Agra and the Taj Mahal

Our train journey from Jaipur to Agra was surprisingly lovely and relaxing! We had booked our tickets in advance, reserving seats in the 'Seat Carriage' where, if you get the morning departure, you receive breakfast with piping hot tea in a flask...I was in my element and thought it was Christmas following experiences on previous train travel in India!!

We made our way to our 'homestay' named, The Coral Tree. Owned by an Indian couple, where a vibrantly colourful house with a peaceful (as far as you can get in India) garden where we sat and drank tea and relaxed.  The property was a 5-10 minute walk to the gates of the Taj Mahal so it increased our curiosity and excitement when we spotted the famous domes over the treetops. 

As it is so hot currently in Agra (average temperatures of 48'C daily) it is out of tourist season so rickshaw drivers spot you exiting the accomodation grounds and run at you from the end of the street shouting "Excuse me sir, you want tuk-tuk? Only 50 rupees". It is as if they are competing in an Olympic race for their country.

On the second day, we get a rickshaw, driven by a man named Salem and his English speaking interpreter/deal maker; a 14year old boy named Vickky. We negotiate and barter good rates for certain travel and end up using them for the remainder of our Agra trip, one day they took us all around the city, waited for us whilst we visited 2 forts/monuments, had dinner and safely returned us for a mere £6! We got to know Vikky and Salem during the few days in Agra, Vikky's dream was to one day own a rickshaw of his own, we told him if we won the lottery we'd contact him and buy him one. 

The day came of visiting the Taj Mahal. We set our alarm for 0445 hours to get there for 0515 as sun rise was at 0527. We were both looking forward to witnessing first hand one of the wonders of the world but not overly excited after already seeing forts and temples etcetera, but how naive we were. 

We walked through the gates, only a dozen or so people ahead of us, to be tantalised by the awe-inspiring site of its beauty! It took us both by surprise at how incredible and amazing a building could be. Incase you are unaware, it was built by Emporer Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631.  It was finally finished in 1653, where not long after, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his own son and he was imprisoned in Agra Fort where he could only gaze through his cell window at his creation and where he died in 1666.

We were one of the first people to reach the famous 'Princess Diana' bench where pictures are renowned for their copies of celebrities that visit, it is magical and even breath taking! We watched the sun rise over its white silhouette where it turns a gold colour with the glow of the warm sun. We spent just shy of 3 hours examining it's beauty before heading back to our home stay for our Indian style breakfast! 

The following few days were taken up by wondering around Agra visiting various cites and places we had read about. For example, we visited a Café named 'Sheroes', set up to help rehabilitate acid attack victims (quite a common crime in india) and enable a better and more confident life following their atrocious trauma. The café is run by the victims themselves who are becoming stronger through the support, they vary from a girl (Neetu) who was attacked by her father when she was just 3 years old. Most of her vision was lost due to the acid when she was too young to understand any of what was happening...to a girl named Chanchal who declined a mans proposal, so as revenge he threw acid in her face. An interesting website; www.sheroeshangout.com 

We visited Agra Fort, according to the guidebooks, 'One of the finest Mughal forts in India'. A red sandstone Fort designed and erected by numerous Emporers, started by Emporer Akbar in 1565, primarily started as a military structure but eventually used as a prison. Whilst here we were looking over to the Taj Mahal and noticed what looked like rain coming. It gradually but quickly moved towards us so we took shelter in one of the Forts rooms, it quickly became apparent that it wasn't rain. A wall of sand was getting closer and our eyes starting to sting from the sandstorm which ensued.  Luckily, this didn't last very long and we continued with our exploration of the Fort. 

Our final night in Agra we researched a place to eat named 'Joneys', it was renowned for amazing food and even more amazing mango juice, which we watched being blended using a number of peeled mango's...it lived up to its name! Prior to that we found a rooftop bar which overlooked the Taj Mahal so we ordered 2 ice cold beers and watched the sun go down. The waiter, a 74 year old gentleman named 'Honey' joined us at our table whilst we 3 chatted and enjoyed the disappearing light. On over a dozen nearby rooftops, we watched children fly kites, which filled the sky before the moon appreared, a memorable evening to finish on. 

