India for Beginners

INDIA FOR BEGINNERS

WAYNE MARTIN

It’s not the easiest country but travelling in a well-organised small group introduces you to the beauty and complexity of India.

The Golden Triangle of India has been in my proverbial bucket for a long time but why is Australia so far away from anywhere?

Plane leaving Sydney late and arrives late and we miss our connection to New Delhi! It takes almost four hours to sort out a new flight connection, transit Visa and arranging free accommodation and travel to Airport Express hotel. Bed was a welcome end to the day.

Next day, all sorted. New Delhi looms through the smog. Shimmering and dusty and glare making you squint. Exit through the air bridge was akin to walking through a furnace.

We met up with the rest of the touring group of 22 for lunch and our diet of curry had begun.

After lunch we headed to us Jaipur. We had a short interlude to feed bananas to monkeys. Six hours later we arrived in Jaipur.

Having someone to drive for you in unknown territory with unpronounceable names is the upside of group travel

Quickly ensconced in our Sheraton Hotel we are quick to recognise the quality of hotels we are being provided and while luggage is taken to the rooms we find the restaurant again with a plethora of fine foods we are excited to explore. Life is good! If someone could just turn down the temperature, we would have nothing to complain about! Blazing over 40 temp was fortunately not accompanied by a high humidity. with the extra.

Promptly at 8 am and all group members of the group set off to see the Amber Fort. Here we had an elephant ride to the top like royalty. The fort is beautifully maintained and was the site of one of the worlds first air conditioner passing water over hanging carpets and the wind caused the cooling.

Next we drove through the pink city of Jaipur to see the red/pink facade of Hawa Mahal and on to City Palace museum with its grand collection of Rajasthan costumes and armoury. The next stop was Jantal Mantar which is the world’s largest observatory with a huge sun dial accurate to two seconds and can calculate your horoscope.

But wait there is more as we were whisked off to a carpet factory to meet Padam an Indian who lives in Sydney who returns annually to work here. We had a great demo of carpet making and trimming and then the salesmanship began. We fell for the beautiful quality and price and now the proud owners of a 9x6 camel carpet for the dining room.

Revived and excited for the chase by early next morning we were on the road to feed the cow at an enclosure right in the middle of town. Business men in suits often feed the cows as an act of worship on the way to work. We faced another five-hour drive via lunch and on onto the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri which is the best example of Mughal architecture by Emperor Akbar, a short man with a big bed! The bed room specially designed over water to keep him cool, keeping in mind his three wives and 1000 in his harem.

That night we dressed for dinner and up to the hotel’s top floor for a sight of the Taj Mahal. It was only a sad silhouette in the haze over the city. dark night sky as our plans for day four will begin at 5am as we visit the divine Taj Mahal - really the reason for this whole trip.

Sometimes when you tick the box on your bucket list it is an anti climax-not as big, not as colourful, not as sweet smelling, not as exotic as you thought. The Taj Mahal meets all expectations as you let the love story wash over you.

Our morning continues with a visit to the marble inlay demonstration by artisans related to the original workers on the Taj. Beautiful inlays of semi precious stone in a vast array of patterns stimulate the eye, but not the pocket for some of us. Believe it or not we complain of being peckish so back to hotel Crystal Sarovar another well chosen hotel by SNA.

We had a chance meeting of a groom and family on their way to his wedding. Many of these grand occasions happening at the moment because of good horoscope. He looked magnificent in his colourful outfit and explained his marriage was an arranged love marriage. We were invited to join the celebrations which would take all night with street parades and bands and horse drawn coaches.

We continue on . . .it is all part of the tour - early mornings and late nights. It is beginning to show on the passengers’ faces.

So we continue on to Delhi and it’s all starting to feel familiar already. The traffic of Delhi is chaotic with constant hooting of horns and screeching brakes and near misses. Mr Singh our driver took it in his stride often doing u-turns n the most unsuitable places but the locals seem to be more accepting of others and their need to change direction.

The afternoon was spent visiting the Qutub Minar a world heritage mosque with a 73m minaret; India gate; passing presidents ‘residence and Parliament House, Connaught Place shopping area, visiting barefoot in a Gurdwara Bangla Sahib temple with all its noisy sound effects where anyone can receive a meal anytime. Walking on the hot marble was a reminder of just how hot it was as we made a quick dash to soak our feet in the huge pool.

We went from Jaipur to Delhi via Agra! My pun for the day! Appreciated by all and Viagra jokes flowed!

As we entered the sanctuary of the Crown Plaza there was sigh of relief. We had survived the journey and made many friends along the way. It is interesting to watch group dynamics over the last seven days. At first the bus was quiet as people slowly reach out to find a new friend. By day three there was much chatter and laughing. We completed the tour as friends.

Going to the airport. all seem subdued as we contemplate the past week.

Reaching the end of the India Golden Triangle was the end of an exceptional time made all the better by the broad knowledge and humour of Rajiv our guide. He introduced us to history, politics, religion, geography, Indian life and caste systems. Perhaps a little too much information at times as he monopolised the microphone on the bus for most of the time we travelled.

Certainly our lives have changed in the last seven days giving a new respect for the Indians that live in our country. And new gratitude for our blue skies, minimal pollution and uncrowded streets. New Delhi’s population is almost the size of Australia!

So credit goes to SNA for packaging such a tour but be warned you need to be healthy and well able to handle heat and rough walking surfaces. Long hours of flight in a seven-day period with the time changes are bound to disturb you.

Did we enjoy Incredible India. Absolutely

Did SNA organise a great trip. Absolutely

Would we tell our friends. Absolutely

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