India

Varanasi and Khajuraho

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varanasi

I stayed a couple days in New Delhi before heading to Varanasi.  My original plan had been to take a train, but this wasn’t possible because the first-class sleepers were fully booked.  I ended up flying.

The flight was uneventful.  One interesting point to note was when  the plane flew low into land, it was possible to see the ‘village life’.  There are hundreds of small houses dotted across the countryside.  A very high proportion of Indians (over 70%) still live in rural areas.

Basic Hostel

I caught a taxis  into the city.  I was quite a long drive.  The main part of the city was extraordinarily congested, even more than Old Delhi.

The last part of the journey to my hostel was up a very narrow street.

The hostel was very basic. Only the dorms were air-conditioned and even they were not very cool. The rest of the place was stiflingly hot.

There was a café on the top floor, covered by a tin roof. Every now then they was a loud ‘bang’.  It took me a while to work out what was causing the banging.  It turned out to be monkeys jumping on to the roof from the surrounding building.  There were lots of them.

Difficult to Find a Meal

After settling in, I headed off to find a restaurant.  This proved to be difficult.  The place was very crowded with lots of shops, but there were very few restaurants.  I finally found a place to eat.  I wasn’t very good.

Varanasi is in the state of Uttar Pradesh.  It is a ‘dry’ state and alcohol is not readily available.  I wasn’t able to the wash the very ordinary meal down with a beer.

Early Start to Ganges

An old school friend had told me that “the best time to see the Ganges River is at dawn”.  I took his advice.

I awoke at around 5.00 a.m.  Very early.

There was a couple from Ireland also on the trip.

The bloke who was taking us on the river came to the hostel.  The Manager of the hostel who had organized the trip, had warned me that the  guide’s “English wasn’t too good”.  He was right.  The bloke was virtually unintelligible.

It was about a kilometer walk to the river.  Even this hour of the morning, the street was crowded.

Hard work Rowing

On the river, we headed down stream.

Varanasi has been a cultural centre of North India for several thousand years, and is famous for the  Ganges. Hindus believe that death in the city will bring salvation, making it a major centre for pilgrimage.

The main feature along the river are the many ghats – embankments made in steps of stone slabs  where pilgrims perform ritual ablutions.

The Ghats have a lot of steps.  This is because of the huge variation  of the in the level of the river.  When I was there the water level was quite low. You could see the marks where the water is at it’s highest during the melting of the Himalayan snows.  I estimate that the difference was over 50 metres.  It must be an amazing sight when the river is in full flood.

There were quite a lot of people taking a dip in the water.  You wouldn’t catch me doing that.

Funerals

As well as the ritual bathing, Varanasi is famous as a site for Hindu funerals.  The  Manikarnika Ghat is the Mahasmasana, the primary site for Hindu cremation in the city. Adjoining the ghat, there are raised platforms that are used for death anniversary rituals.

We came close to the Ghat when a funeral was taking place.

It made me recalled the Foreign Affairs trip I mentioned in posts about India last year. That trip also took in Kathmandu.  It was in Kathmandu that I witnessed the only other outdoor cremation I have seen.  My work colleague and I were working through the city when we came across the funeral.  The fire had just started and the body was still rapped in cloth.  Suddenly, the  fames took off and the cloth was alight.  A hand was exposed and  as it  burned  the fist clenched.  It was a real shock.

Not Feeling the Best

After see the cremation, the boat man rowed us back the jetty, against the current.  This look a deal of effort.

I wasn’t feeling too good when I got back to the hostel. I spent most of the day in the hostel, some of it sleeping.

Train to Khajuraho

I had booked a train to my next stop Khajuraho.   I went of the Bundelkhand Express which left at 5.45 p.m. and took over 11.30 hours to cover the 405 klms distance – hardly express.

Tour Guide

There was that usual hassle at the station, with Tuk Tuk drivers offering rides.  I picked one.  A young bloke joined us.  He said he was a tour guide and offered to show me around.  It was clear he was not going to take no for an answer.

I checked in to my hotel and agree to meet with the guide and the driver in a couple of hours.  The hotel turned out the very good and great value at AUD 40 per night.

Temples

The guide and the driver took me to the main tourist attraction, the temples.

“The Khajuraho temples feature a variety of art work, of which 10% is sexual or erotic art outside and inside the temples”.

Some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. “Some scholars suggest these to be tantric sexual practices  Other scholars state that the erotic arts are part of Hindu tradition of treating kama as an essential and proper part of human life, and its symbolic or explicit display is common in Hindu temple”.

At one of the temples a security guard was particularly keen to show me some of the more explicit carvings.  He also was keen to tell me the best angle from which to photograph them.

Walk in the Town

After seeing the temples, the guide lead me a short walk through the town.  He explained that because the town is relatively small, the various castes live close together. He pointed out the houses where the different castes lived.

I have serious issues with the caste system and the attitudes that it appears to engender in Indians. In some cases they carry those attitudes and related to behaviors with them when they migrate to other countries.

School

At one point we stopped at a school.  The head of the school explained that it had a Dutch couple as benefactors.  They raised money in Holland to assist the school with scholarships for the very por student and the equipment that was sourced locally.  One of the thing they did was to buy locally made bicycle to the used by students in remote villages so they could get to the school without waking for hours.  What a great idea.

Flying Back to Delhi

I had thought about taking the train ack to Delhi.  This turned out to be too much of a pain, with two connections.  The bloke at the station said that there was “real chance that I would miss at least one the connections”.

I decided to fly back to Delhi.

Flickr Links

Varanasi

https://flic.kr/s/aHskFkSLJS

Khajuraho

https://flic.kr/s/aHskLx4uwW

 

About Varanasi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varanasi

 

About Khajuraho

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khajuraho_Group_of_Monuments

 

Garmin Khajuraho

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1461130187

 

Indian Census

http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/area_and_population.aspx

 

Hotel in Khajuraho

https://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g297647-d10174733-Reviews-Syna_Heritage_Hotel-Khajuraho_Madhya_Pradesh.html

 

Caste System

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India

 

Goa

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DSC04686

It was a great relief to find that the hostel I picked in Panjim was as good as the reviews on the web site I use had suggested.

It is called the Old Quarter Hostel, because (surprise, surprise) it is located in the old quarter of Panjim. It is one of the new breed of hostels that are popping up in India. A number of mainly young entrepreneurs are establishing these businesses. If George Bush is reading this, entrepreneur is a French word for people that start businesses.

A Very Good Hostel

The Old Quarter a good example of a good hostel. It is located on the in the centre of the most interesting part of the town. It is where the Portuguese colonialists settled along with ‘Old Goa’ which is about 20 klms away. The colonial architecture is interesting. The building in the hostel is housed has been gutted and the interior is specifically built for purpose. This includes, modern bathrooms and toilets with very good plumbing that works.