Tomorrow, off on a 4 hour train journey to Delhi!

Rajasthan

So after a weeks holiday (within our travelling/holiday) in Varkala, we are heading far north to Jaipur in the Rajasthan region of India.

Our stay in Varkala was relaxing and we didn't do a great deal except sit on the beach, by the pool or stroll along the vast amount of bars and stop at the odd one for a beverage. We stayed at a place called 'Inda Hotel', 6 hexagon-shaped cottages run by a lovely and welcoming Ukranian couple who travelled here last year and decided to stay! They were very welcoming and went out of their way to make us feel at home. His accent sounded like a Russian/American film star which was pointed out to him and it wasn't the first time he'd heard the similarity. The breakfast here was amazing, a huge bowl of fresh fruit with honey glazed muesli and yogurt; it's strange after just over a week, curry becomes too familiar and you crave fruit!

It was a 100 metre walk to the beach where there was an 'Indian' side and 'Western' side, it was most odd as everyone seamed to abide by it and knew it.  At the far end of the beach was where Indians travelled from far and wide to have their deceased families ashes blessed. A ceremony then ensued where a member of the family has to walk into the sea with the said ashes on their head (in a terracotta urn that is on fire) and sprinkled with flower petals, and then the whole family follow and bathe their feet in the sea as it is now holy and they have paid their respects.

Our other experience whilst at our hotel was a Tibetan one. Another Ukrainian lady who had been taught to play/perform with 'Tibetan Singing Bowls'.  They are used across Asia in religious ceremonies but also during meditation, for which we were unaware, was the case! We were told by our hosts that they had a performance on at 4pm so we thought it would be interesting to watch. The time came and we took our shoes off and entered a grass-matted area with insense sticks filling the air's aroma. After the introduction, which was in Ukranian, we followed everyone else and had to lye on our backs with our heads near the middle; where her 'Singing Bowls' were. She then started 'playing' them and mid-way through, starting to sing also...after nearly an ear bleeding hour she stopped to our relief! To say this was a surreal and strange experience was putting it politely!

We opted to fly to Jaipur as we didn't want to spend 53 hours on a train journey after our 25 hour journey to get here.

We arrived in Jaipur late evening to arrive at our hotel which was beautiful, a small, boutique hotel which is renowned for backpackers with an added bonus of an amazing restaurant on the roof rated #3 of 170 restaurants in Jaipur!!!...which sold ice cold Kingfisher beer...enough said!!

The following day we venture out to the 'Pink City', which Japiur is known for due to the stone used to build the old city resembles a pink colour.  It is much cleaner and friendlier here than Mumbai and we immediately feel more relaxed and excited for the time ahead. The following days we visit the Amber Fort (below) the Wind Palace (known locally as 'Hawa Mahal') and Nahargarh Fort, all with 'our' rickshaw driver named; Vishu.  A 22 year old man that is very smartly dressed, spoke excellent English and who was the campest Indian we've met so far, although he told us he has two girlfriends (perhaps in denial)? 

Amber Fort is an incredible place. It is huge beyond imaginable. We arrive to be asked whether we wanted an elephant ride up to the main gate which we declined as the elephants didn't seam well cared for and looked very unhappy. As you enter through the main gates you are greeted by a massive courtyard where, on a balcony opposite, live Indian music is being played on a drum, symbols and an Indian trumpet.  Being British we were immediately drawn to the music to find we can go up to the balcony and watch! A huge drum played with sticks (not the nicely shaped sort you and I know) and the noise was deafening. The player of the drum offered us to play...to the whole courtyard/Fort...?! We hastely accepted and started to play our 'out of tune' drum to the visitors standing in the courtyard; it was awesome! 

