Our few days in Agra were unfortunately characterised mainly by vomiting and post vomiting lounging around- the less said about that the better. As a result we have had to abandon our plan to go to Kanpur.

We did make it to the State Bank of India- not as imposing as it sounds- to change a travellers cheque. This involved being chivvied between three different desks. Filling a form in in triplicate at desk A, collecting a counter at desk B to take to desk C etc.etc. We got there in the end.

We also managed to see the Taj Mahal on the one day we were all fit. It's certainly just as stunning as I had ever imagined but the visit was mainly memorable for the ridiculous number of people who wanted to have their photographs taken with us. The boys thought this was very entertaining and posed happily. I personally could have done without it.

On leaving the Taj Mahal we were mobbed by the most persistent group of hawkers yet. I tried throwing a minor paddy with traditional stamping of feet and shouting. The only response was somewhat sneering smiles but I felt better. We then realised that we were going the wrong way and had to battle our way back through them all.

We arrived in Bharatphur yesterday and are happily ensconsed in the perfect Jungle Lodge. The boys have been playing with the owners seven year old son while we have been able to relax on the verandah- all is well with the world.

On Tuesday we head south. I figure a ten minute journey that stretches to half an hour is incredibly tedious whereas an eight hour journey you expected to take ten hours is a joy.

With this in mind I have told the boys they will need to start shaving before we reach Goa. Hopefully the thirty eight hour train trip will then feel like a doddle.

I read the first page of War and Peace. I can't pretend it's gripping so far.
- posted by Vivien @ 10:16 PM

 
"Delhi Grinds To A Halt" reported the Hindustan Times on Tuesday, and didn't we know about it. If the day before someone had warned us that the roads were going to be really busy the next day we would have laughed. 'It can't possibly get any more hectic than it is every other day' we would have said. And we would have been wrong.

Strangely nobody thought to mention it. The fact that every Sikh within a hundred milie radius and every friend and relation of every Sikh within a hundred mile raius was due to gather for a huge parade did not seem worthy of a mention.

Our plan to visit the Red Fort was abadoned as hour after hour hundreds of groups of Sikhs representing different schools and communities made their way through the streets, leaving the surrounding streets in a complete gridlock. We learned afterwards it was to mark the martydom of Guru Tegh Bahadur. It was claustrophobic but very good natured.Eddie and Joe were garlanded with flowers and had their pockets filled with sweets.

By the time the sun went down the swords and sticks came out and the young men performed ceremonial fights to the rythm of an ever quickening drum beat.

Peering down from the safety of a rooftop cafe I did wonder what emotional scars might be left on a six year old who witnesses a decapitation but whether by luck or judgement nobody was badly hurt, at least not while we were watching.

Now two days later we are in Agra which is significantly less manic than Delhi. On the down side Joe has experienced his first stomach upset and was sick several times in the night. 'It was like a hiccup and then it all just came up' he helpfully explained afterwards.

Fortunately he seems much brighter today although everyone has lost a lot of sleep.

What about War And Peace?

I'm going to start it today.

Definitely.


- posted by Vivien @ 11:14 PM

 
'It's very unregulated, isn't it?' said Eddie and he's spot on.

Delhi does have rules obviously, social norms and expectations, like everywhere else. It's just that in Delhi you get the impression that any one persons rules and norms are not quite in agreement with anyone else's.

Even with language there seem to be no rules. While listening in on a basically hindi conversation you may easily pick up the odd familiar phrase. 'The government is ridiculous' perhaps or 'very good place for shopping'.

Delhi also has quiet, peaceful places to rest and relax. It's just that getting to them takes several years off your life. Take a walk along the the Paharganj and you will be bombarded with all the sights, smells and sounds that Dehi has to offer in one overwhelming experience.

There are the hawkers, '..nice drum, madam, very cheap..' '..madam, leather jacket, very good quality..'

There are the beggars who wave a stump of arm into your face. The rickshaw drivers '.. twenty rupees, madam..' but they will not necessarily take you to where you want to go.

Then there is the waft of roasted peanuts and fried sweets merging uneasily with the smell of unwashed bodies and urine.

It's exhilerating at first and then after a while it's just too much. You reach that 'Beam me up, Scottie' moment and just wish you were anywhere else.

But by the end of the day when a lurid red sun sinks through a fume filled sky all is forgiven.

As for War And Peace, I can't even pretend I've opened it yet.

I will though.



- posted by Vivien @ 4:31 AM

 
Wednesday 19th November 2003

My left eyelid twitches uncontrollably from time to time. Nothing too noticeable as yet but I can't help thinking it's going to get worse. I keep wondering if it will spread and which part of my body is going to start twitching next. How long will it take before people next to me in bus queues start to move that little bit further away or quickly avert their eyes when they realise they've been staring.

And another thing, I wake up at four in the morning with a compulsive desire to add something to a list. I live in a world dominated by lists. There's a things to buy list, a things to pack list, a things to feel generally uneasy about and a list to remind me about all the other lists.

The last time we went travelling it seemed so much more straightforward. We threw a few things into a bag and set off. But there are two children now, Eddie who's nine and Joe who's six, plus a house to shut up. I don't know if things are really so very much more complicated or if we are making them more complicated than they need to be.

We're going to India first. From Invergordon with it's population of 3,000 to New Delhi, poulation 12.8 million and counting. We'll go to Kanpur where my husband spent part of his childhood. To see the street where he used to sit and play by ther peanut seller and to see the field where he was kicked by a horse.

Then we'll head south and see where the wind takes us before flying out of Chennai to Singapore. Next on to Malaysia to seek out a really good jungly bit. This is madness 100,000 animals per square foot and all of them belligerent ,blood sucking insects.

From Kuala Lumpur we shall go to New Zealand with a quick visit to Sydney en route. Hopefully this will be a time to relax a little and catch up with old friends.

On to America to be the stars of our own road movie, through giant Redwoods and cowboy country. Five months in total to go as far as we can and take the pretty way home.

It sounded exciting when we first started making plans but now there's only two days to go before we leave and anxiety is setting in. It's like the last week of pregnancy, I just want to get on with it, even though I'm not nearly ready and it's bound to hurt.

There have been so many things to think about and the packing alone has been a nightmare. So many essential things have found there way onto the " things to pack list", school work for the boys, books and games to keep them occupied on long journeys.

In a fairly modest back pack that leaves room for just one book for me. I thought I'd better make it a long one. A book that could also be used as a stool to help reach things on high shelves or as a weapon against would be assailants should the need arise. In fact there must be a whole bunch of uses for War And Peace.

I feel a list coming on.

Help!


- posted by Vivien @ 5:45 AM