15th November:- Yet another day in paradise

I don't know that it gets much better than this! Goa, at the very start of the season. Not too crowded, but at the same time not too quiet. Thinking about it, a strange mix. Holiday makers who have taken advantage of the cheaper early season packages from Europe and Russia, the fairly well to do Russians and the wanna be yoga, meditation and escapees, here for a longer stretch, they are arriving almost daily. I'm trying (very hard!) to keep myself to myself. Despite the fact that there are loads of people who "want to be friends". The german eccentric is good company, but at the same time not clingy which is good. Some of the others, especially the British tourists are a little bit in your face.

I had a rather bizarre drama last night. I'd had a read and aperitif on the balcony and wandered down to pete's shack on the beach. It's great, cheap food and a wonderful location. Looking out to see. Ernest appeared and we had a drink, I tried the Feni, it comes in two flavours, coconut and cashew, I had one of each. I retired at a reasonable time, no later than 9:00. After laying on my four-poster, under the mosquito net and reading a couple of chapters of my book (there is a wonderful library here!) I got up to go to the loo. As I walked across the small room I became very light headed. The next thing I know I'm on the floor. I can only assume I passed out but in doing so hit by head, rather hard it seems, on the wall and quite possibly knocked myself unconscious. I can only remember coming too and struggling to get up. No blood was spilt but I suspect I gave myself a mild concussion as I've still got a quite severe headache and really had to take it steady today. I've wisely kept out of the sun, indeed, only straying out to get a spot of lunch, some rags and a coke for my sunset ritual a small drink on the balcony.

I'm glad I've stumbled across this place. It makes an excellent change from lugging a backpack around from one dirty tourist destination to another. My original plan was to head back to New Delhi on the 29th. I'm not sure why, it would have been a bit rushed to try and get to Amritsar and back and Delhi is not awash with things to do, plus it's quite expensive.

I suspected that to change my flight would be expensive. Not the case. I looked at travelling back on the early 4th December flight and it would have cost me 2600 rupees extra, the day before however gave me a refund of nearly 800 rupees. The deal is done. I will stay on Candolim till the 3rd. Get some accommodation by the airport and then jump on the flight to Bangkok on the evening of the 4th. While the timing is not brilliant for returning to Thailand, the flight leaves ND at 23:30 and arrives at 05:15, I do have a premium seat on row one so at least get an opportunity to sleep. My flight from BKK to Denpasar in Bali leaves the following day at 06:15. I'm even toying with the idea of staying in the airport as I have three days in Bali to recover from the travelling. I'll see how I feel. Being to be up early and at the airport for 3:00 is making a stay at the airport attractive!

The plans once in OZ have changed somewhat. Matt is starting work in Leigh Creek a week earlier than was originally planned. My original plan was to overnight in Darwin then fly to Sydney and on to Dubbo. That would have involved a 9 hour drive to Leigh creek. Not a huge problem as there would have been two of us to share the driving. Because of the earlier start date I will now fly from Sydney to Adelaide and Matt will meet me there. We will overnight there and then make the 3 or 4 hour drive to Leigh creek on the 11th. In some ways it is good as Matt will have settled in at work. He also has three days, albeit alone, to make the drive from New South Wales to Leigh Creek. I have to admit, I was quite looking forward to the 'road trip' but there is plenty of time for that when he finishes in the middle of January.

Apologies to those who like photos! I do have them and will post them on the site as soon as I get a decent Internet connection, hopefully in OZ.

For the time being, back to relaxing, great food and sun. Thank god I'm starting to lose the waif like appearance and look normal. I guess the danger, with another three weeks here, I could tip up in Australia being a fat bastard.. I'll try my best (he says swigging another mouthful of Old Monk rum and full fat coke, while shoving a handful of crisps into his gob).

The blog updates are likely to be less numerous and interesting than previously, who wants to know what flavour curry I've had today and how hot it is in Goa. That said, with another three weeks I may well do some excursions. I also may not......


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Location:Candolim, Goa, India.

12th Nov:- My little place in the sun.

