Top Attractions

After a home cooked Indian breakfast, we got our first Uber across the city (everywhere is a lot further away than it looks on the map - the city is quite big).

We arrived at the Capital Complex, the HQ of the combined states of Punjab and Haryana. There was a free tour of the High Court and Assembly buildings of this UNESCO site.

We saw some interesting buildings, sculptures and tapestries plus the views from the highest building in the city. The tour was heavily guarded with 2 police to the 4 of us on the tour. Our passports were also copied. The highlight, of course, was the delicious rice pudding and ice cold mango lassie we devoured as we completed the tour.

Next off to the Rock Garden, the 2nd most visited attraction after the Taj Mahal ... apparently! The Rock Garden was an illegal structure built by a simple man from rocks and bits of reclaimed rubbish on the edge of a forest. When the government discovered it, they liked it, so it was allowed to stay. In fact they enabled the hobby to continue and employed additional labour to continue the work. By the end of our visit we had become rather fond of the attraction, especially as we learnt more about it.

Dinner was served up at a Chinese market. We visited a fancy hotel and went on to get a delicious ice cream.

We got everywhere in Uber taxis and the drivers were all excellent. When we returned to where we are staying, we spent time on the roof admiring the view of the city from 10 storeys up!

Chandigarh is Different

An early start was required to ensure we made it down from Rishikesh to catch our train in Haridwar. First a rickshaw took us to the bus station where we transferred to a big bus. The journey went so well, we arrived so much earlier than expected, so guess what? Yes, we drank chai and ate until we needed to catch the train!

We met a friendly English couple and we laughed and chatted for the 5 hour journey to Chandigarh. At one point a young man next to us almost convinced us all that we were on the wrong train. However, it transpired that the train we were on was going to split in two, so all was well! The English couple had arranged a pick up to their hotel from Chandigarh train station. We on the other hand had different plans.

From the station we needed to get 2 buses and take a nice long walk to where we were staying. It was dark but the first bus left from just outside the train ststion. On the bus we travelled along smooth tarmac roads, stopped at traffic lights and gave way at roundabouts. UNBELIEVABLE! We got talking to a very nice university student. He was travelling the same way as us and said we could follow him on the second bus, so we did. He chatted to the very smiley bus conductor and together they worked out exactly where we should get off. Eventually we got off and started walking towards our destination (quickly stopping in KFC for a snack too).

The road was dark and long but we caught ourselves a lift from a Sikh man in a jeep. He just pulled over, couldn't speak English but shook our hands. He then kindly drove us to where we needed to go by following our GPS map! WOW, what a day ...

Lazy day

We started our morning with a leisurely stroll. We were heading for a waterfall that we had seen on the map. We walked for a while along the road but eventually decided the traffic, stinky fumes and crazy drivers were too much. We turned back and gave up on the waterfall.

The day was spent organising and enjoy the tranquility of Rishikesh. We had been there for a few days and were learning the best restaurants, chai wallahs and places to sit.

We packed our bags and were ready to leave in the morning. All that was left to do was enjoy our last supper at a nice little restaurant.

Outside the restaurant there was a bit of a commotion. A fancy sports car had arrived and everyone took photos. They don't see many sports cars up in the mountains of India.

Chillin'

Eventually we appeared from our hotel after a good night's sleep. We stopped for breakfast/lunch at our favourite haunt in Rishikesh.

Next we sat on the steps of a really quiet area. There was only a few people there. The temple behind was playing relaxing Indian music and we watched the goings on around us. From where we sat we could see the queue of people crossing the bridge. Sunday seems to be a very busy day. Streams of rafts floated down the river. We were quite surprised how many there were!

When we had finished our peaceful meditation on the steps of the ghat, it was our turn to venture across the bridge. It took quite a while. Part of the problem is the motorbikes. The other issue is the cows! When the cows take a stroll across the bridge they generally mix in with the pedestrians just fine. However today was different. There was a grumpy cow with big horns crossing. First he butted someone up the bottom with his horns. Following this he stole a whole bag of popcorn from a little boy. One chew and the popcorn was gone, bag and all. Bad cow!

Today we climbed to the top of the fancy orange ashram. It was filled with small alters and tiny shops selling all things Hindu. The views from the top were wonderful and worth the climb. At the top we could look down on everyone and everything!

Our friendly chai man seems to have taken Sunday off, so we had to make do with ice cold lassis from the fridge. Just opposite we watched another mischievous cow steal an apple from a fruit stall. The seller wasn't happy and saw him off! We thought it was hilarious ...

The funky bar next to our hotel has live Indian music concerts, so the evening was spent listening to the music. Nice!

Whilst in Rishikesh ...

This morning we dug deep in our bags for the baggy pants and loose fitting tops. Today is yoga day.

We headed to the yoga school and met the instructor. No one else turned up so we had a 'private' lesson. The views from the yoga studio were amazing as it overlooked the river. We took our positions on the yoga mats and were then put through our paces.

An hour later it was all over. We had stretched ourselves thoroughly, chanted a few Om's and realised we are totally inflexible! More practice required.

Breakfast next. This was far more enjoyable.

Afterwards we went for a leisurely walk along the river. There were beaches, Ashrams and lots of gift shops. We came to the 2nd suspension bridge and continued to look for the Beatles ashram. This was where the Beatles stayed in the 60's but is now not used and has been swallowed up by the forest.

On our journey back we crossed the river on the 2nd bridge. We watched as a man was hoisted on top of the bridge. Scary! It was quite a long walk and we were tired when we got back.

We rested a while and then went to eat. It is colder here at night.

Brrrrr.

Off to Rishikesh

Breakfast - book more train tickets - bus!

The bus station was opposite the train station and really close to where we were staying, so not far to walk. It was about an hour journey to Rishikesh and the road condition was fairly good. We saw the Haridwar cable car and ghats from the window but that was about it. We both fell asleep! The bus driver must have driven carefully and relatively slowly.

Next we caught an auto rickshaw from the bus stop to Rishikesh. We searched for our booked hotel and eventually found it. We dropped off our bags before going exploring! A few streets meandered down to the first spectacular suspension bridge. There were monkeys playing on the bridge, whitewater rafts enjoying the river below and beautiful scenery everywhere. It was an incredible view!

