Indian roads, a death trap

Indian roads are a bloomin' scary place. The week after the wedding I attended the bride and groom were in an accident. I thank my lucky stars that we managed to escape the country without being involved in a car crash. I had the feeling that it was only a matter of time.

Driving with your hand on the horn constantly blaring seemed to be mandatory. Most vehicles even had an invitation to beep them painted on the back!

Here are some of the rules from the Indian Highway Code*
1. Beep your horn. When you are over taking, when you want to over take or just because the mood takes you.

2. Never look at oncoming traffic. We took a 45 minute taxi ride regularly pulling onto roundabouts without ever looking to the right to check for oncoming traffic. Frightening.

3. Drive the wrong way down the road if it suits you. We were once driven the wrong way down a dual carriage way to get back to the previous exit!

4. Never drive in your lane. It would be too sensible if you did. Weave about, just for fun.

5. Don't stop at red lights. Just drive straight through them, observing rule #2 and never checking for oncoming traffic.

6. Go the wrong way round a roundabout. Why would you drive three quarters of the way round to turn right when you could take a cheeky shortcut?

7. Drive as aggressively as you possibly can.

8. When you buy a new car remove the wing mirrors. Who looks in them anyway?

Crazily with all of this going on pedestrians walk in the road and not on the pavements!

*According to me. Might not be true.

Old Delhi

Mum and Ruth inside Amber Fort

We took the very efficient Delhi metro to the station of Chandni Chowk in Delhi's old city. A wrong turn out of the underground station left us outside the not very salubrious train station and a longer than intended walk down Chandni Chowk to the Red Fort.

Despite being hot and tired it was cultural gold walking through one of the old town's main streets. We saw someone ironing the old fashioned way, filling their iron with hot coals. Men and boys washing themselves under hand water pumps on the street. Barbers giving cut throat shaves to men on the street. Workers sitting on the side of the road with their tools laid out before them on the pavement waiting for a days labour. It was photo journalism gold and I didn't take a single picture. To be honest I was a bit scared to get my camera out!

Wonky bamboo scaffolding inside the Red Fort

After our walk we arrived at the Red Fort. The enormous fort felt larger in scale than either the Amber Fort in Jaipur or Agra Fort, with massive defensive walls and open spaces between the buildings. After the 1857 uprising the British took over the fort and built a number of barracks inside the complex which now sit side by side with the ancient stand stone and marble buildings. The red brick buildings don't look as out of place as you might think, the British at least built them with appropriate scale. I was shocked to see two men sitting on the roof of one of the barracks with their legs dangling over the edge without a care in the world. Certain death awaited them should they have slipped.

After lunch at Moti Mahal we briefly stopped by Delhi's largest mosque the Jama Masjid. The rather aggressive door guards, obviously wanting to try and extort money for entry put us off stepping inside.

On the way home we stopped at the paper bazaar which was unfortunately closed. My sister was hoping to pick up some bargains, but it wasn't to be.

We had dinner at Véda in Connaught Place near our hotel (not in the old town). The restaurant was pitch black so I couldn't take any photos of the food, however, I did manage a few snaps of the interior. Very cool I'm sure you'll agree. It was probably my favourite food of the trip. A little bit more expensive than other places we visited, but no more so than some of the joints our tour guides tried to take us to.

Véda in Connaught Place

Restaurant Review: All American Diner, New Delhi

Suffering from various degrees of the Delhi belly my mum and sister had been trying to avoid Indian food for a couple of days. I'd given up on curry for breakfast but was still happily chomping away on dahl for lunch and dinner. However, on our penultimate day we were nearby the All American Diner and it called to us with an irresistible force. 

Stepping inside the diner was like walking into the set of Happy Days. There was a jukebox, counter stools, booths with red leather seating, 1950's tiling, French's mustard and classic American posters on the walls. The contrast was made all the more stark as we stepped in from Delhi's dusty streets.

Unfortunately as I walked round about to take some snaps I was told that photos weren't allowed...

I went for the chicken and bacon sub. It wasn't the best sandwich you'll ever taste, but then you couldn't really expect it to be. It was refreshing because it wasn't spicy. It was honestly priced too. The place could have been a themed rip-off, but thankfully it wasn't.

