Delhi

 Yesterday we were treated to a tour of the 'Best Sights' in Old Delhi.  

The day began predictably early and once fuelled up with curry we were off by 07.30.

Almost immediately we took our place in the 3 hour traffic jam leading into the city. Try as I might I couldn't see the attraction, but there again, it might not have been an official 'Sight'.

Very much an official 'Sight' was the India Gate. Built between 1921 and 1931 and designedby Sir Edwin Lutyens, it commemorates the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army in World War One.

It also bears the names of more than 13,516 British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern frontier in the Afghan war of  1919.

You might think that it merited more than a drive round the roundabout it's built on. Delhi traffic had other ideas. This picture is the best I could do through the (moving) coach window.

Next visit was to the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India.  I'm afraid I can't tell you what it's like inside as there was a strict dress code for women involving donning a rancid, often-worn,seldom-washed robe . As the men were not required to adopt the obnoxious outfit, I made a stand for the Sisterhood and refused to go in.

In any case, if you really must see inside the mosque then I'm fairly certain that Google will be able to show you. (without the risk of skin disease or discrimination)

Staying with the political theme, we moved on to visit the Raj Ghat, the cremation site and memorial to that old friend of Darwen, Mahatma Gandhi.

An eternal flame burns at one end of the memorial, and his last words are recorded in the marble plinth. 

I know you're itching to hear what pearls of wisdom the ancient former lawyer turned hunger striker/father of the nation uttered.

I can reveal that he wheezed out 'Hey Ram' ( not to be confused with Hey Jude). Look it up.

In other news, we drove past the street that leads to the street where the president lives (underwhelming ) and passed by the Red Fort, UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE . Unfortunately it was on the other side of the motorway so, not a great deal to see.

After lunch, our guide sensing that the coach tour had not been a huge success, made off for his Delhi home, never to be seen again.

But not before he'd broken the news that this morning's start for the airport was a spine chilling 02.30.

Brutal.

I'm writing this, bleary-eyed from Istanbul Airport, which, you may remember from the beginning of this trip is the home of overpriced beer.

It's fitting then, that this is where we part company blogmates, but don't worry, Gullibles will be back at the end of the year. 

Stay safe! 

Agra

 A thoughtful 6am alarm call arranged by our guide had us skipping down to breakfast with joy in our hearts.

Not even the obligatory visit to the inlaid-marble-items shop could dampen our spirits. (Things you didn't know that you didn't need, and at a price you couldn't afford.)

'Why the sunny outlook?' you ask. Well blogmates, standby, standby, because today it was the Big One.

The one and only Taj Mahal, one of the New Wonders of the World ( no idea what the others are, but I'm sure you can look them up).

Built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan between 1631 and 1653 to house the tomb of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, it's truly an awe-inspiring sight. (And, obviously,  yet another UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE)

It's built from white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones and the whole thing glitters in the sunlight (and, I'm reliably informed,  in moonlight.) I defy anyone to see it and not to feel even the faintest stirrings of romance. Indeed, even JB was moved to say that it was right up there with Wigan Pier.

Incidentally, Shah Jahan is also buried inside (together at last). The interior of the tomb is beautifully decorated but sadly no photography was allowed so you'll have to take my word for it.

 

Eventually our guide's suggestion of lunch persuaded us to get back on the coach. Romance is all very well, but a lamb bhuna's a curry.....

Curried up once more, it was back on the coach to visit Agra Fort. (Also known as the red fort of Agra, see if you can guess why....)

It's a huge complex, surrounded by a 2.5km wall.  Building was started in 1565 by the Mughal emperor Akbar and was later expanded by his grandson, none other than our old pal Shah Jahan. Yes, that's right, the romantic tomb bloke.

Ironically, it served as a prison for the Shah from 1658 until his death in 1666. But who would imprison our love-lorn Shah? Why it was none other than his weasel son Aurangzeb.

They allowed him to live in a tower that overlooked the Taj Mahal, which may or may not have been rubbing it in a bit......

Kids, eh? Who'd have 'em?

Foreign Pie News

 Mushroom and sweetcorn pie.                       Costa coffee somewhere between Agra and Delhi

After almost two weeks of constant curry, this pie appeared to us like manna in the desert.  (We'd only stopped for a wee as well)

Down to business then.

Pastry: Consistency almost identical to those polystyrene cups that you used to get coffee in. Never actually tried chewing one, but I have a strong suspicion that it would be tastier than this sad offering. There was a lot of it as well.

Filling: Initial inspection had us reeling back in horror. In appearance, it was very reminiscent of a squashed badger I once saw on the A55, but dotted with sad kernels of what had once been sweetcorn.

Such is my dedication to this feature that I actually placed some into my mouth, as did JB (plucky as ever). It goes without saying that we removed it almost immediately. 

A dreadful, pitiful excuse for baked goods and a disgraceful example of the baker's art.

Fatehpur sikri

 Another 07.30 start saw us stumbling on board the coach like extras from Night of the Living Dead, although in fairness, a couple of members of our party have looked like that since the beginning.

Today's target: Agra, a journey of around 240km which was scheduled to take us the best part of 10 hours with stops. (and you thought we were enjoying ourselves....) 

On our way out of Jaipur, our we stopped briefly to get a photo of the famous (and rather apt given our curry diet) Palace of Winds. It appears on the front of many guidebooks, including our own.

