Where shall we go to next?

Grumpy on the Great Wall

Posted on October 14, 2014 by julieallen36

Ok so having had a night of interrupted sleep we had to get up at 7.00 in order to be ready for our first full day in Beijing. You’d have thought sleep would come easy after all the excitement of the night before but no. At 3am in the morning my mind was racing and literally wouldn’t finish a sentence. Plus it was stiflingly hot as apparently it is a Government ruling that we are not allowed air conditioning in our room. So instead of refreshing air the vent is in fact pumping out heat. Too much heat. Then at 4am Jane’s phone decided to ring with an incoming call. Excellent.
Oh my dog I was tired by the time I could get up. Oh and still jet lagged obviously- so I was right up for it. We went down for breakfast where it appeared that the world and his wife had joined us and I ate some cereals and an egg and toast and immediately started to feel nauseous. I really am quite poor at being over-tired.
We met up with Yan again and piled into the van. Off we went to the Temple of Heaven where hundreds of people had already gathered to watch some old folk doing their morning exercise classes in the shade of the trees. Actually it was all rather civilised as different groups of people practiced traditional tai chi, sword tai chi, ball tai chi and our favourite badminton racquet and two ball tai chi. Jane was convinced to join in and enjoyed it so much that we actually purchased our own set. Then we walked up to the Temple itself where it turned out all the people hanging about weren’t actually queuing to get in, they were really just there for the social. They were playing cards and dominoes and some of the women had their own knitting circle.
In we went and saw the temple and Yan told us some stuff about it. I’m afraid I couldn’t really hear her so all I can tell you is that the blue tiled roof is a reference to the God of Heaven but apparently it’s not religious which seems odd. It did look rather attractive though in the sunshine today and yes..the blue sky.
Next stop for us today was a rickshaw ride around the old area of Beijing called the Hutongs. Now I’d heard about this and thought it might be a nice contrast to modern Beijing but I’m not really sure about where we got taken. Yes it was narrow allies but there just seemed to be a load of building work going on. The visit to see the nice man’s traditional courtyard house was a pleasant interlude though.
After this there was a bit of a change in our itinerary and we drove all the way out to the Great Wall of China. This took about an hour and a half during which time we all fell asleep in the van. We drove to a section of the wall called Mutianyu. This really was in a most attractive area with mountains silhouetted all around. Even so it had something of a theme park feel to it -having to catch a shuttle bus to the cable car to then get up onto the wall itself. Mind you we were glad of it as our poor bones ached from all that walking the day before. Pathetic old folk.
Up we went and agreed with Yan that we’d be on the wall itself for an hour and a half. It was pretty busy as we started out but really compared to what I’d seen it could be like on TV..this was nothing. Even so taking photos was quite stressful and this combined with jet lag it is quite a combination. I was proper grumpy and seemed to turn into someone other than my normal self. This is not good really when what you are doing is something your partner has always wanted to do. Oh dear, sorry Jane.
Anyway, the scenery was wonderful and yes we are very privileged to be able to visit. But really did we need a Burger King?
No, we didn’t but we did need something so Yan recommended the dumpling place. We were the only ones in here and had some delicious dumplings and little fried pie pancake things. We were slightly nervous when the chef treated us to some additional fried things especially when Yan laughed timidly. However, she said they were only pork so we all tucked in. I think they were….
On the way back we experienced one of Beijing’s other delights. The traffic. It took us nearly two and a half hours to get back. It was awful bumper to bumper all the way. One thing we are beginning to realise is just how many people there are here in China!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Beijng, China, Great Wall of China | 1 Comment

