December 5, 2007

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  India Trip

  
  

  Gurgaon – Wednesday 14th November 2007

  
  

  One of the surprises that greeted me upon my arrival at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport was the antiquated and degraded condition of the building. Granted, the airport is under renovation to bring it into the 21st Century but it resembled a construction site. As predicted, I was approached by several touts upon reaching the arrivals area despite the fact that there was a prepaid taxi stand outside.

  
  

  It turned out that my old friend Graham, whom I was visiting, did not actually live in Delhi but in a town called Gurgaon 35 km (around 22 miles) outside the capital. He was on secondment to fulfil his brief to locate and open an office to act as the Indian branch of his company, and to recruit the staff to run it. A few of the multinationals have opened offices in Gurgaon rather than in Delhi, Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) or Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore). The car journey itself exposed the traffic regulations in India: there are none. Or rather no-one adheres to the rules of the road. Vehicles cut in and out with reckless abandon, honking furiously. At least it is in common practice with Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.  
  
   

  
  

  
  Pic taken with camera phone

  
  

  As sleep escaped me during the flight, Graham took me for lunch at the VLCC Alive restaurant at one of the malls before heading to his apartment so I could rest. It was there that my palate sampled the best tomato soup to pass through my mouth: plum tomato soup with basil.  

  
  

  
  
  Pic taken with camera phone

  
  

  The restaurant even bolted screens of the kitchen so the clientele can view how their food is prepared and cooked.

  
  

  
  Agra – Thursday 15th November 2007

  
  

  
  

  
  

  One of the aims of the trip was to visit the Golden Triangle of India:  Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. So the following day, I’d boarded the express train departing New Delhi at 6.15 in the morning. The train station itself is a dishevelled eye-opener, closely resembling a chaotic and frantic marketplace. Cars entering the station are mobbed by locals offering to carry luggage for a tip, foreign tourists are pestered incessantly. Only when you strode through a guarded passage on to the platform are you finally in a safe haven.  

  
  

  The train journey was a little over two hours in duration. Travelling in air-conditioned first class revealed how Indians like to have warm milk with their cereal for breakfast and with their tea. Outside Agra train station are two prepaid booths for taxis and autorickshaws respectively but it doesn’t prevent touts from offering their services at a lower rate. I’d opted for a prepaid taxi to transport me to the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, but in hindsight an autorickshaw would have been better as I’d got lumped with an unwanted guide with an annoying penchant for diversions to souvenir shops.  

  
  

  In India there is one price for the locals to visit the attractions and a hefty inflated one for the foreigners. In the eyes of the majority of Indians, all foreigners are rich. Even the backpackers. Admission to the Taj Mahal cost around 30 rupees for the locals and 750 rupees for the foreigner. My camera bag was required to be checked in so I’d was only able to use the one lens that was attached to my camera. 

  
  

  
    

  
  

  Main entrance into the Taj Mahal 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  Once through…

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Admiration from the locals

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  The majestic and beatific Taj Mahal

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  Covers for footwear had to be worn to walk on the marble grounds

  
  

  

  
  

  The view from the side of the Taj Mahal

  
  

  

  
  

  This was as far back as I could go to take this shot without falling off.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Entrance into the tomb

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  A local

  
  

  
  

  
  

  A group of Japanese tourists

  
  

  
  

  
  

  A local

  
  

  
  

  
  

  An armed guard

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  More locals

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Poor camel

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Monkeys also roam freely…along with cows, goats, ponies and dogs.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Entrance to the red Agra Fort

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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  Three Daughters

  
  

  There were three daughters and they all wanted to get married but they couldn’t afford it and neither could their parents. So the parents said, “We will give you all a joint wedding and then you will all be able to get married.”
  
  So they got married and all three daughters then said, “I want a honeymoon but we cant afford it.”

  
  

  The parents couldn’t afford it either so they decided they would have the honeymoon at their house.
  
  So on their honeymoon night, the mother woke up and deiced to go downstairs and get a drink. On the way down she heard the first daughter screaming but she just ignored it. When she reached the second daughter’s bedroom she could hear laughing and she ignored that too. When she reached the third daughter’s room she could hear nothing and thought nothing of it.
  
  The next morning at the breakfast table she said to the first daughter, “Why were you screaming?”

  
  

  And the daughter replied, “Well Mother, you told me to scream when something hurt.”
  
  Then the mother said to the second daughter, “Why were you laughing last night?”

  
  

  And the daughter replied, “Mother, you told me to laugh when something tickled.”
  
  Then the mother said to the last daughter, “Why didn’t I hear anything coming from your room last night?”

  
  

  And the daughter replied, “Well Mother, you told me never to talk with my mouth full.” 
   

  
  

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  What A Wife Is For

  
  

   

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

   

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