Day 21 & 22 - Garden of 5 Senses and Akshardham Temple

Today we headed out to see the ‘Garden of 5 Senses’ . . . a 20 acre site/park in New Delhi. Something different to get away from the sounds and chaos of everything else . . . Government website description is as follows:

“The Garden of Five Senses is not just a park, it is a space with a variety of activities, inviting public interaction and exploration. The project, developed by Delhi Tourism Transportation Development Corporation, was conceptualized to answer to the city's need for leisure space for the public, for people to socialize and unwind. Such spaces add atmosphere and life to a city and cater to all sections of the society”

We get there and notice signs stating “Please remain decent, you are under surveillance” and alike . . . . Weird. It then became apparent why.  HEAPS of young Indian couples obviously use this as a 'necking point'.  They were everywhere. Sitting on benches around the park, lying on the grass, and then the closer you looked we started to see them behind bushes, under trees, behind walls. You name it.  They were everywhere.  Occasionally we would see what looked like Park Security sitting among them and holding a big stick. 
It was very strange and entertaining.
However they were the most interesting thing to see in the garden although we are not sure which of the senses they were supposed to represent.  The park is just another of India’s good ideas gone bad/not quite realised.  The fountains were dry and cracked.  The lawns and gardens untended.  What looked like quite large statues and monuments on the website were under knee height in reality.  It was very disappointing, although not unexpected.  The other good thing we found in the garden was a run of coffee shops and restaurants.  We chilled in the sun and drank our lattes. The weather has been great the last few days and has lost its bite of the first few days back in Delhi.

After some chill time in the hotel we head out to our local shops for a wander.  This place really takes off at night and there are people wandering around all over the place.  Jase heads off to check out the music and DVD shop and Wendy decides to get her hands Hennaed.  Not sure why, but it seems to be the thing you do when in India and with only one day left, it seems it’s now or never.  They came out great but it made for some interesting sitting around time in the hotel while they dried.  Being hand fed and having drinks brought to her lips on demand seems to be something Wendy could get used to way too easily.

Dinner was in our new favourite restaurant.  We have started eating out of the hotel for half the price and it’s a very short walk across a car park to get to.  We have eaten there the last two nights and tonight when we arrive our regular table has a reserved sign on it for us.  We think it will also be the place for our final meal before we leave.

The last day.

Well it is here.  Our last day in this vibrant, crazy, dusty, dirty, exciting country.  A late start sees us heading out at lunch time to a modern temple built to celebrate India and also Swaminarayan Akshardham. (a prophet of the 17^th century).
The buildings are ornate and the grounds are the cleanest we have seen in our whole time here.  This is probably due to the huge number of staff that wander the grounds.  At one point we spot 20 gardeners on their knees, in a line (not dissimilar to a forensic search) all looking for weeds.  No one seems to find any, but they continue to crawl along with their tin collection trays until they reach the end of their allotted piece of field. No cameras are allowed.  We wander the grounds and enjoy the sunshine and the silence and once again seem to be a curiosity for the locals. 

Back at the hotel, and the time has come to commence the final pack for the trip home.  NOOOOOO.  Will it all fit?  What will it weigh? 

We complete our cases and head downstairs to the doorman to use his luggage scales to assess the damage.  We take a deep breath and load Wendy’s and do the happy dance when it comes in with 5 kilos to spare on the luggage limit.  Jase has a whopping 7k left, so after dinner, we are going to hit the shops again….  Just joking.  See you all soon, we take off from here 9am(ish ) India time.

indulging in the only sense that was not mentioned in the brouchure...taste

the not quite huge monuments we were promised

mixing it up with the locals

their penmanship was amazning

fast and delicate, they were a joy to watch

the finished product

Day 20 NDTV Blanket Run and Markets

Moving to the new room was a good move. Whilst the bed is still very firm . . it was a tad softer which made for a much improved sleep.  Also, having pillows with something in them  aside from cotton wool is much  better . . .

