So seeing India 'Mum's way' has been an experience in itself. After having warned her over and over again that she would be so very shocked when we arrived at Delhi International Airport, after having told her that she would DEFINITELY be accosted and mobbed by the masses, overwhelmed by the smell and the heat and that nothing, absolutely nothing, would be easy, I was so disappointed to find that it was exactly that...easy. We were met as soon as we picked up our luggage from the belt (4 suitcases for 2 people for 2 weeks, excessive? Definitely not.) which came out practically first, and then shepherded through a lovely VIP door into a beautiful VIP air conditioned car and driven immediately to our lovely VIP hotel. How disappointing! I couldn't wait for Mum to finally understand what I had been through when I arrived, how difficult everything is and how shocking. Her response to the arrival in Delhi was, 'Hannah, what is all the fuss about?'
I was absolutely certain that if nothing else, then Delhi train station would definitely break her resolve and give her a taste of what India is really like. Once again, so disappointing! The posh car dropped us off practically outside the door to our compartment (no wading through the hoards of crazy people and searching desperately for the platform for us!) and we slouched into our executive chairs without so much as a dirty look.
I think that the people of Delhi were more shocked than we were, seeing Mum walk through in her heels and her Miu Miu bag was definitely a first for them!
Not that I'm complaining! I absolutely LOVED being looked after and that fact probably had a lot to do with how happy I was to be back in the country again! I'd missed the craziness so much, the colours and the noise and it was lovely to back, and seeing it all in comfort!
The rest of the holiday was amazing, yoga everyday twice a day, reading hundreds of books and eating the healthiest food ever. What more could you ask for? And all in a beautiful restored Raja's palace overlooking the Himalayan mountains. Mum was also explicit in the fact that she wanted me to point out that we did do a few 'cultural' things during the time, which included a 3 hour trek to Kunjapuri Temple, watching the children of a local orphanage perform traditional Indian dance and a visit to the Lotus temple in Delhi.
So we got back to Delhi late last night and then early this morning I had to say a very sad and bleary eyed goodbye to Mum as I left to catch my train to Agra to finally, after having been in India for 3 months in total, see the Taj Mahal!
It truly is beautiful, more so than any pictures can show, and it was amazing to finally be there. It is the most touristy place, with good reason, that I have visited in India which was a little bizarre. I'm not used to seeing so many Westerners and having to compete so much for space to take a photo! Aside from that, it's a lovely space and beautiful whichever way you look at it. It was built by an Emperor in memory of his wife who died giving birth to their FOURTEENTH child, and took only 12 years to complete using 20,000 workers. Can you tell that I had a pretty enthusiastic guide?
It's very strange without Mum, miss her already, but tomorrow I leave Delhi to fly to Mumbai and then onto Sydney, before finally arriving in Sydney on Saturday! I am really excited now, and can't wait to be in the sunshine. Love to everyone, xxxx