The Day Before the Morning After

We're now working our way round the Golden Triangle, the well trodden tourist trail of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. It's amazing so far, and a big thanks to Dan and Kathryn for the wedding gift of train tickets around the triangle, and to Shimla too as we've not been able to get tickets in the posh carriages! Trains are quite the experience here - more details (and photos!) to follow in a later post. We arrived in Agra early in the morning and dumped our bags at our hotel, a peaceful retreat right next to one of the world's most visited tourist sites - the Taj Mahal. EXCITED!! Friends have recommended going for sunrise (photogenic and quiet), so that's what we planned for the next day. So we put on our walking shoes and hiked across the city, through parks, bazaars, housing and next to the river to Agra Fort. A huge red sandstone building around the corner from the Taj. We explored, marvelled and then found a quiet spot to sit, read and take in the view.

The Taj Mahal from atop of Agra Fort

We've had worse views for reading books...

 Very excited about seeing the Taj up close now - it's got a lot of hype, but it looks incredible. We treat ourselves (dinner cost a £1 each, rather than the usual 80p or so) to a rooftop dinner with a gorgeous view. Here's the excited wife.

VERY excited about tomorrow!!!

We're here!

Welcome to India!

(This one's by Sarah...)
Its our second day in India - and what a couple of days its been... We arrived yesterday morning at Delhi International Airport - and were collected by our booked hotel - 'Cottage Yes Please'. A half hour induction into Indian driving later (constant use of the honker gives you a clue as to how they drive!) and we arrived at the hotel, situated in the Pahar Ganj area of Delhi, not far from the main train station. After a quick power nap in our room - neither of us got much sleep on the plane - too excited!, we headed out to explore. Preparing ourselves for absolute chaos... we were pleasantly surprised. Whilst Delhi is busy, noisy, a bit smelly and incredibly hot, on our first day we also found plenty to like. We walked to Connaught Place - Jamie will be pleased to know that the poo scam did not happen to either of us, and then on to India Gate.

The impressive India Gate

We finished the day strolling around Lodi Garden, a beautiful garden towards the South of the city. Incredibly quiet and peaceful, the park was home to a number of Mughal tombs and monuments - an amazing place to relax.

Lodi Garden - happy honeymooners!

After finding the metro - very modern and CHEAP (c.25p each for a 10 stop journey) we collapsed back in our room - we had planned not to over do it on the first day... but several miles of walking later were both a bit pooped. Having recuperated, we headed out for dinner to a great Lonely Planet recommendation - Tadka, a few streets away just off the main bazaar. We both had a thali (set meal) for a couple of quid. Delish combo with veg curry (no meat options and no beers on the menu for Matt though. Might be a veggie/dry few weeks! Probably a good thing!), daal, raita, rice, roti breads, salad (don't worry Mums - we abstained) and pappads (like poppadoms). Having polished it all off, we headed back to the hotel for much needed showers, and a Modern Family (just like being at home!)

Planned for an early start this morning... Didn't happen when I awoke at 10am to find Matt still asleep (this NEVER happens, I was worried he might have gone into a coma at first)! After an omelette brekkie over the road we headed on the tube to the Red Fort. Our visit to the Fort was courtesy of Ally (thank you!) - the first of the wedding presents from people for our trip and what a great pressie the Fort was. We explored for about 3 hours - walking the gardens and exploring the amazing buildings which used to make up the Mughal Palace.

The Red Fort - thank you Ally!

Matt's new ride

After a quick visit to the largest mosque in India, Jama Masjid, we headed to the Raj Ghat Park seeing the Gandhi monument. Another beautiful and stunningly empty park. Where are all the tourists?

Children playing inside the courtyard of Jama Masjid mosque

A long walk to the metro was rescued by a tuk tuk/auto-rickshaw drive, after we had walked past the TB hospital and A&E. Suffice to say neither of us want to get ill here. Followed by Dal and Paneer for dinner, and some foot washing back at the hotel. Grubby evidence below!

Grubby toots!

Learning to Ride

We're all wedded, so now it's time for goodbyes, packing and last minute trip admin. I'm in Lingwood (Norfolk) with Sarah visiting her family at the moment, so thought I'd take the chance to go for my CBT (Compulsory Bike Training) somewhere which doesn't charge London prices! I wasn't particularly well prepared - with only jeans and a jumper with me. So my new father-in-law (Nick) leant me his gardening boots and his authentic replica WW2 flying jacket. PIMP!!!

It was a bit of a steep learning curve - but loved learning to use the gears and being in full control of the bike. Best bit was learning about counter-steering - not sure it's transferable to road cycling though. It's where you gently turn against the direction you want to go in. Feels really unnatural, but gets you round corners so much gentler and quicker. LOVED IT! Now time to master the streets of Saigon, revving at the lights with 100 other mopeds and bikes! (The photo above is Nick's Norton he's restoring, not mine sadly)

Packing...

We're married! Photos to follow... in the midst of packing at the moment. Trying to weigh up carrying enough for three months vs. having to carry it all on our backs. I think we're getting there - but this is what a three month holiday pack looks like!

Matt

Tick Tock

Hello and welcome to our blog! It's now 5 days until Sarah and I get married, not nervous yet. Just excited for what the next few months hold for us. After getting married on 31/3, we've got a fortnight left in England to celebrate Easter with families, pack the flat up and say our goodbyes. Then we start the trip of a lifetime, with three months to explore India and South East Asia, before settling in New Zealand for a year of working and exploring. Here's a map of our trip - looks like quite a straight line we're taking from London to Auckland, but it takes a bit longer than the usual flight...

Or a link here. We've got a month to explore India, including Delhi and the temples of the Golden Triangle, before heading to the Himalayas for some long treks and then to Goa for some long days on the beach. Then off to Singapore, where we'll travel by train up through Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, then spend the majority of our 2 months in SE Asia in Laos, Vietnam (down the coast by scooter hopefully) and Cambodia. Then to Sydney for a few days before we try and earn a living in NZ, destination TBC! We'll keep this blog up to date with photos from our trip and stories of the adventures we go through. Don't worry - we're not going to find ourselves in a Tibetan monastery and come back with plenty of friendship bracelets. Probably a few facial tribal tattoos in Bangkok though. More to follow soon...