Pushkar

Great spelling!

Me in Pushkar

Wedding celebrations

Love the colours.

The tourist office man. Shit, forgot to turn them.

Kali having a domestic with Krishna. She has killed all his body guards and has all the heads around her. What a woman!

People doing pujas and ritual bathing

Typical Rajastani guy about his saturday business

What a SUPERB day. What a fantastic place. I want to eat dinner and the restaurant closes in half an hour so I will focus on uploading some photos first. I have done Puja (holy praying with Guru near the lake) this involved flowers and herbs and spices on a plate. Telling him the names of people you want to pray for and then reciting a mantra and then they bless you with holy water from the lake and you throw all the crushed flowers behine you and you put your sum of money on top of a coconut and it's taken to the charity box. Then the guru puts a red mark on your forehead and ties string round your wrist. (Right wrist if you are single and left wrist if you are married)

This lake is one of the holiest in India for Hindus and it has the only Brahma temple in the whole of the world. It is full of pilgrims from all over India and it's really chilled out. There is no hard sell and everybody just kinda chills out together.

I had a guide this morning. A 17 year old student who showed me around the town. It's small. I'm glad i did because doing the puja was quite complicated. I had to go to the Brahma temple first and collect my flowers there but you pay no money and then walk down to the lake. Where you collect your tray of herbs and spices and coconut and then wit for a guru to approach you and take you down the steps of the ghat (like a platform near thelake).

All must sound well hippy and weird and as you all know I AM NOT A HIPPY! But could get into living here. Thank you Sanju for saying I should be here for three days. Looking forwrd to chilling out again tomorrow but decided not to go swimming in the pool. Think I might catch some kind of skin disease or internal rotting...it doesn't look too clean!!

After I said by to my guide I went to a cafe and chatted to a french woman and a girl from Birmingham. Had great food there and then found the tourist information centre hidden away and stayed with the guy in there for about half an hour. He was funny, he wanted to know how much my sunglasses cost and the functions on my mobile and was helpful with the maps and told me that if I wanted a healthy baby I had to go and pray at a certain temple. I had to sign my name in a big book and he put a star next to my name so that he would remember me! (I have to go back to Pushkar once I have had my super healthy baby to show him)

Pushkar Rajhastan

Well, I'm in the desert and arrived late and it's pitch dark outside my hotel so I don't think it's a good idea to go exploring a new place in such circumstances. This city is very holy and supposedly has a big lake, with lots of marble temples around it and many Hindus come here to make wishes and float out flowers. I have just eaten dinner on the rooftop terrace and got over run by a group of OAP Indians probably up here to make their final wishes!

Staying here for three nights...so I think I will get to know the place well and the hotel is fantastic, Sanju has arranged a garden view for me with a terrace over the flowers. Plus there is a swimming pool! (But it look sa bit cold) The evenings are cold here.

Slept so well last night and this morning I looked around the Red Fort at Agra for an hour or so. It was fantastic but Islamic designs, Persian Arches and flowered inlay of precious stones all begin to get a bit 'the same'after a while.

Well it took about 8 hours to get here. But it was fun. Me and Sanju get on fine. I sit in the back and we chat and he's happy that I let him listen to his Hindi music (which is pretty good really) and then I read and then I ask him loads of questions about life in India.

We saw some interesting sites on the roads, Naked Jain pilgrims who have probaby walked starkers for 100s of miles to get to this particular temple in Rajhastan. On mass, Middle aged ,male nudism is pretty grim to behold in any format!! Believe me!

We saw loads of wedding parties, involving lots of dancing, decorated cars .................

Oh my GOD The OAPs have just decended on this tiny internet room asking me what I am doing. "Are you programing" Where are you from? What is a blog? Can I read it? So funny but so NOSEY> I didn't want them to read about the naked Jains!!! (One of them was from America!)

Right I haven't got my cable today, so no photos of the Red Fort.

Oh, I saw some funny signs today in Agra.

ANUS SCHOOL OF ENGLISH. ( I hope the owner is called Anu!)

and LEARN FLUENT ENGLISH IN 3 WEEKS. Wow, the Indian English teachers must be really good!

Right I'm off to my terrace to relax with a book and lime juice. No beer allowed in this holy city!

Night

Agra

Get an idea of its size!!

Inlay on the walls of the Taj. All semi precious stones.

Yes, it's me.

Inlay in the mosque

So cheesy!