We meet our taxi driver at 10:30am as arranged. We had 3 main destinations in mind . . . 2 Markets and then the New Deli Television Studio to drop off some blankets for their Blanket Appeal.

 http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/this-winter-help-keep-someone-warm-donate-a-blanket-310807

Note: The link is FYI only. We DO NOT suggest you make a donation as they cannot guarantee the money will get to the intended recipient as stated on the website. That’s why we bought the blankets ourselves and delivered them to the TV station in person.

Our driver suggests we stop at a few ‘emporiums’ on the way which was sort of expected. The first one was called ‘Cheap Tony’ which sounded dodgy from the outset. It was however quite nice and not like the tacky name . . . No introduction of the staff but ‘Tony’ introduced himself and said he won’t hassle us like other sellers and that “money is nothing” and “relationships are everything” and “that is how he does business”.  He then proceeded to hassle us like every other seller we have met.  After checking prices against a few items we had already purchased, we deemed that his prices were not cheap at all. Funny thing is that we have what some economists call the ‘Big Mac Index’ . . and that is, how much a common/standard item is in different countries across the world. We have a few items we check and that gives us a feel as to where the other items will sit price wise.

So after determining this, we start referring to him as “Not So” . . . meaning “Not So Cheap Tony”. Our amusement  kept us going as we are continually tailed and shown everything that is “hand made” and “best price” and “special gift” and every other term imaginable.

Our second Emporium  is very dodge.   Total rip off  with some very sleazy guys following us around.  It’s one thing to eye off a white woman . . . but do you need to get very close physically? 

We end up back at Central Market to check out our ‘wish list’ from the other day.

The traffic is more chaotic than usual as the driver must have decided to take a different route in. When we arrived he said ‘we are here’ and we had NFI as to where we were . . .we asked and he simply stated the market is ‘around’ us  . ..

We took deep breaths and forged on and decided to move quickly and efficiently whilst remembering where the car and driver was. The thinking was that that we will hopefully see something or a landmark to give us some idea . . . and it did.

We re-orientated ourselves and decided to buy the blankets first. We checked out a few places and decided on the last as the bulk buy got the price down . . .and they at least were pleasant.

Dashed the blankets back to the car and went back to buy some stuff for us.

The store where we bought some outdoor stuff was headed up by the biggest Douche Bag ever. He was nibbling away on a plate of rice and refused to look or acknowledge us when discussing prices. He just looked so dodge .   The next store was not much better and we were obviously interrupting the Indian equivalent of ‘Days Of Our Lives’.  There was a particularly engrossing court room scene going on, and the gents were not impressed by our interruption.  We left empty handed.

We then head to a new store where we grab an awesome painting for Wendy.  Tough part was that it could not be rolled, but overnight Jase being the cardboard engineer, builds the most amazing ‘box’ for transportation. Jase's 'Leatherman' has again come to the rescue . . . Never travel without one!

We head back to the hotel, deal with admin and preparation for the next day and then spend the rest of the night building the aforementioned box (pic below)

A late dinner and then to bed.  For a while anyway.  About an hour after lights out the hotel alarms go off. (12.30am)  It has happened a few times since we have been here but this time it does not stop and some extra alarms went off . . not the usual power outage stuff . . .  We quickly dress and grab our passports and then  head into the hallway to check on what is going on.  No one seems to know, but we can’t smell smoke and we haven’t heard anything outside that would cause alarm.  Not sure what caused it but we suspect is has something to do with the drunk Canadians staying across the hall.  Crisis averted we head back to bed ( 2am).

Day 18 & 19 - Laipat Nagar - Hauz Khas Central Markets

A late start and then we head to a local market after lunch. Once we find the actual market, it is mad. The local people are everywhere.

