Taj to Raj

Paul and Carolyn took a train out of Delhi to Agra and the home to one of the Wonders of the World; the Taj Mahal. You would imagine that housing one of the most beautiful buildings in the world would inspire the surrounding village to aspire to the same beauty....Oh no. Agra is an armpit! From the rickety rooftop of their oh so basic accommodation, they could see the Wonder. Unfortunately as it was Friday they couldn't go in it, so went to pay a visit to Agra Fort (the only other thing to do in town!) It was an impressive fort, built by the same man who built the Wonder and was later imprisoned by his son till he died there, staring out at the Taj.

Returning back to the digs, Paul spotted a roadside barbers. These are all over India; a wobbly wooden chair and a scratched reflection-less mirror. Paul was to have a shave! The man agreed 20 rupees (25p) for a cut throat razor shave and went to work on Paul's neck. This caused mass excitement around the locals and soon a gathering of approx 40 people formed around Paul to watch him get shaved at the roadside! It was certainly a performance and the barber was loving it! He carefully shaved Paul's face (stopping to see if he wanted to keep a moustache - No thank you!) and gave his hair a little trim. The finale was a vigorous head massage, where he proceeded to crack the back of Paul's head and neck. It did not look at all relaxing! At the end of the 45 minute experience, the locals all erupted in to applause and laughter and Paul made a bow, paid the fella 100 rupees and made his exit!

The following day Paul and Carolyn were up at the crack of dawn (6.25am to be precise) to go see the Taj Mahal in all its glory. As foreigners have to pay literally up to 20 times more than Indian visitors in to Attractions, Paul and Carolyn couldn't afford to pay for my ticket too, so I admired from the rooftop with all the monkeys.They said it was a very serene experience and they couldn't believe how big it was up close. As there were very few visitors through the gates at this time, they managed to recreate the 'Diana pose' on the bench overlooking the Taj and got to walk around with ease. It was awesome! At about 8.30am, the coach loads of tourists were swarming the gates, so they made their exit and got on the road again;toexplore the wonders of Rajasthan state.

First stop Jaipur; the Pink City.This excited Carolyn, liking all things pink, but she was quite disappointed as the buildings in the old city were actually peach and not pink! They spent a great day sightseeing; exploring another Jantar Mantar, palaces, minarets etc. That night they treated themselves to a posh slap up dinner in an expensive (for India) revolving restaurant, overlooking the whole of Jaipur.Half way through the meal Carolyn thought she was getting motion sickness, but Paul said that was ridiculous as they were going 70 meters an hour! By the time they'd got back to the hotel, Carolyn was feeling really peculiar.... that's when the doom of Delhi Belly began.The next 2 days Carolyn spent on the loo with her head in a bucket. She went through 2 toilet rolls (brought from home thankfully as Indian loo roll is useless!) and a whole packet of wet wipes.It was a very unpleasant experience but Paul ("in sickness and in health") help get his wife through the nightmare and they were on the road again (Carolyn stuffed with imodium!) to a chilled out town called Pushkar.

Pushkar is a village around a holy lake. Many Indians come here to pray and to bathe in the holy waters. With this brings a load of crazy Baba priests, who are basically strolling around in loin cloths, stoned out of their minds. It is a very chilled out place with relatively little grief, so a perfect place for Carolyn to recover (she was having major aftershocks) and Paul to explore.They checked in to a beautiful Haveli hotel called "Inn Seventh Heaven" and they were in heaven for their time there.While Carolyn slept off her illness, Paul went trekking the surrounding mountains to visit hilltop temples. He was greeted in to family homes for drinks, where he stayed for a while and let the kids listen to his ipod before tackling the climb. The 45 degree climb was a struggle in the midday heat, but the views at the top took his breath away (or was that due to beingunfit?!).

After a couple of chilled out days Carolyn felt heaps better, so they got on the road again and endured another bone rattling 5 hour in a local bus headed for Jodpur; The Blue City.... TBC

Wish you were here,

Love

Judith (Paul and Carolyn) xx