Staying up in Beijing

Posted on October 13, 2014 by julieallen36

Off we went in search of Peking Duck. Jane had found a recommendation for the best Peking Duck in all of Beijing in the Beijing Times. It was just a couple of blocks away from our hotel and sounded fairly simple to find.
We desperately needed to stay awake to try and adjust to the jet lag. By now it was dark but it felt very safe walking about.
We walked along Chongwenmen Dajie and then off up Taijichang Dajie which eventually led into the bright lights big city that is Wangfujing. Wow now this was exciting. This was modern, brash, lights, brand names. Crazy stuff. I loved it. It was really busy even though it was Sunday night and had a real buzz.
We walked all along here and finally found the corner on the map that looked as if it should house our restaurant called Xiao Wang Fu. Turned out it was housed in the rather upmarket Crowne Plaza hotel! Still we’d walked along way and decided to go for it. It was actually a very smart place and the food was very decent. Whether this was the branch that had won the best duck award…I doubt it. Still two beers later and the jet lag was drifting away.
Happily we decided to wander back again and got too involved with various groups taking photos. Jane and Joyce even joined in with the flash mob dancing outside the church!
Then we decided to take a detour down the backstreets as I’d read that this turned into a streetfood market at night. It was great, really lively and all sorts of stalls selling all sorts of things. Scorpion kebab anybody?

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Beijing, China | Leave a comment

Hello China! Beijing first impressions

Posted on October 12, 2014 by julieallen36

We have arrived here in China after our flights via Zurich. It was 5:15 in the morning when we arrived and we were ready for bed…so we that’s exactly where we went. Our hotel is the Novotel on Chongwenmen Street and it’s one of those ‘could be anywhere’ experiences. How lovely!
We met our guide for our 3 days here at the airport. She is called Tan and she seems to be a quirky student all dressed in pink and black stripes. She was a bit late arriving at the airport to meet us so that wasn’t a brilliant start but never mind, I’m sure she’ll be a smart kid. Although she needs to stop trying to sell us the interesting Kung fu show.
We had four hours kip and then awoke completely unrejuvenated ready to attack the outside world. We decided that the best thing would be to take a stroll down to Tiananmen Square as it is just down the road our hotel is on. As its Sunday the streets are relatively quiet and although it isn’t smoggy, it was overcast and actually got a bit chilly. It turned out to be quite a way down our road to the square and we passed lots of government buildings on the way down there.
Then having passed through the subway security checkpoint we found ourselves in Tiananmen itself. It is huge and dominated by several monuments and buildings. There were also some really colourful flower beds and a giant flower decoration. There also was the iconic picture of Chairman Mao on the walls of the Forbidden City. I think we’ll learn more about all this on our official tour tomorrow but for now it just felt slightly odd.
It’s just not quite what I’d expected. The area we are staying in is like being in Canary Wharf with giant corporate skyscrapers, tatty looking apartment blocks and leafy streets that wouldn’t look out of place in Paris. Everywhere is very clean with no graffiti or litter. And then the roads themselves I’d expected to be full of bicycles still. But no they’re full of very modern looking cars and, yes, a few bikes and mopeds but not so much as you’d notice.
One thing that hasn’t let us down is the hacking cough of the Chinese people. First noticed waiting outside the ladies loos at the airport and then heard along the way ever since. My particular favourite was the chap who welcomed us to the Spa here at the hotel. He showed us in and introduced us to his female colleague who then led us in to have a look around. As we walked off he had the biggest bronchial hack you have ever heard. I was already starting to go off the idea of coming back for a relaxing massage when we were the shown the women’s Spa Area. Not for us the lovely looking sparkling blue pools. Those were for the men only. Us women had to put up with a tiny, smelly plunge pit. Oh I don’t think so thanks.
On a slightly more positive point the kids are absolutely adorable as I’d expected them to be. Unlike their adult parents who just stare and don’t smile- the kids haven’t learned this yet and are full of shy smiles.
We finished the afternoon by sneaking into an American style coffee bar called 1901 Cafe. It was comforting to be in familiar surroundings I have to say.
Tonight, however, after a little rest, we’re venturing out again in search of the best Peking Duck in Beijing.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Beijing, China | 4 Comments

