Friday 2nd - from the Ridiculous(ly cheap) to the Sublime

Pictures are now uploaded but still don't believe anybody who tells you what a go ahead place Mumbai is.

Pretty good night's sleep apart from D having a panic that we had slept through and it was broad daylight. It was actually 1.30 a.m. and we were stopped in a brightly lit station somewhere in India. We got up properly at about 7 a.m. and looked out of the window to see a very different landscape - much greener, with palm trees and a general tropical appearance. The catering boys were still trying hard but had run out of linen. Our breakfast tables were covered with quite clean newspaper. The food was again freshly cooked and tasty. After a stop start run into Mumbai Central, which gave a close view of some pretty dodgy slums, we arrived only 15 minutes late. D went to book our tickets for next Monday to Neral for the trip up to Matheran. At Delhi he had been told that these could only be booked in Mumbai as they were within the suburban area. In Mumbai he was told that they could not be booked at all but that we could book to a few stations down the line and get off early. At a cost of £2 each for 70km of travel this sounded good. What a nice man.

We were adopted by a taxi driver and struck a deal for the fairly long ride to our hotel. His vehicle is a 1950's model Fiat, until recently the standard model for Mumbai taxis. The average Italian must have been 5'2" when it was designed. Our initial impression of Mumbai is that the traffic is a bit better behaved and the infrastucture better maintained than in the other cities we have visited. Our lodging is just around the corner from the legendary Chateau Windsor,launching point of last year's GCIRC. We have to wait for our room but they do redeem themselves by giving us comp tea and coffee and upgrading us to a sea view room. We unpack and shower then set off to explore Mumbai. We need an internet cafe but somehow fail to find one. Hence the late post.

We go to check out Mumbai CST (previously Victoria Terminal) an amazing Gothic pile of a railway station. Our trip on Monday will start here and it is huge so we need to know where to go. The work done, we set off in search of a beer. D manages to get a bit lost on the way to Cafe Leopold, a famous Mumbai tourist hang out. Eventually he owns up and we take a cab. The driver must have thought we were mad after taking us about 150 yards to the front door. Inside the joint is jumping but we get a table by the door and relax. The table of Aussies next to us have an interesting tall vessel with an ice core chiller. Too good to miss we order one and it is delivered in quick time with peanuts.


R decides that one of these is enough and we head for a restaurant that we had spotted on the way. D again gets us slightly lost but eventually we arrive at the quaintly named Gaylord restaurant who give us a corner table where the sea breezes keep the temperature just right,




The meal - prawns in coconut, lamb with daal and vegetable pulao rice is excellent and the service is absolutely right. There when needed but not intrusive, The place must be alright as it starts to fill up with Indian diners before we leave.



We walk round the corner to our B&B. Theh have played a blinder turning down the beds, renewing the towels while on our bed is a presentation box containing the TV remote and two smalle boxes each containing a tiny, but perfectly formed Toblerone bar. A bit of a contrast with our £15 per night in Jodhpur. Daughters please relax, this is on a shareholder special deal. Your inheritance was spent long ago.

Thursday 1st March - Big Train Day

Pictures finally added at 18.30 IST Thursday 8th March

These early starts are infectious. We are both wide awake at 6 a.m. showered, dressed and luggage packed by the time breakfast kicks off. D has allowed time for the usual dilatory check out and for the traffic. Check out takes about 30 seconds and there is hardly any traffic to speak of so we get to the station more than an hour ahead of departure time.

The platform is busy but R manages to squeeze onto the end of a bench where she can watch the luggage while D goes for a stroll up and down the platform. Our train is the Marudhar Express (Train no 14854), one of the IR legends, connecting Jodhpur with Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi.

R has consented to slum it in 2AC for this trip - good job because there is no 1AC. The solitary 2AC coach is only about half full for this leg of the journey. After we get off it will be packed. One of the India Mike forum rail gurus describes 2AC as "curtain class" as everybody hides behind their curtains. We are lucky that the 4 berth bay opposite has only two occupants, an English couple about our age, who are happy to keep their curtains open so at least the four of us have light and can look out of the window on either side. North West Railways continue to perform as we have come to expect. The windows would disgrace a Kolkata bus and a mouse made regular appearances from beneath the seats.

His name is Richard Watson - what are the chances of that? Everybody else in the coach is Indian and apparently intent on sleeping all day. They don't know what they are missing. D is able to initiate Richard and partner into the delights of Trains at a Glance and answer a couple of train questions. They thought that they would have to hang around Old Delhi station for six hours between connections so we are able to explain how to book bags into left luggage and where to go within easy walking distance. Richard is also introduced to the delights of door riding as the Marudhar ambles through Rajasthan.