There is way too much fabric, clothing, jewelry, footwear etc. but we struggle through.
Jase happens upon some art shops and once again comes away with the purchase of the day. A lovely long face Ganesh (hand done, oil on canvas) for a mere $20. See below for a crude pic . . .some sides cropped out.

We will probably head back as there were a few more items we liked, but we want to do some research on shipping costs first.

A quick Tuk Tuk ride home where Jase made the mistake of giving a beggar (mother with child) at the lights some money. Jase had a weak moment and regretted it . . . he was so strong until then!!
The female must have spread the word, because all of a sudden they appear thick and fast. Snotty nosed kids, mothers carrying babies, lining up and tapping the sides of the Tuk Tuk . . .arms inside etc .. . We say no and sit and pray for the lights to go green. Jase won’t be letting his guard down again . . .

Only one pic today. Too many people around to even get into our bags, let alone try to get a happy snap, and fun as it was, it kind of looked like a lot of other markets we have been to over the last few weeks.
 
We are both still carrying a cold, and starting to get a little tired. But the day was still a success.
All is good. 8-)

Similar the next day . . . more exploring and adventures . . ..

Day 17 - Agra to Delhi via the new Highway

Up late – but still heavy mist as we head off at 10am.  Our driver ( of little English) has been organized by P.C.  and is half the price of the one quoted by the hotel.  The car is clean and large and we squeeze our ever expanding luggage into the boot.

The trip is smooth on the new highway.  At times we are the only car on the road.  Which is probably a good thing as we can only see 30 feet in front of us at any given time.  It makes for a peaceful run, but it does rather spoil any game of eye spy.  Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘M’.  ummm Mist,  Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘W”.  umm. White.   Umm, I think I am going to read my book  now.

Anyway a smooth and safe journey back into Delhi and back into the same hotel we stayed at before.  The bar staff remember us and when we walk in, our Gins are ready , the nuts are removed from the table and the fresh crisps are opened.    You can’t beat good service.

Day 16 - Giving Back - Agra

Another cold and foggy day. About 6 or 7 degrees when we get up.  

Sight seeing options are limited.  We have done the main Agra sites, but there are a few minor ones we could still venture out to when the mist rises if we want to.  While we have been here, and due to the extreme cold snap, the local news has had many stories about the number of homeless people who are not making it through the night.  There is a major blanket drive going on in Delhi, but try as we might we cannot find anything going on in Agra. 
We contact P.C. again and explain that we want to go somewhere to buy bulk blankets for distribution to a shelter or something similar. 

We push through ‘Tony’ at the gate of the hotel and discuss with P.C what we want to do. It took a lot of discussion . . . language being one barrier and what we wanted to do probably being a not so common ‘activity’ for a tourist to request of their guide. We get as far as the blanket purchase, but he seems to think we want to drive around handing them out on the roadside.  We have visions of throwing them out of a moving Tuk Tuk like newspapers which is so not what we want to do.  We can’t find a shelter, and neither of us is comfortable just handing them to sad looking people on the road side. Really where would you stop?

We eventually get there . . .  and P.C. knows and understands what we want to do. He takes us to a place and we buy a heap of thick durable Woollen blankets as well as toys . . .

We visit the Mother Theresa orphanage and make a donation.  It’s a small gesture, but Agra and India has been kind to us and it’s the least we can do.  If opportunity presents itself, we will do the same in Delhi.  We have the address of the Blanket drive drop off point there and its only about 10 km from where we are staying (we just need to work out where to buy them).

The arvo is cold and we are heading back to Delhi tomorrow.  We relax, pack, read and update the blog. 

Tonight we ‘treat’ ourselves to a ‘show’.  There is a theatre just down the road from us that does a ‘live’ song and dance tribute on the story of the Taj.  Hmm, if live is lip sync, then yes it was live. The acting and scripting woeful, but it was very colourful and some of the music and dancing was very well done.  Each seat had a set of headphones so that the story could be translated.  It was a bit like watching Iron Chef, with lots of giggling, incorrect use of syllables, and weird use of expressions. Still it was a nice night out and a bit of a giggle.  It was worth the 200 meter walk being stalked by Tony the increasing psychotic Tuk Tuk driver.  He wanted to walk in with us so he could claim commission on our tickets.  The guy is relentless.  And yes, he was waiting outside for us.

