WildyWeb: two Scousers in India

Travels in Rajasthan

Click here for a slide show of the trip.

The last couple of weeks of school were lifted by the visit of Eva and Elizabeth from England. Eva worked with me for several years at the housing association where I spent 20 years, and we've stayed in touch ever since. Her daughter, Elizabeth, graduated this autumn, so this was a special treat for them both. I met them at the airport in Delhi and after a morning catching up on sleep they had their first walk around Delhi - Paharganj bazaar. They were suitably culture shocked. Dot joined us late that evening, and we had the next day to look around Delhi - Red Fort, Jama Masjid - before taking the late afternoon train to Agra for the weekend.

Nobody is ever disappointed by Fatehpur Sikri. It was the third time I had been there, but it's still worth a trip. For those new to India it's completely impressive - the colour of the stone, the carvings, the setting, the story; quite magical. After a late lunch at Zorba the Buddha (more upmarket than last time we went in 1998, but very tasty and interesting food) we just had time for an hour or so at the Fort - enough time to wander and gaze and enjoy the late afternoon sun.

Next morning we were at the Taj Mahal before 7.00 a.m. to see it by the early morning sun - surely the best time, with the pale marble reflected in the light, watery sunshine. It's definitely one of the few places on earth which, however well you think you know it from the innumerable reproductions, still surprises and delights. We wandered around for a couple of hours, then headed to the station to return to Delhi for the overnight train to Mussoorie. The Ajanta Hotel in Ramnagar, near Paharganj, proved to be a real oasis for us on our trips in and out of Delhi over the course of the holiday - a room to rest in, a reasonable restaurant.

The Mussoorie Express was our visitors' first taste of sleeper class - and they didn't really like it much. We travel that way all the time, and it's easy to forget that it is a bit basic, with no privacy. Still, they survived that and the other three similar experiences - not something to enjoy, but an experience, at least!

They did, though, enjoy their week in our house in Mussoorie. I must admit, it is a nice place to live, with great views from the terrace, and lots of peace and quiet (except for the work going on below us to prepare the site for the gym). It was our last week of work, with all that entails, so they were left pretty much to themselves during the day. The evenings were pretty full, however - dinner at the Carlton Plaisance on Monday, at an alum's house on the hillside on Tuesday (a Woodstock party complete with carol singing) and at the fellowship meeting on Wednesday. The Carlton is an amazing place - a Raj-era house complete with two stuffed man-eating tigers and all the ambience you could ask for, with fine food to boot.

The second leg of the trip began on Saturday straight after the final staff meetings. We drove along the Tehri road to Chamba, stopping for an open-air lunch in Dhanaulti. The scenery was breathtaking, with hundreds of miles of snow peaks visible for long stretches of the road. We dropped down from Chamba to Rishikesh, walked around for a couple of hours, then drove on to the GMVN hotel in Rajaji Park for our early morning safari. The elephants were not available (unsurprisingly) so, with another group from Woodstock, we went by jeep. Not a huge amount of wildlife - a few deer, boars, monkeys and birds - but a great atmosphere. After a huge breakfast we just spent the afternoon sitting in the sun in the hotel garden before driving to Haridwar.

I'd not really been to Haridwar myself before this trip, and my preconceptions were yet again overturned. We found it far more relaxed and laid-back than Rishikesh, with a nice bazaar, no great pressure fro hawkers, and an atmospheric evening pooja (prayer) at the river, with burning leaf-boats floating down the stream. All rather spoiled by a car accident on the way to the station, through which I sustained a ten-stitch gash to the face and Eva some nasty bruising and a cut leg. I was well attended to in a small private clinic, and we didn't even miss the train (just the planned pleasant evening meal - for which we substituted a couple of thalis at the station dining room). I looked a fearsome sight for the rest of the holiday, though.

