DELHI

So I get to Delhi and wait in the longest queue ever for passport control after collecting my baggage.

The Jaipur-Delhi leg had been a very small local JET AIRLINES plane and I reckon they did an oil change and service at Jaipur using my trusty old bag as a trolley under the sump of the aircraft (probably why they delayed the flight?).

What went in was a clean canvas type bag that's served me faithfully for many years.

What I got back was wet and covered in engine oil????

The plastic body containing the wheels had been virtually ripped from the baggage compartments and was basically ruined.

Of course if that was say EMIRATES ( which is taking me home now) there could be a comeback.Clearly not the case with a small Indian carrier.

Well I'll make sure I never use them again!

Lucky I got anything back after that sort of "handling"!

I don't have before photos but this bag is tough as nails and was clean as a whistle before these idiots hot hold of it!

I've never,in 30 years of extensive travel,had my luggage abused in this manner!

Now it's fucked!

😩👆👎

JET AIRWAYS

The local JET airways flight , which allows just 15 kg if luggage is notorious for delays so just as well there's a 4,5 delay till my next flight.

They kicked off by charging me 500 rupees for luggage weighing 20 kg.

Checked in and amazingly they appeared to be boarding on time.And we did.

Engines started up and they ran and ran and ran........I was thinking"shit if they carry on like this They'll have to refuel" .....sure enough a half hour later an announcement......there was a problem with weather in Delhi and they had to refuel.

A/c all off and we stood around for an hour or so in 40 degree heat sw✈️🛫🛬✈️eltering our bollocks off,whilst they served the snack for the 50 minute flight 😅

I see they seem to have started the motors up again so hopefully we'll be off soon.

Apparently all flights out of Delhi have been postponed due to the weather ( heavy winds?).

As long as I make my flight!!!!✈️🛬

OOPS! that wasn't the motors just the aircon, so here we are 1 hour after scheduled takeoff and nothing's happening yet😩

Then they started up the motors again and ,next thing made some announcement and half the plane started taking their handluggage out of the stow compartments and moved to the back to disembark?????

I asked the guy next to me and he said something about them going somewhere else ( didn't catch the name?)30 seconds later they were back again and the captain made an announcement to the effect that we were now taking off????????

What were those 8 people going? ....... to bail out halfway??

I mean we're all going to Delhi as far as I know.Don't think there's any stopping en route?

Un$&@&ing believable!!

Anyway were finally on our way😅😂😬

Now they've just made an announcement that the " delsy" was due to traffic congestion over Delhi.

Well I'm not $&@$ing surprised.

If they fly like they drive it's inevitable!😅😜

LAST DAY

 .

Aslam was picking me up to do a bit of last minute grovelling (shopping) for my wife who kindly let me off the leash for a month.

He asked whether I'd prefer goimg around in the car, or the scooter.

I suggested ( just as well) that I really quite liked having both my legs and wouldn't mind returning with them both intact!🤑

So he arrived in the car and off we went.

$&@&&ing hell ,have you ever tried shopping for a woman that's 10000 km away?

Well it's $

&&&$ing impossible!

I managed to eventually get connected, to use WHATSAPP,and was sending all sorts of pics back asking whether ok or not for Cheryl.

And getting responses from 3 sides (Leigh/LANA/Cheryl) which ended up going in circles?

They're on another planet these women!!

Switching from one subject to another in ever decreasing circles on WHATSAPP.

Cheryl's going on about needing to have sleeves and buttons and not showing her "old" arms,while LANA and Leigh are trying to get me to purchase curtains/cushion covers/notebooks/tablecloths and virtually everything else available at the shop ( for them), when I've mentioned in passing ( about 546 times) that I'm FULL UP i.t.o.my acceptable weight on the flight out.

I mean I'm trying to get a coupe of extra ,nice things for the old girl to earn some brownie points on my return, and they're attempting to get me to transport the entire store across to SA.

Anyway I eventually gave up and bought the cushion covers for the two of them and an extra curtain for "pudding face" .

So bugger all for Cheryl😩

Anyway we head off to Aslams workshop for a couple of hours and, on leaving a couple of hours later, he realises his side view mirror is missing.

Some kids had nicked the mirror part which basically renders the driver ( in Indian driving conditions) blind.

Within just 2 minutes of driving without said mirror we'd been hit by a motorcyclist with at least 4 people on board (his entire family I reckon)

It's virtually impossible to stop in the traffic in this place and it looked like no one had suffered serious injury so everyone just headed  off into the sunset??