I went to bed far too early. I guess that's what you get by going to bed early, and having an early bar! I was wide awake at 3:00am, indeed didn't sleep that well before that. I was productive though, getting the blog up to date. I must say, I am quite chuffed with myself. I have nearly caught up. I still need to upload quite a few photographs but as far as the narrative is concerned I've just got a few entries to finish. Even the three entries for Burma from last year are nearly done. Good for me! I'll wait till I get a decent Internet connection before even trying to upload any pictures.

I'm really quite looking forward to the next week or two. So much better than I thought. It looks like I will be spending my birthday in a similar way to last year. I has a fabulous 51st in Puerto Princessa, Palawan, Philippines. On a beach. It looks as though it will be similar this year.

I do appear to have stumbled onto India's little bit of paradise. It is a bit a a strange place. Ernest, my German hippy friend is a fascinating character. He's probably everything you would not wish to have in an employee, very anti establishment and anti capitalism and his value and belief system have probably prevented him from being an extreme successful and perhaps wealthy individual. His knowledge on such a breadth of subjects is absolutely fascinating and in many subjects he is right but, his views are so rigid that you can see how he had 'dropped out' unwilling to compromise his views which are so strong you can imagine why he doesn't fit it with the normal run of the mill person. He is quite complementary of my attitude and view that I have run with a lot of the corporate bullshit and made the most of it. We are probably at each end of the spectrum in that respect. I am doing what I am doing because of the 'system' be is doing what he is doing despite it.

We had a very I interesting conversation last night and I do think he is seriously thinking that a way out of his financial situation may be teaching English as a second language. He is going look into it. I hope he does. As I said he is very very well read and clever and it would be a shame if he is just 'existing' because of his financial situation rather than enjoying things. He Is planning on spending five months in Goa. He does this most years.
It seems, especially Candolim, to be quite. Cliquey. There are people who come here every year, sometimes twice a year. You can indeed see why people do return but that said, there are so many different places to visit. Apparently several British travel companies have package tours here.

There are many russian, all with the similar 'potato head, as Matt calls it, features. It always makes me smile remembering Cyprus several years ago...

I'm not going to do much here and won't add to the blog unless something happened. I may take my chances with a couple of the tours. They are not overly expensive, dolphin watching with a 'no dolphin, no money' guarantee sounds quite interesting...

As I dint need to be back in New Delhi till the 29th November I have decided to stay at the guest house. It is very friendly. When I originally arrived I negotiated a price of 1000 rupees per night. I approached Jessica and enquired if I could stay till the 29th and if the price could be reviewed and she came back with 850. Everyone a winner. I've even bought some sun tan cream!

The beach is nice, the sea is warm, there are not too many beach salespeople and those they are tend to be female and are charming. Today a group of girls came up he beach, sighing five minutes had set up a tight role and were walking across it with things balanced on their heads. Just waiting for the lion tamer to come out of the jungle with a parade of elephants and a couple of clowns thrown in and well have a full circus...

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Location:Candolim Beach, North Goa, India.

11th November:- it's a bit like being on holiday

A day in Panjim is enough! The evening of my arrival I had a wander around and something to eat. It is a very quaint town. Indeed you can manage to walk around it, even I managed to find my way back to the hotel.

My first whole day was spend checking out the local sights. Old Goa is not to far away and it appears to have some sights to see, mainly catholic churches. As an old portuguese colony (only liberated in 1961, which surprised me) it is fill of old colonial architecture, the names roads are in Portuguese and some of the older people actual converse in the language. I did decide that I may find some time later to visit old Goa but to or row I would head a little further north to a little village called Candolim. I had spotted what looked like an idyllic place to stay, an old Portuguese villa, not far from the sea. Happy days. I was hoping it wasn't booked ip as it was "our pick" in the lonely planet!

One day was enough in Panjim. I had something to eat, wander around and the. There was really nothing to do. It is noticeably hotter here. As I went out in the evening I checked out with a taxi driver the cost of getting to Candolim. It was 300 rupees. Although the bust was only 7 I did decide to take the taxi then I could get him to take me right to the door of the hostel rather than wander around looking for it. I also had to return a shirt I had bought the previous evening. I am probably a medium size now ( I have been extra large in my BT days) I had purchased a t-shirt and a long sleeved shirt the previous evening. It was extra large but still was too tight. I'm really not a fat bastard but I actually needed an XXL. Bizarre, I'm the skinniest I've been in many years.....

