Apr 20 2009

Last Day In India

Today marks our last full day in India.

It's quite sad to think we're leaving tomorrow but it does feel like we've been here a long time and to be honest I fancy eating some vegetables that haven't been mullered to death. I've been surprised by the lack of fruit in the restaurants too so it'll be nice to eat an apple: how odd?

I've lined up for Namaste India Tours to pick us up at 11am (in twenty minutes) to take us around a few of the sights I want the girls to see, including the wonderful Humayun's Tomb that I remember fondly from my last visit.

Last night we tried to count the list of monuments, tombs and palaces we've visited, safaris we've done and animals we've seen but we failed: we've done and seen so much.

Thank you for following this blog, it's been really nice thinking that friends and family have enjoyed reading the articles and seeing the pictures. We'll hopefully see some of you in a few days.

We've truly had a wonderful holiday.

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Apr 10 2009

Henna Tattoo

Today, Emilia and I went to have a henna tattoo on our legs but after some confusion over how much it cost I only got one leg done. We will go back tomorrow and get some more done.

A henna tattoo only lasts for a few days. Lots of ladies and girls have it on their legs or hands, especially when they get married.

Do you like it so far?

Amys henna tattoo

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Apr 04 2009

Buying Handicrafts

Now don't get excited, I'm not buying anything for you but I thought I'd just mention about some of the things we've bought so far and their prices. I'm sure I didn't pay the lowest price for any of this but te prices do seem so low compared to back home.

In Agra, just outside the Taj Mahal - it isn't usually a good idea to buy anything near a tourist attraction but we couldn't help ourselves - we bought some lovely coasters made out of "marble" (I don't think!) with inlaid "precious stones" (not!) and carved too: 3 sets of 6 for Rs450, that's about £6.50.

A little boy selling guide books started out with his price for a rather ropey looking Taj Mahal guide book at "normally I sell for Rs2000 but for you Mister, RS1000". I laughed, walked on (repeat many times) and finally got it for Rs120 (£1.60ish)

In Jaipur the girls bought their Salwar Kameez's for £10 each and considering that Amy's was tailored made, I thought that's pretty cheap.

In Amber, Amy bought two cloth puppets (Maharajah and Maharani) with painted wooden faces for Rs150 (down from Rs1600) which is about £2.

In Pushkar last night we bought some cushion covers for Rs350, which is about £5.

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Apr 03 2009

Amy's Last 48 Hours: Jaipur

Wednesday 1st April
We travelled to Jaipur for 3.5 hours. Then we drove to McDonalds for lunch before going to a tailors where I got measured for my very own Salwar Kameez (it's leggings with a long knee-length top), which will be ready in 24 hours. After that we went to the City Palace where I had audio guide to tell me about the palace history and buildings. We knew the Maharajah was in the city because the flag was flying high. We saw two collosal silver urns made from 15000 silver coins melted down until they could be made into the urn. The urns carried water from the sacred River Ganges for the Maharajah when he visited the UK.

Thursday 2nd April
Today we went to the Amber Fort. When we drove the bend I saw the Amber Fort for the first time, it was very exciting and I said "Hey Emilia, look at the walls they are so big". As we arrived at the majestic Amber Fort we went up some steps to get on a elephant's back for the long slow ride up to the fort which was high up on a hill. It was very wobbly on the elephant's back and I felt slightly sick because of the smell of the elephant dung! When we got to the top of the hill we had 19 photos taken by Ali Baba which Daddy bought very cheaply. I can't wait to show my friends and family the photos of me on an elephant. 

Amy x

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Mar 30 2009

Emilia's Recap Of The Last 48 Hours - Delhi and Agra

Saturday 28th March

A driver picked us up from the Airport and took us to our hotel, the Apra Inn, in Karol Bagh, Delhi. We had a rest and ventured out on the streets to go to Pind Balluchi, a restaurant themed like a village, with a stormy sky like ceiling and it even had a tree in the middle of it. I ordered Tandoori Chicken starter and a Murgh (Chicken) Makhani, which I loved. The waiters, who were very attentive, served all the lovely food to us and a boy (about 3 years old) from the table near us kept coming and saying 'hello' and shaking our hands. It was funny.

Sunday 29th March

At 9am, our driver for the next 10 days (Kamal from Namaste India Tours) picked us up from the hotel; we then went on the trip to Agra which took exactly five hours and was very hot in the car, even though it had air-con. The roads are very busy and absolutely mad: cows wander the streets, there's bicycles and motorbikes everywhere, rickshaws and cars drive the wrong way up a busy road if they want to and the lorries are colossal - carrying heaps and heaps of sand.

At 3pm we went to the Agra Fort. In the Agra Fort, lots of people wanted to take photographs of Amy and me because we are white: Amy and I felt like we were princesses. Next we explored the fort, there were bats and geckos everywhere but that was okay; they didn't annoy us.

We ate dinner a Pizza Hut although a lot of the pizzas we're Indian pizza's, like Chicken Tikka Makhani: it was lovely.

Monday 30th March

Beep, beep, beep went the five thirty alarm, as we went to see the Taj Mahal at 6am. From far away the Taj looks like a speck in the distance however when you get close to it, it is actually really, really tall. I loved the Taj Mahal, especially the way the marble changed colour in the sunlight.

So far, I've had a terrific time in India and it's day three.

 

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Mar 26 2009

Counting Down The Hours

I'm really excited. Tomorrow Daddy will pick me and Emilia up early from school so we can get ready to go to the airport. I've only been on a plane once before but I was only two years old so I can't remember what it is like. So this is kind of my first flight.

I'm curious about how hot it will be, how big tigers are, how spicy the food is and how much water I'll need to get through a meal without screaming "arrrgghh my tongue is burning".

I'm worried about how busy it will be in case I got lost so I plan to stick close to Mummy or Daddy. Daddy said it was really busy when he went there before.

I'm quite looking forward to seeing all the forts and special places and I'm hoping that I will be able to ride on an Elephant's back up to the Amber Fort in Jaipur.

One night we won't have a hotel as we'll be sleeping on a train. It was my idea to go on an overnight train so I asked Daddy if we could. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

by Amy

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