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Home at last!

What a trip home that was; the flights were OK but the train journeys were a nightmare! To begin with the train from Udaipur to Mathura was over booked and we were wait listed, likewise with the Mathura to Delhi train. By the time the tickets arrived we had been allocated seats however. But this is only where the problems began.

When we seated ourselves on the Udaipur to Mathura train we were pleasantly surprised; the train was new and seemed quite comfortable. There were few people on the train, which did seem a little strange as just a few days prior it was overbooked, and there were two women and a small child sitting opposite us who seemed quite friendly. What a mistake that assumption was. These two women insisted on staying awake for the entire train journey as they were worried about missing their stop. They chatted as loud and fast as only Indian women can and insisted on leaving the light on in our compartment. The chatting wasn't too bad as both Craig and I had earplugs but as I had the upper birth the fluro light was only 20cm from my head. Try sleeping 20cm from a fluro on an Indian train; damn near impossible!

As expected we arrived at Mathura station rather tired and as we had a 12 hour wait for our connecting train we decided to store our bags in the railway's cloak room and head to nearby Vrindavana for the day. But more problems. As our bag's zips did not all lock the railway's cloakroom refused to store them. We were faced with a dilemma, either sit at Mathura railway station for 12 hours or take our bags into Vrindavana with us. We didn't like either option. Mathura is a dirty city, to say it as nicely as possible, and the reason we wanted to go to Vrindavana was so we could go and visit the many temples as the day we had arrived was Chandana Yatra so it was extra auspicious. We decided that we'd employ the services of a rickshaw walah to find us a uber cheap hotel on the way to Vrindavana where we could store our bags for the day. We settled on the third hotel we stopped at called the 'Hotel Braj', very original I know, where we got by far the dirtiest room I have ever seen for 200 rupees. Fine for storing our bags though.

So from here we made our way to Vrindavana which was well worth the trip. We visited ISKCON's Krishna Balarama Mandira for all the morning programs and ran into our friend Hari Bhakti Dey who happened to have been in Vrindavana for the last few months. After the morning program we went into Loi Bazar to by some gifts for our family. I was pretty damn tired at this time so I just made a commitment to go straight to the shops where I'd made successful purchases before. After an hour of battling the Vrindavana heat I had four shirts for Jodie and India, three carvachas for Jodie and India, A set of whomper catatels for Vishalini, and 19 sets of Tulsi malas. Yep, 19 sets. The price was 20 rupees a piece or 100 rupees for the lot. I said that I wanted five pieces so how about I get five for 20 rupees. This was obviously illogical as the price for five was 100 rupees, five 20s being 100. I pointed out that the salesman would make a greater profit by selling my five for 50 rupees as otherwise I would by all 19 for 100 rupees but he wouldn't budge so I just took the 19 pieces.

After Loi Bazar we went back to the MVT guest house where Hari Bhakti was staying with his wife, Sharmi, and their two children. When we arrived though we discovered that they were out to lunch. Not to be deterred though we opted to find a nice shady tree in the grounds of the MVY, the nicest place in Vrindavana, and have a little nap, being tired and all. We found a great little spot and curled up for a sleep, which unfortunately came slow and short, for me at least. In about an hour we heard Sharmi's voice so we got up in a hurry and rushed over to Bhakti and Sharmi's place. What a great decision that was, their place had two AC units, fresh water and a sitar. Comfort for the remainder of the day. It was great to see Bhakti and Sharmi's children who are just gorgeous. When it got to five PM, however, we had to say our goodbyes and find a rickshaw to take us the hour long trip back to Mathura to get our bags and then onto the railway station for the final train back to Delhi. We were silently looking forward to this last train as we were to be in the AC section.