The train makes pretty good time although there are several waits to cross eastbound trains as the line is mainly single tracked. At one of the longer waits, where we cross the Marudhar going in the opposite direction, various hawkers appear from nowhere, walking along the track and selling up into the coaches.


As we get closer to Jaipur we pass through an area known as the Salt Lakes, where sun dried salt is produced in artificial lagoons and then heaped up to await collection. There is even an industrial light railway that runs out between the lagoons to pick up the salt.

In honour of today's rail marathon D is wearing his Great Circular Indian Rail Challenge t-shirt. GCIRC purists may not approve of the routing which involves three hundred odd kilometres backtracking the way we came on Sunday night in order to catch the Jaipur-Mumbai non stop Duronto. It also gives us chance to re-visit the Peacock retaurant on the roof of the Pearl Palace hotel, one of our favourites from last year and well worth the detour.

We arrive in Jaipur on time and, after checking our bags, hop an auto to the Pearl Palace. The streets are unrecognisable from last year due to major works on developing a Jaipur Metro. The Pearl Palace and its restaurant are still the same and we have a very leisurely late lunch and a couple of beers. R gives the loo an immediate place in the finals of the All-India best facility awards.

Before we get totally blathered we return to the station and spend a happy half hour in the land that time forgot - the metre gauge platforms at the far end of the station. We time it just right to see one train arrive and another prepare to depart. The coaches on these trains look as if they haven't had a coat of paint for twenty years.



Metre gauge is being phased out in India and D would love a trip on one of these trains.R takes one look at the upholstery and puts her foot down. She is starting to get a bit antsy about missing our train so we go to reclaim our luggage.


Next to the cloak room (=left luggage) is a check your PNR machine. The PNR is a unique 10-digit number that identifies your ticket status and when we check ours it shows that, for the fifth time out of five possible, we have been allocated a 2-berth coupe. BINGO. With the aid of a very modern lift make our way to the platform for the Jaipur-Mumbai Duronto (train number 12240) which awaits. Composed of modern rolling stock, painted in a rather ridiculous camoflage pattern our coupe awaits and even R can find only one fault - the bullet hole (?) in the outer pane of the double glazed window.


Here we see R in her best Lady Glenmutchkin mode lording it over the huddled masses on the platform. Our train pulls out right on time and we settle down for our sixteen and a half hour trip to Mumbai. D gives the ticket inspector a good laugh by telling him that the train had set off in the wrong direction. Silly D.


The catering service on this train is definitely the best that we have seen. The meals are included in the fare and are cooked on board in the pantry car. Two very smart young men are looking after the 1AC coach and they make a real effort. Dinner is laid out on folding tables with tea-towels as table-cloths. We kick off with tomato soup - always fun on a swaying train - followed by capsicum and paneer, with pommes de terre, daal, rice and chapatis, served from tureens at our seats in a most presentable manner. We finish off with tubs of ice cream eaten with wooden spoons just like at the cinema. It least it was like that the last time D paid to go to the pictures.


And so time for bed. R voted the linen very satisfactory apart from the pillows which were like rocks and had the obligatory footprints on them. We have our blow up pillows and we are soon curled up for the night.

Wednesday 29th February - Camel Riding

We both wake at about 3 a.m. The celestial sky is still there and there are a few more shooting stars to see. It is getting a little chilly but neither of us is willing to get out of bed to fetch the extra blankets from inside the house. Next thing we know it is starting to get light in the east so we leap out of bed, in honour of today's date, and sort ourselves out. Back up onto the roof to see a pretty spectacular sunrise.


There are peacocks to watch until we get the call for breakfast - millet porridge, sour yoghurt and banana washed down with chai. Meanwhile our mounts for the day have arrived along with their cameleteers or whatever they are called. We hop on board and are soon heading further away from civilisation.


Our first port of call is No 1 camel boy's dad's house where pater is waiting with a state of the art camel cart. The camel pulling the cart is D's camel's dad and his son keeps up a lively pace following the cart. This contains a full load of bedding and cushions and after about 20 minutes we arrive at another cluster of dwellings in the increasingly sandy landscape. Here everybody has a breather and a chinwag while the cart is unloaded and then we head off towards the horizon.


Travelling by camel gets you much closer to nature and there were plenty of birds to see although a swaying camel does not provide a good platform for photography. We passed a herd of camels, grazing the desert thornbushes, and all marked as belonging to somebody. The baby camels are very small and have difficulty walking for a few days. We were told that this chap is about ten days old.