If I'd been on a bike I'm pretty sure there's have been a good chance of an injury so just as well 👍

SELFIES???

I'm sitting at breakfast here at the hotel watching a local Indian family who are clearly visiting Jaipur.

Each one of them are wielding a "selfie stick" and wandering around the patio shooting off shots at a rate of knots !

Why do people always need to be in the photo?????

It seems to be prominent particularly with Asian people ( i.e. Chinese/Japanese/Indians) 

I don't get it?

I mean I know, more or less what I look like by now! ( I should after almost 64 years?) And it's not a pretty sight!

Perhaps it's to prove that they were really there and it's not someone else's pic?

On my 6 month Americas bike trip I realised after 4 months that I hadn't included a single image of myself, and a blog follower asked that I include one so they could see the blogger?

So in Utah somewhere I dropped the bike,set up my old camera, precariously on my topbox and took a shot.

It's the image I now use for my blogger profile.

On this trip I've had no choice but to take a few selfies due to my camera focus problem.

It doesn't seem to be a problem with selfies????

Also, whilst the kids were here, they were sending their images, which I used on the blog.

Go figure!🤑😜😬

"BEEF VIGILANTES"

Yesterday's newspaper contained an article about a bunch of "beef vigilantes" who're going around killing (yes you heard right) culprits who they catch harbouring dead steaks (cattle) throughout India.

So what they're saying is that these okes are literally going around slaughtering "suspects" who might commit the heinous crime of having the odd steak or wors?🐂🐄😅

Shit, I reckon my girls were trying to get rid of me when they left me with about a kg of beef snap sticks on departure a few weeks ago.

I've finished it now and it came in quite handy as a fill in on the buses and other public transport.

I tried to be careful,.... however it's a little difficult when you're taking out this large woolies packet with a &&&$ing great big cow printed on the outside, and quietly taking out pieces of dried out dead cows.

I mean ,in their language that's like eating  "GOD"!!?

Shit man, little did I know that I was taking my life in my hands each time I snacked en route.

I remember getting some pretty unhappy looks from the okes sitting in the immediate vicinity!

But really this religion's gotta be the craziest one of all!!!

I mean what the $&&$ do these okes think's happening in Texas, or the thousands of abbatoirs scattered throughout the planet?

And they really do create absolute chaos wherever I've been!

Traffic is often brought to a total standstill ( I reckon it's the only thing that does🤑)

Not to mention the tons of landmines dropped literally everywhere .

And I haven't even started on the megatons of methane gas released continuously into the atmosphere.

And they're worried about my cars emissions and global warming?

Well start right here !!!

GENERAL

 It's far too hot to run here, not to mention the fact that running in the traffic (starts at daybreak) would be suicidal.

So I've had far less exercise on this journey than usual.

So I'm flying out tomorrow afternoon and thought I should get a little exercise by rising very early for a 3 km run .

Just to get the circulation going and staying regular 🤑😜.

In the heat of the day it's difficult to pick out the degradation which is far more evident when there's no one else on the streets.

I'm situated in a fairly "affluent" part of the city ( although Indian cities like Rio "Integrate" rich and poor totally throughout) .

However,when jogging around at that time of day,the unbelievable number of homeless scattered through the city brings home the real poverty experienced by a huge part of the populace here.

On arriving at Jaipur station last night I asked my tuc tuc driver what the literally hundreds of people were doing sleeping right outside the station entrance?

Were they waiting for a train? (inside the station people are similarly lying around  on the various platforms)

His response was that they're homeless people who sleep there every night?

Whilst "jogging"on the odd mornings I've noticed " settlements" on pavements with entire families who set up virtually permanent temporary"structures" or land up simply lying around under light blankets on pavements,under statues,around fountains etc.

Grubby kids & toddlers literally carrying out their early morning ablutions right there on the pavements and in gutters which will soon be inundated with heavy traffic!

This poverty was even more obvious and prominent in Agra, which is a seriously filthy city!😩

They're damn lucky to have the TAJ there to provide some sort of stimulus to their otherwise pathetic economy.

I've seen similar abject poverty many time in my travels (Honduras / Guatemala/Mexico/Nicaragua) where people somehow survive on a dollar or two per day, often even less.

 Which kinda brings home to me the futility of our own demands from "workers" in SA for R12500 ($1000)/month.

We have a real problem with poverty in SA, but the main problem is the massive unemployment in our country, with demands for unsustainable minimum wages ( for often totally unproductive " workers"/civil servants) These demands are unsustainable,and cannot be carried by the 3 percent of the population  contributing the major part of the fiscus.

