Dehli and Rajasthan to Calcutta

Wednesday 25th November 1997
Hotel; The bus to Delhi

Kathmandu to Delhi
The bus journey to the border was uncomfortable and overnight. Across the border in India we got another bus to the train station and then on a train to Delhi arriving in the early hours of the morning.

INDIA

$1 US = 39 Indian Rupees (weakening currency)

Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th November 1997
Hotel; Anoop Hotel, Delhi
Room Type: Four bedded room with en-suite (350NR per room)
Verdict: Fine, clean, hot water, good location on Paharganj Street. Rooftop restaurant with pool table.

Dehli
Delhi is overcrowded, dirty and busy but enjoyable nevertheless with lots to offer.

Eating and shopping
Newly opened on Connaught Place is Pizza Hut and the better but more expensive Pizza Express (sister of Milanos). There are plenty of cheaper places to eat on Paharganj and all over Delhi. Along Paharganj you can get good clothes tailored cheaply or just buy off the rails. Trinkets, statues and other traditional Indian items can be bought if you have room in your rucksack.

Internet and email
Internet connection can be accessed through the phone shop a few doors down from Anoop hotel.

Delhi Tour
Hire a minibus and take a day trip around Delhi to visit the magnificent Humayans Tomb, the Red Fort, the Bahai Lotus Temple, Hari Krishna Temple, Rajiv Gandhi Memorial, and especially the serene government buildings and magnificent India Gate.

Booking Train Tickets for Rajasthan
Book directly at the train station. There is a tourist booking area upstairs in the station. Tickets are very inexpensive.
DO NOT BOOK ANY TICKETS THROUGH TOUR OPERATORS. You get completely ripped off.
If you have time you can go around Rajasthan in your own time booking buses or trains independently from each individual destination. Prebooked train tickets however ensure seat reservations. We booked tickets to Agra, back to Delhi, to Jaipur, Ajmer, and (then bus to Pushkar), back to Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaiselmar and back to Delhi. If you have time you should go further afield.

Airlines
There are many airline offices in Delhi. Make sure you go directly to the airlines and not travel agencies if you want cheaper prices.

Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd December 1997
Hotel; Shanti Lodge Hotel, Agra
Room Type: Four bedded room with en-suite (200 IR per room)
Verdict: Fine, hot water, good location. Rooftop restaurant with superb view of the Taj Mahal

Agra

Taj Mahal
simply cannot go to India and not see the Taj Mahal. It is a spectacular wonder of architecture. The history behind the building of this Mausoleum is extraordinary and romantic. If you do not have a good guidebook get a local to tell you the history.

Agra Fort
Agra Fort is another spectacular red fortress overlooking the Yamuna river. A rickshaw will take you from here across the bridge to the baby Taj and through rustic bustly Agra.

Fatepur Sikri
Take a day trip on a local bus to Fatepur Sikri where you will find a ghost-like deserted fortress and palaces. The Daragh Mosque (Jama Masjifd), a replica of the one in Mecca is a brilliant treat if you can ignore the hassles.

Wednesday 3rd December 1997
Hotel; Platforms in between trains

Jaipur to Ajmer to Pushkar
Switching trains at Jaipur during the night you get into Ajmer early in the morning. From here you can hire a taxi, jeep, or go by local transport 11km to Pushkar.

Thursday 4th December 1997
Hotel; Om Hotel, Pushkar
Room Type: Two doubles with en-suite (120 IR per room)
Verdict: Lovely, clean, hot water, good buffet breakfast. They look after you well here.

Pushkar
Pushkar is a quiet sleepy holy town surrounding a sacred Hindu lake. After exciting Varanassi it seems quite still. It is relaxing here, the markets are colourful and abound with great bargains. Life goes on all round you at a quieter pace than the rest of India. Many hotels offer extremely good value buffet breakfasts lunch and dinners. All-you-can-eat for 40 rupees. The cuisine is all vegetarian and no alcohol is permitted as this is a very sacred area. It is a great place for colourful market photo-shoots!

Friday 5th December 1997
Hotel; Train again; the luxury of being in a hurry

Back to Ajmer then on to Jodhpur
img src="kiss.gif" halign="right"> Because of reorganization of the rail system at the time we had to go back to Jaipur to go on to Jodhpur. One can get a connecting bus straight from Pushkar to Jaipur. If you are going back to Ajmer from Pushkar leave plenty of time for the local bus as they do not leave on time.

