Settling in to India - well trying to !

We left Agra (Taj area) on Sunday after visiting the fort and a crazy market area on the Saturday afternoon, and headed off at 5.30 AM to the station ready for our 5 hour train journey to Jaipur - the Pink City. We arrived at the station at 6am, only to find out the train was delayed by 1hr, this then stretched to 2hrs, finally deciding to arrive 2hr 30 mins after the departure time so we were then very excited about the next 5 hours on board. But time does go quickly here on trains so we made the most of the time reading, chatting and playing cards.

Jaipur luckily was less hectic than Delhi and Agra, still lots of rickshaw drivers wanting business but the pace seemed slower. We headed into one of the main streets outside of the city as we only had a couple of hours before sundown, we found a strange Mexican bar/restaurant 9 floors up in a 14 floor tower hotel. The views were lovely and the enchilada we had was tasty even though not so authentic. We were tempted by the cinema in town although doubting there were subtitles on the latest Bollywood blockbuster, so we went for a nice candlelit dinner on the roof of a near by hotel.

Morning came and we went off to see the Pink City, hundreds of bazaars selling everything from spices, clothes, microwaves to gaudy jewellery, sharpened used scissors and Diwali decorations (Diwali starts around 10th Nov we think and is as big as Christmas). After a visit to the Palace which was very ornate, we headed up the mountain for a 20 minute hike to watch the sunset over a beer, the walk was worth it but we had to hurry down as it was getting dark quickly.

We were travelling again the following morning but this time we decided the bus was the way to go, 3 hours into the Shekawati region of Rajasthan. The bus was ok almost better than the train as the seat reclined slightly and it was on time.

Nawalgarh is a quiet little town in the Shekawati region which doesn't see many tourists - we both felt very white but were left alone which was a refreshing change from the bigger cities. We were staying in a room within a family home which provided us with breakfast and dinner - all vegetarian and strictly no alcohol. It was enjoyable. The following day, we hired bicycles and rode into town (about 1km) and visited 2 Haveli's - which are beautiful courtyard based homes from around 1700's though all in a state of disrepair which was a shame. The weather here was hot and dry by day and cool at night - desert conditions, and there was plenty of sand scattering the roads and alleys - this is camel country. They are used here as working animals pulling carts and heavy loads.

Armed with our new confidence in the bus service, we decided to take the 8 hrs journey to Delhi - the time passed fairly quickly but the lack of toilet facilities took their toll ! We had to connect in Delhi to be able to travel to Shimla so there we were back in the hot, polluted city - we quickly found accommodation, food and beer and rested ready for our 12 hour trip the next day.