Dinner was good. It's funny, things tend to even themselves out. The biggest expenditure travelling is accommodation and food. In some places food is relatively expensive and accommodation cheap (Nepal) in other places, accommodation is relatively expensive and food cheap (India) the Philippines, both are cheap and for obvious reasons in Hong Kong and Singapore, both are expensive (although you can eat and drink quite cheaply in China Town)

I was in my bed quite early watching animal planet. For some reason the room seems hotter than outside. With just a fan it reminded me of the old days when going to Spain, before mass AC was standard. Sleeping in the uncomfortable heat on top of the bed. For some bizarre reason Panjim has a 9:00am checkout policy across the city. I have never come across this before. It doesn't apply to the rest of the Goan state, just the capital, and applies to guest house and top class hotel alike. For this reason I arranged for the taxi to meet me at 9:00 for the trip to Candolim. I had no idea what to expect but was in for a rather pleasant surprise.

It was only about 40 minutes by cab. Again, it looked very unlike the India I've come to know, very ordered. Actually, it looked rather like a Portuguese holiday village..... What a surprise!
The taxi driver had big problems finding my accommodation. He wanted to walk me to the door and insisted that I pay him at the side of the car.( their is no access other than by bike) I told him that I could manage, knowing he would claim to have brought me their and also claim the commission which would probably be banged on the room tariff. He was a bit of a pain anyway, his driving had been erratic to say the least and, sitting in the front I probably did more braking than he did. When he couldn't find my accommodation he kept snatching my notebook from my hand and thrusting it in front of the faces of locals he was asking directions. He did t get a tip....

The place I had spotted in the lonely planet was called Dona Florina and was just about as perfect as you could get.
It was secluded and I got a single room for 1000 rupees a night, less than I had paid for a pretty grim hotel in Panjim. The room had a balcony, I could see the sea. It was clean, a nice 4 poster with a mosquito net and fan. Just brilliant. And it got better. Just a 200 metre walk to the beach the were loads of places to eat and drink. After checking in for three days, I headed to get some shampoo and soap then wandered to "pete's shack' for breakfast of local hot bread and masala omelette. Then the day turned rather bizarre!!!!!

As I was sitting sipping my coffee a chap wandered up the beach. He greeted the waiter as though he knew him and came and sat at the table next to me. I got chatting. His name was Ernest, he was a 57 year old german, he had arrived yesterday and he was staying for 5 months. And had been doing the same for a number of years. He turned out to he rather an eccentric and alternative character. He excessively used adjectives such and disgusting, horrendous, treacherous to describe the Pope, the financial system, his family etc etc. And seemed to have tried any and every drug around. I spend the rest of the day chatting to him. He was extremely well read and a very interesting person. We had a drink together and he quite suddenly decided that the 40 hours travelling had taken it's toll and retired to bed about 6:30 after watching the sun set on the beach.

I like it here, tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get a deal by staying he till the 29th. I may even try and stay here till I'm due to leave Delhi although I may use the five days I have in Delhi to visit the golden temple in Amritsar. Then, other than Darjeeling I've done all, and more than I thought I would do in India.

My evening was complete with a couple of rum and cokes, a curry and nan looking out over the sea. Yes, I like it here, it's a bit like being on holiday.


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Location:Candolim, North Goa, India

9th November:- A going to Goa.

I returned to New Delhi for one night before heading on to Goa. The journey back was fine. I did get to the airport a little early but its actually quite a nice place. Once back in the domestic terminal of Indria Ghandi international airport paid my 25 rupees for the the shuttle bus into the main terminal and the took the metro express to New Delhi station. I had contemplated taking a autorickshaw to Karol Bagh but didn't and actually the in metro ride wasn't nearly as bad. Wander to the end of the platform is a good tip! Once on Karol Bagh I headed to the Amman hotel, the one I had first stayed at when I arrived in Delhi. Strangely I was able to negotiate a fan room for 1000 including tax. And also would get the same deal when I come back at the end of the month. The room was pretty grim but clean.

