Slow...slow...slow... train to Shimla

Heading out of the smog of Delhi once more we caught the train at 5.55am up to Kalka.Bleary eyed and having condensed our baggage to one case- talk about travelling light- we stuffed the ubiquitous omeletes and wiled away the hours rapidly moving into the foothills of the Himalayas. After 6 hours of occupying each other we then frantically made a dash for the toy train- a narrow guage railway in order to wend our way Northwards. The scenery was absolutely awesome but a further 8 hours to travel 96 km pushed all bounds of tolerance- particularly when needing to share our prebooked seats with up to 5 other people- in all sharing a compartment for 10 people with 26!! This is the most 'Indian' train journey we have ever done- even more scary than the rickshaw hurtling through the backstreets of Delhi- and certainly one we're not bothered about repeating! Tired and grouchy having not eaten since breakfast we entered the amazing world that is Himachal, 'land of the gods.' Shimla is incredibly high up and the views are breathtaking.
We can see right down the valley and across the higher Himalayas and everywhere is so...built up amazingly. There are porters everywhere carrying all sorts of goods and immense numbers of steps due to the almost vertical inclines everywhere. Can't believe we're here in the Himalayas. Steve will tell you more about the Highest YMCA in the world which we had a great time at...but for now we'll sign off...must head for the bazaar- too many bargains to miss! Lots of love The Clays

Wowed by the Taj Mahal

Our tour of the 'Golden Triangle' was coming to a close and our final day was spent in Agra to visit the jewel in the crown for tourists ... The Taj Mahal. It really is breathtaking and easily earns its place as the worlds greatest building. Ruth quite fancied having a photo taken 'a la' the famous Princess Diana pose - unfortunately she couldn't get the 2000+ visitors to move out of the way for the perfect shot (how did Di manage to do it??). Agra is one of the most polluted places in India and the dust can really stick to the back of your throat. A less comforting sight (in the Taj Mahal itself) was the rolling LED display showing today's level of pollution - several times the 'safe level' - after hundreds of years built from impenitrable marble, modern pollution creating sulphuric acid is slowly eroding the surface of the stone. A final visit to a local marble works to buy a piece to remember the occasion and it's back to Delhi for a night stop-over before we say bye to Wendy (till next week) and set off in the early hours of Saturday morning to Shimla. No rest for the wicked!!

A tiger's tale...

Well...we bumped and jolted and hung on for dear life as we off-roaded through Indian jungles.The terrain spread out into what seemed more like African scenery and then towering above us were incredible cliffs with caves and vultures circling.We were shown all sorts of animals and birds but came back utterly exhauseted and without seeing a single tiger...though we were shown a couple of 'official' tiger and leopard prints in the sand (yeah, right, we ain't gonna fall for that one!!)However after a shower and lunch we headed back into the bushes for another expedition.This time it was worth all the bumps,bruises and bites ( come back Sanjay, all is forgiven!) as we discovered our own crocodiles, monkeys,chipmunks,antelopes,blue bulls,gazeles and even a cobra slithering its way across our path. Finally to add icing to the cake a tiger appeared.Great stuff- warm winds, the sun on your face, tigers in the grass...what more could a gal want?(Let's not go there, Auntie Wendy-ji!) Finally after a long hard day site--seeing we slunk off past our hotel's eaterie and off up the road with a disgruntled Sanjay( our driver) to a better hotel, to try out our folk dancing moves, experiment on an old fashioned sort of piano acccordion and stuff our faces with wonderful food.This is the life..the following day we had another incredibly long drawn out journey as we headed for Agra- but that's another tale. All in all we're fine, coping with all the scams, the heat, the bites and constant celebrity status. ( Why don't the men take a picture, it would last longer...)Trust all's well back home.Love to all..The Clay clan and Auntie-Wendy-Ji.( Incidentally if strange men from Rajasthan ever ask you if Wendy is my daughter...tell them, "of course, can't they see the family resemblance?".

Hunting for Tigers

Ranthambore National Park is famous for one thing ... Tigers. We arrived at our Hotel (The Raj Palace, nice setting - abysmal service) on Tuesday afternoon and spent most of the remainder of the afternoon/early evening swimming in the pool and preparing for the 'safari day' on Wednesday, with a very early start planned we all retired for an early . At 5am the alarms woke us and reluctantly we arose and awaited our transport. When you know your expecting to see Tigers it's quite a relief to find that your transport is a little higher up than some of the smaller jeeps others were getting into - it was still open top though ... and how come the ranger didn't have a gun with him!!

Experiences in Jaipur

We spent a thoroughly exhausting two-days in Jaipur, the Western corner of India's 'Golden Triangle' and overdosed on sights sounds (and smells..). The Amber Fort was a truly impressive sight. Amber was the capital of Kuchwaha for almost 700 years until 1728. It looks more like a film set from a distance, and the view keeps impressing as you get nearer. We originally planned to ride elephants from the village up the hill to the Fort; but the tourist queue first thing in the morning made the 2 hour wait (without guarantee of a ride) rather off putting - so we drove up and walked the rest of the way. The scenery and 17th Century architecture on arriving was worth the visit (see previous blog with photo's).
Later we found a local 'elephant house' (as you do, down a back street) and arranged a slightly longer elephant ride through the village streets. From below Callum thought the elephants were 'scary', to be honest, so did Dad ... but he wasn't letting on to the kids!! In fairness the elephant ride was a little bumper than other local transport, but considering the traffic congestion was perhaps faster! (would you argue with an elephant?).
The evening of our 2nd day in Jaipur we had a tuc-tuc ride to remember for a life time. Remember the scene with James Bond in a tuc-tuc going full pelt through back streets?? True we didn't have anyone shooting at us, but we hurtled through streets no four-wheeled transport would dare to attempt. Five of us crammed in the back (Wendy was having a lie down). We saw parts of Jaipur that Tourists wouldn't usually venture into .. visited a manufacturer of silverware (ask Ruth to show you the results) .. and a distributor of wood calved ornaments ... and past what seemed an Indian version of the stock market, 7:30pm crammed into the backstreets with hundreds of men (with scooters/motorbikes) all trading precious stones.
Definitely glad to have visited this incredible city, but two-days is enough, ready to move on to Ranthambore now.

Mighty Acts of God

Every year for the past 25 years or so, the New Delhi YMCA hosts an Easter extravaganza performance called 'The Mighty Acts of God' - part of its extensive Christian Emphasis programme. The show involves around 100-200 actors and backstage workers from small children to adults. The show is performed in English (Good Friday) and Hindi (Easter Saturday). Although the performance we saw was in Hindi it was still an impressive show and well worth the effort to attend (despite spending large amounts of time entertaining a boisterous Callum outside). Over the years many people have been involved in the productions - including (for about 18 years) our taxi driver!! The show is a clear Christian witness in a city where only 2% of the population is Christian and is enjoyed by people of other faiths also.

Shots from the 'Pink City'

Left to Right in decending order:

1. Inside the City Palace

2. Wendy by the City Palace 'reception rooms'

3. Steve & Hannah about to be escorted off by the Palace Guards (unless they all get 10Rs for the photo!!)

4. Joe & Ruth returning from an elephant ride - it's a long way up..

5. Camels filling up?

6. Snake Charming on top of the stronghold of Amber

7. Callum going Native

8. The Palace inside Amber Fort