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Hello, people
We arrived in Delhi on the 28th of April at 2am in the morning we didn't have anywhere to stay so found a tourist office. The Indian people there immediately tried to screw us and pay 100 pounds for a hotel we eventually got them down to 30 pounds. Can't believe Delhi it looks like a scrap yard, the moment we left our hotel we were mobbed by auto-rickshaw drivers in the 45 degree heat it was crazy. We eventually booked a tour with the government tourist office in Delhi which included a flight to Kashmir. The lonely planet advises against traveling there because some journalist were kidnapped some years back and there are frequent terrorist attacks, so we were very on edge during the trip. We flew into the Himalaya and did some mountain trekking some of the most amazing views i have ever seen. The local gypsy people were very friendly they all live in mud huts, they served as our guide into the mountains, and camped here for two days. The rest of the time we spent in Kashmir we lived on a house boat in Sringar the views were incredible.
We got the night train back to Delhi on the 5th it had air-con and we had beds, when we got into Delhi again we were met by a driver who we had 24-7 for the next seven days his English is good so we have learn t lots from him abou the indian culture. We went strait to Agra where the Taj Mahal is, the price wasn't included in our tour so we had to pay about 10 pounds this price is just for foreigners as Indians only pay about a pound. The hassle on the walk up to it was difficult people trying to sell things they don't leave you alone one kid followed us for about a mile trying to sell us a souvenir for about 20p. The Taj Mahal was very impressive our guide told us about all the optical illusions it encompasses. After Agra our driver drove us to Ranthambour national park in the state of Rajasthan to go on a Tiger safari. It was a great experience but we didn't see any tigers we were just unlucky, we did see crocodiles, wild dear (just like Bamby) monkeys and loads of different birds. Here our hotel had a pool and I got something that resembles western food. We then went on to Jaipour (the pink city) we saw some more temples and an astronomy museum. I had a barber give me a shave it cost 30 rupee's about 40p then he offered to give me a face massage for 100 I was so tempted.
On the 10th we drove to Pushka a small Hindu town here meat eggs and alcohol are band. It was very quiet there which was a breath of fresh air. The lonely planet recommended a restaurant where you can watch the sunset over the sacred lake, here we met some westerners for the first time. The cows are hilarious they just walk the streets on there own bulls too don't move out the way for traffic or people, they always seem to be headed some where but it just seems that they are wondering around. At night packs of dogs sometimes follow you some clearly have rabies can be quite scary especially as we got lost one night, Pushka is a small town in the middle of the desert.
We are now in Udaipur the hotel also has a pool and the internet is free here we're going to do some sight seeing tomorrow, its difficult because its so hot, it gets to over 40 degrees during the day we tried sunbathing but we were both dripping on our books with sweat it started to ruin them.
I was ill for 9 days had the worst stomach cramps I have ever experienced, had to go to an Indian doctor in the end he have me some antibiotics it cost about 4 pounds in the end and I have been fine ever since. I think it was because I put some holy water in my mouth in Kashmir even though I spat it out it probably was enough to do the damage. However the food is amazing I have been eating meat and its been fine, there are so many vegetarians out here they sure do know how to cook veg, ive had so many curry's. I think Gary has an iron stomach because he eats curries for every meal had hasn't has any signs of a dodgy belly.
See photo's north India
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