Well, we are certainly having a cultural encounter!!

Currently in Jaipur, a beautiful place known as the "Pink City" (the colour of welcome) and staying in a lovely hotel that's set all around an open air courtyard with big breezy rooms and most importantly a HUGE bed, shower and WESTERN style toilet! :o) We arrived here yesterday after a 5 hour train journey from Delhi and have since explored most of the city in cycle rickshaws/by foot. Yesterday we went to the Palace in the old walled city, basically where the Rajhastani royal family live (Jaipur being Rajhastan's capital). It was a pretty typical big building filled up with various museumy bits. Can't say that anyone was a huge fan of the art/crafts section although the boys were slightly more impressed by the arms and weaponry.... especially as when we were waiting at Delhi train station it would appear that some of it is still used as an everyday accessory to national dress!? Also went round the streets of Jaipur with a local guide and was taken aback by the fact that one minute we were walking along the road, surrounded by stray dogs (and pigs, cows, goats, elephants, monkeys....haven't seen a single animal with an owner yet) plus beggers, dirt, farmyard smell etc and the next minute we had taken a tiny little side road or gone up some steps and we were in the most beautiful HIndi temples. Gatecrashed a couple of ceremonies who were more than happy to include us and passed round the mini cymbals! The thing about Jaipur is that despite the smell which comes as par for the course here and the begging which although awful you cannot encourage, the people here as so so friendly and are just very very interested in you and England as opposed to hostile. I have been approached 4 separate times to have my photo taken with little Indian ladies in national dress! As a result, it has been so enjoyable being here, plus staying somewhere so clean and lovely of course ;o) Today we went to the Amber Fort in Jaipur, a seriously huge and amazing complex of palaces and rooms dating back to th 1700s (?!) for the old Kings and their many many wives. It was seriously breathtaking. Everything had been constructed from marble and in such intricate detail. Thankfully we got driven up all the way to the top as opposed to the hugely steep trek in the midday heat or exploiting the poor elephants being shunted up and down with fat tourists on their backs. The photos will be fab once we work out how to upload them/burn them to CD!

So Jaipur, AWESOME. Delhi, not so cool.

We arrived into Delhi airport at 1.30am on Friday morning, pleasantly relieved not to have been harassed by customs, monkeys or small children. Minor panic when my "Clark" board was nowhere to be seen but soon found our grumpy chaffeur after traipsing about for a while. First encounter with Delhi's roads was interesting, even at 2am when you would have thought the traffic may have subsided!? Uh nope. The traffic here is relentless and the drives completely insane. Crossing the road is the most hilarious activity after having been told by our tour guide to just freeze when something is coming towards you. a) it won't get you across the road, you would just be stood tere for 10 mins and b) you try freezng when 10 cars/cycles/tuktuks/cows are hurtling towards you at the same time! Anyway, back to Delhi. Arrived at the hostel at about 3 by this point, completely shattered and not giving much thought to the room around us. Woken up about 7 by someone spitting their guts up/yodelling in the street below (what we guess was the street as no daylight/windows in our soulless room!) and after a brief inspection of our room in light, transpired it was pretty grim. Dirty/skanky toilet with a jug/a shower head of sorts out the wall over a bucket. Thought perhaps a foray into the big wide world at about 11ish would be a good idea to escape the hostel. We thought wrong. Staying in the Parhaganj area of Delhi was not a good shout, despite it being seriously cheap it was also seriously filthy. Rubbish everywhere in the street, so much dust, so much smell and so many people. We anaged a couple of hours out but after being hassled by no joke, 20 different people in a return journey and being chased by a one legged begger we gave up. Friday was written off and we spent the rest of the day eating Magic Masala crisps and sitting on the roof reading, dying to meet our tour group the next day.
Saturday didnt start too well after attempting to walk the "short" distance from our hostel to the starting hotel in the midday heat plus backpacks. Having not eaten anything except crisps since the plane in the fear of catching dyssentry or worse I was on the edge of keeling over at least twice and didnt even need to whinge for Bim to call over a tuk tuk ;o) It took over an hour to travel about a kilometre as our driver had no idea where the road/hotel was and pulled over about ten times to ask people/turn around before we acquired one of his friends, a man called Mr Bill, who also squidged in the tuktuk to help us! Finally arriving at the Grand Park Inn was HEAVEN. Tucked into room service - veg biryani and chapati for 80 rupees (just over a quid!) and one shower later felt like a whole new person. Met the rest fo our GAP tour group, all really nice people from around the UK and Canada/US and our tour leader, Vipal, a very well educated Indian man who explained the itinerary for the next 2 weeks to us. SO SO relivied to have booked a tour, I cannot recommend it more. Venturing into Delhi for the second time was less awkward and slightly more enjoyable in a group (but still unable to express any kind of good feeling for Delhi I am afraid). We went to India Gate (a huge war memorial much like the Arc de Triomphe) and sampled the new metro system that is being built in time for the Commonwealth Games next year, another example of the mental dichotomy of modern and completed undeveloped going on here. The highlight of thestay in Delhi had to be our evening meal in Connaught Place (big central circle in Delhi with lots of shops/restaurants etc) at a restaurant called Banana Leaf - actually served South Indian cuisine, so tucked into dosa, Bimmo's recommendation from Amit! Good recommendation! :o)

Right, think that is pretty much the past few days summarised.... tomorrow we are on a train at 5am to Agra so expect some cliched photos of theTaj Mahal coming to your screens soon!

Keep posting messages on the board and faceby etc it is really good to hear things from home :o)

Loads of love
Jo (and Dan, who has just arrived back from town with more money wooooooooop!!) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx