Saturday 22 November
Hotel: Damaru Guest House, Thamel, Kathmandu
Room Type: One Ensuite Double (150NR) and one ordinary double (100NR)
Verdict: Very good, clean, cheap and hot water available

Yet another veg day in Kathmandu roaming the streets looking at shops. That night we all went for a few drinks in the Maya Pub where one sits on cushions on the floor which is good cos it eliminates the problem of falling off ones chair but means one must endure the exertion of putting back on the boots and getting up to ones feet for the numerous loo runs which can cause dizziness and embarrassing sways.

Sunday 23 November
Hotel:Peaceful Cottage Lodge, Nagrakot, Kathmandu
Room Type: Double bedroom (100NR)
Verdict: SPECTACULAR VIEW, Adequate room, clean.

Awoke with a raging hangover prepared last night and remembering we had arranged for a group of us to do a 32km bus journey up winding high roads to Nagrakot, from where one can view a wondrous Himalayan panorama including the tip of the famous Mt. Everest (8488m). Short bus journeys are great. You catch a glimpse of everyday life as you pass through the towns and villages. On the plains of Kathmandu the Nepalese farming families really know what it means to toil the land. With stone-age looking hand hoes they arch their backs and take a long swing at the hard crusty stubborn soil. Lines of men, women and children work together in the fields creating a stunningly picturesque scene. The roads up, as ever, were scary but the hangover overruled the fear. In Kathmandu the travel agents tell you to book a hotel in advance and offer a selection at an expensive price. Pre-booking is not necessary. We got mobbed by touts as we left the bus. We ended up staying at the "Peaceful Cottage Lodge"; an octagonal hotel perched on the top of a mountain over 3000m in height - the Tardis from Dr. Who meets the mansion in Psycho. Needless to say the hotel, the restaurant, the outside café and the rooftop-lookout all had spectacular views. Our panorama from the cardboard, but adequate bedroom was, safe to say, probably among the most breathtaking on this planet, the most beautiful in the world - a 200 degree view of the green Himalayan belt bordering the snow-capped peaks of the highest mountain range in the world. And all for 100NR (1 pound sterling) for a double room - Millionaires eat you heart out - whoever said money could by the best, if you are prepared to explore and travel far enough you can get it all. Mount Everest is 140km away from this spot and therefore its coveted peak is not the highest on the horizon. The peak was blocked by clouds but after much hassling of the poor waiter we got it pointed out to us - first we were prepared by him pointing it out to us on a poster board hanging on the wall school-children-style with his cane and then for real when the cloud let up - WOW - We saw it - we saw Mt. Everest

Monday 24 November
Hotel: Damaru Guest House,


Awoke at 5.30am in the freezing cold to watch the sun rise over Mt. Everest (which was conveniently situated to the east). Stunning, superb, magnificent. From the 10ft by 10 ft perch on the roof of the hotel we got a 360 degree view of the Kathmandu valley and plains to the west, the highest mountain in the world to the east and a vast panorama of Himalayan wonders joining the two on either side all light up by a roaring red sun. Having our wits about us the journey home was hazardous. At one stage our bus had to make a 5-point-turn to get around one narrow bend on the winding cliff-road down to the valley. One dead dog, a yelping puppy, a slow cow crossing and one overturned bus later we got back to Kathmandu in one shaky piece.

Tuesday 24 November
Hotel: Damaru Guest House, Thamel, Kathmandu


Purchased very good and cheap cameras with the helpful advice of Jonsey - one of our new friends (well about 3 weeks old by this stage which is an old friend in travellers-time) and we snapped happily at the sights of Kathmandu, the temples in Durbar Square and the Sadhus in their bright orange robes and painted faces offering their dreadlocked hair holding a religious staff in one hand and using their other one open palmed requesting money for photos taken.

