Amazing India

So I might have said that the Maldives last year was my dream holiday, and I may have said I had always wanted to go to Copenhagen, BUT India has also always been on my list! After all, a girl has to have dreams doesn't she? After all those years of single handed child-rearing, trying to keep my career afloat and dealing with all the c**p that life throws at us, I thought it was about time I indulged myself, so this year was the year I finally went, and oh it didn't disappoint.

You see these bright orange marigolds all over India, ladies take them as an offering to the temples and after a long flight, seeing them in the hotel lobby was a real joy.

Like everyone else we flew into Delhi and spent a couple of days there, visiting Humayan's Tomb, The Lodhi Gardens, India Gate and generally driving around. The traffic is RIDICULOUS! I've never seen anything like it, and of course, like everyone else the poverty is heartbreaking. Cows roam around and traffic stops for them, they amble across main roads without a care in the world, we saw pigs, peacocks, millions of dogs (all a bit mangy), and an elephant in front of you in the road isn't unusual. And it's so COLOURFUL! Fabulous signs outside the ropiest old shops and the lorries are all heavily decorated with writing, flowers, ladies, all sorts of things, and almost every truck says HORN PLEASE on the back. Our driver said it didn't matter how you drove as long as you had a horn!

So in true tourist fashion we went onto Agra and the Taj Mahal, which as everyone says, is stunning. It has to be seen to be believed. Then onto Jaipur, the Pink City and onto Udaipur, which was my favourite. Both Jaipur and Udaipur are on man-made lakes which make them a bit cooler, and much prettier.

The food is fantastic, especially the vegetarian dishes and there is plenty of Kingfisher beer. The wine was a stupid price so we avoided it and I didn't have any chocolate for 2 weeks! The incredible thing is there are mosques, temples, churches all next to each other. Muslims, HIndus, Christians all getting along, and as long as you don't mention Pakistan, you will get on fine.

Enjoy.

This is just a taster of what I saw, and there are 2 more posts coming up, 1 on what to wear - for once I got it right ! And as a stylist and a lover of architecture, there will be 1 on architectural details.