Our guides took us to the foot of a big sand dune and offered us the chance to climb it. Like the mugs we are we said yes please. Jock Wallace used to improve the fitness of the Rangers first team by sending them up sand dunes. We are amazed that they ever recovered enough to play. The view from the top was worth the effort. When we got back down to the camels there was half a stone of sand to empty from each shoe.


All good things come to an end and we found ourselves back at "Uncle & Auntie's". The scariest bit about camel riding is when they sit down to let you off. YOu must hold tight, lean back and try not to yell. Although it is only 10.15 a.m. lunch is ready, pretty much a repeat of last night but still very tasty. After our guides had had their meal we set of back to Jodhpur, once again our driver showing us what Grand prix racing would be like if cars travelled both ways round the circuit and there were a few goats and sheep ambling across and along the track.


Back at the Durag Niwas we met Govind, the owner. and we were able to thank him for a really excellent excursion. R has just about forgiven the place its little eccentricities
such as the colony of tiny ants (mainly) behind the wall hangings in our room, a bathroom tap that is shoogly even by Indian standards and the off white nature of some of the linen. You try washing your sheets in the river and see what they look like.


Once again it was time to pack for the next stage of our journey. This done, we took an auto into the centre to try a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant, the Indique on the roof of the Pal Haveli Hotel. We were lucky enough to get a table on the highest level of the roof where most other tables were reserved. From here we got views right across the city and in pariclar a great view of the sunset by the fort.


This was by no mens the cheapest meal that we have had in India but it was probably the best. The setting was fabulous and the heat radiating from the stone parapets kept the chill away. As it darkened candles were lit for all of the tables. Despite the place
becoming full there was no pressure for us to leave the table until we were ready.

A really splendid evening

Tuesday 28th - Part 2 - Off to the Desert.

Our guide/driver is one of the hotel family's cousins and he has brought a friend with him who has two days off from driving tourists around Rajasthan. Talk about a busman's holiday. There are a couple of errands to run, such as delivering gas cylinders and the like before we hit the road horth west. The first part is like a moonscape as we pass endless sandstone quarries and weave our way among lorries piled precariously high with chunks of rock. We stop at a travelling roadside market where people come for home essentials such as doors, ladders and charpoys. A bit like a tented B&Q.


The next stop is Balesar famed for its pakoras made from lentils with a little bit of chilli. Straight out of the frying pan into a makeshift bag made of newspaper, they are very tasty but we are a bit wary of the chilli content so only have a few. The sun is definitely sinking now as we make terrifying progress along the roads of Western Rajasthan. We have been promised a sunset so maybe that is why we are in such a hurry.


After about two hours we turn onto a minor road and then onto a track through the sand, finally pulling up in the centre of a collection of huts and square stone buldings. One of the stone buildings is being renovated but has a room and a bathroom of sorts and is to be our accommodation. We will be fed 50 yards away at "Uncle & Auntie's" and are invited to wander round but not to miss the sunset which is best seen from the roof. We are immediately a centre of attraction for the local children who had been amusing themselves by banging a drum - practice for the forthcoming Holi festival.


After the sun has gone down we are called across to partake of aperitifs and nibbles. We have pre-ordered a couple of beers which have been warming nicely during the trip. Our guide is an expert at opening these without spraying everybody and it goes down well with the homemade papads, cooked on an open fire. No more microwaved Sharwoods' for us. The kitchen is a separate thatched hut to the rest of the house and is very much Auntie's domain. We are invited in to watch the chapatis being made and R slips easily into supervisory mode. EHOs look away now.

We enjoy a meal of vegetables cooked in a lightly spice sauce, rice, daal and two kinds of chapati, one of them made with millet a local speciality. After eating we are asked if we would like to sleep on mattresses on the roof, on beds in the courtyard or inside, or in a thatched hut. The night sky is fantastic (although it won't photograph) so we opt for beds in the courtyard. Goodnights are said all round and we are left to enjoy our night-cap before turning in. We lie watching the stars, some shooting across the heavens, for a long time before dropping off to sleep.

A fantastic experience!

Tuesday 28th - A bit of a wasted morning.

A leisurely breakfast in the courtyard followed by an expedition to find an internet cafe
with wifi. The first auto offers us a ride to the clock tower for Rs 50/- only ten more than the hotel's suggested rate. On the basis that we weigh more than most customers we don't mind paying a little extra but when our man drops us 100 yards short and tries to tell us 50 each there is an exchange of views. D pays fifty bust. No tip for you my lad.
The market around the clock tower is just waking up so we head straight to the Rough Guide's recommended internet place - opposite the north gate of the market. No sign of it but no worry - RG says that you can't move for internet places around the market. The next place is a smelly cupboard under the stairs with no wifi. We wander quite a way and see a guest house offering free wifi but they are having a power cut.