I had been dreaming of chicken tikka masala and a beer for several days. A whole week with very little meat was quite hard. I headed to the Market area and plumped for the restaurant I had used before on the road that runs parallel to the Market street. This time they did have naan so one chicken tikka, one naan, one rice and two beers later I was fully replete.

It's never a good idea to go shopping after a drink. With no alcohol for a week it went straight to my head. I needed some new flip-flops, mine had been used pretty much every day for 6 months and were looking decidedly grubby and after wading through the shit in Varanassi must have contained the DNA of hundreds of people! In my alcohol induced mood I think I may have bought some platform flip flops. !

I was in bed quite early although being quite close to reception I could pick up a decent wifi signal so did a bit of emailing and catching up. I sat in a 'comfy' chair by the side of the door and was scared shitless by a scratching sound and then a rat poked it's head under the door. When it saw me it decided to bugger off. Thankfully.

My flight to Goa wasn't toll the afternoon but I checked out of the hotel at around 10:30. Every time I had wandered towards Karol Bagh previously I had been pestered by auto rickshaw drivers all the way to the market. This time I had to actually stop on. Foolishly I asked for a fate to New Delhi Station rather than the Metro Line at New Delhi Station. As we arrived, through an area that look similar to Karol Bagh, I asked which way to the metro and realised my mistake. I'm sure in could have walked through the station but I decided I take the advice of the rickshaw driver and he took me to the next negation on the line and charged me 200 rupees. As usual the airport express was empty, I'm really not sure how it makes money. The fare is only 80 rupees (£1). I don't think many people know about it.

I could check in straight away. Passed through security and the spotted my lighter in my bag. I have to say one thing. On the metro and in the airports the security is second to none. You are not even allowed in unless you have proof you are travelling. There are armed soldiers everywhere too carrying an assortment of automatic weapons. There are even sandbags with a soldier and huge gun at strategic places throughout the airport and transport systems. You do feel quite safe. After giving up my Iighter and a record of my misdemeanour being recorded in the 'naughty book' I preceded to have a KFC meal. They are nothing like the ones in Malaysia, the chicken pieces are dry and small and a bit scraggy. But it filled a hole.

The flight from New Delhi was about 2:15 minutes. I was sitting next to a couple of kids from an Indian family, they were lovely, except the couldn't stop fidgeting for the the whole journey. I got chatting to the young boy. He was 15 but looked much younger. His parents were taking them on a family holiday to Goa. I suspect they were reasonably wealthy by Indian standards. He was full of questions, the usual ' am I married also came up'.
As we landed, it was starting to get dark. I said my goodbyes to my travelling companions and headed to the prepaid taxi as Panjim, the capital of Goa was about 29 km from the airport. I was pleasantly surprised that it was only 800 rupees. Once again I had written down the name of a place from the lonely planet and off we set.

It turned out to be a bit of a drama. The place I had picked was nice but a tad expensive. With hindsight in should have gone for it though. After about an hour of calling at loads of places I finally got one for 1200 a night. It was pretty ropey. I tipped the cab driver 200 rupees as he had been very helpful. Although one of the places he took me to wanted 6,000 a night! The reception guy said he could give me a discount, it would need to be a fucking big discount I thought!

After checking in I went for a walk, bought a couple of T shirts and then went for some food. I planned to stay in Panjim for a couple of nights then head a bit north to the beach area and hopefully get a bit of a tan!



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Location:Panjim, Goa, India.

8th November:- People Watching.

Varanasi is one of those places you just wander, sit, watch, wander,sit, watch and do it all again. That is what I have done pretty much all day. It is just great for people watching. Non Hindus can't go into most of the Hindu temples, one of the monks in Nepal told me it's because they have something to hide. He was convinced (quite seriously) that they performed human sacrifices there.

All I have done today is wander up and down the ghat's, stopping from time to time. It was very relaxing. I still can't get my head round the number of buffalos, cows and goats there are wandering around. They do look well though. Well fed and constantly getting a pat on the head by passing Hindus.