Hindustan Zindabad

Posted on November 18, 2012 by julieallen36

We had two other visits on our stay in Amritsar. First of all Jaswinder took us to the ‘Massacre Gardens’ which is very near to the Golden Temple. This is a small public park down a narrow alley. This is one of the other sights that pilgrims to Amritsar visit and it is the scene of a horrible and unnecessary massacre in 1919 where the British Army under a man called Dyer opened fire on peaceful protest of something like 20,000 Indian pilgrims. It all seemed a very unsatisfactory business and it felt very odd being apparently the only English people there. As usual people were very interested in us and I felt like apologising for what had happened all those years ago. Very sad.
After this we did a little shopping in the bazaar and had a cappuccino stop at our new favourite Cafe Coffee Day where Jaswinder also ran off to get some lovely sticky Jalabi. Yum. We then went back to the hotel for a v quick rest and were then picked up in the van ready for our final pilgrimage to the Wagah Border with Pakistan. The ceremony here begins each day at 5pm and we drove quite fast to get there. This was the part of the whole trip that Enid was most looking forward to as she’d seen it on the telly.
As we had foreign passports we were allowed to go in via a different entrance to all the thousands of Indian visitors and sneaked in around the back. When you get in it’s like being in a sports stadium with high stepped seating terraces. We couldn’t actually fit into the foreigners gallery so we went in with the local crowd and went up to near the top as Jaswinder had told us to. Here we had a good view of the crowd which was already in quite an excitable state. You could see the border gate from here and also see through to the Pakistan side where there were also crowds on the terraces although smaller in number.
There was a guy whose job it was to get the crowd going and he did a very good job of getting different sections of the crowd to chant in turn. There were kids dancing on the little street that runs from the barrack room to the border gate and there was music to encourage them including Jai Ho from the film Slumdog Millionaire! This was going to be fun…..
Then all of a sudden, presumably at 5pm on the dot, two girl soldiers suddenly marched out from the barracks down the lane to the gate. They moved so fast it was hard to keep up with them. When they got to the gate they do a big demonstrative high kick lifting their foot up to or above their head and then smack their foot down as hard as they can on the ground. This is then repeated by a pair of male soldiers and finally by a group of six who all then march up individually and with great bravado try, to outdo their Pakistani counterparts who you can just about see matching every move! The gate is opened at this stage so the soldiers are really close to each other. The Indian soldiers looked very smart in red and gold and in particular their headgear is very impressive. They even make a song and dance out of straightening their hats at the gate! The Pakistani guards are dressed in blue or black and look like ninjas.
All the while the crowd is going crazy – cheering, chanting and trying to outdo the Pakistani crowd for noise. The guy sitting next to me was the particularly enthusiastic and at one point the official crowd rouser pointed to him and told him that this was his job! It was easy to feel involved and it felt like being at a football match. I found myself shouting ‘Go on fella’ at one point when one of the Indian soldiers set off on his march, which the noisy guy next to me thought was hilarious and told all his mates what I’d said!! In truth the atmosphere is better compared to a cricket match between India and Pakistan and one of the favourite chants is in the title of this post ‘Hindustan Zindabad’ which essentially means ‘India is Great’ or perhaps the equivalent of U.S.A, U.S.A or closer to home ‘Ingerland’.
So after the marching and leg slapping they lower the flags and march the Indian one back to the barracks and that’s it. Shows over folks! It was all really good fun and although you’re in the middle of a foreign crowd shouting their heads off it doesn’t feel at all threatening. It’s once again incredibly friendly.
We made our way back to our van and headed back into town 25km away with the rest of the crowd. This happens every day and is another essential part of a pilgrims visit to Amritsar- the chance to shout at the folk across the border!
Tonight we had a really great curry with our guide at the Crystal Restaurant in Amritsar- you see we really are feeling better.

Categories: India | Tags: India, Wagah border | 3 Comments

Pilgrims at Amritsar- a photo gallery

Posted on November 17, 2012 by julieallen36

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No-one goes hungry in Amritsar

