Namaste from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
                                                         

Our last post was from Pokhara, Nepal.  We had a great time in Nepal, so beautiful and such a breath of fresh air from the hustle and bustle of India (literally).  In Pokhara we took a boat over the Phewa lake and climbed the windy steps up 1100 meters above sea level to the World Peace Pagoda/Stupa.  The camera has been playing up so there aren't any pics of us up there but the view was incredible.  You could see the Annapurna Mountain range clearly and a few cheeky snow capped mountains popping out too!  On the way back down we wandered through a few small villages which was nice.  We decided to visit a couple of bars for happy hour that night so those details are a bit blurred!  The next day it was really, really hot so we decided to go for a swim in the lake.  After walking around the lake about 5km we decided to hire a boat and swim from the boat! This was good fun, although I was a bit of a wimp!  However it was incredibly refreshing! 

We reluctantly left Nepal and made our way back down to India.  The journey back was much easier as we decided to stay in Bhairawa on the Nepalese side of the border instead of staying in Gorakhpur, India as we didn't have a nice time there before.  This was a great decision and the journey back to India seemed much smoother.  Once in Gorakhpur we caught our overnight train to Agra.

Waking up to get off the train at 4am was quite a challenge as we had not had the best train trip.  However, we were excited to see the Taj!  Rads negotiated a rickshaw (like a Tuc-Tuc) to our hotel in Agra, which was near the east gate entrance to the Taj Mahal. The hotel kept our bags as it was too early to check in, so off we went to buy tickets for the Taj. 

We arrived back at the east gate to the Taj just before the gates opened (6am) and there was already a line up!  Once we had passed through the security we were off!  The Taj really is an amazing building, it doesn't matter how many pictures of it you have seen before, there is something magical about seeing it in person. So we made our way around the Taj at a leisurely pace (there were not very many people there then) and watched the sunrise.  Amazing!  Strange how a mausoleum can be romantic! We spent a few hours there and then went for breakfast. 

After lunch we decided to head to the baby taj and the gardens on the opposite side of the Yamuna River from the Taj Mahal.  We found a nice Rickshaw chap who took us around those sites.  The baby taj (really called Itmad-ud-Daula's Tomb and built before the Taj Mahal) was fab, not many people and only a few restrictions on where you could go.  We decided not to go the gardens but to the riverbank opposite the back of the Taj instead (it's free).  The view from here was also amazing!   To complete the Taj-tastic day we went for a rooftop dinner and watched the sunset (and of course looked at the Taj some more)! We were like Taj Mahal junkies all day!

We left Agra to make our way to Jaisalmer which is known as the golden city as it is made from sandstone.  The journey was quite long, one train to Jaipur which was five hours long and then we changed trains to take a twelve hour train to Jaisalmer. We arrived in Jaisalmer and found a delightful hotel inside the fort, our room has a balcony that looks out over the town and into the desert!  Lovely! Jaisalmer is a lovely place, with a few Jain temples, Havelis (mansions) and palaces.  We intend to explore a bit before we leave.  I must confess that I am still not very well so have found it difficult to get out and about here. 

After Jaisalmer we're off to Jodhpur, then to Ahmedabad to catch a flight to Goa!  Can't wait to get on the beach! Here are a few photos -as promised!

  

 Boat trip along the Ganges, Varanasi

                                                         

                                                              Tabla Lesson in Varanasi

                                            

                                            Rads in no mans land between the two borders

                                                   Bathing the Elephants in Sauraha, Nepal

                                                         

                              View of Phewa Lake and Pokhara, half way to the World Peace Pagoda/Stupa.

Rads having a swim in Phewa Lake, Nepal.

Sunrise at the Taj Mahal, Agra.

Itmad-ud-Daula's Tomb (Baby Taj)

Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan.

Rads sat on our balcony looking out from Jaisalmer Fort.  

  

Varanasi and first few days in Nepal

Hi everyone from Pokhara in Nepal!

We've been busy since our last post. On Tuesday 16th we took our first overnight train from Jalgaon to Varanasi. We were in AC2 class which was the highest available on the train. It was totally different to Sleeper, we met some nice people from Mumbai who we quickly made friends with, over sharing of food and advice for travelling India. 

We arrived in Varanasi on Wednesday 17th in the afternoon 21 hours after leaving Jalgaon. Talk about a shock, it was very full on after the nice train ride. We quickly got a rickshaw to the old city where we planned to stay near the Ganges. After about 1/2 an hour of wandering the tiny lanes of the old city a bit lost, we found the hotel we had planned to stay at. Unfortunately it was full, but they quickly took us off to another. Had a quick look at some rooms and negotiated a better price. We were just happy to have somewhere to sit down. That night we watched a Hindu ceremony called Ganga Aarti down by one of the Ghats (steps down to the river) and ate dinner in a rooftop restaurant by the Ganges.