I had breakfast early, it's amazing how early things start here. There was lots going on. Most of it by the side of the river. With the monsoon just recently over the river is quite low. Technically you should be able to walk right along the riverside from Assi Ghat to the most southerly Raj Ghat. I say technically because the river gets quite high during monsoon and brings with it silt and debris from the river. At some points it is about 30ft high. Obviously quite a lot of work has already been done but at two points the work is still going on to get rid of the silt. This involve es sucking water from a pump and power jetting the silt back into the river. It is fascinating watching it. Even the highest build up is moving at a rate. Kids in charge of the high power hoses are lethal. I saw at least a couple of incidents where they completely drenched a passer by. In the debris are remains of people. The chappie who owned one of the burning ghats has told be that before the remains are pushed into the river, a piece of body is put in an urn and then tossed in the river. The were literally hundreds of urns mixed in within the silt. Besides that there was also the clothes that covered the bodies. As I walked past the burning ghat this morning there were about 10 cremations going on. A fat leg was poking out of one fire. At the side of the ghat were a number of bodies waiting to be put on the log pyre.

I sat at Assi ghat for an hour just watching what was going on. A cow wandered up the steps (they are pretty agile) one of the traders on the steps had a load of Hindu stuff and tried to shoo the cow away. The cow promptly turned around and pissed all over his stuff. Brilliant!!

By the way, on the way back to the hotel I spotted my washing. It was hanging in the street! I do suspect it's been washed in the Ganges. Will that bring me good luck ? I can't wait to see the colour of the white shirt.....

In actual fact the clothing came back quite clean, certainly the White shirt was still white.

I liked Varanasi, the touts were not as annoying as many other places, they did take no for an answer, which was a change. The food was a but rubbish in the old town. Pretty much always veg although I did fine a nice Nepali cafe which did chilli chicken and chicken pizza. I found a new drink. Half the price of a 'sprite' fresh lemon and soda. Served with sugar cane syrup. Very refreshing.

The place that I had pizza the first night was very good although I did have a fall out with the waiter when I dared to ask for some onion on my brochette. Without looking at me he said no, when I asked why he said it was not in the recipe. I thought fuck you. I would have eaten there every day but if he couldn't be assed to think about his customers he could fuck right off. It's a pity actually. Even without the onion the brochette was very tasty. The apple pie and ice cream was good too.

Five days was enough time in Varanasi. I had a good time. It is a very interesting and colourful place, great to watch the world go by. What will I remember? The number of people who piss in the street, the futile sweeping of the ghats and small lanes, the number of cows and goats wandering around without a care. The impressive ceremony and the sheer number of temples everywhere. There do appear to be an awful lot of westerners who want to be indian though.
Indeed, a fascinating city.

I've decided, there is just something about the atmosphere in India. There seems to be this haze here, Delhi, Agra..... It's like the day after bonfire night, every day. Maybe in Goa it will be different.



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Location:Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

4th November:- First Day in Varanasi

After bed at 7:00, and quite a good nights sleep despite the fan, was awake early. No wireless but there is Internet. I have made a decision to get my act together with the blog, it's not as though I'm working now! I have actually done a lot of work on it. There are now 14 entries ready for photos and to be uploaded but I need to wait till I have a decent Internet connection before I even try.

This morning I have walked pretty much the whole length of the Ghats by the side of the river. This is a strangely spiritual place. All sorts of folk, the tourists, the pilgrims, the touts, the snake charmers, and the religious Hindi men, painted and dressed in orange. It's a photographers dream.

The ghats run all along the west bank of the Ganges, some are in good shape, some not, but all along on the steps leading to the water people are bathing, washing clothes, repairing boats and selling stuff. Literally hundreds of people are bathing in the river. It does nit look particularly clean, indeed it isn't, but that does not deter people from stripping yo their underwear, putting on a sarong and getting in. They even bring soap and shampoo. I took my washing in this morning, I hope it doesnt find its way down here !

It is a great place for people watching. I got as far as the ghat where bodies are burned. It was very unlike Pash******** where it seemed ordered and there was a little platform for the burning, here it was just done on the ground. No photography is permitted, not even of the area. Stacks of wood are piled high for the burning. It is weighed and sold. Sandalwood is the most expensive. Touts are here too, trying to persuade you to stand in a viewing area and then asking for a donation. It was a fascinating to watch. The bodies are brought down on bamboo stretchers, washed in the Ganges and then just enough wood is bought to burn them. There are different coloured robes for men and women, and even different colours for young and old. The touts, some of them purporting to be holy men probably don't use the money (required in US dollars) to buy wood, but pocket it.

