Poas and Irazu Volcanoes

Poas

Irazu

I Know the Way to San Jose

tbc

Quepos and Manuel Antonio

Manuel Antonio National Park

Where it all began, the oldest NP in Costa Rica.

There are pretty large numbers at the NP.  Howler Monkeys are playing in the trees.

Big lizard close-up

Scarier than a big lizard.  Yours truly on a quiet beach within the NP

Montezuma

It is not the easiest place to get, requiring a fair bit of traveling.  There isn’t much waiting for you when you get here either.  It’s lovely though.  The guidebooks say it has been on the hippie trail for a good deal of time - referring to it as Montefuma.  Usual story, people turn up for a day or two and stay a week, then a month and some just never leave.

My personal trip from up in the cool damp cloud forest of Monteverde involved a bus either side of a ferry across to the Peninsula of Nicoya.  Ferry is the best bet as the roads on the peninsula aren’t up to too much.  While a trip of beautiful contrasts from the mountains to the Pacific coast, it was a long journey starting at 6am and ending at the hotel at 3:30pm.

As for what to do and see here, well there is the National Park of Cabo Blanco, a few waterfalls, a butterfly park and the general lovely area of beaches and forest.  I was staying at the Mariposario (butterfly reserve) so that got ticked off quickly, with a very informative tour with one of the American students (Renee) staying here.  The waterfalls were beneath the road up to the Mariposario too; very handy.

So I did two of the main sights then just kicked back and did what most people do here.  Relax. Read. Drink some Imperial - usually at Chico's bar. People watch.  And wonder why life can’t be like this most of the time.

My trip away from here was to be equally adventurous - the quick boat across to the almost American surf resort of Jaco - before heading on to Manuel Antonio National Park - and on the way managing to take in a big group of playful dolphins performing around our boat and seeing turtles swimming past us up north to do their egg laying thing.  Boy are they big too!  Weird seeing them swimming slowly inexorably across the straits to northern Nicoya.  All part of the ferry trip too - not a wildlife trip. Excellente!

Monteverde

To be completed.. err, hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday...

La Fortuna and Arenal

The bus arrived at the terminus and before you have stepped off the bus the touts are accosting the tourists.  Have you a place to stay?  Where are you staying?  Have you paid anything yet?  What tours do you want to go on?  Come with me.

A couple of shoulder barges, quick feet and a shoulder dummy and I was away to my hotel around the corner.  La Fortuna is a small place, so unless you booked a place out of town, all hotels are really only around one corner or another.

The hotel was a pretty average mid-range affair. Nice enough, clean, good service, a neat breakfast area and even a small pool.  But I was so lucky to get the best room in the hotel, on the top and south of the hotel such that it was the only room with an uninterrupted view of the Arenal volcano.  The only aberration to the view was a slender red painted communication tower, which seemed to be set in a location to help frame the view.  My camera was straight out of the bag.

After an hour’s break resting on the cool white sheets, letting the air-con do it’s magic, it was time to wander into ‘town’.  Fifteen minutes wandering and you’ve pretty much seen it all.  A good mix of restaurants, sodas, small supermarkets, hotels and lots of travel agencies - advertising their tours to the same places: Hot Springs Baldi or Tabacon; zip-lining; the volcano; the Pacific Coast; Tortuga Island; the Atlantic Coast; Monteverde transfer the ‘Jeep-Boat-Jeep’.

The towns essentials are almost exclusively along the one main road, with just a few more eateries on the opposite side of the main square, which is dominated by the Catholic church.  Facing the front of the church, it in turn is dominated by Arenal, looming over the building ominously in the not-so-background.

My evening meal was in the Lava Lounge, opposite my hotel, which had a video permanently playing a DVD showing the eruptions of lava and falling debris, rolling rocks down the slopes of the volcano.  I would have loved to see such a fireworks display whilst here, but the volcano which has been happily plopping along since it’s surprising departure from dormancy in 1968 ceased it’s Strombolian behaviour nine months ago.  Now the only emissions are gasses.  For now anyway.

I was to stay in La Fortuna for three nights so decided to do Arenal on the last day and go to the waterfalls and nature reserve the day before.  My breakfast of pinto gallo and scrambled egg was as fine as it always is.  It is what it is and you really need to add sauces to give some flavour to the rice and beans.

The Book (Lonely Planet) said the nature reserve Danaus was about 3km out of town to the east.  It was half right, it was out of town to the east, but it was more like three miles.  Took me a deal of time to get there walking along the main road, which involved dodging some big vehicles which seemed not to see me much of the time.

The guide at the park was surprised to see me, looking over my shoulder for where I’d parked.

‘You walked from Fortuna?’, he said with surprise, ‘You sit down here for a while and I’ll put a banana out for the birds.’  I was the only person in the reserve.

Within seconds a variety of birds were queuing up to tuck in to the partially rotten banana.  A couple of large agoutis came out of the undergrowth at the same time.  These rodents were as big as a small dog.  They were not skittish but managed to stand in deep undergrowth whenever I raised my camera.

