Taj Mahal

Our guide books says it's a 2 and a half hour train ride to see the famous Taj Mahal - it took us 11. We climbed/shoved/pushed our way onto the train (when it eventually arrived) but people just kept coming. Being white was a huge advantage in the rural station as we were looked after and heaved up to the top level to sit. We were bent over and crammed in looking down on the people standing below. There were no gaps between the people - they were simply piled on top of each other. One man said to us "this is the real India" - o kidding.

The Taj Mahal was every bit as impressive as you imagine. The gigantic marble buildings surrounded by green gardens look just like the postcards and up close the detailed carving really is beautiful. After the Taj we walked along the river past the burning ghats where we saw so many bodies being carried on wooden stretchers to be burnt and sent out to the polluted water. It didn't seem sad just very calm and quiet in comparison to the surrounding streets.

We also went to see the huge red Agra fort which boasted more marble designs and lush gardens where we could relax when the sun peeped through. We wondered the streets and manic bazaars selling everything from pots to paan and potatoes - Glen even got a cut throat shave.

We ate breakfast on a rooftop each morning sitting in the sun with a view of the Taj where we were waited on by two gorgeous kids - it was like a scene from Bugsy Malone.

ABCs

A few months ago knowing we were going to be in Delhi we signed up to do some volunteer work in an orphanage, this has been out 1st of 3 weeks.

We have been placed in an EVAD orphanage for disabled children 30km south of Delhi in a quite rural area. There are 30 children live in the orphanage and others visit for lessons. The disabilities range from 'slow learners' to severely mentally disabled. The children we have been teaching are mainly deaf and dumb.

Monday morning was our first day and we were taken to our classes and left to teach, to say it was overwhelming may be an understatement. With communication difficulties spanning languages (Hindi, English and Sign), along with the fact that many children could not speak or hear we felt we were quickly drowning and were a little bit lost but somehow managed to struggle through the day.

We started the 2nd day a little bit wary, but soon realized how quickly it could get easier. The children are all lovely and have taught us some basic sign language and helped us whenever they could (although I think it should be the other way round!), this has led to us being able to communicate more effectively, understand there needs and actually help them to learn from us.

The rest of the week continued to get better, we know the names and personalities of most children and they all know us, there is lots of studying and learning (both us and them) and no shortage of fun and laughs to add to their already permanent smiles.

Such a turn around from Monday has allowed us to believe we can help the kids, and are looking forward to even more progress next week.

http://www.eindiabusiness.com/evad/services.html#schooling

Chandigargh

On the (long) bus trip south to Delhi, we stopped (not intentionally) for a night in Chandigargh, a place we new nothing about and hadn't planned to visit, but we're glad we did!

We treated ourselves to a more expensive hotel than the 3pound we normally spent, showered and hit the town for some food and beer, both of which we enjoyed with some live music. We ended the very enjoyable evening by walking back in the freezing cold night eating ice cream!

In the morning we decided to see a bit of the city before catching our bus so we headed to the 'rock garden' and we loved it. Under the direction of one man, a 12 acre sight has been transformed into an interesting, enjoyable and stimulating place to wander around using just the waste from construction sights. There are waterfalls, mosaic walls, large castles and thousands of sculptures of all sorts of animals, people and who knows what, a real pleasure to spend some time. We were sad to leave but had a bus to catch, it was an unexpected stop worth making.

Tea with the Lama

Mcleod Ganj is the home (in exile) of the 14th Dalai Lama, and for 5 days it has also been the home of us!

Set on the top of a mountain, amongst many other mountains both smaller and larger, it is a relaxed place with lots of chai (super sweet tea) shops and Tibetan monks at every turn. We have spent the days soaking up the atmosphere and exploring the town and surrounding countryside. The scenery continues to be stunning at every turn, never more so than when we made the 4 hour hike up a mountain to the snowline at 2,900m where we relaxed in the sunshine looking down on the clouds below before descending via a waterfall to some well deserved momos and Thenthuck soup.

Ravi's House

From Shimla we took a local bus to a town called Bilaspur to meet Ravi (an old friend) with the plan of staying with him and his family for a few days. They picked us up from Bilaspur and took us to their house in the small village of Kerlya.

The house is on a ridge looking down the valley to the rest of the village which sits within the foothills of the Himalayas, it is a beautiful house in an amazing location and we were treated like kings by Ravi, Mampta, Chaitanya, Papa Jee and Mama Jee as they kept us very well fed. The view from the house is beautiful, and we awoke to the sight of what looked like a lake formed by cloud down the valley under the snow capped peaks.

After a couple of days at the house we went on a trip to Joginder Naga to see some more of the countryside. After a fun 7 hour journey involving buses, jeeps and probably the highest roads we have ever been on (many of which brought to mind the climax of the Italian Job - especially when we had to pass other buses!), we were met by Mampta's cousin and taken to his house where we were once again very well fed. Continuing our journeys strange fascination with rail travel we went for a quick trip on a trolley which goes up and down the hillside (at a gradient of up to 48 degrees - that's pretty steep) using a pulley system before taking a quick tour of the fascinating Hydroelectric powerstation that Mumpta's cousin worked in. It was built in 1932, and I thought renewable energy was a new thing.

On our return trip the bus took the opportunity of breaking down at the highest pass we made, rather than sit and wait we climbed higher (over 300 steps) to a small temple on the top of the hill, for some more breathtaking views of the mountains and the terraces that have been cut into the hillsides for farming. Just as we were at the top we got news that the bus was fixed and had to make a quick descent to cut the bus off on the road below us.

Our 5 days passed unbelievably quickly as we had a fun and relaxing time with our adopted family, and we left on another bus with the promise to meet up again in Delhi after our trip to Daramsala, further into the Himalayas - in case you wondered, it's also pretty cold ;o)

Toy train to Shimla

It sounds like it should be made of colourful plastic and last for 20 minutes but that was not the case at all. The 120k journey climbed from 700 to over 2000m and took 7 hours (3 more than it should have). It was great. Each carriage held 30 people, we were sat with 3 families who were good fun, we screamed our way through the 103 tunnels and round the bendy tracks enjoying the stunning mountain scenery all the way.

Shimla is a lovely place with old British style buildings with wooden beams in a tudor style, we could almost be in Shaftesbury (but the roads are even steeper!). Since arriving we have climbed a hill to Jakoo temple, taking 21 minutes (according to the sign at the bottom this means we are super fit). The temple is a shrine to the monkey god and appropriately there were monkeys on the path all the way up, people carry sticks to beat them away but they didn't give us any problems and it was nice to be walking amongst them. The views from the top were extremely impressive looking out over the Himalayas with their snow covered caps poking out through the clouds and eagles circling below us.

"one snap please" we hear wherever we go, with people wanting their photos taken with us, unfortunately it is never just 'one snap' and at one point we were stuck for 30 minutes with a queue waiting in line! On the train a baby was thrust into our arms for the proud parents to take a picture, we wonder how many family albums we may be appearing in.

For New Year we wrapped up warm (6/7 layers) for the below 0 temperatures and had a curry before joining the crowds on the streets with music and dancing inbetween the photocalls.