They also don't,in any way, address our massive unemployment problem.In fact they exacerbate them!!!!!

Other countries (particularly India) have a far worse poverty problem with a far greater proportion of inequity.

I'm pretty certain that Pakistan will be no better (probably a lot worse).

And the same would apply to most of the rest of the Middle East ( Iraq,Syria,Kuwait ) and certainly much of Latin America.

So we're talking a pretty hefty part of the planet here.

If only the substantial funds gathered from the tiny minority in SA were channeled to the poor and not being looted I reckon we'd rate a hell of a lot higher (or lower?) on that inequality index.

I reckon the global figures are totally fudged as its virtually impossible to obtain a proper indication of such aspects from countries like these?

Stop the looting and we might get somewhere as we're a hell of a lot better off fundamentally than these countries!

TRAIN BACK TO JAIPUR

Hell it was seriously hot today😅

I had to hang around the hotel for some 5 hours till it was time to head to the station.

The stations here are all the same.

People spread out all over the floors......lying,sitting,squatting and constant traffic from one platform to the next.

All straight across the lines!😜

Entire families with little kids and baggage  virtually never take the perfectly adequate stairs from one platform to the next?

They literally sprint across just as trains are coming in.One slip and they're toast!

This large family went across 2 minutes before our train came in.

Across on the other platform a kid was peeing a firehose like stream straight onto the tracks.No problem!

RAILWAY FARE

Well they certainly feed one well on these "business class" train rides.

This is the 3rd tray of goodies we've been served since departure.

Looks and smells like " you know what"😜😅

Curry!

No meat though, I'm starting to hang for some protein on my return!🐂🐂🐂🐓🐓🐖🐑🐏🐐🐄🐄

AFTER

I had gone through very early and had till 5pm to kill before catching my train back to Jaipur so had organised a tuc tuc driver to take me around during the balance of the morning.

Of course,as a pretty seasoned traveller,I am fully aware that, when these guys negotiate a very reasonable price they intend taking one " shopping" and get some comm as well as a fee for every potential customer.

But I had plenty of time to kill so it wasn't a problem and I learned something about the local carpet making process etc.

The one place he did take me though, prior to the "shopping",was another incredibly interesting mausoleum located smack bang in the middle of a poor Muslim community dating back to the 14th century and presently undergoing some renovation.

This magnificent "ruin" has some inlaid exterior tiling intact,but the interior was absolutely stunning and in excellent original condition👌👍

The top images are of the interior.

TAJ MAHAL

 

Well that's it then.

I've seen the TAJ👌😀

It's absolutely sublime and attacks the senses!

The TAJ MAHAL is one of the 7 wonders of the present world and much of its attraction revolves around the absolutely symmetrical  architecture from all angles,as well as the play of light on the inlaid marble which changes constantly through the day .

One pays around R230 as an entry fee and undertakes probably the heaviest security measures I've yet experienced at a monument.

So it's sort of cheating somewhat when the entire right wing is surrounded by scaffolding to carry out restoration work on the building.

Absolutely no indication from anyone beforehand?

I'd decided to go very early to avoid the huge crowds during the rest of the day, particularly i.l.o. the extensive security  measures.Also to get better light which is almost futile with this shitty camera focus on the 5S!

I purchased my ticket and was then told that my small backpack was to be stored at a place some 400 metres away.

After paying 1000 rupees as an entry fee one still has to pay a small amount to store bags/day packs etc.???

Joined the growing queue where one is scanned,body searched and they even asked to check inside each zipper in my money belt, which I wasn't a damn leaving in some storage facility .

I always carry a small teaspoon in one of the zippers.

It comes in handy when I need to have some sort of eating utensil for yoghurt or likewise when travelling .

Well,at this last security hurdle,where they carry out the anal inspection ( just kidding),the inspecting soldier ( armed with sub-machine gun an all) looks suspiciously at this "lethal weapon" and starts waving it around at the other military personnel.

I kinda half expected them to hit the dirt and assume the position?

I mean for $&&$ sake guys........it's a $&&&ing teaspoon.

I really thought he was going to confiscate it till a more senior oke nodded to say it was ok and unlikely to be a nuclear warhead.😁

A bit like the ..defending yourself against a piece of fruit .....skit on MONTY PYTHON.

.......PINEAPPLE!!!!!.....where,where?.........OMG .......thought my number was up!😜Anyway I got through eventually and it's a very special building and place,and located in an oasis of peace in the constant cacophony of India.