The rooms are a mixture of bunk and private rooms. They have fans and air-conditioners. There are large lockers and plenty of power points which take most plugs (except those silly over engineered UK plugs – but wo cares). These are essential features for travellers.

The common area includes a long table power points which can be accessed from the table. The Wifi can be accessed throughout the building. It is not particularly good, but that is not the fault of the hostel. The internet is only as good as what the providers can provide (a lesson the Malcom Turnbull needs to learn). There are also a number of lounge chairs and couches, again with nearby power points.

There is a café next to the reception. This serves reasonable coffee include cappuccinos and expresso coffee. It also serves a standard breakfast which is included in the tariff or optional extra breakfasts and snacks. The quality of the food is good. The place appears to have high hygienic standards.

The staff are very professional and helpful in providing advice on travel and sightseeing.

The Usual Eclectic Bunch of Travellers

As with most hostels there was a mixed group of guests of varying ages and nationalities. I am certainly no ‘Robinson Crusoe’ when comes to being a ‘senior’ traveller. There are lots of us staying places like this.

Two Blokes agree that Putin is an Arsehole

On the second night I shared the room with a bloke from the Ukraine and bloke from Malaysia. Naturally, the shooting down of the Malaysian Airline over the Ukraine was discussed.
They both agreed that it is almost certain that the Russians were almost certainly responsible for the disaster and that Vladimir is an arsehole

Tony Who?

I told them that Tony Abbott said he was going to ‘shirt front’ Putin of the the shooting down of the pane at the G20 Conference in Brisbane in November 2014.
The bloke from the Ukraine had not heard of Tony Abbott.
The bloke from Malaysia had heard the he had “been expelled from Government” I liked that sound of that.

I thought that I may have to had tried to explain the meaning of the term ‘shirt front’. They clearly had no interest in what Abbott had said and the conversation moved on.
I think there is a lesson for all Australians in that.

Tacky Beach

Late the next day I decided to head for the beach. Gao is known for its beaches. I took the local bus from Panjim to Calangute

The ride was interesting. It seemed that no matter how far you travelled the fare was INDR 10 or INDR 20 id you were no a local.

The road follows the coast. There are beaches to the left and string of shops, bars and ‘resorts’ along the road.

Once in Calangute I headed to the beach. There is sand and the ocean. There were also a number of cows. Most of the people on the beach were fully clothed. There were some people in the water. None were swimming.

There is a large number of bars along the beach. This is seems to be the main reason for being on the beach.

That was the beach done. I headed back into the town. There are a lots of shops. They seem to selling one of three things: T shirts, swim wear – principally bikinis, and tattoos. The Tattoo shops seem the think that being ‘hygienic’ gives then a distinctive offering.

I stopped off in bar for a drink. There were a couple of women drinking beer and speaking Dutch. There aren’t many really unattractive Dutch women in the world. These were two of the limited number. A bloke with a very distinctive Yorkshire accent arrived and started chatting to the Dutch women. They clearly knew each other.

Back to Panjim

The ride back to Panjim seemed to takes much longer than the ride up.
The bus dropped me off at the ferry that crossed the river to Panjim. It is mystery way this ferry operates given the there is a bridge (the one I crossed to get to the beach) less than 500 metres away. The ferry was chaotic. Check out the Flickr video.

Nice Restaurants

There are a lot of good restaurants in Panjim. I had some excellent meals washed down with very cold Kingfisher Larger.

Windows 10

On my third day my Surface Tablet started being particularly slow. I decided to reinstall Windows 10. How silly am I. It took nearly all day.

Old Goa

The next day, I took the bus out to Old Goa.
This town was settled by the Portuguese back in the 1600’s. They still governed the state of Goa up until the 1960’s. That is something I didn’t know until now. I thought all of India became independent after partition in 1947.

Flying to KL

My flight to KL left at 9.00 p.m.

When I checked in I was told that my seat “would not recline”. I was asked if would like to “pay extra for a declining seat?”. I ignored the question.
When I got on the plane I found that the seat was in the least row and indeed, it did not recline. There were plenty of other seats.

I simple got up and took one of those.

Flickr Link

DSC04686

Garmin Link

When their site works

Train to Goa

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Victoria Station

I bought my train ticket from Mumbai in Jodhpur.

To buy Indian Rail tickets on-line you are required to have an account. I was led to believe that to open an account you have to have an Indian phone number and an Indian credit card. If you don’t have an account, you have to use travel agents to buy tickets on your behalf.

Given the above, I have been using travel agents to buy tickets. This involves the payment of a commission. It also means that you are beholden to them with respect to class and seat selection. More particularly it makes it difficult to buy tickets in advance.

My ticket from Mumbai to Gao was in AC 3. This is an Air Conditioned 3rd Class Sleeper. The agent in Jodhpur had told me that all the ist and 2nd Class tickets were sold and typically they are booked months in advance. The train was scheduled to leave at 7.10 from the main railway station which used to be called Victoria Station. It now has an Indian name, but is still known as Victoria Station.

I took a taxi from the hotel to the station. There doesn’t appear to be a correlation between the distance travelled and the fare in Indian taxis unless you use Uber of Ola. Maybe there is reason that Indian Taxis and Tuk Tuk drivers are running a campaign against these online booking services.

English Girl Cracks the System

It is said that Victoria Station is the busiest railway station in the world. I suspect whoever says that is probably right.

I found my train fairly easily. I then found my carriage. There was a sheet of paper pasted to the side of the train detailing the names of the passengers and our seats.

It was a while before the train we due to leave. I went for a walk up platform. I got into a conversation with an English family from Essex (“you know what I mean”). They were mum and dad and son with his girlfriend. The girlfriend, I guessed to be 21 years old at most, had organised the holiday for the family.

They were travelling 1st Class. I asked her how she booked that tickets. She told me that bought them on line over two months ago in England. I asked her how she opened an Indian Rail Account. She told me that she just made up an Indian Mobile phone number and used her UK credit card.

The benefit of being young and assuming that you can everything on line.

The Train Journey

The train line initially heads north as you leave Mumbai. It is a seriously big city. There are a lot of slums on the side of the track. I guess this one of the few places where land is available.

As the track turns south the you are in the countryside. It is lush, a stark contrast to Rajasthan where I had come from 3 days ago.

I had heard that this is one of the great rail journeys. It is interesting, however I would not give it that description. The carriage was very cold at some times in the trip. At one point I was forced to huddle under a blanket. It was a bit surreal get that it was at least 30c outside.

There was a constant parade of vendors selling food and drinks on the train.
It also noticed that when we stopped, vendors appeared on the platforms with fruit and other food and drinks. They seemed to be heading for other carriages that I assumed to be the ‘non air conditioned’ carriages.

The World’s Worst Hotel

The train stopped in Mandgoan. This is about 30 klms from Panjim which was my final destination in Goa.