Bruchetta and fruit juice at the cafe I'd had my pizza yesterday and then back to my room to have a look at the photos.

Later in the afternoon I set off again along the banks. I bought a couple of candles and just sat and people watched until dusk. It is not long since the monsoon finished and there is a lot of work going on to clear the sometimes 20ft of silt that has covered some of the steps. They do it by sucking water from the river and then using hoses to wash the silt and rubbish back into the river.

I did wander to the first and the smaller burning ghat called Harishchandra Ghat. I got chatting to the owner of the ghat and he told me that they have 50 or 60 cremations a day. There were a few in full flow. It takes about three hours for a body to burn. He explained that the the caste system determines where you are burned. The Bramhin, the highest caste are burned on the top. In fact there was a lady ready to be cremated. This is only the second dead persons face I have ever seen. She was piled under a load of wood but her face was uncovered. There were loads of relatives sitting around watching. No one seemed to be that upset. They believe that the body is just a shell. The people tending the fire were not being particularly respectful, one was bashing a body to break it and the other had a bamboo pole what looked like up the bodies rear end trying to turn it over.....

Each evening at the Dasaswamedh Ghat there is a ceremony called the Ganga Arti which is the celebration of sunset over the Ganges. It is quite elaborate with hundreds of people watching from the ghat and the same again on boats. In the background there are thousands of candles floating down the river. Holy men wander around giving Tika and people are selling things. I got talking to a young lad. We discussed Varanasi and that, like many other places people are always trying to rip you off all the time. It was an interesting conversation, even at such a young age he appreciated that if you think you are going to get ripped off, you are less likely to talk to the people that approach you. That's no good for anyone. Talking of which, my 10 rupee head massage nearly cost 600. It so pisses me off when they do that. When I worked out what was going on I also worked out what he was getting and that was it 150 rupees and lucky he didn't get a smack in the gob....

The ceremony was quite spectacular. I, going to make a point of seeing it from the river before I leave Varanasi. Wandering back to the hotel, I stopped for dinner. Again, I was tucked up for 9:00. It's been a busy day.


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Location:Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

3rd November:- Varanasi

Today, I will be mostly going to Varanasi. This is one of those places I've always wanted to visit, a bit like Kathmandu. I hope I'm going to be a bit more impressed!
I had only 4 hours sleep, after that "pilgrimage" yesterday I was a bit jaded. I was quite pleased I'd decided on flying rather than the train. The plane was leaving at 2:40, I had plenty of time but I maybe needed it. The domestic airport is a bit like the LCCT in KL. Quite a way from the main one and not that straightforward to get to. It did have a shuttle bus but I'd heard it was unreliable. For this reason I aimed to leave at 10:00am.

In order to save money, I had decided to travel ontge metro rather than get a auto rickshaw (tuktuk) or taxi. It was still early so not hot and the metro station is only about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. My deal at the hotel was reasonable, 1100 rupees per night. Pissed off about the Internet though. When I'm back I think I'll go to the other hotel and negotiate a better price.

There is one thing that really pisses me off about the metro in Delhi, the pushing. This time I decided to bite back. What would probably get you a smack in the gob in the UK, or any other European city goes here. When someone pushed me, I pushed back. And even got a sorry or a smile.
The security in Delhi is very thorough. Metro stations have the same sort of security as airports, with the added soldier behind a pile of sandbags with a mounted automatic gun. I'll check out the price of a auto rickshaw next time, it is a hassle with a back pack. One a new Delhi train station it's easy. The airport metro express is never full and it's quite a relaxing journey. The total door to door price is just short of 100 rupees. That's about £1:30. Compare that with the tube to heathrow!

Even when I was at the airport it was easy and convenient to get to terminal one and the domestic air terminal. The buses ram every 20 minutes and were free if you were taking a connecting flight. 25 rupees if you were just flying domestic. Once again, I was amazed at how nice the airport was. It was nothing like the experience of four years ago. I was travelling with spice jet, one of the low cost carriers in India. It's not as cheap as air Asia but ok. I had a coffee and a chicken pasty before check in. Some of the Indians in the service industry, especially the younger ones are just unhelpful, miserable fuckers. No smile, throw your change at you. I hope it's not flooding the UK.