Lots of Ashrams, yoga retreats and meditation centres lined the streets, dotted with restaurants and multicoloured baggy trouser shops. There are lots of tourists here enjoying what Rishikesh has to offer and it appears to have a lot from adventure sport to relaxation classes.

There is some very nice music and singing coming from a restaurant very close to our room. How very lovely!

Train

Breakfast was a nice cup of chai with some interesting puff pastry fingers to dip in your tea. Well that was what everyone else was doing, so we did it too.

Today we have a 10 hour train journey from Agra up to Haridwar. The trains are so much more comfortable than the buses, which are terrifying!

We tried really hard to arrange a sleeper train that travelled through the night but it was impossible. They were all booked up way in advance. No tourist quota either so we have to travel Tatkal (last minute ticket release).

After stocking up on snacks for the journey we negotiated an auto rickshaw to take us to Agra Cantt station. It was a little further than the station we arrived at and too far to walk. Plus, we had walked a little way down the road that would take us to the station and the pollution was terrible.

It didn't take long to get there so we were really early. That meant we could try to book a few advance train tickets. However there were 3 French tourists in front of us. We are not sure exactly what the ticket officer was doing but we stood there for so long (about an hour) whilst he booked their one ticket, we ran out of time as our train was due. We had to leave, no tickets booked.

Train was on time and off we went! We had sleeper berths so we rested horizontally and slept. The journey went quickly, there were lots of chatting teenagers on the train and the man opposite, who couldn't speak any English, kindly shared his bag of spicey nuts. We stopped a few times and ran off the train to buy lunch. We drank lots of tea, watched children putting on acrobatic displays and enjoyed the rhythmic motion of the rails.

At Haridwar, our final destination, the station was packed with people. We had to find a hotel next. Some were full, some smelt rather musty but in the end we found one. Next we ate a delicious Bengali Thali, helped a man change his money into smaller denominations and even had a chai making lesson.

We liked Haridwar, it has a very friendly 'vibe'!

The Taj Mahal

Up at 5am and raring to go. Today is Taj Mahal day and we wanted to get there bright and early for sunrise. The Taj is only about 800m from our hotel so it was a pleasant early walk in the darkness. There were lots of locals up early too. Some were making the most of the cooler morning temperatures and completing their morning jogs.

Buying tickets was easy as there was no queue and the queue to pass through security was small too. We stood in line. One line for men and another for ladies. Our wait was short maybe 10 minutes before we were in!

The Taj Mahal is such a beautiful building and in the light of sunrise, it looked incredible. We took lots of photos and enjoyed being amongst the tranquility of the gardens. There was a queue of people waiting to have their photo taken on the bench on which Princess Diana had her photo taken many years ago.

The grounds were quiet at first but as we moved around looking at different features, the crowds started to build. We watched the sun rise over the eastern side of the Taj Mahal and marvelled at how it changed colour. We stayed for a while enjoying the beauty of one of the Seven Wonders of the World and watched the world go by.

After leaving the Taj behind we headed to breakfast across the road, then down to the river for another view of the Taj Mahal, from a different angle. Next, it was then back to our hotel to ... snooze.

When we reappeared, we explored Agra, ate some more food and watched an Indian wedding taking place through the gate of the Radisson Blue Hotel.

A nice relaxing day at Agra.

Walking, Walking, Walking

Today we walked a lot. We ate breakfast and decided to take a walk through the Shah Jahan park from the Taj Mahal to Agra Fort. Yesterday we saw the end of the path as we walked passed so we looked on Google maps and it showed the path as a direct route to the Fort.

The path was great for the first part. It lead us to the river and a temple playing really loud modern music through huge speakers. There were not many people there and we have no idea why the music was so loud. We continued along the path until ... we found several locked gates. We could see the beautiful park inside and the path but there was no way in. It would have been a nice walk but not today! We had to continue towards the Fort along the main road where every auto rickshaw driver wanted to take us somewhere. We eventually reached the Fort and took photos before heading to the train station for refreshments and to stand in the reservation queue.

We filled out the necessary forms and were called forward at the foreign tourist desk.We managed to book lots of trains in advance, which is great.

Walking back we took a different route through the back streets of Agra. Here we found the real part of the city where people stopped and smiled and said hello. It was so different to the tourist areas of Agra where every person is touting for business. This area is so different to the India we know and doesn't even feel like ... India!

On the main road near the big hotels we found our first Indian McDonalds. We had to see what they had on offer. They don't serve any pork or beef products plus most of their range has totally different names to ours in England. Feeling guilty for standing and studying the menu for 10 minutes, we decided to give the Aloo Tikka burgers a try. They tasted great and we finished off the extravagant meal with a delicious ice cream cone.

There was a huge mall next door but most of the shops seemed to be closed either for the night or closed permanently. It had seen better days.

We followed the map back to our hotel via some fairly dark alleyways and picked up some fruit for breakfast because we have an early start tomorrow to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise

Train delay

The train last night was rather late. In fact it left the station 3 hours behind schedule. During the night there were a few stops where lots of people appeared. They didn't appear to have booked seats or possibly didn't even have tickets. They tended to lie or sit wherever they could, even at the end of your bunk. No one seemed to mind.

We arrived at Agra Fort station 5 hours after we expected too. No one else seemed surprised but this is the first train we have caught which was so late. At the train booking office we booked an onward train ticket but we were unable to buy the ticket we wanted, so we settled for another option. It meant an extra few days in Agra plus travelling through the day rather than at night.

Agra Fort station is right next to the famous Agra Fort, hence the name. We walked around the walls of the fort but then followed signs for a Taj Mahal viewpoint. It gave us a distant view from a small white bench in a park. On the map a path seemed to lead through the park to the Taj Mahal. We thought we would walk along the path towards the Taj and finally to our hotel. We might have taken a wrong turn as the park became more like a building site and we found it hard to walk through what had now become sand. Eventually we found ourselves at the river next to the Taj. From here we could walk around the Taj to the area we were looking for.

It was tricky finding the hotel we had booked. The mystery unfolded. We had booked the hotel with its new name but most people knew it by it's old name. We did arrive in the end. We ate at a few local stalls which were nearby. We then bought a few snacks for later and now it is time to rest!