I had thought that the train may be delayed and I was not keen on trying to take a bus of taxis the last few kilometers at mid night or later. Given that, I booked a hotel using Expedia.

The Hotel was called ‘Grand Liz’. This is a highly evocative name with lots of promise. The description sounded good on the site and it wasn’t cheap.

When I got out of the station I went to the tax booth and ordered a taxi for the short ride to the hotel. When I said I want to go to the ‘Grand Liz’ the bloked looked at me as if to say “are you sure?”.

The address of the hotel was ‘Old Main Road’. This turned out be a dodgy back street. The taxis driver had to show me the entrance to the hotel. It was very poorly lit. I missed the lift and walked up the step to the second floor.

There was a woman sitting at the reception desk. I told her that I had a reservation. She appeared not to understand what I was saying. In fact, she seemed to be disabled in some way. That is sad but she should be in this role.

After a minute or so a young bloke arrived. He was looking intently at his phone. He then asked me if I was “Mr Thomas”. I said I was. He showed me what appeared to my reservation on his phone. I asked him where the manager was. He told me “my owner is in Mumbai”.

Clearly the owner is trying the run this place remotely.

I had had visions of being able to watch the Rugby World Cup while having a beer. What a joke that turned out to be. My expectations were now to sleep at that was all. I got the final score via Facebook using my phone and the Indian SIM I bought in Jodhpur.

The sheets were dirty, the mattress was as hard as a rock. There was no hot water. In short, the place was just a shocker.

I left the hotel with 10 minutes of waking up in the morning. I was so put off that I forgot to take a photograph.

Taxis to Panjim

I thought about taking a local bus to Panjim. As I walked to the bus station I was accosted by the usual procession of taxis drivers. In the end I relented at look a taxis.

It was a quick drive into Panjim. I ended up navigating to the Old Quarter Hostel using my mobile phone.

The hostel is really good.

Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHskk52vjm

Bombay (Mumbai)

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DSC04640

I forgot to mention in my last post that I moved out of the hostel in Udaipur into a hotel across the road. It was the Pratap Bhawan. It advertises itself as ‘Comfortable Place to Stay’. This isn’t false advertising.

I had booked a flight from Udaipur to Mumbai. I did this because I had been told that the train journey wasn’t particularly interesting and I had already book a train ticket from Mumbai, south to Gao. I like trains, however, you can over do it.

My flight was leaving at 7.10 a.m. With all the security carry on, this meant being at the airport before 6.00 a.m. I booked a taxi for 5.30 a.m. Fortunately, this was early enough as the traffic was light at that time in the morning.

Three ID Checks in 30 Metres

There was the usual circus of ID checks in the airport – one to get from the main entrance, another to get into the check in area and another before you actually check in.

I well and truly knew who I was been I finally made it to the check-in desk.

Not Travelling so Light

The price of the price of the ticket was reasonable. However, as will with all budget airlines they hit you will extras – “would you like to breath on the flight?” – “air is INR 100 per cubic metre”.

I pride myself on travelling relatively light. It appears, however that I am not travelling light enough to avoid ‘excess baggage’ charges on Jet Air. Possibly, unsurprisingly they are really quick at working out the you have ‘excess baggage’ and extracting the payment.

Too Much Information

As I waited in the departure lounge and group of old Australian (yes older than me – Balmain host sort of vintage) tourist arrived.

Their only subject appeared to be the condition one of their number, George’s stomach and related parts of this anatomy. George seem to be pleased to be the centre of attention and detailed his ‘movements’ during the previous night. A young American couple found this all too much and moved well away out of earshot.

An Insane  Taxis Driver

The flight to Mumbai was quick.

After collecting my ‘overweight’ bag, I headed out of the arrivals area and ordered an ‘official’ taxis from the ‘official’ taxis desk. I was given a ticket with the number of a taxis. When I got to the rank, I found the taxis with that number.

The driver asked me where I was going and I told him “Churchgate” which is near the Gateway to India. He didn’t seem too keen to take the fare and started calling out “Churchgate” and something else. Another driver approach him and a furious discussion ensued. Clearly there is some sort of secondary market operating at this taxi rank.

Finally, a taxis was found who was willing to go into town.
We headed off. There is a multi-lane freeway from the airport to the city. As you would expect it is crowded. There a quite a lot of horn blowing. My taxis’ horn was not working. The driver kept hitting it will no result. They say the a ‘sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result’ This driver is seriously insane.

Very Expensive Average Hotel

I had decided to stay in a hotel in Mumbai. I only wanted to see the Gateway to India and to be near to Victoria Station (its name has been changed to something Indian).
The Hotel Chateau Windsor is average and quite expensive. Mumbai is a very expensive city.

Back to 1985

I didn’t spend long in Bombay (as it was then) in 1985.
One thing I do recall was seeing an example of obscene wealth. On the weekend the Consul had suggested that we spend some time at the Breach Candy Club which is a very exclusive private club dating back to the days of the British Raj.

I had heard of the club from my mother. She had been to it after the war when she stopped off in Bombay when she was travelling to England by ship. She met up with an aunt who was working as a nurse in Bombay at the time. The aunt took her to the club.

Anyway getting back to 1985, the Consul told us the he was having lunch with an Indian Industrialist whose place was near the Candy Club. He said he would pick us up at the hotel and after he was dropped off for the lunch, his driver would take us to the club.

We drove the Breach Candy area which is the most expensive suburb in Bombay. It was difficult to see the houses as they were all behind high walls. We turned through a gate and up the drive way to the Industrialist’s house. As we drove up the drive way the Consult told us to the look at the cars. There was a row of late model Rolls Royce cars of various colours, silver, burgundy, blue etc. The Consul told us that “when the Industrialist when to dinner or some sort event you could tell which car he had arrived in by the colour of his wife’s jewelry. If she was wearing diamonds, they had arrived in the silver car, if she was wearing rubys , they arrived in the burgundy cars etc”.

Gateway to India

I walked from my hotel to the Gateway to India. This is one of the few tourist attractions in Mumbai.

The route from the hotel took me past a park where a number of cricket matches were being played. Albeit winter is approaching, it is still hot – too hot for cricket I think.

I recall my father talking about walking through the gate in “the second phase of his WWII experiences”. He was on his was the Kashmir were he was to be stationed for some time. As regular readers of this blog know, his third and later phases in the war were very ordinary.
Nowadays access to the Gateway is strictly controlled. You have to pass through airport style security checks.

I took some photos and checked out the steps that my father had walked up. Doing things like that always bring back memories of him and makes me think what an extraordinary life he had.

The Taj

The Taj Hotel is located opposite the Gateway to India. In November 2008 the hotel was attacked by 10 Pakistani terrorists.

The hotel is now heavily guarded. In some respects the terrorists have won.

Flickr Link

https://flic.kr/s/aHskoc6ozo

Garmin Link

When their  site works properly

Udaipur

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Udaipur

My next stop was Udaipur, another placed that I visited in 1985.