Thursday 18th we woke before sunrise to make our way down to the ghats to do a boatride along the Ganges to watch puja (bathing/morning prayer). After 45 minutes of negotiating at a variety of ghats, we bumped into 4 Irish girls whom we teamed up with to negotiate a group price. Ryan eventually got the price down from 600 to 120 rupees each (£1.60). Saw loads of Ghats, each with different purposes. We enjoyed the trip, even though it was monsoon season and the inevitable downpour arrived just as we hoped in the boat. The rest of the day we spent exploring by foot the Ghats north of us. We stopped at Manikarnika Ghat and watched a Hindu burning ceremony as it's the most auspicious place for a Hindu to be cremated due to the religious significance of the Ganges. We finished up at Schindia Ghat (the largest ghat) where we dipped our feet in the Ganges and watched some pilgrims perform Puja. That evening we went to a restaurant where we saw live Indian music. On our way home we saw some demonstrations supporting Anna Cazare in his hunger strike over Indian government corruption.

Friday 19th we took an hour Tabla lesson by the Ganges. We got taught some basic patterns or tala. We both enjoyed it, Sam especially. We then got our backpacks and headed back to the train station to make our way up to Nepal via Gorakhpur. We arrived in Gorakhpur late and quickly looked for a hotel to rest for a few hours before getting the bus up to the border. Looking for a hotel was problematic as the standard was poor for what they were effectively trying to charge for a 5 hour stay. In the end we stayed in a room that was the worst of the trip so far and after about 2 hours of restless tv watching and bug avoidance we decided to check out and get a bus to the border. 

Saturday 20th We jumped on a bus at 4am that stayed around till it was full. So about 5am we set off to Sunauli. We arrived at around 7.30am and Sam was surprised how easy it was to get out tourist visas for Nepal. We quickly went to the bus station and got on a bus towards Sauraha in the Royal Chitwan National Park. We arrived in Sauraha that afternoon and after quickly getting food settled down for an early night after long journey up for India.

Sunday 21st we woke early and although Sam wasn't feeling too well (think it was the heat), we went to bathe and swim with the elephants in the river. Ryan bought a banana to feed the elephants after it all. In the afternoon we booked to go elephant trekking. Just as we arrived in the national park, the monsoon hit and got soaked as we set off. Saw loads of deer, wild boar, birds and much more. Had a great time, enjoyed the trek. Sauraha was lovely, so quiet and peaceful, such a change from the hustle and bustle of India.

Monday 22nd we got the bus up to Pokhara and after a quick bit of negotiating checked into a nice hotel on the lakeside. The evening and Tuesday 23rd was spent chilling out in the peaceful atmosphere that is Pokhara and Nepal. We plan to do a few day walks up to Sarangot and surrounds before we had back
down to Agra in India to see the Taj on the weekend. Sorry no photos yet, will try to put some up soon......

Indian adventure -the first three days...

Hello! 
         Mumbai was fun! The roads here are very busy, no such thing as 'safe crossing'!  Sunday we were in Mumbai, we went to see the Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal Hotel and popped into Leopolds for a cheeky beer!  On Monday we made our way to the train station, it was really busy and we were a bit early. The locals are really friendy but like to stare a lot -not sure how often they see caucasians!  So to avoid beggers and staring eyes we read our books until we had a train platform. 

The trains are retro and the signage is really clear so no worries finding our seats.  For this journey we had bought the cheapest class -sleeper. We were anxious that it might not be comfortable and that it may be rammed but this was not the case.  We were joined in our section by a young family and eventually some students.  The family and the Students were really friendly, had a look in our books and also had a rummage through our lonely planet guide to India.  The students we met study in Jalgaon which was our destination and they knew some great places to eat.  They gave us some really great advice and made our journey fun. The scenary was amazing and there were so many communities living by the tracks and kids playing cricket all over the place.  

Our student friends showed us to our hotel when we all got off the train which was really helpful.  We popped out to a thali dining hall. Thali is a meal comprised of rice, breads and lots of different bowls of things.  This was pretty yummy and we were both really full after (they come around and top up your bowls when they are empty). 

The next day we woke up early and took the local buses 60km to Ajanta, to see the caves. The local buses are really retro, busy and everyone scrambles and pushes to get on (not really any different from the tube).   The caves were re-discovered by the british (wahey) more than a hundred years ago.  The caves are all early Buddhist monasteries built between the 2nd and 4th century.  When I take the pics off my camera I will upload them! There are 30 caves in total and the level of preservation is varied (photography is prohibited so please check out Ajanta Caves on google images).  Nonetheless the caves were amazing and we had a good time. The daunting thing is that Ryan and I have noticed that people like to take photos of us wherever we are!  So today at the caves we were papped to the max, people also asked to have their pictures taken with us and lots of people saying hello and g'day at us (Ryan has his aussie shirt on) which was strange!  I honestly believe there are more photos of us than we have taken ourselves!   

So we are now just having a quick mooch on the internet and updating the blog in Jalgaon before we head back to the station to continue our Indian adventure.  Our next train we are in a higher class for seating with A/C but no windows -such a shame as the landscape here is gorgeous.  Next stop (in approx 18 hours) Varanasi...........

Hello/G'Day to you!

So we are officially homeless! Staying at my Mum's for a few days off to Nan's for a family barbeque too.  Nice to catch up and say a few farewells.

We fly out on Sat evening and it has come around so quick! First stop India, looking forward to riding the trains (in a variety of classes) and avoiding the infamous Deli belly!  

We will try to update this with pictures, info and stories about our adventures as much as possible! 

Ta Ta For Now....