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The streets of Delhi were pretty quiet at 6am as we left for the airport.

I was pretty resigned to the fact that my holiday was over at that stage. 

It was goodbye to Tarun just outside the airport as only travellers are allowed into the airport at Delhi... You actually have to show your ticket to get in.

The Singapore Airline staff were doing manual  checkin as a training exercise in case the computers went down so I was pleased I had done online checkin the previous night.

It was an uneventful trip home and lovely to see family and my dog. But it's all over now.

Thanks to TomTom who took us into some really interesting places .... It was hard to believe some of them were even mapped.

But most of all thanks to Adventure Holiday Tours (well named) and Tarun Sharma. We travelled together for 4 1/2 weeks and nearly 6000 kms and I enjoyed every single moment of it. If someone asked me to describe India in two words I think I'd say 'diverse' and 'addictive.' I have no doubt I'm addicted . I think that the people you travel with can make or break your trip. I have been very lucky in that my first trip was with a great group of people and an excellent guide, Anant who lit the fire for me. Then I was exceptionally lucky to find Tarun who turned a small fire into a raging bonfire.

If any one is thinking of going to India contact Tarun.... You won't find better.

You can contact him at :

tarunsharma.delhi@yahoo.com

You will find some reviews here

 http://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Attraction_Review-g304551-d4992274-Reviews-or10-Adventure_Holiday_Private_Day_Tours-New_Delhi_National_Capital_Territory_of_.html#REVIEWS

He's very approachable and will be happy to arrange a trip for you or answer questions you may have . I know he's particularly keen to go up to Ladakh on motorbikes if that appeals to you.

I hope you have enjoyed my blog and it's made you interested in going to India. I never ever imagined that it would grow so big .... there have been thousands of views now from all over the world . I have appreciated the emails you have sent me commenting on it.

Any questions please just ask. My email address is:

nazusw@gmail.com

Watch out for Trip No 4 next year :-)

Back to Delhi

I

Leaving Mandawa at 6 am meant that we drove through the town just as it was waking up... my favourite time. I think the dogs had been roaming all night as they were still sleeping all over the road and seemed in no hurry to move. Several of the women were out sweeping in front of their houses with the little straw brooms that they are so adept at using and there were a couple of little roadside fires burning the sweepings. 

It was about 260 kms back to Delhi on a road that varied from OK to "Tarun are you sure this is actually a road?" There was one particularly large pothole which Tarun described as the worst he's ever hit and that's saying something! Fortunately the car survived and so did we but a few things went flying round the car.

 

As we got closer to Delhi the scenery changed quite a bit. There were many wheatfields, many that had been recently harvested. The colours were beautiful.

I am still amazed at how much work on farms, construction sites and roads is done by hand. Obviously this creates a whole lot of jobs for many people and I wonder how much unemployment there would be with increased mechanisation .

At one stage we passed what appeared to be some sort of cattle sale.

 

So many cows...and so much cow dung!

All along the road we saw cow dung patties, all shaped by hand and dried in the sun. The patties are then piled up into piles and often covered with sticks or another layer of cow dung to keep them dry until they are needed.... usually for fuel.

As usual we struck lots of trucks and tractors carrying huge loads and taking up more than their share of the road.

 

As we approached Delhi the sky got greyer and we travelled through more towns. Many people were living in makeshift homes very close to the road and we often saw clothes drying right alongside where the vehicles passed... often on the median strip fence.

Closer to Delhi things got chaotic ... really chaotic! We moved very slowly and things weren't helped by the metro construction that is happening in many parts of the city .

We went straight to Tarun's office in Connaught Place and from there did a few chores... Like going to the ATM and buying a new bag so I can take home some of the stuff I never intended to buy.

Then it was to Khan Market to buy Indian Barbie and Ken dolls for my granddaughter who is turning 4 soon after I return home. 

Next stop was Tarun's home where I'm staying the night. We had already caught up with his father at the office but his mother and sister were pleased to welcome him home.

My last dinner in India!

Mandawa

This morning we set off for Mandawa, a town of 20,000 or so people that is known for it's painted Havalis.

The road from Bikaner was really good for most of the way, but relatively dull without much change in the scenery.  But experience has taught me that if you keep your eyes open in India you are sure to see something. I have always found some of the old desert trees interesting.....

.... and who doesn't like seeing the beautiful peacocks on the side of the road. We laughed at the fox who ran across the road, getting totally freaked out when she saw the cars and not knowing where to run. Seeing an elephant on the back of a truck was also a bit different for me, and of course there's always the camels.

Traffic was stopped at one point for several army vehicles to pass, another indication of the huge military presence in these areas close to the borders. 

Chaos reigns at railway crossings as the vehicles, and people and animals, all crowd up to the barriers on both sides of the road so that when the train eventually passes it takes some time for everyone to manoeuvre through.

Counting the carriages fills in the waiting time... the record so far is 60.... that is a very long train!

I have learnt that, in India, you can't always count on good roads for ever so the end part of the journey slowed down a bit as Tarun had to dodge all the potholes on the road. It can be a bit shake, rattle and roll on some of these roads.

We knew when we were at Mandawa when we started to see some of the beautiful old Havalis with every inch of them covered with paintings. This town is often used for the filming of Bollywood movies.

The hotel we are in is just stunning.

Even the rooms are covered with paintings that would probably be considered garish in any other setting but just add to the atmosphere and character of this place.

No elevators in these old places and lots of steps to climb... not just for us but for the staff too. I looked twice when I saw a bucket on a rope transporting stuff from the top floor to the bottom.