Eventually we find the Blue House where we are promised wifi in their rooftop restaurant. Their tea and gulab jamun is very good and the views across the city are stunning but their wifi is incredibly slow. Eventually we give up and head through the alleys towards the station where there is another RG recommendation. That also cannot be found. The Jodhpur chapter of our Rough Guide is now officially toilet paper.

We do spot some interesting advertising signs as we go round. By now we are getting hot and bothered so we decide to go back to the start and ask the tourist info kiosk. Praise be we find an honest auto driver who only charges Rs 20/- and is delighted with his tip. The man at the info kiosk shows us where to go but again - no wifi so we decide to see if the power is back on where we went earlier.


"Is it possible to have a beer and use your wifi?" we ask. "Everything is possible in India". But not at the same time. We are shown up to the roof for our drink and then told that the wifi works only in the courtyard and no we can't take drinks down there because there is no licence. After the fastest Kingfisher in history we take up residence in the yard and dash off some blog, but again the connection is pitifully slow. R is taken with their doors so that's a small consolation.

We decide to pack it in and go home. Again we get an honest driver with a very smart auto, not like the wrecks that they drive around Delhi. Back at Dirag Niwas there is shade and cool and the wifi is now working splendidly. it gives us the chance to catch up with the blog etc and pack ready for our trip out into the desert. We were told three, maybe three thirty would be departure but we are on Indian time and leave at just before 4.00 p.m.

Monday 27th - Jodhpur

Woke at about 7.15 after a fitful night's sleep due to the cold. You've paid for AC so you are getting it. The unit on this coach could have been used as a blast chiller. We are now passing through very different, much more arid countryside - light brown in colour rather than green. From the train we spot our first camels of this trip as well as deer and peacocks. There is a sad lack of vendors on the Rajasthan Sampark Kranti - this is the sort of occasion when even we welcome a cup of hot, sweet chai. Arriving at Jodhpur twenty minutes late D lets a porter take one bag to the autorickshaw stand where all of our baggage and us are piled into one machine.


We are taken straight to our guest house, the Durag Niwas where our room is ready. R witholds the 5 star rating but it is only costing £11 per night. At first view the room is like something out of the Arabian Nights with drapes and floor cushions everywhere. We have arrived in time for breakfast so we enjoy an omelette with a pot of black tea before getting cleaned up after our journey. Top of the list of attractions in Jodhpur is the Mehrangarh Fort, a huge place which dominates the town and which is clearly visible from the roof of our hotel.


We take an auto up to the gate and then sign up for the highly informative audio guides. These take us through the history of the place as we progress upwards through various courtyards and stairways. They have fascinating collections of howdahs and palanquins on display. (Look them up on Wikipedia) The views from the top are spectacular and the "Blue City" as Jodhpur is known, is seen to great effect.





We are now quite used to people wanting to stand next to us while their friends take photos. We keep asking why but nobody has told us yet. R does her usual trick of schmoozing the natives. "Thank you sir. That will be Rs 20/-."





By now it is getting warm so we ride back down into the centre of town and take refuge in a cafe for samosas and Limca. The bazaar is the usual chaos of people and motorbikes but this one has the added bonus of a turban vendor who tries to flog one to D. They are tempting at a mere £4 each (£5 for the muticoloured ones) for 9 yards of material but how does one put them back together when they fall apart?



In the heat we are shopped out and head back to the Durag Niwas, getting a much better deal on the auto for this ride. The wifi network is malfunctioning so we spend a while trying to get online. We are asked if we would like anything to drink so we ask for a beer. The waiter is sent out to the off licence to get a few in. Most of the guests seem to be German women, not particularly chatty, but the staff are friendly enough. Closer examination of our room reveals some interesting artefacts inclusing an old wind up gramaphone and what looks like a 3" mortar round.


We decide to treat ourselves tonight. The Umaid Bhawan Hotel has a Rs 3000/- minimum charge in the bar to keep out rubberneckers like us (That's about £40) The Ajit Bhawan is suggested by LP as a satisfactory alternative so we head there. The auto driver wants 50/- so we tell him that we will walk and the price drops to 40/-. As he has to drive half a mile past the place to find a gap in the central barrier we get quite a long ride for our money.