Saturday 6th December 1997
Hotel; Jaipur Inn, Jaipur
Room Type: Dorm beds (60 IR per person)
Verdict: Lovely, clean. Probably very expensive to get a separate room but we were only staying one night

Jaipur
Take a walk to the old city surrounded by crumbling walls. You should buy a local map as we found this city hard to find your way around. There is a large palace and fort overlooking the busy city if you have time to explore. Being a Sunday most restaurants were closed. We did spot a signpost for Pizza Hut but instead we ate chipatti and curry at the train station.

Sunday 7th December 1997
Hotel; Shanti Bhawan Lodge, Jodhpur
Room Type: Four beds with en-suite (300 IR per room)
Verdict: Dirty, noisy, squalid and expensive but accommodation is limited in Jodhpur

Jodhpur
The huge Mehrangarh Fort overlooking the city is marvelous and a superb vantage point from which to observe street markets and the blue rooftops of Jodhpur. There is a museum here and an art gallery exhibiting the skills and demonstrations of Rajasthani miniature painting. We got our palms read in the courtyard.
People are very friendly if you wander the backstreets of this pretty, large city. There are very few places to eat here and most are relatively expensive. We watched typical Rajasthani folk dancing at our hotel which made up for the overpricing.

Monday 8th December 1997
Hotel; Train to Jaiselamar

Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th December 1997 (one night in the desert)
Hotel; Golden City Hotel, Jaiselmar
Room Type: Two doubles with en-suite (80 IR per room)
Verdict: Fantastic friendly hosts, clean, hot water, good rooftop view and restaurant. Highly recommended

Jaiselmar
The Golden City of Jaiselmar is a truly stunning and beautiful place. The rustic fort overlooks the sleepy desert town and offers delightful corridors of everyday life.

Camel Treks
From the Golden City hotel or at any of the tour operators you can organize a camel trek in the desert for as many nights as you wish. We chose a day one night trek (850IR) far out in the desert. "A non-tourist route" the guide told us. And it was. We did not meet anyone except the dozen villagers in the tiny oasis village for 2 days. Firstly we drove a few hundred kms in a jeep then met our camels. The food cooked from basics on a little fire (for which we gathered the wood) was very tasty and the night sky extremely bright as we lay shivering at the bottom of our sand dune in the middle of nowhere. Your bum does ache after a while and naughty obstinate camels try your patience! Two days was enough for me!

From Jaiselmar we heard from a friend that you can spend 10 days with monks in meditation. You sit for 14 hours a day, not talking, just meditating. Needless to say we gave this a skip.

Friday 12th December 1997
Hotel; Train again, Back to Jodhpur

Saturday 13th December 1997
Hotel; Shanti Bhawan Lodge, Jodhpur. Again not good

Sunday 14th December 1997
Hotel; Anoop Hotel, Delhi
Room Type: Four bedded room with en-suite (360IR)
Verdict: Fine, again

Our train was delayed for 11 hours due to a computer breakdown!!

Monday 15th December 1997
Hotel; Train again; Delhi to Calcutta, Last train journey in India

Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th December 1997
Hotel; CentrePoint Hotel, Calcutta
Room Type: Three bedded room with en-suite (200IR)
Verdict: Fine, a lot of Indians stay here. The friendly owner was very generous with his computer.

Calcutta
Despite bad remarks from other travelers we found Calcutta to be a wonderful city. The streets are busy and it seems to have progressed moreso in terms of infrastructure than any other city we have visited (other than Bombay). Cafes and bars are full of westerners and locals chatting together. As it was the 50th anniversary of Independence from Britain there was a lot of cultural activity going on. Art exhibitions, shows and jazz concerts pumped life into the city.

Girls (and boys) you can get the works done in any of the many Beauty Parlours for next to nothing. A great boost after months of dirty travel.

Things to see include the Victoria Memorial, India Museum and Mother Theresa's tomb!

Internet access is available at 17 Park St hotel

On Saturday 20th December we sadly left India.
Next destination, Bangkok.
BYE, BYE INDIA ;-(

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