Posted on November 17, 2012 by julieallen36

We also visited, both at night and the following day, the area of the temple called Guru Ka Langar which is basically a voluntary kitchen where they feed all the pilgrims and other people that come to visit the temple for free. Jane had heard about this place from Trip Advisor before we came and thought it might be a good place to eat whereas I had my reservations.
It’s an incredible place and the scale of the operation is enormous. We again felt privileged to be able to visit behind the scenes here both in the kitchens and then in the food hall where the folk get to eat. I asked our guide if it was only because we were with him that we got to wander about but he matter of factly said ‘No, anyone can come here -there are no restrictions.’
We started off in the area where they serve thousands of bowls of chai (tea) and thought this was very busy but then we went into the actual food hall and there were hundreds of people sitting on the floor waiting to be served their lunch on a silver plate. The estimates for how many people they can feed here on any one day vary between 10,000 and 100,000 but whatever it was – it was definitely a lot of people! We could have eaten here but to be honest it felt awkward as there were some incredibly poor people eating here and it didn’t feel right. However, then our guide told us that the idea here was of equality and that by all eating on the floor together it showed that there was no difference between the rich and poor. So that felt awkward too but no-one else seemed to mind.
After this we also had a little tour behind the scenes both at night and in the day of the kitchens. We saw where the large group of volunteers were preparing the huge piles of garlic and we saw the giggling man who tended the fires underneath the vast bowls of boiling broth. We also saw the groups of ladies hand rolling the chapatis and Joyce and Enid felt compelled to volunteer here which they did enthusiastically. Then we saw the huge German chapati making machine which could churn them out much faster but they probably don’t taste as good.
Finally we saw the area where they do the washing up. Again this is manned by volunteers who could be a local teacher who had popped in during a free period to give some time or a guy from Canada who has come all this way to do his service for a week. The atmosphere here was extremely organised but with a sense of sociable fun. I think we have found a place for Enid now that she is due to go part time and is looking to do some voluntary work.
In the end I was left asking the question here of ‘ Why couldn’t this model of voluntary giving on such a grand scale work elsewhere?

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Amritsar, Sikhism | Leave a comment

Lost for words at the Golden Temple

Posted on November 17, 2012 by julieallen36

Randeep took us through the streets of Amritsar to the Golden Temple and by now it was dark and the streets a slightly calmer version of what we’d seen elsewhere. We had to be dropped off about a 10 min walk from the temple as the streets become too narrow here for a car or van to pass through. It was very busy with people coming and going but definitely all moving with a purpose.
At the entrance to the Golden Temple we had to take our shoes off and wash our hands. We also needed to cover our heads with the scarves we’d brought with us. As you walk towards the temple gate you have to walk through a small channel of very clean water. You then enter via one of the 4 gates (N,S,E & W) which represent the fact that people from all over are welcome and people of the 4 main religions of India (Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Christian).
The sight that beholds you as you enter is truly awesome and I’m afraid that I was lost for words. Not something that happens very often and only the other day, whilst reflecting on how this blog was going, I said to Jane “Who knew I had so many words in my head?” to which she replied “I did, bab.” in her lovely Brummie way. I think she meant it kindly.
Anyway, I definitely think that night time is the best time to see the Golden Temple for the first time if you have a choice. There she sits shinning in the ‘pool of nectar’ which is the literal meaning of the word Amritsar. The reflections in the water look like liquid gold. It is really beautiful. A lot of people back home had told us that this was their favourite place in the world or their spiritual home and it was easy to see why the place means so much to them. It felt like an incredible privilege to be at the heart of somewhere of such religious importance and yet so inclusive and friendly. It was both lively and peaceful at the same time and we walked around the pool with everyone else being stopped again regularly by people who wanted their photo taken with us. People prostrate themselves as they enter and they like to take a ‘holy dip’ to purify themselves and to wash away previous sins. There is a kind of hypnotic music playing all the time which is actually being broadcast from live singing within the temple itself. This is people singing sections from the holy book which is what the people in the Sikh religion hold sacred. They treat the book as the ‘living master’ and so the book is kept covered when it is not being read from and put to bed each night to rest. There are copies of the book all around the temple which priests are constantly reading from.
The next day we returned to the temple with our new guide Jaswinder who was a lovely Sikh lad of 26 who I think rather enjoyed having a very attentive group of English ladies to entertain for the day! He was another great guide and took us inside the Golden Temple itself. There is a huge queue along the length of bridge to get in but it moves fast and once in the temple its a heady mix of fragrance from incense and marigolds. The music is playing and being sung hypnotically and the book is on the cushion. Some people just come to look, like us, whilst others just find a place to sit and read their little prayer books. I was amazed that we got to go in here and I even got to touch the golden roof itself as we went right up to the top. The temple is in fact gold plate over a layer of copper over the base of the building which is white marble.
Jaswinder also taught us a lot about the Sikh religion for example we learned about the 5 Ks which are important to those Sikhs who have chosen to be baptised.
Kesh is long hair kept in a turban
Kachha is a special kind of underwear
Kirpan is the small sword which must be kept on the person at ALL times
Kangha is the comb used for the hair
Kara is an iron and steel bracelet
We generally agreed that the principles that Sikhs hold to are pretty good ones:
> The book is the master
> Work hard and look after your family
> Give 10% of your earnings each year to charity either in money or time equivalent.
I’m going to leave it for a couple of separate posts to tell you about the kitchen situation and also to share with you the faces of some of the people we met. Suffice to say that this was definitely one of the absolute highlights of the trip so far.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Amritsar, Golden Temple, Sikhism | 2 Comments