After a brief rest and a bottle of lemon Fanta I was ready to walk around my park.  It’s not a large one and was largely on stone or wooden chip pathways, which were neatly arranged to take in different plant types.  Small and medium sized birds of every hue were everywhere.  Yellow and green seemed to be the local fashion favourite.

In a small tent for frogs I had to wander around several times to find just one.  The tiny poison dart frog may be small, but it doesn’t try to hide with it’s bright orange and lurid blue colouring.  I doubt it was 2cm long.

After the tiny frog excitement I wandered around the reserve with my eyes mostly on the canopy looking for the large iguanas (basilisks) and sloths.  Forests like this are a nightmare to look for wildlife because it is both everywhere, but also more often as not hidden by the damn vegetation!  When you look up, you don’t know what your missing at eye level, or on the ground - be it trip hazards or snakes!

At the lake I saw a couple of large Boat Billed Herons, but couldn’t see the caiman which were purported to be in the lake.  Shortly afterwards I heard visitors, the park was no longer mine.  A large group of Germans were being shown around the park, walking in the opposite direction.  On the positive side I heard their cries when they saw the caiman, and I followed them to see the small caiman floating in the centre of the lake, looking more like a log than the nearby log also floating there.  They are definitely well adapted to being invisible in plain sight.

Past a butterfly garden I met a Californian woman with her young lad.  He was slightly interested in seeing the caiman, but was predominantly obsessed with seeing a basilisk.  The two were scouring the ground for them, which surprised me given the guide had said they spent their time in the canopy.  Other than a large squirrel and the agoutis I had failed to see any mammals or big reptiles.  But that is nature for you.

Back at the entrance I thanked the guide and said what a good place it was.  

‘Did you see the sloths?’ he asked.

‘No, and I didn’t catch the basilisks either,’ I replied, with a little disappointment.

‘Really? You didn’t look hard enough!’ he said, ‘Hold on let’s see.’

Within five minutes he had found me a two toed sloth, a three toed sloth and a massive basilisk sitting high in the canopy.  Fantastic stuff, and shows the benefit of taking a guide with you if you get the opportunity.  I took a couple of pictures and was away back down the road at midday.  Englishman and the midday sun.

A mile or so down the road and I stopped for a Fanta and a rest before heading into town.  After five or six miles in the day I decided a further six miles up and down Cerro Chato to the waterfall was not going to happen.  So I took it easy in town with my Kindle and a few cold drinks.

The walk up to the waterfall the next day was easy enough for most of the way, being a gentle slope for the majority of the way, until there were two steep sections on the road.  I saw no-one else walking, and was overtaken only by mini-buses and a large group of tourists making their way up on horse back.

At the top after paying the $10 a sign with all the does and don’ts suggests not walking down the 450 steps to the base of the waterfall if you have high blood pressure.  Such advice makes my blood boil.  After a recovery with juice at the view point overlooking the long white veil of the waterfall cutting a swath through the jungle green I decided damn discretion time to take the steps.  The waterfall had a massive blue-green plunge pool and was quite busy with swimmers on the edge of the water - after driving or riding up here I am not sure they deserved the reward, but hey.  It was an impressive sight, and as with most waterfalls the dynamism means that photographs can’t really do it justice.  One stop on the way down, two on the way back up.  No problems, my blood pressure must be fine then.  

In the afternoon I had the trip to Arenal volcano and the Baldi Hot Springs.  I was picked up right on time and after picking up five Americans on the way we went to the base of the 1968 lava flow - stopping only to see an un-energetic sloth doing it’s best to entertain - by doing nothing.


The guide was good explaining about the volcano and the plants and fauna, though I had to put him right on some of his geology!  The Americans to a man (and woman) were completely unaware about the volcanoes history, and were genuinely shocked to hear that it had been erupting as recently as nine months ago.  Does nobody read the guidebooks?  I assume they were here for zip-lining or rafting and springs, but still some basic knowledge - the only reason the town is there is to serve the tourists who have been coming here to see the erupting volcano.  I won’t use the word despair (but I did).

We were lucky to avoid any rain in the afternoon, but it was my turn to get wet down at the Baldi Springs, one of the older, cheaper and naffer hot springs on the edge of the volcano.  Three of the Americans were dropped off at Tabacon, the newer, expensive ($50 dearer), less naff but still gaudy entry to the hot springs market.

It is a nice experience just soaking in the different pools, which were all at different temperatures.  The one with a bar in was particularly nice, until the bill came - boy do they overcharge.  Yes, yes they do.  $9.50 for two soft drinks.  The buffet was to die for.  No, sorry to die from, it was not good, but the coffee was spot on.

So having done the hot springs, the volcano, the waterfalls and a nature reserve that was La Fortuna pretty much done (not being interested in the canopy zip-lining nonsense) and it was off to the cloud-forest of Monteverde the next day for more nature, less volcano.

San Jose to Arenal

San Jose is neither a sleepy latino town or one of its most manic cities, but it is indeed the capital of Costa Rica. It is sat roughly in the middle of the country just on the western side of the Cordillera spine of the country.

