Mumbai High Court building.
Taj hotel, which was one of the targets for the terrorist attacks in 2008.
The Gateway of India.Saturday, October 9, 2010
Photo Post : Mumbai
Mumbai High Court building. Taj hotel, which was one of the targets for the terrorist attacks in 2008. The Gateway of India.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Photo Post : India
Look at the symmetry...
A train at Agra Cantt railway station.
Walking past the Taj Mahal complex East Gate.
Columns and archways, part of the Amber Fort.
Please take our picture ! They gave me a thumbs up when they saw the result. Indredible India !
It's really nice to be back in India, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the warmth again. Actually, that's an understatement. It's pretty hot here now. Rajasthan does at least have a dry heat. Uttar Pradesh is a bit more humid. In fact, there was thunder and a sprinkling of rain in Agra.
Those who've been to India will appreciate what it's like to walk along a road. There's usually no pavement, and you weave your way around parked vehicles and other pedestrians on the edge of the road as cars, trucks, auto rickshaws, cycle ones and motorbikes make their way past in random directions, all blasting their horns and just managing not to collide with anything. It's dusty and loud; smelly too if you pass a pile of decaying rubbish or somewhere that's been used as an open public toilet. Oh, and then there are the cows just wandering around eating anything they find.
I was in Jaipur and Agra last year as well. This is a return trip, because I didn't get to see everything I wanted to last time. Then I was using a crutch and had a brace on my arm as I was recovering from broken bones in my right arm and foot two months previously. This time I was able to get to Amber Fort and return to the Taj Mahal and see the inside properly.
Lots of things are really cheap, including mobile phone services. There is some degree of hassle in getting an Indian sim card, however. If you don't meet all the extreme requirements, your pre-pay number will be cancelled after one week... which means I've got a day or two at the most before my connection is severed.
When I took several trains during my last trip they were regularly delayed by two hours. The train to Agra was pretty much on time, but the one back from there to Jaipur last night was four hours late in arriving ! Perhaps it was because schedules had been disrupted to allow for Commonwealth Games participants to come down from Delhi by train and see the Taj Mahal.
I've had my hair cut today. I'm not convinced it's the best hair cut I ever had. It only cost me $2 (NZ), or nearly £1, and included a vigourous head massage. The main thing is, my hair is shorter. That's good in this 35 degree heat !
The food is fabulous, of course. Lots of healthy vegetarian curries but also more meat available than I remember from last time. I've had a fair bit of chicken. Not sure about the quality of it. The eggs I had on toast the other day had pretty pale looking yolks !
Those who've been to India will appreciate what it's like to walk along a road. There's usually no pavement, and you weave your way around parked vehicles and other pedestrians on the edge of the road as cars, trucks, auto rickshaws, cycle ones and motorbikes make their way past in random directions, all blasting their horns and just managing not to collide with anything. It's dusty and loud; smelly too if you pass a pile of decaying rubbish or somewhere that's been used as an open public toilet. Oh, and then there are the cows just wandering around eating anything they find.
I was in Jaipur and Agra last year as well. This is a return trip, because I didn't get to see everything I wanted to last time. Then I was using a crutch and had a brace on my arm as I was recovering from broken bones in my right arm and foot two months previously. This time I was able to get to Amber Fort and return to the Taj Mahal and see the inside properly.
Lots of things are really cheap, including mobile phone services. There is some degree of hassle in getting an Indian sim card, however. If you don't meet all the extreme requirements, your pre-pay number will be cancelled after one week... which means I've got a day or two at the most before my connection is severed.
When I took several trains during my last trip they were regularly delayed by two hours. The train to Agra was pretty much on time, but the one back from there to Jaipur last night was four hours late in arriving ! Perhaps it was because schedules had been disrupted to allow for Commonwealth Games participants to come down from Delhi by train and see the Taj Mahal.
I've had my hair cut today. I'm not convinced it's the best hair cut I ever had. It only cost me $2 (NZ), or nearly £1, and included a vigourous head massage. The main thing is, my hair is shorter. That's good in this 35 degree heat !
The food is fabulous, of course. Lots of healthy vegetarian curries but also more meat available than I remember from last time. I've had a fair bit of chicken. Not sure about the quality of it. The eggs I had on toast the other day had pretty pale looking yolks !
