The Himalaya to the Taj Mahal

Dear All,

Having posted a huge number of photos for us, its time to return to a bit of boring old writing! We'll post some photos of India soon. When we last wrote we had arrived in Mcleod Ganj, near Daramshala in the Himalaya. It was a beautiful spot. We managed to get a parking space in the state-run tourism hotel carpark. This it turned out was a busy little place during the day. The car park itself was not the usual concrete affair, but dirt tracks and different levels amongst a forested knoll. Every day Tibetan monks would come, sit and contemplate life or play 'keepy-uppy'. There was a small concreted area where more games were played and where one group of young people came and practised their dance routines. To top it all off, the view was fantastic and there was a troop of monkeys, say 40-50 who came every day to eat the chestnuts off the trees.

We sat for some time just watching these monkeys play. They were tumbling around, wrestling each other, jumping from tree to tree and onto the hotel corrugated roof, delighted with the racket they could make! We also met Gile there, the Tibetan Monk who gave Mark herbs and medicine for his cold. We took Gile for breakfast one morning when it had got quite cold and all enjoyed a bowl of porridge, banana and honey. There are so many cafes in Mcleod Ganj. We spent two rainy days effectively going from cafe to cafe.We decided after the rain that it was time to leave and find the sunchine, but the next day the sunshine re-appeared and we stayed another couple of days.

We really enjoyed the Tibetan food. The momos, Tibetan steamed dumplings, were really tasty. We actually spent three mornings learning how to cook momos, Tibetan soup and Tibetan bread at Lahmo's kitchen. Jo also did an Indian cooking course which was supposed to be for two days, but the second day was cancelled. Still, I learnt alot in one day and have made my first fresh chapatis since!

We, of course, visited the monastery and paid our respects to the Dalai Lama!

Mcleod Ganj was a cool place to hang out and we could have easily got stuck there. When we're ready to move on we usually try and be out of a place by 11, but just managed to leave Mcleod by 1pm! We made it 30km down the road and camped out next to a tea plantation at Palampur. We had a lovely view across a deep valley with terraced farming and palm trees.


The next day we managed to get a little further, although mountain roads are not the fastest. We stopped near Bilaspur in a hotel carpark called Sagar View. It was an amazing view of this huge man-made lake that had been created in the 1950s. We were just leaving the foothills of the Himalayas. The hotel was run by a man called Rajinder. He was really welcoming. He allowed us to park free of charge in the car park and let us shower in the hotel. He was very interested in the van as he was about to take on a franchise of Mahindra Indian cars and wanted to know about the conversion.

Mark and his dad's skills got us a free meal that night! There was local wedding on an Rajinder and his brother-in-law brought us back free food from there. They were very impressed that we liked Indian food and wanted us to try their local dishes. It was great food and we really enjoyed their company and hospitality.

The next day, after another late start due to more chats and chai with Raji, we made it to Kiratpur where we stayed at a Sikh temple. We were struggling to find anywhere and knew from the Golden Temple that Sikhs will allow you to stay and feed you. When we asked about parking the van there, they actually offered us a room each due to misunderstanding us!

We parked up and went into the communal kitchen to eat. It was a simple meal of daal and chapatis and rice pudding, but it was lovely. Mark especially liked the rice pudding! We washed our dishes after and had a quick look at the kitchens. Biggest cooking pots you've seen in your life!

The next day we head off early and made it to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is the joint capital of the Punjab and Haryana states and was built and designed in the 1950s. Le Corbusier designed the whole lot, including the huge man-made lake and grid like structure of the city. When India and Pakistan were established after partition, Lahore, the original capital of the Punjab was in Pakistan, so the Indians needed a new capital of their Punjab.

It was a relaxing few days in a cheap hotel and the final night we parked by the lake. That night we met a really nice man called Bupinder or Bupi, for short. He had been quite high up in managing tea stations for some British owners and was really interesting to talk to. We learnt alot about tea production and after a few beers and food had a real laugh together.

One of the really good sights we saw in Chandigarh, apart from the museum and modern art gallery, was Nek Chands fantasy rock garden. It was started by Nek Chand around 40 odd years ago and is built totally out of rubbish! It is believe it or not, an amazing garden with incredible moasics, sculptures and landscaping.

Leaving Chandigarh, we were headed for the Taj Mahal in Agra. We wanted to avoid going through Dehli as we had heard horror stories of the traffic there. Our scenic route took us through Baghput where we stayed in a rice field and the next night in Khurja where we were in a field of Marigolds. We have been the talk of every village we have stayed near and have a regular stream of visitors in the late-day sun and first thing the next morning. Its usually young men and in the mornings when they visit us they light a fire to keep themselves warm whilst they await our company!!

That Sunday we made it to Agra by the afternoon and sat in a hotel overlooking the Taj as the sun set. It truly is a beautiful building. We were due to visit it properly the next day and wanted to see it at sunrise. Next time we write we'll post some photos of the Taj at sunrise and update you on the next stage of our travels.