I had booked a bus from Jodhpur to Udaipur at a travel agency near to the hostel. The agent strongly recommended that I take an air conditioned bus to Udaipur. The only bus that I could get on was leaving at 5.30 p.m. As it turned out there were only about 5 passengers on the bus which was not much bigger than a mini bus.

It took some time to get out of Jodhpur. However, once we were clear of the city is wasn’t long before we were travelling along quite quickly on what was a very good road. In fact, the road turned into a freeway with four lanes at various points. It is clearly very new and parts of it are still under construction.

It is all very well having a new road, however, a lot of the vehicles traveling on it are not new. There is a mixture of trucks, cars, buses motorbikes and Tuk-Tuks. They are all travelling at various speeds. Some, like my bus, are travelling at over 100 klms per hour and others, like the big old trucks, are lucky to go at 10 klms per hour when confronted with even a gentle slope. The traffic rules also seem slack, with vehicles overtaking on the inside of slower vehicles.

Accident

As you have probably gathered, I don’t think travelling on these roads is particularly safe.
At one point my bus was following a small four wheel drive (4WD) vehicle. It was travelling as fast as us at around 100 klms. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the 4WD moved into the inside lane. Shortly after that in slammed into a large, very slow moving old truck.

After hitting the truck the 4WD spun around and started to head back into our lane. The bus continued on. How we missed being clipped by the 4WD, I will never know.

The experience was surreal. Even though it happened at relatively high speed, the immediate events after the 4WD hitting the truck, seemed to pass by in slow motion.
Once we were past that truck, our driver pulled over. Amazingly the truck, continued on lumbering past us and did not stop. I guess it is possible that the driver was oblivious to the fact that a small vehicle had hit him. Either that, or he simply did not want to get involved.

The driver of my bus and a couple of passengers ran back to the crash site.

I can recall as we passed the 4WD immediately after it hit the truck, that the front of the vehicle was crushed. The engine would have been in the lap of the driver and the passenger, albeit from where I was, I could not see if there was a passenger. Either way, things were not looking pretty.
When the bus driver and the other passengers returned, it was clear from their demeanour and the tone of the conversation (albeit in Hindi) that all was not well with the crash victim or victims.

Much Slower Driving

As we continue on, I noticed that the bus driver was much more sedate. Clearly seeing the accident and the result, had made him think about how fast he was driving and the risk involved in some of his passing manoeuvres.

The Hostel

The bus stopped in the outer suburbs of Udaipur. I took a Tuk Tuk into my hostel which is located on the edge of Lake Ghad.

It was about 11.30 p.m. when I finally arrived at the hostel.
The hostel is actually in an old hotel. I was to later find that the operators have taken out a lease on the whole building and are in the process of converting the hotel, or at least part of it into a hostel. Hostels are a relatively new development in India. Hitherto the accommodation choices have been restricted to hotels of various standards and guests houses. The concept of a comfortable hostel with bunk rooms and cooking other facilities is new.

As it turned out not too much progress has been made converting this place into a hostel.
The plumbing is a big problem.

Meeting a Mackum and a Geordie

Two of the people I met were a couple from the northeast of England. I know this area well as my father hails from there. I have visited the area a number of times since I was 11 years old.
The girl is from Sunderland and the bloke from Newcastle. They have travelled extensively and have worked for periods in Australia and New Zealand.

In the next two days I had a couple of chats with them. They had some interesting views on England and the North- South divide, a term that is used to describe the economic inequality between the north and south of the country – in particular between London and the North.

Checking of the City Palace

The next day I checkout the City Palace Museum. It is very impressive.
Dinner of the Roof

In the evening I had a meal in roof top restaurant opposite my hostel. From there I had a great view over the lake and the Summer Palace.

Back to 1985

I have previously posted that I was in India in 1985 on a Foreign Affairs trip.
On one of our weekends off my colleague and I flew to Udaipur. On the recommendation of the staff at the High Commission in Delhi, we stayed the City Palace Hotel.

After checking into the hotel, left our luggage at the reception and we hired a car and toured around the city including the Queen’s Garden. This is an interesting place in that the fountains receive their water from a dam miles away in the hills surrounding the city. Well they did then. I am not sure it pumps do it now.

When we returned to the hotel we were shown our rooms. We were told that they were the ones used by the actors and crew that made the James Bond film Octopussy.

There was no restaurant in the City Hotel in 1985. At that time the City Hotel and the Lake Hotel were run by the same operator. The restaurant was in the Lake Hotel which features in the Bond film.

I recall that we select a time for out meal. A punt met us at the water’s edge below the City Palace and we were taken out to the Lake Palace our meal.
I can vividly recall my colleague making the comment: “can you believe we are being paid to do this?”

Back to 2015

On my second day in Udaipur I went to the City Palace Hotel where we stayed. Things seem a bit different. The hotel is obviously part of the City Palace. I recall it being called the Winter Palace we stayed there. The part of the Palace that is not a hotel is the Museum that I visited on my first day. I can’t recall the being the case when we were here in 1985.

Access to the Museum is by ticket only. You can also buy that allows you into the courtyard in front the hotel on the ‘town side’. I walked to the entrance of the hotel. I was asked by a guard: “what do you want? Only quests are allowed here”.

I told the bloke that “I stayed here in February 1985 and I would like to look around”. He told me to wait.

An old bloke came over and started to chat to me.

I told him that I had stayed there in 1985 a couple of years after the ‘Bond’ crew had stayed in the place. I said I recalled the room I had was next to the pool near to the one Roger Moore had been in.

As we chatted he led me through the archway to the pool. He told me that the first quests in the hotel were the ‘Bond’ crew in 1982. He also told me that he had worked there since 1982.

I recalled that the doors to rooms opened directly on the to pool area. He showed me into one of the rooms. Check out the Flickr Photos.

He also showed me the lounge and bar area. It is sumptuous to say the least.

I left by the main entrance which is heavily guarded. The driveway makes a couple of turns leading up to the entrance between a high wall. Once behind the wall you are in different world compared to the town.

The Lake Hotel is now separately owned by the Taj Group and rooms start at $750. Only residential quests are allowed in the hotel.

Cruise of the Lake

The next day I went on a sunset cruise on the lake. This is as close as I will get to the Lake Palace.

Videos of the Film

One funny thing: restaurants show videos of the Octopussy movie every night.

The theme is one of those annoying tunes that sticks in your head.

Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHsko1BLMu

Lake Palace Hotel

https://www.yourreservation.net/tb3/index.cfm?bf=Luxury_Hotels&language=EN&country=IN-XX&city=UDR001&hotelCode=HLTUDRTL&ratecalendar=T07&arrivaldate=2015-10-27&departureDate=2015-10-28&rooms=1&children=0&adults1=1&childrenages=&plprun=2&_=1445970420166

Do you remember the movie?

