Category: India

December 20, 2006 Andy 1 Comments

We’ve been in Jaipur for 4 days now, which leaves me with rather a lot to tell. That said I’m trying my best to keep these entries short and readable. So, here goes. Jaipur is the third corner of India’s Golden Triangle, our two previous destinations being the other two corners. The city itself is huge but the old town is surrounded by pink walls with most of the buildings are inside also painted pink. On Sunday we went into the city palace which was reasonably impressive, followed by the Royal Observatory which is full of large astronomy / time…

December 19, 2006 Andy 3 Comments

Having heard all about Indian buses from friends before arriving, the time came to experience this for ourselves. We wanted to take the train, however the two trains going from Agra to Jaipur left at silly AM and silly PM respectively, so the hourly bus it was. In India, bigger vehicles have right of way. Bullying tactics is the order of the day. Use of the horn seems to permit buses to cross onto the wrong side of the road and drive at whatever is coming. Bikes, rickshaws, autos, cars and jeeps are left with little choice but to swerve…

December 15, 2006 Andy 1 Comments

I must first start off by saying, contrary to my earlier comments, that eating curries twice a day is fantastic. Especially at less than a pound a pop with rice and chapaties included. Anyway, we are now in Agra. See map (provided I manage to update it). Home of the Taj Mahal. Now I have to say it is the changes that make traveling tough. You are presented by immense highs as well as big lows, but they generally follow each other in such quick succession that they really hit you hard. Yesterday was a prime example of that. We…

December 12, 2006 Andy 4 Comments

This place truly is off the hook. Despite traveling to places such as Thailand, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, nothing could have prepared me for this place. The traffic is manic. bikes, rickshaws, scooters, auto rickshaws, cars, buses and trucks all fight for the same small space. Not a second goes buy without hearing a horn. Even small alley ways, barely big enough for two people to pass, have motorbikes hurtling down them. Just walking along the street is scary business, requiring 100% concentration not to be hit by whatever is passing buy. On top of that, as a tourist one…