• Ant Travels
Jan – Feb 2020

India and trains

It’s a family trip to north India - trains and sites ! Calcutta to Amritsar Read more
  • Trip start
    January 17, 2020

    Day 1 Travel

    January 17, 2020 in India ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    A first ...almost - two brothers and a sister on holiday ! Gatwick
    flights and we are off for two weeks ! Dubai to Kolkata ! Kolkata and trains to Amritsar and it will be warm and maybe cold in the hills ! Fun ! After a chaotic customs / immigration process we get out and drive through noisy backstreets to hotel dodging buses, tuktuks and those odd taxis , strangely raised bodies ! And we are here ! It’s warm ,dusty and smoggy!Read more

  • Day 2 - Kolkata

    January 19, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    The former British capital of India, Kolkata, is known for its artistic brilliance and exceptional architecture . It’s called the city of Joy or the city of Culture . It has been renamed as the ‘Kali - Place’ and a lot of the Empire remains .
    We first visit the Flower market ( Mallik Ghat ?) near the Hooghly River. For a Sunday it’s busy and crowded and full of fresh flowers being made into garlands . Fantastic colours and smells abound and we constantly dodge the huge flower packages being transferred on the porters’ heads ! The river access ,which is overlooked by the the huge famous Howrah cantilever Bridge over Hooghly River, is a popular spot for washing and bathing .

    Then it’s off to the Mud Statues of Kumortuli, the potters' quarter packed with artists sculpting clay gods with mud from the sacred Ganges river for the latest festival - Valentine’s Day ? From the Ganges mud to wooden structure to straw outline to mud shapes and eventually dried or coloured ! The statues are painstakingly painted, usually by an artist. Some statues have intricate details, while others are more simple or abstract. Finally, goddesses are dressed in fine silk saris and elaborate jewels. After the festival it’s all put back into the river!

    Onward to the Jain temple and its colourful garden - a precursor to Buddhism - the followers don’t harm anything alive ... so no root vegetables and masks to ensure they don’t swallow any bugs !!

    The very crowded Victoria temple is a huge marble Taj Mahal cum Italianate church monument to Queen Victoria who ruled but never visited .

    We pass by a variety of old British buildings - Writer’s Building , Town Hall , Post office , Telegraph office and the Eden Gardens cricket stadium .

    St. John’s Church is an area of quiet and holds the monument to those who suffered in the Black hole of Calcutta . In 1756, upset with East India Company dominance and brutality , the nawab of Bengal sent forces to overtake Fort William and after three days of fighting, the British forces surrendered. All the prisoners were put into the fort’s small holding cell, known as the “black hole.” Maybe 146 captives were placed into a cell measuring 18 by 14 feet though the modern estimate was that there were only 65 captives. After that well the Brits were not happy and well .....Clive of India arrived and for a long time !

    We conclude with a quick trip to Mother Theresa’s missionary building - and exchange (oddly) some money next door in a Mother Theresa cafe cum gift shop ! A good day - think we benefited from Sunday quiet traffic !
    Good spring day and not so much smog !
    Tomorrow a trip in an odd 80s Ambassador taxi !
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  • Day 3 Kolkata train to Bodh Gaya

    January 20, 2020 in India ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Well a quiet morning and unfortunately no taxi adventure before our first train trip ! Today Monday is a busy work day and cross town traffic is frantic ! We cross the Hooghly River and Howrah bridge and negotiate the mammoth Howrah train station where a million people pass through each day ! It’s back in time and overflowing with people ! We have a surprisingly spacious and comfortable train berth for four of us and the train takes off ON TIME! It’s a five hour ( we hope) journey !
    The sun has set as we get tea ! On through Asansol junction .... Dhanbag ....Paransnath and dinner too ! Arrival time on Gaya is 1030pm ! A short drive to Hostel !
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  • Day 4 Bodh Gaya

    January 21, 2020 in India ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We are up early in Bodh Gaya -a village in Bihar and one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Dominated by the ancient Mahabodhi Temple Complex, built to mark the site where the Buddha attained enlightenment beneath a sacred Bodhi Tree!