It has plenty of small green parks and some lovely old colonial buildings dotted around, but it is not a pretty place. Very few old buildings remain in the city, and while it is on a traditional grid layout the road numbering takes a bit of getting used to, and isn’t helped by the lack of signage. There has been an apparent lack of planners and architects in the city for some time.

On Saturday heavy rain was not long in making an appearance and then lasted most of the day. Walking the streets looking for signs (or just attempting to count) was hampered by the tempestuous seas of jousting umbrellas which filled the city centre streets. Safety glasses should be worn.

My sore knee occasionally gave me gip when trying to stride over some cavernous gulleys from the road to the elevated kerbs.

The Museum of Jade apparently houses the best collection of jade in the world. Not for me to say, but some interesting stuff in their including none jade items of gold and pottery.

I visited the National Museum on Sunday, which was also well worth the effort. The most interesting items for me were the mysterious stone spheres of south west Costa Rica. These were made by extra-terrestrials apparently, as I read in an Erich Von Daniken book in the 1980s. It is possible that they were fashioned by some clever Costa Ricans who unfortunately forgot to leave a Post-It note listing their purpose for Mr Daniken to find.

Before the afternoon torrent arrived I walked across town to Sabana Park and took in the new national football stadium.

After deciding that my knee had improved enough for me to go for the volcano rather than the beach next I booked a hotel in La Fortuna, a town that sits in the shadow of Volcan Arenal - the most active volcano in Central America and one of Costa Rica’s star attractions.

Being a night owl I opted for the last of the three buses, which left at 11:30 am on Monday, buying the tickets straight after breakfast to remove the fear of turning up with all my gear to find I had no destination to go to.

I returned to the bus station with my bags by taxi. I got ripped off by the man, which has only happened to me a few times but is always hard to deal with... deep breath and carry on.

The bus was cramped and I was told to get on with both my rucksack and daypack even though it would take up another seat. I was a bit surprised and uncomfortable to find that as we drove on up through the mountains the bus was soon full so that there people stood up for miles. Still, my embarrassment was somewhat assuaged by knowing I would get all my stuff to the next town.

The journey was lovely through the mountains, and all the coffee and palm plantations, up through the high passes into the cloud on the eastern side, but all this was soon misty memory too once we approached San Carlos and I could see the distinctive cone of Arenal in the distance for the first time.




I just like volcanoes, alright!

Arenal Volcano

Blow me, but my knee seems almost completely better even after a five hour cramped up in a bus from San Jose to La Fortuna.  The bus ride was through several towns and some stunning passes.  Clear views gave way to sudden fog as we hit the clouds on the eastern side of the Central Cordillera.  View after view of valleys, towns, coffee and palm plantations were all very beautiful, but it wasn't until we hit the floor at the base of the mountains by San Pedro. that I caught my first real breathtaking moment - a view of Volcan Arenal.

Looking just like a volcano as you expect as a kid the andesitic cone rises up steeply from the plateau below.  I'd love to see it spewing some lava, which it does more often than not - at least since the volcano sprang to life in 1968 (a bit like me).  But (again, a little like me) it has been going through a quiet period and hasn't erupted lava for the last eight months.  It is still gassing constantly (umm, a bit like me again before the antibiotics!), and the lava can start again at any time... hold on what's that I can hear?

On the positive side even when Arenal is erupting there is a less than 50% chance of finding the volcano viewable because of clouds.  The views I had as we came in and then as I got to my room were worth the journey in itself.  I truly think I have the best view from my hotel room (Room 10, Hotel Jireh) that I have ever had.

For those interested the eruptions have mostly been of the Stromboli type.  Go on, look on Wikipedia.

Plans: well a walk up to a fab waterfall (70m drop), a walk to the 1968 lava flow, then a soak in the hot springs, and a walk around a small nearby nature reserve.  Hope the view can repeat itself again tomorrow and the day after, even for just a short time.

Costa Rica - Becoming Planned

After so many hours on the planes from Manchester to Atlanta, then Atlanta to San Jose, I was unfortunate to find my right knee was beginning to swell and by the time I got off the plane in Costa Rica was really struggling with the pain and movement.  I had anti-inflammatories and painkillers, but off course in my baggage, so I had no way to cut it off at the pass.

After struggling to get into the taxi I had a painful and slow exit from it, as I arrived at my hotel on Friday night.  Needless to say I was given a room on the top floor, no lift just two sets of stairs.  It was a painful process getting up them.  On the positive side the room was a free upgrade.

By 9:30pm I was in bed having taken my pills.  While 9:30 on a Friday sounds bad, to be fair that would be 4.30am UK time, and I had left home at 7am (thanks for the lift Tony!).

Not wanting to travel on a Sunday in particular, and wanting to give my knee a bit of rest time I decided to stay in San Jose until Monday before moving on.  But to where?  On the Sunday morning I was thinking I would have to go to the beaches on the Pacific coast, to avoid the walking and difficult terrain from visits to volcanoes and National Parks - not ideal, as it would surely make more sense to have a beach visit after some of the sweaty stuff.