But sorry guys,it's not in the same realm as MACCHU PICHU etc. (as mentioned previously)which are truly momentous.

TAJ MAHAL

They make 100 percent certain that one cannot even catch a glimpse of he famous structure. 

The west gate was packed to the hilt at this time of he day,and I'd forgotten that it was a Sunday.So most of the patrons were indian.

The other reason is the fact that the price  of entry for locals is a mere 40 rupees (R9)

For us " foreigners" 1000 rupees (R220).

So it is naturally predominantly locals visiting at weekends.👳🏽

AGRA FORT

I took a long walk to get my bearings and  try to work out what to do tomorrow till the train departs back to Jaipur at 17:40.

Sweated my &@&$ off and passed AGRA FORT en route to the west gate.

It was late afternoon by then so there were obviously hordes of people arriving to catch the sunset at around 6:30.

So I decided to turn around and head back with a view to going thru 1st thing tomorrow morning to catch early morning light on my kak camera 😩

On the way yet another tuc tuc driver stopped to ask me where I was a going.

As it was I'd lost my bearings so I got a price to get me back to my hotel and to take me very early tomorrow morning.

Of course he wanted more than that so he suggested that he'd take me around the whole day tomorrow for a total price of 500 rupees.

Well normally I wouldn't go that route, however tomorrow,once I've seen the Taj Mahal, I'll be at a loose end till 4 pm.

So it sort of makes some sense?

Let's see?

Shit one goes from hot and humid to positively Arctic here.😁

It's $&@&ing freezing in this coach with the a/c and I'm in shorts and a tee shirt?

I'll have frozen my bollocks off by 10:30 when we arrive in Agra☃❄️⛷

Anyone for skiing?

Well the breakfast wasn't up to much.

A tiny carton cup with a teabag,hot water in a thermos and some creamer and sugar, and 2 mini Marie biscuits?

Lucky I brought along some of lunch yesterday😀

Oops I was jumping the gun, here's breakfast now.That last one must've been a snack?Now what?

Not sure what one does with the oats as it says to mix with a glass of milk ?(no milk here) and either cook on stove or microwave.

Perhaps they'll be bringing us each a microwave?🤑

The warm stuff comprises 2 quite tasty curried mash sausages or something along those lines?

Oh and here comes a yoghurt ( I guess?)

The old codger in front of me must be an old hand at this. 

He seems to have brought his own pots and pans and an assortment of condiments in Tupperware which He's sprinkling all over his food?

OFF TO AGRA

T

My train to AGRA had been booked for 7am this morning so I rose at 5:30 packed the few things I was taking for the night in AGRA and took the tuc tuc,as arranged.

Arrived around 5:55 at Jaipur station and this was what it looked like.

Nothing stops here.

As mentioned before,it's like this continuous lava flow which you simply have to join, or be engulfed.

Had a cup of chai at the station (R1) and soon found my train and boarded.

They'd booked me on the most expensive one as the others had been full,but it was still a mere 550 rupees (R130) in this air conditioned coach class (virtually empty) coach.

And apparently it takes just 3,5 hours (250km) and one is served a breakfast en route.

Let's see 😜

Hey man this is like the " business class" of train travel .

They've just brought me some breakfast And an English newspaper!👍

Very $&&@ing posh!

And check out the "kaartjie"!

DINNER AT ASLAMS

PEACOCK ROOFTOP RESTAURANT

Aslam and I popped around to PEACOCK RESTAURANT for an early meal.

Amazing value at such a great restaurant.

We shared a huge portion of curried veg (with soya) and chapatis which cost just 400 rupees with tip (R88) for both of us👍🤑

It's seriously hot here lately but I'm sort of growing into Jaipur 😀

This place I'm staying at is very central and convenient and they organised my train trips both to and from Agra tomorrow,as well as pick ups both there tomorrow,and when I arrive back here on Monday night.

SPORTSBAR???🍺👌😬

So I head out,after listening to those $&&@ing losers on RADIO SONDER GRENSE like really lose today !!!!!

Whenever I travel I just know that ,if the BOKS are playing, I'll pick it up on this station ( really guys, I don't normally listen to RSG😁).

And I've always supported them ( the BOKKE) when travelling ,in Greece,Spain,Austria,Thailand,Peru,USA..........but that's it!!!

Never again !

They don't  deserve it and my patience is depleted.

As JUSTICE MALALA says ......."what a bunch of losers"

They've never been this pathetic.

How do you take a top 3 ranked rugby side and convert them ,in the space of a year into a bunch of no hopers.

