Escape to the country

Stu - 27th December - After breakfast we headed to Agra station to catch the train to Jhansi and then take a 30 min tuk-tuk ride out into the countryside to the small town of Orchha. Before boarding the train entertainment was provided by one of the local monkeys who stole bananas from one of our group, Sarah (well, the monkey ran up to her and she shrieked and threw the bananas at the monkey). Who knew monkeys like bananas?

Orchha was pleasantly different to all of the stops so far, a small town of about 10,000 it was a calm change to the hustle and bustle of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. 

Orchha is a holy town said the be the home of Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu. As such it is a totally vegetarian town, no problem though ad that meant even more delicious varieties of veggie curry.

After freshening up after the train ride and a little bit of exploring the town at 7pm we headed to town's main temple to observe the evening prayer.

Dinner was on another roof terrace followed by Indian whisky and rum (which stands for Regularly Used Medicine apparently) and trading folk songs from the groups various nationalities. We had England, Australia, India and Russia represented in our Euro-Australasian-Asian Song Contest. When this moved to trying to say tongue twisters in each other's native language we realised if was probably time to head back to the hotel. 

Boxing Day

Stu - We left Jaipur early and drove to Agra, home of India's most popular tourist attraction the Taj Mahal. Before that we visited the impressive Agra Fort, also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Built by Akbar the Great (with a little help from 4000 workers) it was completed in 1573. With its first moat filled with crocodiles, a 30 foot wall, a second dry moat filled with tigers then a 40 foot wall, soldiers tipping boiling oil and water from the walls and giant boulders of death that could be rolled down the only entrance it's no surprise it was rarely attacked.

After the fort it was on to Agra's main event, the Taj Mahal. Even having seen hundreds of pictures of it nothing prepares you for how stunning it is when you walk through the huge entrance gates and see it for the first time. The inside if the mausoleum is impressive too but they try to cram so many people in at once it's not that pleasurable an experience. No matter though as the views of the outside more than make up for it.

After this it was back to the hotel, shower and out for dinner on a restaurant roof terrace.

Another great day.

'Twas the night before Christmas

Gemma - Christmas Eve. Up very early for the 7 hour drive to Jaipur. This would be our first proper taste of Indian roads, they say if you can drive in Delhi you can drive anywhere, I expect that's probably true. There is always something interesting to see from the bus so the time flies by. Along the way we spotted cows, dogs, monkeys, camels, pigs and 2 elephants - some in the road. 

We arrived at the bassau palace hotel to some amazement. It was built in 1787 as a palace in the days of the maharajas. The whole building is intricately painted inside and out, with pretty rooms, lobby and garden. 

There was even an erm interesting murel by our room

When we were settled in we went for a walk around the city, the sights and smells of the bright markets are really exciting.

As it was Christmas Eve the hotel were doing a special banquet. We were entertained with a puppet show and sitar music (including some sitar christmas songs!). Lots of good food followed and then Indian whiskey (really not bad).

All I want for Christmas is a Bollywood Charlie and a disco tuk-tuk...

...and I got it!

Stu - Christmas Day in Jaipur - this will definitely go down as one of the most memorable Christmas Days ever. After an early breakfast at the hotel (wearing Santa hats of course) we set off for the Amber Fort. What to say about this place other than it is stunning!

Quite reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, the fort was built in the 16th century and was the ruling palace for Rajasthan. Whilst there is the option of riding an elephant up to the fort we were told that the elephants aren't treated particularly well so opted against it. After all we'll get the chance to ride happy elephants in Chitwan, Nepal.

After a few hours exploring the fort we headed back to Jaipur and the City Palace. Like the Amber Fort this is another architecturally stunning building, the highlight (for us at least) being a courtyard with four beautiful doors representing the four seasons.

From the City Palace we walked through Jaipur, stopping briefly to admire the Wind Palace, and went to LMB restaurant for Christmas lunch...