After some exquisite musical instrument playing, we entered into the main palace where again, we were drawn to music like bees to honey or flies to feaces! It was a true and our first real experience of religious prayer/praise. The noise nearly made our ears bleed; by two men playing huge symbols with a hammer made of wood. Three men, behind railings, had lit candles and were offering them to the gods. Dozens of Hindu's were standing and watching and praying, whilst the closest to the rails were, with their hands, beckoning the heat from the flames (now it had been blessed) and brushing it over their heads. We where then ushered over by one of the Hindu 'priests' to be given a flower necklace and a red spot on our foreheads; it was surreal and magical at the same time.

We also came across a chimney type structure where water urns were tied to to allow for water to be lifted up to the upper floors of the fort from the ground via a huge wheel at the top.  Alongside some roosting pigeons in a couple of them, bats inhabited the walls; we didn't initially realise what they were until they periodically opened a wing or flew off from the wall.

After a number of 'historical sites' visited, the next day we had planned to visit 'Elephantastic'. Yes, you guessed; a day spent up close and personal with elephants! It was incredible!! We arrived to be introduced to 'our' elephants for the day, named Massakali, which translated into English meant, Rosebud which ironically Rosie's mum used to call her when she was younger. 

We firstly fed her and allowed her to meet and smell us and get used to us. We then painted her, just as the Indian culture does for their festivals and ceremonies, with natural paint and the brushes were bamboo sticks? Following that, we washed and scrubbed her, allowed her to drink from a hosepipe which she wanted putting down her trunk and then went for a ride on her.

My personal highlight but Rosie's worst part was climbing on to her; you had to put one foot on her trunk, hold onto both her ears and at that point she knew to lift her head upwards and backwards allowing us to climb up into her neck and back. This sounds easy but it wasn't, Rosie however was a pro albeit she didn't feel comfortable or stable whilst sitting on her back trying to scrub and wash her! 

Our last day in Jaipur we visited the 'Monkey Temple'; any guesses? Yes, it was overwhlemed with monkeys. Prior to walking up the arduous 'path' we were accosted by a man offering to sell us nuts to feed the monkeys which we thought was a good idea, so we bought two small bags. Arriving at a half way point was a roofed platform where hundreds of monkeys were grooming and playing with each other, it was brilliant to watch and we were mesmerised for a while before moving on up. We arrived at the top to find a tiny temple where two men in their senior years were sitting and chatting, in broken English they informed us the temple was 350 years old and still used on a daily basis.  It wasn't as well kept as the previous temples we had visited but it was extremely high and not a tourist attraction high up on most peoples list. 

On the way down we we had our monkey nuts, so on a wall I strategically stood at, I proceeded to open a bag, where numerous monkeys must have heard the noise, along with goats because out of nowhere monkeys and goats turned up. One monkey ran towards me and grabbed the plastic bag containing the nuts but I wasn't having that so I was, playing tug of war with a monkey over a bag of nuts, needless to say he won when the bag exploded open allowing them to be scavenged, whilst Rosie stood back laughing. One goat got a bit too close to stealing some nuts off a monkey and so the monkey hit the goat on the head and pulled its horn; it was hilarious and the goat kept going back for more! 

So Jaipur, up to now, has been our favourite place to explore and gain the sounds, smells and sights of 'real India' but we are ready to move on now; off to Agra to marvel at the majestic Taj Mahal.

Kerala

If you read about India, you will have heard how beautiful the backwaters are of Kerala. We arrived in Kochi and not even address of where we had booked to stay, so got a rickshaw to roughly the area and asked around - luckily a local man knew and pointed us in the correct direction. 