Jodhpur

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Jodphur

My train from Jaipur to Jodhpur was due to depart at 12.20 p.m. The staff if the hostel told me that “it will be late”. They told me to download an App that would give me the status of the train. This turned out to be great advice.

The App told me that the train was delayed by 59 mins and had 152 klms to go before it would arrive in Jaipur. On the basis of that I decided to have the lunch that the hostel staff offered to cook for me.

When I checked the App again, the train was delayed by 2 hours 10 minutes and still had 152 klms to go. I ordered a beer.

Next check had the train with 1 hour and 30 minutes to go and only 105 klms to travel. I drank my beer quickly.

Next check the train was delayed by 2 hours and 5 minutes. I ordered another beer.
Finally the train seemed to be on a roll and I was advised to order a Tuk Tuk to the station. Any more delays and would have been a bit tipsy to say the least.

I ordered a Tuk Tuk. The driver took a completely different route to the one that I had taken two day before. Anyway we arrive at the station and I paid over the agree price.

Finally boarding the Train

There was a bit more waiting before I was finally on the train. My carriage turned out to be a sleeper. I am not sure where it had come from, but it was long way and there had been plenty of opportunities for it to be delayed. It had clearly taken those opportunities.

Chat with Locals

I got into conversation with a couple of locals. One was an ex-policeman who is now teaching. He told me that he was in Sydney with the Indian Olympic team in 2000. He was interested in my views on Indian and the changes that I had seen since 1985.

The other bloke (Mr Singh) told me that he was an executive with Reliance, which is a large Indian conglomerate that is into all sorts of industries. He told that they are just about to roll out a 4G mobile network. Clearly mobile phone and the internet are having a big impact in India.
A very good example is the Apps for taxis. There is Uber and a local company call Ola. The bloke told that these are disrupting the Tuk Tuk industry. He is of the view that this is a very good thing.

Mr Singh told me that he had meet a number of Australian cricketers that are playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Reliance owns the Mumbai Indians. He told that he was surprised that players like Shane Warne and Glen Maxwell smoked.

As we approached Jodhpur, he pointed out the village where he was born and lived until his father got a job will the government and the family moved to Jodhpur. He told me that most of the villages in India were dying and people were moving to the larger towns and cities.
Mr Singh told that one his biggest frustrations about India was the rubbish and that fact that nothing seems to be done about it. I must admit, it is one thing that appears to have little, if at all, since 1985. There is rubbish all over the place.

As well as talking about India, Mr Singh asked me a lot of questions about Australia and the places that I have visited.

We arrived at the station Mr Singh’s driver met him and they kindly give me a lift to my hostel.
Planning and getting a SIM

I spent the first morning doing ‘admin’, writing a blog post and banking etc. I also booked a flight from Udaipur to Mumbai and accommodation in both cities. The cost of accommodation in Mumbai is ridiculously expensive.

I decided to get an Indian SIM so I can use Google maps on my phone and possibly use Uber or Ola to order a taxis. There is a Vodafone shop near to the hostel. It is a bit of a performance getting SIM card in India. You have to provide your passport, a copy of your visa, a passport photo graph and the details of the place where you are staying. All this is recorded on a manual form. It also takes up to 24 hours before the SIM is activated.

The activation process involves calling a number and the confirming the details on the form. I decided to return to the shop to complete this process. When I call the number, I had no idea what the bloke on the end of the line was saying. I asked him to “speak English”. I still could not understand what he was saying. I passed the phone to a bloke in the shop. He told me that bloke on the end of the line “was speaking English”. After a few minutes and me reading out what was on form about five time, the bloke on the line said “ OK, Ok, Ok” which I took to mean I was all set to go.

There was still a bit of mucking around to get the data to work on the phone, but finally I had access to the internet via my phone.

Checking Out the Town

After sorting out the phone, I caught a Tuk Tuk to the Clock Tower which is in the centre of the main market area in the town. It is a very chaotic place.

I walked around a bit. This place is very different to Connaught Place in Delhi. I suspect if has changed little in the past 30 years.

I stopped at the Police tourist booth. There were 5 blokes in the booth. Only one of them seemed to be able to speak English. I am not sure which tourist market they were designed to serve. I asked them for the name and location of a good restaurant. After a lot of discussion among each other, they came up with a place. It was about 400 metre down the road, just before a traffic police stand.

The restaurant was busy and the food was very good.

The Mehrangarh Fort

Next day I headed off to the Mehrangarh Fort. This is the major attraction of Jodhpur and is built on hill the overlooks the city.

I shared the taxis to the fort with a German bloke that I first met in Jaipur and turned up in my hostel. He was an interesting bloke. He told that he has worked in Japan and is fluent in Japanese. He told also said that he is about to start working with a German start-up company in Munich that is going to establish a long distance bus company. Hitherto bus companies have been restrict to short haul routes. The deregulation of the buses will provide competition for rail.

The Fort and Palace are very impressive. The state rooms are very luxurious. There are also exhibits of the armour used by the army that occupied the Fort.

It is amazingly that the British were able to take over the whole country. I understand that the British did not have any military superiority over the various Indian states. They managed to convince each of the Maharajas that they would benefit by co-operating with the British.

Walking through the Old Town

After leaving the Fort we headed down to the old town. The building are painted blue, hence the description of Jodhpur as being the ‘Blue City’. The streets are very narrow and crowded. We were heading towards the Clock Tower. Even though it is quite high, it is not possibel to see it as you are walking along the narrow streets. The German bloke had an off line map app on his phone. That proved useful as we made our way through maze streets.

Finally we made it to the restaurant, near the Clock Tower that I had been to before.

The Umaid Bhawan Palace

After a quick lunch we headed out to the Umaid Bhawan Palace. This place was built in the 1920 for the Maharaja of Rajasthan. The architect was a notable Georgian architect based in London. We were surprised that the entrance fee was only IRP 100.

The reason for the low entrance fee turned out to be due to the fact that you don’t get to see much of this huge building.

The Maharaja still lives there. Who knows what use is made of the 170 plus, bedrooms.

Little Bus Full of Girls

The German bloke has a particular dislike of the being ripped off by Tuk Tuk drivers. He asked one for the price to go the “Polo Ground” (opposite our hostel), knowing that it was less than 4 klms away. The price offered was IRP 100 which is at least 3 times what it should have been. The Tuk Tuk driver drove off to where other drivers were parked. We heard him say something about “Polo Ground”. We assumed he was saying “don’t take those tourists to the Polo Ground for anything less that IRP 100”.

We started walking down the hill from the palace with the intention of getting a taxis or Tuk Tuk on the main road.

As we were walking along, a small bus full of girls stopped. They offered us a lift. We climbed on board. They insisted on having their photos taken and took photos of us with their mobile phones.

