Tales from the Trail

Well I have been in India just over a week now, after flying in from Thailand on Christmas Day. It’s taken me quite a few years to build up the courage to visit India and so the day of reckoning finally arrived. India was everything I was expecting and more – chaotic, colourful, crazy, contradictory….. quite the sea of humanity. It has been exhausting and testing at times, but also very beautiful and rewarding. In general, the people here are really friendly and generous. Anyway, it’s early days with so many more adventures to come. Here are a few pics of what I have seen so far.

The streets of Delhi, just around the corner from my hotel. Despite the noise, pollution, rubbish and chaos, I really enjoyed Delhi. I guess everything was so new and I was ready to take it all in.

The Red Fort – Delhi

Inside a Sikh temple

Chai time! Have been really enjoying the local chai, and a great place to stop and have a chat with the locals.

Street stall

Just chillin’ – Delhi style

Delhi colour

Just one more thing to dodge

A bit of Indian colour and movement

Off to Agra. The view from the rooftop terrace. Unfortunately the weather was misty and overcast for the 3 days that I was in Agra, so not blue sky photos of the Taj. And it was cold – really cold. Had to invest in a winter jacket and thermal pants.

Agra Fort

Agra Fort

Agra Fort

New Years Eve Indian style. Ended up being quite a fun night.

Fireworks from the rooftops for New Year. Thankfully health and safety concerns not yet too much of an issue here. Agra was also my first experience in a $8 a night hotel. Well you do get what you pay for. Despite the power cuts and mould, the room was liveable although the funniest thing was getting wet socks the first time I cleaned my teeth in the bathroom – the outlet pipe ran directly from the bathroom sink onto the floor.

Despite having seen so many photos, the taj is still really impressive up close, especially all the detail in the craftsmanship.