Late dinner in the hotel, early to bed in readiness for the trip back to Delhi tomorrow.

Day 15 - Exploring - Red Fort - Jase's Birthday - Agra

Up and about . . . Jase’s 40th Birthday!! YAY!! Got some great prezzies!!!  Thanks!!!! Xoxoxo
Just another day though . . . . 8-)

After a sleep-in we headed out to walk and see the South and West Gates to the Taj Mahal  . . . Once we got through the usual chaos it was quite relaxing as the gardens were quite green and spacious . . . but yes, camels, cows and people are still scattered everywhere but the ratio of clutter was less . . . .

In the afternoon we hook up again with P.C. for our tour of the red fort.  We activate our ‘Tony the Tosser Tuk Tuk driver’ Avoidance Campaign  and walk around the corner to use another driver.    We all jump in one on the corner and we are off to the Red Fort.  Like all the other monuments and historical sights, the history is amazing . . . and we’ve learnt a lot about the history on this side of the world, probably a bit too much in some ways and it all merges together a bit.  P.C. is great though and handles our novice questions like a champ, and not like he has answered them a million times before.

After the Red Fort we grabbed the same Tuk Tuk guy and travel through some great little villages, through old Agra and end up at a Mughal garden complex on the other side of the river that passes behind the Taj Mahal. The views are awesome . . . so unique. It was also green . . . such a welcome sight!

In the very foggy and cold temperatures of the evening we head out to a great restaurant at the ITC Gardenia . . . . Wendy arranged it . ..and a great effort as arranging anything in the current hotel was hard work if it could be achieved at all.

Wendy Comment  Apparently ordering a bottle of champers to the room is a foreign concept and after 10 minutes of trying to explain I did not want to drink it ‘in the bar’ or did not want it ‘immediately’ but to be delivered at 7pm , to this room on this date, I just had to give up.  By this stage there were already 4 staff members in the conversation and they were starting to talk more among themselves then to me.  I gave up and booked dinner in another hotel and it was well worth it.

Only 10 freezing minutes down the road in a Tuk Tuk. Sadly we had to use Tony as he was first on the scene and it was too cold to walk around the corner. The trip consists of him telling us what a bad man P.C. is by using another driver and complaining that he saw us use other drivers also. He really is a pain! He offers to wait but we fob him off but fully expect to see him shivering outside when we leave. We have an awesome meal . Best Dahl Makani of the trip in Wendy’s opinion. . and Jase ‘pockets’ a small memento from the place . . Another great unique day . . ..

Below are some pics including the Hand Made & Knotted woolen rug that is the Birthday present from Jase’s Mum & Dad. . .awesome . . thanks! This is a lifetime item which is so superior in quality and is just awesome!!!!! 8-)

P.C. (Puran Chand Updhyay) and Jase

Awesome Wide View of the Taj Mahal from the gardens

Some Dude chilling outside the fort . . .all day . . .

Red Fort inside

The Rug for my Birthday . . . the white tassles at the end will be removed and re-bound/stitched in blue like the sides.
It's just Awesome!!!!

From over the river . . .awesome! Not a common sight . .
everybody is on the other side! A not well known view.

Lost your hat Wendy?

Outside the Fort and the worlds largest bathtub

Day 14 – Markets and Taj Mahal – Agra

Well today we felt a heap better than yesterday! A foggy day to start so we headed off to a local market/Bazaar. Again, and as always, we get some great unique gifts for ourselves and others. We stop on the way and get a proper coffee at a proper coffee shop . . . yum. it seems a popular spot for non Indians. While we are there several other 'whitey's come in. When the greyhound bus of Koreans descend, we decide its time to move on.