    At the age of 35, Siddhartha Gautama sat beneath a fig tree and received enlightenment. Around 1000 years later, the Buddhist authority built the monastery and temple. It’s seems the temple was destroyed a few times but it was excavated and it’s big again !

    Today the followers are here aplenty as it’s the end of a festival !

    A direct descendant of the tree -it’s been cut down a few times and regrown- sits within the complex including the lotus pond. Buddha five coloured coloured banners are everywhere!

    It’s a good connection with the famous Sri Lankan Bodhi tree that we visited and of course the beginning of all the Buddhas seen on the Silk Road !

    A rickshaw ride takes us to the modern 60 ft Buddha statue opened by the Dalai Lama in 1989 !

    Then it’s back to the train and onwards!
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  • Day 5 Varanasi 1 - Sarnath

    January 22, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Train to Varanasi less appealing as it was already full as we joining mid-continent and mid journey ! ....and we only have three hours on board ....while train goes onto Delhi for many hours ! We are all spread out over the train too ! We traveled through mainly agricultural areas ( rice - vegetables- hay ) on our way to Pandit Deen Dayan Upadhaya.... difficult to pronounce!

    First we are off and the dusty road is frantic with bikes , tuktuks buses and strangely populated by speed bumps ? But we arrive safely !
    We reach Sarnath the birthplace of Buddhism . The deer park is where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence through the enlightenment of Kondanna and it’s the site of his first teachings from Buddha to his disciples . Temples and site of first preaching to disciples, the impressive Dhamekh Stupa, Another big Buddha statue near Wat Thai temple , archeological ruins , museum and in some artifacts from over 2000 yrs ago including the four lion symbol of India .

    The hotel looks good however a bit damp ! Smells like my grandma’s cellar ! Some odd conversations over bills with multiple staff and how to sort out change that becomes more of complex than the Middle East ! We change rooms three tomes and ask if there is a safety deposit box in the room ....they appear later with an actual safe ....it’s portable and unattached to any wall but we now have a safe ....Surreal !
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  • Day 5. Varanasi 2 - Sunset and Ghats

    January 22, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    For the evening we head again but on rickshaw bicycles !!!! to the centre of Varanasi (previously Benares and ancient name Kashi ) to reach the Ganges .
    For followers of my blogs this amounted to a batshitcrazyweird trip !
    Whilst the guys peddled the bikes for an hour each way , it was the traffic of cars , bikes , tuktuks and people crossing the dust road which was madness! Two to a rickshaw in the hazy daylight and the night! Traffic crazy both ways ! Fumes excessive ! Forgot my masks! Carbon monoxide heavy ! Smog plus ! Driver horn talking ! Roundabout and junction chaos ! Accidents surprisingly few ! We did manage to ram a motorbike and get our bike wheel stuck between motorbike exhaust (hot) and the wheel ! Had to get off and help and pull it out ... just ! Gassed both ways !!! See facebook for videos !!!

    Varanasi is a maze-like city on the shore of the river and one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, and the holiest of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism.
    The Cremation Ghats of Varanasi are where Hindus make the pilgrimage to this holy city to have their remains burned on the banks of the Ganges.
    It’s believed that if you are cremated in Varanasi, and your ashes are released into the sacred and purifying water of the Ganges, their reincarnation cycle will end and you will reach Nirvana. It’s an amazing and incredible place .
    After the rickshaw we negotiate the road on foot which is heaving and we are jostled and sold- begged and stared at and eventually get down to our Ghat ...where we negotiate the crowds to reach our boat on which we are going to travel up river and visit the various burial cremation sites ! It’s getting busy as sunset arrives ! We drop our flower candles and drift to the most prominent burial burning site identified by naked funeral pyres ! It feels odd and it’s so busy - there are over 100 cremations each day - helped to burn quicker by adding some ghee butter !
    We float back to the Ghat and listen to nightly music -each site slightly different but four guys appear to be singing, banging drums and bells- the tunes are there sometimes and sometimes not ! It’s an odd boy band set up and it has a hell of a light show !
    We fight our way out and up the road with thousands ! It’s a miracle don’t get lost but then we find some familiar faces and we reconnect with our rickshaw guys!
    And it’s an hour slog home in the fumes ! It seems they get paid about 100 rupees for two hours riding on the fumes ! I give a tip of a dollar (70 rupees) ! It’s not good for anyone’s health !
    What a night ! Bat shit crazy-weird!
    ...and Forest draw again !
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  • Day 6 - Varanasi 3 - Dawn