Wednesday 25 November
Hotel: The bus


Got aboard the bus for Delhi 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time of 7pm. However the bus was not full to capacity (i.e. Not full to the brim - there was breathing space still left) so the driver used some tactics to fill up the bus. The first of these was to get young boys to tout around the bus station for people wanting to go to Delhi or any of the stops along the way. They must have every faith in their powers of persuasion to get people to suddenly look up and say - Oh OK I'll go there instead of where I was planning to go! This obviously did not work so the bus driver beeped the horn for another 30 minutes and revved the engine - in an ' I'm about to go - get on the bus quickly or you'll miss it '- type fashion. No luck - we all had desperate headaches at this stage. We moved - Yeah - out of the bus station - but stopped at the corner at the entrance to the station - for another 30 minutes while boys rushed up and down the street looking for punters. Still no luck so we got onto the road and stopped at every junction and village to call for passers by. At each stop we got out for a fag and to look up at the stars in the clear sky. We arrived at the Nepalese / Indian border 3 hours late at 7.30 am.

Thursday 27 November
Hotel: The train


63p Sterling = 100 Indian Rupees - ( sterling is very strong)
39 US cents = 100 Indian Rupees - ( rupees are having a problem - extremely weak)
Back in India, back to people trying to rip us off at every opportunity, trying to make us pay 35 Indian Rupees for putting our bags on the roof - when we refuse to pay they threaten us that they will dump our bags off the bus, back to the touts, scams, general bedlam. Beautiful fields, villages and banana tree views later we got to the train station at Ghorapur at 11 am. Boarded the train 2 hours later - no lights on the his long train journey to Delhi.

Friday 28 November
Hotel: Anoop Hotel, Paharganj, Delhi
Room Type: Two ensuite doubles (240 IR each)
Verdict: good, clean, rooftop restaurant, hot water

Awoke still on the train. It is Aislings' birthday today and she is paranoid about getting old. Got to the Anoop hotel at 5.30 am. Nearly 36 hours after our journey started - truly tired. Slept, explored and celebrated Aislings birthday in the newly opened Pizza Hut on Connaught place. We feasted on pizzas and made sure the waiters embarrassed Ais as much as possible. They did a good job singing a special Pizza Hut Happy Birthday and 8 of them doing the dance to the Maccerena (obviously part of their recent training). Later that evening back at the hotel 2 girls turned round to us a mentioned that they had seen and heard everything at Pizza Hut, including Aisling standing on the seat and shouting to tables of open-mouthed Indian diners that it was her birthday (she was forced to do this) and they too wished Ais a happy birthday. We played pool and Liz and myself let Ais and Andrea win - just cos it was her birthday (NOT).

Saturday 29 November
Hotel: Anoop Hotel, Paharganj, Delhi
Room Type: Four bedded room ( 380 IR)

Tension and raised voices about changing rooms, prices and bills - India! Got opposing quotes for flights from Calcutta to Bangkok - India! Got a million different directions to the Thai Airline offices - India! Reserved train tickets for Rajasthan at the 'Government Tourist Dept." Office (more about this later) while a mouse scuttled at our feet in a cubby hole office - India! And later shopped for cheap silver and semi-precious stones - Very good India! Went to tailors and got clothes made for next to nothing - Very Good India!

Sunday 30 November
Hotel: Anoop Hotel, Paharganj, Delhi
Room Type: Four bedded room (380 IR)


