INDIA

November/December 1999

My diary account and photos of a holiday in Rajasthan and Goa

NOVEMBER

Saturday 20th
I love being in foreign places, but I can't say that I much enjoy the initial preparation, nor the journey to reach them.
This morning, I am sitting at home worrying. Do I have everything? Do I have too much? Will the train to the airport be delayed? Will I be on time? Will I be too early?
Still, every journey starts with a small step and a great deal of hope. I shall gather my bags and make that first small step.
The journey to Gatwick was not a smooth start. The train was delayed due to signal problems. And then the flight was delayed by an hour. But at 5.30 p.m. we were on our way.
Six hours later, we were in Bahrain, and a further four hours found us in Goa. It was 10.30 a.m., 82F and I hadn't slept. But I am pleased to be here.

Sunday 21st
Goa airport is quiet - hardly the expected hustle and bustle of India. We remained at the airport for three hours before catching the onward flight to Mumbai.
The flight was on time and quite pleasant, with a welcome meal of chicken and rice. So now we wait again at an airport for the final leg to be called.
This final leg, with Jet Airways, was thankfully on time as well and again there was a pleasant meal on board. So we arrived in Jaipur, tired and dishevelled, at 7.30 p.m. about 21 hours after we left Gatwick.
As ever, the first journey through foreign city is fascinating, and in Jaipur we enjoyed the sights and sounds of a typical Indian city before arriving at the rather sumptuous Sheraton Hotel.

(Jaipur)

Monday 22nd
I slept from 11pm to 8am and even poor Andrew's incessant coughing hardly disturbed my sleep. Inevitably, it did disturb his sleep so I set out today rather more refreshed than he is.
Our guide, Radsingh, met us at 9am and we set off for the Jaipur city tour. Thankfully Radsingh is both knowledgeable and understandable. It was a tiring day, but an endlessly fascinating one. The Amber Fort was impressive and situated in a stunning location. Even the elephant ride up to the fort avoided being too tacky.
I was surprisingly impressed with the Jaipur observatory, and particularly amazed by the knowledge which allowed the various astronomical instruments to be constructed so accurately some 250 years ago.
The founder of Jaipur, Maharaja Jai Singh must have been an amazing person. He founded the city in 1727, built the observatory in 1728, spoke 5 languages, translated scientific texts from Persian, rules the area, had 300 queens and died before he was 50 - probably from exhaustion!
Already the romance of India is re-entering my soul and I am so pleased to be here. I have some difficulties with this type of holiday where we are somewhat cocooned from reality by coached and luxury hotels, but I do admit that it was good to be able to have a swim in the pool upon our return from the tour. Perhaps I should enjoy the luxury rather than object to it.

(Amber Fort, Jaipur)

Tuesday 23rd
The journey may have been long and dusty, and the driving was certainly scary, but I do so enjoy the simple assault upon the senses of a journey through the countryside of a land which is so utterly different to my own.
In the late sixteenth century, the Moghul ruler, Akbar, built the royal palace complex of Fatehpur Sikri. Sixteen years later the city was abandoned as suddenly and dramatically as it had been built, due to lack of water after a long drought. Which is why some 400 years later, it remains as a perfectly preserved example of a Moghul city at the height of the empire's splendour. The completion of such a vest complex, all from red sandstone, in such a short space of time is remarkable, though the possession of thousands of men and elephants obviously helped.
The Taj Mahal. Even the words are evocative of so much. It is an image which is so widely reproduced. How can it live up to the expectation? Yet it did. Not many man-made structures are literally breathtaking. This one is. The building was started in 1632 and was constructed by Shah Jahan in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 13th child.
In the early evening light, we walked through the ornate entrance gate and suddenly there is this wonderful building. It is exquisite. It has a power and a magic which are unique. It is amazingly graceful from every angle and the close up detail is astounding. Semi-precious stones are inlaid into the marble, a process known as pietra dura. But it is almost more impressive from afar. As the grey dusk approached, the Taj Mahal took on an ethereal quality, part real part image, part physical, part emotional. The image, and the memory, will be with me for a long time.

(Me, at the Taj Mahal)

Wednesday 24th
In the early morning, defined by the shadows thrown by the rising sun, the Taj Mahal has a different character, and is in a way even more impressive. It is a building upon which one can gaze, lost in wonder and admiration at the sheer grandeur. It is difficult to believe that any other building in the world can truly compare to this one.
I can a last long lingering look behind, then exited through the gate. The Taj Mahal was gone.
The Agra Fort was built by Akbar and proved to be impregnable. I can now understand his move back from Fathepur Sikri. The sheer scale of Akbar's achievements, both in buildings and in conquests, is almost beyond belief.
We have had a short, but comprehensive, tour through the buildings and the history of the Moghul Empire, and now we move onwards.
It is a pity that the present-day roadbuilders do not have Akbar's pride in their work. The drive to Karauli was akin to four hours in a spin-dryer.
The hotel in Karauli is in fact the palace of a local Maharaja and still has the old paintings, photographs and stuffed animals of those days. The elegance is somewhat faded, but one can feel the atmosphere of those bygone days.

(River behind Taj Mahal)

Thursday 25th
It hardly seems possible, but today the road deteriorated still further. We took nearly 5 hours to cover 80 km. And ended up both stirred and shaken, though thankfully still intact. Praise is due to our driver Mahindra.
In the evening the elusive tiger at Ranthanbore was just that - elusive. We saw a few birds, some wild boar and deer, but did not stop for sufficient time to really experience the national park.
An indifferent meal was served before we retired to a rather dirty room only to be kept awake by the howling of the dogs. Suddenly the holiday has taken a turn for the worse.

