Getting an overnight train in India is a not to be missed experience… Orchha to Varanassi

Stunning view of the Indian railway!

Not so nice view of the sleeper train interiors – I was glad I got top bunk!

After a few crazy cities it was a relief to arrive in he small rural Indian town of Orchha, only highlighted as a place of tourism in the last 10 years this is otherwise known as the hidden place. Or hotel ‘The Orchha Resort” was another nice surprise, situated behind the Hindu Palace – Jehangir Mahal and a five minute walk from the river we stayed in some stunning air con tents. – this was camping in luxury. On the first night I headed with the girls to do a cooking class with a local family, we learned how to make chai masala tea, veg pokhora, aubergine curry, pea and carrot curry, chutney and chapati’s – looking forward to testing these recipe’s when we get back. The rest of time in Orchha we spent drinking the best chai tea yet with a very friendly local man, people watching in the local town – including attracting a lot of attention from the local people who were fascinated with our white skin and blue eyes, we also explored the temple and was able to attend Hindu prayer ceremony.

Jehangir Mahal – Narga architecture

Our tent at the Orchha Resort – quaint town surrounded by temples with the surreal sound of Indian rave music playing in the background, apparently the warm up to the Indian wedding season.

The best chai masala tea in India!

Today we travelled to Agra in time to watch the sun set over theTaj Mahal. This stunning palace was built-in the 1600’s by Muslim, Emperor Shah Jahan and is still in pristine condition. This is architecturally the most picture perfect building we have seen.

Saw this artwork on the Indian road and it got me thinking about hitting the trails in Nepal! George.

Tucked a way in the centre of this lively city is our hotel ‘Bissau Palace’ residence of one of Jaipurs Nobility – the hotel is stunning with historic Indian/Victoria interiors – We were not at all expecting to stay somewhere like this on a GAdvetures tour so have to thank Raj our tour leader who told us we would be going somewhere basic. We spent our time in Jaipur visiting the temples Hawa Mahal, Amber Fort, The City Palace & The Water Palace.

Hawa Mahal

City Palace Decor

In the evening we went to see a Bollywood movie – it was hilarious and very surreal – much more exciting than the cinema at home – every time a good looking man or women came on screen everyone would start screaming and whistling! Not to mention the people recording the film with their personal video cameras and the pigeons flying around the cinema roof! After the movie we had more curry and a lasso (milk and saffron), the food here is like heaven and so far no Delhi bellies.

The cinema

An 8 hour bus ride from Delhi brought us to Jaipur also known as the pink city. A little smaller than Delhi but plenty enough hustle and bustle to compensate -everywhere we look there are people working, kids playing cricket and taking school classes in the street and w hole ray of market stalls selling everything from toilet roll to car engines.

Jaipur market veg seller keen to get on camera

Short back and sides

Snake Charmer

Making Lasso – Milk & saffron

Day 1 New Delhi. We arrived in Delhi at 5am and jumped into one of the official taxi’s at Delhi airport. We drove in circles for one hour until our lost taxi driver and his friend asleep under some covers in the front seat of our cab found our 1st destination ‘Hotel Perfect’. After a good sleep in India’s most perfect hotel we explored the cities streets. It’s hard to describe it but I’ll attempt too – just imagine tuc tucs peeping, wondering pigs, dogs and goats, monkeys climbing telephone lines, the smell of spices, smog and burning popcorn, crowded streets and colourful rustic buildings.

Tuc tuc central

Don’t look in the eye of a street monkey

Delhi Red Fort

Delhi Red Fort

On the 25th January 2013 we will be heading on our biggest trip yet. We will begin our adventure in New Delhi India and make our way through Jaipur, Agra, Orchha, and Varanasi on an overland journey to Nepal. In Nepal we will visit the Chitwan National park and Pokhora where we will do some trekking in the Annupurna region and a spot of mountain biking for George! Our journey in Nepal ends in Kathmandu where we can absorb the views of the epic Himalayas and catch our flight to Thailand. In Thailand we will spend a few days sunning it up on the stunning Railay beach before crossing the border into Malaysia where we will visit Langkawi, Panang, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur and take a flight to Yogykarta, Indonesia. We will make our way through Indonesia visiting Mount Bromo, Lombok and The Gili Islands ending our journey in Bali. Stay tuned for photos and our travel stories on our blog!