Mum went for the apple, cinnamon and walnut pancakes.

For desert I had the banana split. Glacé cherries, squirty cream and three scoops of ice cream. Banana splits are supposed to taste a bit synthetic and like childhood memories, and this one didn't disappoint. It provided me with enough calories to get through the afternoon.


All American Diner
India Habitat Centre
Lodi Colony
Delhi

The diner is a bit difficult to find. Once you reach the India Habitat Centre ask someone to point you in the right direction.

New Delhi

During our time in India we passed through the bustling, crazy, metropolis of New Delhi three times. The city can roughly be divided into two parts, 'New' Delhi and the Old City.

New Delhi was planned by the British in 1911 and reminded me more of Paris than London, with wide tree lined boulevards. The planned and formally laid out city provided a welcome antidote to the red sandstone forts we had been visiting. It also provided some respite from hawkers that can become overwhelming at times.

We visited India Gate a couple of times. I particularly like the picture above that my sister managed to take of me.

We spent some time in the Parliamentary district. The President's House (formerly the home to the Governor General) was enormous. Despite - at the time it was built - India being a colony of the UK it must be over a hundred times bigger than Number 10 and multiples larger than Buckingham Palace. Having a bigger office than you boss can't have been bad!

Unfortunately we couldn't get close to the Parliament itself as it is behind a huge security cordon. The bureaucratic buildings were as impressive as President's House.

We also visited Ghandi Smitri which is the site where Ghandi was shot. I know very little about Indian history, Ghandi and the independence movement. It was excellent to learn (a little) of the history about Indian independence.

New Delhi isn't completely devoid of historical buildings. We visited Humayun's Tomb and also Lodi Gardens that contained some temples. There were two slums on the site of Lodi Gardens before the Governor General's wife (Lady Willingdon) ordered them to be cleared to create a park in the 1930s. It's a beautiful park, but it doesn't exactly make you proud to be British!

The final attraction we visited in Delhi was Nehru's Museum & Library. Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India and the former PM's residence now contains a museum charting Indian independence and some artefacts of Indian governments.

The Craft Museum is also worth a mention which contained many interesting Indian fabrics, prints, paintings and handicrafts. (No photos allowed unfortunately.)

My Delhi photos are split across two albums here and here.

Restaurant Review: Moti Mahal, New Delhi

When I flew back to the UK in August I watched an episode of a Gordon Ramsay TV show where he visited Delhi to learn more about Indian food. Knowing that I would be visiting India in a few months time, I watched with interest hoping to pick up some useful tips of places to visit or dishes to try.

Gordon visited a restaurant called Moti Mahal and waxed lyrical about the wonderful butter chicken that was served there. The traditional Indian restaurant, buzzing with locals, really appealed. I made a mental note of the restaurant's name and made a point of visiting while I was in Delhi.

The moment we stepped into the courtyard I immediately recognised it from the TV and knew we were in the right place. But there was something wrong. It was totally deserted and we were the only customers there! It was approaching three in the afternoon, but I'd still have expected to see some other customers have a late lunch.

In most Delhi restaurants, but nowhere else in the country, we were served complimentary pickled onions and a tangy green chilli sauce while we were ordering. Nothing to write home about, but pleasant to snack on.

As my sister is a vegetarian and as we were generally taking the cautious route of not eating too much meat (more likely to give you food poisoning, apparently) we ordered two vegetarian dishes to go with the butter chicken.

Gordon must have been tasting something that I wasn't. As the signature dish of the restaurant I wasn't overly impressed. On the plus sides it was less sweet than the butter chicken I tasted in Lodi Colony. The gravy was rich and the chicken tender. However, it was a bit bland. It just wasn't a memorable curry. I was left wondering what made Gordon drool so much.

It was a similar story with the chickpea curry, potatoes stuffed with cottage cheese and naan bread. They were all nice enough dishes, but nothing that made them stand out from the other places we'd been eating while on our travels.

Gordon you let me down!

Agra, India

 

Agra has a reputation for being a bit of a dump. So much so that lots of people day trip to the city from Delhi, just to avoid staying the night there. However, besides the Taj Mahal I'd heard there were a number of other sites worth seeing in the city so decided to book two nights there. 