We have stayed in so many hotels and they've varied so much in so many ways.Some have  been expensive (by Indian standards) and others unbelievably cheap. In some cases even the best hotel in town has been pretty basic. Some have been in the middle of a large noisy city and others in a beautiful out of town area. Some have been old, some new, some just stark functional buildings and others spread out with lovely gardens and swimming pools. Some small and some large. My favourites have been the ones where I wake up in the morning knowing that I'm in India. Sometimes you have to compromise on bathroom facilities in these ones but it's worth it. In terms of character tonight's must be the best.

Lunch on the balcony and then a walk around town where we were followed by guys keen to sell their services as a guide, but we just wanted to wander. Tarun's long hair got the better of him so we popped in to get his haircut.

 A TV set in the corner was replaying the very end of the World Cup Cricket match between NZ and Australia... not that I really needed to see that. When they hear I'm from NZ the Indians all tell me they wanted NZ to win... Wonder if they tell the Aussies the same story!

Here is Tarun with the new haircut. Still looks pretty long to me :-)

The town was quietish and interesting. Very few of the old buildings have been restored and some are in quite a bad state unfortunately.

Lots of people saying hello... and in turn we said hello to the camel outside our hotel. 

As well as the Havalis and a fort there is a large water reservoir here with a huge well.

 

Even the buses are decorative here.

The  sheer number of historic buildings and structures in this country is unbelievable and unknown to most of the world. Every town seems to have something!

Come sunset it was time to go up to the rooftop restaurant......

 

... and wait.

Sitting up on the rooftop looking down on the town gave me a real look into the lives of the people. Kids chasing each other, young men walking down the road hand in hand as they do in India, a couple of men sitting on the roof top playing a board game, women walking along carrying whatever on their heads, the sound of the Muslim prayer carrying through the whole town, the vegetable cart going slowly down the road, the endless stream of motorbikes, the man hopefully watering his square of grass, the sound of a peacock and a monkey, the cow aimlessly wandering down the street as if he owned it, I am going to miss this place very much.

This is my second to last night in India . Tomorrow morning it's an early start to get back to Delhi in time for a few chores before I leave early the next morning.

A Day in Bikaner

 Sensory overload!!!

Today was one of those days I love in India... a day where every one of your senses is stimulated with a very high voltage current..... Usually all at once!

We started our day at the Junagadh Fort here in Bikaner.

 The best thing about this fort  is the elaborate and very rich interior.....walls and ceilings painted with gold and fabrics woven with both gold and silver. It dates back to the late 1400's but has been added to over the centuries. It has also stood up to many many attacks.

I might have spent 3 months in India over the last year and a half but I still have a lot to learn. I was admiring the beautiful dolls clothes in the Fort but Tarun informed me that they weren't dolls clothes but clothes to dress the Gods in. Whoops!

Bikaner is most well known as the place of the Rat Temple....actually about 30 kms away so it gave us the chance to experience another back road through a pretty cool little village. I still think it's hilarious the way people look at me when we venture out of the usual tourist areas. Tarun stopped and asked some guys for directions and they almost climbed through the window trying to get a better look at me.

But then things changed and I started looking at them. Love the uniforms the school girls wear here... often the same style but in different colours... I particularly like blue and white and marvel at how they keep the white looking so clean in such a dusty atmosphere.

The Rat Temple was weird. The actual temple is very old with a very beautiful entrance.

It was a Temple so we had to take off our shoes. My first reaction was 'ow' as the ground was very hot on the feet. The second reaction was 'yuk!' as we had to walk around the rat infested temple in bare feet. As we entered it sure stimulated my sense of smell! I'm sure you can imagine!

There were rats everywhere ... up, down and around and in every little crevice you could see... And the ones you couldn't see.

I have a friend, and I know she'll read this and know exactly who I'm talking about, who was recently so traumatised by a mouse in the house that she had to call for help ... she even put it on Facebook!!

Wish you had been with me 'D' .... I would have loved to see your reaction as rats ran over your toes... and that they did as they were completely unafraid of people.

As we left Tarun once again enjoyed telling some gullible person that I had adopted him as a very young child. When questioned about his proficiency in Hindi he informed them that I'd sent him to a Hindi school. You can't stop this man :-)

Rat watching is thirsty work, so aware that I wasn't going to have too many more chances, I once again sampled the wonderful sugarcane juice. It's amazing how much juice they can extract from such a small length of cane.

Back to the city and we got a tuktuk driver to take us round the Old City... even Tarun accepted that the streets were too narrow for the car this time. The tuktuk driver waited for us while we had a very nice lunch ...

... all for way less than NZ $10.

Our first stop was to look at some beautiful old houses

..then through the streets that were so narrow that we could reach out and touch everything we passed.

 

A real surprise was a beautiful Jain Temple over 500 years old. Evidently when it was built ghee was used as a substitute for water and in very hot weather it can be seen seeping out of the floor.... not so hot today!

The interior was amazing and completely unexpected.

Just around the corner there was another Temple and at least 1000 pigeons but I liked the cow eating plastic... not sure what sort of milk she produces, if any!

 

The next stop was to meet one of the locals, a man with a moustache two metres long. He keeps it wound up and secured with hair clips but unwound it for our benefit... And a few rupees!

Back to the car and back to the hotel, driving past the Border Security place on the way.

There is a big military presence in many of these places close to the border of Pakistan, and given the number of military training places I've seen on this and previous trips, I'd assume that India has a huge army.

The pool was very welcome when we arrived back at the hotel.

Dinner here at the hotel tonight. It's served outside around the pool but I'm not so sure about tonight as it's just started to rain. I can't believe that every time we've had rain, not that it's happened often, or for long, it's been in the desert!!!