Train or plane? Train or plane?

Posted on November 16, 2012 by julieallen36

Can you believe that we’ve arrived now at our last hotel and for the first time on our trip we’ve had problems accessing the Internet? Everywhere we have been they have had Wifi and everywhere else except Delhi this has been free. That’s New India for you. However, when we got here the Wifi was down so it prevented me updating until now. Not because it was down for all that time but because we have been incredibly busy having the most fantastic time!
Anyway, before all of that we have been reflecting on our modes of transport and the question in the title was one I posed yesterday at Jaipur Airport whilst we were waiting for our flight to Amritsar. Needless to say the answer was a resounding PLANE. I then went on to do a small survey of my fellow travellers to ask whether looking back on it would they have missed the overnight train experience out? You see, I wouldn’t have missed it now for the world but I am afraid my fellows all gave another rather definite YES (they would have missed it out thank you).
So how come the girls are so strongly in favour of the plane mode of transport? Well our trip from Jaipur to here is a perhaps a good example of why. We left the hotel at 5.30pm and checked in about an hour and a half before our flight was due to leave firstly to Delhi. The journey was extremely civilised and we arrived in Delhi bang on time. Then we had a 4 hour wait for the flight to Amritsar. Lets compare this with the wait in the 1st class train waiting room shall we? Well here we really did do some shopping. Firstly for some nice gift items in the craft shop and then most importantly for some drugs in the pharmacy. Joyce and Enid had finally given in and decided they needed to get something other than Imodium to treat their stomachs. So without hassle here they could pick up lots of mystery pills purporting to be anti-biotics and pro-biotics. They cost about £2 so I decided that although I’d been feeling a lot better I might as well get the same as my mates. No problem.
Then we went up to the food hall and guess what was waiting there for me? Yes indeed a newly opened Costa Coffee. Naturally I had my usual croissant and a cappuccino and Jane had a doughnut from another outlet. Joyce and Enid needed to eat some food with their new drugs and so they gave up all that good work on the vegetarian diet and went and got a Sausage and Bacon McMuffin and a cup of tea from McDonalds! How low can you stoop!!
Then we went off to a bar so that Jane could watch the cricket on the big screen TV. You see the trains have a long way to go if they are going to compete. Virgin opportunity perhaps?
We arrived early at Amritsar airport and met our new guide Randeep. He is a Sikh guy as are a lot of the people here obviously as the Golden Temple is their sacred place. He took us to our latest hotel the Ranjit Svaasa. It’s an old heritage home and a beautiful rambling old building with some really lovely parts like the lounge I’m in now which is full of antique furnishings and plush upholstery but also some funny bits where they’re doing building work or just where the chic has worn off and it just looks shabby. Sorry. Our rooms were up on the top floor and Joyce and Enid had a lovely huge room more like a suite whereas ours was rather more like a broom cupboard with no bath, fridge and most importantly for the cricket fan- no TV. We were quickly swapped….
Anyway we now had a free afternoon so we decided to make the most of the spa facilities again. This time Jane joined in as well. Joyce and Enid had Indian head and face massages which they thought v good whereas Jane and I decided to try the Karl Pilkington Spa Treatment. This involves having to wear nought but a pair of skimpy paper pants, lying on an old door and in Jane’s case being pummelled with something in an old sock (snooker ball?) and in my own case being rubbed down from head to toe in oil of cloves. At one point I rubbed my nose and thought it was going to fall off the oil burned so much. Jane also had a couple of mosquito bites thrown in for good measure.
Anyway there wasn’t really time after this to have a proper shower as it was time to get off to the Golden Temple. I’m afraid therefore that the oil didn’t really come off and I stank to high heaven still of clove oil. Still seemed to keep the Mosquitos away from me!
Now then we were going for our nighttime visit to the Golden Temple and it totally and utterly deserves a post all of its own-tomorrow……