    January 23, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We are up at 5am to take our early morning tuktuk ride back to the river to catch the dawn and see the party scene the day after the night before ! It’s quiet but it’s still busy !
    We park the tuktuks and wander through the maze of back streets ,where there are people hurrying in groups carrying flowers and decorations to place on various shrines , people attempting to clean the alleys, people dropping their rubbish, people rearranging the dust and of course the odd cow and dog!
    We reach the river for the dawn , getting on a small rowing boat to get out into the river ! It’s peaceful , boats are passing and some people are dropping the ashes, seabirds are swooping and the sun is gradually rising !
    Today isn’t too hazy or foggy and we are in luck. We pass George Harrison’s favourite cafe , many Ghats and down to the open funeral pyre - only one this active morning . We get a good view of the crooked Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple! Known as the leaning temple, the structure has somehow developed a severe nine-degree slant.  The lean could be the result of a structural problem, or because it was built on silt, or because of a curse they say ! They also say the holy person dives into it to get to the altar .....maybe?
    We disembark and walk back again through the back streets and see the Golden Temple where no photographs are allowed (so internet sourced ) because it’s sacred and probably also because the temple is surrounded by demolished rubble prior to renovation!
    We hit the road again on the tuktuks and get home for breakfast .
    Then it’s off to a commune of silk weavers - its a mainly automated ( machine punched card ) process.

    At train station we are pursued by the kids begging but what can you do ?We catch the train at 5pm and it’s an 12 hr overnight gig to Agra - Should be fun , hopefully it’s on time !
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  • Day 7 - Agra : Fatehpur Sikri & Red Fort

    January 24, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    The overnight trip was good . 12 stops but slept on the raised benches and our fellow passengers were quiet ! I managed about an hour and a half deep sleep in about 5 patches so I did get some sleep . Up at 9 and it seems we are approx four hours late as the train has been stopping and starting all night ! Ho hum! Sit it out and watch the green fields and half finished houses and try the chai ! We arrived five hours late - reason unknown ! Agra is sunny !

    Fatehpur Sikri is an imperial fortress city of the Mughal empire.  Not long after the fortress was completed, the lake that provided water to the complex dried up, and life at Fatehpur Sikri was unsustainable.
    This abandoned fortified city was built for the Mughal Emperor Akbar. It was the capital of the Mughal empire from 1571 to 1585, and considered the best example of Mughal architecture in existence. It is huge and you could take a day here - because of the train we don’t have that long !

    The Agra or Red Fort was also built by the Mughals. Agra Fort is really an entire red walled city with different buildings and lookouts in the fortress with fine details within the fort, carved into marble and stone. It’s huge and even larger when you consider the outer walls in the distance . It’s very colourful of but has more decorations - the white marble palace and a number of ornate arches very reminiscent of the Silk Road Islamic architecture ! We get out first view of the gleaming white Taj Mahal in the distance . The light is great in the sunshine but it’s fading fast and so are we after the train! The monkeys escort us out and we head home as it’s an early start tomorrow for Taj Mahal proper !
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  • Day 8 Agra and Taj Mahal

    January 25, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Another early start of 545 for dawn and to beat the crowd !
    There’s a chill in the air as we progress to the main entry gate as the sun begins to come up and then we witness over the next two hours the changing colours of the Taj Mahal ! It doesn’t disappoint !