Right, so much to write and so little time and I am wired. I HAVE SEEN the TAJ MAHAL and it was worth it. It truely is the most amazing building I have ever seen and even the people are unnoticable against it's beauty and anyway the garden layout and design around is so well done and I'm in awe. Especially at it's size and intracacies of the inlays on the walls. All completed from semi precious stones. It took 20 000 men working around the clock for 22 years to build it.

Right a quick summary of today.

I was dreading this morning incase Sanju didn't turn up. Well he did, and thanks Orlando for waking up at 3.30 am to call to see if I was OK. You are GREAT!!

We started out tour with a photo of me next to a huge SHiva built next to the chocking highway. We then went to a new temple which was great it was all decked out in red and green lights and looked like a nightclub from the 80s and even the idols were projections froma flatscreen TV. Really funky. I'm having trouble with uploading pictures so I don;t think I'll be able to show you them.

I then had a quick walk around another fort, Sikindra I think it was called and then had to hurry on to the Taj after a big lunch because no phones, food or drink apart from water allowed in. Sanju, told me an interesting fact about Agra, it has the greatest amount of crazy pople of any city in India and hence has the best mental hospital in the country.

Probably becauseof all the traffic accidents.Good inside information!!

Arrived inisde the Taj at 3pm and was one of the last to leave at 8pm when the sun had set. It was fantastic and all the mad worries of yesterday literally vanished..but I still have to phone up the co-op to make sure that the guys didn't compromise the card.

I met this student called Raj and he offered to be my guide for a cut price and he was excellent without him I would have missed so much which isn't written in my guide book. There are so many magic numbers in the Taj and its completely symetrical apart from Mumtaz's tomb is different from Shah Jahan's and the central point running through the taj goes through Mumtaz's tomb.

I stayed, watched sunset and just chilled out and met Sanju and he drove me here. The hotel is well swanky, far far better than anything I would normally pay for. SO all in all I think this tour has been a great idea. Because all you get on the streets is hassle hassle hassle. The taj was a sanctury. He met some mates and all 5 of us drove up to my hotel and had a laugh. They all say I look younger than 37 and I laughed and offered them all 10 rupees for the compliment.

Anyway about to order dinner and I am going to have my first beer on my holiday. Yes, three days without beer!

Delhi day three

Beautiful design in Hanumans' Tomb

Jama Masjid Mosque

Hanuman's Tomb

The Bahai Temple

The Jama Masjid

At Hanuman's tomb. My favourite place!

Right, I have to be honest. Today has been tough and I haven't been feeling too good. Delhi is a HARD city on your own and I feel that everyone is out to fleece me. THe only decent guy I have met today is the driver who bought me to what seems to be the only internet cafe in town...He had to find about 5 people to ask and didn't demand a tip. I feel out of my depth and I just hope that my tour is a success. The more I think about it the more panicky I get. I just have to trust them and if it works it will be worth it and if I have been conned then I will just have to move on and forget about it!

Sanju is coming to pick me up from my hotel at 8am tomorrow morning and we are driving to the Taj Mahal stopping at two Sikh temples on the way. Driving we will be able to include these in the itinery. They said that three days at the Taj is too many and this on retrospect is true and the hotel they showed me in Agra looks great so I'm going to have two days there and then move off around Rajhastan staying one or two nights in different places. Lakes, Forts, Palaces, Bird Sanctury, desert. ..i know that i wouldn't have been able to organise this myself so let's hope its a success. Right I won't go on about it any more. GOnna just post some photos from yesterday.

Today I just hung out in myarea and got stared at alot and read my book in the park.

