went back to watching what they were doing, making jewellery, dancing and just generally having fun.

Jess broke out the balloons again and all the kids love them.

A bus pulled up at the gates and picked up a number of girls to take back to their accommodation. Then another group left and we asked where they were going and we were told back to the streets as they only had a total of 50 beds. This really made me a bit upset and could not stop thinking about these poor kids for the rest of the day, even when I spoke to Sarah later that night on the phone I shed a tear telling her about it.

From here we went to the Raj Mandir cinema to watch a Bollywood movie called “Sunday”.

When we were waiting for tickets to go in I decided to go to MacDonald’s and have a “Maharaja Mac” which was a double chicken burger that looked like a Big Mac, it also had a mild curry sauce and to be honest I was not very keen on it.

We then went in to watch the film, it was a bit difficult to watch as obviously it was in Hindi. It was also very random as it begins with a murder and someone being given a date rape drug but also has a lot of slap stick comedy in it reminiscent of Benny Hill. The lead actor also showed no type of emotion at all with the same facial expression the whole way through whether he was slapping a bad guy around the face or holding hands with his girlfriend.

When this finished we took an auto rickshaw back to the hotel, but the driver got lost and had to ask directions and even went up a one way street into oncoming traffic.

At the hotel I had a shower and went to bed.

The Amber Fort

The Water Palace

Around Jaipur

Jaipur Observatory

Ladli

Movie Night

I get up at about 05:50 after the loud prey music from outside pours into the room, no matter how much I try, I can’t go back to sleep. Every noise at the hotel seems to be amplified, people working in the corridors, telephones ringing, doors opening even toilets flushing.I finally get out of bed a 07:00 brush my teeth and go down stairs ready to leave at 07:30. we take the same bus we had the previous night to a bus stop that we board our deluxe bus that will take us all the way to Jaipur. It is supposed to take four hours but due to traffic it is more like six. I don’t really notice it though as I have my Ipod in my ears and am asleep for the majority of the journey, except for when we stop for a snack about half way there. I have a mars bar and it tastes good.

As we arrive at Jaipur bus station some locals see us on the bus and start running next to us trying to offer us auto rickshaws rides, I think from this point it is going to be a frustrating city.

I am not wrong as from the moment we get off the bus people swarm around us offering us rides, crap souvenirs and the most annoying I think are the people asking for money as this is the first time this trip they physically pull on your arm and leg, I am not very happy with this at all.

It takes quite a while for Anuj to arrange auto rickshaws for us but I am so glad when he does so I can get away from a kid pulling on my arm.

We arrive at the Tara Niwas which will be our hotel for the next two nights.

First impressions from the outside is that it looks like someone’s house, but on checking in to the room I think that it is the best this trip (not including Indian Habitat Centre, which is in a totally different league).

It is a big room, two beds, coffe table with chairs, desk, TV and wardrobe as well as a bath, all the others had showers only. It also had a slightly Mediterranean feel with a veranda outside the room.

We wash up quickly and go back down for lunch; I have chips and a cheese toastie, which turns out to be a cheese and tomato toastie, so I just take the tomato off.

After lunch we go into the centre of the old city with Anuj who after a brief orientation leaves us to our own devices.

I really don’t like this place half as much as all the other places, firstly the traffice is terrible the trip in took ages, secondly the pollution is really bad and third and main reason the people coming up to you and bothering you.

We see briefly the Wind Palace, City Palace and Observatory before we try to find a good restaurant. Anuj told us there were some good ones on MI Road, so I navigate us there down some very small alleys using the hotels basic map.

We finally get to the road but can’t find and restaurants so eventually after much searching we take a cycle rickshaw further down the road and in about five minutes arrive in an area with restaurants.

We finally decide on one called Niros and I go for a chicken chow mein, the other four decide to share a selection of curries.

When the meal is finished we take an auto rickshaw with all five of us squeezed in back to the hotel.

I phone Sarah from the front porch of the hotel and then go to bed.  

Travelling to Jaipur

The Tara Niwas Hotel

First Night in Jaipur

After an uncomfortable journey on the train we finally arrive at Agra, the station is very busy and we finally get out and take auto rickshaws to our hotel. Surprisingly the back seats come down in them to reveal a small boot area, I did not know they did that!The hotel we are staying at is the Sheela Inn Hotel, about 400 yards from the Taj Mahal.

As soon as we arrive we have an hour to freshen up before going to the Taj Mahal. I have breakfast on the top floor, if it was warmer I would have it on the rooftop with a view of the Taj, but it is too cold.

We get cycle rickshaws to the monument ans as we approach the outside of the building we are surrounded by hawkers trying to sell there tat.

We pass through tight security before we get into the outer courtyard we then walk through the archway to get our first clear view of the building. All I could think is WOW! After seeing it on TV and in so many books I was actually here looking at it with my own eyes. This was the highlight of the trip so far. A man then came up to me and told me I needed to pay 25 rupees to film the building and even then I could not take it any further than the step outside the archway.