In the afternoon after visiting the Taj we paid a visit to Agra Fort. I was feeling a bit under the weather and wasn't feeling the love for the fort and hardly bothered to take any photos. However, even in my lethargic state I couldn't help but notice the phenomenal scale and grandeur of the place. If I was feeling a bit better it could well have knocked my socks off like the Amber Fort in Jaipur had.

The following day we hired a driver to visit Fatephur Sikri around 40km outside of Agra. We started by looking round the enormous Jama Masjid (mosque). It felt a little bit oppressive as we were hassled for tips at every turn. I thought it was a bit sacrilegious for a holy site!

After the mosque we visited the next door Futephur Sikri Palace. As I was queuing to buy tickets I heard the unmistakable sound of my sister's raised voice behind me very firmly tell a hawker "We're not going to give you any money!". We were left to look round the impressive red sandstone palace in peace after that!

My favourite site in Agra, aside from the Taj Mahal, was the Itmaid-ud Daulah's Tomb also known as the Baby Taj. It is said that it was the inspiration for the Taj. A real gem, away from the hordes of tourists we were able to freely walk around and enjoy the Baby Taj in peace. The building is amazingly intricate and the tomb inside lives up to the exterior, unlike at the Taj.

I really enjoyed visiting the Itmaid-ud Daulah. It ran the Taj Mahal a close second for my favourite site in Agra. Unfortunately mum was feeling unwell and spent the afternoon in the hotel and missed out, I think she would have enjoyed it.

Restaurant Review: Shankara Vegis Restaurant, Agra

After visiting the Taj we decided to have a late lunch in the cheap and lively Taj Ganj area of the city, just south of the main gates. The Lonley Planet was talkinig up the Taj views from the rooftop restaurants in the area and the "seriously good thali" at the Shankara restaurant.

Taj views are a bit of a stretch. All you can glimpse is the roofline of the Taj above a maze of telephone wires, the entrance gate and jumble of other buildings that have sprung up. They've also taken licence with the 'restaurant' description. The Shankara is someone's home. As you climb up to the roof you pass by bedrooms, bathrooms and through family seating areas.

Luckily they weren't messing around with the description of the thali, which at 150 rupees ($3.30 / £2.20) was excellent value. To load up on the carbohydrates there was a popadom, naan, rice and idle. Accompanying the carbs was a paneer curry, an excellent dahl and some cottage cheese.

Included in the special thali was a masala tea and a sweet gulab jamun for dessert. What value!

As we climbed back down the stairs and walked through the kitchen, I couldn't resist taking a quick photo. Unfortunately I didn't manage to capute the domesticity of the scene, but believe me this was no professional kitchen. All part of the wonderfully colourful life that is visiting India!

Taj Mahal, Agra

I've always had a problem with expecting too much and then being disappointed. I couldn't get excited about my A'level or Degree results as they were 'only' the targets I'd set myself to achieve. I'm frequently disappointed by restaurants when finally visiting them having heard a lot of hype.

I was excited about visiting the Taj Mahal and I'm pleased to report there were no disappointments. It was AMAZING!

We built up the anticipation by having a drink on a rooftop restaurant with glimpses of the Taj before we entered the grounds. As you pass through the entrance gate you emerge into an enormous walled garden. The first thing that strikes you about the Taj is the scale of the place.

The Taj Mahal itself is enormous, sitting in perfectly proportioned grounds with symmetrical buildings on it's eastern and western sides. Your eye is immediately drawn along the canal of water leading up to the Taj. We further teased ourselves by slowly approaching the Taj. Doing a lap of the enormous marble plinth and visiting the Jawab and then Mosque (or Masjid) either side of the Taj.

Jawad on the eastern side of the Taj

Finally we queued up to enter the Taj and if there was one disappointment it was that the tomb inside is nowhere near as large or impressive as the building outside makes you believe it might be. A few coffins in a small room and that is literally it.

After we left the tomb we had a short walk round the gardens. I remember sitting on a bench near the exit soaking up my final views of the Taj and not really wanting to leave.

The Taj Mahal is awesome. Everyone shoud visit at least once.

