02/12/2004
Before we embarked on this trip we had a lot of mixed feelings about India. We'd been told that we would either love it or hate it. Well, after four weeks in India, to tell you the truth - it's grown on us. We wish we had more time (and money) to explore the beaches of the south. Oh well, for the next trip.

We've stayed in gorgeous havelis (mansions) and had some  wonderful food (the best on the trip so far). The people have at times drawn our patience with hassle but many have been endearing. It's a place full to the brim with culture of the richest variety and there's some pretty good architecture too...

Crossing the border
This experience was perhaps not the best introduction to India. When we walked across the border from Nepal we found that the border town (Sunali) only had a couple of hotels and they were of the worst kind. The room was full of mosquitoes and at 2am the local mosque started chanting over a loud speaker for 1.5 hours. No sleep. Ripped off scam no 1.

Then we bought tickets to get out of the hell hole on the more expensive tourist bus which we were told would leave at 8.30am in the morning. Ripped off scam no 2. The next morning we were told that the bus wasn't coming. Then after stressing us out, they said it was coming but we had to wait for 22 Indian tourists. We didn't leave until 11.45 am and then we were charged a rate for our luggage. Ripped off scam no 3.

The Indian tourists were a lively lot who kept us entertained with songs, games and dancing on the bus for the whole 9 hours. They played one game where one side of the bus, team A, versus the other side, team B, had to find a certain item and bring it to the front of the bus. It began pleasantly enough with ladies handbags and belts, but it got quite gross when a request came for false teeth and the Indian lady next to us took her teeth out!!

We arrived in Varanasi at 9.45pm (not a safe hour) so we took a hotel nearby. They had no cheap rooms left (as always) and everywhere else was full, so we had to take an expensive room. This was a dump and a huge rat was running in the air con fan. Ripped off scam no 4. No sleep again. We got a new place to stay near the ganges first thing in the morning. All in all, a lovely induction to India!!

Varanasi
Varanasi  was stinky, dirty and overcrowded, but we loved it all the same. They alleyways are very narrow and you have to share them with cows and motorbikes. There is cow poo everywhere and monkeys in the rooftops above you. Down at the ghats you get pestered for boat rides, silk scarves, massage and blessings. We could walk all along the ghats as the river was low. One of the ghats is a permanent funeral pyre and smells like Zoe's hair  when it burns from the hairdryer. One day we were walking  past and saw the head and torso of a body being burnt away. It was mostly just charred bone but we saw the last remaining piece of skin attached to a cheekbone - lovely!!!

Yoga Zoe
Zoe took a 2-hour yoga class with a resident 'expert' Dr Sanjeev Kumar (his real name - Andrew kept his card as a souvineer). There was only one other person in the class and the floor was padded with matresses. It was very intense, a mixture of yoga moves and meditation. Mostly floor based, head stands, crab like moves and lots of twists.

Sunrise Boat Trip
We got up for sunrise one morning and took an hour long boat trip along the ganges. It was very busy at this time with lots of people washing in the murky water. We didn't see any dead bodies floating by but we saw dead pig and rat.

Food glorious food!
The food in Varanasi was an absolute highlight. Since we were not with the group yet we ate in local places and experimented. Favourites included, the Indian breakfast of puri (bread), jelabi (sweet batter), sweet pinky sauce and a curry sauce to dip in, potato paranthas, paneer passanda, aloo kashmiri, masala dosas (really thin batter rolled up with potato curry mix inside).

For all its smells and lack of hygiene, Varanasi is a unique place and we were sad to leave for Delhi and give up our freedom of truly independent travel to join our organised group trip.

Delhi, Agra and Bharatpur
We didn't get to see anything of Delhi as we slept all afternoon due to lack of sleep on the overnight train from Varanasi.

We left for Agra the following morning on an express train and joined up with the rest of the group. There were 16 of us with 4 leaving us in a couple of days. The group is mostly Australian 20-32, so younger than China group and they are mostly single girls.

First of all we visited Agra Fort which was nice, but just a shell. It looked best from the ooutside and then we went to the Taj Mahal. Men and women queue seperately and since women have handbags it took a long time for them to get through security and it got quite hazardous, as old Indian women were pushing through and a French woman with a baby was in tears through the stress of the frantic situation. Once through the gates the crowds dispersed. The Taj Mahal looked just like the postcards, very white, clean and very busy. It cost 750 rupees each $25 each and its just a building!!! The lawns are nicely manicured but you can't spend more than an hour just looking at it, as you get bored.