Kids in the Street

The bus dropped us off about a kilometre from the hostel. As we walk along we, came across some locals dancing in the street following a truck. It seemed to be something to do with the festivals that are going on at the moment.

As we approached we were ‘mildly accosted’ by some young boys probably less than 10. They were real pains – hitting us and asking for money. Fortunately, some older guys come to our rescue and told the young kids to go way.

Festival and Meal

When we got back to the hostel, the staff were organising a excursion to the local cricket ground to watch an event related to the festival.

They ordered taxis use the on-line App Ola. We ended up with 5 taxis in all. It seems to be a great system as the App tells you the fare. The taxis end up to be cheaper than Tuk Tuks.

We couldn’t actually get into the cricket ground and had to watch the proceedings over the wall surrounding the ground. There were few large figures made of paper and wood of what we were told, were ‘evil characters’. The idea was that they would be burnt and the evil would go away.
There was a lot on noise and carry on and the figures were burnt. There was then a short fireworks display.

After this was finished, we walked to a restaurant for what turned out to be a really good meal. It also turned out to be a good opportunity to chat to some of the other quests from the hostel. Is was an eclectic group with people from England, Australia, Iceland, Italy, Chile, Germany and Spain.

Folk Festival

I had a bit of a quiet morning reading and buying my bus ticker to Udaipur. This was followed by a good lunch at restaurant not far from the hostel.

The Rajasthan International Folk Fest is held at his time of the year. It is a big event. Apparently Mick Jagger has played at it in the past. The main venue is in the Fort.

We were told that “opening ceremony would be taking place in the Clock Tower Square at 5.30 p.m”. and there would be performance to watch. The German bloke and I,and a bloke from Iceland ordered a taxis and headed into town.

As it turned out, proceeding were not going to start until 7.00 p.m. We headed to a Roof Top restaurant for a meal and a couple of beers. The Icelandic bloke told us that he was sick of living in Iceland because it is so small and so depressing in winter. He said he was likely to head for Denmark “because it doesn’t get so dark in winter”. I guess everything is relative.

At around 8.00 p.m. the show finally started. We watched 3 acts – a women singing accompanied by a sitar player and a drummer, some elderly blokes doing a dance, and some flute players. It was interesting but we had had enough. I am sure main acts in the Fort later in the Festival will be more interesting.

Flickr Links
Photos
https://flic.kr/s/aHsknbfBPc

Videos

To come internet permitting

Garmin

To come when the Garmin site works

Jaipur

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Jaipur
It was good to have a bit of ‘luxury’ in the ‘resort’ hotel in Agra. I also used the hotel to book a bus to Jaipur. Apparently it is easier than going by train. In a fit of total decadence, I also took a taxis to the bus station rather than a Tuk Tuk.

Bus

The bus looked a bit dodgy. It was old and have a few dints. It also seemed to have a bit of rust which is bit old in such a dry part of the country.

The roads across to Jaipur were a mixture of toll ways and ‘normal roads’. The ‘normal roads’ were often crowded. The bus’s horn was often used and put me off my podcast listening. We able to get up to reasonable speeds on the toll roads.

Arriving Jaipur

I arrived in Jaipur in the evening. It was dark. I was given a bit of a bum steer by a local on the bus. He told me to get off the bus before the final stop in the city, because “it was closer to my hostel”. That turned out to be wrong. And it was a fairly long Tuk Tuk ride to the hostel.

Crashpad Hostel

The hostel was in a rather old location – City Lines. This a sort of gated community. The hostel is on the second floor on what seemed to be commercial building.
As it turned out I was very good. It only has two bunk rooms and two private rooms. There were about 12 people staying there.

There is a communal sitting room that encourages people to chat.

Trip to Monkey Temple

The next day I went out to the Monkey Temple with a South Africa bloke who now lives in England. He told me that he had just completed his Master’s degree in bio engineering at the University of Newcastle. He told me some interesting stuff about the use of 3D printing for making artificial limbs. He also said that it will not be long before 3D printing technology will used to make organs. Amazing stuff.

The Monkey Temple was a bit ho hum.

We were told that we had to pay to be able to take photographs. I am not sure to whom that fee went to. I suspect it went into the pocket of the bloke taking the money.

Watching the Rugby

In the evening the hostel staff cook a meal. It was very good.

After the meal we all sat down to watch the Rugby World Cup game between South Africa and Wales. It was a close game, however, in the end the South Africans prevailed with a short side try in the final minutes.

Amber Palace and Fort

In the evening I got into conversation with a Canadian girl who had arrived at the Hostel by car from Delhi. She asked me what I was doing the next day. I said I was going out to the Amber Fort and Palace. She asked me if I she could join me. I told her that that was fine with me.

The hostel arranged for a Tuk Tuk. They told us the price. I am not sure if they get a cut, but even if they do the cost is reasonable – 600 IRP for over 5 hours. The driver was really good and the Tuk Tuk was only a year old.

As we approached the lake near the palace traffic was amazing. There were cars, buses and Tuk Tuks everywhere. There is an Indian festival going on at this time of the year and the Amber Place is one of the places where the local people go during the festival. Our driver dropped us off some distance from the start of the path that leads up to the Palace.

Some Beggars

We picked our way through the crowds and headed up the path. As we walked we were accosted by a number of beggars – mainly small children. The prevalence of begging seems to be less that it was we I here in 1985, however, it is still disturbing.

There were hundreds of people in the rectangle in front of the main entrance into the palace. There was long line of local seemingly lining up to get in. We followed a group of school children that walk passed the queue and up some stair. There we found a ticket office selling ‘premium’ tickets including tickets for foreigners.

The inside of the palace is very interesting. On the features in the bathing area. It is very ingenious and had hot and cold running water when it was operational. There is also a tranquil garden in one of the courtyards

More Monkeys

We walked out on the balcony on the upper level. This seemed to be the preferred spot for a troop of Monkeys. These were a different species to ones at the Monkey Temple and they seemed be a lot healthier. A big guy, probably the leader of the troop, didn’t look too happy about our presence.

After leaving the Palace we continued on up the path to the Fort on the hill. We meet an Australian couple who told us that they had walked up the secret tunnels that head from the palace to the fort. They remained a ‘secret’ for us as we couldn’t find them.

Why the Canadian Girl was Heading Home

As we walked to the fort, the Canadian girl told me that she had booked flight home the next day. She had only arrived in Delhi two days ago, but had a ‘terrible experience.
She told me that when she got off the plane from Brussels in Delhi she decided to get a taxis into the city. This turned out to be “not a proper taxis”. The driver told her that because of the “festivals all of the accommodation in Delhi was full”. She had planned to go to Jaipur and had the address of the hostel we were staying at. The driver offered to drive her from Delhi to Jaipur. I didn’t feel if was appropriate to ask how much she paid.

