India is truely a land of contrasts and it is hard to express it. We have met some of the most kind and beautiful people. Some have lead a fairly privileged life and inherited land and a title- yet they have still had to find a way to make a living.  They open boutique hotels on their property, which we have been lucky enough to be able to stay at. For example Chhatra Sagar- two brothers inherited the land and chose to recreate the opulent hunting lodge that was used by their grandfathers.

Highway Code of India…otherwise known as Formalised Anarchy

Article 1 – The assumption of immortality is required of all road users.

Article 2 – Indian traffic like all Indian society is structured on a strict caste system. The following precedence must be accorded at all times. In descending order, give way to: cows, elephants, camels, buffalo, pigs, goats, dogs, heavy trucks, buses, official cars, pedal rickshaws, private cars, motorcycles, scooters, auto-rickshaws, handcarts and pedestrians.

Article 3 – All wheeled vehicles shall be driven in accordance with the maxim ‘to slow be to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat’.  This is the Indian drivers’ mantra.

Article 4 – Use of Horn (also known as the sonic fender)
Cars: short blasts (urgent) indicate supremacy, i.e. in clearing dogs, rickshaws and predestines from path.  Long blasts (desperate) denote supplication, i.e. to oncoming trucks “I am going too fast to stop, so unless you slow down we shall both die”.  In extreme cases this may be accompanied by the flashing of headlights (frantic).  Trucks and buses: all horn signals have the same meaning, “I have an all-up weight of approximately 12.5 tons and have no intention of stopping even if I could”.  This signal may be emphasized by the use of headlamps.

Article 5 – All maneuvers, use of horn and evasive action shall be left until the last possible moment.

Article 6 – In the absence of seat belts (even if there is) car occupants shall wear garlands of marigolds. These should be kept fastened at all times.

Article 7 – Rights of Way: Traffic entering a road from the left has priority.  So has traffic from the right, and so does oncoming traffic.  Lane Discipline: All Indian traffic at all times and irrespective of direction of travel shall occupy the centre of the road or the entire oncoming lane.  Lane changes shall be made randomly without warning or regard to the surrounding or oncoming traffic.

Article 8 – Traffic Management: Apparent traffic islands in the middle of crossroads have no traffic management function, even if staffed.  Any other impression should be disregarded.

Article 9 – Overtaking is Mandatory.  Every moving vehicle is required to overtake.  Every other moving vehicle should be overtaken, irrespective of whether it has just overtaken you.  Overtaking should only be undertaken in suitable conditions such as in the face of oncoming traffic, on blind bends, at junctions and in the middle of villages/city centers.  No more than 2 inches should be allowed between your vehicle and the one you are passing – one inch in the case of pedestrians, bicycles or rickshaws. Overtaking can be undertaken on either side of the vehicle being overtaken, regardless of road width.

Article 10 – Nirvana may be obtained via a head on crash.

Article 11 – Reversing: What is this? Not many drivers in India like to use this gear.  Use is strictly against the drivers’ mantra.

Article 12 – The 10th incarnation of God was an articulated lorry.

We have limited intenet access… But access!

After a long travel day we got into our hotel and settled in our room around 11pm… We were a bit worried what time we would have to get up in the morning as we had a sunrise tour of the taj.  I was very happy to hear it was 6:45, so really not early at all and not actually at sunrise!  When we got up it was fairly foggy, so we couldn’t see much of the taj from our room- just the outline.

The cold weather did really start to get to us after a few hours, so we headed back to the hotel and had a nice breakfast and some tea.  Now we will rest for an hour or so and head to Agra fort this afternoon.  

We don’t have much time left as they shut the wifi off at 6:30 so people can enjoy nature and talk vs. stare at their iPads!  A great idea if you as me… Here are a few photos from today.

As you can see they had some interesting carvings!  

This morning we got up and headed to the airport for our 2 hour flight to Khajuraho and after a 30 minute drive we were welcomed to an amazing little hotel.  We had lunch in the garden and then headed to our room.

After a bit of a rest we went on trip down the river to see the wildlife.  It was about an hour and so peaceful after the hustle and bustle of Delhi. 

After our boat trip we headed back to our room the clean up before drinks around the fire followed by the best meal we have had on our trip.  If the rest of the trip is like this we may never leave!  

This morning we took a tour of New Delhi- we stopped at the parliament building and drove by the Indian gate. After that we stopped at humayun’s tomb.  The tomb was inspired by the Taj Mahal and very beautiful.

Next we went to the Qutab Minar. This marked the sight of the first Muslim kingdom in northeast India and was built in 1193. It was quite a bit larger then we had expected. 

After our sight seeing we headed for lunch and I think did pretty well for our first Indian meal.  We headed back to our hotel and I took a nap while Richard actually spent 45 minutes writing a nice blog about our day. Unfortunately it crashed while I was sleeping and so this is what you get!