Today we did the tourist thing of hiring a taxi to take us round the sights of Delhi. We waited on the dusty street outside our hotel for our reserved taxi cab at 10am as instructed - a prime target for the many touts. The taxi came at 10.45 (well near enough to 10am India time.) We went past the Red Fort which was closed and on down Chandni Chowk a main 'colourful' bazaar road with zillions of people. A billboard overhead warns the Indian drivers to keep to the correct lane of traffic to ensure fewer deaths on Delhi roads - so far over 2000 in Delhi alone this year. But they do not have a lane allotted to the overflow of people who take up one of the traffic lanes and therefore disrupt the whole organisation. They take no heed of signs and billboards here anyway though the Government does try. Coming out of new Delhi train Station you see a big billboard sign over the 6 lanes of yellow capped Duracell type auto-rickshaws and roofs of taxis to see the huge banner Maintain Cleanliness, Keep Delhi Clean about 30ft by 20 ft across. As you walk past the rickshaws and the taxis you come across, at the foot of this huge poster, 5 blue tiled urinals, open on the pavement and more than 5 young men with their backs to you and their hands on front of them. I so wanted to get that photo but couldn't bring myself to take photos of men piddling as one may have approached me for being brazen - I'll draw a little cartoon of it sometime. Another effort by the Government consists of the gigantic billboard at the busiest junction in the world, manned by a policeman with rigid outstretched arms and white spats. It blasts out the information that a 2 child family is the best for India and the digital counter underneath changes quicker than the blink of an eye. Current population 949,848,345 and it just keeps turning and turning spurting out children - more and more people - it is really quite scary.
We walked through the Raj Park and visited Mahatma Ghandis' Eternal Flame Memorial on a simple black square platform. Humayuns' Tomb 16thC, an early example of Mughal architecture was built by Hagi Begum, senior wife of Humayun (the 2nd Mughal Emperor). This squat building with high arches topped by a bulbous dome and its surrounding structured gardens was later to be refined tot he magnificence of the Taj Mahal [Lonely Planet]. It was a breathtaking first experience of this type of building and we happily sauntered around snapping photos of the splendour.
Our Punjabi driver then took us to a tourist shop centre where pristine uniformed men opened the door for us and we were invited to sit in the carpet display area. A smiley young clean Indian asked us to seat ourselves while he showed us how Kashmir carpets are made. We were reluctant and explained that we would not buy anything and that we were unwittingly brought here. He was insistent that we stayed and invited us to a cup of tea (that was the deciding point - not chai - the usual sugary sweet alternative). We sat and he launched into his spiel. These carpets are made from the finest wool, using the single knot technique, by families toiling for months on end to complete one small carpet. The sheen and hue from their surface was superb and the coloured reflection changed as you turned the carpet around. We were served our teas - in cups - white china cups, settled on delicate china saucers and with a small spoon placed neatly on the left hand side of the saucer and the handle was so small that you could not help but raise your pinkie while sipping (a change from the rough clay bowls we usually drink from which we then throw on the pavement to break them - had to refrain from throwing the china cups). Our elbows glued to our sides as we delicately our saucers atop our left open palms and gently petted the shiny silver spoon in between sips. Our knees were crossed as we sat perched on the upholstered couch but our clobby boots mismatched our dainty little poses. For that brief moment in time we remembered our roots and manners and held in our belches - that would not be viewed as a compliment to the chef here. After a nervy exchange of - buy it - no - buy it is good value - no - do you not like it - yes - why do you not buy - no money - you can pay by plastic - only if it flies and then we can save on air fares ------ we thanked him and said we would come back when we were rich. The shinny suit just ruined the sales pitch for us.
The white-tiled Lotus flower Bahai Temple is open to all religions to pray or meditate in and was designed by the same guy who designed the Sydney Opera House (can't remember his name) so we got a foretaste of what we will see when we eventually get to Sydney. We also visited the 14th C Qutab Minar and surrounding temple remains and the tyre blew as we approached the Krishna temple. By the time we surfaced from observing kids playing in the gardens the tyre was replaced and we made our way and took our time at the old residence of Imra Ghandi which has been made into a museum and depicts the life and history of her and hers sons' lives - fascinating and very interesting - another book I must purchase when I get home fort he coffee table.
The Salmon-coloured Parliament buildings were spectacular, no-one was about and they are all extremely neatly kept. Brilliant panoramas of domed buildings (Venice meets British parliament buildings - out of place here), pillars, long sandy lanes bordered by neat green landscaped gardens that lead down the hill to the Arc de Triomph esque India Gate 2 kilometres away with Sunday family picnics dotting the gardens, coloured balloons and raging crossroad traffic.