Ghats

Breakfast was include with our hotel booking. On top of the Indian food we also had a banana and a huge mug of tea!

We spent the day wandering the Varanasi ghats and sitting watching the daily routines of the locals. As Varanasi is such a sacred place for Hindus, it was interesting to watch the Indian tourists too. It was very relaxing and quite hot. At one stage we thought a nice swim in the river would cool us down, then we thought twice. It is not a clean river and in fact we are not sure if anything lives in there any longer because it is so polluted!

We walked through the old city and then sat for a while. There were 3 young children that particularly caught our attention. They were dressed up as Sadhus (holy men) with wigs of dreadlocks and painted faces. They tried really hard to extract money from every tourist by smiling in their cheeky way or having their photos taken. If they were unable to get money they would ask for crisps or a drink from the shop. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and being watched carefully by their mum. They certainly had charm!

There are Sadhus everywhere in Varanasi dressed in their orange robes. They are often carrying a trident, garlands of flowers around their necks and money collection pot.

As we sat we spoke to 2 Swedish gentlemen with huge expensive cameras and lenses. Some of the local touts were talking with them too. Their discussion involved the price of their cameras. We hope they keep them securely as at the last station someone told us they had witnessed the following ... A man was talking on his mobile phone. A little boy ran past grabbed the phone and was gone!

We had photos with a lovely Indian family at the ghats. There was about 10 of them from every generation enjoying their holiday.

We ate and drank lots of different things today from a variety of small Indian dishes to some interesting masala flavoured buttermilk.

We returned to the hotel and collected our bags. Next we took the short walk to catch an auto rickshaw. Once again the price had to be negotiated. It took a few minutes but then we were off! This time we seemed to take a short cut through the houses but we arrived at the station safely.

There is a big electronic board that shows you which platform your train will arrive. It also shows you the expected time. For the first time this trip, our train is late by over 2 hours. We tried to watch a movie on our phones but could hardly hear it even with headphones on because of the constant train announcements. First in Hindu and then in English.

The Holy City of Varanasi

The train stopped at Varanasi Junction and we headed to catch a bus at the bus station opposite. After asking bus drivers, people on the bus counters and anyone who vaguely looked like they would guide is in the right direction, we found out no buses go to the centre. That meant an auto rickshaw ride. It is not the fact we don't like auto rickshaws but it is the 20 minute negotiation on the price of a journey we don't like! Eventually we got an auto to the centre at a reasonable price.

The hotel was about 10 mins walk from our drop off point. Auto-rickshaws are banned from going any further into Varanasi Old Town, so we had to walk. We trundled our little bags through the narrow alleys. We passed many shops, people, cows, dogs, tourists and policemen. There were police on every street corner and there are a lot of corners. So many in fact that we got a little lost amongst the maze of alleyways.

Eventually we found the hotel, left our bags and went for lunch. We returned to the hotel to check-in properly and check our room. Running around just outside our hotel room window was a huge troop of monkeys. As we locked the door to head back out, we heard the monkeys going wild! We jumped back in the room and quickly closed the door. We waited until the commotion had died down and tried to leave again. This time we were successful!

We walked the narrow streets and stumbled across a Durga Puja procession .It was interesting to watch the idol being covered in flowers and offerings. As the procession headed to the river they used long sticks to lift anything in their way, usually high voltage electrical cables!

We diverted from the procession to the burning ghats , where cremations are carried out. A Varanasi local shared his knowledge with us and explained the Hindu beliefs. We stayed on the ghats and continued our journey.

We got talking to a man at the river who was from Bransgore, Christchurch. He now spends most of his time on India helping at various charities.

It was starting to get dark so we walked back along the ghats to find the evening puja (worship). It wasn't hard to find. We just looked for crowds of people. There were a lot. Most watched from the ghats, others were in various boats on the river. There was music, singing, throwing petals and swinging fire.

After all of the excitement we needed to eat so headed to the main eating area of town. We refuelled then headed to bed for a good night's sleep.

Last Day in Kolkata

We checked out of our hotel and headed to our regular food stall. Today he was closed so we tried a new stall that was making special dosa stuffed with. vegetables, cheese and all sorts of spices. They were a great thing to try and really good.

Once the food was finished we headed for the metro. However it was closed until 2pm. We thought about waiting at the entrance for about 30 mins but eventually decided to go and eat again! This time rice with daal.

The tube station was quiet. We waited for the tube to arrive but the screen kept saying it was delayed. When it turned up it was rammed with people so we didn't even try to get on with our bags. We waited for the next one. It arrived about 2 mins later and was far quieter.

At the metro station we refunded our Smart cards. Not only did we get our deposit back but all of the unused credit too. This was a pleasant surprise.

It was a long time before we needed to be at Howrah station to catch our train, so we took our time walking the city streets. We stopped on the Howrah Bridge where there was a cool breeze, trying to spot floating Durga idols that had been thrown into the river. We spent quite a while on the bridge just watching the locals going about their daily chores on the ghats below. We also spent most of the afternoon having our photos taken with every local that passed!

2 really nice girls stopped to talk to us. They told us how they wanted to visit England at Christmas to see the lights and how they were enjoying Shakespeare at school. They were so confident and polite.

Eventually we arrived at the underground maze that leads to Howrah. The station is huge! We found somewhere to sit, ate vegetable biryani, yoghurts and waited for our overnight train. It arrived and we left on time.

In our carriage we were sat next to a group of 7 lads, travelling to Varanasi like us. They were mostly computer programmers from Kolkata taking a holiday together. They shared their Pandal photos with us which were great. Out of all of the photos, we recognised only one Pandal. We thought we had seen a lot of Pandals but clearly there were a lot more!

Pandal Pleasures

A lazy but productive morning planning our adventure. We put plans in place for our trip through India and beyond.

Lunch was taken at our local food stall. Once again it didn't disappoint. Well it did a little as they had ran out of rice!

