The Crazy and Colourful: India - Delhi, Amritsar, Agra

After a very long and tiring 9 hour flight, preceded by a last minute panic regarding Paul's American Visa and his ability to board, we landed on Indian soil. Unfortunately Mumbai was still hundreds of miles from our final destination Delhi, so a quick internal flight which included a short bus tour of the Mumbai slum and we landed in Delhi, to be greeted by the kindly Rajesh and his driver Prem. Reaching our final destination - Sidd's apartment (Paul's friend) - was a mighty relief!! Our first meal was shortly followed by a long sleep.

Our first real day in India began after this sleep, where thanks to Rajesh we used the aforementioned driver to chaffeur us around Delhi's sites. The red fort introduced us to the local version of the squirrels, squirrels on some form of narcotic, and some warm weather. It was at Chowdi Chowk, the local bustling shopping market where we received our first real introduction into India. Crazy, but colourful. The chaos was enough to confuse us both, as was the constant 'hawking' - people trying to sell us anything from fine silks to terrible fuzzy toys! Each at a special price - our lucky day! The cabling would be enough to frustrate Mr Kerridge, multiple interwoven cables at circa 3 mtrs high would not be acceptabe in Compton Abbas, but here were commonplace - a danger we came to realise in the rainy and sparky Agra!

We failed to mention the unnatural way that we were woken up. What sounded like a small remote controlled car driving and crashing, driving and crashing, driving and crashing, turned out to be a huge motorised toy, being driven by a 4yr old boy..see his picture, money cant buy you happiness, even in India!!

Our second day in Delhi was calmer...a lovely breakfast with our excellent hosts - Sidd and Studi. We are really enjoying the fantastic authentic and varied Indian cuissine, albeit the Marmite has been opened, as Lottie cannot accept curry for breakfast quite yet! A trip to the Lotus Temple was relaxing but Surand Kund Mela (festival) was great fun, delving into the Indian culture - dancing with tribes, eating with the people, wandering calmly through the stalls - for once the India pace seemed to slow.. The night ended with a trip to Akshardham Temple. A stunningly detailed modern (2005) temple which took our breath away. The classy, but detailed puppet show which told the story of the Supreme God was followed by an amazing water and light show. A few drinks with friends, and many laughs, sealed the night perfectly...

...well apart from the fact that our first night train, to Amritsar was at 04:30 the next morning. Our first train journey was an experience in itself. Not only did we have to run for the train which we could not find - which luckily for us was running late - but the standards of the train, the smells (I will let you imagine what..) and the people all appeared intimidating at first. 11 hours with little sleep and we were slowly getting used to it, but by then it was time to depart. Our first cycle Rick'a'shaw was an experince - nothing to hold onto other than each other (which is considered an act of sex in India - eeek!), stupendous traffic, many near misses and a driver willing to put his hands behind is head on the downhills! Scary stuff!

The Golden Temple in Amritsar - home of Sikh Pilgramage - was certainly worth the trip. A golden encrusted temple in the midst of a man made lake was a sight to behold, however the real beauty laid in the culture of the people. Kindness through and through. Free food - to ALL Religons - sitting in lines of 50 people eating on the floor, trying to interact in broken Hindi with our seated neighbours or staring babies (at our whiteness!), was a good start. However, the ethos is greater than that - the kindness extends beyond this, it is a no caste no discrimination society which we could all learn a few lessons from.

A trip to the India-Pakistaini boarder proved to be quite an adventure to see the closing of the boarder - a nightly entertainment. Firstly, our taxi crashed on the way to the boarder - Paul's first ever car crash - leaving his forehead dented by that of the head of the person sitting opposite him. Then the entertainment began. Thousands of Indian's flock to see this show - and the atmosphere is electric - singing and chanting at the Pakistaini's whilst supporting the crazy marching Boarder police. Nazi-esq style walking was on display in a ritual that has lasted years. All a bit too much for Lottie, who decided to faint at Paul's feet - luckily not to pass out, but lack of water has been cited as the cause!

Our return journey via train was also a torture (being sat next to the loo), but the short stay in Delhi reminded us of the kindness of our Indian counterparts. Sidd, Studi and Rajesh have been absolutely fantastic in welcoming us to India. Their hospitality has been second to none, and puts us to shame. Thank you oncemore for your genorosity!! It is truly overwhelming.

Agra for Valentines day....ahhh, I hear you say. The short (relatively) 5 hour ride with Prem to Agra landed us in what is known as 'Taj Ganj' - a jumble of small streets, shops, roads, and plenty of traffic - rickshaws, mopeds, dogs, bulls, and even 1 camel! was the chosen backpackers haven. After several attempts, we found our safe haven accomodation - the cheapest (Paul) and most romantic (Lottie) we could find. With sensational views of the Taj from it's leafy, quaint and quiet rooftop, our choice did the trick. A lovely meal, 12 roses (hard to source in India) and a romantic setting, we dreamily watched the sunset over the Taj.

Today is our first, and final day in Agra. We have visited the scenic Agra Fort, where we met our first collection of monkeys, much to Lottie's liking and Paul's dislike, and viewed the Taj from a grand distance. Did we mention the rain? grr. However, sunshine shone brightly for the remainder of our day, the climax being the trip to the Taj Mahal...a stunning building from the outside, if not slightly dissappointing and dim on the inside. However, 1/7 wonders of the world - tick!

Tomorrow morning we depart for Jaipur, Rajasatan. We shall be there for two weeks in this rural part of the Indian desert area, so will report back from there shortly.

Our short experience so far has told us that India is a country of extremes. Amazing to damned right disgusting! Beautiful food, colours, people, sights and cultures. Horrid smells, busy traffic, dirty everything, and the constant hawking can be frustrating. However, the negative extremes are easy to overcome when there is such positivity elsewhere to be found.

Lots of love to all, hope you are well, and speak individually soon.

Paul and Lottie xx