09 May 10 More India Madness + The proposal!

Since I last decided to update this blog, Jackie and I have covered a serious amount of distance. We left Goa on a train to Hampi. Hampi is only a small town but is home to some of the country’s most amazing temples and scenery. Whilst there we visited the old Royal Centre ruins, Virupasksha and Vittala Temples. We also took time to watch Lakshmi, the local sacred elephant, bless local people and have a bath with the locals for two hours. We were told that there was a waterfall there, so naturally we went on the hunt for it. We didn’t find it however we did find a lovely spot in the river to bathe.

After Hampi we took another train to Bangalore for some much needed shopping - being as Bangalore is probably the most cosmopolitan area it would be rude not to. We also toured round Cubbon Park,   Vidhana Soudha and Attara Kacheri (the High Court).

A rest was well needed after all that shopping so an overnight bus trip in a monsoon later we arrived in Kovalam, Kerala (south India). The beaches were not as nice as Goa but it was still really pleasant. The backwaters go all through Kerala; we went down the waters in Poovar where the waters meet the beach.

After a week or so in Kovalam we headed north to Fort Cochin for our train to Delhi. Whilst there we had a chance to see and help the workers use the Chinese Fishing Nets which are over 500 years old. Even so the locals still use them, albeit for a tourist attraction me thinks.

A 48 hour train ride later we arrive in Delhi. A manic city full of people who know where they’re going and are not afraid to move you out the way if you are in it. However we did manage to visit the Red Fort, Jama Masjid (the world’s biggest Mosque), the stunning Gate of India along with the President’s Estate. OUr hotel here was dire! The bathroom was sloping as if the front of it was about to fall away, there was dog mess on the landing and it looked like it hadn’t been clean for about a year.

Early in the morning we took a bus to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.  6 hours later we arrived and took an early night ready for a sunrise visit to the Taj. The next day we arrived at the Taj Mahal at 6am to watch the sunrise. There was hardly anyone there which was great as we managed to take some amazing pictures. AND… I proposed to Jackie and she said …. YES!