We took the metro a little further to the north today searching for a few of the recommended Pandals to visit. Most of the streets are closed to traffic and there are police all over the city directing the crowds. A lot of bamboo barriers have been built to make areas one way for pedestrian traffic! A lot of the larger Pandals have huge queues. In fact it seems the whole of Kolkata is one huge stream of people, all dressed up in their Sunday best. One man spoke to us about how the number of people visiting the Pandals in Kolkata must be like the number of people at a Rik Astley concert in England. We smiled and politely agreed. Of course we personally couldn't compare the chaos in Kolkata to a Rik Astley concert because we haven't been to one. Anyone else been?

We walked a long way across the northern part of the city. We discovered some interesting Pandals and got to view some of the shops that make the deities. Durga Puja is followed by another festival and the shops were creating many new models. Some were in their raw clay state, others had exquisite details painted on and some were having clothes prepared for them. It was great to see the progression from lump of clay and straw to stunning figure.

A lot of the bigger Pandals in the parks have fairgrounds and lots of food stalls to tempt you. We were however not tempted to take any fairground rides, as some of the ones we saw were held together with string!

It is hard to take photographs as most of the Pandals are viewed at night. It is also tricky because everyone else is there too. Most
of the people are taking selfies with any part of the Pandals they can get to themselves.

Getting the metro was a little quieter today as we left for our hotel slightly earlier.

South Kolkata

Our task for today was to head to the South of Kolkata looking for some of the best Durga Puja Pandals. We filled up on a delicious meal of rice, butter naan, mixed veg curry and Chana masala. We ate a lot and it was so good!

Using our Metro Smart cards makes getting the underground a breeze. It was pretty quiet at Park Street station and we had a comfortable ride 6 stops south. The first Pandal we discovered invited us in, gave us a take away food box full of food plus some Indian sweets! We ate the sweets but couldn't manage any more food. We managed to pass it on to a lady who needed it more than we did.

We had a relaxing stroll through the park which had a huge lake. Lots of families and children were also enjoying the park. We saw a range of Pandals and walked quite a way today. Some were small ... and some were huge with interesting themes and incredible decorations. We met lots of children who all said, " Hi!". One little boy was asking lots of questions stating with, "Are you a foreigner?"

We had a few interesting moments as we walked from Pandal to Pandal. We took some short cuts across railway tracks and through some very poor areas, in the dark. We were certainly not alone. There were crowds of people everywhere and some huge queues to visit the Pandals.

We got the metro back to central Kolkata. Everyone in Kolkata is out tonight, all dressed up. It was quite full but we managed to squeeze in. Next stop more people got on and at the next stop even more. It was quite funny and the locals were all enjoying being absolutely squished, giggling away. A couple more stops, no one got off ... more people got on. Now we had a huge issue. How on earth are we going to get off? We wriggled our way towards the door but unfortunately the platform alternates and we needed to be on the other side! The locals helped us as we wriggled to the other side. When the train stops you have about 5 seconds to disembark. It stopped, we wriggled once more and made it onto the platform. Everyone was giggling, including us. What an experience that was!

Welcome to Celebration City

Today our first job was to take the metro (sorry, nice air conditioned metro) to see our 2 helpful ladies at the foreigner train booking office. Trying to book trains is proving tricky because they are always fully booked way in advance. We filled out the essential forms and waited and waited (2 hours) for our number to be called. Finally we were called up and the ladies tried everything to find us a seat but this time to no avail. We have to wait now until the day of travel when Indian Railways release extra tickets at a higher price. Whilst waiting we chatted to some nice people, so our time wasn't wasted.

We had coffee from a little street stall, but this was no ordinary coffee because he had a milk frothing machine! It was really good. His next door neighbour was making fabulous toasted sandwiches. We watched as he diced the vegetables with his razor sharp knife like a professional chef. He was quite incredible. His sandwiches were packed with vegetables, cheese dal, mayonnaise, pretty much everything! They were really good.

In the afternoon / evening we went in search of Pandals, which are the elaborately decorated stages for the festival. We followed the Kolkata police map and found quite a few. They were so amazing and Kolkata has become one huge 'celebration city'. We picked up many helpful guides (local helpers that liked to talk to us) en route and everyone was so welcoming. We stopped at a small Hindu temple with musicians playing. They invited us in and took us through the worship step by step. They handed us a bag of sweets each and we sat for quite a while listening to their singing. The whole experience was incredible.

We had to queue for the first time to enter a Pandal near MG Road. It had been the winner of many festivals over the years. It was certainly worth the wait and was so interesting to see. So much care and effort has been put into these temporary structures, it is unbelievable!

On the metro back to the hotel a man with a seat got up and very kindly offered it to Christine. What a gentleman.

Bag Repair

Today was bag fixing day. Darryl needed a bag repair as the material had torn on both sides. We decided the best person to attempt the job would be one of the men in a sewing shop. We took the bag along to a stall and showed off the tear / fraying material. The man didn't speak much English but he seemed willing to have a go. He first tried to fit the bag under his sewing machine but realised this wasn't going to work. He threaded a needle with double thick thread and hand sewed the 2 parts together. It looked fairly terrible and we were not convinced it was going to hold. We paid for his time and had a rethink. How could we get a stronger repair? We decided a shoe repair man may have stronger thread so we took the bag to a little ' shoe' man.
No English spoken here but he took a good look at the bag and hatched a plan. First, he cut a leather patch for each side very accurately using his extremely sharp scissors. He then added glue to the patch and bag and waited for it to become tacky. He got some super strong thread which he held with his toes whilst waxing it with beeswax. Next, he pressed the bag and patch together, pressing it down with a little tool. The thread was then passed through both the patch and the bag and sewn in a very neat line. This was a proper repair job and took some time and a lot of effort. When complete, he tested the zips to ensure they worked and handed the finished masterpiece back. A job well done!

Lunch today was back at yesterday's street stall. We needed to try the Indian pizza bread and we did. It was really good and went well with the rice and butter paneer.

Part of the afternoon was spent figuring out the Kolkata metro system. We bought 2 Smart cards and loaded them up for lots of 5p and 10p journeys over the next few days. It is quite pleasant underground. An oasis away from the chaotic, noisey city above.

We wandered the streets and headed to new parts of the city we had yet to explore. We found a great chai stall, where a little coffee was sprinkled on top. This was our chai latte for the day.