Friday 26th
Obediently we rose at 6am and were ready for the planned safari at 6.30. We waited, and waited. The safari vehicle eventually arrived shortly after 7.30, already beyond the optimum time for tiger viewing. Once more we rushed around making a lot of noise and dust and scaring away what little wildlife there may have been. Once again the safari ended in disappointment.
I enjoyed the quick visit we made into town to walk round the local market. Now I have to decide whether to take another safari. I will be disappointed to have seen so little wildlife, but I really cannot face another rush around the park. I will go for a walk instead.
Possibly that was a wrong decision as I ended up brooding on what is a low point in the holiday. Andrew is unwell and very uptight about this place and, I fear, about the whole holiday. At this moment I am feeling very lonely and very fearful about the future.
Things improved somewhat when I found Andrew and we spent a relaxing hour sitting on a rock watching the goats being returned to the village and enjoying the sunset.
The barbecue this evening led to a marginal improvement in the food, but I will still be glad to leave here.

Saturday 27th
We have a better night's sleep and a leisurely morning, though getting any breakfast was a small problem.
Before going to the station, we visited Ranthambore Fort, built in the eleventh century and still hugely impressive. From the fort there is a fabulous view of the whole national park. There were also some playful monkeys in the buildings of the fort. I enjoyed this place much more than the official tours of the park.
The train arrived slightly late, and then we were off on our 18-hour journey to Mumbai.

(Indian lake)

Sunday 28th
Unfortunately most of the journey was in darkness, so we missed seeing much of the countryside. The sleeping arrangements were fairly primitive and we arrived in Mumbai unwashed and rather tired.
We were glad of the air-conditioned restaurant at Mumbai airport, a cool oasis amid the heat and dust. Then we flew off to Goa for the rest of the holiday.
Our hotel, the Majorda Beach, is much as expected; impersonal and expensive, but with many facilities, a large clean bedroom and a balcony looking towards the sea and the evening sunset. We were both too tired to enjoy the dinner, but I hope that we can have a relaxing and enjoyable six days here.

Monday 29th
A late breakfast was followed by a leisurely morning by the pool. We wandered down to the beach and found a beach shack called Franks where we had lunch. We then strolled along the beach to Anri's shack and back to the hotel. I am now beginning to relax.

Tuesday 30th
During another leisurely morning by the pool, I finished my John Grisham book. We have spotted what we think is another gay couple, but need to engineer a meeting. Then we went to Franks for a late lunch before going back to the hotel where Andrew had a massage. We had a pleasant, if quiet, dinner at Martins. It was an interesting way to spend St Andrew's night.

DECEMBER

Wednesday 1st
Salvador, the taxi driver, took us on a fascinating tour of North Goa stopping at Old Goa, Anjuna market, Calangute Beach, Aguada Fort and Panaji Town. I bought a number of things at the market and a beautiful tapestry of the Taj Mahal at a handicraft shop. It was a varied and interesting day.
Our barbecue at a local restaurant was excellent despite the power cuts.

Thursday 2nd
I'm busy doing nothing. Or almost nothing. And I am beginning to like it. After a morning by the pool, we hired a couple of bicycles and spent a couple of hours cycling up and down the beach, which was very pleasant. We spotted the gay couple at Lloyds, another beach shack. Naturally we stopped to chat. Their names are Alan and John and they were good company.
In fact we invited them to join us for dinner at Franks, which they did. The meal was good, if expensive at 3600 rupees for 2, though we both had lobster and we drank a couple of bottles of wine.
The promised entertainment was rather disappointing, but the firework display was livened up by a box igniting by mistake, sending the nearby diners scurrying away at very high speed.

(Me, on the bike in Goa)

Friday 3rd
Today we did even less. We went back to Lloyds beach shack and stayed there all day, lying in the sun and having the occasional cool drink. In the evening we returned there for dinner, once again meeting Alan and John.
I feel so comfortable at this beach shack. It is run by a local guy - Angelo, who is wonderful. He is friendly, honest, good-looking and is a great cook - not a bad combination. I am sure that he is struggling to make a success of his little beach shack, so I am happy to support him. And it is great to have hundreds of yards of superb beach almost to ourselves.

(Lloyds beach shack)

Saturday 4th
We did manage to rouse ourselves this morning to go to the market in Margao. I guess that it is good to remind ourselves from time to time that we are in India.
The afternoon gave us a last opportunity to catch the sun and also to buy some T-shirts from Gunga Din.
We had an excellent final evening at Lloyds with Alan and John, though I did drink more than I should have and subsequently kept poor Andrew awake with my snoring. The final walk along the beach, dodging the crabs and splashing in the water, was fun. I was sorry to leave Angelo and his beach shack.

(Sunset on the last evening in Goa)

Sunday 5th
There was an early start - breakfast in the room, packing of cases, and a coach ride to the airport. After much queuing we boarded the flight, spend about 10 long tedious hours and finally arrived to a cold, wet London evening. The holiday is over.
It has been a mixed holiday. Certainly there were many interesting moments and many memories to store for the future. Andrew was never 100% well, and that rather spoiled the holiday for him. But he got through that and I whilst I doubt that he will return to India in a hurry, I hope that he got some enjoyment from the holiday and some appreciation of another part of the world.
I was too much of a tourist and not enough of a traveller. I didn't walk enough and was too easily seduced into the cocoon of safe environments. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Goa more than I thought that I would, the Taj Mahal was magnificent, and above all I retain an affection for, and fascination with, the country and the people. Certainly I will return.

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