India

We were met on arrival with a garland of marigolds and taken to The Maidens Hotel Delhi for a two night stay.

Our first tour was of Old Delhi with a walk through the streets (with our guide explaining the local customs) and then a cycle rickshaw tour of the narrow alleys (inches away from fascinating stalls of produce).

In the afternoon we saw some of the grand government buildings.

As we are very adventurous we tried out the underground (by ourselves) and hopped into one carriage were all the ladies were embarrassed and giggling. When one of the ladies explained my husband had got into the 'ladies carriage' we quickly progressed through to the general one. We spent the evening strolling around central Delhi with the locals and were more careful of our choice of carriage for the return journey!

Next day a train to Agra made an interesting journey and our visit to the Taj Mahal was truly memorable.

Onto Rajasthan (our favourite area) with an unforgettable ride up to the Amber Fort on an elephant (in a line of 40 taking guests to visit the top of the hill fort). The experience and views here were amazing.

The Samode Haveli Hotel in Jaipur was superb with a lovely pool and gardens to enjoy. Strolling through the streets and riding in a tuk tuk here was an overload of our senses each evening (sights/sounds/smells)!

The road trip back to Delhi for our outbound flight was very enlightening with cows/goats/chickens and local people overloaded vehicles to keep us entertained upon the journey.

We left India with a desire to return and experience more of this diverse and fascinating country and its people.