She also told me that the driver constantly suggested that they should check into a hotel together. He said he knew that owner and there would be no charge.
Clearly the whole experience was very distressing for her and she decided to cut her stay in India short after less than 24 hours.

Top of the Hill

It is quite a climb to top of the fort. However it is one of those thing you have to do. The bloke selling the entrance ticket tried to short change me. Not satisfied trying once, he also tried to do the same with the Canadian girl.

As we looked at the view, we were approached by some teenage boys who were insistent that they have their photographs taken with us. Clearly they were more interested in the Canadian girl in the photo than me.

When we got back to the bottom of the path and on the road, the crowds of cars and Tuk Tuks that were there when we arrived had clear. Curiously that made it difficult to find our Tu Tuk as everything looked different.

We found our man in the end, and we headed back into town past a lake. There is a place in this lake which is not dissimilar to the one that I will be seeing in Udaipur in a few days.
We stopped briefly in the old town. I took another photo of a Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Time Stands Still in an Indian Railways Office

Later in the afternoon I walked to the Railway station to buy a ticket to Jodhpur. There is special window for Foreigners. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to make buying a ticket any easier. You have to complete a form. What for is anyone’s guess. As I was in the queue, I notice a bloke sitting in large office next to the ticket counter. He seemed to be the boss of the show. At various times younger bloke entered the office a large book was obvious some sort of manually kept record. The Boss Man opened the book and studied the contents. I sure that same records were being kept before WWII.

It was dark before I finally got my ticket.

I hailed a Tuk Tuk to go back to the hostel. When we go back to the City Line area, the driver clearly couldn’t find Gate 2 which the one we need to enter. The place is very confusing as it all looks the same. We spent ages driving around before we found the hostel.

Australia Play Scotland

In the evening the hostel gave a young English couple a cooking lesson. I am not sure what the couple actually did, but the result was excellent. A very tasty meal.

As we ate, we watched Argentina beat Ireland in the Rugby World Cup.

This was followed by Australia playing Scotland. The result of that game will go down in history at the controversial in the history of the RWC to date. The upshot is that Australia is through to the semi-finals. There are no northern hemisphere teams in the final four.

Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHsknwHe2w

Garmin Link
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/932948797

Agra

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Agra 2015

I spent at least one more in Delhi than I planned, not that I really plan. Anyway it was good to revisit the place.

I had asked that people at the Hotel for advice on getting to Agra. I had heard conflicting stories about using the train for catching a bus from fellow travellers. Some said that the train was terrible and very crowded and that because that station in Agra is la long way from the city, it is better to take the bus. The people at the hotel suggested the train.

As it turned out, there is a very good train from Delhi to Bhopal (famous for the Union Carbide industrial gas disaster in 1984) Express which stops in Agra. The Hotel booked me on the train. There was a bit of confusion regarding the ticket which was bought on-line. That was sorted and I set may alarm to wake up at 5.00 a.m.

The walk to the station along Main Bazar Road wasn’t as interesting as I expected. It was dark and fairly crowded as you would expect. Three French women were also heading for the same train. They said they would be pleased if I walked with them.

On the Train

The train was quite comfortable. My carriage was only half full. Given this is the start of a ‘festive season’, I had been led to believe that trains would be crowded. The service was very good with a bottle of water, tea and a hot ‘something’ and biscuits provided.

The track was very smooth and the train was quite fast.
The countryside was flat and all given over to agriculture. We passed through a number of towns/cities, stopping at a couple of bigger ones. We also passed by some villages that looked very poor, with very inadequate housing. Clearly a lot of people were effectively sleeping in the open with only a piece of cloth attached to some poles for shelter.

Good Advice from a Local

As we approached Agra, we were told that the train would only be stopping for 4 minutes. I made my way to the door. An Indian couple struck up a conversation. The bloke told that the only thing Agra was good for was that Taj. He suggested that one day was enough. If was planning of staying, one night was enough. He suggested a hotel in which to stay near the East Gate.

When we left the station a number of the taxis and Tuk-Tuk driver descended on me. The Indian bloke pick one out for me and negotiated a fare to the hotel. I was grateful for his intervention.
The Hotel tuned out to be the Taj Resort. So many Taj’s in this country. It is small but very comfortable.

Back in 1985

When I was on the Foreign Affairs trip I have mentioned before, we had three weekends in Delhi in 1985. This gave us the opportunity to travel out of the city.
On one of those weekends we travelled to Agra for the days. We took the High Commissioner’s car. Before you think we were doing a Bronwyn Bishop, it was all ‘above board’. We paid commercial hire rates for the car and we paid the driver is normal weekend rates.

The Drive

I can recall starting very early in the morning. Progress was slow on what seemed to be a very busy road. The car, a Holden Statesman, was fitted with a super load horn. The driver used it frequently as we picked our way through the traffic. This include cars, motorbikes, bicycles, rickshaws (motorised and human powered) trucks and a variety of carts being towed by motorbikes, animals (horses, donkeys and mules) and people. There were also lots of cows on the road.

Capital City Runs out of Water

I recall that we stopped in place called Fatehpur Sikri before we got to Agra. The place was that capital city of the Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585. The people had to leave because of a lack of water. I think I thought at the time that this may happen to places like Canberra and Perth. Maybe this is ‘enhanced’ memory in the context of climate change.

Seeing the Taj Mahal

We had a ‘private guide’ when we went to the Taj Mahal. All I can recall was that he seemingly wanted to show us ever “translucent stone” in the palace. Needless to say, there are many of these stones. I recall that it reached a point where we said that enough is enough.

Colleague hit in Ribs by a Cow

Another thing I recall about that visit was my colleague being hit in the ribs by a cow as she walked down a stress in the town. Her reaction was priceless.

Back to 2015

After checking into Hotel I walked towards the Taj Mahal. I had been told by people I had met in Delhi that the ticket office was up the hill from the Palace. There is cart service that takes you from the entrance to the Palace to and from the tickets office.
I still wanted to walk.

The street was remarkably quiet. There are police barriers very 300 metres or so and the only traffic is the ‘ticket carts (battery powered), tuk tuks and horse drawn carts (clearly for tourist use).

The road is being paved. There is clearly a big effort being put into leaning up the place.
After having a look around the area near the East Gate, I caught the ‘ticket cart’ up the hill got my ticket and returned to enter the palace.

There is the obligatory security check better you enter the palace. Security is huge industry in India.

I walked into palace grounds. I was approached by a number of guides offering their services. I recalled the 1985 experience and politely declined their offers.

A Great Sight

There is no doubt that the Taj Mahal is a great sight.

I took heaps of photos, a contrast to my 1985 visit. Notwithstanding the change in technology, I  think the 1985 photos are the best.

Relatively Good Internet

The internet at the hotel was reasonable. I was able to make a few Skype calls.

Very Flash Hotel

In the early evening I walked across the road and checked out the Oberoi Hotel.
I suspect it would meet the high standards one of my Brisbane cousins wife sets. She should check out the link below.