We head to a Vodafone store to see what’s up with Jase’s mobile as he cannot receive international SMS’s even tho it’s an Indian SIMM card etc . . . we get in the store each desk is busy and there are a range of people hanging around . . standing and sitting . . . not obviously queuing, but we are not sure what the process is.  We head to the rapid service desk but after some head bobbling and smiling we are directed to the desks where nothing seems to be happening at any rate of knots.  The most movement in the place is the woman sweeping.  Each time we shift our weight from one leg to the other, she zooms over and mops furiously under our feet.   We eventually give up, none the wiser.   That’s India for you!

With a full shopping load, we head back to the hotel and unload. As we do we can see the sun peeking out and doing its best to burn off the fog. So at 3.30 we head off on foot to the Taj Mahal so Wendy can say she has seen it as well as being able to say she has been there. He he.

We are delayed in our dash as the guards single Jase out for security checks and remove his 6 inch high tripod. Our options are take it to the lockers ( about 1.5 k away) or leave it with them. All guards are armed with Semi Automatic rifles so Jase was quite polite . . but did point out that the tripod was not on the list of items that were banned . . . even a promise by Jase not to use it was not good enough. So we left it with them with a faint  hope of seeing it again as we leave.

We move on and move throughout the complex . . it is awesome. We got some great pics and just relaxed and enjoyed the awe of the structure . . . In doing so we observed so many people breaking the written rules such as using their mobile phones, eating and not covering their shoes . . .we remind ourselves that we are after all in India!!! He he.

After an hour or so the fog started to roll back in and the temperature began to rapidly drop.

We hed out via the guard station and after some discussion and about 10 minutes waiting, we are presented with the famed tripod and head home happy.  We are staying only 2 k from the Taj so we walk back to the hotel amid the hagglers and market stall holders. Every step of the way we are hassled and told to “look in my store” and “come in here and see”etc . . . the pattern was predictable and when we leave we are often asked “what you want?” and Jase began a series of responses along the lines of  “a job” or “a nice house”, "to be left alone" and so on.  These random (funny to us) responses seemed to throw them as they did not know how to respond . . assuming they understood them! He he.

Over the last few weeks we’ve come up with some code words that only we understand that our foreign company do not . . . Well we hope not anyway or we are going to be in a lot of trouble with the political correctness police.

We finally land at the hotel, have a nice Indian Banquet for tea and crash for the night . . another long and busy day . . but as always a great one. Some of the many pics below . . . 

Day 13 New Years Day & Taj Mahal Visit – Agra

To start, we must say we got to bed at about 2:30am after the party . . and up and ready for our Tour Guide not long after 8am. MASSIVE effort!!   and possibly a little hung over.

The tour guide we are using for the Taj Mahal is P.C.  (Puran Chand Updhyay) a local guide Jase met when he was here in Agra last year. He is a great, genuine and a very knowledgeable person. He also looks out for us and keeps the touts away the best he can short of using a Tazer. An amazing person . . . highly recommended. 

The fog has been covering the North of the country the last few days so it didn’t look good when we awoke. He decided to go ahead though as we had no idea when or if it would lift over the coming days. It turned out well howver as we got a lot of insight as to the history of the building . . and decided to come back without the guide if and when the fog lifted over the next few days. Whilst we are extremely tired we decide to soldier on . . . .

