2019 India

From London to Varanasi

From London to Varanasi

Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th March 2019 Initially, we were aware that out eight hour flight from London to New Delhi was going to be extended by two hours because it was being diverted around Pakistani airspace, via a longer route to the south. You may have seen in the news over the last week […]

A second day in Varanasi

A second day in Varanasi

Thursday 7th March 2019 Feeling refreshed by over twelve hours’ sleep and a leisurely breakfast we prepared to set forth on a second day of sight-seeing in Varanasi. Initially, we needed to engage and negotiate with a new tuk-tuk driver, this time preferably without the hanger-on ‘pseudo’ guide/helper. Hashin had spoken to us the previous […]

Night train to New Jalpaiguri

Night train to New Jalpaiguri

Thursday 7th March 2019 Every ticket sold on reserved trains on Indian Railways has a 10 digit PNR number. Day trains tend to have seats so when you buy your ticket you will know your PNR and a specific seat and coach number. For the night trains with sleeping compartments, you do not now your […]

A toy train to Darjeeling

A toy train to Darjeeling

Saturday 9th March 2019 Today we are fulfilling an ambition which Robert has held since he first saw pictures of the trains on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway [DHR] over 40 years ago. When the 08:30 service from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling pulled into the station it was already just over an hour late. By the […]

Two days in Darjeeling

Two days in Darjeeling

Sunday 10th & Monday 11th March 2019 Another leisurely breakfast followed by our first real excursion into Darjeeling. St Andrew’s Church, built in 1843 is very close to our hotel but being a Sunday, we did not want to intrude on the service which was in progress. We will have other chances to visit.  Robert wanted […]

From Darjeeling to Kolkata

From Darjeeling to Kolkata

Tuesday 12th March 2019 We did not know before our last post but Monday 11th March was Robert’s beer free day #2 as he was feeling under the weather [not the chilly weather, but the Delhi-belly kind]. Our fourth and final trip on the DHR takes us back down the 6,700 feet to New Jalpaiguri […]

A brief visit to Kolkata

A brief visit to Kolkata

Wednesday 13th March When we arrived, very early, in Kolkata off the sleeper train and took a taxi to our hotel, the LaLit Great Eastern, we were not expecting a room to be available but wanted to deposit our luggage. We were therefore really pleased to be offered the use of the in-house spa as […]

From Kolkata to Agra

From Kolkata to Agra

Overnight Thursday 14th and Friday 15th March 2019 The start of this journey was very civilised. We asked at reception for a taxi to the station and they arranged one of their own hotel cars and drivers and provided chilled bottled water for the journey. After the tuk-tuks we used earlier on the trip, a […]

A visit to the Taj Mahal

A visit to the Taj Mahal

Saturday 16th March 2019 The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays and we were originally advised that Sunday would be quieter than Saturday so planned to visit Agra Fort first. However, on the day, Amit, our guide, suggested that it might be better to visit the Taj Mahal and then Agra Fort on the same […]

The ‘baby Taj’ and black Taj Mahal in Agra

The ‘baby Taj’ and black Taj Mahal in Agra

Sunday 17th March 2019 With an evening train to catch we planned just a brief trip to Itimad-ud-Daulah’s tomb and Mehta Bagh with time to chill at the hotel before heading to the station.  Built ten years before the Taj Mahal, Itimad-ud-Daulah’s tomb was commissioned by his daughter, Nur Jahan, who was also Mumtaz Mahals’s […]

Our first day in Udaipur

Our first day in Udaipur

Monday 18th March 2019 Before leaving our hotel in Agra, to go to Agra Cantt railway station, we took advantage of the wifi and checked our PNR code. We were surprised that we were in HA1/A/4 and HA1/B/5 [carriage/cabin/berth]. This meant that we had been allocated separate 4-berth cabins. When we got onto the train […]

The second day in Udaipur

The second day in Udaipur

Tuesday 19th March 2019 Udaipur, a city with four man-made lakes, seems to be a popular resort with Indians as well as international tourists. We were told that the island cafe which we can see from our hotel is closed for six months for refurbishment.  We therefore planned to take a boat trip on Lake […]

Visiting the forts of Jaipur

Visiting the forts of Jaipur

Wednesday 20th March 2019 Checking our berth allocation for the sleeper, we were extremely relieved to see we had both been assigned to the same compartment, albeit in a four berth cabin, for this journey. On boarding we found we were sharing with two Indian businessmen, both of whom had initially entered the adjacent compartment […]

Happy Holi

Happy Holi

Thursday 21st March 2019 Although not part of the planning process, as we were in India for this festival of colour, we thought we should enter into the spirit of the celebration. Holi signifies “the arrival of spring, the end of winter, the blossoming of love, and for many a festive day to meet others, […]

From pink to blue … Jodhpur

From pink to blue … Jodhpur

Friday 22nd March 2019 We caught a train from the Pink City to Jodhpur, arriving about 18:30 in time for some thirst-quenching water and cold beer and a meal. Matilda was in particular need of liquid refreshment as Robert had reported that the toilets on the train were in a rather unpleasant condition so she […]

Who wears the trousers?

Who wears the trousers?