It would have been quicker to walk. The hotel is in spacious grounds and set up as a mock tribal village with rooms in individual thatched "huts". The bar is at the far end of all this and is pretty splendid. One G+T and one beer come in at £11 but we do get some very nice nuts and crisps thrown in.





On the way out we spotted their garage full of rather smart classic cars, all immaculately maintained unlike most things in Jodhpur.




Further along the same road is the "On the Rocks" restaurant, recomended in the guides but with a caveat about slow service. We are in no hurry and are soon seated alfresco under the waxing moon in what is certainly the busiest restaurant we have yet been in. The waiters were all rigged out as Frank Spencer with very silly berets and some of them seemed to be about as much use. After five attempts we managed to place an order. When the food comes it is in tureens with a bed of glowing charcoal beneath and is absolutely delicious. We send out a clear messagbe to the auto drivers that we are not to be messed with by walking home.

Sunday 26th - In New Delhi

At last we get a lie in. The weather in Delhi is definitely heading towards summer as the sky is blue and it is quite warm out of the breeze. We have a leisurely breakfast then pack and clear our room. Lutyens Bungalow is a really nice laid back place and they are happy for us to leave our luggage, come back for afternoon tea and dinner and help ourselves at the bar (as long as we pay for them). Our host Shukla is a lovely lady who goes out of her way to make her guests feel at home and for us she has certainly succeeded.

R decrees that retail therapy is required today so we head off on the metro for Dilli Haat market where she finally decides upon a suitable Ganesh for our domestic shrine. Most of the ones we have seen in India are fitted out with scarves or shawls to ward off the winter cold. We browse around the stalls and tell the salesmen that we have no room in our suitcase. They don't seem very convinced.



After a momo lunch we decide that we have time to visit the Rajpath, the area of new Delhi designed by Lutyens to be the seat of government for the Raj. The buldings are very impressive and the gardens are generally well maintained. We took a look inside one of the admin buildings, peeked through the railings at the President's house and got chased off one of the terraces by a man with a gun (but he was very nice about it).





Half of Delhi seemed to be out, playing and picnicing on the lawns on either side of the Rajpath. There were several games of cricket in progress although from what we saw nobody was likely to make the step up to test level anytime soon. By the time that we reached the imposing India Gate, a huge War memorial, at the east end of the Rajpath, the heat was starting to take its toll and we take an auto back to the metro for the ride back to LB.


This is our last ride on the Delhi Metro on this visit. We have used it everyday during our two stays in the city, which has cost us just under £2 each. Match that Boris. The trains are clean and air-conditioned and much more roomy than the London Underground, even when busy. D could not resist the opportunity to take an illicit photo of this splendid system. There are notices around the stations detailing the penalties for various infractions. Riding on the roof incurs a fine of Rs 50/- - sounds like good value. There is no stated penalty for taking a photo, just notices saying don't so if this blog suddenly goes quiet you know what has happened.


We arrive just in time for afternoon tea and a chat on the terrace. Everybody who stays here seems to love the informal atmosphere and mucks in. Even the parakeets and the chipmunks seem to get on with each other. Eventually the sun drops behind the building and the air becomes chilly so we take refuge inside and catch up on our e-mail. THere are lots of comings and goings tonight and we dine as a small party including Shukla and a rather grand friend of hers who R dubs the Countess. The conversation is entertaining and the food is good but it is soon time for us to depart for Sarai Rohilla Station, a few miles north west of central Delhi.


The taxi firm wanted to set off at 8 p.m. while D was thinking 9 so we compromised at 8.30 which meant that we arrived at the station just before nine. The coaches were at the platform but 1AC and 2AC were locked. Delhi SR is a bit of a dump as far as major terminals go and lacks most facilities but R did find a seat while D went to check the loco (WDM 3A Class No 16374R if you must know). When he returned it was to discover that R had a ringside seat for the great Platform 2 fish catastrophe. Two chaps were wheeling a barrow laden with boxes along the platform when one of the wheels broke through the tarmac surface and turned the barrow over. There were fish and ice and bits of polystyrene everywhere. Eventually it was all swept up off the platform and back into the boxes. We won't be eating fish for a few days.


Our coach was unlocked and we found cabin C - the only 2-berth on the train, again! R voted it the mankiest train she had yet seen in India, using her precious face wipes to clean the upholstery. A very black mark for the North West Zone of IR The bedding provided was deemed unfit for purpose - R wants to know what they use to keep their sheets so grey. We were glad that we had our silk sheet bags. The Rajasthan Sampark Kranti Express was under way at 10.30, only five minutes late and after waiting half an hour for the ticket examiner we poured ourselves a night cap then turned in.