By Sunday afternoon, despite pounding the streets of San Jose for much of the day from the hotel to the National Museum, then on to west to see the new National Stadium (March 2011) - where Costa Rica now play their football games - I found my knee holding up well.  I decided to go for the more obvious route and so now I have the basis of a plan:

• Tomorrow I go to La Fortuna for the Volcan Arenal, then;
• to Monteverde for the National Parks and cloud forest, from there;
• off to Liberia, a nice colonial city in the north, then;
• well, not sure but maybe Montezuma (aka Montefuma because of the hippies there);
• before returning to San Jose or Alajuela to pick up tours to Volcan Poas, and the forest cable cars AND the first football game of the season for Saprissa (the Champions, who have just sold a star striker (?) to Arsenal.

I get back to England on 5th August, hopefully having:

• seen Volcanoes doing there stuff (or at least just looking like volcanoes); 
• seen sloths and other mammals (highly unlikely to see any tapirs or cats like jaguars - but fingers crossed); 
• quetzals would be good but again unlikely so a toucan or two will do!; 
• snakes from distance would be okay, from distance please... 
• oh and a football game too.

I'd love it if a plan comes together.  Bring it on...

Costa Rica Unplanned

My trips this year have largely been undertaken without blogging commentary.  Not totally sure why after quite a lot of blog last year, although my Open University work probably took my writing concentration in some places and driving as well ate into a lot of time when doing the US west coast trip.  I did write some of the US trip up as an OU marked piece - perhaps I will post it up at some point.

Anyhoo, I am off to Costa Rica for three weeks tomorrow and I am intending - internet permitting - to keep a bit of a travelogue going in order that some peeps (like my folks) can keep tabs of where I am (or where I am going) and also so I keep on with my writing.

My plan so far is pretty basic.  In so much as it is: get up tomorrow, fly to San Jose (the Capital of Costa Rica) and stay there for two nights before moving on to.... err, well that is as far as the plan goes at the moment!  I have long flights and airport time tomorrow, so a possible framework could be worked on then, or while in a San Jose bar on Friday night!

Tardiness

Well, I haven't been good writing my trip up on here yet have I? That be rhetorical.

I have been putting stuff down on paper, so should be able to put something readable together sometime soon... err over the weekend perhaps. Driving a lot certainly eats in to Blogging time, unlike airports or trains it is not the safest practice to type up my thoughts on the Pacific Coast Highway, at least when I am driving. Have covered over 2200 miles so far with about 250 to go by Sunday.

To type up? The trip has taken in the following night stops:

San Francisco

Three Rivers

Ridgecrest

Las Vegas

Gardena (LA)

Santa Monica

Santa Barbara, and

San Luis Obispo (SLO)

To go? Just:

Monterey, then back to

Frisco!

To those of you interested there are loads of photos (over 230 so far!) on: gallery.me.com/zevonesque

Best regards to all!

Cali-forn-i-A

Bit like India I never really wanted to go to the USA that much. There are of course things I'd like to see like New York, the Grand Canyon, New Orleans, Yellowstone etc. But in general not much grabbed me as essential. After years of traveling to 'developing' countries it will be interesting to pop over to the ultimate developed country. I am sure the contradictions of the place will be fascinating, not to mention seeing how my preconceptions are confirmed or (as usual) shot to pieces.

The Plan: Well, I am flying to San Francisco and staying there for a while for Alcatraz and micro-breweries and all that before heading off toward Yosemite (snow dependent) then down to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Then it will be west to LA before taking my time passing up north back to SF along Highway 1 or the Pacific Road Highway via Big Sur and Castle Hearst et al.

Should be fun. Will keep you posted...

Last Day in India

It’s midday but, with the winter solstice just a couple of days away, the warm watery sun is casting evening long shadows across the well kept lawns of the Safdarjang Tomb. The red and white sandstone tomb sitting serenely in the quiet grounds is said to be the last of the great Mughal buildings. The large off white dome, home to sprouting grasses and a multitude of pigeons, sits atop of the square and beautifully proportioned edifice.

It is the quietest place I have been in Delhi, in fact probably anywhere during this India trip, with barely 60 people in the grounds. A few foreign tourists walk around the building with their cameras slung around their necks and one hand clasped around the Lonely Planet. The majority of the elite band of visitors in the grounds are young couples sheltering from prying eyes at the furthest points from the entrance gate, beneath the trees which are spaced out evenly across the spotless lawns.

Lying on the grass here, watching the black kites swirl over head in the deep blue cloudless sky and listening to the bird song and the chirping sound of the playful chipmunks I feel as relaxed as I think I have ever felt. The sounds of the roads, the dust and chaos is just a few hundred metres away, but like any good garden you can quickly forget where you are.

My last day in Delhi has been blessed by this beautiful clear sunny day - it is like the best of June in England - calm, warm and cloudless. Lying back with my head on my rucksack, looking at my ‘not to scale’ map, I make a decision to miss out on the railway museum several kilometres to the west and instead head east for the less geeky Purana Qila fortress.