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Amritsar | Leave a comment

East meets West whilst we have a rest

Posted on November 14, 2012 by julieallen36

We experienced night time Diwali celebrations from the safety of our hotel’s rooftop restaurant yesterday. We’d decided that, although Jane wanted to, it was best not to have the ‘Karl Pilkington fireworks in the streets of Mexico experience’ as that looked really scary.
The restaurant was very busy and we had to wait about an hour to get a table but we didn’t need to worry that the fireworks would run out as they went on for hours. In fact they’re still going off again tonight!!
So by the time we got in the fireworks seemed to be getting louder and louder. As we walked in a guy coming out said ‘it’s like all out warfare out there’ and he wasn’t too wrong. The view was great and you could see all the big buildings lit up with streams of electric lights, massive fireworks going off all over the city skyline, fireworks going off in the street below and firecrackers making huge repetitive gunshots going off everywhere. Opposite us a man was trying to have a more sedate little celebration on his rooftop by lighting hundreds of the little oil clay lamps with his young son.
The firecrackers in particular really make me jump, in fact fireworks in general make me nervy at the best of times. Tonight, however, I had quite a long list of health and safety concerns. Not only were people holding fireworks, they were throwing them. I’m sure there weren’t many lighter tapers being used and rather more firework to firework lighting going on. I did not seen any buckets of sand and nor did I see a single person wearing a luminescent jacket acting in a supervisory capacity. However, one of my biggest concerns was that we were sitting in a rooftop restaurant where our protection from the rockets appeared to be a fabric awning. Hmm.
So under this racket we enjoyed our meal. Enid was on tomato and basil soup tonight and I had Chinese sweet and sour veg. Joyce and Jane stuck with Indian and ordered Indian veg which when it arrived was a dark green slime. To go with this they also had some fried spinach leaves which they seemed to think were rather nice. I’m sorry- I know I should go local but I just can’t anymore! I want a marmite sandwich, Enid wants beans on toast, Joyce wants a juicy big steak and Jane says she could murder a curry!!
Food is not the only thing we’ve noticed is a bit more Westernised in Jaipur. We’ve also noticed that there are more shiny, modern buildings -often shopping malls. There are more cars and less bikes and the cows have gone from the streets. We’ve noticed signs everywhere in India celebrating the god Vodaphone and in fact we have an ongoing competition to see who can find the most unlikely person on a mobile phone. So far it’s a toss up between the ancient cowherd in the middle of Ranthambore Tiger reserve dressed in his traditional white outfit sitting at the water pump on his mobile and the elephant driver who, after his shift, was having a sneaky ciggy and making a call on his mobile.
TV channels are another thing. Tonight Joyce and Enid were watching ‘Come Dine with Me’ from Doncaster and Jane and I were glued to ‘Extreme Makeover- home edition’ from Michigan.They even have MTV India which we watched yesterday in the coffee shop.
Today we’ve had a lovey relaxing day walking around the bazaars of the old Pink City although its more a shade of terracotta these days as apparently that colour paint is cheaper (job lot?). It turns out the cows here are just hidden down these backstreets which were far quieter than anywhere we’ve been so far. It was really pleasant walking around with everyone wishing us a Happy Diwali. You don’t half have to mind where you put your feet though.
This afternoon we’ve spent by the pool and then at 4 pm Enid and I went to the spa for our massages. I had a lovely Indian head and foot massage and it was the 2nd best massage I’ve ever had. Best? Hacienda Xcantun, Merida, Mexico. Worst? Tortuous agony in Koh Samui, Thailand. Never ask for pressure anything other than ‘gentle’ in Thailand.
I am now feeling completely relaxed, re-energised and ready for Golden Temple in Amritsar tomorrow.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Diwali, fireworks, Jaipur | 2 Comments

Happy Diwali!