    The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. In has “harmonious proportions and fluid incorporation of decorative elements” , it is distinguished as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a blend of Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall. It’s certainly reminiscent of many a Silk Road structure but it’s pure white which makes it so iconic! Weird to think it was scaffolded by mud being built up from ground !

    After Taj Mahal-ing we hit the road to Delhi
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  • Day 9 Delhi - old and not so new

    January 26, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    It was an easy coach drive across country .....farms and a lot of brickworks !

    Delhi, India’s capital territory, is massive - estimated at 29 million ! (London is about 9 million I think)

    It’s Sunday and Republic day today .......a busy day for Delhi but it should quiet on the traffic and unfortunately some sights are closed due to the celebrations ... bah !

    We head south to see some pre Mughal sites .
    First it’s the Qutub complex and Mehrauli archeological Park which is dominated by the massive Qutub Minar . The park was established around 1193 and apart from the tower it has the oldest mosque in India - with pillars covered with carvings . It was built to announce the arrival of the Muslim sultans . Over carved panels and tombs it’s a mixture of decorative Hindu and Islamic domes and arches and oddly constructed
    of red , orange and yellow sandstone. That five storeyed Victory tower is something ! The 4th century iron pillar is a flagstaff relic of very ancient metallurgy and also impressive !

    From there we visit the Lodi Gardens which in an area of green and contains some 15thC Sayyid and Lodi dynasties and some impressive ancient tombs - Bara Gumbad and Sheesh Gumbad !

    The Lakshmi Narayan Mandir or Birla Mandir is modern 1938 red and yellow temple but impressive and preserved!

    A drive around the centre and we pass the Viceroy house - huge , the Parliament , the 18thC observatory of Jantar Mantar , the 1930s terraces of Connaught Place ,the golden mosque and some others !

    In the north is Old Delhi ,the walled city built by Shah Jahan built in 1640s . It was India's Capital and at that time the whole city was protected by wall and 14 gates. It includes the Mughal-era Red Fort - which today all we can do is look on from afar due to Republic day! Bah!
    We do however hit the very busy and sprawling Jama Masjid mosque -its courtyard takes 25000 people. Today there is a party atmosphere and crowded!
    Chandni Chowk is nearby - we decide to take a rickshaw ride through the bazaar alleyways ! It should be a very busy with food carts, sweets ,food and spice stalls and also safer shops . Today it’s very quiet and our rickshaw ride is a breeze! It’s amazing to see the spider web of overhead cables as we cycle down - God knows how they know what is what !

    Home on the New Delhi underground - modern and just like Beijing , clean and efficient !
    Home and an early night as it’s an early start at 545 for the 9 hr train journey !
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  • Day 10 Delhi train to Shimla

    January 27, 2020 in India ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

    The early start - up at 515am!

    The Delhi station is very busy even at this hour! It’s multi coloured sign is surrounded by a sea of Tuktuks . Our guide negotiated the porters- cum boy band who had an animated response to both negotiation and who was carrying what case !
    We awaited the arrival of our train ...the Delhi -Kalka express . Seats this times for our 270km first leg ! It’s a good journey with breakfast . Chandigarh and the final stop is Kalka .

    At Kalka we catch the Himalayan Queen , our Narrow gauge diesel ( as steam has gone sadly ) railway at 20 miles an hour ...96km and five hours !
    It winds it way up the hill to the third and summer capital and gradually the trees diminish, plenty of odd ‘eatables’ and drinkables stops ! It’s quaint being built in 1903 and we pass through hundreds of tunnels and over almost a thousand arches/ curves as we climb up to Shimla at 2000m and probably snow ! It’s odd to think my father up here on national service during partition - he hated even the smell of curry after service here!
    Great views and five hours later .....we arrive! It’s cold but not snowing ....yet !!!
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  • Day 11 Shimla