So after arriving 3hrs late, our guest home was a pleasant welcoming with a shower and clean clothes needed ASAP. We were met by Rajeev, who suggested some local sites and eateries. We changed and felt incredible, so ventured out to try to catch a local bus. They, alongside similar experiences in Sri Lanka, are renowned for being very fast, hardly stop at bus stops and get completely packed with hardly room to turn your head. But we loved them, all open sided with a bus conductor that has notes of currency in one hand between each finger and a satchel with lose change and tickets. I will never know how they monitor everyone who boards and gets the correct money from them; a minefield!

A suggestion by Rajeev was 'Fort Cochi'. A historic, colonial town with its heritage still in place but is used for tourism; a lovely town to walk around and eat. We then walked, about an hour, along the coast to 'Jew Town'. Where a settlement of Jews was founded in the early 1600's, it has the oldest Synigoge outside of the Middle East, very sacred and interesting. It's floor covered with tiles from China which an Emporer brought over around a similar time. Between Fort Cochi and Jew Town is a road named 'spice road' and yes, it's because it's where they make spices ready for around the country and deportation.  It smelt amazing whilst walking thought the streets...

We then came across an old building which sized Ginger for sale.  A huge courtyard where they dry the ginger in the sun before sorting it into sizes through a '2-lady' colander.

Just before getting to Jew Town, we came across some gorgeous children and managed to get this photo which we had to share...

The following day we made our way to Alleppey to go for a day on a backwater cruise.  It was as perfect and relaxing as we had read about. Meandering through the water and very narrow, just enough for the boat, waterways taking in the wildlife and sounds.  The boat was 'powered' by 2 men with poles (not a euphemism), which resembled a Venetian gondola, silently gliding through the water.

We stopped at a lady's house on the way round and she was selling coconuts which our boatman chopped with a machete for us to be able to drink the milk and eat the soft coconut inside! It was delicious.

We stopped for lunch and had our first Keralan meal. A fresh banana leaf, as a plate, with 3 small and neatly organised piles of different spices. A large mound of perfectly cooked rice in the middle of the leaf with a fish curry poured on top and finished with a small poppadom on the side. It was incredible; we eat it with our hands, as per local custom, a technique which we think we acquired by the end.  You have to get a small pile of rice, mix it together with other piles of spices etc, twist it around on the leaf and scoop it up with your thumb and forefingers (of your right hand only) and when you get it near your mouth move your thumb behind the food to 'fire' it into your mouth...easy! When you're finished you have to fold the banana leaf in half; towards you if you were satisfied with the meal and away from you if you were not.

We passed through some local houses on the way back to be shown how rope is made from coconut hair and where I spotted this young boy with his sister!

So now, we are on the train again but thankfully only a 4 hour journey down to Varkala, plus we managed to get seats in an air conditioned carriage, even though I am spending the majority of the time hanging out the train taking photos and enjoying the scenery! Varkala is a beach town, we decided we need a bit of relaxation ;) 

The night train...

Hi, it's Rosie here :) I'm not one to write or blog, but we're on the night train from Mumbai to Kerala and we still have 12 hours to go! We checked out of our hotel this morning and made our way to Panvel train station, our aim?...to get tickets to the overnight train to Kerala. This wasn't as easy as we'd expected (something we are becoming used to in India!) 

After being told there were no seats for the 1230hrs train, we were sold tickets for the 1800hrs train, this meant a 6 hour wait at the train station with our backpacks, so with little deliberation, we decided to make a go for the 1230 train anyway (and hope we get a seat). 

Turns out, we didn't get a seat, but we wouldn't have got a seat on our 1800 train either, so feeling smug that we had started our journey 6 hours earlier, we claimed our space near the smelly loos by the open doors. As you can imagine, it's not a clean or pleasant area.. But we don't have much of a choice!

After just an hour in this tight smelly gross space, I couldn't see us doing 22 hours.. But we're 10 hours in now, and I've changed my mind about this train. As you can imagine, we are very dirty and smelly, but Sam tells me I look beautiful. He's a good egg. 

