Namaste

Well here we are in India and the place is MAD in a good way!!

Our flight from South Korea was very noisy and we didn't get much sleep but landed in Delhi on time. It then took us just over 1 hour to clear immigation. When we turned the corner after collecting our bags it dawned on us what a good idea it was to get an airport pick up it was total mayhem!!!

After a short sleep at the hotel we got down to business and tried to sort out our next move. As with travelling you have to be flexible and our plans changed yet again. After several hours with Mushtaq our travel agent we decided to travel the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP) first before taking off to Nepal and the returning to India. We had a bit of spare cash and plumped for a driver for 18 days to take us around the main cities which so far is working out really well. Once the buisiness end of things were sorted we took a tour of Delhi, which has to be the maddest place we have visited the traffic, the polluition, the people and the cows. It is total mayhem with no road rules whatsoever. Raju our driver took us around the city and showed us India Gate, the presidents house, the lotus temple and the biggest mosque in India!!!!

Next morning it was up at 7am and on the road in our Ambassador car(old British car i'm told, never seen one myself but the Indians love them) and Raju drove us out of Delhi and into the countryside towards Mandawa our stop for the evening. On the way we passed people making bricks by hand and women tarmaccing roads in Saris!!!

There were camels, monkeys, donkeys and goats all over the roads, and also quite a few road accidents. After 7 hours we pulled into Jhunjhunu to visit Rani Sati Temple.This lady commited suicide in 1595 by throwing herself on her husbands funeral pyre and this temple commemorates her. From here it was short drive to Mandawa famous for its "havalis." Havalis are like a meeting house that have beautiful fresco paintings on them but most of these are run down as they were built around 130 years ago by rich opium, silk and spice traders who have long since gone.

Our hotel for the night was a restored havali and was really nice, this morning we set off later and after breakfast it was back in the Ambassador so Raju could drive us to Fatehpur for a walk around their market where we got surrounded by kids wanting money and pens!!!

It was then onto Bikaner which is around 500km west of Delhi. Bikaner is famous for the Karni Mata temple which is the temple of rats. Once you remove your shoes you enter the temple and the rats run around freely all over the floor and wall and sometimes your feet. It is said that if you see a white rat here it will bring you good luck as it is like looking at God. And guess what while watching the rats eat and run around a white rat appeared and Raju our driver said he has not seen them very often and he visits a lot so today we are lucky. We also took a tour of the fort they have here which was built in 1589 it is called Junagarh and is really stunning and ornate to walk around and look at.

As I am sat typing this the electric has gone off and we are sat in the dark running on a generator!!!

Just to keep you all up to speed we are now missing out Sri Lanka due to violence at the minute and have decided to visit the Andaman Islands which are 200km east of Chennai and are where the 2004 tsunami hit quite badly but things now seem to be picking back up again.They look superb and we think it will be a good way to finish our trip off.

Will be in touch hopefully in less than 3 days, the internet in India is hit and miss!!

Lots of Love

M & M

xx