I went to India

stickyfiddle

10 day trip, lots of travelling, LOADS of indian food, remarkably no Delhi-belly (must be all the curry I'd had at home in preparation, for 10 years ). One of those places that really is like nowhere else. A bit of a fuckup with the travel agent's itinerary planning in the middle, but absolutely fantastic trip. English Indian food is pretty much dead to me now. It's so much better out there.... 

And I took quite a lot of photos. Still sorting through them but I have the bulk of the good ones picked out now I think. Thought I'd share a few:

lloyd

Nice pics. Never been there but would love to. Maybe next year.

Chuffola

Great pics Sticky. Love the truck!

chillidoggy

Lucky sod, Sticky!

Great photos, too. Love to see the rest of them.

rocktron

Excellent selection of pictures.

What is that place in the 4th picture down? Is it a bordello?

The centre-of-gravity of that bus/lorry looks rather high!!!

Phil_aka_Pip

You must have been quick to get out of the way of the Magic Bus

excellent pix

scrumhalf

And now you'll find that the problem is wanting to go back.

I've been twice, and I've hardly touched the surface. It's an incredible place.

stickyfiddle

scrumhalf said:

And now you'll find that the problem is wanting to go back.

I've been twice, and I've hardly touched the surface. It's an incredible place.

Yeah, tell me about it. Already have a wedding in Chennai in 3 weeks, then we want to do Kerala and the north towards Nepal and Tibet. And Cambodia, which I'm sure is an entirely different kettle of fish 

stickyfiddle

chillidoggy said:

Lucky sod, Sticky!

Great photos, too. Love to see the rest of them.

Well the whole lot is about 1000, but many of them are shite! Full album of good stuff is here if you're inclined:

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www.flickr.com/photos/stickyfiddle/sets/72157660377491175

jonnyburgo

Amazing looking place, the only thing that's stopped me from going is the poverty and stray animal situation, I would end up paying to bring a load of cats and dogs home with me.

WezV

rocktron said:

The centre-of-gravity of that bus/lorry looks rather high!!!

I went just before the commonwealth games  were held in Delhi and they were digging up all the roads in preperation

  it meant we spend a lot of time on one of those buses on temporary roads which were just wide enough for the bus.   kept thinking it was going to tip over but everyone else was telling me I was being a wuss.   

then  we saw one toppled over  at the side of the road, then a few miles later another  ..... everyone else was as nervous as me after that

stickyfiddle

jonnyburgo said:

Amazing looking place, the only thing that's stopped me from going is the poverty and stray animal situation, I would end up paying to bring a load of cats and dogs home with me.

Yeah, that's a bit tough. If I'm honest we didn't see that much large-scale poverty. Obviously a lot of beggars in cities, but it wasn't as bad as I'd steeled myself for based on reports from friends. Interestingly, there are shitloads of stray dogs but I think I saw 3 cats the entire time I was there. Would have been quite happy bringing lots home but there's tonnes of both in the UAE too. We can't look after them all!

Phil_aka_Pip

According to Ted Simon in Jupiter's Travels, you know you've left India when everyone stops asking you what you paid for things.

holnrew

I'm planning a solo train adventure there within the next couple of years. It's somewhere I'd previously have never considered because I find the culture a little brash, but I need to get out of my comfort zone to enjoy life. I want to start in Mumbai, but I'm not sure whether I want to head north to where they grow the tea, or south to the beaches. Looks amazing though.

scrumhalf

stickyfiddle said:

scrumhalf said:

And now you'll find that the problem is wanting to go back.

I've been twice, and I've hardly touched the surface. It's an incredible place.

Yeah, tell me about it. Already have a wedding in Chennai in 3 weeks, then we want to do Kerala and the north towards Nepal and Tibet. And Cambodia, which I'm sure is an entirely different kettle of fish 

Been to all of them, all magnificent. If you're going to Cambodia, try to find some time to get to Laos. It is beautiful. It can only be a matter of time before it gets ruined by, well, people like me going there.

jonnyburgo

holnrew said:

I'm planning a solo train adventure there within the next couple of years. It's somewhere I'd previously have never considered because I find the culture a little brash, but I need to get out of my comfort zone to enjoy life. I want to start in Mumbai, but I'm not sure whether I want to head north to where they grow the tea, or south to the beaches. Looks amazing though.

I wouldn't fancy it by myself, you are a brave man.

cpcompany

I just came back a few weeks ago. My lass is from West Bengal so did a trip to Delhi, Calcutta, West Bengal and Goa. Amazing place and the food is fantastic.

But, if you are introverted like me, it can be quite irritating having people stop you all the time. If it wasn't for the fact my lass speaks Hindi and Bengali then it would have been far worse.

stickyfiddle

rocktron said:

Excellent selection of pictures.

What is that place in the 4th picture down? Is it a bordello?

The centre-of-gravity of that bus/lorry looks rather high!!!

It's actually the Lake Palace, in Udaipur. Former Bond-film-location, spectacular hotel, and half our trip budget for 2 nights...

As for the truck, that's nothing....

stickyfiddle

cpcompany said:

I just came back a few weeks ago. My lass is from West Bengal so did a trip to Delhi, Calcutta, West Bengal and Goa. Amazing place and the food is fantastic.

But, if you are introverted like me, it can be quite irritating having people stop you all the time. If it wasn't for the fact my lass speaks Hindi and Bengali then it would have been far worse.

We had a driver and tour guides, so not so bad. Shopping was fairly tough though - you find yourself haggling over £3, then realise that £3 is barely more than nothing to you, but a whole week's worth of food for the guy's family. Bit humbling.

dindude

We honeymooned in India 3 years ago, love the place. Nice pics btw....

stickyfiddle

holnrew said:

I'm planning a solo train adventure there within the next couple of years. It's somewhere I'd previously have never considered because I find the culture a little brash, but I need to get out of my comfort zone to enjoy life. I want to start in Mumbai, but I'm not sure whether I want to head north to where they grow the tea, or south to the beaches. Looks amazing though.

That would be awesome. And cheap apart from the flights. Trains are meant to be great fun as long as you don't have anything worth anyone stealing while you sleep!

Like anything it's terrifying when you start but completely fine after a couple of days. I used to be the guy who grew up in Norfolk and thought moving to London was a really big thing that other people did. Now, I've just got a new passport because mine had no empty pages left.