Flickr Links

Agra 1985
https://flic.kr/s/aHskmWKZQ9

Agra 2015
https://flic.kr/s/aHskiKbjT5

Seriously Luxurious Hotel
http://www.oberoihotels.com/hotels-in-agra/

Australian High Commission Delhi

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DSC04257

As I was in Delhi, I decided to visit the Australian High Commission. I have mentioned in previous posts that I visited the High Commission in February 1985 as part of a trip I undertook with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

That trip included, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Bombay and Kathmandu as well as New Delhi. It was the third trip I had undertaken since joining the Department in September 1984. The previous two were to the then USSR, East and West Germany, and New Zealand. This was my first visit to the so called ‘hardship posts’.

In my previous post about Delhi I talked about the day my colleague and I arrived and our attendance at a wedding of one of the High Commission staff.

The Taj Hotel

After the wedding we settled into our hotel- the Taj which is located within the Diplomatic enclave of New Delhi. I had already learned one thing about travelling for Foreign Affairs, you got to stay in very nice hotels. This was to prove to be one of the best.

It is set in quiet large grounds with a large pool. I can recall that on the afternoon we arrived after the wedding, the pool was very crowded. The hotel was used by airlines. I recall that there were a lot of tall blonde women sunning themselves by the pool. Some turned out to be Lufthansa aircrew.

Over the weeks we in Delhi, it was very pleasant to return to the hotel are a ‘hard day’s work’ at the High Commission. It was a real oasis.

On this trip I decided to revisit the hotel. It is still impressive. The reception area is all marble and there are large marble staircase leading to the conference room and restaurants on the floors above and below.

The pool and grounds are still very impress by today’s standards.

The High Commission

The AHC was one of the first foreign missions to be built in the diplomatic enclave in the 1950’s. It is located opposite the British High Commission and the American Embassy is around the corner.

I wanted to revisit the HC for a couple of reasons. I wanted to see if had changed at all. The second reason was to take some photos on behalf of my London host. His father was posted to Delhi as an Australian diplomat with his family. When I was in London I was shown pictures of the compound as it was when they were there.

The day before I headed to the AHC I sent an e-mail, telling them that I wished to visit and why.

Security Presence

I caught the metro and then a Tuk Tuk to the HC. As I approached, I was immediately struck by the security. The wall around the compound is high. There are guards wandering the street and there are signs up staying photography is forbidden.

As I approached that entrance, I was greeted by a guard who asked what I wanted. He didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. Another guard arrived. He directed me to another guard box. By the time I arrived at the next guard box, there had clearly been some communication with the chancellery. I was asked to show my ID and sign that visitor’s book. I then had by backpack checked and I was given a Visitors Pass and directed the main entrance.

Walking Around the Compound

As I approached the Chancellery door, I was greeted by Indian gentleman, unfortunately I didn’t catch his name properly. He told me that he had been in the HC since 1983 and would be showing me around.

Even though I was being accompanied, there restrictions on where I could go. A feature of the compound is the garden in front of the Official Residence and a ‘billabong’. I was only allowed to take photos from the path.

Not much seemed to have changed since 1985, except that the Deputy High Commissioner’s house has be converted in offices.

I took a photo of the tennis court. If my colleague ever gets to read this post and looks at the photos, I am sure it will bring back memories of game play there and she will have a chuckle.

Remembering Friday Night

We passed the Club House. This is used as an informal entertainment area for the High Commission’s staff and guests. My guide made a particular point of noting that it is used for ‘Friday Night Prayers’ – after work drinks.

These were, and obviously still are, a feature of diplomatic life, particularly in the hardship posts. All the friendly Embassies and HC’s (i.e. British, NZ, Canada and the USA) have similar facilities. Staff from the different missions visits each other’s clubs.

When we were in Delhi I recall that the night started in the Australian Club House. We then moved to the British HC across that road. I have a vague recollection of ending up in the USA Marines Club House late at night.

Flickr Link
To be posted when the Internet permits.

Taking the Metro in Delhi

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DSC04255

Probably the biggest change I have noticed in Delhi is the metro train system. It is not that it is physically obvious, particularly in the central area in that a lot of it is underground. Where it is above ground it is mostly on pylons – in the sky.

A Modern System Comparable to Anyway

It is a very good system with modern air conditioned trains running on very smooth tracks at high speeds (for a metro system). There is electronic ticketing and automated gates. It is on par with other ‘new” systems I have seen in Shanghai, Singapore and Seoul. In many respects it is better than ‘old ‘systems in London, Paris, New York, and Rome and in Sydney and Melbourne.
There is no doubt that a good metro train system has more of an impact on a city that simply being a way to get around. It has a social impact.

Two Stories to Illustrate a Point

I recall the Roderick Carnegie (the former head of what is now Rio Tinto the second largest mining company in the world) being interviewed. He said that he liked living in Melbourne rather than Sydney because he could get to work by tram. He said that he travelled to meetings in the CBD by tram. This amazed visitors from Sydney and the USA, less so those from the UK.

Another story I liked was David Attenborough (I don’t have say who he is) talking about travelling on the London Tube. He was standing on a District Line train heading to South Kensington. A girl sitting below him was reading his autobiography and did not notice, or pretended not to notice, that he was standing front of her.

The point of these stories is to highlight that impact of good public transport of society. It brings most levels of society together.

It also so encourages civil behaviour.

Women on the Delhi Metro

In the case of Delhi, it is notable that the behaviour on the trains is excellent. There is no splitting, no litter, and the people are generally courteous and wait in line to get off and on the trains.

There is a heavy security presence, but that is unfortunately necessary.

The attitudes to women and the attitudes of women are also interesting.
The front carriage is reserved for women. I didn’t bother looking whether they were are more or less used than other carriages.

In the carriages I caught, there was a mixture of ages, gender and (I assume) class. There are signs on some seats indicating women have preference. I saw numerous case where men stood and offered seats to older women irrespective as whether it was a ‘preferred’ woman’s seat or not.

On one occasion, a middle aged woman got on the train. A younger well dressed man was sitting in the ‘preferred seat’ (he looked like the equivalent of an ex-Shore Boy who was up himself) She stood over him and stared. He eventually got the message and stood up. I suspect she had noticed that I had been watching and smiled. The man walked to the end of the carriage.

I suspect an encounter like that would not have occurred between a Delhi man and woman on bus 30 years ago.

Back in to Different Word

The Metro runs about a kilometre from where I am staying in the Main Bazar, a very old and traditional area of Delhi. It is run down (in a nice way) and chaotic.
As you exit the air-conditioned and orderly Metro, you are met with the sounds and smells of ‘old’ Delhi.

There is a queue of bicycle Rickshaw operators. I took one back to my Hotel.

The contrast between the Metro and the Rickshaw ride is a quintessential Indian experience.

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