Back to the Ajanta for a few hours while we waited for the Jaipur train in the late afternoon - we didn't feel like any further sightseeing, so we all just crashed out in a room. We arrived at Jaipur around ten, to be met by the owner of Nana's Haveli, where we had booked for three nights. This was a delightful summer house, formerly part of an estate but now hemmed in by shops and houses. The rooms and atmosphere were delightful. We could have done with a bit of hot water, though, at the price we paid. The first day was shopping - Fab India, Anokhi's and the jewellery bazaar - and the second day was the tourist stuff. We did Amber Palace (wonderful), Jaipur Palace (more souvenir shopping) and the Observatory (Eva had seen a TV programme and was fascinated by it). The evening treat was a trip to Choki Dhani, a Rajasthani theme village, where we ate authentic food (mmm-ish), rode on an elephant, watched dance performances, and bought yet another antiqued painting on mock-authentic state seals (going rate about Rs. 450, so I'm glad we beat down the hawker at Amber Fort from 2,500 to 500). Definitely a great-value night out.

The next day was spent travelling to Jodhpur - and how. The train was over four hours late, and we spent that time sitting on the station platform. It was actually quite restful. The only problem was that the train obviously arrived at Jodhpur towards midnight. Thankfully the people from the Ratan Vilas hotel were there to meet us, and were even prepared to knock up some cheese toasties (we hadn't eaten since about 1.30). We loved this place - friendly, unobtrusive service, a lovely courtyard where they served us a tasty buffet meal in the evening, seated round a log fire. A really nice place to stay. Our stopover at Jodhpur was simply to see the Meherangarh Fort - a fantastic place. There was an audio tour which really brought it alive, and the view from the ramparts down on the blue city is wonderful. By the way, in the whole trip, the only place Dot and I paid the western rate for entrance was at the Taj; we saved thousands with a bit of Hindi and a residency permit. Nice to know there's some perks.

On to Jaisalmer. This was a first for Dot and I, and we were looking forward to it. It's one of the fourteen must-sees in India in the Lonely Planet (as a matter of interest, we've seen now seen seven of them - Leh, Agra, Ajanta Caves, Hampi, Goa and Udaipur and Jaisalmer: half way there). We cancelled our train tickets and opted for a five-hour drive across the desert in a trust Ambassador - a good choice. First impressions of Jaisalmer were not good - a typical Indian bazaar area, a disgracefully ill-kept State Emporium (don't they want to sell anything?), and the hotel we had booked, Jaisal palace, was a bit too basic for Eva and Elizabeth. In the end, we

happily stayed there, but they treated themselves to a beautiful heritage hotel, the Nachana Haveli, just a few yards further on. We had the best of both worlds - we went there for breakfast and dinner in the rooftop restaurant, and the Jaisal Palace had a killer deal on a desert hotel where we spent our last night in Jaisalmer. That was definitely the highlight to finish the trip. Jaisalmer Fort is indeed impressive and medieval, and the palace is worth a visit (another audio guide), but the night in the desert is what we will remember. We travelled out around 3.00 p.m., had chai on arrival, then an hour's camel ride in the fading sunshine, coming back to the hutted compound after sunset for more chai. The evening was spent at a similar compound nearer to the village, Khuri, for a cultural show including the star turn who we could only describe as a Rajasthani Freddie Mercury - cross-dressed, dancing female-style, but with a range of tricks which included balancing pots on his head while balancing on cups and shuffling on broken glass. Quite absorbing!

Back to the camp for a tasty thali, then sitting round a fire watching a stupendous sky - no moon, no clouds, just more stars than you could believe, including a genuine "Milky Way" such as you never usually see. Eva and Elizabeth slept in one of the thatched huts, while Dot an I opted for a tent - really warm and cosy, but we wondered about it a bit reading later on of the venomous snakes in the Thar desert! Next morning up at 6.45 for a morning ride to a small village where we were served chai and watched the sunrise from the roof of a house. Is that memorable, or what?

So that was about it. An overnight train back to Delhi, a shopping top-up at Dilli Haat, then a birthday treat for me - dinner at the American Embassy club, courtesy of Chris from the office, who was in Delhi. A huge cheese bacon burger and a Budweiser - just what the doctor ordered after a couple of weeks of rice and vegetables. Up early next morning to escort our guests to the airport and make sure they could get on the plane with the amount of gifts they had bought, then down to the Kashmiri Gate Inter-State Bus Depot and home to Mussoorie before dark. All in all, a pretty good trip.