Well we got our bags without a hitch and were dropped off at the railway station with little fuss. Just a one hour wait 'till the train was due to arrive. After plenty of chai and a few puris and subji that Craig enjoyed our train arrived. We promptly asked where the AC section was but as I glanced at our ticket, which was poorly printed, I discovered that we were to be in the non-AC chair section. No worries we thought, only two hours or so to Delhi. Our minds were soon changed though when we found our seats and, more importantly, what was under them. Vomit. That's right, little kid vomit. There was a sick kid opposite us who had been eating large amounts of junk food and the movements of the train had coerced his stomach into surrendering it's contents. The train was packed and most definitely uncomfortable. We eventually arrived at Nizamuddin station in Delhi, headed straight for a taxi (we weren't going to take a rickshaw this last leg of the journey after these two train trips) and directed the driver to Parharganj. Once in Parharganj we ran (well almost ran) for the cleanest hotel we knew of, the Cottage Yes Please, where we secured a clean AC room with pay TV and a fantastic bathroom. We didn't mind forking out the 900 rupees at this point either. What a sleep I had that night!

The next day was our flight home, well the first of two as we had to stop in Singapore again. I spent until 2pm sleeping and watching pay TV. I watched the snooker world championships and also a bit of a program called House that I'd never seen before and I doubt I'll take the effort too again. After 2pm I went and did a little last minute shopping. I started at the shoe shop to pick up some sandals for Jodie. I wasn't worried about getting the wrong size as Jodie had previously given my a cut out of her foot, something the shoe salesmen thought was hilarious. I also headed over to Janpatha to see if I could find some particular skirts for Jodie and too my surprise I found them, and for a good price too.

After finalising our packing we hopped into our taxi for the airport. What a trip that was. Our taxi driver was great! He insisted on singing for us the entire trip and was so happy. He was eager for any tips on his driving and wanted to know our opinion on his driving ability and also his English. Both were quite good. Craig took a video of him so I'll see if I can get a copy to upload here. On arrival at the airport I gave the driver a 100rupee tip, he was pretty pleased with this. No dramas at the airport, there rarely is in India. Craig and I just found a comfy seat and watched the cricket while drinking mochachinos.

The first flight was fine. We were flying Air India to Singapore and the plane had about 30 people on board. The meal was great and the movie wasn't too bad either; Don, staring Shah Rukh Khan. Singapore wasn't too bad either. Craig and I were expecting some sort of interrogation as when we came through a couple of weeks prior we were stiffly interrogated about our intentions in Singapore and flatly refused entry. We talked the guy around that time but we weren't sure what to expect this time. As we weren't leaving the airport this time there were no dramas of this kind. Craig got himself some medicine from one of the many airport pharmacies and we used up the remainder of the credit one the phone card he'd bought last time. We got on our flight here with no dramas but this one was full.

We flew with Singapore Air from Singapore to Brisbane but we didn't get to sit near each other this time. Our meals were wrong again (last time we went with Singapore Air they gave us chicken, apparently chicken is vegetarian in Singapore!) But we were lucky enough that they had a couple of spare strict veg meals. I settled into a game of Mario brothers while waiting for the plane to refuel and had a little chat to the guy next to me. This flight wasn't too bad other than the bad turbulence just outside of Singapore and the tight stuffy conditions. I watched three movies on this trip, one was OK, the other two terrible. I saw A Night at the Museum, Casino Royale, & Fearless. Probably a waste of time but I had nothing else to do.

Customs was incredibly quick and caused no fuss with the items that both Craig and I declared. What was on our minds, however, was who was going to be at the airport to collect us. I'd organised for my mother to pick us up but she pulled out a couple of days prior and we hadn't been able to confirm with anyone else. If there was no one there we could catch the bus but that would take hours and after so much travel we were hoping that this would not be necessary. On entering the arrivals lounge we were overjoyed to see our friends Keith and Adam waiting for us; what a relief. Keith drove us straight home, dropping Craig off first and hen myself. I managed to have a little rest and now I find myself here.

Time to start getting back into my Uni work again. I sent some work off while I was in India but I'm not sure if it was received, dodgy PCs there, that's for sure. Anyhow, I'll sort that out in the morning.

Some Randon Pics

Craig on Suresh's bike.

