Thursday 21 November 2013

India, Part 5: Jaipur & Agra

This will be the last update - part five of five. I hope you've enjoyed the photos and stories. The trip was absolutely crazy, right up until the end - a true experience and a real adventure.

I thought it might also be useful to show a map of where, exactly, we went. India is mind-bogglingly huge: consider that it took us 17 hours by train from Delhi to Kolkata, for example.




I hope I can return to this amazing country sometime soon.

And so, to the final instalment...


Jaipur: Jaipur City, Amber Fort

Back in Pushkar I purchased an Indian-style shirt from a street stall. I put it on for the first time in Jaipur. I'm not quite sure how well it fits in with international fashion conventions, but let me just say: the Indians know how to dress in hot desert climates. That loose, long, light cotton shirt is probably one of the most comfortable things I have ever worn.






Agra: Taj Mahal




The trip back from Agra to Kolkata could probably have gone smoother. The plan was thus:
 - Drive from Agra to Delhi
 - Catch flight from Delhi to Kolkata
 - Arrive in Kolkata the same evening

However, the actual journey went something like this:
 - Drive from Agra to Delhi
 - Arrive late due to an incompetent driver
 - Rush across Delhi using the Metro
 - Miss our flight
 - Spend 3 hours attempting to 1) not get crushed to death in New Delhi train station; 2) buy tickets
 - Fail; buy tickets for the following day from black-market vendor instead
 - Try to check into a hotel in Delhi
 - Realise your passport is on its way to Kolkata with the one person who did catch a flight
 - Be refused check-in at said hotel due to the aforementioned passport situation
 - Be transferred between two police stations in an attempt to get an official statement
 - Ride three-on-a-bike through the streets of Delhi with a drunken cop who reeks of alcohol, who simply signs the hotel ledger then wanders off
 - Successfully check into hotel
 - Enjoy dinner in the only restaurant open at that time, which happens to be run by a hyperactive 5ft tall Nepali man with a ponytail
 - Acquire tickets from our black market vendor 30 minutes before the train departs
 - Catch the train, only to find our tickets for the coming 17 hour journey do not include bunks
 - Bribe the train conductor 200 Rupees to arrange bunks for us
 - Finally arrive in Kolkata... two days late

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