Nearly home

Our final days in Rajasthan were spent in the blue city of Jodhpur.  Once again, the heat was a killer often up to 48 degrees.  Jodhpur is a wonderful city, and we spent a very interesting morning at the Fort overlooking the city.  It was amazing.  I also did a cooking class and now can make a mean biryani, raita and lassi.  The bazaars were so interesting but we were limited in the amount of time we coud spend outside.

We flew back to Delhi on Saturday afternoon and spent an interesting morning on Sunday at a big market to the south of Delhi.  We both thoroughly enjoyed Delhi.  It was interesting.  The mad driving, the food, the wide tree lined streets of New Delhi make it easy.  Old Delhi is obviously more challenging but still fascinating.

We overnighted on Malaysia Airlines and have spent the last two days in KL.  We love it here and have just relaxed and shopped and movie-ed and ate.

So we are back tomorrow night.  We are looking forward to coming home now.  Asia, especially the countries we have been in, has not been kind to our health this time.  It has been a challenging trip but one with such highlights of our travelling that it has definitely been worth it. 

Our next trip is to Hawaii to see our son, Patrick marry his fiance and the whole family will be there.  Can't wait for that one.

Thanks for reading.

Deb and John

Rajasthan



Indians never do it by halves



Doesn't that word conjure up millions of pictures in your mind.  We have only been here four days and have a wonderful time the only drawback being the scorching heat - often over 45 degrees.  Obviously the highlight of our trip here has been seeing the First wonder of the modern world - the Taj Mahal.  We got up at 5 in the morning on Tuesday and our driver took us to the West Gate where with surprisingly few people we entered the Taj and watched the sun rise and make those jewels sparkle.  It was an experience not to forget.  What a perfect and stunningly beautiful monument.  John is already making plans to knock the fish and chips shop down and build me a fitting tomb over the road.  Come to think of it, I think he'd rather have the fish and chips shop and maybe that will be a fitting monument to me.




The Indian government has put in place many plans to clean up pollution in Agra to keep the Taj in tip top condition but it remains a dirty conjested city so we set off to Jaipur that morning.  Stopping at Fathepur Sikri, a palace built in the 16th century and only used for a short period of time due to water shortages, was a real eyeopener and we really enjoyed looking around and taking in the striking Indian architecture.  We arrived in Jaipur about 4.  It had been so hot we just went to the hotel and chilled in the air con for a few hours.  Each night, our driver, Mohan, takes us to a local restaurant where we can have great Indian food very cheaply.  He is a real gem.  He always keeps cold water, cokes and beer in his ice box for us and never makes us go into shops or factories if we don't want to.  Absolutely no pressure and he is constantly alert to show us "special" scenes along the road. 



Yesteray we went out to the Amber Fort which we also really enjoyed and were totally surprised at.  Particularly beautiful was the mirrored palace.  Mohan drove us around to the other highlights of Jaipur and then gave us time to wander the bazaars.  We haven't bought a lot here but we did buy a beautiful carpet in Agra so figure we have a lovely reminder of our Rajasthani trip.  We said goodbye to Mohan last night when we caught the overnight train to Jodhpur.  Arrived here about 4.30 am and as we were walking along the platform a guy came up to John with his mobile phone and had my name on it.  He was there to pick us up and bring us straight to the guesthouse.  Always a nice surprise.  We have just had breakfast on the rooftop where we had an uniterrupted view of the Fort guarding this blue city.  Today we are walking into the old city and looking at the bazaar.  Hoping to book up a cooking class for tomorrow.




John at the Red Fort, Delhi





The place where Gandhi was assassinated











At the Taj Mahal

Fatephur Sikri

What I saw on the road today

when we were driving from Delhi to Agra ...

A few good bookshops at the Khan Market in Delhi which was our first stop on our road trip
A scooter with three adults and three kids and luggage on it.  One of the kids was asleep on the front and one of the women was breastfeeding her baby as they went along.
A bus on fire.
A tractor with a load as wide as two lanes.  A huge load of wheat chaff which had split and spilt across the highway.
A horse and cart.
A buffalo and cart.
A cow and cart.
A milkman - the guy on the scooter with about 20 stainless steel jugs hanging off him.
Cars, buses, scooters going the wrong way up the highway.
At the end of a lane, the magnificent Taj Mahal.  We were the only ones there watching the sun set on the Taj across the river.

India is an assault on the senses - all the senses.  It is hard sometimes to cope and be patient but is worth it.  We arrived here on Saturday from kathmandu and had a wonderful day doing some of the big sights in Delhi in a tuk tuk.  When we realised that we couldn't get on the train to Agra, we booked a car and driver through our hotel and are really glad we did.  We have had a wonderful day.  Considering the fact that is is at least 45 degrees here travelling has the potential to be nightmarish but with our very considerate driver we have thoroughly enjoyed a lazy drive down from Delhi to Agra.  Tomorrow morning we are going to the Taj for sunrise and are really looking forward to that. 

We are both feeling much better after quite a rocky time in Nepal.  Even John is enjoying the Indian food though we are not eating too much and giving our stomachs a chance to recover.

Hope all is well at home.  Missing everyone.