Posted on November 13, 2012 by julieallen36

Yes- Happy Diwali everyone! We’re here in Jaipur where they really like to go to town in celebrating. Diwali is also known as the Festival of Lights and is one of the most important Hindu festivals. It is celebrated by families who perform traditional activities together at home including lighting clay oil lamps and cleaning the house. Both of these are done to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi into the home. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity ( both material and spiritual). In addition the festival is celebrated by setting off firecrackers and fireworks, by everyone putting on their new clothes and by sharing sweets with friends and family. In addition, here in Jaipur they all seem to collect a stem of sugar cane to take home.
So we’ve been out all day today in Jaipur having a mad rush with our guide around its various monuments and you might have thought that, like on Christmas Day back home, there’d be no-one around (the M6 is always wonderfully clear up to Mum and Dad’s etc). Oh no that’s not the case here -it’s still very busy and really the daytime seems to be like Christmas Eve with all the men doing their last minute shopping and then the real celebrating begins in the evening. So I will capture more about how that goes tomorrow.
Today we met our new guide Jaysingh who again was very lovely. First we visited the Palace of Winds which is really just a facade which the old queen used to have to hide behind to look at all the goings on in the street as she wasn’t allowed to be seen. The facade was actually named after all the windows it has -365 in the main part and about 900 along its entire length. So nothing to do with wind then which really takes away the romantic image a bit don’t you think?
Then we went out to the old City of Amber to visit the Amber Fort. Now, this is really impressive and my mouth did literally drop open when I saw it perched up on the hill and with its own version of the Great Wall of China.
We climbed upto the top of the fort by elephant-hurrah!! We had to queue for about an hour in the sun and got seriously hassled by the tut sellers here. However, Joyce and Jane did some splendid haggling over decorative umbrellas. Joyce in particular hanging on until the last minute to get a few more pence off her chap who by this stage was dangling off her elephant still trying to hike his price!! Give in mate – it’s Joyce we’re talking about here – ‘Queen of the Haggle’.
The elephant ride was good fun although we had elephant number 105 which seemed particularly slow and wonky. It was really quite uncomfortable and I began to wonder whether we were on the punishment elephant for tourists who don’t listen to their guides. Loads of other elephants overtook us and it was impossible to take photos. The views, however, of the other elephants and surrounding scenery were fab.
I am afraid to report that I cannot remember very much about which Maharajah built the Amber Fort. I do know that there are 22 Maharajahs in Rajastan still today and that the current one in Jaipur is just 14 years old. We also learned a little about the caste system today which is a funny old business. We were also particularly impressed with the hall of mirrors which is made from glass all the way from Belgium. It was very light and shiny.
After this we went onto visit the observatory and also the City Palace but by this time we’d told Jay that we weren’t interested in going to see how the jewellery was made or the fabrics ( no more emporium visits for us thanks) so I think he was a bit fed up and just wanted to go home to his family. So he whizzed us around running past things with a quick sentence or two which none of us listened to because we were all a bit hot and bothered anyway. So I think his approach worked well for all of us.
On our way back we wanted to go to another cafe that Jane had found on Trip Advisor as we had been fantasising now about their lemon cheesecake for quite a while. I always thought that Indian food would be fine up until the point when I got sick and this is SO true. Last night when we arrived here at Shahpura House (great old hotel by the way) we ate in the roof top restaurant and 3 of us ordered pizza and Jane had the Chefs Special Curry. She is a Trojan!
Anyway the cafe was closed because of Diwali so the guide and driver dropped us at another place called Coffee Today. There was only one other customer and the guy serving seemed completely bemused by us. I guess it’s the equivalent of spending Christmas Day in a Costa Coffee. Now there’s an idea Mum to save on the cooking!
So we had our refreshments and then came out to catch a tuk tuk back. There was a mad rush as we bartered with the boys for their best price. In the end we paid a little bit more than we’d been told it would be but what a result when it turned out we’d picked the Disco Tuk Tuk driver who drove us home to our hotel as the music blared out and we all sang along to ‘Who Let the Dogs Out?’ Brilliant!

PS we have a winner of the bird competition. It is indeed The Game Ranger herself -Laura – who correctly identified that the outsider in the group was the Damson Headed Parrot. There are apparently no parrots in India and what we saw were PLUM headed parakeets! We did actually see quite a few Great Tits.