Once I had got airside , I wished I had waited for something to eat and drink. The chicken pasty I had eaten was not nice at all. Here there was plenty of good looking food. Indian and western. I sat down and waited for the flight, enjoying the people watching. The flight left on time. It was only an hour to the east of Delhi and we actually landed ahead of schedule. Again, very impressed with the airport, very modern. The commonwealth games had certainly done the trick.

I had written the name of a hotel on my pad, conscious that the taxi touts will probably take you to the one they know. I got a price of 400 rupees for the 22km ride, it was about 200 rupees below the going rate but I shared it with a soldier. Both India and Nepal seem to have no problem with blokes just stopping in the street a d having a pee. I had noticed it in Nepal, especially at the side of the highway, here they do it in the city too, despite the fact that there seems to be plenty of urinals. On the way to the city I must have seen about 10 people, men and women just equating in the field by the side of the road having a shit. I'm really not sure about this!!

I had asked my taxi to take me to Assi Ghat. This is the most northerly of the ghats in Varanasi. The hotel I had chosen to write down was in the lonely planed and did look quite smart, but perhaps at the top end of what I was willing to pay. It did recommend that you booked. When I arrived they did have a room but it was 4000 rupees per night, granted, it had a view of the Ganges but it was way over what I wanted to spend. The taxi driver told me he knew of a good hotel, just around the corner. It was OK, basic but clean and only 700 per night. Including taxes. I had mentally prepared myself to pay in the region of 2000 rupees per night so this was a bargain.

Before the taxi left he gave me his number and said he could take me back to the airport on Tuesday. He told me that it would be 600 rupees and it wouldn't be a share. I'll think about it. The hotel had Internet but not wireless, that's not a huge problem. After leaving my stuff in the room I had a little wander, this time remembering to take a card so at least I knew where I was staying. The hotel did have a restaurant but it was all veg (I love the way meat eaters are called Non Veg). Today I was a non veg. There are couple of things unusual about Varanasi. One is the non veg restaurants are In the minority, the other is that there is no alcohol close to the Ganges. If you like your meat and like a beer with it then you are in the wrong place. I guess it won't hurt for a few days! Given I've got a cheap room, the veg food is obviously cheaper than the non veg and the is no alcohol this is probably going to be a cheap few days.

Each evening the is a puja on Assi Ghat to prey to the sun going down on the Ganges, it's apparently not as impressive as one of the bigger ghats but nevertheless it was an atmospheric first night in Varanasi as I ate my mushroom. Pizza and sipped my 7 up. It had been a long day and given the previous journey to Agra I was knackered. I was bed for 7:00. A pillow was provided but no cover apart from the bottom sheet. My sarong would do. It has come in very very useful...



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Location:Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.

2nd November:- A pilgrimage to Agra.

This was a cheap trip, a very cheap trip. I wondered why, I soon found out....
Actually, that's not quite true, I didn't find out till around 11:00pm when we were still visiting things Hindu.
I was up at 5:00, the tourist bus was leaving at 6:00. I didn't get that much sleep. I was awoken at about 3:30 but some Indian man, banging on my door and ringing my bell. I was not amused and made that point with the look on my face as I opened the door. As I boarded at 6:30, (Nepali time!) still half asleep, I wondered if, once again I would be with a bus fill of Indians. I was, or nearly, there was a very nice Indonesian lady in front of me and also a guy from Korea. As we got chatting it turned out that the lady from Indonesia had paid 1800 rupees and the Korean guy had paid 5,000 (although he was going on to Jaipur by train- it did sound terribly expensive). Maybe I got a bargain!

The journey wasn't too bad although well in excess of the 5.5 hours advertised. It didn't start particularly well. A small child was sat In the front seat of the bus (unlike ours, the buses have a cab which is sectioned off. As the driver braked heavily (it turned out to be a feature of the journey) the small child flew off the seat and his head made heavy contact with the glass panel of the cab. He didn't stop screaming till well after 9:30. After leaving at 6:00 (although we didn't actually get out of the city till turned 8:00am) we pulled into Agra at around 1:00pm. We had stopped off for something to eat about half way, nevertheless, it was a long journey, and I was to return the same day. Fuck!

