'Namaste' from India
What a fascintaing place!
I've never seen so many people, cars, bicycles and animals fighting for space in one street! The business is the first thing that strikes you here. The cities never seem to stop, and there are just an incredible number of people all around at any time of day. Of course the food is wonderful, as long as you are careful what you eat and where you buy it from. And a good meal with drinks typically costs arould one pound fifty (2 Euro)
After spending 10 days of the luxury in the Jaypee Palace hotel, Agra, i headed off this morning to see the Taj Mahal (of course no trip to India would be complete without it!) If you block all of the other tourists (there were already a lot at 7.30am...)it really is very beautiful. The sheer scale of it, the purity of the stone and the detail of the inscriptions are amazing.
Less pleasant is the number of people who want to sell you postcards, cameras and infinite amounts of tacky memorabilia, as soon as you leave again. They just don't take no for an answer!
I then took the bus for 5 hours to Jaipur. Incredibly hot, very old bus that has certainly been well used. I ended up sat next to an old (around 60-65) Indian man who enjoyed explaining several things about the route and about Jaipur, Agra and Delhi. I had to concentrate so hard to understand what he was saying, and many times i just nodded without having any clue what had been said!
I was a bit worried what would happen if i needed the toilet en route, especially since i had diarrhoea the first 10 days i was here! But the Indians are it seems experienced travellers, and so halfway through the journey we pulled into a kind of 'service station' at the side fo the road - at least somehwere to pee and stock up on drinks.
I am now in a nice hotel in Jaipur, sharing with 2 guys from Macedonia. They are really friendly, and we have spent a nice evening eating, drinking coffee and chatting. The funniest part was fitting 5 of us (2 Croatian girls also) plus all of our luggage into one rickshaw. The 2 guys sat in the front either side of the driver, one girl sitting on the back with all the luggage, and me in the middle with one leg haning over the side! When i hear the problems they had getting visas and flights to come here it makes me feel a bit silly for all the complaning i did about Swiss bureaucracy! Tomorrow i'm gonna go shopping for some souvenirs and presents, and practive my haggling skills. Bit of a throwback to my insurance-selling days... :o)
If any @ers are reading this, the conference was awesome. Anyone else i'm sure you won't really comprehend what i'm talking about. But rest assured - in 36 hours i should safe and sound on Swiss soil, with the cows, the dirt and Taj Mahal all just happy memories. I look forward to sharing the photos and the stories with you some time soon x
I've never seen so many people, cars, bicycles and animals fighting for space in one street! The business is the first thing that strikes you here. The cities never seem to stop, and there are just an incredible number of people all around at any time of day. Of course the food is wonderful, as long as you are careful what you eat and where you buy it from. And a good meal with drinks typically costs arould one pound fifty (2 Euro)
After spending 10 days of the luxury in the Jaypee Palace hotel, Agra, i headed off this morning to see the Taj Mahal (of course no trip to India would be complete without it!) If you block all of the other tourists (there were already a lot at 7.30am...)it really is very beautiful. The sheer scale of it, the purity of the stone and the detail of the inscriptions are amazing.
Less pleasant is the number of people who want to sell you postcards, cameras and infinite amounts of tacky memorabilia, as soon as you leave again. They just don't take no for an answer!
I then took the bus for 5 hours to Jaipur. Incredibly hot, very old bus that has certainly been well used. I ended up sat next to an old (around 60-65) Indian man who enjoyed explaining several things about the route and about Jaipur, Agra and Delhi. I had to concentrate so hard to understand what he was saying, and many times i just nodded without having any clue what had been said!
I was a bit worried what would happen if i needed the toilet en route, especially since i had diarrhoea the first 10 days i was here! But the Indians are it seems experienced travellers, and so halfway through the journey we pulled into a kind of 'service station' at the side fo the road - at least somehwere to pee and stock up on drinks.
I am now in a nice hotel in Jaipur, sharing with 2 guys from Macedonia. They are really friendly, and we have spent a nice evening eating, drinking coffee and chatting. The funniest part was fitting 5 of us (2 Croatian girls also) plus all of our luggage into one rickshaw. The 2 guys sat in the front either side of the driver, one girl sitting on the back with all the luggage, and me in the middle with one leg haning over the side! When i hear the problems they had getting visas and flights to come here it makes me feel a bit silly for all the complaning i did about Swiss bureaucracy! Tomorrow i'm gonna go shopping for some souvenirs and presents, and practive my haggling skills. Bit of a throwback to my insurance-selling days... :o)
If any @ers are reading this, the conference was awesome. Anyone else i'm sure you won't really comprehend what i'm talking about. But rest assured - in 36 hours i should safe and sound on Swiss soil, with the cows, the dirt and Taj Mahal all just happy memories. I look forward to sharing the photos and the stories with you some time soon x
posted by Rob at
8:09 PM
5 Comments