I've come to realise that the Indian railway is a practical business, it's not designed to be comfortable or pleasurable. The locals are just happy that the train has got them to their destination, whatever the setting. You wouldn't get this in England, you'd get suited business men shouting 'this is ridiculous!' Or "get me your manager!" But here, people are more relaxed, they are just happy to be transported.

We cannot moan either, this trip has cost us just £7 each - and we are travelling a long long way!

After 13 hours we managed to get two beds, I can't say I've ever felt happier to lay down and go to sleep! Who said I can't sleep anywhere?

During our journey, we made friends with the locals, watched the bugs on the floor, saw some incredible scenery, watched a film, danced, tried an Indian burger, got bought some Indian food, did a crossword, and learnt some local language. 

At the start, I hated this train, I hated the heat and the dirt, but I've grown to love it, and I'm fond of our little corner of the train, and our sleepy neighbours. This has been the worst and best train journey of my life!

Mumbai...

Well, we arrived in Mumbai to 38'C in 84% humidity carrying all our belongings for the next ten months.  To try to describe Mumbai is near impossible, except to say it is the most busiest, dirtiest, hectic place on planet earth-it must be, but extremely friendly! 

We walked out the front of the airport thinking we would get a bus to the train station. After being accosted by 4-7 rickshaw drivers and after declining their wealthy offers of 'cheap' fares we waited for the bus '111'. After three quarters of an hour we realised this bus was never coming so we decided we should walk, but only 100-200 metres later we quickly decided this was ridiculous so flagged down a tuk tuk, to which his rates were reasonable (perhaps because we were away from the airport)? 

En-route to the train station, through the craziest traffic you could imagine, nearly dying a dozen times, we arrived at the train station. When studying the huge map on the wall of where we wanted to get to, a gentleman offered to help. Always suspicious we sought his advice and he even offered to guide us to the correct platform (without I'm not sure we would've made it as there is absolutely no order or reason to anything)!! We boarded the train and it was every man/woman for him/herself; claim your space and area and don't let anyone push you or tell you different. 

At this point we had decided that we had landed at the deepest depths of the deep end!! We correctly disembarked the train at our designated stop and found the streets to be mobbed by food selling stalls and shops offering specialities, for example, a shop named; "The Reliable Tarpaulin Company", yes, just selling tarpaulins?! It was manic and we had no idea where we were going to find our accommodation for the next 2 nights. We asked a number of people to be pointed in 'kind-of' the right direction. 

With more than a little help from the locals we found our apartment, a terrace, one bedroom, self sufficient place with our own private roof terrace, which had numerous potted plants sitting on a mosaic tiled floor. The views overlooked Mumbai, which were nothing to be admired and the 'beeping' noise coming from the road below was both constant and very loud...throughout the entire night; thank goodness for ear plugs!! 

The next day we went via train, just one stop, to Mumbai City to visit the famous sights; The Gateway to India, The Taj Mahal Hotel and Leapold Café, amongst others. We got the bus, which was very easy and cost a massive 20 pence. Inside the Taj Mahal hotel, it was a world apart from outside its front doors! Immaculate, expensive and extremely popular with wealthy, western foreigners. We had a beer in their bar which cost as much as our accommodation for the night but we thought...'When in Mumbai...!' 

The next day we were making our way to Panvel (an outskirt area of Mumbai but still 2 hours on the train) so that we could travel down to Kerala, via a train that takes 22.35 hours and costing only £7 each! However, our optimism was short lived as after a delay of 3 hours our total journey took over 25 hours. 

Panvel was somewhat to be desired and that is putting it politely! Rosie booked a hotel for the night which was far from standard but at least it had WiFi for us to plan and book our next accommodation via AirBnB (a great site we heard about which we have so far found to be excellent).

A highlight of Panvel however was finding an amazing restaurant that did amazing food and costing what would have cost £50 in the UK for both of us, just £5.80!!!! Plus, I made friends with a baby, I think she was fascinated with my bald head but she was lovely.