I pay the money and walk through. I do all the standard things like stare, take pictures, shoot some video, and take some more pictures.

I then make my way towards the building stopping every few yards to take another picture. Then a guy comes over to me with a whistle and points out a few places for me to stand to get the best shots, to be honest, I could pick better spots but I oblige. As I walk away he says “pay,pay!” I tell him to piss off as I am not paying for him to point to the ground and me take a picture, he does not follow me.

When I get to the mausoleum part I have to put covers on my shoes to cover them so it does not damage the marble on the ground, I then ascend to the balcony level.

I walk around a bit and then go inside, I have to admit this was a bit of an anti-climax as for all the grandeur outside I was expecting amazing things inside, but it was a large empty room except for a sarcophagus in the centre, which you walk around. The ceiling is just the inside of the dome and that is about it.

I go back outside and walk all the way around the building and take a lot more photographs.

There are two mosques each side of the Taj which I have never seen before on photographs so I go and explore them.

I then make my way to the exit and meet up with the rest of the group.

We then get cycle rickshaws back to the hotel and have lunch on the roof terrace overlooking the Taj Mahal.

After lunch we head over to the Agra Fort by cycle rickshaw.

The building is very imposing from the outside and it is made of red sandstone.

Anuj hands us over to an official guide called Mr. Singh who shows us around. Inside is big courtyards and a number of different Palaces as well as a load of monkeys.

We spend about an hour walking around before leaving to have a tour of a carpet factory.

To be honest I am not really into carpets so it was a bit of a waste of time I thought. They showed us each stage of the carpets creation from design, construction, cleaning and cutting before taking us o their showroom to try and sell us them. Iain and Helena did but they are the only ones. It was quite funny as all the sales men would come from nowhere in the end I counted nine, each of them unrolling numerous rugs onto the floor.

After this we went back to the hotel and I had a shower which was freezing as there was no hot water, it was over very quickly!

We then went for dinner with another Intrepid group to quite an expensive restaurant some of our group followed the meal with dancing on the small disco area.  

Travelling from Train Station to Hotel

Sheela Inn Hotel

The Taj Mahal

Agra Fort

Carpet Factory

Going Out at Night

The alarm clock goes off at 06:00 but it is cloudy outside so there is no chance of seeing the sunrise so I go back to sleep.I eventually wake up at 09:30 and have a shower to refresh me for the day ahead. I am so glad that I have brought my foam travel sandals that I use in showers as the entire bathroom is the shower so the water goes everywhere, over the toilet, floor, sink, etc. and gives off a funny smell with ominous looking bits floating. I suspect it maybe the drains pushing some of the liquid back into the bathroom.

I pack my back and checkout of my room by 12:00.

I go for a long walk around the local area and buy some snacks for tonights train journey.

I also go back to the location of last nights boat trip and walk up to all the Ghats until I reach where I got to during yesterdays walk and turn back.

There is a large mud area along the banks filled with bulls, I notice that there is one mean bull in there that likes to chase people that walk near him, so I sit down at a safe distance and film him chasing people, childish I know.

I was here that I experience the first time that I have really felt intimidated on this trip. All of a sudden a slick looking man in a leather jacket comes and sits right next to me to talk. I do my usual of just one word answers and try to ignore him then two other men come and stand just to my left, silent just looking at me and then finally another man approaches from behind. At this point I get the distinct impression they are planning something and I get up and move away. The two who are on my left begin to follow me. I stop at a rail by the river where there is a lot of people and they stop too. After a couple of minutes I move on and they begin to follow me again.

After a couple of minutes I meet Nick and Lizzie along the path and have a quick conversation with them. After we finish I look back and the two have decided to stop following me, much to my relief.

I go back to the hotel have a drink and snack then surf the internet until our transport arrives to take us to the train station.

We are bundled into two vehicles; I am in a small mini van facing backwards. All our luggage is on the roof, I keep an eye out that none falls off by looking through the back window.

When we get to the train station we walk over to where our train will depart from and while we are waiting a number of people from our group make balloon animals, much to the amazement of the surrounding people. There must have been at least 20-30 people looking at them.

When the train arrives we board it and settle in for the 15 hour trip. A number of people start to play cards, gin rummy, but as I don’t know how to play it I elect to listen to my ipod instead.

When it is time to go to bed, I climb up to my top bunk and there is not much headroom up there and the pillow is a grubby brown colour (it should be white) caused by 100′s of greasy haired people sleeping on it without being washed.

I have a really bad sleep, tossing and turning and constantly waking up. The only dream I can remember is one were I am covered in fleas (probably because of the dirty pillow) and I wake up itching.

Walking around Varanasi

Overnight train to Agra