2 weeks in India
I arrived in Delhi from Tashkent last week. I spent 4 nights in Delhi with accomodation in the not so nice area of Karol Bagh. The hotel was named Hotel Perfect but was in fact not so perfect! I survived the experience and was so lucky to spent 2 full days with a teacher from my school who lives in Delhi and had come home for the winter break. She took me shopping at a mall, to the premiere of the Bollywood movie 'Welcome', to book stores, the bank and even feed me up on delicious home cooked fare. I spent another day at the bazaars stocking up on books and DVD's that I can't get in Uzbekistan. I have left a giant bag of my purchases at the hotel in Delhi so that I wouldn't have to haul them around northern India.
There are only 7 of us on the tour and all are Australian except me! They are fantastic bunch. We are all about the same age and have a lot in common - 5 of us are teachers. The first stop on our journey was 2 nights in Jaipur. This city is painted pink/terracotta and is a live with the sound of horns beeping, rickshaws, tuk tuks and crowds of people (which city in Delhi isn't though?). We had a lovely stay here at a hotel in the old city. I made quite a few purchases here including a new bed spread and 2 ottoman covers. My backpack now looks rather pregnant with so many buddles lashed onto it. On Christmas Day we spent a few hours at the Amber palace, the City Palace and also the Palace of the Winds. I was lucky enough to be able to get a jeep ride to the top of the hill at the Amber Palace. My ankle has been a real pain but it is cheap enough here to have someone deliver me to most places by rickshaw or auto tuk tuk. In the afternoon I went for an oil massage and then we went out for drinks at some swanky pub and swapped presents from our Secret Santas.
Last night we arrived in Agra. I had visited here last June and had previously been very lucky to get a hotel right by the East gate of the Taj Mahal. This time around we are miles away from the city center, in an industrial area. The hotel is pretty awful and I had to get my sheets changed before I got into bed as they were more than a little dirty. Oh the joys of budget travel. We took tuk tuks out to the river and watched the sun set over the Taj Mahal from the other side of the river. The light was fantastic and the Taj glowed.
Today we were at the Taj Mahal by 8am. I hopped along behind the group as our guide explained all the history of the complex. It is so nice to be able to spend time enjoying the atmosphere and location without the stinking heat that was here in June last year. I had my photo taken by a professional this time around as last year they didn't turn out so good! I don't have too many more plans for this afternoon. I am trying to track down my pay cheque as it wasn't deposited this month. I have about $200 to last me the next 2 weeks. Bugger.
