Wednesday 20 March 2013

Hi Honey I'm Home......

What a fantastic time I've had - India it is an incredible county... The sights, sound and 'smells' were amazing.
I had approached this trip with trepidation as I had some idea that it would be an emotionally  uncomfortable trip... I'm sure we have all seen pictures of the poverty there and been told tales of being pursued by hoards of begging children. But at no point were we chased or hassled in any way.. ok - some of the hawkers at the larger tourist attractions were persistent but most were good humoured about it.  And you cannot escape the fact that people live in poverty but it is sometimes hard to judge the extent as the general living conditions are so different to the western style we are used to. A lot of the homes are very basic in comparison to ours... no fitted carpets ?... Not needed in a hot dusty country... hard floors are cooler and easier to keep clean.. Bedrooms doubling as living rooms?.... Necessary when several generations of families live together and support each other for their lifetime.  As on my previous trips I have found it easier to understand their lifestyle if I ignore my own... Who's to say we in the west have got it right?

Oh... thats all a bit heavy... and to describe my thoughts over the whole 3 weeks would have you running for the trip switch ..So I will just briefly explain where I went...

We started off in Delhi.... where we launched into India's crazy traffic - the guide books have one word to say about driving in India - DON'T... and it is sound advice. I don't think there are any traffic rules in India except one... Might is Right... which means the biggest man wins.. It works (mainly..) but comes a cropper at junctions where 2 vehicles of the same size will have a stand off until one of them concedes..
and don't even get me started on explaining this one....
Suffice to say Delhi is disorganised chaos that gets there in the end....

We then travelled on to Agra....  and this.....

One slight problem.... we were there on a Sunday.. with the rest of India..!! It makes you realise what sort of organisation was behind the picture of Diana all 'alone' here.
It is a beautiful building tho' and I had one of those 'take your breath away ' times as I thought back to how it was built and the conditions that the 22,000 workers endured to achieve such a visual delight..


Then on to Jaipur... with its magnificent fort.... That you travel to by Elephant.. (don't you love it that  the Mahout is on his mobile?)


The fort was so decorative... it was pattern & design overload... I am inspired towards a little bit of Appliqué...


That would normally end the 'Golden Triangle' but we travelled further west towards the Pakistan border... More later when I have sorted my 1800 photos out.....