    January 28, 2020 in India ⋅ 🌧 3 °C

    What!!! It’s not snow but rain ! It’s going to an interesting few days here -but so far no Delhi belly only head colds ! Nice hotel -it has a bar that actually has gin but it’s cold in the hotel !
    I had thought that Shimla was just one street but it sprawls over the hills and on a clear day the panorama must be great ! It became the Summer capital in 1886 before the railway was built for the Brits escaping the heat !
    We head out and the rain stops and we visit Rashtrapati Niwas ("President's Residence"), formerly known as Viceregal Lodge, located on the Observatory Hills . It was the summer residence of the Indian Viceroy, the British Raj leader who governed the whole of the Indian subcontinent between 1888 until 1946. Within the Viceroy Lodge many significant decisions from this era about India were devised, discussed and agreed upon. Photos inside this throwback to Mock-Tudor cum Scottish stately homes are not allowed so ...internet sourced!
    It’s a odd maze of streets crossing the hills . To get to the walk or promenade The Mall and The Ridge we use the tourist lift to go up and then walk l
    the shops and sights which must be very colourful in sunshine ! The Scandal , the old Gaiety theatre - music hall , the town hall and other odd old buildings ! Then it really does snow ! And the place is filling up with Indian tourists who want to see the snow !
    It’s tea and biscuits in the warm !
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  • Day 12 Shimla

    January 29, 2020 in India ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    So it snowed all night ! And Forest beat Brentford ! Great view out over mountains - maybe limiting options for sights up the hill though ! It turns into fabulous blue sky day so we mooch the Ridge and the Mall and the bazaar ! Fun ! The contrast from yesterday is remarkable ! The view includes the snow covered pine hills and the dry scrubland hillside !

    We try again the Gaiety theatre and we are lucky ! A special tour from the the theatre wallah who says he has been to all the theatres in Britain on which this modelled! It’s all very much The Good Old Days revisited and has been lovingly restored ! Designed by the English architect Henry Irwin, it was constructed in the Gothic style and opened in 1887 to accommodate about 300 people.
    They’ve covered all of Shakespeare plays and the likes of Baden Powell , maybe Kipling and Viceroys performed here on their day!
    Michael Palin visited here on his Himalayan trip ! See link below - https://www.palinstravels.co.uk/book-3703
    Hugh and I camp it up on stage - see Facebook video!
    Whilst wandering in the snow it’s weird to see all the Indian tourists and their first experience of snow! There are monkeys all over the place !
    We catch up on the other sites including the telegraph office and post office and Indian coffee workers cooperative Cafe !
    The Bazaar runs parallel to the hill with some hair raising steep steps up to the next level !
    It’s a good walking day ! Tomorrow is back on the train to Amritsar!
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  • Day 13 Travel to Amritsar

    January 30, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    It’s a sunny start to the day . Bus and car down the foothills to Ambala for transfer to the train to Amritsar !
    The drive is entertaining for naturally blind bends and some crazy driving by others who believe it’s possible to overtake anywhere! The train pops up from time to time ! We unfortunately don’t pass the nine arch bridge again and get down by lunchtime . The station is relatively small with the usual slice of humanity - passengers, beggars , porters and food sellers plus the odd Sikh . Then our last train arrives - the Paschim Express from Mumbai - which is comfortable and chai is taken .
    We arrive Amritsar after 7. Tomorrow the Golden Temple !
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  • Day 14. Amritsar & Golden Temple

    January 31, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Last day ....here that is not Brexitxxxx...and it’s foggy and hazy just like politics !
    Today is the sublime to the ridiculous ! The fog disperses and it’s just misty ! The Golden Temple doesn’t disappoint !

    The beautiful gold-coated gurudwara (temple) in Amritsar is the most sacred place for Sikhs. It’s both the spiritual and temporal centre of the religion, and thousands of pilgrims, tourists, and followers arrive daily to worship, pray, volunteer, and soak up the peace!

