Future bound

This airport express metro is really impressive. By far the most futuristic thing I've seen here. Imagine if the airport express from Stanstead to London only cost £1.50.

Edit:
Brilliant. The word for two here is pronounced 'dough'. They just announced a flight that had P and 2 next to each other...Simple things.

Edit:
We just landed in Mumbai at 8 o'clock and the captain told us it was 28 degrees centigrade. It doesn't feel like he was joking.

Edit: Goa airport is the cutest little airport you will ever see, the entire arrival hall is only two baggage carousels wide. Izzy has come with the lady who runs the guesthouses cousin to collect me and whisk me back. So sweet! It was only while I was waiting at Mumbai that I realised how much I'm looking forward to being on the beach, having a swim etc. So happy to be here!

PHOTO EDIT:

FIRST SIGHT OF THE BEACH!

Books and various miscellaneous items at Mumma Maria's villa

35th

Annu's Last Day!

Presents needed to be purchased, and rupees spent. So we went to Sarojini Nagar again. The prices are good and once you've got the hang of the layout everything becomes quite simple. Annu bought jewellery and scarves and I bought shoes and a tee shirt. We then had McDonalds (I know, shocking. But you try having Indian food everyday, and tell me how your insides feel) and Annu got some henna.
Later that evening we went with Mandy to a festival called Unbox (which turned out to be closed) and then back to Hauz Khas. Mandy took us to a bar there called TLR (The Living Room) which is a name of one of the albums that I vividly remember Peter Crisp giving dad when I was very young. Funny in life how experiences trigger such varied memories. We had some lovely onion rings (again, I know) and went back to Hare Krishna to rest for a bit. Which was made extremely difficult by what sounded like the whole world having a party in the hallway outside our room.

Early doors at Sarojini Nagar

Idols etc.

Earrings etc.

Annu's 500 rupee purchase

A woman getting touched up

Annu getting henna-ed by two men

Detail

The result

Auto rick from IHC to Paharganj. I couldn't handle the thought of the metro with my big bag again.

Unmanned cycle rickshaw at the traffic lights on Punchkuian Marg

The reason for many sleepless mornings. Work continues in the hallway at Hare Krishna while Sanjay prepares Annu's final bill.

Probably a mistake - the map at Unbox festival

TLR roof bar

34th

Today we saw the Taj. Annu was treated like a major celebrity and was the subject of many photographs, some women 'clickers', but mainly men. I expected the queue to be massive as it was a sunny Saturday but I was proved very wrong. The Indian queue was big, but manageable for Sabya, and the foreigner queue was nothing! I know you can't see anything in India without other people there, but I wish the Taj had been empty and I'd had some personal time to enjoy it. As it went were shuffled round it in some kind of order with little time to appreciate the little details.

List of prohibited items on the golf buggy to Taj. 'Helmate' is my favourite

Annu posing in the sunshine

The Indian queue, and Sabya in it

The visual illusion of the Taj through the entry arch. The closer you get the smaller the Taj's arch gets rather than bigger.

First full view

Crowds and crowds and crowds

Beaut

Check the stance

Explorer Annu

Celebrity Annu being asked

... and then clicked

Glittering marble

Another fan

Some more fans

I hate to say it but this photo looks like Rossetti's The Beloved

Final shot on the way out

Finally! An honest window sticker.

We left the Taj and had another alcoholic lunch with Sabya. The food was excellent, and not even too pricey considering its location. Although I can't really judge that because he paid. We had a few hours to kill before our train was leaving so we went to the school that Sabya had built and that he will be opening in April. While we were with him he was constantly taking calls from prospective students and staff. I hope it goes well for him.

Front of Orchid School

'Agra's Sunset Boulevard'

Annu on her top bunk

Riding in style - Sleeper Class

When we got to Delhi I was panicking about missing our station (I didn't want to end up in Punjab) so we got off early and had to jump back on while the train was starting. Thank goodness for the doors being open during travel.

32nd

I am going to post the photos I have taken in chronological order by day for the sake of my memory. Hopefully this will mean I will be able to recount stories from each day which will be more entertaining to read now (for the people that read this blog) and later when I look back on my time here.

This was the day we went to Agra, and thus was the day that I stopped posting regularly as we were away from the internet for some time. I was a little apprehensive because we were in the hands of a host I had only met once and, on that one occasion, only very briefly. Getting on to the train was as hectic as expected and we saw more white people in one session than I've seen since I got off the plane. When we finally got to our seats it was quite heavenly. We were both still very ill from the night before and, to all intents and purposes, it still was the night before. The train left at 6 am. It was very comfortable and the sun was rising throughout the  journey, with India flashing past on each side. We were given free bottles of water, a newspaper, and then a whole meal with tea - which I think isn't half bad for 4 quid each!

When we arrived our house took us straight to our hotel which was a million times better than Hare Krishna, and told us we weren't to pay for anything. We weren't staying at his because his friends had been over the week before and had thrown up so much in the bath that it was still blocked. Nutty West Bengalis! We had a little rest then he took us to Fatehpur Sikri, a city built by Akbar just outside his capital city. It took a while to get there but there were lots of crazy traffic experiences on the way and the site itself was definitely worth it! So many palaces for so many wives!

Our host Sabya (in the camo) getting ready to pay for us to get in. The guy in front was a nice New Yorkian that was travelling alone. He had a 10 year visa!

"The old women I don't mind but the kids are all scoundrels."

The tomb of an Islamic saint. A place of pilgrimage.

Hives on the ceiling of the biggest arch in India

Crazy multi-directional traffic in Old Agra