Delhi day 2

Right. Slept well. I love Asian beds with just a cotton sheet and a hard mattress! But I had to get the blanket out last night. Today i was picked up by the tour guide at 8.30am. He looked out of it and the car was shite.No mirrors. So I arrived at the agency in a state and demanded my money back. They said today was a holiday and IT ISN"T and they sent a pile of crap to my door. Anyway me and Latif had a shouting match and in the end he got a government of India guy in with his badge to calm me down and another guide who had a recommendation book with him and they showed me his driving licence. They also called an American and an Australian tourist who are currently on tours with this company. The Gov. India guide said to me that yeah, I had paid commision but that it was an above board agency and to see everything by train in Rajastan is impossible. This way I had everything at my beck and call. They also threw in this free day tour of Delhi, an extra night in Jaipur (Coz it's Holi festival on the 11th and no one can travel because your car will be trashed with paint) . It's just tough on my own to know if I have done the right thing. I have to trust the guy if I'm alone in the car with him.
Well today with Sanju was fine. He's , the car was perfect and he was a good driver and he does frequent tours around Rajasthan.
Well, today he took me to
The Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque): Beautiful inside, but a rotting foul cesspit of humanity at the entrance.
The Red Fort: Again beautiful Mughal architecture.
India Gate: A gate similar to the one in Mumbai but built to commemorate the Indian dead in all their wars they have helped us out in.
Ghandi's garden and memorial: Very peaceful and quiet. Love ly gardens.
Hanuman's Tomb: A prequel to the Taj Mahal and I REALLY LOVED it. Hardly anyone there either I don't think there are many tourists in India at the moment!
The Baha'i temple (Lotus temple): This was outstanding. There are 7 Baha'i temples like this in the world and the one in India looks like the SYdney opera house. It's not so beautiful but the feeling inside was incredible. It almost made me cry. I can't explain why. There was nothing on the walls and just pots of wonderful flowers everywhere. Unfortunatly again, no photos were allowed.I want to learn more about this religion. I don't think it even started until 1893. Weird, but a great place!
Government buildings: The British legacy and to be honest ugly and clumpy architecture. The buildings we built back home are much better. The roads around government reminded me of Washington (well, what I have seen on TV!)
Then he bought me back to the agency after about 10 hours of driving around the city. I paid up the difference after my deposit. I just hope and pray the accommodation is good. Let's wait and see!

Well, here I am. I have made it!! I'm staying in a little house with loads of character in a district about 3miles from the centre.

Very old fashioned but spotlessly clean and with hot water and a bucket shower!

This evening I went wandering around the area looking for an internet cafe...it's dark and pretty hectic but had a FABULOUS jalfrezi along the way. Well the only place I found wouldn't let me in coz I was an 'outsider'. That's great, outrageous racism on my first day! But back at house now and one of the guests has lent me his laptop whilst he goes for dinner. So might have to be quick. Only got wi fi reception under the shrine. Got a picture of this weird shrine earlier. I'll try and upload it later.

Well flight was great. Again just ate and drank loads and chatted to the girl next to me who was off trecking in nepal. Movies kept me up all night and I ddin't get a wink of sleep. The arrivals hall here is just so much more relaxed than Mumbai.(Thank god coz I was knackered!) For a start it is far more civilised here. the poverty isn't in your face and people generally ignore you.

My taxi driver got me here in one piece. Yes, they do drive like absolute NUTTERS and then I decided to get the metro into the centre. I got off at the central square and it was such a strange experience like a kinda very very very run down, Indianafied Cheltenham that had been left to rot for about 200 years.

Because today is Monday everything is closed but my god I got hassled wandering around. Yes, I look white, tired and obviously in a daze but jesus, it was full on. Anyway I ended up in a travel agency and got chatting with this guy and to cut a long story short I have taken a HUGE gamble and bought a 14 day tour around Rajastan. Maybe I will live to regret doing this but I really want to have some of the stress taken out of this trip and they will organise all my accomodation, give me a car anda driver everyday and take me off the beaten track at my desire. We will see. This also includes 2 days at the elephant festival in Jaipur and one night sleeping in the desert with a camel. ...ehh?!

Only building i visited today was the Massive Hindu temple which Gandhi prayed at. I arrived about 3pm and stayed till about 5pm. It was full of families and the park was packed.

Sorry, forgot to turn this! it's steps leading down to a fair ride!

No, it's not a nazi temple.

Tomorrow is a holiday so everyone was really chilled out. It was pretty modern and relaxed in the temple but to be honest I feel that the area I'm staying is a hot bed of Hindu fundementalism., but knowing me I might be imagining this!

Right lets try and post some photos before the guy comes back. I'm whacked too. I need some sleeeeep. Oh, by the way the metro is great. Really slick and clean but photos are banned and there is many an armed guard to enforce this law. Also security is so tight. You have to be frisked and walk through a beepy thing and have your bag checked whenever you enter a station. I think after a few days this would get pretty tiresome. The same scenario at the Temple. No photos and strong security. India is being very careful!

gonna publish...think connection is faulty. but maybe it'll work. Fingers crossed
Night. Internet cafes are thin on the ground here. Only by luck did I manage this today. God knows about tomorrow. Night