We stumbled across a crowd of men on the opposite side of the street and wondered what was going on. We asked a smartly dressed Indian lady what was happening. She explained that her husband had just had his phone stolen by a pick pocket and everyone was crowding around the suspected pick pocket to find the phone. 5 mins earlier we had been speaking to a man at the chai latte stall about the imminent festival. He warned us about pick pockets and gave us some good advice. We asked him what happens if someone catches the pick pocket taking something. He explained that usually they are badly beaten by a crowd and then handed over to the Police! As we watched the crowd, there was no aggression on this occasion but no phone was found.

As darkness began to fall, we noticed some of the streets were starting to prepare and test their lights for Durga Puja. We even managed to get sneak previews of some of the Pandals to be revealed in a few days, when the festival starts. We were in awe of the size and beauty of the decorations plus the vast quantity of lights! WOW, really impressive ... plus no one around but a few children playing and wanting our attention.

Sealdah

After a night on the sleeper train, we arrived back in Kolkata. It had rained a lot and there were puddles everywhere. Another huge difference was the temperature. Kolkata is now a lot cooler than before.

Walking to our hotel was interesting, trying to dodge the puddles with our 'wheelie' backpacks. At the station we must have been asked by a hundred people, "Do you want taxi? Do you need hotel?" We didn't need either so politely shook our heads .... a lot!

What we did need however was food. We stopped at a street stall selling what we would call, eggy bread or French toast but this had an Indian twist, red hot chillis!

We booked into our hotel after the 'liftman' took us to the forth floor. We have the same room as before with 3 beds and plenty of space. We have a spare bed for the next 6 days, if anyone wants to come and celebrate Durga Puja?

A lazy day spent eating, drinking chai and shopping for a few items like toothpaste. We ate at a great market stall where we sampled various Indian breads and vegetarian curries. We chatted to the chef's friend who told us about his life as a child on the streets. He had met a man from England who had sponsored him, taught him English and had been back to visit many times. He was very grateful and spoke very highly of his sponsor from Oxford.
We promised we would be back tomorrow to try what was described as an Indian version of a folded pizza.

SNT Bus

An early start as we caught the local Sikkim National Transport Bus. There were 2 reasons for our decision. Firstly, it was cheaper than a shared jeep and secondly, it left from opposite our hotel. This saved about an hour's walk to the jeep station! Actually the driver was less crazy than the last jeep driver, partially because every 30 seconds we stopped to cram the next person and their; blanket, box of eggs, bag of clothes, sack of potatoes etc. etc. into the bus. Luckily no live animals.

It rained a little on the journey but we did have windscreen wipers. We also had a spare wheel as we collected it from a tyre shop as we went passed. We also stopped to have our tyre pressures checked. They seem to use a lot of remould tyres, which I think are now banned in the UK.

We arrived in Siliguri about lunch time so that meant just one thing, Food! Today we sampled a local biryani. Needless to say it was really nice. Next, we slowly commenced our 5km walk to NJP. We passed through different areas; clothes markets, vegetable stalls and small villages. There was a lot going on in each and we enjoyed the hustle and bustle of it all. There were people taking water from their communal wells. Others were arguing whilst the whole street watched! Kids played with their 'homemade' toys. One group of boys had some paper exploding red caps, like we used to have when we were small. They very kindly let us join in. They had large metal bolts each and each cap was half covered by a large nut. When the nut was screwed on enough, you threw the whole thing at the floor. KABOOM, off went the cap!

As a small snack, mid walk, we purchased some vegetable pokkora from a street stall. This was washed down by a nice cup of chai.

Preparations for the Durga Puja festival were more obvious now. There were plenty of lights being hoisted in the streets Also large bamboo towers across most of the roads. Finally we reached NJP, where we sat for a while in a small cafe. Here we played Scrabble and drank more chai. The owner kindly let us charge our phones, which are so useful for everything; finding our way around, staying in touch, booking trains and hotels, looking up places to visit, reading books, watching movies, listening to music and lighting up dark alleyways. We use them a lot but we are certain every Indian person uses their's more. The youngsters are smart phone savvy to say the least!

At the train station we found a reservation office to book advanced train tickets. We had previously used the online system to try and book a ticket between Varanasi and Agra. No tickets available. Not on any date for about 2 weeks! We tried absolutely everything. Nearby stations, different days, different times, tourist quotas. ALL FULL. However the booking office found us seats. How, we have no idea. It is a total mystery to us but thank you reservation office!

The Darjeeling Mail left on time once again and we are on our way back to the big city. Kolkata awaits.

Namgyal Institute of Tibetology

After checking the bus times at the nearby bus station for tomorrow, we headed downhill for a change. We were searching for the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology.

We had a great breakfast and tried a few new things before stumbling across a Sikh Gurdwarah. We went in to investigate and were offered Prashad, which was like a sweet sticky fudge.

We got a little carried away with our sightseeing and totally missed the turning. This meant a steep climb back up the hill. However, it was totally worth it. The Institute of Tibetology was a lovely building with very informative English details about Buddhism. We spun the prayer wheels, took some photos and watched the monks.

Next we headed in search of oranges. The food is amazing here but fruit is harder to get, especially as they wash most things in the 'dirty' water. We found an organic market and a couple of nice juicy oranges and bananas!

The evening was spent tea tasting and learning about the 3 harvesting seasons of Darjeeling tea. We tried all sorts from the 'cheapy' to some very expensive early first flush tea. They all tasted slightly different but none were competition to the bog standard street seller milky, sugary chai! It wins every time. If you are having tea, you must have cakes. Tonight's was a toffee fudge tart and a warm hot cross bun!

Gangtok Ganesh Tok

After a good nights sleep we were unsure what we would do today. Everyone told us that all of the places of interest are too far from the 'city' centre to walk, so we would need to rent a taxi for the day. We decided we would walk into the centre to have breakfast and then decide what to do. The waiter in the restaurant was really nice and helped explain a lot of the Indian dishes available. He had a fantastic moustache and was a great help, so we had to take a photo of us together.