Singapore haircut

Concert Two

Here are some new photos from last night at the Shiv Niwas again. (15/04/2007)

Concerts

These pics are from the Shiv Niwas gradens in the city palace Udaipur. Craig played yaman on the sitar in tin taal. (13/04/2007)

India Pictures

Views from our room

Udaipur

Finally a decent PC!

We're now in Udaipur which is just amazing. The lake is full and we have the best room around. OK, maybe not the best room but a pretty good one. We are paying 600 rupees per night and our room actually extends out over the lake. There were a few other rooms we looked at but this one had the best outlook for the price.

The train trip from Jaipur to Udaipur was fine; we shared a 8 bed compartment with only one other guy so there was heaps of space to stretch out. The train was brand new too. Tomorrow I hope to get some photos up on here; Craig has taken some really nice shots.

Tonight Craig and I are performing at the city palace in the Shiv Niwas gardens. There may also be a French Canadian girl playing as well, she plays the bansuri. Craig and I have been having three hours of one-on-one lessons every day with Sureshji who was also kind enough to lend us some instruments to practice on in our own time. Today I learnt a great new peshkar that I hope to have mastered enough for tonight's performance. Both the King and the Prince will be at the City Palace tonight so the pressure may be on!

I'll have to leave it at that for now as I need to go and organise some train tickets back to Delhi and I don't want to miss out.

Jaipur

First of all please excuse any spelling mistakes as this keyboard has no letters on the keys.

We arrived in Delhi with no dramas; leaving Singapore caused no problems like trying to get in. We got a van into Parharganj and found a little room for 300 rupees that wasn't as bad as I first thought it would be. The only disapointment in Delhi was that we went to vist the Akshardham Mandir but it was closed, maybe we'll get a chance to go back before we fly out.

We arrived in Jaipur last night (10/04) and wen't straight to our friend's hotel - Hotel Pearl Palace - where we had to take the most expensive room 'cause there were no others. The room is really comfortable though with Air Con and a fridge, all for 500 rupees. Today in Jaipur was fantastic, we spent the morning visiting temples. We took darshana of Govinda Devji, Radha Damadora, and Gopinatha. It was a grerat experience seeing all three mandirs on the one day.

Tonight we leave for Udaipur where I know that I'll have access to a better computer to keep you all updated and get some private messages off.

Untill then, take care.

Blogging in Singapore

Just about to leave Singapore airport for New Delhi after a fairly un-eventful day browsing around little India. Un-eventful 'cause it is Sunday and most places were closed and there was also a power outage that kept business quiet. We nearly wern't alowed through customs because we were suspected of being members of the ' hare rama hare krishna' cult, quite a confronting situation really. Well, not much else to say so I'll cut it short and see if I can find a computer to post again from New Delhi.

Off to India

I'm just about to head off to the airport on my way to India so wish me a good flight. I'm actually stopping over in Singapore for about ten hours so that should provide a nice bit of relaxation time. I'm not sure when I'll get an opportunity to post again but hopefully I'll get some pictures up as well.

Portable Applications for India

As most of you now know I'm off to India this Saturday for a few weeks.

I've been wondering how I'd go accessing computer applications and all my web services while away 'cause I'm in mid term at the moment and still have some assessment and course content to complete. My fears have been allayed today with my discovery of Portable Apps.com, a fantastic site that creates installers for many popular desktop applications so that these apps will run from a USB drive, for example. There is even a Windows start menu lookalike application that provides an organised list of all of your applications and files.

I've now got Thunderbird setup with my few email accounts' details installed and also Firefox with foxmarks installed that syncs all of my bookmarks with my other computers. Other than this I've installed Miranda IM client and set it up with my IM log in details so I should be able to IM chat from any web accessible PC. I've installed many other programs including a media player and the Open Office Suite.

Now I've just got to hope that I won't encounter any firewall issues while in the subcontinent! I needn't worry about slow internet connections as I live in Australia, we have the worst internet of any country I've yet visited. If I can do it online here then I can anywhere!