The walk from the tomb takes me across a wide but not too busy road to Lodi Road and I dive left into the Lodi Gardens. The screaming school children, shouting picnickers and the sound of tennis balls on plastic cricket bats are in sharp contrast to the tranquility of Sadfarjangs Tomb. The gardens unlike the Tomb (5 rupees for Indians) are free but the main reason for the bustle and popularity is this is a place of meeting and play. Multitudes of large blankets are spread out across the grass demarcating each groups space, they are dotted with bright cushions and heavy bags full of food and drink for the families and friends. The fathers, brothers and sisters all play cricket games with only the stout mothers and grandparents keeping away from the games, close to the food.

The park is home to the several ancient tombs and mosques of note, but unlike those paid for sights these ‘protected’ monuments are far from looked after. While the younger children run around playing roughy and noisily through the mosque and tombs, older children have climbed up and sat on top of several of the buildings roofs and around one of the tombs lies a couple of condoms.

To be completed...

Goa

A lickle write up of my week in Goa will be up here soon. Well, sometime in the next week.

Rajasthan Week 2

Well not yet, but shortly....

Udaipur

This was to prove my favourite town of my trip to India. If you have seen Octopussy (unfortunately a Roger Moore 007 and not Sean Connery) then you have at least seen some of it on the TV or big screen.

Jodphur

Yep, so good they named an item of clothing after it, and yup they do have plenty of horses around here.

Jaisalmer

The last big town on the way toward Pakistan, with a most impressive and large crumbling fortress.

Bikener

Yep another town and another fort/palace.

Mandawa

No palaces, lots of havelis (they be north Indian mansions to you).

and back to Delhi...

Rajasthan Trip - Week 1

Note: I had wanted to update my blog regularly while in India (which would give more bite-size chunks), but due to the lack of wi-fi across the place I have not been able to do this. Given that I found wi-fi widely across Sumatra, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Borneo I have been surprised how rare wi-fi is here (found in only two of my eleven hotels here, and bars just not having it at all).

The plan, such as it was, was to travel around Rajasthan by train and coach driven by both desires and whim. Once I was in Delhi It was soon apparent that this was pretty impractical, or at least would eat into a lot of days, and may not be the most relaxing of trips. I should probably have been booking trains before I got in the country, or at least as soon as I arrived. There is generally no option of just turning up at the station for the inter city trips.

I did a bit of research on the net, and Dr Google told me that a lot of people get a driver for the trip. After due consideration it did seem a good option really, despite it costing me more money than I anticipated. The doctor told me that the driver with all the fuel, tolls and his accommodation would come out at about £22 a day for an air conditioned car (it costs me that to go in and out of Liverpool city centre from mine).

Micky at the hotel I was staying in had asked me to give him the opportunity to quote for any trips, so when he came out at the same price I went for it. The next thing then was to confirm where to go to and get a sensible itinerary together. The first visit had to be Agra, which is not in Rajasthan, but is several hours south east of Delhi in Uttar Pradesh - for the Taj Mahal - before heading into Rajasthan for the historical cities and for a chance to look for tigers in a national park.

My itinerary was firmed up over the next couple of days and finally comprised:

Agra (1 Night)
Ranthambore (2 nights)
Jaipur (2)
Pushkar (1)
Udaipur (2)
Jophur (2)
Jaisalmer (1)
Bikaner (1)
Jhunjhunu (1)

This first blog covers the trip as far as Pushkar...

I was picked up on the Sunday morning to go to Agra by my driver for the next fortnight - Bampy - which rather ominously was actually pronounced bumpy. Equally ominously even before we left the city he was angling for the tip at the end of the trip. For every time he mentioned it I would surely reduce said tip!

The journey started poorly with the little Tata Indica struggling to get out of the city centre, as most the roads around the city were closed for a marathon or some such event. They are not big on diversion signs here, so it was a question of driving around until an open road in an appropriate direction could be found, along with all the other lost traffic. Ultimately a trip which usually takes four hours took six - this was to prove par for the course over the fortnight.

Agra

A visit to Agra is for the Taj Mahal of course, but the massive red sandstone Agra Fort shouldn’t be missed, ideally visiting it first for an initial view across the river meander toward the Taj Mahal. It is quite similar to the Red Fort in Delhi in some ways and off a similar scale. One difference is that the British didn’t knock the bulk of it down in the mid-19th century.

I ended up going twice to the Taj Mahal, once on a rather mad Sunday afternoon, when thousands upon thousands of locals had come to see it. I was delayed a little getting there when Bumps disappeared for 15 minutes. It turned out having closed the door in the toilet it somehow got locked on the outside (glad that happened to him and not me). When I finally got in to the Taj Mahal the sun was already coming down quickly and the queues both inside and out the grounds were massive. At the Taj building itself queues snaked around several times both on the upper level and then down the steps before again snaking up, down and around - there were thousands. The queue was ‘controlled’ by about three people with uniforms, sticks and whistles. Every time they turned to blow their whistle and raise their stick at some queue jumping bad boys, others would jump across the snake trying their luck in the queue opposite.