After studying the map, we decided that we should try walking to visit the Buddhist Enchey Monastery. It didn't look too far, even though it was all uphill. On the way we discovered several sets of big steep steps which cut the corner of the winding road to the top. Accidentally, we stumbled across a beautiful park which we had a good look around. We took our time but eventually made it to the top. We had arrived at the monastery! They were completing a lot of restoration work but we got to see great views and visit many temple areas.

With our new found hill climbing confidence, we thought we would keep going and try to make it to Ganesh Tok. The Hindu temple is famed for its majestic views. So, off we went! Again we took a few sets of steep steps to cut corners which wound their way through small villages. We walked on small paths and rocky roads but we made it! We rewarded ourselves with a cup of chai from a lady at the roadside.

Just before we entered Ganesh Tok, we were approached by a young couple on holiday from Kolkata. They wanted a photo of us all together, so we obliged. They were fun and we may well see them again in Kolkata. Ganesh Tok had great views, though we couldn't see the biggest snow capped mountains due to the cloud.

We watched a couple from Nepal being blessed and they explained the ritual plus shared a few of the delicious sweets they were given as part of their blessing. Next door to the temple there was a haunted house. It was a disused building that a few local teenagers had comendered, covered the windows, made a sign, dressed up as ghosts and charged an entry fee. They would then scare you by jumping out when you least expected it. It looked fun but we didn't go inside!

We followed the same route down from the top but stopped for lunch at a café in a park, outside a school. It was good food, in a beautiful setting and very peaceful. That is until the school football team came to celebrate their victory. They all had a carton of apple juice and a huge dumpling, called a Typho. One of the team came and introduced himself and very proudly told us he was 'Man of the Match'. The boys were all very polite, uniforms immaculate and explicably well behaved!

After making it back to the hotel, we had a little rest before hitting the town for the night. We were all set to party until the early hours, however, everywhere closed at 9pm! We just had time for tea and cakes before we returned to our hotel.

Tata Sumo Gold to Sikkim

This morning we took an Indian Tata jeep to Gangtok in the northern state of Sikkim. We had a young driver who drove carefully along the potholed roads, taking us up and down the steep mountain roads. We could see Kanchenjunga in the distance towering its neighbours and covered in snow and ice.

Once we had reached slightly wider roads the driver suddenly became a lunatic! Blind bends and summits were no reason not to overtake. The road was full of huge trucks and army vehicles too. We certainly had a few close calls and very tense moments! At a checkpoint the driver escorted us to a little office where our Sikkim permit was checked. Overall the traffic was really busy and it took 5 hours to weave around the mountain roads.

After we arrived at the 'bus station' we realised we had another 2km to walk to Gangtok to find a hotel. In fact the hotel we were looking for was the other side of Gangtok. Eventually we took a taxi but he said it was very far and maybe it is too far out of town for us. He dropped us off near some central hotels. We then spent hours looking for one that wouldn't blow the budget! With the help of a local, we eventually found a good hotel at a reasonable price. Part of the issue we were having was that only certain hotels are permitted to take foreigners.

The main road of Gangtok is one huge traffic jam. However when we went exploring we found the true centre of the city. What a surprise! It was pedestrianised, clean, no noisey horns and both sides of the streets lined with fancy shops! We were now in a different world, nothing like India!

A lot of eating was done plus tea and cakes were essential to wash it all down.

Tea, Tea Everywhere

We woke to a very pleasant view of the Darjeeling hills and vast tea plantations. The temperature is now a lot cooler than Kolkata's. As we walked to our first place of interest we stopped off for momos, which are delicious steamed dumplings.

First stop on our day's adventure was the zoo, not the animals but this is where the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute is based. We did a tour of the exhibits, read the palques on the walls and looked at the ancient mountaineering equipment. Our ticket includes a trip to the zoo, so before we left we did pay a visit to one animal's enclosure.

The chance of seeing a tiger in the wild is close to impossible so we visited the royal Bengal tiger enclosure to catch a glimpse. What a beautiful majestic animal stood before us. We don't know the individual history of the tiger that we saw but it seemed very sad that he wasn't out roaming the wilds of West Bengal ... where he belonged.

Next stop was a visit to the Happy Valley tea plantation. We walked between the tea bushes for a while and eventually the path led us through little villages and back onto the main streets of Darjeeling. Here we spent our time searching for evidence of the British hill station. We discovered many old colonial buildings in disrepair but also some beautiful restored hotels.

We saw the gymkhana club, St Andrew's church and the Planters club. The most impressive building was the Elgin Hotel, which looked so elegant and 'British'!

We walked to observatory hill to catch a glimpse of the Himalayas but cloud obscured our view of the world's third tallest mountain, Kanchenjunga. However, we got to visit the beautiful Mahakal temple and it's cave temple at the top of the hill. It is an interesting place where Hindu priests and Buddhist monks harmoniously coexist. Shrines to Hindu gods with Buddhist prayer flags fluttering in the background.

We filled up with a double portion of rice and daal before sinking a hot chai and enjoying a Swiss pastry. The rain then told us it was time to put on our waterproof jackets and head home. It rained hard and a very kind man invited us into his home to take shelter whilst the rain eased. How kind!

The Himalayan Mountain Railway

We woke up early, worked our way back to the train station and waited patiently for the little diesel train to arrive. Today we are heading to Darjeeling on the UNESCO Heritage Himalayan Mountain Railway!

The route is often closed due to land slides and only opened again a few days ago. The traditional steam train (toy train) no longer takes you all the way from NJP, but does a short loop called a joy ride near Darjeeling. Our little diesel train takes us all the way from the bottom to the top!

We were travelling first class. It sounds very fancy but there is no choice as they don't attach any other type of carriage! The train is tiny, a little engine to haul us up and a couple of carriages. It has a special platform, separate from the other trains because it travels on old narrow guage track. Also this is the reason it doesn't go very fast.

The train passed along the road, in fact it quite often zig zagged across the road, tooting it's horn to warn the traffic to stay clear. It tooted it's horn a lot! Many cars and bikes tended to ride alongside the train and often people would stop, wait for the train to catch up and then pose for 'selfies' with the train as it passed.

We passed through many small towns. Yes, straight through the middle of them. You could have put your hand out of the window and take anything from the shop you liked!

