So after a half decent nights sleep with dogs and vehicles making all sorts of mad noises, we had our second day in Delhi. Up at quite an early hour... (9am, but to you guys thats 3:30am) to get our tai driver whom we had hred for the day. We started off at abuddist temple which was nothing special apart from the fact some guy decided that walking with us and pointing out the names of statues (that were on the wall anyway) was worth a decent tip. We disagreed. We then were taken to the parliament houses which were pretty cool as they were symmetrical – looked the same either side of the road – with fancy fountains and armed police. The police were probaby there due to the fact that the presidents house was at the end of this road which was equally good. From here we then went to the India Gate, a vast archway which marks New India from the Old India. Ummm then onto the Lotus Temple: architecturally stunning, shaped like a massive Lotus Flower however unfortunately due to the masses of Indians wanting to get inside, we were not able to in the time that we had :( After this we were taken to a Tomb which was by far the most beautiful place we had been so far. Vast main building made from marble with additional gates to enter the tomb. Finally due to the traffic being so awful we headed to our last stop, The Red Fort, which due to the lack of time we were not able to get a lot from the numerous temples in the fort and although at parts the detailing was subime the majority was graffitied so let it down somewhat. So after the red fort we said our goodbyes to our driver at the train station where we experienced our first taster of sleeper class trains. The 5.5hr journey between Delhi and Jaipur you naturally would think to be rather boring, however we had quite an interesting time. Firstly we met two english speaking indians who were absolutely lovely. It was a relief to finally meet some people who genuinely interested in us, without the pretence that they would want money from us in due course. We taught them the game 'Snap' which to our amazement entertained the whole carriage with aroud 15 people crowding round us watching in amazement at a game that we find quite simple and juvinile back in England! Things toook a turn for the worse, however still rather exctiing. James went to get a pen from his daysack only to find that it had been stolen! A first we were all rather shocked, includng the two friends we had made who both said they had never experienced this, neither had their friends, both of whom had lived here their entire lives. After a bit of effing and bliding from us both we settled back and came to the conclusion that it was a good lesson learnt – thankfully there was nothing of huge importance in the bag. Our two friends were a godsend. They flagged down a policeman (very imposng people) walking along the carriage and within five minutes we had 4 domineering officers surrounding us taking down details using our english/indian speaking friends to translate. This once again got even more people watching the charade!
So we arrived in Jaipur at 8pm and immediately noticed a difference in air quality and beauty. Having not seen the sky in a few days, seeing the stars and having panoramic views of the mountains was stunning. Arriving at Krishna Palace, where we would be staying for three nighs was amazing, the staff were extremely friendly, huge room and a rooftop restauarant to enjoy the beautiful views while demolishing ome good hearty food. To our surprise, Alex and Paul a lovely dughter and father from Florida who we met in Delhi, happened to be sitting up on the rooftop when we went to grab a quick bite to eat. We spent the next 2 and a half hours laughing an chatting away with them, getting to know one another; they have been incredible, given us valuable advice not only about india but thailand too so we thought the least we could do was buy them both a beer the following evening...
No comments:
Post a Comment