Sunday 24th March 2019 We took a brief trip into the old city to the Clock Tower and the Sardar Bazaar. On walking out of the hotel, the helpful doorman who stands in front of the part of the palace which is still a regal residence, told us the price we could expect to be […]

No AC1 from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer

No AC1 from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer

Monday 25th March 2019 Today was an early start, our train was timetabled to leave Jodhpur at 05:30, so we had arranged a taxi from the hotel at 04:45. Getting up at 04:00 it was dark, and the first job was to check the PNR number of our ticket, so we could find out our […]

Going for gold: “lovely jubbly”

Going for gold: “lovely jubbly”

Tuesday 26th March 2019 We had our bespoke breakfast [no pre-prepared buffet here as everything is cooked to order] ready to go into the town to look round the sights. Staff were very helpful in stopping us from over-ordering food in the evening and again at breakfast. We both asked for hash brown potatoes, expecting […]

Masonic arts, hundreds of pounds down the toilet and then Delhi

Masonic arts, hundreds of pounds down the toilet and then Delhi

Wednesday 27th March 2019 As mentioned previously our hotel, in Jaisalmer, looks old but is actually very new. There is a huge amount of building work going on in India, Jaisalmer included. What sets Jaisalmer apart is the wonderful and fantastic sculptured sandstone buildings created by the skilled local craftsmen. Whilst trying to find the […]

From New Delhi to Shimla

From New Delhi to Shimla

Friday 29th March 2019 We had arranged a car to take us to New Delhi Station but the rush hour traffic was so bad we could not get close and in the end we got out and walked the last 200 meters. As we waited on the platform for the train to Kalka we were […]

Shimla – summer capital of the British

Shimla – summer capital of the British

Saturday 30th March 2019 In 1864, Shimla became the summer headquarters of the British government in India, hence the building of the narrow gauge railway, and today it is the capital of Himachal Pradesh. Although the forecast predicted rain and 18 degrees, the day was sunny, warm and bright.  The upper entrance/exit to The Combermere […]

Viceregal Shimla

Viceregal Shimla

Sunday 31st March 2019 It is easy to forget that, following Viceroy of India John Lawrence’s decision to move the capital of the British Raj from New Delhi to the hill station of Shimla in 1863, for six months of the year this was the headquarters of the government of India. In our guide book, […]

It’s all downhill on the Himalayan Queen

It’s all downhill on the Himalayan Queen

Monday 1st April 2019 Having climbed to these Himalayan heights there is always the journey back down and, as a mark of respect for this impressive little narrow gauge railway, Robert dressed to match The Himalayan Queen, as this ‘Toy Train’ is known.  We were bemused by the yellow signs (see above) on several of […]

Trouble in Chandigarh, sector 27

Trouble in Chandigarh, sector 27

Tuesday 2nd April 2019 In 1950 Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India commissioned the building of a new city to serve as the state capital for Punjab as, when India gained Independence and East and West Pakistan were created, Lahore became the capital of West Pakistan. Chandigarh is a city and a union […]

No hotel bar in Amritsar!

No hotel bar in Amritsar!

Wednesday 3rd April 2019 With an early train to catch, we had to leave before breakfast and found ourselves in a carriage with a party of British tourists we had previously seen on the train down from Shimla, although they had disembarked the Himalayan Queen part way down the hill. We sat with a Welsh […]

Golden reflections in the Pool of Nectar

Golden reflections in the Pool of Nectar

Thursday 4th April 2019 – Morning We had secured a guide the day before to show us round the Golden Temple and the very knowledgeable, polite and solicitous Mr Singh met us in the hotel lobby at 10:00. Turning left out of the hotel we soon saw a different side to Amritsar.  The streets opened […]

Bordering on Pakistan

Bordering on Pakistan

Thursday 4th April 2019 – Afternoon Jallianwala Bagh is close to the Golden Temple and was the scene of an infamous and bloody massacre, on 13 April 1919 by British troops under the command of General Dyer, of unarmed Indian men, women and children who were gathered in a walled garden to celebrate a festival. […]

No shorts allowed – Delhi day one

No shorts allowed – Delhi day one

Saturday 6th April 2019 On Friday 5 April, our final train journey from Amritsar to New Delhi ran to schedule but as it was an eight hour trip and we were up at 04:30 we decided to award ourselves an afternoon of rest and recuperation, to cool down in the pool and plan our sight-seeing […]

Tombs, tombs and tombs – Delhi day two

Tombs, tombs and tombs – Delhi day two

Sunday 7th April 2019 Having used the New Delhi Metro on Saturday, the places we wished to visit on Sunday were spread out around the city and were not necessarily close to metro stations so we decided to revert to travelling by tuk-tuk.   Our first stop was Safdarjang’s Tomb which was built between 1753 […]

No open Lotus, more tombs and a deserted HRC – Delhi day three

No open Lotus, more tombs and a deserted HRC – Delhi day three

Monday 8th April 2019 Robert spent some time studying the map of the city in conjunction with the map of the metro and planned a route for the day on air-conditioned public transport.  Our first destination was the Lotus Temple, also known as the Baha’i House of Worship, and although we had realised that it […]

A Great Soul – in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi

A Great Soul – in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi

Tuesday 9th April 2019 Returning to our hotel by tuk-tuk from a different direction one day we realised just how close we were to the Gandhi Smriti, or Gandhi Remembrance, a memorial marking the place where he was assassinated in the gardens of the then Birla Bhavan on 30 January 1948 on his way to […]