The train often stopped, reversed, and the points on the track were changed manually with a lever. This sent us off on new track up the mountain. People hung out their washing to dry on the track and everyone stopped and
waved as we passed by.

Lunch was collected at a little station part way up and eaten on the train. A traditional Indian meal served with poppadoms and pickles, which were hot!

As the journey progressed the scenery just got better and better. We left the urban streets behind and replaced them with spectacular mountain vistas. We saw tea plantations, some huge recent landslides and about 88km of track. It took us about 10 hours to reach Darjeeling. We stopped a lot. Drank chai a lot and had a fantastic leisurely adventure! What an amazing experience.

We arrived after dark and walked to our homestay which was just outside of the main town centre.

Through the night

A smartly dressed family shared our area in the train. They were very nice. Just before bedtime our tickets were checked followed by a visit from some men dressed as ladies. There is a proper Indian name given to these people but sadly we can't remember it or exactly what they are. However, we think they operate in gangs and a lot of Indians are a little scared of them. If you don't hand over money when they ask you, they clap their hands and curse you, a bit like a witch! One of them looked at Darryl, said something and stared deep in to his eyes, then suddenly clapped their hands!

A good night's sleep was had by all followed by 'Chai in bed' served by a local hawker. Once we were all up and sleeper bunks collapsed into normal seats, we were joined by an extra person. He was in the Indian Border Force patrolling the north and eastern borders. He was due to get another train but decided after finding out there was a 12 hour delay, to jump on our train. We talked about; the beautiful countryside rushing past the window, the different crops that were growing including pineapples in their thousands and our first glimpse of tea plantations. We exchanged information on mobile technology and the smartphone revolution in India. He even showed us a great train app, displaying all the trains in India and you can see exactly where yours is.

The countryside warrants a further mention. It was so green and stunning. It is toward the end of the rainy season so all of the paddy fields are full, the fishing streams are flowing ... a beautiful scene.

After our 14 hour train journey, we stepped off into the large station at NJP and searched for a hotel.

The first was unable to take tourists, so we walked in and found a little hotel nestled amongst the other buildings. We received a warm welcome, were shown a room and and here is where we will stay!

Searching the streets for food was hard today. Most places were closed or not places we would choose to eat. We crossed the rail tracks at Siliguri and found a man frying pakoras, so we knew at least they were fresh. We handed over our rupees and he wrapped a few in newspaper and gave them to us. We searched a few stalls for some snacks for tomorrow's journey up the hill to Darjeeling. We didn't actually find anything in date except, a packet of biscuits and we checked a lot of things!

Next, we found fried rice to eat where we were joined by a huge cow. We bought some very, very sugary Indian sweets and flaked out in the hotel.

After a power nap we ventured back out. What earlier seemed like a fairly non description place had come to life in the darkness. The disgusting air pollution seemed to have eased and fairy lights lit the busy streets. We stopped for chai and were treated like special guests.

Christine's highlight of the evening was watching Darryl get his hair cut at the market. In fact, not only did he get his hair cut but also a shave with a 'cut throat' razor and an Indian head massage, shoulder massage, oil in his hair... In fact it could be called a pampering session but Darryl described it as more of a beating. The Indian head massage included a lot of slapping and rather unsightly neck clicks. It kept Christine entertained anyway!

Back at the hotel we spent some time chatting with the owner's son. He explained a lot about the politics of his country and the obsession with Indian people spending all they earn!

Mother's House

We were all fired up for a trip to Starbucks. Any of their coffees were a special price of 100 (£1) rupees, less than half price. We had a special voucher which we presented to the Barrista. We asked her nicely for the most delicious coffee that they had which was included in the offer. We handed over our vouchers as proof of the offer. She looked at them and said in a very polite voice, "Good morning Sir and Madam those vouchers are for the 6th of October, it says it there ... however today is the 5th! Come back tomorrow."

We searched for a food pitstop and found a potato and egg curry. We are eating as vegetarian as possible here as we have seen the butchers where the meat comes from! After talking to the friendly stall owner about cricket, we said thank you, paid up and continued exploring. We met a young man who took us to the hotel he worked in to show us around. We met him whilst studying how pakoras are made.

Our hotel were looking after our bags whilst we explored. We eventually collected them then fell asleep on the comfortable hotel seats. We woke up and it was time to hit the road. We said a temporary goodbye to the lift man and sauntered off into the distance in search of Mother Teresa's House.

One masala chai later, we had found it. A very unassuming building on a main street. We were welcomed in by the Sisters, Mass was taking place so we stopped and listened to the beautiful singing. There were many photos, newspaper articles and quotes adorning the small museum paying tribute to her life.
We saw her bedroom and desk where she wrote many letters from and we visited her tomb.

We felt very privileged to have visited her home and to learn more about what she believed.

More masala chai was consumed before we continued on our journey to an area preparing for Durga Puja (big Hindu festival) We tucked into huge portions of veg chowmein and watched Kolkata go by. When we arrived at our final destination, Sealdah station, it appeared as though the rest of Kolkata had too. So big, so busy. How will we ever find our platform, train, carriage seats...

Tonight we leave the chaos of Kolkata behind. They call it the City of Joy and we can see why. People have been very welcoming to us, wanting to talk ...

"Where are you from? How long have you been in Kolkata? Is this your first time in India? Where are you going? Can I talk with you about your country? What is your name? Do you have children? What is your job?" Etc, etc, etc

We are enroute to Darjeeling this evening. Our chosen transport, The Darjeeling Mail train to NJP, which left the station exactly on time. Well our coach did but the train is so long, the last coach probably left tomorrow.

The Victoria Monument

Last night was hot! Sleeping was a little tricky with only ceiling fans, so a small lie in was required.

We skipped breakfast and had brunch at a little street stall. We find it hard to remember the names of everything we try. However, this was some paneer (cheese) and spinach dish with chapatis. It was interesting watching the chef (if that is the correct word for an Indian street seller) cook the chapatis on a domed heater. It was good!

We took a short stop to visit St Paul's cathedral which is huge and very ornate inside. There are some interesting plaques on the walls dating back to British rule.