    The Sikh religion is based on several important values, including equality and community service. As a result every gurudwara offers langar, a free communal kitchen. The langar at Golden Temple follows this tradition on a big scale, in keeping with the size of the gurudwara and the number of visitors it gets.

    Every day, Shri Harmandir Sahib, known worldwide as the Golden Temple, serves upwards of 50,000 free meals to whoever shows up.

    You have to see the communal kitchen to believe it. The huge size of the rooms, cooking vats, mounds of food, plus the numbers of people prepping, cooking, and cleaning is a sight to behold. It’s virtually a small army at work, and many of them are volunteers.

    Everyone sits on the floor, in long rows, as volunteer servers walk up and down dishing out food.
    See Facebook for videos !!!
    It’s all 24 - 7 too!
    We wander around in the hazy daytime and then return for night which is even more amazing and more golden ! Fantastic !
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  • Day 14 Amritsar Wagah Flag Event

    January 31, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    To the ridiculous !
    On the Pakistan-India border the army / border forces performed an elaborate theater of aggression and they do it each and every night and it’s free !!!
    See Facebook posts for action !!!!

    I guess it’s appropriate on Brexit day that we encounter another Batshitcrazyweird event - sports fans! It’s an odd occasion and feels initially a bit like the warm up to the FA Cup games . We start with Community singing and a cheer leader cum MC ripping the crowd into a frenzy ! On our side of the border fence is the wild Hindustan crew ! The Pakistan crowd / Punjab followers are the much smaller crowd! This event is supposed to be fun which is odd for two superpowers with nuclear warheads ! But hey theee hasn’t been a war for 20 years ! It’s a weird Monty Python event to celebrate border flags being taken down at dusk ! It’s just like that bit in the Holy Grail where the Frenchman taunts King Arthur .....your mother smelt of hamster ! There are no words just grand gestures ! What we see is Celebrity dancing meets Ministry of Silly walks with high kicking guards! India definitely wins - we see a lonely Pakistani one-legged flag waver and one guy who falls over !
    It also reminds me of Milligan’s Puckoon . But it’s Brexit day ! I guess we will be starting a similar process vs. Europe at the channel tunnel !

    The backstory is this village Wagah lies on a contentious border. Its eastern half remains in India as it has always been, while its western half is in Pakistan, split down the middle by we British in 1947. Wagah remains the only road border crossing between India and Pakistan. Porters must carry items across the border from an Indian truck onto a Pakistani one - which occurs for us just before the fun starts . Every sunset for 62 years the crossing between the two countries has been closed for the Wagah flag ceremony.

    The Indian military and the Pakistani border force step out to the cheers of thousands of spectators. Our side seems to shout Hindustan and Pakistan appears to shout Punjab ! Wearing almost identical military regalia of boots, uniforms, and plumed hats the sides have different coloured uniforms: dark black green for the Pakistani Rangers and red for the Indian Military.

    Heated looks, mimicked threats and goose stepping !They march towards each other in an aggressive dance before meeting in the middle and taking the flags down together !
    Barking mad ...... just like that other thing happening today !
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  • Day 15 Homeward Bound !

    February 1, 2020 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    So the journey over and now to deal with the destination- we are back via Delhi and then Dubai overnight .

    Country of contrasts !
    The history ( mughals and religions and buildings) vs the now ( billionaires , unfinished buildings and the poor or very poor).....and unfortunately a lot of smog and street rubbish . Still a great country and great experience and a great group to travel with !
    Highlights : Taj Mahal , Varanasi Ghats , the Golden temple , Kolkata flower market , BodhGaya Temple complex , Sarnath Buddha and those crazy tuktuks and the Wagah flag ceremony !

    The train experience has enabled us to see a bit more of Indian life .

    Top tip?
    Take a good face mask for the rickshaw rides !!
    Most surprising issue ? General difficulty in getting gin and tonic in Hotels!!!

    So the journey over , maybe the south one day

    Namaste!!!!
    Añjali Mudrā
    Pranamasana
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    Trip end
    February 2, 2020