26 Feb – Varanasi, India

We arrived in Delhi only 10 days a go but have seen so much since then. We are travelling with a group of 6 others plus a brilliant Indian tour leader who has made the trip so far very special.

In Delhi we managed to meet up with Murdoch Frazer who kindly treated us to dinner in one of the poshest hotels in town! He even took us back to our hotel in his chauffered car.

We enjoyed a sightseeing tour of Old and New Delhi which was both fascinating and informative. Traffic is unbelievable but all public transport including tuk tuks are powered by Compressed Natural Gas and so pollution is considerably reduced. Hawkers everywhere and tuk tuk drivers who are difficult to persuade that you only want to go to your destination and not to his uncle’s shop.

We have ceratinly been ‘on the go’ ( a very appropriate tour company name). The train to Jaipur was great with good views of the countryside. Since then we have travelled by bus, horse cart, cycle rickshaw, tuk tuk and car covering many miles slowly (5 hours for 180km on one day). Jaipur and Agra were fantastci and the Taj Mahal more magic and beautiful than the photographs but the jewel in the crown for us was the village of Orchha. After a long and dusty bus ride we came over a hill to see a number of temples and palaces spread before us. The other bonus was that as a Hindu religious place ther number of hawkers was 0 as opposed to 1000s everywhere else.

Our hotels have been fantastic and far superior our expectations. We have also enjoyed some lovely indian food although they do tone down the spices for western travellers.

Currently in Varanasi where we have been fortunate enough to witness the dawn bathing ceremony in the Ganges and the dusk Hindu rituals. Both were very moving events. The morning one was almost silent whereas the evening rituals were accompanied by a cacophony of bells, horns, a drum and chanting.