Not a turkey, sprout or pig in blanket to be seen but a delicious vegetarian feast none the less.

The evening's entertainment consisted of a trip to the Raj Mandir Bollywood cinema to see "Dhoom 3". Now, even though we had missed Dhoom 1 and 2 and the film is in Hindi with no subtitles if was easy to follow and highly entertaining. Audience participation is a large part of the experience with lots of cheering the hero and wolf whistling the romance scenes. The highlight of the film was finding out that our friend Charlie had been carving out a side career as a major Bollywood star.

Just when we thought the day couldn't get any better it turned out that for the ride back to the hotel we had inadvertently caught the 'disco tuk-tuk' with everyone in Jaipur (probably) enjoying hearing Westlife's "Quit Playing Games With My Heart".

What a thoroughly different but amazing Christmas Day!

First taste of India - Dehli

Stu - 21.00 Delhi time - We arrived in Dehli at 5.15am after a good but mostly sleepless overnight flight from Istanbul. So glad we paid to get picked up from the airport as we were in no fit state to be negotiating public transport at that time.

Even at 6.00am Indian roads lived up to their reputation. Lane discipline seems mostly optional as does indicating and stopping at red lights. Use of the horn seems to be mandatory though.

We got to the hotel at about 6.30am and check in wasn't supposed to be until 12.00 but the staff were kind enough to show us to a lobby with a couple of sofas and give us blankets so we could have a lie down whilst they sorted our room. They even gave us free masala tea which was lovely.

Our room was ready at about 8.00 so after checking in we had a few hours sleep. Once showered and refreshed we took a walk out into the sights, sounds and smells of Delhi. As overwhelming as it was at first we soon became used to it and at no point did it feel unsafe.

After a bite to eat (paneer makhani, roti, naan and lassi) at the hotel's roof terrace we went back to the room to chill for a couple of hours before meeting the rest of our tour group at 18.00. An interesting mix. Three Aussies, two Americans, two Russians, an older South Aftican brother and sister, us two Brits and an Irishman. Sounds like the start to a joke.

After our guide had given us our tour introduction we all went out for a meal. After deliberating long and hard we settled on Indian food.

Early start tomorrow as we set off for Jaipur at 8am.

A little bit of Turkey before Christmas

Gemma - things we learned in the last 24 hours: If you want to rot your teeth and get diabetes; Istanbul is the place to be, Turkish men are very chatty, SO MANY CATS (if you eat outside you get a temporary free one of your own), sometimes cathedrals and mosques talk to eachother, Turkish wine is surprisingly good, sticking to the right side of the road is optional. 

After possibly the most comprehensive continental breakfast ever, today we took a stroll up to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia. They face eachother across a large square, one a mosque, the other originally a church. At prayer time there are calls from both buildings. Similar in design from the outside but very different on the inside. Arguably the mosque is more attractive inside but I'm sure you can guess which one charged an entrance fee. 

Later we walked around the city park, along the waterfront, and the local bazaar in the cobbled narrow streets of the district where we were staying. 

Sad to say goodbye to Istanbul, I hope to come back and see more sometime.

A little bit of Turkey before Christmas

Gemma - things we learned in the last 24 hours: If you want to rot your teeth and get diabetes; Istanbul is the place to be, Turkish men are very chatty, SO MANY CATS (if you eat outside you get a temporary free one of your own), sometimes cathedrals and mosques talk to eachother, Turkish wine is surprisingly good, sticking to the right side of the road is optional. 

After possibly the most comprehensive continental breakfast ever, today we took a stroll up to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia. They face eachother across a large square, one a mosque, the other originally a church. At prayer time there are calls from both buildings. Similar in design from the outside but very different on the inside. Arguably the mosque is more attractive inside but I'm sure you can guess which one charged an entrance fee. 

Later we walked around the city park, along the waterfront, and the local bazaar in the cobbled narrow streets of the district where we were staying. 

Sad to say goodbye to Istanbul, I hope to come back and see more sometime.