After 5 minutes or so of watching this (I had accidentally cut in half way through the queue as it was by going the wrong way up a stair case to the upper level - oops) I realised it would take at least an hour to get in to it. I would have time the next day before going on to Ranthambore, so I decided to leave the queue and to use the Sunday to take in the outside of the buildings, and come back again on the Monday when hopefully the queues would be more manageable.

The place is so familiar of course from posters in Indian restaurants, films and television but it is far from a disappointment to see. The design of the building, the beautiful white marble and its setting is just perfect. One thing I didn’t realise is that the four identical towers all lean away from the building in order that if the worst happens they would fall away from the building. Well, that’s the story anyway. The stones and intricate design and carvings are just right.

When I did go on the Monday there were no queues to get in to the grounds or the mausoleum, which was a surprising result. The inside is a lot more understated, it is a mausoleum after all, but for the intricate stone carvings. I managed to get some good shots in the morning, when I could grab my camera of the guide who was showing me around - he was keen to use the camera.

Following the visit and a late breakfast it was a six hour drive on to Ranthambore national park, for a tiger safari the next day. The roads varied from really good English rural type through to topographic and structurally challenged boneshakers - not conducive to speedy driving for Bumps or a good sleep for me.

Ranthambore

The morning safari left at 6.30am, so it was up at the ungodly hour of 5.45am for a breakfast in my room. It was tipping down outside, and the first day in India that I would need my waterproof poncho (probably the only day). Boy did it tip down and it is pretty much unheard of at this time of year, after the monsoon. Unfortunately tigers don’t particularly enjoy padding about the place in the rain - why go out in it if you don’t have too? They only need to eat about once a week, so unless they were lazy last week then they could afford to wait a couple of days for the rain to abate.

My safari was in a Gypsy (jeep) with five of us in the back, with a driver and a guide at the front. The guide turned out to be a top guy, literally - he had been featured in the BBC ‘Land of the Tiger’ series, just a month or so ago. Tiger expert as he was he couldn’t find us one, and none of the other Gypsies or Cantors (trucks) saw one all day either (which I was glad about).
The safari though I found to be very enjoyable, I don’t think I have ever been as tense or alert as I was sat there scouring the park for the tigers. Instead all I got to see were spotted deer, samba deer (the tiger’s favourite super sized snack), wild boar, an antelope (springbok type), and birds of various type - I didn’t even get to see the crocs. As I said though, thoroughly recommended and definitely go for the Gypsy (which costs 50% more than the Cantor (truck), as it carries a maximum of six guests, while the Cantor is overloaded with an inevitably louder crowd (thereby reducing the chances of you getting to see a tiger - or indeed anything else!).

The following day when I was off to Jaipur it was tipping down again in Ranthambore and they closed the park because of the state of the roads within it. I pity the poor souls who came for that day - as there is not much to Ranthambore but the park - and they still got up before 6am to find that it was closed.

Jaipur

The road to Jaipur was diabolical for much of the route. It largely comprised one lane of broken tarmac with stone or mud either side, which was needed frequently as the little Tata had to dive off when being overtake or getting out of the way of oncoming bigger vehicles- the rules of the road are simple ‘Big vehicles have priority’. In some places there was no tarmac at all - just mud and standing water of unknown ‘Dr Foster’ depth. At one point we had a stand off with a car facing us waiting for us to go first to show the safe route through deep mud, which in places were evidently over a foot deep, visible in tyre tracks where large wagons had ploughed through it. We won; they went first, made it over, and we went the opposite way without getting stuck.

In the large busy city of Jaipur (>2.6 million) I stayed in the hotel Glitz, which was okay but not exactly glitzy. They did have traditional Rajasthan dancing every evening which was a sight. Unfortunately it did mean that you could not just pop down for a quiet meal and a Kingfisher. One of my favourite pints back in the UK is the Indian Pale Ale (IPA) called Jaipur, brewed by Thornbridge. I was not expecting to find any IPA here, and unfortunately was disappointed to be proved correct. Oh Thornebridge, sort yourselves out with an export opportunity.

In Jaipur there was plenty to see and I had a guide for the one full overcast day I was there. While it was a grey day, not great for my photographs, at least it was finally dry. My poor Nikon DSLR was suffering the effects of getting wet in Ranthambore and while it could still take photographs I could not view or edit them effectively as the cursor buttons would no longer work. Could have been worse I suppose.

One of the highlights around Jaipur is the Amber Fort, which is 11 kilometres north of Jaipur in the town of Amber (duh!), the fort was the seat of a raft of Rajasthani Mughals before they moved the capital to Jaipur. Construction of the hill top above the defensive man-made lake commenced in 1592, for Maharaja Man Singh. It was lovely inside and looking down from the large square at the entrance toward the lake you could see a line of brightly covered elephants taking tourists up the steep road to the main entrance to the fort - we had driven up, to the goods entrance, and saved a substantial sum in the process.