Indian Wedding Food

The food at each of the three wedding events we attended was very similar. There must be a manual on how to cater for weddings that everyone follows! Reflecting the beliefs of the family it was a vegetarian, non alcoholic wedding.

The food was laid out on tables in a horseshoe shape. On the left were the snacks and some street food favourites. At the base of the 'shoe' were the main dishes and on the right were desserts. There wasn't much seating, you just stood around munching and snacking.

Unfortunately I didn't get too many photos of the food. The staff and fellow guests looked at me as if I was totally bonkers when I got my camera out to snap away. I was also completely lost as to what I was eating most of the time. My only hope was to find a friendly English speaking relative to give me a few pointers. Sadly my Hindi wasn't up to much!

Gol gappa are one of the grooms favourite street snacks. Small crisp puffs of pastry are broken open with your thumb and then dipped into a sour broth. Popped into your mouth in one go they give you a crunchy, yet at the same time soupy snack.

At the reception in Delhi I enjoyed a little bowl of chana kulcha. A chickpea curry served with freshly warmed bread, a fair hit of chilli and a sprinkling of fresh herbs and vegetables.

Perhaps my favourite thing at every event were the fresh breads! The dough was rolled out into balls, some left plain and others covered in herbs, before being popped into a charcoal tandoor to cook to order. They were fantastic!

Rohit asked the maker of his favourite desert - an ice cream roll - to travel interstate for the wedding he likes it so much! A huge cylinder of ice cream is rotated while different fruit flavourings are poured over the top. Ice cream is then shaved into a cup giving you a mix of fruit flavours as you eat.

Julia is also holding a kulfi ice pop that was on offer. Sugar overload anyone?

I couldn't resist popping out the back of the marque during one event to get a shot of the kitchen. I think the picture speaks for itself. None of us got food poisoning. Whatever ever doesn't kill you makes your stronger!

The head chef sought out the 'Whities' at the end of the reception in Delhi to find out what we thought of the food. It was very good thank you, sir.

Indian Wedding Celebrations!

Rohit and I during the wedding ceremony

The reason for my trip to India was to attend the wedding of my friend Rohit to his beautiful bride Priyanka. I'd never met Priyanka before, but then Rohit had only seen her twice. This was an (almost) classic arranged marriage.

We were made incredibly welcome, having been invited to three different ceremonies over four days. Lots of the other guests showed us incredible kindness. Explaining what was going on during the ceremonies or recommending the best food to eat. There were a few requests for photos with the comedy Whities wearing Indian clothing. We definitely stuck out!

I'm planning a blog post on the wedding food. Here I'll concentrate on the ceremonies themselves.

All of the ceremonies were pretty long, but that didn't mean you had to sit through them. Chatting, getting up to walk around, drinking and eating seemed to be as acceptable as watching attentively. They were well attended too, with four hundred people coming to the reception during the evening.

Dressed and ready to go at the Teeka

The first event we attended was the Teeka hosted in the bride's city of Bareilly. It's an event where the brides extended family are introduced to the groom. Once all the introductions to the groom were made, the two families met each other. Grandfathers meeting grandfathers, uncles meeting uncles etc... Myself, mum, sister and friend Julia were all included into the ceremony.

I was introduced to Priyanka's father. Given a marking of paprika, garland of flowers, a coconut, money and drink of mango juice. All from a man that is a Colonel in the Indian Army and I found quite scary!

Mum and I with Priyanka's beautiful sister

The next day we attended the Wedding itself. I was a bit lost as to what was happening during the first half of the evening. I think it was the reverse of the Teeka with the groom's family being introduced to the bride.

Priyanka and Rohit taking their vows

After a dress change the bride and groom sat round a fire with the priest for the traditional part of the marriage ceremony. They took vows, were tied together and circled the round the fire seven times. As the whole ceremony took place in Hindi I'm not sure what vows were said. We were told stories of weddings being annulled because couples hadn't circled the fire seven times, so the loops were counted carefully!

Mum and I at the reception in Delhi

We had a day off after the wedding to travel 250km to Delhi for the Reception hosted by the groom's family. Western dress was encouraged and although it had been fun wearing a kurta at the first two events I felt a bit more natural in my suit.