Monday, October 4, 2010
Jaipur, India
A quick post to say that I'm enjoying being back in Jaipur. Here's a photo of Amber Fort. A detailed update to follow in a couple of days, after a visit to Agra and the Taj Mahal.
Friday, October 1, 2010
My final time at Tegel ?
I have always used Tegel airport when I've visited Berlin. At some point in the future, Schoenefeld will take over as the city's single airport with runways long enough to take Airbus A380 planes and offer direct flights to many destinations. At the moment, German travellers have to connect through Frankfurt. Luckily, Yuri had the use of a car and gave me a lift to the airport. Here he is with an Air Berlin plane in the background. I've flown British Airways to London and will connect through to Mumbai overnight. Thank goodness I'm in Business Class again... I don't think I could have taken another long haul economy flight like the one from Buenos Aires earlier in the week. By the way... next time you fly Club World (Business Class) on British Airways and connect through Heathrow, don't forget to take advantage of the free chair massage session on offer in the Elemis Spa. I had no idea an automated massage chair could do so much. I'm floating now :-)
Eating in the dark
Imagine being led into total darkness, putting your trust in a blind man whose shoulders you are holding onto. Weaving your way around tables where other sighted people are sitting and eating a meal. You can hear them. Occasionally you brush past them. Arriving at the table you feel the chair and sit down.
My dining companion at the Unsicht Bar in Berlin (Deutschlands erstes Dunkel-Restaurant) last night was Yuri, who came to New Zealand and Australia as part of his gap year travels before he starts University in the next couple of weeks. We sat opposite each other, although we couldn't see each other. In fact, I couldn't see a thing even when I put my hand right in front of my eyes. It really was utter darkness.
Prior to going inside we had chosen from a menu which hints at what the food will be. The selection is either vegetarian, poultry, meat or surprise. I tell you, it's a real challenge to eat what you can't see, using a knife, fork and spoon and hoping to get mystery food from the plate into your mouth. Yuri and I felt proud of ourselves when we managed first the salad, then the soup. Sometimes the fork or spoon would reach my mouth, but there was nothing on it. When each course was finished, I wasn't totally sure I had finished !
The main course involved trying to cut a chicken breast into bite-size pieces and to manage noodles without splashing sauce onto my shirt. Dessert was perhaps the biggest challenge... a crepe on a rectangular plate with fruit on one side and ice cream on the other.
During what turned out to have been an hour and a half my eyes were straining, desperate to see something. It was of course an interesting experience to have had. 90 minutes of blindness, and thoughts of what it would be like if this was permanent. I would go again. Only after the meal did we see a menu stating what we had actually eaten. Which vegetables they were, what flavour the ice cream was, and so on.
Two nights in Berlin have been my stop-over between Argentina and India. I'm about to embark upon the next leg of the journey and will take an overnight flight to Mumbai, then connect on a domestic leg to Jaipur.
My dining companion at the Unsicht Bar in Berlin (Deutschlands erstes Dunkel-Restaurant) last night was Yuri, who came to New Zealand and Australia as part of his gap year travels before he starts University in the next couple of weeks. We sat opposite each other, although we couldn't see each other. In fact, I couldn't see a thing even when I put my hand right in front of my eyes. It really was utter darkness.
Prior to going inside we had chosen from a menu which hints at what the food will be. The selection is either vegetarian, poultry, meat or surprise. I tell you, it's a real challenge to eat what you can't see, using a knife, fork and spoon and hoping to get mystery food from the plate into your mouth. Yuri and I felt proud of ourselves when we managed first the salad, then the soup. Sometimes the fork or spoon would reach my mouth, but there was nothing on it. When each course was finished, I wasn't totally sure I had finished !
The main course involved trying to cut a chicken breast into bite-size pieces and to manage noodles without splashing sauce onto my shirt. Dessert was perhaps the biggest challenge... a crepe on a rectangular plate with fruit on one side and ice cream on the other.
During what turned out to have been an hour and a half my eyes were straining, desperate to see something. It was of course an interesting experience to have had. 90 minutes of blindness, and thoughts of what it would be like if this was permanent. I would go again. Only after the meal did we see a menu stating what we had actually eaten. Which vegetables they were, what flavour the ice cream was, and so on.
Two nights in Berlin have been my stop-over between Argentina and India. I'm about to embark upon the next leg of the journey and will take an overnight flight to Mumbai, then connect on a domestic leg to Jaipur.
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