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Wednesday
19th to Tuesday 24th November 1997
Hotel; Damaru Guest House, Kathmandu
Room Type: Two doubles (with en-suite 150NR, without 100NR per
room)
Verdict: Fine, clean, hot water, good location in Thamel.
Kathmandu
(c) gregg butensky
 
The price of the rafting trip included transport to Kathmandu. We flagged
down a local bus and rode on the roof for the entire treacherous journey
to Kathamandu.
Accommodation,
eating and entertainment.
The minute you get off the bus or taxi head to Thamel where many touts
will hound you urging you to stay at their hotel. Take your time to choose
a satisfactory hotel. Kathmandu has many great places to eat, drink and
watch videos.
Sightseeing
Wander through the city to Durbar Square with its' many temples, pigeons,
orange-robed Sadhus and of course tourists, then walk along the market
square towards the centre of the city. It is very tempting to buy heaps
of stuff you don't need at the numerous shops, which sell clothes, jewelry
and everything else at extremely good prices. Cameras are a good buy here!
Nagrakot
 
A trip to Nagrakot 32km from the city is a must. From this mountain perch
one has a panoramic view of the Himalayas and on a clear day can see the
peak 140km to the east that is Mt Everest. We stayed in "Peaceful Cottage
Lodge" which has a superb rooftop view and was cheap at 50NR for a
double room. Do not believe the tour operators that say you should book
a room for $15 before you get there because everything will be booked
out! Touts are everywhere when the bus stops offering really cheap hotel
rooms.
Internet
and email
As in Pokhura you can email from many of the phone offices. Charges are
per line and slightly less than Pokhura.
Back
to India
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.
Back
to 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 XXXXXX hotel
On Saturday
20th December we sadly left India. Next destination, Bangkok.
BYE, BYE INDIA ;-(
> on to South East Asia
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