Celebrated my birthday here in Bikaneer with a visit to the rat temple. Our driver Babloo also gave me a bottle of Old Monk rum made only in Rajasthan and a Hindu good luck charm. All three of us had a couple of drinks outside the hotel after a long days driving. This is the most delicious rum I have ever tasted.
Rat temple
After a frantic few days in New Delhi getting out to Mandawa was a breath of fresh air, literally! Mandawa is a small town home to the haveli, huge historic houses belonging to the old families who traded in silk, opium and cotton on the old silk route. Although uninhabited now they are used as holiday homes for the families who own them. After taking a tour of the magnificent historic buildings that night Nicole and I decided to take a walk amongst the village, only to come across a full blown wedding party taking place in the streets complete with fireworks. Apparently one of the local boys was getting married and this was his stag party! Nicole and I were thrust into the limelight and danced with the locals to the drum beat as the procession wound its way down the streets. We were photographed from every angle and probably even filmed for the local tv station. I found this a little unnerving, whereas Nicole seemed to enjoy it. I think this was mainly due to the fact I was constantly being asked if we were married or not? I was met with a few disapproving looks.The next day we decided to go into the market and have a look around as Nicole wanted some bangles and I wanted to get some money out. Almost immediately we were befriended by a local who was kind enough to show us where the nearest atm was (mainly for his own benefit i think though). He chatted with us about the Black Caps and where we were going in India and asked us to have a look at his shop. We were too naive to say no. 30 mins later we both walked out with goods and after chatting with our driver were ripped off to the tune of about $30. It's not so much how good you are at haggling, but where you go to shop as the quality is so variable. I successfully got mine down from about 8000 rupees to 3000 and this was still too much. Mandala itself though was an amazing town and although we only had one night here we would have loved to stay longer.
Stag party
Scarf shopping
Fort in Mandawa
Havelli (homes of wealthy trading families)
The Heritage hotel where we stayed
Woke up today and went for breakfast at the hotel down the road( as our hotel does not actually have the restaurant as advertised) this consisted of a breakfast curry with little donut type things and some roti and toast. Slowly getting used to this fiery kick start to the day. The other thing that both Nicole and I really enjoyed was the chai tea which is delicious. Afterwards we decided to go for a wander along the streets of Delhi with the intention of ending up at the train station to organize a ticket to Agra. Before long we were stopped by a young guy who tried to aid us and explained to us that the lines at the train station were large and the pick pockets rife or something to that extent, he then persuaded us to go to the government authorized tourist bureau and sent us on our way in a rickshaw. We arrived at what we thought was the government place and went inside. We were greeted by a man called Bilal who tried to organize our itinerary a little better and encouraged us to go to Rajasthan as he said it is fantastic. We were a little skeptical to say the least and did not want to trust him at first as we thought it was a scam. However he gave us a driver and sent us on a tour around Delhi to see all the tourist hotspots which turned out to be a far more efficient way of traveling then gettIng rickshaws all the time. Our driver Babloo is a really lovely guy and has been in the industry for over 17 years. We are very thankful we have him now.
Day 1 we went to Humayuns tomb, the Gandhi museum and the Qutab Minar
Day 2 the Red Fort, Old Delhi by rickshaw, the Ghandi memorial and the Lotus Temple
Being two tall white European looking people we stand out like white elephants and are constantly being approached by Indians for photos and ogled from afar, we feel like celebrities. At the Ghandi memorial especially we were literally mobbed by Indian school kids and couldn't get away. Nicole started to become very uncomfortable after she was grabbed from all angles and we had to run. Despite this the Ghandi memorial was worth a visit. Our highlight of the day though had to be Old Delhi by rickshaw which exposed us to a myriad of amazing sights and smells. Note: sorry I am only posting this now, wi-fi is somewhat difficult to find in India
The street outside our hotel
Ruins at Humayuns Tomb
Humayans Tomb (the precursor to the Taj Mahal)
Our breakfast at the hotel, the chai tea was amazing
Spices in Old Delhi
The Lotus Temple ( that pool was so tempting)
Photograph of being photographed at the Ghandi Memorial
I now know what 18 million people looks like in one city with no traffic rules. Arrived at Indira Gandhi airport and was immediately struck by the slow ambling pace at which everyone walks, I guess this is due to the heat. After waiting about half an hour for our free pickup service from the hotel to arrive, we were greeted by our driver who spoke very limited english but was a very pleasant man. He was from Nepal and had lived in New Delhi for 16 years( that was about all I could get out of him). We hopped into his mini van for what we thought would be a quick and easy drive to the hotel, little did we know there is no such thing in New Delhi. On the way we saw five different types of animals, a heard of buffalo, cows(everywhere), monkeys, dogs and an Ox pulling a cart in mainstream traffic, children under 5 sitting on the side of the road and running up to our van to beg and cars going offroad and overtaking us on the left hand side. It was like a ride out of a theme park, but in real life. Cars seemed to have no regard for any road rules, just ignoring lanes. We came close to crashing at least 10 times, often into people on bikes or just walking in amongst the traffic. Our driver wasn't in the least bit phased by anything, but we were jumping up and down and holding on to our seats. Nicole managed to get sick on the first day,but despite this she still rates India 10/10 so far. More posts to come and photos.