Imagine our disappointment then, to discover that it's just a façade. A mockery of a sham you might say. And say it we did.

Anyway here's a picture.

An enforced visit to a jewellery shop, a lunch stop and many hours of driving brought us eventually to Fatehpur Sikri, a fortified city founded in 1571 by the Mughal Emperor Akbar. It was the capital of the Mughal empire until 1585. Now it's a (drum roll....UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE).

The afternoon was blisteringly hot and our guide, perhaps shaken by the sight of the shambling wrecks that most of us have become, decided to arrange electric golf carts to ferry us up to the main palace.

Sighs of relief moved quickly through the coach until we realised that we had a 10 minute walk to actually meet the golf carts.

Being British however, we soldiered/lurched on and eventually reached our transport which whisked us up the hill to the main palace.

We had a good poke about, generally acting the giddy tourists (a role we've perfected over the course of the trip) until it was time to get the golf cart back to the coach.

Here then, for your viewing pleasure (or possibly not), are some of the (hard won) views of the palace.

Jaipur

 Another early start, another curry themed breakfast.

Today's first stop was the Amber Fort, (UNESCO HERITAGE SITE) built in 1592 by Raja Man Singh I. 

Situated on top of a hill, we had two options to reach it: walk up or face the ordeal of riding an elephant.  Given that we've ridden on an elephant in Thailand and thus being wise to the wayward nature of the giant beasts, we chose to walk.

A prime example of the havoc caused by the pungent pachyderms

The fort itself is huge, but there again Raja Man Singh apparently had no fewer than 12 wives, so I guess he needed the space to keep them all separate and so avoid confusion.

 

It's equally lovely inside too. (Obviously design input from the wives I feel).

Despite how lovely it all is, I wouldn't fancy being one of the chosen twelve, although I suppose it would there'd be more women  to help with the housework etc.......

We picked our way back through the elephant effluent and assorted and extremely persistent street sellers to the relative safety of the coach.

A swift lunch stop and we were off again. Next stop: The City Palace (yes, I know we've already visited the City Palace, but this is a different city and a different palace. You'll just have to trust me on this)

This one was built between 1729 -1732. It was used as an administrative centre as well as a royal residence and in fact the current Maharaja of Jaipur still lives here with his family, although we didn't see him . (To be fair, I don't actually know what he looks like, so it's possible that he passed by unnoticed)

Next door to the palace is Jantar Mantar, one of five astronomical observatories in Northern India, built between 1724 - 1730. As an added bonus, it's a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE. 

Among the instruments on display is the world's largest sundial. It's around 90ft tall and tells local solar time with an accuracy of 2 seconds. (Sadly its immense bulk means it's no use as a wristwatch)

There were lots of other astronomical bits and pieces lying around, most of which appeared to have some part to play in forecasting  horoscopes. 

Now, I don't know about you blogmates, but I've never placed astrology in the scientific sphere.

JB intends to get to the bottom of it and has bought a book to help him. 

We await his verdict.

On the road yet again

 Adopting the pleasure/pain principle, we feared that yesterday's fairly relaxed multiple sightseeing would exact a heavy price.

None of us were prepared for the 06.45 start this morning however.  (I have a feeling that some of our party may never fully recover)

Once securely fastened in the coach, our guide revealed that it would take us between 6 and 7 hours drive to reach Jaipur (Actually it was closer to 10 hours once we'd made the very necessary toilet and lunch stops)

 The giddiness of yesterday's boat trip was fading fast.

On arriving in Jaipur, the pink (in places) city, we wasted no time in boarding bicycle rickshaws for a quick tour of the place. (The rickshaws were actually powered by electric motorbikes and after our experience in Hanoi, when our bicycle rickshaw pedaller was left a broken man, it was perhaps for the best)

The ride proved to be even more terrifying than the tuk-tuks earlier in the week. Still, we got to see something of the city. And now you can too....

Udaipur

 So this morning, bright and early, we got our first proper look at Udaipur (to be honest, some of us were none too bright and it was most definitely too early).

Udaipur is noisy, chaotic and full of Indian tourist groups making the most of the public holiday for Gandhi's birthday. We loved it.

Our first stop this morning was to Jagdish temple. Dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu it's been in continuous use since 1651.  Unlike the brightly coloured Hindu temples we've seen in the South of Asia, it's made from white marble (although it wasn't exactly gleaming) and is covered in most excellent carvings. It certainly showed those Jain lads how it should be done. Plus you're free to enjoy the odd plate of garlic chicken and a beer if you're Hindu.....

After a fairly steep uphill trek dodging all manner of crazed drivers and holidaying locals, we reached our next objective : The City Palace.

Built on the shore of Lake Pichola , at over 800ft long it's the largest palace complex in Rajasthan. Building was started in 1559 by Maharana Udai Singh II, and each Maharana since has added a bit more to it.

Indian security guard bravely looking the other way.

Palaced out, we headed down to the lake for a relaxing boat ride stopping off at the Maharana's summer palace for a 15 minute photo break followed by an hour's midday -sun queueing and competetive glaring with the Indian tourists in the neighbouring queue while we waited for a boat back. Such fun!

After lunch we ended the day's excursions with a visit to The Garden of the Maidens. Built in the 18th century it was intended as a place for the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting to get away from it all for a few hours.  Lots of fountains and palm trees. I liked it, despite not being royal and if I'm honest, it's been a good few years since I was a maiden.