There appeared to be no formal ceremonial element to the evening. The bridge and groom spent their evening on a guilded sofa where the guests went up to greet them and give presents. We spent most of the time sitting around and feasting.

Overall the events were a lot freer and less structured than a western wedding where everyone listens attentively in church and then eats the wedding breakfast at the same time. I felt a bit sorry for the bride and groom who were constantly bound to their ceremonial duties or seated on a throne greeting guests. They didn't get to let their hair down, mingle with the crowds or even eat at and of the three events!

I was hoping to see mass bhangra dancing which alas didn't happen. However, overall they were three fantastic experiences and a real once in a lifetime opportunity.

Jaipur, Days 2&3

Colourful sarees, cows wondering the streets and beautiful buildings which have seen better days. Typical India.

This is my second post summarising some of the sights we visited in Jaipur's fascinating Pink City.

The Jantar Mantar is a homage to the humble sundial, built by one of India's Maharajas in the early eighteenth century. The park contains at least six different designs of sundial. Unfortunately it was cloudy so we didn't get many shadows! When there was the odd gap in the clouds we got to check the sundials really did work. The above dial was built for my star sign, Taurus.

There is a Jantar Mantar in Delhi and Agra as well (which we didn't visit).

The Albert Hall Museum is a fabulous building, with an unbelievable pigeon problem and a woeful collection of exhibits.

Confusingly for us Brits the museum is named after King Edward VII, and not the late Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert. If you visit Jaipur I honestly wouldn't bother.

Our final stop in Jaipur was the City Palace museum. The museum is still an official royal residence and was in noticeably better condition than virtually every other monument we visited in India. In many ways the architectural styles were similar to those we saw at Amber Fort. With the obligatory white marble and red sandstone buildings.

All of my Rajasthan photos are here.

Jaipur, Day 1

"Wide streets, neat and clean"
This seemed to be the favourite mantra of the guide we hired while we were in Jaipur. A planned city built in 1727 using a grid layout, the streets certainly were wide. Neat and clean must be relative.

Jaipur was a great  introduction to India, and the Pink City definitely has a lot to keep the tourist entertained. Below are some of the highlights from our first day looking around.

The Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) was a building I recognised as one of India's iconic tourist sites. The five story red sandstone building leans back slightly as it gets taller. It was designed to allow the royal ladies to observe city life without being seen themselves from behind the lattice work.

The iconic photo opportunity is from the street outside, but you are also able to enter the palace and it's well worth a look inside too.

 

Our second stop was Amber Fort which completely blew my mind. The palace was started in 1592 and was successively developed over the next 150yrs before the capital was relocated to Jaipur 11km away.

The palace was an fusion of Hindu and Islamic architectural styles. Built on a grand scale, there was so much ornate marble carving on display that you could barely take it all in. The inner courtyard had thousands of tiny mirrors studded into the walls which was being restored while we were there.

Amber Fort was almost worth the air fare alone. As the holiday progressed I was to learn that lots of India's palaces were built in a similar era and along the same architectural styles. I'll admit to a bit of 'fatigue' by the end of the holiday and not all of the amazing places I visited had the same impact on me as Amber.

James Bond fans might recognise the Floating Palace from the movie Octopussy. At the moment you can't visit the palace, so we stopped for a quick photo from the banks of the lake.

All of my Rajasthan photos are here.

Galtaji, Rajasthan

Q: Where are all the women in India?
A: They're all at Galtaji

Galtaji was quite possible the highlight of my trip to India. While all of the tourist sites we visited were great, I loved the raw emotion of India that we saw on display at the Temple of Galtaji a short drive from Jaipur. It was one of the few times that as tourists we were allowed to fade into the background (instead of being seen as walking cash machines) and the raw emotion of the pilgrimage took over.

India's streets were noticeable for a lack of women. It wasn't that they were totally absent, or those that we did see being completely covered up. It's just that there weren't very many women compared with the number of men you saw out and about.

Galta was a riot of colourful sarees and women acting in a completely uninhibited way as they sought to splash or bath in the holy waters. In some cases stripping off in front of men that weren't relatives and the odd camera wielding tourist.

I loved it.

All of my Rajasthan photos are here.