Pictures to follow, but first blog:
So first stop Mumbai :-S.
When we landed in Mumbai, the fourth most populated city in the world at 20.5 million. Obviously I watched the film Slumdog millionaire before I left to try and get an idea of what I've let myself in for. And true to the film, the first thing that I saw was that the slums literally went up to the airport boundary and had heaps of waste piled along the river. I briefly spotted about a dozen kids playing cricket and others flying their little kites on the waste site without a care in the world. Crazy!
So I really wondered what the first smell that I would encounter and it wasn't even close to what I imagined. A concoction of human shit, waste, pollution and more shit was a glorious welcome with a blanket of 35' heat, welcome.
After picking the most sain looking taxi driver he took us to his pride and joy, his tuk tuk. Basically a moped on 3 wheels that had a roof over the seats. We finally got to our hotel passing piles and piles of rubbish in gutters, streets and shops. I wasn't happy that the first location on this trip was Mumbai. Actually a shit hole. And from reading up on India before we left, Mumbai was going to be the worst city to travel to in India.
So when we got over the jetlag of just a nights sleep we ventured out into the wild streets that held thousands and thousands of people going about their daily lives. We walked down to the gate of india where king George (i think the fifth) built a massive monument to acknowledge the British empire in this new land. It was definitely less busy than the very packed streets that we walked down earlier. Later on into the evening we were approached by some random guy offered to take Lauren off my hands as she looked a burden or something. Well obviously with nothing in exchange I had to refuse. Maybe a camel might have swayed the decision.
Next stop Udipur via a long train ride.
The first experience on Indian trains was excruciatingly long @17hrs. But it was cool to spk to the other passengers who wasn't trying to sell their tack or offer rickshaw rides. We finally got a berth after 5hrs in allowing us to sleep next to a bloke that snored like a fog horn. Fun times.
Udaipur
We arrived to a bombardment of rickshaw drivers hassling us for business where a bidding war commenced where the lowest bidder who consequently spoke very good English won. Jamel was very proud of his book showing messages of his past passengers thanking him for his recommendations and hospitality. The hotel was very nice with a comical owner that told jokes of frogs not having water proof watches, weird, but funny. Udaipur was a pretty cool city with its water Palaces but with the constant beeping was far too familiar from Mumbai. I suppose it's just the Indian culture to not be patient and barge their way through crowds and traffic. One of the water palaces where the boat tour took us was having a royal wedding in a week or so where apparently Shakria was a guest performer. Random.
Onto Jaipur
Again arrived to being harassed by rickshaw drivers but this time I've never seen as much human shit between the tracks on the station. 6 platforms with piles and piles of shit that actually hurt my nose. The hotel was nice and cheap at £3.50 a night. Love the massive deprecation of the Rupee.
Jaipur is like every city been to before but in the evening discovered a place where hundreds of people where worshiping their god at a brightly coloured temple. The kids were very curious about us asking our names, fav colour, dish etc. but soon ran away when ask the same question. After venturing to a local bar with Hoi and Henning (Portuguese and German) a local proceeded to say that the British are lazy, stupid, that India financially supports the UK and the lonely planet was all tosh. I could see his point of view of using ur eyes and heart to explore but he didn't see ours that maps and recommendations in a new city are priceless. Plus him being pissed didnt help the discussion . You can't rely on locals for advice as they will only recommend a place where they pocket commission. Jaipur was ok in the city but very polluted and noisy. Poss video upload soon.
Off to the Taj Mahal early morning in Agra after this short train journey (5hrs). Oh and got offered a job here in Rajasthan as an engineer building a 6 lane highway by a local on the train. Food for thought? Hmmm No, Aus should be better.
The Taj Mahal
So after a hectic dash between several ATMs after realising that foreigners are charged a massive difference to an Indian we ventured into the gardens at dawn where there was just the peaceful sound of birds chirping and little noise from tourists as before mid morning this wonder was fairly calm. My first thought was WOW. This massive dome structure was awesome amongst the dawn hase. And when sunrise came the Taj appeared to glow. And something I didn't know, the Taj has very detailed carvings all over that looks stunning close up. Got many pics of pinching the top spiral whilst looking like tits.
Delhi
From the stories that people have told, Delhi was supposed to be horrible, but to our obviously these people have never been to Mumbai! Delhi was actually really nice, stayed in the main bazaar in New Delhi the streets were bustling with tourists, locals, shop owners and rickshaw riders. We took it all in over breakfast on a calm balcony in our cheap hostel.
When we ventured out into the streets we came across Connaught Place, similar to many of London's parks. Where a man starting talking to us, as like many just ignored him but heard do you want your ears cleaning? Thinking he was taking the piss, he showed his tools, a cotton wool bud and a metal spatchler. He had been cleaning ears for 25 years and he loved it. He just enjoyed removing wax from people's ears. I can't imaging the sculptures he could have created!
Shimla and the chemical engineers.
So Shimla was a crazy idea to go from a hot place to a very cold place @ 1'C at night in the himalayers mountain with only a fleece and thin trousers. Consequently I got a nasty fever. Aside from the freezing temp. it was decent place. The toy train (much smaller train and carriages) was very cool heading up the mountain with incredible views, but couldn't see the snow topped mountains due to the cloud cover in the distance. Oh well.
On the way back to the warmth of Delhi we chatted to 3 chemical engineers in their late 40's who were away on business. They were like school kids when they pulled out a bottle of brandy hiding it from the conductor and mixing it with a litre of water. After them insisting I had some, it tasted like I had imagined, disgusting! Very funny tho.
Goa
So after the constantly being pestered to look in every1s shops and getting harrassed for tuktuks really looked forward to going to Goa. Stayed in the most tourist place, Calangute. Literally reminded me of Benadorm with all the British tourists in their late 50s venturing there for months on end partying till the early hours and sunning there tanned leather skins all day everyday. We were definitely the youngest but all wanted to do is get a base tan for Aus and try some Shark masala, which was lush. Definitely recommend it.
Also got a decent pic of Aggie (cafe owner catching sardines at sunset for the dinner he prepared later)
India as a whole
Very interesting but can't say I'd go back and I wouldn't recommend visiting certain places. It was more of a cultural shock than first anticipated. The kids are funny and very curious and definitely made the trip worthwhile as the adults just see you as $ signs not Rupee signs.
Next stop Singapore-the cleanest city?