The fort/palace is well worth several hours of your time. The first place to visit on the way up in to it is the small Siladevi Temple, which is devoted to Kali. All the way until the 1980s a goat was sacrificed here daily. Public sacrifices are no longer permitted by law, however it doesn’t save any goats as it just means that they are sacrificed elsewhere in private! The courtyard with the summer and winter rooms (or Hall of Victory and Hall of Pleasure) is particularly lovely. The architects and engineers were pretty hot at making things cool through the use of clever natural ventilation and the use of water.

On the way back in to Jaipur we stopped for a quick photo opportunity of the Water Palace, a vast marble edifice in the middle of the large lake between Amber and Jaipur. It is currently derelict but is destined to be turned into a Casino next year.

After a quick lunch of my new favourite curry - a Rajasthan mutton dish called lal maas - we went into Jaipur Old Town, or the Pink City. We first headed to the Jantar Mantar a larger version of the fantastic astronomical observatory which I had seen in Delhi. Jaipur incidentally is named after the warrior-astronomer, who constructed this, Maharaja Jai Singh II (1693-1743), and yes he was the same talented bloke who constructed the one in Delhi. Then it was off to the City Palace across the road. Finally it was a brief visit to a textile factory, where I saw some men making textiles (the women work at home - the men obviously can’t be trusted to) where I looked at their beautiful wares. Did I bend and buy any?

All in all a full and enjoyable day of sightseeing.

Pushkar

The next day it was off to the Hindu Holy city of Pushkar. It was only a three hour trip on ‘National Roads’, which of course took four hours. Each year they have a mammoth camel fair here and I missed this years by just one week. It must be a very different place then when thousands come here for a week of trading, racing, and partying out in the desert around Pushkar.

Pushkar is a very different place to other towns and cities I have visited. Much more laid back and quiet. It was going to be a different Friday night for me though for Pushkar is a dry town and even worse.....vegetarian too. So no beers and no kebab then.

In some hotels they can surreptitiously pass you beer for your rooms or even get you some bhang (mary jane) but there is no good reason to put them in that position, especially if only there for a day. The biggest problem in the town is avoiding getting blessed, which inevitably comes at a cost. If I ever come back here I will be burdened with a wife and at least two sons, if the blessings do their stuff - perhaps if I had found a beer later this would have been cancelled out in some karmic deal and this fate would be avoided.

The reason this is a place of pilgrimage is the Holy lake, where Bhrama is said to have visited for some rather interesting story-istic reason, which I won’t go in to. The Bhrama Temple near the western end of the lake is one of only a very few in the world. It is not the most photogenic of places. Like most Hindu temples rather than being built for a single entity it is more like a collection of shrines to a range of Big Gods and some smaller gods, and the pilgrims who come may have their own affinity to one or another - or else visit a different one depending on what they are after; as different bods may help deliver money, health or kids. At their chosen shrine the leave flowers, petals and sweets to the idols. Due to all the sweet stuff about the place it is buzzing with flies and wasps. As Hindus believe all life is sacred they are left alone to their sticky heavens.

Following blessings here and there I headed for a walk around the western and southern sides of the lake, which is not that large. Indeed the whole Pushkar is a breeze to do on foot. A cup of coffee and some water and I was set up for watching the sunset over the hill to the west (would have been the perfect place for a pint), topped with a silhouette of the Pap Mochani temple. I sat with a German guy (Jan), who was doing a similar trip to me on his tod, but by public transport.

Then it was back to the hotel for my first non-Indian meal over here - a passable Vegetarian lasagne.

Wrong Spice

Loving the food here. I am a tad worried about it though; as I am in danger of becoming one of the few people who come to India and gain weight! I know, I should not count my salmonella chickens. One tip: a daily banana lassi is a must. Only had one day with none Indian food, when I was in the vegetarian town of Pushkar I went for Italian options.

Yesterday had a wonderful chicken curry in the Legends of India on Connaught Place. They warned me it was spicy, but it was fine (and most enjoyable). The English are used to this stuff more than most of our European friends, who predominate as tourists here (hence the warning I assume). Strangely most the tourists in Delhi and Rajasthan appear to be French. I have no idea why.

Talking of spice, my flights to and from Goa are with the budget airline Spicejet. Mixed thoughts on them so far and largely negative, though they do do some things right. I received a text as I got back to Delhi from them to inform me my flight on Monday had been cancelled and to ring them to rearrange. The phone call was dealt with well and I was not on hold for too long. I ended up deciding to go a day early. In any case I had only gone for the Monday option in case there were any problems causing delay in my Rajasthan trip, so to be honest it could be viewed as a bonus (I can save my Delhi Railway Museum trip for my return!). They will even give me a 3000 rupee (£40) voucher for my trouble (roughly the price of a one way flight) - unfortunately I think only for use against flights with them, so unlikely to be used by me.

