The Golden Triangle(Thurs 12th - Thurs 19th March)

For the past week we have been travelling along the most popular tourist route in India, Delhi to Jaipur to Agra and back to Delhi (commonly known as the Golden Triangle). We did consider going by train or joining a group tour but the best way is to hire a private car and driver and let him do all the hard work. Our driver Puran (yes him again) took us first to Jaipur about a 5 hour drive west of Delhi. Jaipur which is the capital of Rajasthan is another dump although it does have some lovely historical buildings. Like Delhi the roads are chaotic with lots of cows wandering all over the place plus lots of camels pulling carts, goats and the odd boar running wildly about. It is a very surreal scene. Jaipur is called the "pink city" because most of the walls and buildings within the old city are painted pink - don't ask me why. We stayed for 3 nights in a very odd "guest house" about 30 minutes from the centre. The staff seemed to sleep in the lobby area and I had to get one of them out of his sleeping bag one morning to find me a toilet roll.

One day we visited the pink city and the magnificent city palace built by the emperor Jai Singh in the 1720's.We also visited a strange place called the Jantar Mantar which is an enclosure containing some huge astronomical measuring devices (also built in the 1720's) which are used as sundials and to aid astrology - didn't really understand any of it. The other day we visited the Amber Palace which is dramatically perched on a hill outside of Jaipur (we climbed to the top on the back of an elephant) -all very attractive and picturesque unlike the city itself.

One evening we went to a famous art deco cinema called the Raj Mandir which was showing a new Bollywood film called "Delhi 6". We were hoping for English sub-titles but unfortunately there were none and we had to make out the story as best we could with a little help from Puran. The cinema holds 1500 and was packed. Not as much dancing and singing as I expected. It was all very escapist nonsense but I suppose for most people who must lead a pretty crap life this is what they want.

We then headed south for Ranthambhore National Park, famous for its tigers which are apparentlythreatened with extinction. We went out on a very early morning safari on a lorry called a cantor which holds about 20 people. The purpose is primarily to spot tigers but unfortunately we were unlucky. We saw plenty of spotted deer, samber deer, black-faced monkeys, peacocks (national bird of India) and the odd crocodile and gazelle. We tried again in the afternoon with another safari to another zone this time in a jeep but again no luck apart from one leopard sitting on a roof. Still we both enjoyed the day and it was all very peaceful and great to escape the noise, crowds and dirt of the city.

Our final stop was Agra, yet another large sprawling dump. I would like to use more earthy language to describe these places but this is a family show. There is only one reason for coming here and that is because it is home to the Taj Mahal.We arrived at 7.00am when it was still fairly quiet and the weather ideal.Puran found us a guide who followed us round although to be honest he did not say much that we didn't know already.We were able to stay about 2 hours but then the whole place had to be vacated because of a VIP visit (turned out to be the President of Chile). The Taj Mahal was not a disappointment - our visit there has to be the highlight so far of our time in India.

On the way back to Delhi I was reading a book by William Dalrymple on India. One chapter was about a town called Vrindavan called the City of Widows.In Hindu tradition when her husband dies, a widow is cursed, she cannot remarry and must spend the rest of her days fasting, wearing white and praying for the deceased. She becomes a burden on the family or is thrown out by cruel relatives and many make their way to the religious centre of Vrindavan where they live the rest of their lives begging on the street and chanting Hari Krishna. By an amazing coincidence I looked up and saw a sign for Vrindavan just a few miles away. Puran made a slight detour and half an hour later we were at an ashram meeting some of these widows. There were 6 women sharing one room which was covered with pictures of their god Krishna to whom they prayed 4 hours per day. They were a bit cheerier than I expected and seemed happy to see us.

A few observations about Indian life.

• ·There are no women working in the hotel industry. All jobs from reception to laundry are done by men.Apparently no respectable family would let their wife or daughter work in a hotel which is presumably seen as a den of iniquity. On the other hand you do see women working on the roads doing heavy work.
• ·95% of marriages have been arranged. We spoke to several young married guys about this and they all said it was an excellent system. Normally after the wedding the couple live with the parents of the groom - building an extention if necessary.
• The toilet paper here is rubbish. The rolls are tiny and after 2 visits to the loo it has gone. I'm fed up having to ask hotel staff for more loo rolls.
• ·The food has been good. Unlike Chinese restaurants the meals have been what you expected and have been tasty and cheap. However after a few days you do get a bit bored with spicy food every day and we have both suffered a mild form of Delhi belly ! Beef obviously is not on the menu but I haven't seen any pork or lamb either. There is something called mutton but that turns out to be goat.
• It is quite common to see young men holding hands. This is a sign of friendship and doesn't mean they are gay. Homosexuality is illegal in India !