As we pulled into the city the Indian guy in charge of the bus told me I could get off and led me to my own personal guide and auto rickshaw. My first question as a savvy traveller ( ;-)) is how much?
" nothing sir, it is included in the price of the ticket. Just tips"
"ha ha, ok" I said. "but no silk shops, no art shops and no carpet shops" I added.
"no sir, of course"
So off we set to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world.
It would be 750 rupees to get in and then another 500 rupees of you wanted a guide, you will need a guide my man said. OK....!!!

We arrived , around the temple the a no-go zone for vehicles of 1km. I was introduced to my guide and we jumped into a motorised vehicle and off we went. It was a great place, I have to say, of all the "things you must see before you die" things, this was one of the most impressive. With hindsight, I would have been better off without the guide. I felt rushed, I would have liked to have spent a few hours there, it was busy (apparently about 30,000 visitors every day) but at the same time it is so spacious that you don't notice it. The grounds are nice and green with park benches to sit on and enjoy the experience.
Within an hour we were out of there, much to my disappointment. I met up with my "other" guide and we made our way to the Red Fort. This was another 250 rupees but no guide necessary. This time I did get some time to just hang out and people watch. It was a fascinating place, where the Bloke who built to Taj was actually imprisoned. At least he could see the building from his cell window. I met a charming Italian woman who was from Oxford. She was doing her Phd in tourism and just hated India!

Back to the guide, we now had about 90 minutes so I'm afraid I did have to visit some of the shops, didn't buy anything though. I spent the last 45 mins in a rooftop cafe drinking sprite. It had an unusual feature. A shotgun was just laid on a table.

At the end the guide asked me if I had a good day, I had, was I happy? I was, would I make him happy, probably not. I did give him 250 rupees and the driver 150rupees though to be fair the "guide" had not done a great deal more than sit on his arse all day.

Although we were due to set of back to Delhi at 5:30 it was actually 6:30 when we finally set off. I had wondered where the rest of the bus had been all day (except the Indonesian lady who had actually had the same treatment as me) it turned out that this was a pilgrimage tour and both of us had been added as an afterthought because there were a few seats free. The tour was far from complete, we were now going to the birthplace of Krishna and then to some sort of religious ceremony. We worked it out that if we got back in New Delhi for 2:00am we would be lucky. And we had the same driver !!

Just before we left Agra a (quite large) family got on the bus. All the way to Agra I had two seats and at first it was looking that way for the trip back. A young girl of about 15 sat by me and a young boy of about 6 sat on her knee. She was fascinated to be sat by a westerner. She had come to Agra with her family for Diwali and was now on her way back to Delhi. From there it would be a two day train journey home. She asked me if she could have her photograph taken with me and her father obliged. The youngster, thought he would impress by counting. He counted on his fingers, 1-11, he did this twice. I wasn't really paying much attention but after he had done it twice I showed him five fingers and five fingers saying 'five plus five is 10' and then counted them one by one. He then did the same and to my ashtonishment and embarrassment, he had six fingers on one hand. Hmm what do you do???

Indonesian woman was charming. I think she was quite wealthy. She was a Prof. Dr Wila Chandrawila Supriadi, was a lecturer in something or other in Bandung, somewhere near Jakarta. We chatted about things and she gave me her card saying if I was in her neck of the woods to call her up. I told her I would email her the next time I was on line.

The journey home went on and on and on. Even when we got to new Delhi it didn't end. First we had to start looking for some accommodation for a family, then the driver couldn't fine a particular place he wanted for a drop off. I'd had enough. I recognised where we we're and decided to walk the remaining half mile. It was 4:00am. Getting to the hotel, I had to wake the staff to let me in. They were all asleep on blankets in the reception. On the bus ride through the city I was amazed at the number of people sleeping by the side of the road. That is something that has not changed since I was last in Delhi.
Tomorrow Varanasi.....




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Location:Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India