Monday 1 December
Hotel: Shanti Lodge, Agra
Room Type: Four bedded room (380 IR)
Verdict: Good view, cleanish, hot water sometimes

Got onto 1st class on the train at 6.30am as there were no 2nd class seats left. Stolid seats and less atmosphere but we were spoilt with free mineral water and breakfast. There was a strike at the station at Agra - the auto-rickshaw drivers told us it was due to a fight and police intervention and arrests between rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers. But later we heard or read in the newspaper that the police were clamping down on touts, rickshaw and taxi drivers etc.. ripping off and hassling tourists and they had gone undercover and arrested people.... Different sides of the same story or rather the auto-rickshaws reinforcing and proving their flawed promises. Today we walked to the Red Fort from our Shanti Lodge Hotel which has a rooftop view of the Taj ( traveller speak) which is closed on Mondays. The impressive red Fort overlooks the Yamuna River - a sister of the Ganges. It was built by Emperor Akbar in 1565 and added to by his son Shah Jahan who himself was later deposed of by his son Aurangzeb who imprisoned him in the octagon tower of the Red Fort. We then went into the depths of manic roads in bicycle rickshaws across the busy bridge to the baby Taj; Itimad-ud-daulah built for the Aunt of Mumatz (for whom the big Taj was built). The rickshaw drivers insisted on taking us to shops saying they got a fee for just bringing us to them. We agreed and got to see how semiprecious stones are inlaid in marble PIETRA DURA as on the Taj Mahal. A leather, clothes, jewellery and antique shop later we were returned freezing cold to our hotel.

Tuesday 2 December
Hotel: Shanti Lodge, Agra


Trudged up to the roof at 6.30 am for a brilliant red sunrise unfortunately misted by the haze and fog. We ate a lovely and cheap breakfast at Honey café - a good recommendation and went to one of the 7 wonders of the world. Now a bit of history for you readers:
The TAJ MAHAL was built in 1631 by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumatz Mahal (Chosen of the Palace) who died during the child birth of her 14th child. They had been married for 17 years. It took 22 years to build and was finished in 1653 taking over 20,000 workers from Asia, India and Europe towing the marble by bullock and cart over 350km. The main architect was Isa Khan of Iran. There are fake tombs on the ground floor, the real ones are currently being restored in their lower resting place. The King is buried in an identical tomb next to his wife as he had barely started to build his tomb (a black marble mirror image of the white Taj across the river where now just a sad small domed gate building and a mass expanse of a base lies) when his horrid son deposed him and jailed him in the tower in the fort looking out over the river his wife's tomb and his unfinished resting place.
The red sandstone entrance gateway leads to gardens divided by magnificent watercourses and everything is perfectly symmetrical. The Taj stands on a marble platform and is guarded by 4 minarets at each corner which lean 2 degrees outwards so that in the unfortunate event of an earthquake the towers will fall outwards and not on top of the Taj - ingenious. There are 2 twin red sandstone buildings to the east and west of the Taj - symmetry being the style of the Mughals, the one on the east a mosque, on the east a guest house as it dies not face towards Mecca. The inside tombs are surrounded by marble cut screens with semi-precious stones decorating it in lotus, sunflower, iris daffodil and tulip flowers. The Egyptian carnelian stones are stunning when you put a torch up to them as they are see-through and the light shines transparently as do the marble ledges - up to one inch of light. On the outside of the Taj the sunlight catches the semi-precious stones causing a silver glint when you stand looking up at it and as you move the sunlight catches different stones all angled to catch the rays of the glistening sun. Arabic scriptures from the Koran line the pillars and it is laid out in a way so that it creates an optical illusion that they are evenly spaced when reading it from your perspective at the foot of the Taj. There are 14 verses from the Koran - for the 14 children that Mumatz bore the Emperor. On the main gate stand 22 domes signifying the 22 years it took to build the mausoleum. The whole area is absolutely amazing a deserved of tag of one of the wonders of the world.

more on India

On to Southeast Asia (Coming end of year)

Back to The Diary

Back to The Route