This morning another call (automated) and my flight on Sunday has been delayed by 3 hours. Not ideal. At least the communication systems are good, and early. Rather than spending an extra 3 hours in the airport I can chill in the hotel watching the Ashes 2nd test and go for a nice lunch (including a banana lassi of course).

Delhi

After an uneventful trip with Emirates via Dubai I arrived in Delhi. A touch of Delhi Belly by proxy afflicted me while in Dubai but I got to the hotel without embarrassment. The hotel was the West Inn, which I had booked via Trip Advisor before I came out. Whilst several miles west out of the centre it is helped enormously now by the recently completed Metro, with a stop at Shadipur only 5 minutes walk away. The metro is fabulous and you can get into Connaught Place, the circular marble colonial centre of the not so old city, in about five stops.

The city itself appears a mess of buildings on buildings that either havent been finished or have fallen into disrepair - looks like a lego nightmare after some serious stomping and a fire or two. Mind you the buildings are often in better repair than the roads, which are largely more holes than surfacing. To put the place in context Delhi is populated by 50% more people than London, some 11 million people. Thankfully they don’t all try to use the metro, well not all the time at any rate. I suspect that before the metro was in operation I would not be enjoying my location anywhere near as much as I am. The hotel's wi-fi is a boon too.

If I wasn’t able to use the Metro then I would be relying on rickshaw drivers. The options are pedal or auto, but to be honest other than for very local the pedal option isn’t inviting. Seeing the strain and difficulty the cycle rickshaws go through, not to mention the danger, I would rather walk. The driving here is fun if you

Walking along the road it is best not to have eyes in back of your head, or to look back. It is too frightening and may affect your decision making when walking - just keep going as road-users will generally try to miss you, not by much mind and you commonly feel cyclists, motorcyclists, cars and rickshaws brush against you. That reminds me, I should locate the nearest decent hospital just in case. The fumes are quite bad and I have constantly got a bit of a sore throat, but I’ve been to worse places, which is probably down to better quality fuel these days rather than the vehicles.

As per the warnings both in the guidebooks and from the staff at the hotel, around Connaught Place as a WASP you attract dozens of friendly locals wanting to practice their English, or to be more precise to take you to stores or ‘official’ tourist offices where they will get commission for delivering you to them. Just stand firm and don’t worry about ignoring or offending the blighters!

Connaught Place is a concentric circle of bright white colonial properties, filling with expensive shops, definitely for the tourists and richer Indians. It is currently undergoing a lot of work on the paths, which are being relaid with marble and granite flooring. Will look very grand on completion I am sure. It is not exactly coffee shop friendly in the main, but there are a few about, in fact I don’t think I have seen a Starbucks here (which I dare say is a positive thing).

Walking around is not too bad at this time of year, but must be ruled out for much of it due to the excessive heat. If you had any impediment though it would be impossible with the surfacing and pavement problems. Kerbs in some places are a good half a metre tall, so with avoiding bikes, auto-ricks and cars as well it can be a hop skip and a jump to get across in one piece.

Delhi is a sprawling and essentially a pretty ugly metropolis with the odd well hidden island of beauty and interest. For all of it’s faults though it is a busy city and very much alive, seething with it’s energetic citizens. The city has been built, knocked down, allowed to degrade and then start again countless times - it is apparently the ninth incarnation now, so there is Delhi, New Delhi, New New Delhi and, well you get the picture. Right now it could do with some town planners, architects and engineers sitting around a rather large table with a big pot of coffee and a giant blank piece of paper (several billion rupees would come in handy too no doubt) to come up with some long term plan.

As I found in the rest of my traveling here the Indians really don’t have much truck with their past, at least not at the moment. It is to all intents about the here and now and then maybe the future; but for the past, it has gone so who cares? This means that some wonderful buildings and evidence from every Delhi of the past have been allowed to be demolished or fall into disrepair, falling away from plain sight. Even glimpses of its glorious past will become harder to see, which coming from Europe where we treasure our past seems a real shame. Whether they will ever shed a tear about that it is difficult to say - it is not something peculiar to the current time, so maybe it is a psyche thing ingrained through generations.

One of positive things about it now, which I was think driven at least partly by this years Commonwealth Games, is the Metro, which is pretty excellent for the areas it covers. It is cheap and pretty clean. The are still constructing some of it so it is expanding ultimately to cover the airports too, which will vastly improve the arrival experience into the city. Mind you getting a taxi to your hotel is as good as any ride at Alton Towers, and a good deal cheaper.

Metro etiquette has not developed yet, personal space here is an unknown concept, so if you suffer from claustrophobia or don’t like being up close and personal with dozens of people then maybe the auto-rickshaw would be your cup of chai. One thing in India everywhere is that blokes are happy to de-water themselves at the drop of a hat anywhere - any verge, wall, patch of ground is considered available for use. The odour of urine can hit you anytime when walking around. Unfortunately this apparently can include the metro, though I never saw this, but because of this to separate the course vulgar men from the delicate ladies the first carriages of all the metro trains are for women only. Sad, strange but true.

More to follow on the sights that survive etc...