Are they still following us? For the past 4 hours we have been hotly pursued by a ageing cycle rickshaw wallah. He's keen, he's chatty but he's certainly not fast. After deciding to give him a chance about 2 hours ago, our love of gulab jammons tipped him over the edge and we had to get off so he could push his bike uphill. Did this put him off? Of course not- his tactic was to get Lyns to give him a ride, much to the amusement of fellow drivers! And he's not been the only pursuer we can assure you!
You see, after living out one of Jen's life time ambitions, to travel across India on a sleeper train, we seem to have landed into the rickshaw capital of the world... Agra! The land of no personal space! The land of constant invitations into nick-nack shops! Oh and there's quite a pretty white building nearby called the Taj Mahal. This evening we caught a dusky glimpse of this majestic vision from amongst some water tanks and builders' debris on the roof top of a hotel (it's amazing where a bit of nosiness can get you). Tomorrow it's an early rise for an official viewing at dawn. We're excited!
So we sadly said goodbye to the south of India- the Bay of Bengal, the palm trees, the masala dosas- but not before a wonderful send off meal full of fish, fun and friendship, courtesy of our new dear friends Tom and Thangam.We also managed to have a really informative chat with Swarna, one of the UK coordinators of Vandamanu (the seaside project we'd visited the day before), a final night on the Pondi tiles with Yvonne- our librarian friend from Paris (which in fact was a cup of chai in a darkened cafe as it was the night before the elections and was therefore a 'dry day') and an amazing coastal bus journey back up to Chennai. So thank you everyone both here and at home for making the first half of our trip amazing, magical and even just possible.We are SO grateful.
Todays travel update - beasts we've shared the road with:
Monkeys, cows, chipmunks, horses, water buffalo, oxen, goats, peacocks, elephants and today a new arrival - lone wandering camels.
You see, after living out one of Jen's life time ambitions, to travel across India on a sleeper train, we seem to have landed into the rickshaw capital of the world... Agra! The land of no personal space! The land of constant invitations into nick-nack shops! Oh and there's quite a pretty white building nearby called the Taj Mahal. This evening we caught a dusky glimpse of this majestic vision from amongst some water tanks and builders' debris on the roof top of a hotel (it's amazing where a bit of nosiness can get you). Tomorrow it's an early rise for an official viewing at dawn. We're excited!
So we sadly said goodbye to the south of India- the Bay of Bengal, the palm trees, the masala dosas- but not before a wonderful send off meal full of fish, fun and friendship, courtesy of our new dear friends Tom and Thangam.We also managed to have a really informative chat with Swarna, one of the UK coordinators of Vandamanu (the seaside project we'd visited the day before), a final night on the Pondi tiles with Yvonne- our librarian friend from Paris (which in fact was a cup of chai in a darkened cafe as it was the night before the elections and was therefore a 'dry day') and an amazing coastal bus journey back up to Chennai. So thank you everyone both here and at home for making the first half of our trip amazing, magical and even just possible.We are SO grateful.
Todays travel update - beasts we've shared the road with:
Monkeys, cows, chipmunks, horses, water buffalo, oxen, goats, peacocks, elephants and today a new arrival - lone wandering camels.
Wow! It's back! The bloggiest blog in the blogosphere. Great adventures continue. Can't wait to hear about the train ride, too. The second half has well and truly started. Love to both. xxx
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