Next stop was Bharatpur and I think this was to just break the journey between Agra and Jaipur, as there was not much to see here. We stopped off at Fatepurh Sikri on the way. This is a deserted town which was once an important city but due to lack of water it was abandoned just 30 years after it was built. It was interesting but we were not given very much time to look around. When we got to our hotel we were told that we had no choice for lunch and that we had to pay 200 rupees each for a buffet lunch. We could get an evening meal for two for less that 200 all together. This was a total rip off. No one else on the trip is travelling long term so they do not have a budget like us to worry about. It was an awkward situation. We ended up eating seperately from the group on a number of occasions as they only ate in western style Indian restaurants. After the buffet we visited a bird sanctuary, but we didn't see anything spectacular, just storks, deer and kingfishers. We would not have stopped here if we were travelling indepently.

Jaipur
We stayed in a lovely haveli with swimming pool, lawns and guns on the wall. Jaipur is a great city, much more impressive than Delhi. Shopping is a must here in this capital of Rajastan. We bought ourselves Indian outfits. Andrew got a Kutar with trousers and Zoe got a Salwar suit and we both got jhootis - curly toed leather shoes.

We visited the following tourist attractions:

• The Observatory. Not much to see, only for avid star gazers.
• Palace of the winds. Not worth going inside, best bit is the facade.
• Amber Fort. This is just outside Jaipur and it was really impressive. Everything is in really good nick, but don't take an elephant ride - they're not kept in very good conditions.
• City Palace. Good too, but even better because we caught a procession of elephants, camels and brassband all in the grounds. Lots of noise, dancers, rose petals being thrown. It was fantastic!

Udaipur
Once again, gorgeous accommodation, swimming pool and wonderfully decorated, an old haveli. Udaipur is quiet, relatively hassle-free and clean. It's nice and small, easy to get around and has some really pleasant roof top cafes. It is also the setting for the Roger Moore James Bond movie Octopussy.

The Lake Palace
The highlight of the city is the former royal palace which is now a luxury 5-star hotel. This featured in Octopussy, as did the City  and Monsoon Palaces. It's a palace in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately the lake was very dry and the water level low due to a poor monsoon, but it was still pretty impressive. We splashed out on a romatic buffet dinner for two on our last night in Udaipur. It cost AUD$140 - we could have got at least 15 meals with that!!! And we didn't have wine as that was another $140!! We dressed up in our Indian outfits that we bought in Jaipur. We felt very special and we stood out a mile in the hotel, plus we were the youngest diners by far. We got asked if we were on our honeymoon. Andrew replied that we had given up our jobs and were travelling for 6 months. Gosh, if only we could travel at that standard all the way!!! I guess that's what its like to be a travelling multi millionaire. We got a taster anyway...

Other Attractions
The City Palace dominates the lake shore. It is huge, but our tour felt like a conveyer belt, so we didn't enjoy it very much. The facade is much more interesting than the rooms.

Everywhere we have been in Rajastan we've seen puppets and watched puppet shows, so we sucummed and purchased an Indian dancing girl puppet. Andrew became very attached to her in the shop and wouldn't put her down. We've named her Maharani (Princess) or Rani for short.

Jodhpur
Took our first real 'local bus' in India. A woman was sick on Nicole and Kandi (both in our group) threw up in front of us - it was a lovely scene. The bus conductors get very greedy and they pile people on the bus up the aisles.

Homestay
We stayed in a homestay in Jodhpur with a family realted to the Maharajah of Jodhpur. It was very cosy but quite far out from the city which was a pain when you wanted to get anywhere.

Jodhpur Fort
The highlight of Jodhpur is the fort. This is well worth taking a tour of for 250 rupees (approx AUD$9), as you get a recorded tour on a headphone set and you get a real feel for the place. It was the first time we had toured a fort without a local guide and it was the best tour!! We also had dinner at night at the top of the fort overlooking the whole city. It was very special.

Village Safari
One morning we took jeeps into the surrounding desert villages to visit the Bishnoi caste. We visited a normal family home which was a mud hut and also we went to a potters and a weavers. Some of the carpets at the weavers were really nice - but too heavy to take home and plus we don't have a home yet to put one in!! It was good to see some rural life but it was very 'set up' and not 'natural' as a toursit attraction.

Jaisalmer and the Camel Trek
We had a fantastic location in Jaisalmer for our haveli. Once again it was very majestic and 'Raj' style. We would have loved to have spent more time here. As like Udaipur it was very small, we didn't get much hassle and it was very easy to get around.