From here we headed to the magnificent Victoria Monument. There is a statue of Queen Victoria in the manicured gardens outside. We spent some time in the gardens walking and talking to an Indian man from Varanasi (town of famous burning ghat on the Ganges). He was very well educated and knew a lot about all sorts of things, even the history of the British monarchy. Pretty impressive!

Due to the heat we headed inside to the garden canteen to rehydrate. Soon we were joined by a young couple from Bangladesh. They also wanted to talk with us and were on holiday in Calcutta.

At the end of the street we were stopped by an older gentlemen who also wanted to talk. He told us about his life and that he was an orphan when he was younger. He explained how he had been sponsored by a British person and supported as he grew up. He has now been working at the same place for 22 years. He thanked us as British people for the help he received. A very nice man to talk to.

Subway seems to be a big thing in Kolkata. Not wanting to miss out on an air conditioning fix and free flowing top ups on soft drinks, we tried their sub of the day. Not very Indian but it gave us a break from the crushing humidity!

In the evening we headed into the heart of Calcutta's busy streets to see what we could find. We watched locals playing cards, sweeping up and discovered where we could get our ironing done. Well maybe not but there was a man using an old iron, yes actually made of iron and heavy! We also saw an old fashioned type writer machine turning out a letter for it's customer.

Dinner was fried rice which was exquisitely prepared for us. The chef went through each ingredient he was adding and was too easy on the chillis so we interrupted and increased the quantity. The friendly chef even stuck his fingers in it to check it was seasoned perfectly.

A cup of chai to wash down dinner and a selection of Indian sweets to finish off the meal. Yum!

Back at the hotel, the lift man was waiting once again to speed our ascent to the fourth floor. He is a really sweet man and is always there to operate the antiquated lift, left in the old colonial building. He demonstrated how you used to make the lift go up and down before a bank of electronics was added.

Getting Organised

Indian Trains are the best way to move around India especially the trains that go through the night where you can get a sleeper berth. Booking a train at the station can be a fairly exhausting experience. However, it is now possible to book online after following a complex registration process.

After persevering, we managed to use the online system to look for sleepers. Unfortunately the train we wanted was fully booked. It did however have RAC 5 spaces. This means we are allowed to travel on the train but 5 people need to cancel before we get a sleeper berth and we would probably be separated!

We decided to try another option ... tourist tickets. These cannot be bought online but from a special office in major cities and there are a couple of special spaces only tourists can book. We looked up the address, hoped the office was still there and spent the morning walking through Kolkata to find it.

On the way we saw a lot of this huge city. The poverty is not nice, there are a lot of people living next to the bus lanes, train lines and under bridges. It really is a terrible sight, their water is from the Hooghly river. It is disgustingly dirty. The whole scenario is bad, bad .... bad. Enough said, just bare a thought for how lucky we are.

Calcutta / Kolkata used to be the capital of British India. There are a lot of old colonial buildings which we passed, all in different states of decay ... eventually we reached our destination. The office was open, air conditioned and a brief escape from the heat and noise. We needed copies of our passports and Indian Visa, which we acquired from across the street from an old, old photocopier (which we were surprised worked!).

Lots of filling out of forms and recording in official books took place whilst we battled to understand the Indian ladies' pronunciation of the station names.

But, unbelievably they worked their magic. We have sleeper berths on the train!

Lunch was needed and very tasty, though 'chilly hot' from a street seller. We also had our first Chai, which was served in disposable clay cups.

We thought twice about wandering all the way back through Kolkata and took a ferry across the river. It helped cut the journey in half and was well worth the 6p each it cost! We also got a neat view of the bathing ghats, flower market and famous Howrah Bridge.

Next, one more job for the day before collapsing, getting a special permit to visit the Indian state of Sikkim in the north. Once we located the office; a few forms filled in, more official books recorded in, passport and visa photocopies, passport photos handed over ... we are now the proud owners of Sikkim permits!

What a day, what an experience. WOW!

Day 2

Travel day number 2. It is quite a long way from South Africa to India, especially Kolkata.

After our flight delay in Nairobi, we eventually landed in India. First to Mumbai and then we took another flight to the other side of India, to Kolkata.

We were amazed to see how big, beautifully decorated, organised and calm Mumbai airport was. Far different to what we remembered from past trips to India.

In Kolkata we saw the same relaxed atmosphere. Everyone smartly dressed and calmly going about their business. No hussle and bussle, noise or persistent touts. This threw us a little. Had India changed that much?

Well, we soon discovered ... No, not all of it. We caught 'the Volvo air con bus' to the Esplanade. The journey began well. No traffic, no horns - very nice. As we approached the centre, what a change occured.

Traffic chaos, unbelievable congestion and horns came next. Welcome to Kolkata, India just as we remember. Welcome back!

At the Esplanade we departed the bus into what can only be described as mayhem. Cars everywhere, people everywhere, dogs everywhere. How were we ever going to cross the main roads to look for a hotel! We followed the locals lead ... took a deep breath and made a run for it.

We checked out a few places, some clean and expensive, some cheaper but hardly habitable. We decided we had to pay a little more than we wanted and settled on a well recommended place we had heard of.

Our room is on the 4th floor of an ageing colonial building with a vintage lift and a friendly liftman. It has a pretty roof terrace overlooking central Kolkata.

Finding food came next. After 3 airplane meals, we searched the streets of Kolkata for something new to eat. We settled on a roll/pancake, each filled with vegetables and paneer (cheese, like feta). We watched closely as the pancake was made, then filled with toppings and rolled.

Bed next. We need to sleep, although it is so hot and humid here, let's hope we can!

First Day of Travel

Up early to enjoy a surprise breakfast as part of our hotel deal in Jo'burg. And .... what a feast it was. Fresh fruit salad plus a full fry up. The sausages were stuffed with cheese and delicious.

We drove to the airport in far less traffic than yesterday and it made a far easier trip. The hire car that saw us through our safari adventure was handed back ...

Jo'burg airport is pretty huge and we occupied ourselves with South African newspapers until boarding. The flight was on time and we enjoyed the movies and in-flight meal. We arrived 4 hours later in Nairobi, Kenya where we waited in the transit lounge for our next flight. Unfortunately, a 2 hour delay was announced! So we had to wait.