As planned Nat and I set for London Heathrow Airport on Tuesday for our evening flight. However.... we didn't set off to Nepal as planned but to India instead. Monday morning after closely watching the Nepal news we decided that due to riots and a general strike in Nepal bringing road closures, curfews, fuel and food shortages.. we decided at this late stage to not try and cycle down through Nepal. We were both pretty sad by the decision but it made sense. Instead we decided to head down to Delhi and then travel across India and pick up the plan at Agra where the Taj Mahal is.
Arriving at New Delhi airport we assembled our bikes which made the trip as well as we did and all was well. We cycled into the city which was around 20kms without too much hassle although it did feel a lot like the North Circular at rush hour :) Using one of my many gadgets (GPS) we rode straight to a back packer hotel I stayed at 15 years ago called Ringo's and there it was.. same as ever!! We even managed to get the bikes up the stairs and into the room.
Right.. the journey has started!! Now the idea with India was that we would use the train to get across and put our bikes on saving days of dust and beeping from huge trucks. Trying to get a ticket and get your bike on the train is not all that simple though as we found out.. Getting past the touts at the station is actually bad enough just so we could get up the stairs to get a ticket. We did actually manage it though and although much of the rest of the world you can put your bike on the train with you, in India, it has to go in the parcel carriage (if there is one!!). We were assured that we would be able to do this and purchased the ticket from the chaps in the Tourist ticket place in the station. The next day we set off to the parcel area with our bike and did what we were told.. get the bags off and tie a little piece of string to the handlebars with a small piece of paper. We took the bags to the platform and some chaps wheeled our beloved bikes and that's when we got the news. We can't go on this train because there is only 4 minutes stopping at Agra!! Well nice of them to decide that just when we had 20 minutes before the train was going. Well we could wait 6 hrs and then get the next one.. oh what an opportunity :) After pleading with the guys it seemed we were doomed to go 6 hours later and spend that time relaxing in New Delhi station.. anyone been there before? You will know what I mean. About 5 minutes before the train went though Nat tried her girlie Thai charm on the men and boom.. suddenly the bikes were squashed on .. and I mean squashed.. but that was our green light.. we were going on that train whoopppee!!! After 3 nice hours on the floor next to the toilet with some other friendly people who liked using their phones to play Hindi music as loud as they could (which we both love), we arrived at Agra... panic was on.. get the bikes off! All excited we managed to drag the bikes off with the guard and put them back together with the bags. We cycled into Agra which slightly dusty to say the least but we enjoyed escaping the touts at the station. Using the GPS again we headed straight to the Taj Mahal where I remembered a great backpacker place that we could try.. sure enough it was still there after 15 years and hasn't changed a bit. Still only 250 rupees a night (under 4 pounds). All was well and Natty cheered up after a lovely cold bucket shower. With rest and food we have managed to see the Taj Mahal and Agra fort and took everyone's pictures.. well Nat did anyway :)