Early arvo we decide to head out and look around the strips to see the sights etc. . . . .Jase also wanted to check out a highly recommended Rug store. We decided to go on our own and leave the touts as they just want commission from the places you buy from . . . So we headed out of the hotel and immediately the Tuk Tuk drivers swarm on us. We grabbed the first one, agreed on a flat fare and headed to a busy intersection we knew of where we could leave the Tuk Tuk driver and dissolve within the crowd . . so we thought. Anyway, he drops us off where we request and we head into a store. We leave pretty soon after as it’s all white marble etc . . not what we’re interested in. The driver immediately pulls up beside us and tells us to go somewhere else. We try to shake him again . . this time crossing roads etc . . .but no, he just drives down the wrong way of the road and continues to tail us. This was getting annoying. We spent about 45 minutes in a great rug place and bought a few things that will be shipped directly to us at home. When we left he was there again . . we then continued to other stores and simply ignore him. Another 2 hours later it all of a sudden got cold, the fog rolled in and darkness begun to set in. We had full backpacks of stuff and a carry bag and just wanted to get back to the hotel. We discussed and agreed we’d use him as he knew where our hotel was . . . At no time did we feel unsafe and we knew where we were . . just that this guy was really annoying, whiny and way too pushy. We agreed to pay him 100 rupee to get us home which is a great fare for him . . 2-3 times what you would normally pay.

All they way home he complains that he only gets commission and he was poorer off as we did not use his shops etc . . . what a story! We tipped him well and he continued with his Bullsh!t story!! We agreed not to use him again . . . we now leave on foot and head off around the corner as if we don’t want transport . . only when we are out of sight we grab one . . and all with no dramas from this d!ckhead!  However Jase gets the death stare each time he sees us.

We get inside, freshen up, deal with a couple of power blackouts and head downstairs for a non-spicy dinner. We both eye of pizzas from the menu . . yum . . only to be told they no longer make them . . great!  We then go for pasta, someting bland.  its wonderful and just what the doctor ordered.  We are tired and trashed we need to retire . . . what a day . . .such a massive one!!!

Wendy and Jase at the Taj..

It's out there somewhere, we are sure

Such a nice colour contrast . . .

Day 11 & 12 - Travel to Agra and New Years Eve - Agra

We traveled from Jaipur to Agra by car. Sanjay was waving at the gate as we left.  It took about 5-6 hours which was better than expected. It was a smooth run with good roads. We even got up to a speed of 80 km//h at one stage!!!  Nearing Agra we were surrounded by fields of Mustard Plants . . . just endless kilometres of crops . . quite a sight!

About half way through the trip, in the middle of nowhere, we passed thousands of Hindus/ Sadhus walking on the side of the road . . heading somewhere or from something .  Many were in vibrant orange robes and turbans and many had long white beards.  The driver in broken English explained they were holy men going to temple.  There was a Krishna temple nearby . . it looked like a pilgrimage and was quite a sight! Sorry, no pics . . 

When we arrived we headed out to get a feel of the area. It was quite good as it was not too busy and we had some space around us. We headed to one of the Bazaars and did a spot of shopping. Wendy did alright and lashed out on a few things . . Jase did alright also and picked up a few bargains!

We can see the top of the Taj Mahal from the hotel room but it is still very foggy here so visibility is quite low.

On arrival we were informed that there is a ‘mandatory’ New Years Eve party for all guests . . .at $100 US per person! And guess what, all the drinks are free except for beer and wine!!! That caused a bit of a stir with many people which is understandable! We saw one guy absolutely lose it when they wanted to charge him for a ‘Diet Coke’ to go with his Black Label Scotch as ‘Diet Coke’ was not free but normal Coke was . . and Coca-Cola was one of the sponsors for the evening!! Some things we’ll never understand . . .

The night was great . . . the people at our table were not bad . . albeit boring. Half of the crowd had  ‘retired’ by midnight which was strange  . . . But in some ways you could understand as the entertainment was quite loud and varied in quality. We met a nice Swedish family in the bar area and all had a good laugh about our various experiences and perceptions. it was nice to laugh with people who were as confused by it all as we were. 

Some pics below of the venue before the festivities started and as the night progressed . .. . even the hotel staff got right into it . . .they were dancing on tables also as can be seen in one pic!!

Everybody had fun . . . Happy New Year!!!