Screeching to a halt in Brighton

I’ve been back 5 days and India already feels months away! I had my flight back to the UK on 28 April… straight back to Brighton. As I had no sudden realisations about ‘what I’d like to do next’ over the last few months, the plan is to stay in Brighton with my family. Oliver is staying in Glasgow with his dad and I have rented a house here while I continue to let my Glasgow flat. I have noooo idea what these feet are going to do next, they haven't been confined for months!

Indian Trains

Well I did say I'd do a bit on trains!
Train journeys in India are notoriously difficult. First of all dispite the size of the population and country there are not many tracks laid so they are always booked up for weeks in advance and secondly, unlike everything else in India and probably because it was provided by the British the system is totally rules based. Fair to say the original information tree (timetable and booking system) has transformed into a twisted bramble patch.
Most tourists travel in air conditioned sleeper class ‘B’ which is a carriage containing folding beds - stacked 3 high against facing walls, during the day the beds are folded leaving 3 to a seat on the bottom bunk.
I was on sleepers a few times for night travel and didn't get a wink of sleep from the snoring and very loud farting and coughing and morning hacking up of gobs ( bet you think I‘m joking?).
Then there are the toilets, usually one Indian and one western which are a horror to visit after the first say, hour.

When visiting the train station to make a booking, you first have to find the correct queue - the pic above shows that cancer patients and freedom fighters are allocated the same queue as tourists.
When the train stops, the major train stations have porters who will carry your bags - but the same applies here as with rickshaw drivers, you have to haggle and agree the price before you start out.
Oh and Indians tend to walk over the tracks to leave the station or train if it is quicker. I haven't found there are too many beggars on the train platforms either, but generally, there is one with a lack of limbs on a skateboard chasing around after you.

India 17 - Agra, Taj Mahal

I was in Agra 3 days instead of two - reason being the journey was so horrendous - it took 15hrs instead of the badly estimated 9hrs and I was exhausted from the heat! I have stayed at the Hilton which is a nice little oasis, but another culture shock for me after the laid back ashram life. Anyway I got out to the evening Taj and took some pics from the gardens behind and from the bank.

I think I could have got some better pics but the prime spot was already occupied by a dead dog being eaten by a live dog and winged friends. Next door to the Taj is the crematorium (very busy) where the ashes are swept from the steps into the river -

the river is apparently miles better in the monsoon but at this time of year is a bit of a parched sandbank.

So I was at the Taj gates 6am, ready for the morning pics. The queue was quite small really and I have to tell you that I accidentally stepped out of women’s line into the men’s which caused me to be scolded by a shockingly half-naked European for ‘pushing in’ who then went on to tell me in a loud voice that I might be in India but didn’t have to behave like one!!! (er, given the choice…)
But oh, it is true, the Taj Mahal is absolutely stunning, if it wasn’t so hot I would have spent the entire day just sitting and looking at it. The colours of the inlay, beauty of the marble and fabulous workmanship really do have to be seen and touched to be appreciated. No photos allowed on the inside tombs by the way.

This amazing building just works for me, there just seems to be a unique fusion between subject and object that has to be experienced - it is beeeeeeautiful, really lifted me up! Apparently as the day gets white hot the Taj just about disappears in the shimmering whiteness.

I didn’t sit in the Princess Di seat - although tempted, a nice Aussie took a snap of me though.

And by the way, despite the stories of Shah Jahan building this marvel for his wife and dying of a broken heart, my guide book says in fact he died after days of indulgence in a sex and drugs orgy (with his daughter by his side of course). Hurruh, I love India!