Jaisalmer Fort
This fort is like no other in India as it is a 'living fort'. People live and work in the narrow alleyways of the maze inside the fort. It's fantastic to see and it makes the fort really come alive. When we first entered the fort a group of around 20 Indian girls came up to Zoe and tapped her on the shoulder with a camera. Zoe thought they wanted their group picture taken but no.... they wanted individual photos with Zoe. It was hilarious - Zoe the white giant in various poses with each Indian girl in turn. It's moments like these that make travel a wonderful and unique personal experience.

Camel Trek
Neither of us had ridden a camel before so we were unsure of what to expect, but we were pleasantly suprised. It was akin to riding a horse, although a very tall one. The most difficult part was getting up and down as camels are ungainly and you have to hang on tight. We did stints of an hour at a time, so we got to have rest periods in between. Although we all still got bruises and chafing. We finished the day watching the sunset over the sand dunes. In the evening we were treated to a cultural show of traditional Rajastani music and dancing around the campfire. Then we settled in for a night in the desert in tents.

Bikaner
Getting to Bikaner was a trial in itself. This was a real local local bus journey. People throwing up, overcrowding in the aisle and the bus nearly tipping over. Yes, that's bus tipping over. Our journey took 9 hours from 6am to 3pm. One hour from Bikaner on the way to one of many village stops in the desert, the sandy road gave way on the right hand side and the bus tipped into the newly formed ditch. We all had to get off the bus as it leaned precariously to one side. This had happened due to the overcrowding and greediness of the bus conductor. It was a big relief to get to Bikaner in more ways than one - as we hadn't been to the loo since 4.30 am!!

Rat Temple
Bikaner is a small Indian city and not geared up for tourism. The main
attraction here is 30 km away - Karni Mata, better known as the 'Rat temple'. You might have seen it on TV. The temple is home to thousands of rats and these rats are apparently blessed and are incarnations of storytellers (according to the myth). I don't know about being blessed but they are certainly fat. People come from all over to feed these rats. One rat in particular is very lucky to see and that is the white rat - and we saw it!! Zoe was pretty squemish about the whole idea of the temple but once inside with bare feet (have to take shoes off at a temple) the rats ran mostly around the edges and avoided feet (the rats are well fed!), but we stood on plenty of rat poo! Our feet got a good scrub when we came back to the hotel.

Delhi
If you're expecting us to write alot about Delhi I'm afraid we'll have to disappoint you. We didn't think much of Delhi. Our last day with the group we went to Raj Ghat, the place of cremation for Gandhi and we went to a mosque and we walked around the alleyways of markets (we thought Varanasi alleyways were much better). It was all same same. We're a bit tired of the food too - just ready for a change.

One of the guys in the group kitted himself out with a couple of suits for a cheap price. So I guess if you've got plenty of money tailor-made suits are a good option.

One thing we did get to do which was different was a Bollywood movie. we went to see Veera-Zaara, a romantic film, 3 hours long with songs and dancing and plenty of soppy tears. We bought the soundtrack, so you can ask for a demo when we get back!!

Toilets
No squats!!! We can actually throw the toilet roll in the toilet!! Admittedly we stayed at a decent level of accommodation. It seems many Indians use the railway lines (or any public place) as their toilet. We were greeted with much squatting and pooing whenever we took trains.

Food
Absolutely fantastic!! We stayed vegetarian all the way. We had a great local breakfast in Varanasi, we love the South Indian food of Dosas and Uttapams. Andrew hailed Dal Makhani in the Surya Mahar restaurant in Jaipur and we have to give a special mention to The Lake Palace evening buffet that cost us an arm and a leg but the memory will remain with us forever as the most romantic setting. Second most romantic was the roof of Jodhpur Fort.

People
Lots of begging and very persistent begging - grabbing your arm leaving dirty marks. It was the worst in Varanasi, Delhi and Jaipur. They don't leave you alone and we had to go to hit them to make them stop buggin us. We like Udaipur and Jaisalmer as the people gave us less hassle and it was a joy to shop.

Accommodation
Udaipur and Jaisalmer were lovely havelis, Varanasi with the rats had to be the worst!!

Health
You won't believe this but the entire time we were in India we did not get the runs. We had the occassional stomach ache in the mornings but nothing worse - a near miracle! We think this is due to being veggie, using anti-bacterial handwash regularly and luck.

Landscape
Dirty, dry and dusty, but we expected this. Some of the Architecture was amazing, but many non-tourist buildings were in a sad state of decay.