Simple really,give them a kak coach with no real international credentials,add a fly half with a reputation for choking (remember when he played for STORMERS),take away a good defence coach, replace with another understudy ,bring in a total has-been fly half replacement and a couple of totally out of touch overseas players .

Stir and there you have it.......a bunch of total losers.

Pathetic and that's it.......you've lost a supporter.

Anyway I digress.

I head out to get a couple of penlight batteries for my beard trimmer ( 

I'd purchased new batteries before my trip but realised at some point that my bag had been vibrating all the way across/ the on switch had somehow activated😂)

So I track down a couple of replacement batteries and think.......sure I saw a "BAR" sign somewhere in this vicinity?

As mentioned, beers are pretty scarce in a predominantly Hindu/ Muslim environment.

So I procure the batteries and see this hotel with a "restaurant bar" advertised outside.

Look inside but all I'm seeing is this very dark room,with not a single $@@$&@ing light on,  with what appear to be a bunch of male diners ( no bar)

But now I'm pretty bloody desperate so I go into the " restaurant" and,after adjusting to the complete lack of any light whatsoever,realise that these patrons aren't eating.

In fact they've got armies of quart bottles lined up from a serious bit of drinking.

Aaaaah!!!!

....... finally I've found a home for the balance of my trip.

And a bit of 20 over cricket to watch as an added extra!!!🍺👍👌

Who needs FIREMANS??

EID CELEBRATIONS AT ASLAMS IN LAWS

Last night Aslam picked me up on the bike and we rode,mainly against traffic😁😜,to his in law's place close to his home.

They were in the throes of celebrating the last bit of EID which apparently alternates for 4 nights or so after EID, between family members.

Last night it was the turn of his in laws who landed up feeding at least 100 family members and friends the most sublime mutton curry.

This was preceded by the inevitable game of rooftop cricket between males of all ages.

Askam has quite an eye for the ball and was spinning the youngsters off the pitch.

The women and younger children all eat first,followed by the men and older boys.

There were of course a number of prerequisite "selfies" required with "Amitabh"🤑

SLEEPER?

This "fatty"  polished off a couple of litres of coke and 3 packets of LAYS chips before deciding (1 hour into the trip) that she needed a little kip after all that eating.

A vendor has just passed selling the most tasty, and piping hot sweet masala chai with a hint of cinnamon (10 rupees/R 2)

Pretty soon virtually everyone had turned in,till lunchtime when they all got up to have a compartmentalised meal of Thali.

Thali comprises of a dal and a curry sauce along with some rice and a couple of chapatis (like a roti) which are used as scoops for the curry sauce.

Wasn't too hungry at the time but sort of wish I'd taken one when they offered 😂

Looked and smelt ok👍

Then everyone turned in again 🤑

I think I've been lucky as this train has been pretty empty allowing us all to spread out a bit.

Oh and the aircon works perfectly.Its actually slightly chilly in here which is a nice change.

TUC TUC

I'd organised a tuc tuc driver (from yesterday) to bring me through to the station at a predetermined amount of 80 rupees.(Gucci the hotel owner reckoned this was far too much for the 2 km trip?)

Sure enough,at 8:15 this morning he was outside the hotel door waiting.

He took me through and I hand him 100 rupees and tell him to keep it.The guy was so grateful for this extra pittance (10 rupees is R2) and broke out into an incredulous smile and thanked me profusely.

I think that sometimes,when overseas we kinda get stuck into attempting to get the best price without considering the minimal impact on our pockets from our relatively privileged perspective.

I mean that trip with my luggage cost me just R23 and could've been had for around half that .

But what the hell impact does a rand or two make to me either way ?

TRAIN JODPHUR TO JAIPUR

First ever train ride in India and it certainly appears a hell of a lot more comfy than the local bus service.

This journey of 340km should last just under 6 hours and I've booked into a 3rd class a/c compartment.

Sitting in it right now and it seems pretty comfy ( let's see after 6 hours?😬)

The trains here are all designed as sleepers allowing one to sleep overnight.

So, the one I'm in sits (and sleeps 6 passengers) and the only difference between this and 2nd class is the fact that they accommodate 4/ compartment.

This trip cost a mere 550 rupees (R120)which I reckon sounds pretty cheap.

The alternative bus trip would probably cost a little less but would go with no a/c and no idea where the $&@& one is diverted to en route!

Let's see?

As per my photo the compartment is presently empty 15 minutes b4 departure ,but I'd guess that people will embark b4 then or at stops me route.

From what I've heard through the intercoms so far these trains run bang on time (a far cry from our chaotic train system)